August 28Th: Community Hot Topics!

[mrrobotto67]

As a volt player my only complain is the overload ability, aside from that he does not need that much of a change  

[Zaniux]

Umbra Excalibur

 

Not sure about Umbra yet.

It worries me a little having so many frames and all of them with the same skills/animation set, I think Umbra frames having different movements and skills would make them a lot more appealing, at least for me. That way it wouldn't be like just another reskinned asset.

 

Interaction with other players

 

I'd really like this aspect developed and I think relays could be the place to do that.

Some ideas that come to my mind are: 1v1 games like races or competitions of some sort, archwing races, maybe having some board games or card games like Final Fantasy VIII or IX, etc.

 

Companions Skills

 

Carrier's vacuum seems to be most used skill of all the companions. Why not give vacuum to all or most of them and work in really useful skills from there?

 

Also, please Kubrows really need some AI improvements.

 

Volt Skills

 

I think Overload needs a little tweak, maybe reduce its casting time by half or something like that, nothing too drastic.

All his others skills imo are fine as they are now.

Edited August 29, 2015 by Zaniux

[0zryel]

Umbra Expectations

My expectation with the Umbra prime is that it should be an upgrade from your previous Warframe be it Prime or Normal a system that would let you upgrade your warframe into that state like how you upgrade some of the new weapons that even have a Rank restriction too...The Orokin Lab could hold such research, So ALL can benefit or at least have a chance to get all their favorite Warframe Umbra Prime (ofcurse you could buy it in store, prep ready and built so you don't sacrifice your max warframe and of course Excalibur would have to jump from its normal version to the Umbra making it more expensive to built, nless you add Prisma as a Sub form of Prime, but would respect the exclusiveness of the Founders relic, though I highly doubt they sacrifice it to being Umbra) So if release, it be a Next Stage of evolution for the Warframe beyond prime it could even be applied to the prime weapons...

My speculation would be that they are the Low Guardians that the Stalker belongs to and talks about in his codex, a specialize Tenno that where created for hunting and assassinated extremely powerful and very political influential enemies of the Orokin or rogue Tenno hence the Word *Low* Guardian, even maybe it was the Secret Police force that would control or destroy the Tenno, but they were never release as the Orokin never expected to be betrayed... Of course this would mean that Stalker would need a bit of rework as a Tenno and everyone would want to have DE release his Warframe, unless his like Teshin, a Pseudo-Tenno but instead of preparing/train them like Teshin did, his role was to Train these Umbra as an ANBU (Anti-Ninja Strike Unit)or Black-OPS. This would mean that these Tenno go through a special procedure/training making them more powerful and their powers/Technics thought similar in name change in function, effect or even animation. Like the Syndicate Power Specific Mods but they are integrated in their warframe or who knows maybe those Warframe Mods ARE already integrated and the Syndicates took that part of the Orokin tech and created the mods inferior version for Tenno to use, this would also add a lore explanation of how the Eximus where created and why they have such similar powers to the Tenno or even why Stalker can Mimic some powers if his not a Tenno. This could apply to the weapons that are upgraded to Umbra, they could have that *Elemental Burst* in them depending of the Clan symbol that could have been the origin of the actual syndicates (Or even the existing Factions) from the Orokin Era.



Warframe Social

Maybe just add offline MSG for your friends to leave you if your not log on... I go careful with this as it could be turn into abusive or illegal advertisement of gold farmers.

Chesa and other Companions

No opinion positive or constructive opinion on the matter but I respect others and DE's hard work on these Kubrow pets/companion so I won't post on it, I just would like to get a Sentinel Similar to what Zenuka/Hyena/Jackal look like and operate... even if it acts like a Kubrow... but with sentinel Mods... or maybe Mix both?

Volt

Never play him, but if its anything like the resent rework seen with Excalibur and Frost i think it would be neat. (yeah I'm peaky with my Warframes)


What’s next?...
Hmm, this is a hard one... if its a game mode I would only add that more surprises be added to all game modes, like for example: You enter a Rescue Mission and if you pick the wrong Door the Assassin of that Faction would be waiting to attack you if you get kill the team would have to rescue you...Even in the Void Vor could be waiting there, Or while doing a mission it turns into an invasion or out break of infestation, or Void Vor comes to Corrupt more to his side, or even if the Sentient appear and kill everyone, the whole mission could change to an escape from the Oculus thing...you know stuff like that like when Lotus change directive and tells you to kill everyone.

If its content I say Lore and rework on the older Bosses, like Stalker, Zenuka, Phorid or even Void Vor ( he should look more... Orokin or Corrupted than just its shinny belly button no? It be funny to see a dialog between a Young Cloned Vor and his Void Self) Or like; What does Void Vor Janus Key unlocks has anyone wonder that? Maybe its the key that herald the return of the Orokin? Now that, I know it would be a Bigger threat than the Sentients...as it feels like the Sentients aren't actually evil... I think, there has to be a good reason WHY we betrayed them and follow the Lotus. Anyway you get the point...

