[Factions] Giving The Enemy Factions Stronger Identity (Via Their Combat)

[Morec0]

What am I on about here?  I want the enemy factions of Warframe to stand out more when we're fighting against them. I want each to have their own unique tweaks and tricks that make them something more their own aside from just damage and armor types. Something that says "this is Grineer tactics" or "this is Corpus tactics" to the player and gives a greater sense of individuality to them.

 

And so I've made a few suggestions that I think would help in that regards.  It's a pretty sloppy list atm but basically it's going to be set up like this:

 

Faction Name - General identity

 

Unique Trick 1

Unique Trick 2

 

And this was also written up and posted without the kind of quality control I try to put into the majority of my posts, but it got the point across, I felt, and I've had this idea in my head for a while so I decided to go ahead and put it out there.  Feel free to posts your comments, suggestions, or questions and I'll fix this idea up as times goes along.

 

Grineer – Heavy armor and damaging weapons

 

Tactical Deployments (Blunt, Rampart)

Ramparts will appear throughout the map, Blunts will continue to be deployable, but more will be added to the Grineer arsenal to make them even more effective.

 

Stinger – Like the rampart this weapon is a turret that can be use by Grineer and Tenno alike, but unlike the Rampart it lacks the shield protecting the user from damage.  Due to its more compact nature, however, it can be carried and deployed anywhere.

 

Auto-Vital – A portal healing station that can be deployed by the Grineer, it is very “squishy” but will heal all Grineer in the area around it unless destroyed or hacked by the Tenno – in the case of the latter it will then proceed to heal a set amount of damage from nearby Tenno.

 

Arc Traps – You may hate them, you may not notice them, but Grineer may now be able to carry them and deploy them on the field of battle.

Combat formation training means the more Grineer there are around one another the stronger all become.

While ideally this could manifest in ACTUAL combat formations having different effects, I just don’t think the technology is quite there for DE yet.  So as it stands Grineer will get stronger based on how many other Grineer are standing with them. 

 

It would be an average-but-stacking buff, the kind of thing that may not be noticed with just one or two Grineer together but get up into sevens and eights and you’ll start to see it, they’ll take less damage, dish more out, and the more there are the stronger this effect will get.

 

 

Corpus – Regenerating shields keep Corpus health safe from EVERYTHING, even Toxic and Viral damages now, until they’re depleted.

 

Crewmen now much rarer but different types provide different bonuses to the robotics around them.

The lore says that actually meeting the Corpus is rare, and so I’d like to emulate this.  To make up for this, though, the different Crewmen types will not provide powerful buffs to ALL MOAs, Ospreys, Bursas, and Hyenas (yes, I think Hyenas should become regular enemies) that are around them.  The innate range would be roughly the size of a max Nullifier bubble.

 

Crewman – More damage.

 

Detron Crewman – All Corpus robotics now have a shotgun-spread effect on their weapons.

 

Prod Crewman – All Corpus robotics now have a high chance for proc Electricity with their attacks and do bonus Electricity damage.

 

Elite Crewman – Increased critical strike change.

 

Sniper Crewman – Increased accuracy.

 

Tech – Along with the whole deploying Ospreys thing the Tech gives Corpus robotics regenerating health and bonus shields.

 

Nullifier Crewman – Enemies within the bubble can’t be affected by abilities, but that also leads into the below.

Now only faction able to prevent abilities.

Be it the Scrambus, Comba, or Nullifier Crewmen, the Corpus are now the ONLY faction that can prevent ability use and have any immunity to it.  This effect will be removed – at least for the most part – from all other enemy units and will no longer be anything to worry about… UNLESS, of course, you’re fighting against Corpus.

In which case: good luck.

 

 

Infested – Once attack instantly go on Alert permanently and have regenerating health.

 

Spawn anywhere in the map by burrowing up from below.

The Infested need to be able to surprised, startle, overwhelm.  They’re a soft faction relying on numbers, and when they can just be gated and tunneled through the narrow passages of the various maps they’re in they lose this effect.

 

To this extent the Infested may now burrow through the terrain.  This won’t be available to ALL Infested, however, larger ones like the Ancients and Juggernauts won’t be able to but the smaller Infested at any time will be able to jump below the ground and pop up some ways away.

