Nessus - Mimic And Puppetmaster Warframe (Now With Art!)

[Azamagon]

So, here goes my idea for a new Warframe:

 

Name: Nessus

The namechoice is taken from a sci-fi novel, called Ringworld. Nessus is a character of an alien "puppeteer" race.

 

Inspiration: I got the idea for this Warframe from playing Dota 2, as Rubick. While that was the base of the idea (mainly as a Mimic), my ideas got expanded into making a mimic and puppeteer hybrid, as the ability ideas kind of merged with one another. Some of the abilities might have hints of feeling a bit like Nyx's, but still not quite.

 

Role: Mimic / Puppetmaster, with the intention of having his 2 main strengths being centered around CC and stealth, with a tiny sprinkle of damage and even less so, mobility.

However, due to the nature of his abilities, he is also very adaptable and might be able to change his role a bit, with every game possibly becoming very different from your previous run, depending on both the enemies you face, and the allies you have with you.

 

Stats: These are not superimportant, other than that he should be kind of frail, but with decent speed and a whole bunch of energy. (Think basestats along the lines of: 100 shields and health, 65 armor, 1.15 speed and 150 energy)

 

Looks: Pardon the poor quality, I'm not exactly skilled in the arts of drawing:

I dunno if it's drawn well enough, so to describe it in words: The general idea is that it's a male Warframe with a mix of a metallical and "wooden" look (those "bars" you see on his legs and arms etc), with a grim and almost sadistic tone on him. Has a metallical "X" on his back (similar to one of those puppeteering devices), with energy coming out close to the tips. His fingers are quite long and claw-like, with energy(strings) flowing out from his fingertips.

 

Abilities: Now here we come to the fun (and LONG) part! Note: Numbers are just examples, these can always change. The base mechanics and their intentions are what matters.

Due to the explanations needed for the abilities, I'm gonna put this section in spoilers

 

EDIT: Now with some silly art included! :D

 

#1 - Mimic

This ability has both a Hold and a Tap action.

* Hold = While holding down this ability, Nessus prepares to copy an ability. Upon releasing the ability, he will copy the ability from the one he aimed at. This costs 5 energy. Enemies have specific abilities (list further down), while copying from allies always steals their 1st ability (details about that in a list further down).

Copying an ability is a onehanded action (it doesn't prevent movement or reloading etc).

Copying has a long cast range, say, 35/40/45/50 meters?

You can only copy one ability at a time (which you will memorize for 60/90/120/150 seconds).

* Tap = Use the copied ability you have memorized. Energycost for this varies; Allied abilities cost whatever they do for them, while most enemy ones costs just 10 energy.

Note: As for copied abilities from allies, the damage, range etc is based on YOUR level, YOUR mods and YOUR augments, not your ally's level or modding, it only matters WHO your ally is, to detemine the base ability, nothing else.
 

Power attributes' effects on Mimic:

Power Efficiency - Affects both the copying and casting cost.

Power Strength - No direct effect on Mimic (but affects the copied ability's strength though)
Power Range - Affects Mimic cast range, as well as the copied ability's range-effects.
Power Duration - Affects Mimic's memory, as well as the copied ability's duration-effects.

 

Mimic Augment idea:

Surpassing Mimicry - Copied abilities from allies will grant their corresponding augment (effect depends on this augment's level). Copied abilities from enemies will be ... i dunno, 15/25/35/50% cheaper to cast? (This goes past the energy efficiency cap!)

 

Quick silly illustration of the ability:

 

 

#2 - Hangman
Sends forth a chaotic swirl of energy strings, in a medium-wide but very "tall" line (similar hit detection to Zenurik's ability, Void Pulse). Any enemy caught by this energy will be hung up HIGH in the air (higher than the hanging from Void Pulse / Bastille, but still limitted by the ceiling). The strings will silence as well as strangle and/or crush the caught targets by a large amount of energy strings.

Casting Hangman is silent, and potential expansion on its stealthiness: Enemies lifted by Hangman are turned INVISIBLE to other enemies (not for Tenno though, they'd just be kind of transparent)

 

Every second a target is hung up there, it deals 3% of the target's current health + 20/30/40/50 finisher damage. To emphasize its "cruelty", dieing to Hangman should cause sever dismemberment >:)
Costs 50 energy to cast
Lasts 8/10/12/15 seconds on affected enemies
Width and height similar to Void Pulse (whatever they are), but the range is quite a bit longer

 

Power attributes' effects on Hangman:

Power Efficiency - Affects casting cost.
Power Strength - Affects the flat damage value, but not the "current health"-damage
Power Range - Affects the width and range of the the energy swirl
Power Duration - Affects the hangtime

 

Hangman augment idea:

None for now.

