Shadow Debt Feedback.

[OricSharp]

The concept of the mission is, in my opinion, good - 'Dudes are trying to kill a sometimes-ally, sometimes-enemy of yours, and would probably be going after you next. Go kill them first, Won't be able to one-shot them or take them out in one mission, but you'll be able to whittle them down.' I might read a book with that as part of the plot and be satisfied. I'd be pretty confused by the acolytes being more capable than the current incarnation of their master, but maybe.

 

General execution: Not really impressed so far (6 or so Confrontations in, three unsuccessful, three successful after switching frames), but also not dissatisfied. It's okay. Not impressive, not awful. Maybe the big thing at the end will change that, but that'll be in a few days.

 

More in-depth feedback follows.

 

Who named these goons? Torment, Angst, Mania - how edgelordy can you get? Was there a contest to pick the most (n)edgy(n+2)me names or something? I'd honestly have rather they be named Moe, Larry and Curly, because then at least it'd obviously be a joke instead of a "You're taking the piss, right? This is a joke, right? Did you name them these things unironically? Do people call them that? Do they call themselves that?" It's harder to not laugh at their stupid, stupid names than it is to run back and forth shooting them in the face.

 

Names aside, the enemies themselves:

Good - different weapons, different power sets. Torment caught me off-guard with the Hydroid move, not that it did him[?] any good.

Bad - AI's still terrible, they've got some of the dumber things the Stalker's had (no-LoS teleport pulls and friggin' Switch Teleport, seriously?). On top of that, they've all got the same ol' Stalker face, and share lines, ripping away any personality they could have had in the first place. It's also unsatisfying to fight them, win or lose; with their health bar showing their HP overall instead of per mission, anything and everything done to them feels like trying to cut down a redwood with a nail file, giving the impression that they could simply attrition you down by absorbing bullets and hitting you over and over. They're not particularly challenging, in any case - the only times I've died, it's been essentially a one-hit kill, by means I can't quite decipher - backstabbing? Is that what that is? Seems to only happen when I'm running away.

 

The mods I've gotten thus far, I don't think I'll be using - Laser Sight, Hydraulic Crosshairs, Catalyzer Link, they're all triggered, very temporary modifiers that have to compete with the current set of damage mods, and don't even do that particularly well. Why would I use Catalyzer Link (looks like +60% status chance at max, for a couple seconds after using an ability, while aiming) when I could just use any of the dual-stat damage/status mods and get more, without having to do anything other than slot the weapon, for example? Are these intended to lead into the After-Serration era or something? Are they supposed to be used in Conclave instead? It's puzzling. I do like that they're less direct-damage focused, and if it weren't for having massive investments in damage mods, I'd probably use them - the one I just got (Body Count) actually seems like it could be really good for a melee-only setup.

 

Anyway, more confrontations. 

 

Additional feedback: The lines get really repetitive, especially for something that we're explicitly expected to engage in ten times. Ten times, we're supposed to seek out - in a normal mission, so you'll hear Lotus's "You obviously forgot how this mission type works" monologue, and the Operator's commentary if enabled - one of the edgelords, at which point Alad will say one of what feels like maybe three lines, and the Acolyte has pretty much the same thing going on. Combined with Lotus not mentioning environmental effects until a good way into the mission, this just creates the feeling that Lotus is going senile. At least she's not miscalculating every single time anymore, I guess.

Edited January 26, 2016 by OricSharp

[NinthAria]

Honestly, their names don't sound any stranger to my ears than "Ember," "Excalibur," "Hydroid," etc. They're with the Stalker; it fits with his motif.

 

I like it so far. They have an interesting blend of powers, but aren't quite as oppressive as the Stalker (no Sentient armor, room lockdown, dispel, etc.). I just wish they had actual voice acting.

[OricSharp]

Oh, they definitely fit with his motif, they just strike me as super try-hardy - the kind of name a 14-year-old obsessed with being badass and tragic would give a character. There're so many other things they could've been named that wouldn't jump out as nearly so ridiculous. How many assassins have there been throughout history, how many zealots seeking to purge those they felt unworthy? Pick five of those, and odds are they'll be less ridiculous. Grab mythology! One seems to be a reskinned Valkyr, another a Loki, the third's a Mesa - two Norse names and one Southwest American, surely there's some kind of things to take inspiration from that'd fit the theme.

(...and Hydroid's name friggin' sucks, man. I'd rather he be named Davey/Jones/Rahab/Ahab/Yam/Leviathan/Moby, rather than, essentially, "Water-ish." But that ship's sailed, no pun intended, so I'll not derail my own thread into debating that.)