 

Of course, that’s just AFTER the spawn, ANY Infested at all can spawn up from the ground (maybe with the exception of Mutalist Ospreys) initially ANYWHERE across the map.

And if you’re cut above either of these emergences, be prepared to be knocked down – unless, of course, you have resistance.

Now only faction with Eximus units.

The Infested evolve.  Mutate.  Change.  This is what makes them what they are.  Because of this, they are the ones most fitting to have the Eximus traits, be it Caustic or everyone’s FAVORITE Parasitic.

 

Given we know next to NOTHING about them atm, this final one is REALLY tedious. Based n the little information we have, though, this is what I see being what we'll need to go against, however.

 

Sentients – Becomes resistant to damage types the more they’re used against them.

 

Players must take a few moments to physically extinguish their Oro via interaction to permanently kill them.

Just as Teshin’s been teaching us, unless the Oro is destroyed the possessor may rise again.  It will take a good chunk of time, but they WILL get back up with a vengeance.  So if you want the Sentients to stay down FOR GOOD you’ll need to take a moment to interact with and crush the Oro yourself.  Work with your team to crush as many as you can before the groups you just killed get back up or you’ll have to face them all over again, and with their defensive abilities… it’s probably in your best interests to avoid that.

Constantly moving and attacking at the same time.

Like a rail gun.  They’ll shoot and they’ll attack.  They’re orbit around Tenno and melee.  They’ll keep on the move and be THAT much harder to hit as their MAIN A.I. tactic.  Put your aim to the test against these guys or be prepared to burn a lot of revives trying to take them down.

 

 

And lastly, Corrupted... I just kinda picture them having the traits of the above based on which unit's in place. Nothing more special than that. I see the Corrupted as the faction that is meant to test how well you preform against all of the others at once, and while they definitely need a little more TLC I don't see them as needing their own unique... anything, save the Void Tower tileset, of course.

 

 

Thoughts?

Edited November 19, 2015 by Morec0

[TaurusDeRoma]

It sounds very complicated to include in the game, but I hope they do. This will offer much needed variety from all enemies.

[AkikoShikata]

How will Neural Sentry corruption affect the corrupted faction? Will they merely be copies of the original factions, giving them way too many boosts?

 

I like the idea, just interested in how it'll affect the void. Also, mission modes will have to be faction based in order for this to work well or it'll be too overpowering sometimes or just nothing.

 

I also think stacking buffs, especially those from the corpus, may make them a little too powerful in late game.

[Astrotrap]

I'm not sure how many changes the Infested need - after all, their emphasis on melee makes them already feel much different from the other factions.

 

And the Corpus changes sound kind of annoying (if justifiable). I want to cheese their missions with Dual Ichor >:Y

 

Grineer ideas are good, though. So that's alright.

[(PSN)Fac3kick3r_lolz]

Oy, Morec0. I actually agree with this. In the current state of the game. The only real difference between a Crewman and a Lancer is what they look like and is their weapon hitscan (Edit: That and do they have armor)? Also Hyenas as regular enemies? I remember the Proxy Rebellion Tactical Alert and Hyenas were basically more agile moas with tougher weapons. It was pretty fun to fight and I'd love to see them as regular enemies but keep them in mid to high level content to let new players get used to the game before they get destroyed by a Hyena.

Edited November 13, 2015 by (PS4)Fac3kick3r_lolz

[4MostlyHarmless2]

Grineer 

 

By visual design, it actually looks like the Grineer are designed to crouch behind cover: if you notice, they seem heavily armored on top and less armored around the lower waist area. So you're right, the Grineer behavior should focus on more defensive tactics, like setting up Blunts/Arc Traps, gathering around ramparts/ heavy units, creating chokepoints, etc.  However, they should also keep their more aggressive behavior that involves marching forward in a crowd under the cover/ protection of a Heavy Unit. 

 

- Seekers should be the only ones who can deploy Arc Traps on the go, and Troopers and Lancers should be the only ones carrying blunts. 

 

- Grineer Melee units should stay out of the fight more often, staying behind cover during firefights and only charging in when the Tenno are at a certain distance (10-15 meters). 

 

- The Grineer should have Eximi, but limited to Arson, Arctic and Blitz Eximi (no more of those Parasitic Scorpions thank you very much). It fits more with their faction to have a mobile defensive eximus (Arctic), a balanced defensive-offensive eximus (blast), and a highly offensive eximus (Arson). 