Note: An idea to make it further make the ability more fitting to Nessus' control of the strings - While possessing an enemy with #3, or when controlling enemies as "puppets" with #4, holding down the button for Hangman will, rather than casting Hangman as a line of energy, instead cast Hangman only on all the possessed and/or
puppet targets you currently have under your control! Think of that as a "you are no longer of any use to me"-kind of move.

 

Quick silly illustration of the ability:

 

 

#3 - Possession
Nessus projects himself into a target enemy, staggering it, then allowing full control of the enemy, such as moving around and attacking with it (as well as more abilities, more to that later). Possession is also a silent cast. When Nessus controls an enemy, he is not targettable by enemies, UNTIL he alerts his presence to enemies, then he is open for enemy fire. So being sneaky and doing silent stealthkills with the possessed enemy will allow you to infiltrate safely.
A note here on "friendly" fire: Similarly to Mind Control; If Nessus' allies attack the possessed target, the damage dealt will not be delivered until the possession expires (wether by duration or if Nessus leaves manually).

Visually, you will see Nessus' (ethereal) hands and head above the target, with strings going from the fingers down
to the possessed body (to clearly notify that you are possessing it)

While in possession of an enemy, the possessed enemy will suffer all of the damage taken (Nessus is thus invulnerable).

Nessus deals 150/200/250/300% bonus damage of what that enemy would normally do, but only towards enemies (you
cannot friendly fire)
What Nessus can and can't do while in the body:
* He can attack in various ways (shoot with weapons, melee and so on, those things are listed further down)
* He can cast the possessed enemy's special ability freely with #1. If he wants to STEAL this particular ability for
later use with Nessus himself, he can hold #1 to do so, if you want to.
* Nessus can cast #2, Hangman, out from the possessed body, possibly aiding in stealthy endevaours (or general mayhem). As mentioned on Hangman; If you hold-cast Hangman, Nessus will leave the body as well as cast Hangman on the possessed body (as well as any "puppets" from his #4)
* Nessus can exit the body whenever he wants by casting #3 again (this also happens upon expiraton). This will quickly allow Nessus to start  moving and such again. Leaving the body will also deal 150/250/350/500 finisher damage to the target and knock down the ex-possessed target.
Note: However, if the possessed target DIES while Nessus controls it, then Nessus is forced out of the body and Nessus is knocked down instead.
Note 2: Certain enemies cannot be possessed (like bosses). Casting Possession on them will instead just instantly deal the finisher
damage to them.

Note 3: Since you can leave the possessed body by recasting it, that means you can use this as a mobility-ability, although it costs lots of energy, so it shouldn't be overused for that :P
* Nessus can also cast #4 out from the possessed body. This is a good way to cast his ulti, as Nessus is relatively
safe while possessing a body, allowing him to posision himself well for the ulti to get as great effect out of it as possible
* Besides basic movement, you can jump and sprint with the possessed enemy, but you cannot do any other parkour movement.

Costs 75 energy to cast. Could potentially be a "toggle" too (with like 25 initial energy cost and then a drain of about 3 to 5 energy per second. That would probably be better for balance, no?)
As said before, you have a 150/200/250/300% damage bonus with the possessed enemy
Possession cast range of 15/20/25/30 meters
Possession duration of 15/20/25/30 seconds (if it's not a toggle)

 

Power attributes' effects on Possession:

Power Efficiency - Affects casting cost.
Power Strength - Affects the damage bonus and the "exit" damage
Power Range - Affects the cast range
Power Duration - Affects the duration (or the energydrain, if it's a toggle)

 

Possession augment idea:

None for now.

 

Quick silly illustration of the ability:

 

 

#4 - Puppet Army
Nessus throws out energy strings in all directions, making all enemies within an 8/10/12/15 meter radius (note: affected by line of sight!) to become his puppets (Think: AoE Mind Control!), for 10/15/20/25 seconds.

As "puppets" they will be considered your allies and deal 50/75/100/125% bonus damage as well as move 5/10/15/20% faster. Just like with Mind Control and Possession: If Nessus' allies or Nessus himself attacks the puppets, the damage dealt will not be delivered until the puppet status expires (wether by duration or if Nessus ends it early by recasting manually).

Recasting ends the ability early, allowing you to take control of a new (or the same) group of enemies immediately. Expiration by any means (as in, if duration runs out, or manually ending it) also knocks down all the ex-puppets as well as deals 300/500/700/900 slash damage to them.
While in enemies are Nessus' puppets, they lose 0,5% of their current health every second. (This is to prevent continuous use of the same enemies over and over + could be explained lorewise that you are shooting in unstable void-energy in them to control them, thus hurting them)

Note: If you cast Hangman with the regular "tap"-cast, puppets won't be affected, as they are considered allies. But, as mentioned before, if you cast Hangman with a "hold"-cast, they will all be affected by Hangman, no matter where they are. Doing so will also instantly remove them from their allied "puppet"-status.

Visually, there will be some clear strings going from the puppets' bodies up into the air (seemingly attached to thin air),
as well as a mild body glow on the enemies, to signify that they are your puppet allies.