Beyond that I like to Warframe expand to the Skies/seas in the planet the (new under water stages are an good start, hope they expand at to space missions too)...as Mission from Solar point of view to a more Planetary traveling around the planet in your Archwing/Ship/Orbiter to help the colonies and destroying the faction bases. Expand the Void to have its Archwing mode...etc...you know things in does lines.

 

EDIT: Had to correct grammar, sorry guys English is not my main language and when I try to type fast I make horrifying mistakes or pick the wrong auto-corrects. >,<

Edited August 29, 2015 by 0zryel

[meatpouch89]

I think that Vacuum should be removed from the Carrier sentinel and instead just make it an inherent ability of our Warframe, just like when we're in Archwing mode. Just give Carrier a new replacement ability and you'll see some more diversity in companions. 

[88th_Phantom]

My opinion on Excal umbra is 'yeah awesome, another form of the poster-boy, can't turn that down'. What i'm concerned is that this might be an entire set, much like prime, prisma, vandal, etc.

 

As someone who collects these things both quickly and effectively, I'm worried we're gonna start another set of gear before we can even end one of anything, and whilst it's nice to say these special sets could continue indefinitely for as longs as their is content to give one of the now 5+ forms of special treatment (not counting the expansion of syndicate gear), it would also be nice to be able to go "this is the vandal in it's entirety, this is the wraith set, these are the prisma sets..."

 

What's the point in collecting something to completion if it doesn't end?

What makes these versions so special if every weapon in its purview is capable of this treatment?

 

I like how Umbra looks as a set (if this is indeed ongoing after Excal, as the last devstream may or may not have accidentally eluded to), i like what it allows you guys to do: you can revisit old frames you've already given the prime/other treatment and do something more elaborate or fancy or something closer to your original visions and concepts now that you have the know-how and familiarity with your tech to perform this and i won't begrudge that, but what makes these sets special if everything has an ever-branching special form?

 

Umbra gets a free pass for the above reason, Primes get a free pass from me for their role in endgame and lore perspective, but what happens when everyone's super?

 

 

It's just something to keep in mind now it's been brought to attention.

 

As for my other topic, Volt?

He's my baby, i'll always love him, just make Overload better than my 1,2 or 3 keys and not another P4tWin.

 

Thanks for your time.

EDIT: inb4 "welcome to powercreep"

Edited August 28, 2015 by -CM-Phantom

[ss4chris]

next prime access.. Umbra acess

[angrykenji]

what are even the point of Umbra frames?? will Umbra be tied into lore somehow or is it just extra bling thrown in the game to appease a fanbase?

i could accept it if it were a skin like the Prisma, Proto-Armor, Immortal or Nemesis. but i can't help feeling

 

 

as for companions, diversity is something i'd enjoy but what to come up with for the katbrows?

[The-Storm]

When it comes to Umbras there's only one thing I have in mind. They should be the "corrupted" series of frames, having a reasonably large advantage of one stat, while being weaker than the regular version of the frame on another one, throwing in a nice little twist into the game whilst giving us a reason to pick between either Umbra or Prime version of the frame. (Maybe have a different ability or two? Nobody knows, but doubt it.)

[7grims]

Umbra Expectations

My expectation with the Umbra prime is that it should be an upgrade from your previous Warframe be it Prime or Normal a system that would let you upgrade your warframe into that state like how you upgrade some of the new weapons that even have a Rank restriction too...The Orokin Lab could hold such research, So ALL can benefit or at least have a chance to get all their favorite Warframe Umbra Prime (ofcurse you could buy in store, it already ready and built so you don't sacrifice your max warframe and of course Excalibur would have to jump from its normal version to the Umbra making it more expensive to built but would respect the exclusiveness of the Founders relic, though I highly doubt they sacrifice it to being Umbra) So if release, it be a Next Stage of evolution for the Warframe beyond prime it could even be applied to the prime weapons...

 

That is also a good idea.

Current regulars and primes are non-sense.

Each new prime release is another regular frame that becomes obsolete and useless, and owning both is a waist of slots.

And if they were upgrades, the only thing we would need is the option to choose the way it looks (if prime or regular or umbra).

[Lactamid]

Are you excited for Umbra Excalibur?

 

No, and I mean no as in the very much no version.
Primes, Prisma and Umbra and any other "special" version that are upgrades and not sidegrades just make the previously farmed gear crap.
Besides, skins (for that is what I consider them) with slightly different stats was taken away (helmets) and then you keep adding stuff like this?

All of these special versions of the same thing we already have offers incredibly little to gameplay besides the grinding to get them. If they had special version of skills etc. it would be different. The primes could have "prime augments" or something for skills or just another 5:th skill.

I'd rather see you scrap all of the repeated versions of frames and make new ones all together. Unless you keep adding these new special versions all of the time they will catch up as they're faster to make. Then you'll have to add yet another version and everything becomes less and less meaningful.
 

New frames or make the alternative version own their place with gameplay value, not looks!