 

 

Corpus: 

 

Yes, I would love more robots to smash to bits, thank you very much. I wholly agree that the crewmen should be more of repairs and maintenance guys who give buffs to the robots rather than them fighting alongside them so often. 

 

- Crewmen/ Detron Crewmen should also grant minor health regeneration to nearby robotics, but only if they are not engaged in combat. 

 

- The Tech should be able to deploy all kinds of Ospreys, and on certain maps should have a special ability that will "summon" a wave of reinforcements by forcing all nearby Moa cabinets or Moa pop-up pads to spawn units.

- The Corpus should have the Shock, Parasitic, and Guardian Eximi only, to fit in more with the whole "power nullification" theme.

 

 

Infested: 

 

To be honest I think they're in a pretty good place right now, and don't really need to "pop up" out of nowhere. However,  think they should have a more aggressive ramp-up system. The longer you take in an Infested mission, the higher their levels become.

 

Think of it more like every mission with the infested will be a survival mission: if you take your time, or don't kill them before they re-spawn in a different location, they will just keep on leveling up and getting stronger as the mission progresses. Imagine it like how a lot of real-life diseases are: if you stop them at early stages they're easy to deal with, but if you wait too long or try to shortcut their treatment, it can get really dangerous.

 

- The Infested should have access to all the eximi, but their most frequent ones should be Leech/Sanguine, Parasitic, and Venomous Eximi. 

[TaurusDeRoma]

The Grineer seem more likely to have Splinter Cell like units, being melee and all, they should be able to do maneuvers similar to the Tenno, excluding wall grab, that should be Hyenas only.

 

The Corpus should have more Disruption Eximii instead.

[Morec0]

How will Neural Sentry corruption affect the corrupted faction? Will they merely be copies of the original factions, giving them way too many boosts?

 

I like the idea, just interested in how it'll affect the void. Also, mission modes will have to be faction based in order for this to work well or it'll be too overpowering sometimes or just nothing.

 

I also think stacking buffs, especially those from the corpus, may make them a little too powerful in late game.

 

Ahhh. Completely forgot about the Corrupted. I'll have to give it some thought but generally speaking: yeah. I'd hope for Corrupted to be able to have all the tricks of the races it's got under it's influence. To me Corrupted are supposed to be the end-game scenario, a combination of all the different factors, damage and armor types, abilities and effects, that we've faced thus far to really test our skills.

 

Yeah, they are VERY lacking in that department.

 

 

The Grineer seem more likely to have Splinter Cell like units, being melee and all, they should be able to do maneuvers similar to the Tenno, excluding wall grab, that should be Hyenas only.

 

The Corpus should have more Disruption Eximii instead.

 

The Grineer are nowhere NEAR what the Tenno are, and why should the Corpus have special Eximii when they already have units that do exactly that?

 

 

I'm not sure how many changes the Infested need - after all, their emphasis on melee makes them already feel much different from the other factions.

 

And the Corpus changes sound kind of annoying (if justifiable). I want to cheese their missions with Dual Ichor >:Y

 

Grineer ideas are good, though. So that's alright.

 

Admitedly both the shield tweak and the regenerating health both are there because it just didn't feel to me like just the general shields/alert structure was really living up to the overall identity the way the Grineer and Sentients did. I do think it would be better off with that particular shield change, but it's entirely reasonable not to add in.

 

As for the Infested, they are indeed the most different from all the other factions, but that really holds them back. Especially given with how mobile with all the crazy weapons and abilities the Tenno have it's honestly a little easy to stop the hordes and hordes of them that are SUPPOSED to be threatening but really don't do much. Like you said, they're melee focused - but that ONLY makes them effective IF they're able to get around and swarm you. I geared these change suggestions towards helping them with that.

 

The Infested are supposed to evoke certain horror themes, they're SUPPOSED to have some scary attached to them. And this helps.

 

 

Oy, Morec0. I actually agree with this. In the current state of the game. The only real difference between a Crewman and a Lancer is what they look like and is their weapon hitscan (Edit: That and do they have armor)? Also Hyenas as regular enemies? I remember the Proxy Rebellion Tactical Alert and Hyenas were basically more agile moas with tougher weapons. It was pretty fun to fight and I'd love to see them as regular enemies but keep them in mid to high level content to let new players get used to the game before they get destroyed by a Hyena.