Costs 100 energy to cast
Deals 300/500/700/900 slash damage to enemies upon expiration/uncasting, as well as 0,5% of their current health every second while they are puppets
Puppets deals 50/75/100/125% bonus damage and move 5/10/15/20% faster
Radius of 8/10/12/15 meters, (Remember: affected by LoS)
Duration of 10/15/20/25 seconds

 

Power attributes' effects on Puppet Army:

Power Efficiency - Affects casting cost.
Power Strength - Affects the expiration slash damage, as well as the puppet movement speed and attack damage bonuses.
Power Range - Affects the cast radius
Power Duration - Affects the puppet duration

 

Puppet Army augment idea:

None for now.

 

Quick silly illustration of the ability:

 

So, if you have read the ability ideas, you might ask, how does he "play"?

 

For stealthplay:

Nessus possesses enemies with his #3, Possession, to go around stealthkilling enemies relatively safely.
Alternatively / additionally for stealth, he can hang enemies with his #2, Hangman, and shoot them down with quiet weapons.
His #4 sees lesser use in stealth though.

For open combat:

This is where his #4, Puppet Army, shines the most, letting you have an everscaling army by his side. Casting his ulti is not supersafe though (due to LoS-restrictions and Nessus' general frailty), so possessing a body with his #3, to run in with the possessed unit and ulti with it in the midst of the chaos is generally a wise choice. Furthermore, his #2 can be used either as snap CC / damage, or to finish off controlled puppets and/or your possessed target.
And the possession ability can also be used seperately for open combat, as it gives you much needed indirect tankiness by using the ENEMY health instead of your own,  as well as giving quick access to that particular enemy's special ability.

His #1, Mimic, is his most versatile and "free" ability. Use this with all the wits you can! It is, probably, most suited for open combat though.

 

 

Now, as for all those "more to that later", let's have a look at the abilities you can copy, and what kind of things you can do while possessing enemies:

 

Allied abilities (accessed by casting Mimic on allies)

Work as expected with most Warframes, with a few notes / outliers;

* Equinox - Allows you to shift between day and night form, but the only benefit from doing so, is getting the temporary stat bonuses
* Ivara - Always grants you the CURRENTLY selected arrow that Ivara has chosen. Alternatively, if easier to program, it could ALWAYS grant you her Cloak Arrow?
* Nessus - Grants you the ability he stole last. If he has nothing stolen, then you cannot copy from him.

 

Enemy abilities (accessed by casting Mimic on enemies, or by possessing enemies and tapping "Mimic" during it)

Work in progress!

 

GRINEER:

Butcher, Powerfist, Guardsman, Prosecutors & Shield Lancers - Speed Boost (like 30% movespeed for a few seconds?)

Flameblade - Teleport (instant cast, without the "finisher" opener like Ash though)

Scorpion - Grappling Hook

Ballista - ?
Lancer, Elite Lancer, Trooper & Eviscerator - Plasma Grenade

Hellion - Jet Flight (Weeeee! Steering similar to Wukong's "Cloud Walker" for a brief moment)

Scorch - ?

Seeker - Deploy Latcher (damage will be WAY higher than theirs though)

 

Bombard/Napalm/Heavy Gunner/Spark - Seismic Shockwave

Commander - Switch Teleport

Drahk Master - Summon 2 Drahks (Energy versions? Max 2 out at a time, summoning new ones kill the old ones. This costs 25 energy)

Manic - Quickstep (miniteleport forward) (Note: Not possessable, so only accessible through Mimic)

 

Drahk - ?

 

Regulators, Latchers and Rollers probably shouldnt have an ability / be possessable.

 

 

CORPUS:

Crewman & Elite Crewman - Plasma Grenade

Detron Crewman - ?

Sniper Crewman - ?

Tech - Deply Shield Osprey (Energy Version? Can only deploy 1 at a time, casting it again destroys the old one)

Prod Crewman - Speed Boost (like 30% movespeed for a few seconds?)

Nullifier Crewman - ?

 

MOA - ?

Railgun MOA - ?

Fusion MOA - Deploy Drone (Energy Version? Can only deploy 1 at a time, casting it again destroys the old one. Costs 25 energy)

Anti MOA - ?

Shockwave MOA - Shockwave Stomp

 

All Bursas - Shockwave Bash (Note: Not possessable, so only accessible through Mimic)

 

Leech Osprey - Leech (Could grant you shield regeneration when hitting enemies, even if THEY don't have shields?)

Mine Osprey - Drop Mine

Oxium Osprey - Charge (No suicide though :P)

Sapping Osprey - Sapping Orb

Shield Osprey - Shield Repair (This is seperate from the passive shieldbuffing ability (the one where you link to nearby allies, buffing their shields), this ability restores a little bit of shields instantly)

Drone - ?

Scavenger Drone - Vacuum (Like a minor personal "AoE Greedy Pull"?)