 

Their powers are definitely interesting blends, and it's good that they're not just copy-pastes of the Stalker.

[TheVeiledScion]

The names fit with Stalker and his old set of weapons: Hate, Despair, Dread. Yes, they are edgy. No, edgy isn't any worse than campy. 

 

I don't know how you are defining "successful" confrontations. Do you mean they don't show up? How many people are you running with? Have they all done the first part of the event?

 

Yeah, it's just okay. But frankly, I chalk that up to 1) its four against one; 2) the AI isn't perfect; 3) the gameplay isn't conducive to fighting singular units of enemies (no dueling mechanics); 4) they show up in ordinary missions, making said missions meaningless. 

 

So, for future events of like character, they could 1) add more acolytes; 2) improve the AI; 3) add some dueling mechanics that make fighting singular units more enjoyable; and 4) create new, special "hunt" missions where you have to find them and attack them.

[OricSharp]

Oh, yeah, it's definitely similar to those. Always felt like they were tryhardy names, too, for that matter.

 

'Successful' is 'I dealt enough damage to get a mod from them,' as I'm doing this to get the mods more than the potatoes. I'm doing this solo, and initially was using Hydroid, who...well, I like him, and he's pretty much my current main, but he kept getting one-shotted. So now I'm using Chroma, and haven't died once. They're still unsatisfying one-on-one, but they're really not difficult aside from the weird one-shot thing that happened to my Hydroid. Pretty sure Mania's tried that on Chroma, but Chroma's not nearly as squishy.

 

I agree with your suggestions. I'll add another:

5) Instead of the HP bar in-mission showing their overall HP, make it show their HP for that confrontation. This would make it much more satisfying to fight them, as it'd actually feel like you won.

[Cray]

I'd be more okay with this event, if there was always at least one acolyte active, no downtime from sitting around and waiting for one to appear.

[Otaiken]

Rdd crits for pistols, red crits for melee, red crits fo EVERYBODY.

 

But seriously some of these mods are ridiculously good. Blood Rush adds 165% crit chance for melee and stacks with melee combo multiplier (so up to 3x) put this on crit melee and you have yourself a shredder.

[OricSharp]

I'd be more okay with this event, if there was always at least one acolyte active, no downtime from sitting around and waiting for one to appear.

Agreed. I've spent more time typing than I have doing anything.

 

@LocoWithGun -

I haven't been able to get any of the really good ones yet, as far as I can tell. I'm sure Body Count + Blood Rush would be absurd, especially with Berserker (though you'd probably need a macro to actually use it, sheesh) - saw somebody with a 4.5 multiplier in another thread.

[Arrectius]

I'd be more okay with this event, if there was always at least one acolyte active, no downtime from sitting around and waiting for one to appear.

 

This. I m sitting on my ship staring the stars....

[FlipJanson]

I just want that Bladed Rounds.

 

My Dread is going to rip some fools up.

[psychofski]

This event fits well with the playstyle of warframe.No real challenge,no strategic thinking no skill reward but  just  a time spender repeating regular missions with an easier version of stalker  showing up (sometimes).Come on you can do better than this.

[ThePredicament]

Oh, they definitely fit with his motif, they just strike me as super try-hardy - the kind of name a 14-year-old obsessed with being badass and tragic would give a character. There're so many other things they could've been named that wouldn't jump out as nearly so ridiculous. How many assassins have there been throughout history, how many zealots seeking to purge those they felt unworthy? Pick five of those, and odds are they'll be less ridiculous. Grab mythology! One seems to be a reskinned Valkyr, another a Loki, the third's a Mesa - two Norse names and one Southwest American, surely there's some kind of things to take inspiration from that'd fit the theme.

(...and Hydroid's name friggin' sucks, man. I'd rather he be named Davey/Jones/Rahab/Ahab/Yam/Leviathan/Moby, rather than, essentially, "Water-ish." But that ship's sailed, no pun intended, so I'll not derail my own thread into debating that.)

Dude, they're names for Stalker's minions, so it's actually thematic BUT throwing around words like "edgelordy" and something about 14 year old try hard? That's just as "edgelordy" and something a 14 year old try hard will do, just sayin'.

 

The even itself is kinda pretty meh, very grindy, honestly, I just wanted to get them all into codex, including the artificer and datalyzer and their little sentinels, and get all of the mods. It's cool to fight them once or twice to check out their powers and how they look like, but more than that? It's too much. Kinda DREADing the 100 wave grind later.

[Misgenesis]

It seems to reward sitting in the liset, waiting for them to appear.

 

Not very well thought out.