 

Would you like more ways to interact with other players in-game?

 

Sending messages that didn't require people to be online would be nice.

Would you rather companions have diverse abilities or share similar, but valuable, abilities?

The pickup range skill should probably have been a universal mod from the start. Remove that from carrier and give it a new skill, Chesa can have another as well.

 

In your opinion, which of Volt’s abilities need a rework? 

 

I'd say he's in a pretty good spot mechanically, damage isn't great but he's ok.
It would be nice to see something more added to his ult, but I can't say what. The electric shield having the ability to be picked up as a normal shield when using secondary would be cool too. Maybe draining energy over time to balance it?

Edited August 29, 2015 by Lactamid

[(PSN)DBR87]

Yes I am excited.

I always liked Excalibur, and now with the rework, I love him. That being said I am excited that we global is getting Excalibur Umbra and would like to read the lore about how this frame came to be. I am all for new frames and upgrades of older ones, too. So evenif this means there is 3 Excalibros or we are getting a new Umbra Skin for Excalibur I am cool either way, though I prefer him to be a separate frame. I don't know if he is or isn't because I haven't read up much about him. I just hope other frames get primes still, too. I don't see why they wouldn't. I imagine they'll have remix stats. What would really catch my attention is if they had slightly altered abilities. Example, Umbra Excal doesn't do Radial Blind but instead does Radial Empower that adds 100% extra blast damage to your teams weapons. I actually think Umbra frames is a great opportunity to change up the roles of the Regular/Prime frames a bit

 

I think how we interact with other players is fine. I am open to new ideas depending on what they are and how they're implemented.

 

Sentinels should be unique among sentinels, kubrows should be unique among kubrows.

I like how the system is now. If you want to stealth with a sentinel you pick Shade. If you want to stealth with your Kubrow you pick Huras. I am glad Chesa exist as the Kubrow version of Carrier even if the implementation wasn't very effective or efficient. I just hope that works out. The poll question seemed like you where asking should sentinels/kubrows have share trademark abilities. If so than that is a no for me. I wouldn't want Dethcube sucking up items for me. Sharing general skills like Overheat and Coolant Leak is fine. I actually wish you guys would add MORE companion mods. As for what I would do to make Chesa useful, I would make Retrieve pick up everything in your 25 meter cone of line of sight. Chesa would do this extremely quickly, practically darting about at lightning speed. I would also make Chesa do an AoE roar that causes enemies in a 5-10 meter radius drop their weapons.

 

Overload needs a reworked

I feel Volt is one of most well rounded frames. Shock stuns and provides great AoE CC, E Shield protects and adds damage, Speed  quickens movement, stuns really well with the syndicate mod, and makes Volt do melee builds well. Overload doesn't is slow to cast and gets weaker with a second use in the same room. It can AoE stun but not as efficiently as Shock. It doesn't do enough damage to be the "Nuke" he is missing but since he is so versatile I really don't think he needs a nuke. I would change Overload to boost fire arms speeds similar to how Speed boost Movement and Melee speed. Another Tenno in a thread came up with it first but I think it is a great idea. I would change Overload to add 50% electric damage, increase fire rate and increase reload speed. Think it would be best to scale duration alone. Otherwise, Volt is fine. Everything in his kit other than Overload has a clear purpose and makes him very flexible and useful everywhere. 

[7grims]

 

Are you excited for Umbra Excalibur?

 

No, and I mean no as in the very much no version.

Primes, Prisma and Umbra and any other "special" version that are upgrades and not sidegrades just make the previously farmed gear crap.

Besides, skins (for that is what I consider them) with slightly different stats was taken away (helmets) and then you keep adding stuff like this?

All of these special versions of the same thing we already have offers incredibly little to gameplay besides the grinding to get them. If they had special version of skills etc. it would be different. The primes could have "prime augments" or something for skills or just another 5:th skill.

I'd rather see you scrap all of the repeated versions of frames and make new ones all together. Unless you keep adding these new special versions all of the time they will catch up as they're faster to make. Then you'll have to add yet another version and everything becomes less and less meaningful.

 

New frames or make the alternative version own their place with gameplay value, not looks!

 

THIS^

 

A long time ago DE promised that both primes and regulars would be equally viable and worth.

I wouldn't mind if all frames would be reduced to only 2 abilities, as long as primes and regulars had different abilities, to create different roles, purposes and strategies.

Edited August 29, 2015 by 7grims

[kLai]

Umbras: Make them include the original item as part of the crafting requirements. Right now, there is no use in having the original warframe after you have the prime version. At least put the original to use.

Chesa & other companions: There should be advantages and disadvantages to both. Personally, if Chesa takes longer to fetch items, it would make sense that since it is a retrieval canine, it should search the entire tile rather than a small radius. This would make it unique from carrier and allow players to have a better choice when they go into different modes.