 

 

INFESTED:

Charger & Runner - Speed Boost (like 30% movespeed for a few seconds?)

Leaper - Pounce (though not with the 10x damage taken effect!)

Volatile Runner - Goo-splosion! (No, you won't suicide with this :P)

 

Crawler - ?

Nauseous Crawler - Paralyzing Fluid (yuck!)

Toxic Crawler - Deploy Toxic Cloud (similar to their death effects)

Electric Crawler - ? (The lightning is their ranged weapon)

Lobber Crawler - ? (The "lob" is their ranged weapon)

 

Mutalist Osprey - Toxic Charge

Swarm-Mutalist MOA & Tar-Mutalist MOA - Shockwave Stomp (The swarm & tar is their ranged weapon)

 

Ancient Healer, Ancient Disruptor & Toxic Ancient - Grappling Hook

Boiler - ? (Spawn a Pod, which summons a random Energy-Infested? Only one at a time though)

Brood Mother - Summon 4x Maggots (summoning new ones kills the old maggots)

Juggernaut - Charge / Toxic Rain? (Note: Not possessable, so only accessible through Mimic)

 

 

CORRUPTED:

Corrupted Lancer & Corrupted Crewman - Plasma Grenade

Corrupted Butcher - Speed Boost (like 30% movespeed for a few seconds?)

Corrupted Nullifier - ?

Orokin Drone - Shield Repair (This is seperate from the passive shieldbuffing ability (the one where you link to nearby allies, buffing their shields), this ability restores a little bit of shields instantly)

Corrupted Heavy Gunner & Corrupted Bombard - Seismic Shockwave

Corrupted MOA - Deploy Drone (Energy Version? Can only deploy 1 at a time, casting it again destroys the old one. Costs 25 energy)

Corrupted Drone - ?

Corrupted Ancient - Grappling Hook

 

 

SENTIENTS:

Oculyst - Nothing, I guess, since they are just a quest-unit? If anything, maybe a codex-scanning ability, enabling you to scan for energy instead of credits? :P

Battalyst - Prism (the omnidirectional laser). Nessus using it is still mobile and can attack etc.

Conculyst - Whirlwind. Nessus is still mobile and can attack etc.

 

Enemy actions (accessed by casting Possession on enemies)

Work in progress!

 

* #1 button - Use the unit's active ability (What all those abilities are, are listed in the previous "Enemy Abilities" list)

 

* Regular attack (Mouse 1) - Basic / ranged attack. This would let you do the following

- Most ranged units: Shoot with your basic ranged weapon

- Most melee units: Attack with your basic melee weapon / attack

- All Corpus & Corrupted Ospreys/Drones: Shoot with laserweapons (even "utility" ones, like Leech/Shield/Mine/Sapping Ospreys, as their "utility" is their abilities)

- Mutalist Osprey: Spit toxic shot (the "charge" is its ability)

- Ancients: Arm-extension-attack

 

* Melee attack (E) - "Extra" melee attack for enemies with ranged weapons

- Most ranged units: Gun-melee hit

- Most melee units: Same as regular attack, attack with your melee weapon

- Shield Lancer: Shieldslam

- All MOAs - Kick

- All Bursas - Shockwave Bash

- All Corpus & Corrupted Ospreys/Drones: Shortrange electric shock (So they get some melee possibilities)

- Mutalist Osprey: Shortrange toxic puff (So they get some melee possibilities)

- All Ancients: Melee powerslap

Note: What I had in mind was also that doing the "melee" attack when unnoticed, would trigger a stealth-attack on enemies, allowing you to infiltrate and stealth-kill even while possessing enemies!

 

Furthermore, if you possess a unit with "passive" abilities, you provide this passive for your team too. Passives would be things such as:

* Auras, such as those from Eximus units and Prosecutors (Energydrain could maybe be an Energy Siphon-esque aura?)

* Shield osprey's shieldbonuses

* Nullifiers shieldbubble

 

I will polish this post a lot more, but later, as I'm off to bed now!

Please be gentle with your comments! :D

 

EDIT:

My post from further down, about an alternative to Mimic, a much simpler ability called "Voodoo"

IonCross - Inspired by the Puppetmaster from HoN that you suggested, I came up with a new skill that could possibly replace his Mimic skill. Here's the base thought of that new skill:

 

Voodoo - Place a voodoo puppet at a target location (just like Loki's decoy). Enemies within a certain range of the puppet, upon summoning it, get connected to the doll (energystrings protrude from the puppet). The enemies are instantly staggered upon this linking. Attacking the puppet hurts all the linked enemies in some way (more to that further down), and attacking the doll deals bonus damage. Status applications, CC or any kind of debuff (Heat status, Ragdoll, Molecular Prime, Nessus' own Hangman etc) spread with full force to all linked enemies as well if those are applied to the puppet, with the puppet seemingly unaffected (it won't be ragdolled or anything like that, it will remain in place no matter what).