 

Aye, that proxy alert was a big influence on the idea and reasoning behind it. All in all, I don't think we should be facing off against Proxies as Assassination targets for the Corpus. Those should be moments where we ACTUALLY STRIKE at the heart of the enemy, dealing a blow to its people, not just its products. I think all - with MAYBE the exception of Jackal since he IS the earliest - Corpus mechanical bosses should be replaced with a living, breathing Corpus person. Someone tied into the workings of the Corpus that we have to eliminate.

[S.T.M.P.D]

For Sentients, what I'd like is for them to detect the tactics your using and actually change their physical form: Like, if you're using short-range weaponry a whole bunch the base infantry units start using sniper rifles and railguns.

Also: how would stealth be different for each faction? Any ideas?

Edited November 13, 2015 by S.T.M.P.D

[Morec0]

Also: how would stealth be different for each faction? Any ideas?

 

Honestly, with how stealth is I think it needs it's own total overhaul before we can really get into any ideas of individualized mechanics for it. But, as I noted, Stealth against the Infested would be pretty much impossible after the first kill.

[Morec0]

Single bump

[LilLemay]

I really like the idea(s), some of them sound kinda annoying, but in a good way (if that makes sense)

[SethAlvory]

Ahhh. Completely forgot about the Corrupted. I'll have to give it some thought but generally speaking: yeah. I'd hope for Corrupted to be able to have all the tricks of the races it's got under it's influence. To me Corrupted are supposed to be the end-game scenario, a combination of all the different factors, damage and armor types, abilities and effects, that we've faced thus far to really test our skills.

 

Yeah, they are VERY lacking in that department.

Given the star chart rework, and the fact that the void is getting a massive overhaul/getting destroyed, I think we should wait and see how things play out before discussing what should be done w/ the Corrupted.

 

 

As for the Infested, they are indeed the most different from all the other factions, but that really holds them back. Especially given with how mobile with all the crazy weapons and abilities the Tenno have it's honestly a little easy to stop the hordes and hordes of them that are SUPPOSED to be threatening but really don't do much. Like you said, they're melee focused - but that ONLY makes them effective IF they're able to get around and swarm you. I geared these change suggestions towards helping them with that.

 

The Infested are supposed to evoke certain horror themes, they're SUPPOSED to have some scary attached to them. And this helps.

Speaking of this, I really enjoyed the uniqueness of the recent halloween event, the feeling of powerlessness, and having to exploit the environment in order to emerge victorious was a breath of fresh air from the way the rest of the game functions, and I think this could work for the infested, if maybe only happening occasionally.

 

Aye, that proxy alert was a big influence on the idea and reasoning behind it. All in all, I don't think we should be facing off against Proxies as Assassination targets for the Corpus. Those should be moments where we ACTUALLY STRIKE at the heart of the enemy, dealing a blow to its people, not just its products. I think all - with MAYBE the exception of Jackal since he IS the earliest - Corpus mechanical bosses should be replaced with a living, breathing Corpus person. Someone tied into the workings of the Corpus that we have to eliminate.

Honestly, I feel like other corpus proxy bosses making it into regular missions is kind of a slap in the face to the Jackal fight: "Tenno, there's this really big proxy that the corpus are develeping a prototype for. You must go destroy it before it can be mass produced!" So you go and wipe the thing off the face of Venus, but lo and behold, later down the line, you discover the hyena pack, which are much more mobile, and in my opinion, much more dangerous than the Jackal could ever hope to be. And they're mass-produced enough to appear in non-assassination missions. And come to think of it, the Jackal probably wouldn't have been able to get very far even if it were mass-produced, considering it's so bulky and wouldn't be able to navigate most tilesets. Kinda makes the victory against the Jackal seem kinda hollow.

Though I do agree w/ you that there should be more Corpus bosses that are actual Corpus. I kinda hope Nef Anyo ends up replacing one of the Proxy fights(perhaps Ambulas, the pluto boss shouldn't be that anti-climactic of a fight.) rather than replacing "the sergeant" like he probably will.