 

ie. Carrier for missions involving high movement from area to area because: small attack range, small vacuum range, fast item vacuum, not as tanky, ranged attacks. Chesa for missions involving defense or bunkering down for a period of time because it (could have): melee range, very strong single target hits, very tanky due to kubrow nature, carries several items, looting one at a time (based on owner needs: mods, ammo, resources, etc) before returning to owner, searches the entire tile.

Volt: It would be nice to see a total rework similar to Excalibur but also with some Frost-like functionality.

Here are some things off the top of my head: 

- Passives:

 
1. 95% electric damage resistance to sources that are lower level than the Warframe. Damage resistance is reduced by 1% for each level higher than the Warframe. Environmental electrical damage has no effect on Volt.

2. When using weapons that inherently deliver electric/magnetic/corrosive damage, with every instance of an attack (shot or melee attack) there is a 1/2/3/4/5/6/7% chance to supercharge that weapon with electricity, causing them to do an extra 2/4/6/8/10/12/14% Electric damage and increasing fire rate or attack speed by 2/4/6/8/10/12/14%. These percentages occur during levels 0/5/10/15/20/25/30 for the Warframe.

 

Skill changes:

- Shock: In addition to functioning as it does now with arcs, casting Shock through an electric shield will fire an electric spear in the direction of aim instead, doing 300/450/400/450 Electric damage with a range of 50m, infinite punch through.

- Speed: in addition to the current faster movement and melee speed, this will now gain Overload's effects. Speed should have a ramp up time after 0.5/1/1.5/2 seconds when the user will reach max speed (sprint speed + Speed addition). While sprinting at max speed, there is a continuous Overload effect of shockwaves emitting from the user which affect all electronics and light fixtures dealing 450/550/650/750 Electric damage at a range of 5/10/15/20m and draining 9/8/7/6 energy from the user per second.

- Electric Shield: in addition to current functionality, casting overlapping Electric Shields will cause them to meld into each other, forming a larger shield and extending its life by 50% of its overall duration. This works with other Volt's Electric Shields, with the colours also fusing together at the edges but leaving their main colour in the middle.

- Overload: combined with Speed.

- NEW 4TH ABILITY: Overcharge: Toggle on or off which drains 14/12/10/8 energy per second. A visible power electric aura will appear around Volt. Increases power strength of user and allies by 10-30% depending on proximity. Max range of 30m. Volt will emit arcs of lightning that occasionally attack the nearest enemy for 100/200/300/400 Electric damage at a range of 4/8/12/16m. This range can be extended if the arc hits an electrical or metal surface. If enemies are nearby, arcs will travel between enemies similar to Shock. Sprint speed is increased by 20/30/40/50%. 50% damage reduction to projectile and hitscan weapon. This does not affect explosion damage or fire damage from napalms or scorches.

[Doom_Bunny]

Umbra: Chinese bootleg? eh

 

Interactions: eh, I'm usualy too busy shooting things to bother with interactions. More interactions with the environment would be awesome.

 

Companions: Diverse abilities definately. However I would like to see kubrows be able to share ability mods. It's just an annoyance that arfter finally getting an egg you have to hope that it hatches the right type "Are you the righ type? no cosign. Are you the righ type? no cosign.". I'd rather see kubrow breeding be about base stats/colour/pattern rather then what type it is.

 

Volt: In my opinion he is great.

 

Shock: Stuns/hits multiple enemies with fair damage

 

Speed: It's fine however I would suggest that it get a default duartion limit similar to how Rhino has a default duration of 30sec on roar.

 

Electric shield: It's an immortal ability and last for a fair amount of time. My only suggestion would be to have enemies that pass through the shield take shock damage.

 

Overload: It stuns and deals decent damage to a large area. The way it expands stops it from being a terrible insta nuke.

-Probably needs a damage boost, since enemies have scaled to new heights many older frames need to catch up.

-A new animation, holding us up in the air kind of ruins the momentum and stops us from taking advantage of stunned enemies.

-Since it does expand instead of instantly exploding it would be great if it had a larger area.

-Make use of the fact that it kills all the lights. I found it fun that this ability interacted with the environment however the enemies do nothing about it, such as using flashlights or turning on emergency/backup lights.

[MartianJellyfish]

Umbra Expectations

I'm particularly excited about Excal Umbra. I was too late to get the Prime but knowing I might have a chance at getting an improved version of the frame makes me happy. Not particularly interested in Umbra versions of frames that already have a Prime though, I don't have a reason to keep two versions or more of any frame. That's just me, though. I just hope whether more Umbras come or not, they have an interesting story to add to the lore.

 

Chesa and other Companions

I like variety for companions, so I can have a specialised tool for my different needs, rather than sticking to the same thing over and over again. I'm personally fond of Chesa, even though it's nothing like Carrier. (Truth be told, Carrier was my first sentinel, and I chose it before any other because I was a poor newbie in dire need of resources, and an extra sidearm. Currently my most used sentinel is Helios though, both for the utility and the looks, so the "Carrier Masterrace" thing holds no significance for me.) What I like about Chesa is that it can break crates I'd usually just run past without noticing, which is something sentinels can't do (unless they shoot them by accident...), and if something nice drops, I'll find it with that Animal Instinct mod either way. Chesa's disarm is also fun to watch (and no, it can't replace a Loki, but I'm not looking for a Loki companion either).