When the puppet dies/expires/is removed (by recasting it), all linked enemies are knocked down.

 

As for how the damage is distributed and enemies linked, those numbers can be debatted. It could have various restrictions:

* Should it link to all enemies caught in the radius, or just a limitted amount?

* How much damagebonus does the puppet suffer when attacked - and should all damage be spread equally, or should it be divided among the enemies?

* Should the puppet have a limitted amount of health (probably not)?

* Should the puppet be attackable by enemies (probably not, at least not un-augmented), or should it be (uniquely enough) be invisible and only attackable by Nessus' and his allies (to tie into his semi-stealth theme)?

 

My main suggestions would be this:

* Version 1 - All enemies are caught in the radius, the puppet damagebonus is high (+200%), but total damage done is divided among them (status effects as exception, they still deal full potency no matter how many enemies they are spread to), taking enemies' max health into account as well as adjusting the distribution as linked enemies die. Damagebonus is affected by Power Strength.

* Version 2 - X number of enemies are caght in the radius, the damagebonus is low (+25%?), but all damage is dealt equally. Number of targets is affected by range, damagebonus by strength.

* No matter which version: Make the puppet have unlimited health, last semibriefly (10 seconds max rank? Affected by power duration), a semishort linking range (10 meters at max rank? Affected by power range), the puppet is invisible to enemies and only attackable by Nessus' and his allies.

 

Augment ideas:

* Binding Voodoo - The enemies caught by your Voodoo puppet are dragged in towards the puppet, and cannot move more than X meters away from it (this distance inversely affected by Power Range)

* Violent Voodoo - The puppet is no longer invisible, and it can now be attack by enemies as well, with X% damage-efficiency (affected by Power Strength).

 

Not only is this a new form of combat-tool, it is also far simpler to implement than Mimic (I guess?), thus also probably a better suggestion than Mimic.

 

As for Possession, it could still remain more or less the same, with the exception (maybe?) of not being able to use enemies' special abilities (that could still be done with, say, secondary fire though).

Edited February 4, 2016 by Azamagon

[Richtor2415]

+1 For coolness

[unexpectedbanan_]

I like the idea of altered warframes (just like how this one somewhat resembles nyx traits). We should have frames that we are comfortable knowing that they could be just as good as the previous. Pretty unique tho

[Azamagon]

+1 For coolness

Thanks! :)

 

I like the idea of altered warframes (just like how this one somewhat resembles nyx traits). We should have frames that we are comfortable knowing that they could be just as good as the previous. Pretty unique tho

Yeah, having familiar abilities (in Nessus' case, Puppet Army is like a mix of Nyx's Chaos and Nekros' SotD, while Hangman is sort of like a mix of the Zenurik school's Void Pulse and any damage-over-time ability) is not a bad idea, as long as they have some unique aspects to them.

 

Throw in some truly new abilities (Mimic and Possession in Nessus' case), and I really think you can have a nice and fresh Warframe. That's how I felt with Nezha; despite him pretty muich having 4 copy-esque abilities, he felt very unique anyway (part of that is due to his passive).

 

 

--------

Now, for some updates and some critique of my own stuff:

 

Added a whole bunch of new abilities you can copy with Mimic / use from Possession.

Also refreshed the "Enemy Actions" section (some of that might be obvious, some might be "forced", but I'm at least trying to make sure that possessing enemies is fun and versatile!)

 

As I'm adding stuff here, I notice that one either has to

A) Make some "bland" units not have any abilities to copy/use

B) CREATE new little abilities for those bland units

C) You have to stretch possible ability-options a bit (using their "death"-abilities as an active power, for example)

 

Option A is the easy option, and I can totally see that being a viable route to skip a lot of programming headache.

Option B takes a lot of effort, and I already gave some ideas for blander units (Like: Speed Boost for bland melee units, Shield Repair for the Corpus/Corrupted shield drones). While it would require a lot of effort to think up new little abilities, this option could also be the most fun!

Option C is something that can go alongside either option A and B. Examples of what I mean here is my suggested abilities from Volatile Runner, Toxic Crawler and Oxium Ospreys. Volatile Runner's ability would be to make the goo-explosion, but without the suicide (heh), Toxic Crawler would be to deploy toxic clouds akin to those that they drop upon death (farts, woo! :D), and Oxium Osprey's ability would be to allow you to charge forward with an explosive impact, but again without the suicide. In this case, the abilities exist in the gane, but they require a bit of rethinking first to be of any use for Nessus.

 

I also realize that those 2 abilities (Mimic in general & Possession's ability-useage) could be too complex to program (Possession could still work in a simpler form of course). So if those abilities prove to be too difficult to implement as suggested, I'd like to hear alternatives from you guys (at least for Mimic, as, like I said, Possession could still function in a simpler form, skipping all the "ability"-stuff)

[Azamagon]

Bump due to the addition of art! :D

 

Note: I'm not good at drawing, so pardon the poor quality. I at least tried to put a little bit of effort into illustrating his main looks.

