Building Warframe: Rubico And Sniper Hud Rework

[DE_Adam]

The Tenno are no strangers to close-range combat, but sometimes completing a Mission doesn't mean you need to get your hands dirty.  In the hands of a seasoned marksmen a sniper rifle can take care of enemies with brutal precision, all without leaving the comfort of a well-protected defensive position.  

 

If you're a fan of the long-range execution then this edition of Building Warframe should fit nicely in your sights.  Read more on the Rubico and recent sniper HUD overhaul here and let us know what you think of the changes!

 

-DE_Adam

[Phailberry]

I greatly enjoy the sniper HUD and rework. At times, some of them can "feel" cluttered, and the reticule might be odd to handle, but overall I'm happy with the changes made. Especially Vulkar's, despite the tiny reticule.

 

I play with controller, despite being a PC tenno, and I noticed the sway in the scope. I enjoy that too, brings a realistic sense to long range combat for me.

 

Combo system is a nice addition, and can make use of that Arcane enhancement that increases fire rate with snipers. I doubt many tenno would work for that though. I will work towards that arcane anyways. However, I find that reloading kills off sniper combo's, think anything could change with that?

 

 

Overall 8.5/10 for excellent additions but still a bit of work to finish with. As for what work that'll be, that's up to the rest of the community below ^__^

Edited January 21, 2016 by Phailberry

[Neah]

Yeah well... the fact that not all snipers have innate punch-through and they still can't shoot through Nullifier bubbles leaves the rework with much left to be desired. The unscoped accuracy loss was uncalled for, and the rework did everything but to fix the core issues with the snipers : Not being able to pick off the really important targets.

 

HUD design looks fine, but please add an option to toggle off the weird wobble effect on the Rubico and the scope sway....

Edited January 21, 2016 by Neah

[egregiousRac]

Oh good, it's up now.

 

I got this before. You kinda jumped the gun on posting:

[Storchenbein]

The HUD design is pretty good.

 

However the rework as a whole is lacking. Snipers needed innate punch-through and they're just completely worthless against Nullifiers. The combo system is interesting, although I'm pretty sure the combo damage multiplier is still broken on the Lanka...

[----Dante----]

while its interesting to read all that stuff, it still doesnt change the fact that snipers suck even more with the scope sway.

[Prof_Blocks_007]

while its interesting to read all that stuff, it still doesnt change the fact that snipers suck even more with the scope sway.

And the fact that the hip-fire accuracy is kept until the 'scope in' animation is finished. :/

 

It makes for so many missed shots.

 

Also, 5.0x base zoom is pretty punishing in almost much every tileset.

Edited January 21, 2016 by Prof_Blocks_007

[NightmareT12]

This is a great post honestly, it's nice to see so much into the design process of the weapons. I truly love the Rubico's design and can't wait for its Prime counterpart.

As a matter of note, however, I truly think that the Scope HUD extra stuff should be different per Tenno weapon. That is, Vectis should have one thing, and Rubico another one, with Primes having some shared key elements (Tenno text saying something like other weapons have, like "Answer with superior force" on the Magnus?)

[Nemorac]

Throwing in my two cents here on the rework to snipers.

Snipers, as much as I love them in any shooter game...do not as they stand fit anywhere in the way Warframe works.  None of them can give the massive damage bows can, and they don't have anything going for them in any other sort of area, like being able to pick off priority targets, like say a Nullifier thorugh his bubble.

 

The combo system added to the snipers is...clunk at the very least.  More often than not, when I did have a Sniper Rifle out, by the time I was done reloading after frantically picking off people to try to get a combo UP, lo and behold just a split second after I'm done reloading, it's gone.

 

As other people have said, the hipfire accuracy loss is also utter BS.  Not to mention it seems that the accuracy loss affects snipers even after you've fully zoomed, not to mention zooming as well has its own problems, such as most tilesets being too small for a large zoom to really be beneficial in any capacity.

 

On the whole, much as I love them, especially my Snipetron Vandal, they are currently sitting in my arsenal collecting dust because there is no real reason other than giggles for me to try to pull them out for a romp, and even then the frustrations can come around.

 

And this last bit is a personal note, but even with the final design choice I find the Rubico's scope to be awful...ESPECIALLY since the blasted thing likes to undulate which makes my eyes focus on that movement instead of lining up the headshot properly.

[Hixlysss]

I like the hud rework, but the sniper rework still leaves much to be desired. Specially for sorties, the snipers...really lack damage and are worthless against hordes of enemies which is what this game is all about. I thought DE wanted to get rid of 'mandatory mods' for weapons, yet they have made it so practically every sniper has to have punchthrough as a mandatory mod to be used.