 

However, what I feel needs to be improved - not only about kubrows but sentinels as well - is their AI above all else. I cannot recall how many times they just stand there not using any of their abilities and not attacking anything. That needs to change. Yesterday. And try to fix the AI's pathfinding while you're at it, that'd be nice too.

 

Volt

I'm actually surprised we're getting the exact same poll about Volt, with the exact same results. Popular opinion is that Overload needs to change. As a Volt starter who used him to first clear the starchart back when it was linear, I can't help but agree. Overload as it stands now is just too niche and unreliable - you have to rely on the existence of electronics to even think about doing some decent damage, and even then you can only use the feature once at the same tile. The cast time is too long, and there's a long delay between each tick, meaning you might as well be shot dead while you stand if enemies aren't killed with the first wave. While I'm not sure it should work like Saryn's Miasma (and I have no idea what her rework is going to be like), I'd like some general improvements for Overload, whether making it better at crowd control, or at damage.

[EmptyDevil]

Companions

 

I think all companions should have innate Vacuum. To compensate Carrier and Chesa, their unique ability could be changed to ammo storage, allowing them to hold extra ammo for the Tenno when at full capacity.

 

Kubrow Specific

 

Kubrows should be capable of using each other's abilities but only if unlocked via breeding. For example:

 

Huras Imprint + Raksa Imprint = chance for a Huras or Raksa that may be able to use abilities not normal to the breed. Like a Raksa with Cloak or Hunt along with Howl or Protect.

 

This would add more depth to the breeding system of animal companions.

[climatiseur]

Kubrow:

 

The first time I heard about Chesa the "Retriever Kubrow", I was already confused. 

 

1. We already have Carrier.

2. We already have sahasha.

 

It turns out sahasha is actually a better retriever than Chesa, only not able to give you extra mods. Chesa's retrieve ability has basic flaw in the first place because picking up item one by one for you is just even slower than running around to pick them up yourself. Not to add that we already have Carrier and Sahasha. Why would you want to add another looting Kubrow?

 

Therefor, I suggest the following for the kubrows:

 

1. Whatever new ideas you've come up for retriever kubrow, fuse those new ideas with the already existing retriever kurbrow: Sahasha, to make it better. Sahasha is already a decent retriever, we don't need two kubrows having an arguably similar ability. eg - If you want a type of kubrow that can find mods for the player, think of an idea to make Sahasha be able to do it. Maybe just switch out the Finisher ability because it is just the same as Sunika, and give Sahasha another ability for extra mods picking etc. And finisher just doesn't match the theme of Sahasha.

 

2. Reposition Chesa Kubrow (You might want to rename it) into a "Disabler / Interferer" - Make a new ability accompanying with the already existing disarm ability. For example, cripple / immobilize melee enemies for a certain time (Just like fracturing crush, in a smaller degree of course) . This way, the theme of Chesa is stronger, having more synergies within his abilities, and every Kubrow is unique and more diverse, serving different purposes to suit different scenarios and playstyle.

 

 

 

 

Edited: Just read the post above me of the idea of breeding Kubrows with different abilities. It is a great idea. But then different types of natural Kubrow really needs to have different abilities set. So you won't got a kubrow with two Finisher abilities ( Sahasha and Sunika)

 

 

Volt:

 

 

The only problem I can think of is his 1st and 4th are too similar. THe direction of tweaking him could be making them having more distinctive usage. Also, given that the newer frames are having more interesting abilities, I think this feature could be implemented on his 4th too, rather than a simpler radial nuke and effects.

 

 

 

*** Edit function is buggy, It eats out half of my original post and now I've to retype it.

 

Edited August 29, 2015 by climatiseur

[zoboso]

Would you rather companions have diverse abilities or share similar, but valuable, abilities?

The problem with this question is that it's a false dichotomy. The companions should be valuable. If the abilities have to be similar to be valuable, then so be it.

 

In order

diverse and valuable

similar and valuable

diverse and unvaluable

similar and unvaluable

[(PSN)DesecratedFlame]

Umbra should be for the people that can't get Excalibur Prime, but Umbras should also be for the Warframes that don't make sense as Primes, such as Valk.

 

I could not care less about player interaction besides an auction house.  How is this crap even considered a hot topic instead of the big things the community is actually talking about (e.g. Forma)?

 

Chesa's ability is a joke. The abilities should be unique, but each one needs to be equally as useful. Kubro in general should be stronger than sentinels to make up for their costs. 

 

The retriever Kubro should have the same vaccuum effect as carrier (other sentinels and kubro should not), but it should be able to move independently of the player.  So instead of running out of a bubble during a defense mission to sweep up gear with carrier, your kubro could run out on its own and sweep up multiple items, in the same fashion as carrier, then bring them all back simultaneously to the player while the player could continue to focus on defending the pod.