The ability-images, however, are just quick and silly little drawings that hopefully can help to illustrate their functions a little bit better :D

[IonCross]

The new warframe idea is pretty sick. I play Rubick almost every match as well and I have been dreaming to find a similar warframe! I mostly create new concepts in everything I play (right now, Warframe, obviously) and find inspirations but never really shared it to anyone. :3

In my opinion, I think copying ally warframes isn't a good idea as of the moment. Since everyone can choose the same warframes and copying a single skill from an ally is kind of a waste in a skill slot. The reason that they choose "that" specific Warframe its because the ability kit is what you'll need to finish the job. Copying it won't have much impact in gameplay, plus we dont have cooldowns. Imagine 4 Nessus playing in the same mission? (lol) However,since DE has buffed a lot enemies already, why not mimic the enemies that you will kill or previously killed? Your first skill will act as a passive, ready to copy any abilities (or you can activate it and it will have a timer) then the next enemy you kill will grant you their special ability. E.g, get null field from Nullies, auras from eximus or shield buff from Drones. You can also combine your Possession skill as a bonus result on your Mimic skill. Once you have your Mimic skill active, and you killed an enemy using a finisher (or range stealth kill) will allow you to assume their identity and their stats! A complete copy! In this way you will definitely become as versatile as Rubick + Mystique :D. If you want to be a tank? Activate your Mimic and use a finisher on a bombard to be exactly like him and gain its stats as your bonus HP, armor, etc. Unlike Nyx's Mind Control, I guess you still get to use your primary weapon at least in disguise. A support? takedown a Nullie or shield Osprey and get that shield. Or if DE approves, you can become an effing kubrow! (lol). However you end this ability once you've done any maneuvers, since the enemies... well, do not know parkour (or you can deactivate it, expires, etc), or if you use other abilities. And you cannot recast Mimic if you're still in disguise. Since you'll need a finisher to get full effect, you might need a blinding Warframe,on non-stealth missions, as an ally to help with takedowns or check my next suggestion. (In this way you can take advantage of the skill whether the mission is Spy or not.)

 

Since Rubick is more of a utility hero in Dota, it will be fun to give Nessus the same usefulness, in some way. In replacement of Possession is Hack/Remote Control, Nessus can summon an object. Imagine transforming, possessing or creating a console in emergency situations that will disable enemy lock-downs and alarms (like Liset air support with no cooldown), or make solving consoles a lot easier. This will give you opportunity to make those finishers and rescue hostages faster in Sorties! You can also control your own Rampart from afar on a Grineer tileset (ofc damage/hp will be based on your power str or something to avoid OP.); re-configuring MOA "caskets" to summon MOAs on your side, and lastly, using it on Corpus cameras to burn enemies with the turrets. This skill can be an AoE form too. This will be like Nyx's Mind Control, except its the objects that makes the odd be ever in your favor. (Say bye bye to Sleight of Hand, just kidding! -- If DE reads this: maybe you can make this the new Sleight of Hand) :3

 

I don't have any ideas for Hangman and Puppet Army since Mind Control, Bastille, Undertow, and Nekros' Shadows pretty much delivers the same effects. Although I have played Heroes of Newerth and you might want to check out Puppet Master. He has crazy abilities too.Hope DE gets inspired with Nessus, same as you inspired me. Good luck!
 

[IonCross]

Check this out mate! Did you make this? Awesome!

\\

 

[(PSN)CrazyWill718]

I personally really like your Warframe idea as the idea of a puppet master one is something I'm a fan of however I think his 1 is kind of lackluster personally I think you should focus more on his puppet master theme. However this is just my personal idea and at the end the decision is all yours I just feel that the implement of a mimic ability would be to much work. For example when mimicking Equinox's metamorphis do you gain your own separate day and night forms or do you copy her's this is kind of similar to chroma also because when you mimic his first ability do you function off of his energy color or your own or if you mimic his fourth ability what would your summon look like. Also how would you think your mimic ability would handle in a horde of opponents.

[45neo]

Sound like a good idea. 

 

The only two things I would improve on are

 

1: reduce the abilities he can steal from enemies to a lower amount I.E. he steals abilities based on faction (grineer, corpus, corrupted, ect.) rather than by individual enemy type (would take to much coding for DE to make it work otherwise).

 

2: maybe make the 4th ability a bit more unique than a mass mind control... perhaps make it give your enemies a special weapon they attack with... or perhaps make them into suicidal crazy bombers >:D.