[LABAL]

Look at the gun. Look at it. Look at its barrel. It's a long barrel, isn't it? And as far as I'm aware, it shoots high-caliber bullets, not tiny photons.
So... then why the Hek does it shoot so far from reticle, unfocused? Not only that, but with Split Chamber the bullets shoot in opposite direction from each other. Yes, I am complaining, because not only it doesn't get the crit bonus from the scope, which is a significant drawback of hip-fire, but has only about 40% chance of actually hitting the target, depending on distance, and the missed shots really do count.
It's a powerful and beautiful weapon. But so unreliable.

[Homer87]

After reading the link that was posted, I prefer some of those concept sights over the ones that we have in game (not the overly distracting ones though). It would be good if snipers had punch through, or something that would set them on a class of their own. While the combo system was a great start, the sniper rework is missing something else. However, when snipers are fired from the hip, they don't shoot where they point, so that's something to look into as well. Maybe they can have a higher innate headshot multiplier added to them?

[Cynaris]

One of the reason I despised sniper rifles is the awful "paint" hud job.

Didn't even know it was updated in second dream, good job!

[Burnthesteak87]

Rubico is a great weapon, both in design, sound, animation and performance.

But it's still bugged, since in the moment when you scope, you still retain the hipshot accuracy debuff for some seconds, resulting in missing unmissable and precise shots even when close to the target. Also scoping causes FPS loss.
This makes it pretty unusable in Conclave.

About the changes, the Combo Counter is useful when you're in the situation you can't oneshot an heavy target so you have to buildup the combo on lower targets. Elseway it's not that gamechanger.

For what regards the secondary fire (Scope), it's pretty lackluster in my opinion, since it doesn't fit the Warframe's peace.

What we do lack is an X-Ray or Thermal Vision helping detecting enemies while scoping, or some fancy Stationary Stealth Device to help the Sniper Role.
Also an idea going around in forums was the ability to pierce Nullifier's Shields in 1 hit.

To emphasize and give personalty to Snipers also I'd increase stats like Headshot Mutiplier and give 100% status proc on a Weakspot hit.
That was a fair point. Playing with weakspots and Headshots multipliers.

What about also working on Enemy Snipers? It's not that funny getting oneshot by an high level Ballistica or Railgun Moa, it would be nice if there would be some kind of telegraphing to their attacks, like some flashing reflected light effect we see on other games with snipers in it (I come to think about MetalGear3).

Also a Sniper Bossfight would sound interesting.

Maps Areas must be adapted for Sniper fights. It's plenty of nice places, but they appear randomly and most of them aren't anything special.
Take for example the Grineer Asteroid Tileset, all those rooms crossed by chasms and moving carts on railways which force the player to ranged fights with enemies on the other side of the chasm.
There're dynamic situations with mobile obstacles interfering with your aim, there are large spaces with a lot of covers, different paths to engage the enemy. That's what in Warframe goes closer to a fair sniper fight. That's what should be worked on imho.

TaIking about Headshots and Weakspots, I'd also think that Critical Chance is a mechanic made for Role Play games, adding RNG to fights. Warframe (partially as a shooter) doesn't need it, you'd be prized for your aim, not by luck.
I think it would be nice removing Critical Chance, Damage and replace it with Weakspot Multipliers.

Edited January 21, 2016 by Burnthesteak87

[CrazyCatLad]

neat.png

[LABAL]

Great weapon but it's still bugged, since in the moment when you scope you still retain the hipshot accuracy debuff for some seconds, resulting in missing precise shots even when close to the target.

This also makes it unusable in Conclave.

Actually, it makes it rather balanced in conclave. You wouldn't want to be on a recieving end of a sudden quickscope, oh no.

As it is, the gun is rather slow, but it excells at ending killstreaks of Soma/Vipers/Jat Kittag users. You bullet jump out of the cover and catch them off-guard, landing precise headshots as you slowly glide towards the ground like a dandelion of doom... It's beautiful.

Edited January 21, 2016 by LABAL

[(PSN)SupeBoss]

a step in the right direction for sure. I like the scope redesign and buffs.

 

There are some issues, of course. Most of which the staff is probably aware of:

 

1) Some of the high priority targets - like the arctic eximus and nullifer (yuck) are pretty much sniper-proof, forcing you to equip a bullet-hose secondary. Not bad, but annoying

 

2) Obviously, the accuracy loss when quick-scoping

 

3) it really makes no practical sense that bows are better in terms of consistent damage (even innate punchthrough). In a futuristic, hi-tech, sci-fi shooter, arrows on a stick are better than advanced military weaponry. I'd like to see more critical chance/innate punchthrough on the snipers. some sort of quality feature to overcome these issues.

 

4) tilesets and enemy spawning. good luck finding a decent vantage point to snipe on indoor tilesets. even if you do, you have to constantly move around to find another horde of enemies. And since they spawn together, it opens up the possibility of running into the nullifier/eximus situation.

Zoom levels on these cramped tilesets are also an issue.

 

Snipers just really dont seem viable in the game. But i think they could be.