 

Overload needs to be cast-able on the move to gain synergy with Speed, so you can sprint through enemies while frying them.  Volt's base sprint speed should also be increased to be tied with the fastest frames (i.e. Volt and Volt Prime should have the same sprint speed as Loki Prime).

[CrimsonNightSky]

On the social side, are there any more thoughts to in game lobbies or physical areas for players to group up?

Relays have occasionally felt like pseudo-towns. But currently it feels like each one is spread thin (player count) due to the sheer number of them, and a bit cramped when they do get crowded. I'm also wondering if we'll see more unique looks/decor/layouts for different planetary relays.

Maybe a functional two person rock paper scissors emote? Inspired by Reb+Meg a few streams back :)

As far as Volt goes, I think he's been pretty well off as far as a balanced frame goes. I think overload doesn't get much love in part because his other three abilities are so useful and quick to use in a pinch. I'd love to see an excal-esque reimagining some day if some bit of inspiration really takes off, but he's pretty good as is.

[Raniu]

Yes!

Yes...? :D

Yes, I see no reason why would we, players, prefer less diversity >:(

 

Volt is just fine as he is but if any of his abilities needs a rework then we're talking about Overload.

[Helleborr]

On Umbras

 

I'ts still hard to say, but if Umbras are meaningfully different, they better be different in a niche way. As in they shouldn't render stock and prime frames obsolete the way primes did with stocks. There's probably no universal recipe for this, and yes, minmaxers are going to find out which variant of the frame is optimal for what, but at least they can be made to have clear advantages/disadvantages in different situations, to warrant usage of all variants depending on the task at hand.

 

 

On Social

 

I'm not sure ingame message board is really needed, especially since we have this one. Chat interface improvements would be welcome though. Oh, and there's one thing that would be definitely awesome to have: Auction House. ;)

 

 

On Chesa/Sentinels

 

The idea has been floated around that a quality of life useful ability like Vacuum should be made baseline for some time. I'm not sure why that hasn't been done yet. I mean look, Shade's ability is fine since it's at least special. Wyrm's ability? You barely know it even exists, and it has just one ability, so why not make it a large noticeable and reasonably long AOE stun? How about Dethcube shot a prominent huge beam of Deth that can kill many enemies in a row? Djinn? I almost forgot it even existed. Same for kubrows.

 

Guys, you know the game's meta. You know what players generally do in this game, or at least in different mission types. Abilities need to be diverse, but more than that they need to be prominent and with a clear usage. Going on an infested mission? Here's a sentinel that can knock them back if 3-4 of them pile up on you. Grineer mission? Take one that can shield you from hitscan bullets. Corpus? Take one that can disable robots. Or better yet, take one that can punch the Nullifiers in the face. Hell Yeah! (srsly, guys, Nullifiers still aren't ok. there are ways to make challenging enemies without making them annoying).

 

Oh, and Chesas. Guys, it wasn't ok to simply add a new breed to the random pool of breed types that still get to have random coat, random build and random size. There are people in Wiki's comments saying they spent 30-40 eggs without getting a Chesa. That's silly, and simply put not worth it. Plus I, for instance, am not ok with consigning my dogs, even if it's a Raksa #10, which makes me not want to even try to incubate a Chesa. It's a living thing, you know. Or maybe it's just an OCD thing.

 

Anyway, you could let people that already own all 4 other breeds get a one-time 100% chance at Chesa on next incubation.

 

 

On Volt

 

I don't play volt because he's pretty boring. Shock is nice for first ability. Shield is good, but it promotes a "sit in one place" gameplay. Speed is good but it's a little boring, its FOV change is annoying, and it has an anti-synergy with shield. Overload is your typical bad Ult. It's an AOE kill ability like so many others, with weak damage and weak CC. No wonder it's leading the rework poll.

 

Overall I think more quirks and more synergy should be added to give Volt more character. And that FOV better go. srsly.

 

 

On What's Next

 

Next I'd like Hind's fire rate bug fixed. Please, DE, I want to use that rifle. I made many topics about it and mentioned it in patch threads more than once. I don't want to wait for Hind Wraith before that bug is looked at. Please do something about it. Pretty please, kthnx. <3

[Eldnacpeek]

 

Umbra Expectations

Very little has been revealed about the new Excalibur Umbra, so the source thread for this topic wonders what that means for the future - will there be more and in what capacity will they exist?

 

I hope there won't be more.

 

 

Umbra Expectations

The global build will receive Excalibur Umbra at some point, but in your opinion, what should happen after that? 

 

Nothing.

 

 

Umbra Expectations

What would you like to see happen with the Umbra Warframes?

 

Nothing.

 

 

Umbra Expectations

Would you like more released? 

 

No.

 

 

Umbra Expectations

What kind of release would you like them to have?

 

None at all outside of Excalibur.

 

 

Umbra Expectations

In what ways would you make them interesting and unique?

 

There are not many options besides different aesthetics and I don't really understand why this question is directed to the players.