[Azamagon]

The new warframe idea is pretty sick. I play Rubick almost every match as well and I have been dreaming to find a similar warframe! I mostly create new concepts in everything I play (right now, Warframe, obviously) and find inspirations but never really shared it to anyone. :3

In my opinion, I think copying ally warframes isn't a good idea as of the moment. Since everyone can choose the same warframes and copying a single skill from an ally is kind of a waste in a skill slot. The reason that they choose "that" specific Warframe its because the ability kit is what you'll need to finish the job. Copying it won't have much impact in gameplay, plus we dont have cooldowns. Imagine 4 Nessus playing in the same mission? (lol) However,since DE has buffed a lot enemies already, why not mimic the enemies that you will kill or previously killed? Your first skill will act as a passive, ready to copy any abilities (or you can activate it and it will have a timer) then the next enemy you kill will grant you their special ability. E.g, get null field from Nullies, auras from eximus or shield buff from Drones. You can also combine your Possession skill as a bonus result on your Mimic skill. Once you have your Mimic skill active, and you killed an enemy using a finisher (or range stealth kill) will allow you to assume their identity and their stats! A complete copy! In this way you will definitely become as versatile as Rubick + Mystique :D. If you want to be a tank? Activate your Mimic and use a finisher on a bombard to be exactly like him and gain its stats as your bonus HP, armor, etc. Unlike Nyx's Mind Control, I guess you still get to use your primary weapon at least in disguise. A support? takedown a Nullie or shield Osprey and get that shield. Or if DE approves, you can become an effing kubrow! (lol). However you end this ability once you've done any maneuvers, since the enemies... well, do not know parkour (or you can deactivate it, expires, etc), or if you use other abilities. And you cannot recast Mimic if you're still in disguise. Since you'll need a finisher to get full effect, you might need a blinding Warframe,on non-stealth missions, as an ally to help with takedowns or check my next suggestion. (In this way you can take advantage of the skill whether the mission is Spy or not.)

 

Since Rubick is more of a utility hero in Dota, it will be fun to give Nessus the same usefulness, in some way. In replacement of Possession is Hack/Remote Control, Nessus can summon an object. Imagine transforming, possessing or creating a console in emergency situations that will disable enemy lock-downs and alarms (like Liset air support with no cooldown), or make solving consoles a lot easier. This will give you opportunity to make those finishers and rescue hostages faster in Sorties! You can also control your own Rampart from afar on a Grineer tileset (ofc damage/hp will be based on your power str or something to avoid OP.); re-configuring MOA "caskets" to summon MOAs on your side, and lastly, using it on Corpus cameras to burn enemies with the turrets. This skill can be an AoE form too. This will be like Nyx's Mind Control, except its the objects that makes the odd be ever in your favor. (Say bye bye to Sleight of Hand, just kidding! -- If DE reads this: maybe you can make this the new Sleight of Hand) :3

 

I don't have any ideas for Hangman and Puppet Army since Mind Control, Bastille, Undertow, and Nekros' Shadows pretty much delivers the same effects. Although I have played Heroes of Newerth and you might want to check out Puppet Master. He has crazy abilities too.Hope DE gets inspired with Nessus, same as you inspired me. Good luck!

 

Cool, you like Rubick too! :) I vary a lot of what I play, but he is one of those I have the most fun with :)

And please, don't be afraid to share your ideas here. The Warframe community is one of the nicest ones I've encountered.

 

About Mimic

Yeah, I understand what you mean by not being "impactful", but remember: He can only copy an ally's FIRST ability (I need to clarify this better, hmm), and those abilities are usually the least impactful anyway. And 4 Nessus players in one game? Yeah, you can't copy from your allies, but you still have enemies! So they won't be useless.

 

Hmm, so you are suggesting to merge Possession and Mimic? I guess that could work too, but is that really a Puppetmaster / Spellstealer? That sounds more like a shapeshifter. Your idea is not bad, but I dunno if that fits for THIS character.

 

About the Hack / Remote Control idea - While a really cool idea, that sounds more like something a Hacker / Engineer frame (something for Vauban?) would have, not a Puppetmaster kind of character.

 

I checked HoN's Puppetmaster. Interesting ideas for certain. That might inspire some new tweaks to my suggested ideas, thanks for that! :)

 

Check this out mate! Did you make this? Awesome!

\\

 

Lol, no, i didn't make that one, but dude... that's almost creepy :D

 

I personally really like your Warframe idea as the idea of a puppet master one is something I'm a fan of however I think his 1 is kind of lackluster personally I think you should focus more on his puppet master theme. However this is just my personal idea and at the end the decision is all yours I just feel that the implement of a mimic ability would be to much work. For example when mimicking Equinox's metamorphis do you gain your own separate day and night forms or do you copy her's this is kind of similar to chroma also because when you mimic his first ability do you function off of his energy color or your own or if you mimic his fourth ability what would your summon look like. Also how would you think your mimic ability would handle in a horde of opponents.

About his #1 ability:

I do, in a way, agreed that maybe it could need something more or different to it, something more puppetmaster-ish. But hey, if DE like's the Mimic idea, then I'd be superhappy (as Rubick from Dota 2 is a "spellstealer", and he was the main starting inspiration for this character).