[[DE]Grzegorz]

In the hands of a seasoned marksmen a sniper rifle can take care of enemies with brutal precision, all without leaving the comfort of a well-protected defensive position.

 

Sounds completely like Warframe, with all the emphasis on being mobile and up close and personal...

[(XBOX)AtB Curly]

The Hub rework looks nice. However snipers still do not have innate ipunch through which bows do have. Snipers need punch through to be able to kill multiple targets and be useable when there are a lot of enemies. Nullifier bubbles are also a huge problem for snipers which needs to be looked at. Finally it does not make sense to me why bows have higher crit chances than snipers. Snipers need a buff to crit chance so they are a lot more reliable to kill heavy enemies.

[-Aragami-]

http://i.imgur.com/YPP3sxO.jpg

 

I really love Nr 3 and 5  O.O

 

hope we'll get Rifles like them... :D

[Othergrunty]

I really like the design of the Rubico. That was a great piece of work.

Makes me wish we could get a carbine (using regular rifle ammo and not having a scope function) variant of it.

About the sniper rework in general.

I hate to be negative here but the changes did not really make sniper rifles as great as that post makes it out to be.

Which is unfortunate, because the shotgun rework really made that weapon class stand on it's own legs again.

Sadly, one aspect i enjoyed about the sniper rework was that i could finaly switch those scopes OFF.

It removes a lot of distraction from the screen, like useless visual stuff, reduced peripheric vision and forced change of perspective.

All while keeping the nice zoom function of the sniper rifle.

While it works against the tradition of sniper rifles in other shooters, having a solid field of vision in Warframe, even during long range scoping, is a lot more helpfull than having a fancy looking but distracting first person scope.

So that great achievement of the art team, is sadly entirely lost me, since the option to REMOVE them is a greater enhancement to the weapon class in my opinion.

I still don't see the sniper rifles in a good place and think they need a second rework. Which i know from Scott's comments in previous devstreams is not a simple task.

Edited January 21, 2016 by Othergrunty

[IEpicWolfI]

 How did we not get these, 

 

 

 

 How

[Krion112]

The Rubico was expertly designed, and is very appealing. Still not certain if I intend to get it or not. As well, the new sniper scope HUD for each sniper is nice, something about it makes aiming flow easier.

 

What I did not find appealing was the changes. Time and again, long before this rework and long before the 'buff' attempt before that, I have tried to express the issue with snipers in Warframe. Apparently, the message isn't getting across, because they are still sub-par to every single weapon type; the only place where Snipers at all shine is solo Assassination or solo Capture, but even then, Bows, Launchers, and things like the Opticor are all still better alternatives.

 

Why? Well, what environment in Warframe, at all, encourages long range combat? Your options are either tight corridors, enclosed caverns, or claustrophobic ruins, and when those tiles happen to open up into large areas, the game deters you from wanting to use it because if you're playing co-op, your team is going to run ahead of you while you try to snipe at long range, or the enemies will run and hide, forcing you to engage in close. And if you're in close, you may as well just use your Warframe abilities, or better yet, have brought a more adaptable weapon.

 

And no enemy in the game has the priority for necessitating such high damage My favorite example is the Nullifier; it'd be quite the interaction if it was vulnerable to snipers, but anything that doesn't hit it with several projectiles in a short amount of time does practically nothing.

At this point, most enemies encourage the use of high rate of fire, crowd-control, or multi-shot by always being large crowds of units with weaker vitals.

 

The scope-in buffs are negligible; I don't think there's a single enemy in the game that cannot be killed at a reasonable rank by a fully modded Vectis, Lanka, or Vulkar in one or two shots without using the scope, baring things that have bubble-shields, like Nullifiers and Arctic Eximus. 

 

Finally, I don't understand the hip-fire debuff. What is that designed to balance? It's inclusion only irritates me to no end when I try to use my Lanka, as the weird aim caused by projectile weapons already throws off some of my shots, I didn't need the additional aim issues. As well, the scope sway is needless as well.

I just don't get, why does it need to be harder to aim with a sniper? So it takes me even longer to kill crowds of enemies, which is already tedious with precision weapons?

 

A true buff to snipers doesn't involve how snipers function, but rather introduces game mechanics in our enemies and environments to promote such a weapon type. I guarantee, anything done to the sniper functionality will either not make it a sniper anymore or will continue to leave the sniper as a sub-par weapon type.

You could give the Vectis 2 million damage, and it will still perform the same way it does now.

Edited January 23, 2016 by Krion112

[Kontrollo]

I really like what you did with the snipers, and I'm using them quite a bit more often now. There are, however, two things I'd like to see addressed, in case that thread went unnoticed.

[Tali]

I do really enjoy Rubico's fire sound, one of the best sounds ever.

http://i.imgur.com/YPP3sxO.jpg

I really love Nr 3 and 5 O.O

hope we'll get Rifles like them... :D

Nr. 5 is my favourite :3 Edited January 21, 2016 by Aeon66