 

 

Umbra Expectations

Do you have any speculations on what they mean in the Warframe lore?  

 

No.

Edited August 29, 2015 by LazerSkink

[Kinetos]

<---- This guy. Over all he's very balanced and versatile. My second favorite frame by preference and play time, and first PA, as well as buying the standard one after playing the tutorial as him after coming back to the game having started with excal before the tutorial was introduced..

 

His first 3 abilities are mostly perfect, only need fine tuning.

 

Shock ----- Wouldn't change anything.

Speed ----- Get rid of the FOV or include in the Settings a way to turn off FOV changes on ability use.

Electric Shield ----- Maybe as an augment, but let the shield follow Volt's camera. Recasting could drop it in place.

What is the slit in the shield supposed to be? Please remove it? It's visually distracting and doesn't seem to serve a purpose.

 

Overload could use a rework, or replacement. Not sure what I'd want. As long as it isn't a Press 4 to Win (Miasma, Peacemaker) or Press 4 to Seizure (Exalted Blade, World on Fire). Maybe bake in Capacitance to the base ability or rework it to charge damage similar to Ballistic Battery or Maim I think is Equinox's ability, or what's the melee mod that stores expended power to add to the next melee hit? Add placed Electric Shields and other players and objects that can be arced through like the lights?

 

 

Umbra ---- Not really excited, before Umbra news, you knew what frames you could dump forma into without it being a waste if you want to only forma the best version you can get: All Primes, and regular Excal. Now... idk if putting forma on Excal is worth it. If Umbra is a skin, I'll be happy. I just won't get it probably. I'm satisfied with my Mordred Immortal looks. If Umbra is a separate frame, will it be able to use the Immortal/Proto/Prisma skins and alt helmets?

 

 

Companions ----- Diversity, they shouldn't be identical, but the degree of usefulness of similar abilities we have varies too much, while the mechanics don't.

Shade and Huras are basically the same, except in every way they differ, Huras is far superior, larger detection radius, and it isn't line of sight either.

I would assume Kavat's will have at least 1 variant with stealth, I'd like it to be somewhat different than Huras and Shade, but still useful. Maybe Kavat cloak would silence guns and guns wouldn't break the cloak, but abilities would break the cloak instead?

 

Helios can scan, and that's unique enough for him.

I mainly run Huras, Raksa, or Helios.

 

 

Communications/Interaction/MessageBoard

What I really want is a good auction/exchange system with appropriate limits and safeguards. I like building, modding, fighting. Haggling and speed reading simulator aren't fun.

Edited August 29, 2015 by KinetosImpetus

[cobra302]

...

Chesa and other Companions

We’ve discussed companions in previous Community Hot Topics, but this topic is specific to quality-of-life improvements that could make existing companions more desirable. Kubrows often come under scrutiny due to their required maintenance, and Chesa has garnered criticism because of the limitations of their Retrieve ability. Chesa’s utility is ultimately a reflection of Carrier’s vacuum, so do you think that homogenization of companion abilities is the best way to increase their value, or do you think there are ways to make each companion unique and desirable? If so, how? Is increasing Chesa’s Retrieve ability sufficient? What would you add or change to make other companions more useful? How often do you change your companions currently? Is there a change that would encourage you to diversify? Post your thoughts and ideas in this thread!

 

Source threads:

https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/500849-chesa-kubrow-hype-destroyed/page-10

https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/517645-kubrow-incubator-upgrade-petition/

https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/518874-wondering-about-people-and-kubrows/

...

 

First, thank you very much for including the companion topic and specifically the Chesa in the hot topics.

 

The question of universal companion abilities versus unique is a difficult one. I think one of the best ways to evaluate that question is to look towards other game elements for guidance and review. Since the topic is centered on abilities the only real comparison that can be discussed is that of warframe abilities. If we took the same question but applied it to warframes instead of companions it gives a clearer picture of what is really happening.

 

Would you want all of the warframes to have the same powers effectively making the sole variation a cosmetic one? Probably not. So, why then is this decision different when evaluating companions? One word, loot. In general, other than mag, nekros, or hydroid, most warframe powers do not affect loot. Of those mentioned only mag's pull draws loot to the player. Because mag's pull is not constant or automatic the power does not feel like a necessity that a player must use. This leaves the player free to choose a warfame base on other interests or mission requirements for what powers they feel best compliment the mission or their play style.

 

Most players would agree that loot (meaning dropped mods, credits, cores, etc.) is central to and arguably the most important part of the game.

 

Now, follow the same decision process we just evaluated using warframes except this time look at sentinels. So, lets look at the companion abilities. The first thing we notice is that the sentinels only have 1 ability versus the warframes 4 abilities. This immediately makes the value or lack of value of each ability much more weighted. Therefore regarding sentinels the player has a choice of invisibility (shade), enemy draw (djinn), high damage (death cube), scanner (helios), knockdown (wyrm), or vacuum (carrier). Given that loot is the most important thing how can the player not feel forced to choose carrier? While the other sentinel abilities add some utility it is not significant enough to offset the loss of increased drop radius pickup which is constant and automatic. One may also comment that vacuum seems to work much more reliably than the other sentinels abilities.