 

Equinox metamorphosis - You won't look any different, you just get the stats upon shifting. It's probably the worst / most boring Warframe ability to copy.

Chroma's first - I think it should be based on HIS energy colour, I guess, not sure. And you can't mimic his 4th, you only mimic an ally's #1 ability.

The Mimic ability in hordes? Well, that depends on what you have stolen. If you have stolen, say, Volt's Shock, or a Lancer's Plasma Grenade, then just spam away. Stealing IN hordefights, well, that's maybe a bit more chaotic, hence some preparation / carefulness / awareness is good when playing Nessus. Not only cuz of his Mimic ability, but also his Possession ability.

 

Sound like a good idea. 

 

The only two things I would improve on are

 

1: reduce the abilities he can steal from enemies to a lower amount I.E. he steals abilities based on faction (grineer, corpus, corrupted, ect.) rather than by individual enemy type (would take to much coding for DE to make it work otherwise).

 

2: maybe make the 4th ability a bit more unique than a mass mind control... perhaps make it give your enemies a special weapon they attack with... or perhaps make them into suicidal crazy bombers >:D.

Thanks! :)

 

1 - I understand where you are coming from, very much so, but that would be VERY dull. Then your main source of mimicking is from your allies. And I want him to be able to use Mimic well even while soloing. About the "faction only" abilities, I have really tried to keep the amount of abilities to a minimum though (as you can see, lots of basic enemies give the same abilities, such as Plasma Grenade on many of the ranged Corpus and Grineer units, Grappling Hook from Ancients and Scorpions, and the invented Speed Boost ability from most non-special melee units), but only one ability per faction sounds far too little to be of any fun for a mimic-ability, imo.

 

2 - Well, I was thinking that since two of his abilities (#1 and #3) are somewhat complex, having two abilites more simple in nature would be a good idea. I did try to make it a bit different though, giving them both a damageboost and a movementspeed increase, to give the feeling of your puppeteering "strings" actually pull them around quicker :P

[Azamagon]

IonCross - Inspired by the Puppetmaster from HoN that you suggested, I came up with a new skill that could possibly replace his Mimic skill. Here's the base thought of that new skill:

 

Voodoo - Place a voodoo puppet at a target location (just like Loki's decoy). Enemies within a certain range of the puppet, upon summoning it, get connected to the doll (energystrings protrude from the puppet). The enemies are instantly staggered upon this linking. Attacking the puppet hurts all the linked enemies in some way (more to that further down), and attacking the doll deals bonus damage. Status applications, CC or any kind of debuff (Heat status, Ragdoll, Molecular Prime, Nessus' own Hangman etc) spread with full force to all linked enemies as well if those are applied to the puppet, with the puppet seemingly unaffected (it won't be ragdolled or anything like that, it will remain in place no matter what).

When the puppet dies/expires/is removed (by recasting it), all linked enemies are knocked down.

 

As for how the damage is distributed and enemies linked, those numbers can be debatted. It could have various restrictions:

* Should it link to all enemies caught in the radius, or just a limitted amount?

* How much damagebonus does the puppet suffer when attacked - and should all damage be spread equally, or should it be divided among the enemies?

* Should the puppet have a limitted amount of health (probably not)?

* Should the puppet be attackable by enemies (probably not, at least not un-augmented), or should it be (uniquely enough) be invisible and only attackable by Nessus' and his allies (to tie into his semi-stealth theme)?

 

My main suggestions would be this:

* Version 1 - All enemies are caught in the radius, the puppet damagebonus is high (+200%), but total damage done is divided among them (status effects as exception, they still deal full potency no matter how many enemies they are spread to), taking enemies' max health into account as well as adjusting the distribution as linked enemies die. Damagebonus is affected by Power Strength.

* Version 2 - X number of enemies are caght in the radius, the damagebonus is low (+25%?), but all damage is dealt equally. Number of targets is affected by range, damagebonus by strength.

* No matter which version: Make the puppet have unlimited health, last semibriefly (10 seconds max rank? Affected by power duration), a semishort linking range (10 meters at max rank? Affected by power range), the puppet is invisible to enemies and only attackable by Nessus' and his allies.

 

Augment ideas:

* Binding Voodoo - The enemies caught by your Voodoo puppet are dragged in towards the puppet, and cannot move more than X meters away from it (this distance inversely affected by Power Range)

* Violent Voodoo - The puppet is no longer invisible, and it can now be attack by enemies as well, with X% damage-efficiency (affected by Power Strength).

 

Not only is this a new form of combat-tool, it is also far simpler to implement than Mimic (I guess?), thus also probably a better suggestion than Mimic.

 

As for Possession, it could still remain more or less the same, with the exception (maybe?) of not being able to use enemies' special abilities (that could still be done with, say, secondary fire though).

Edited January 31, 2016 by Azamagon