[Morec0]

Honestly, I feel like other corpus proxy bosses making it into regular missions is kind of a slap in the face to the Jackal fight: "Tenno, there's this really big proxy that the corpus are develeping a prototype for. You must go destroy it before it can be mass produced!" So you go and wipe the thing off the face of Venus, but lo and behold, later down the line, you discover the hyena pack, which are much more mobile, and in my opinion, much more dangerous than the Jackal could ever hope to be. And they're mass-produced enough to appear in non-assassination missions. And come to think of it, the Jackal probably wouldn't have been able to get very far even if it were mass-produced, considering it's so bulky and wouldn't be able to navigate most tilesets. Kinda makes the victory against the Jackal seem kinda hollow.

Though I do agree w/ you that there should be more Corpus bosses that are actual Corpus. I kinda hope Nef Anyo ends up replacing one of the Proxy fights(perhaps Ambulas, the pluto boss shouldn't be that anti-climactic of a fight.) rather than replacing "the sergeant" like he probably will.

 

We... kinda do see Jackal about. Lynx model? Could get another variation of it - smaller and able to move through the hallways, maybe?

 

But I'll say that the current Proxy bosses would be fine to stay, but we need changes to them.  Where is the impact of destroying one robot when, as many players have actively pointed out, they still have the details on how to rebuild it on file?

 

If we ARE going to have boss fight against Robots, make the ultimate goal NOT just the boss's death - like, after the boss is dead have us move into a room behind their arena and kill the Corpus characer behind their design or interact with a computer console to "purge the blueprint files" on them. But just "kill this robot and things will be fine" is kinda a shoddy excuse all in all.

[SethAlvory]

We... kinda do see Jackal about. Lynx model? Could get another variation of it - smaller and able to move through the hallways, maybe?

 

But I'll say that the current Proxy bosses would be fine to stay, but we need changes to them.  Where is the impact of destroying one robot when, as many players have actively pointed out, they still have the details on how to rebuild it on file?

 

If we ARE going to have boss fight against Robots, make the ultimate goal NOT just the boss's death - like, after the boss is dead have us move into a room behind their arena and kill the Corpus characer behind their design or interact with a computer console to "purge the blueprint files" on them. But just "kill this robot and things will be fine" is kinda a shoddy excuse all in all.

Put it that way, the Jackal fight is even more pointless. Which, I guess is ok(technically, both of Vay Hek's fights are pointless, since he escapes in the end) provided there's an ingame reason for a final version to make it to the field despite our interference. Not every fight needs to be a decisive victory, as far as the story is concerned, I suppose. But there should atleast be something given in the lore that answers "I destroyed Jackal 1.0 in order to prevent there being a Jackal 2.0. Why is there a Jackal 2.0?".

[Morec0]

Put it that way, the Jackal fight is even more pointless. Which, I guess is ok(technically, both of Vay Hek's fights are pointless, since he escapes in the end) provided there's an ingame reason for a final version to make it to the field despite our interference. Not every fight needs to be a decisive victory, as far as the story is concerned, I suppose. But there should atleast be something given in the lore that answers "I destroyed Jackal 1.0 in order to prevent there being a Jackal 2.0. Why is there a Jackal 2.0?".

 

But even then, at LEAST with the Vay Hek fight we're still attacking and attempting to kill a character of authority - even if he gets away in the end, it's clear based on the target that we're going after someone who's death/defeat will mean something. But against just plain robots? What's, ultimately, the difference between Jackal and the countless MOAs we fight?

 

And that kind of "I destroyed Jackal 1.0 to prevent 2.0" is PRECISELY what I'm getting at when I mention the pointlessness of the robot bosses, and why they ought be replaced. Even if Jackal stays because... well, Jackal, he's pretty much the second boss we face so not having it be someone world-shattering seems fine imo - the OTHER Corpus bosses, the ones on the higher level planets that are further in the game and ought to have a greater impact on the story, ought to be characters that CAN'T just be rebuilt overnight.

[Raptorator]

I think our fight aginst the Jackal is the main reason for the creation of the "Hyena" and "Lynx"-Proxys, because it showed the Corpus how, useless a giant Porxy against highly mobile enemies like the Tenno is. Therefore they created a smaller and more agile version of the Jackal to face the Tenno.

 

Maybe the information about the "Jackal" was even leaked on purpose, to lure the Tenno into the research facility and face the Jacke in a special arena,that was only created for the purpose of studying the mobility of the Tenno, which is the reason why the Hyena have our ability of "wall-latching".

[Kinetos]

+1