 

Now, follow the same decision process we just evaluated using warframes except this time look at kubrows. The first thing we notice is that the kubrows only have 2 abilites versus the warframes 4 abilities. Another interesting observation is that some of the kubrow abilities seem to be similar to sentinel abilities. The huras has invisibility like shade, the raksa can replenish shields similar to the generic sentinel mod guardian, the sahasa and sunika can perform high level finisher attacks similar to death cube's vaporize, and the chesa is supposed to retrieve loot comparable to carrier (lol). Once again the player evaluates these choices and comes to the conclusion that given the importance of loot pickup none of the kubrows provide the same quality or reliability of loot pickup as carrier.

 

The kubrows themselves are even more difficult for a player to justify equipping due to their functionality issues. The primary general issue is the AI pathing. Enemies can somehow avoid getting stuck, running in place, or running in circles yet this phenomenon is something that kubrow do very frequently. At the very least the coding should be able to detect if a kubrow is walking/running yet their location (coordinates) are not changing or essentially are the same for 5 seconds then it is obviously stuck and needs to be teleported either to the player or the nearest clear floor area large enough for the kubrows body. The second general issue is the activation of abilities. The kubrows do not seem to be able to reliably or predictably activate their abilities. If the abilities are already difficult to justify using over carrier then they become even less so when the reliability or lack there of is factored into the decision. Lastly, the player cannot configure which ability the kubrow will have active. The sentinels allow the player to equip a mod for attacking and a mod for the ability. These mods depending on if equipped or not and in which slot allow the player to decide which action is the priority and which will activate or not. The kubrow currently has no way to force it not to attack and to focus on using an equipped ability.

 

So, given the aforementioned background let us look at the question of generic abilities versus specific. Ideally both sentinels and kubrow should allow the same variety and choices as warframes. That is to say, a player should be able to find meaningful differences in the abilities and the abilities should be different and interesting enough with enough strength/utility to make them feel special and worth while equipping. Why isn't this the case currently? Two reasons. First and primarily carrier's vacuum. Second, the abilities aren't that reliable or utilitarian. What is the answer? Some have suggested that the vacuum ability should be made a generic sentinel ability mod. That is a nice suggestion but if vacuum is made a generic mod then what is the determining factor as to what sentinel functions should be generic and which should be unique to a specific sentinel? What would the criteria be? Why is the shield restoring sentinel mod guardian generic for sentinels but the shield restoring mod protect unique to only the raksa kubrow? That contradiction is an indication why the sentinel and kubrow abilities and mods need to be reworked.

 

Is the question answered? Not really. Here is the start of the answer. The carrier vacuum mod needs to be deleted. It should not be a generic mod since that will only serve to greatly complicate finding a resolution to this issue. Instead, go with this rather simple idea. For discussion, lets assume the player's warframe loot pickup AoE is 5 meters. When the player equips a sentinel increase the loot pickup AoE to 10 meters. Done. Loot issue is no longer a headache. The players get the carrier vacuum functionality they want and there is no complication or inherent forced feeling to equip a mod for it. Now the players are free to select a sentinel based solely on the utility it provides by abilities and those abilities can be unique and interesting. So, how would that change translate to equipping a kubrow? I would say the idea is the same but the implementation slightly different. When a player equips a kubrow instead of the warframe AoE expanding from 5 meters to 10 meters in radius the area pickup gained would be directional. That is, the warframe AoE pickup would remain at 5 meters but the kubrow would pickup items as it traverses the environment and they would get directly and immediately deposited to the player the same as with the sentinel. This function would be inherent in all kubrow breeds the same as it would be with all sentinels. With both sentinels and kubrow the loot pickup would function constantly, automatically, and simultaneously with other companion actions. For all intents and purposes it is transparent in the background although visual cues would be nice for confirmation it is happening.

 

Many players will ask, what would become of carrier if this solution were to be implemented? Well, another thread long ago posted a great suggestion. Carrier would become true to its name and function to actually carry extra spare capacity for the player. It would work like this. The player has full energy, ammo, health, etc. but there are ammo boxes and energy on the floor. Carrier would pickup the ammo and energy and carry (store) it until the player's ammo or energy dropped then Carrier would replenish the player's ammo or energy the same as if the player had picked those items up. The amounts of extra capacity that Carrier carries (stores) would need to be stated and somehow shown on the screen for the player's information

 

With the nagging issue of loot pickup removed from the equation using the proposed solution above the companions can be individually unique with unique powers and allow the players to choose them with the same decision process as when selecting a warframe. That is assuming that the kubrow abilities are reworked to be reliable, functional, and interesting. At the moment the kubrow abilities closest to being reliable and functional are the raksa's howl & protect and the sahasa's dig.

Edited August 29, 2015 by cobra302