Starter Frame Update

[LightstealKnight]

Most people that come to Warframe will be familiar with other systems.  We have so many frames now, that I think it's time to revisit the starter frame selection.

The 5 major classes from other games:

Warrior

Rogue

Magic User

Support/Healer

Tank

 

There are obviously a lot of candidates for each of these classes but they should all be easy frames to get, and role centric so that each choice is more intuitive.
This way, players know what they are picking and know from past experiences what roles they enjoy most to play.

 

Here are my suggestions:

Warrior:  Excalibur (no brainer)

Rogue:  Ash (or Loki because he is more iconic to the cutscenes)

Magic User:  Ember (or Saryn or Mag because she is iconic)

Support/Healer:  Trinity

Tank:  Frost

Yes I am aware that Warframes were not designed to fall into a specific category, but new players are not aware of this and need a little bit more of an intuitive process while getting acclimated to the game.
 

Spoiler

 

This also fits well with the Warframe Schools with the exception for having no warrior school and two magic user schools.

Warrior:

Rogue: Naramon

Magic User: Madurai / Zenurik

Support/Healer: Vazarin

Tank: Unairu

 

 

Edited March 3, 2016 by Enemy1

[tnccs215]

mh...

I don't know. You are admitting most people that come here already have a certain experience with other mmos, and that they already are aware of the paradigm you mention.

while its certainly true that many people already have it, that doesn't mean that rule applies to all. With that in mind, we also have to remember that those people also had to learn said paradigm, and, more importantly, that reducing this game--which, as you said it yourself, doesn't exactly obey to that idea--to that very paradigm ends up cutting its potential.

not to mention the fact that some of those frames (trinity in particular) are simply not start material. They are slightly too complex for that.

the cherry on top of this cake is that 5 starting frames, one of which you have to choose wit out being able to try first, can be slightly too overwhelming for a newer player. Best to keep things simple.

all in all, I simply can't support your idea. Maybe, MAYBE add a fourth starter frame--in the end, squads are composed by 4 people, and as it stands, a newbie squad will forcefully have at least 2 of the same frame-- which should probably be a female frame (for the sake of equality in numbers, a thing this game has aimed for, at least on characther choice) easy to use. Ember is a good choice, I believe. She is substantially simple and, while yes, she can be quite powerful on early game, that power only comes after level 30 and fully modded-- and most will already have more frames and be at least halfway through the star chart when they get to level 30, and will have much more frames when they get the power to fully mod her up to her potential.

[LightstealKnight]

Generally those who pick support roles, are aware of the complexity and requirement for having a team.
Trinity is an excellent starter frame for people who are used to support roles.

I also do not see this limiting warframes in the future, or forcing them into a category.  This is simply bridging the gap for new players to come into the game.  Not all warframes will fit into a role, but some of them do.

I understand that more choice = more overwhelming, but players are already overwhelmed when coming into a game and having to chose out of 20+ frames for their next slot.

Creating a sturdy baseline and perhaps letting them redo the starter mission if they are not happy with the frame they selected is a great way to introduce them to some of the core frames of the game.

 

Here is a great way to describe the frames so people can see the vast difference in the choice they have.

1. Excalibur - Well rounded, can close gaps and blind opponents.

2. Ash - Features invisibility and assassination techniques

3. Ember - Harnesses the element of fire to attack multiple foes

4. Frost - Excels at defending static locations, and has decent crowd control abilities

5. Trinity - A team supporting frame that can restore energy and heal allies

Ember would be a bad addition to the 3 starter frames because 2 of those frames already fall into a magic-user type play style.  It is already quite difficult for a new player to chose between Mag and Volt, and if you add Ember to the mix you are giving them a choice out of 3 similar style frames that do not have much of a synergy for a team of 4.

Even if we were going to stay with 3 starter frames, they should be the first 3 on this list rather than the 3 that we currently have.

Edited March 3, 2016 by Enemy1
colours

[tnccs215]

I see your point.

I do suppose we need a stealth frame on there, and since ash is also damage oriented, Loki is a fine addition. Problem is, loki has no direct damaging ability, which is required on the tutorial, but you've already covered that.

I still think Trinity should be kept out of the starters, at least until she gets reworked. "I'm gonna use well of life to help my teammates!" Said no. One. Ever.

I suppose you might be right about replacing Mag with Ember (Ember is less tricky) and Volt with Loki or Ash. But, honestly, I'm not very bothered.

[Sunfaiz]

The Reason the current three exist is because they are easy to play and to mod.

 

Thier skills  and names are easy to use and straightforward. You don't have to dive in the wiki to figure what works with what.

Excalibur: Fine as he is

Ash: Teleport leaves something to be desired and his general aesthetic comes across a late game and Solo frame  

Ember: Accelerant Barring the stun would be useless as  players wont have fire or power strength mods. WoF is a really easy cheese button.

Frost: Requires a very Heavy amount of investment including mods. His abilities need a certain amount of skill to pull off Freeze is hard to aim, Ice wave Is wasted on entry level enemies, No issues with globe but then again its a perfect ability , who would have a problem with it? 

Trinity: She's boring. Hear me out.

I started the game as Loki master himself and he was BAD not in sense he wasn't useful just that he dull. I came to be a Space ninja and I'm looking at Excals Dashing and Slashing, Mags Pulling and crushing and I...Put a decoy  ? Teleport? 

Not to mention her first two abilities are useless in solo play.

 

Lets Examine the current staters:

 

 Excal:

Press 1 : Move forward, kill stuff

Press 2: Blind Stuff

Press 3: Kill stuff around you

Press 4:Kill stuff slowly, but kill longer.

 

Mag:

Press 1 :Pull enemies to you

Press 2: Boost you shield and friends (Bonus VS corpus)

Press 3: Revamp incoming !

Press 4: See Excal 3

 

Volt:

Press 1: Kill/shock Enemies in front of you .

Press 2: Run faster than fast 

Press 3: Shield

Press 4: See excal 3 

 

Are you noticing a Trend  ? 

 

Each of the starters abilities does not need to be accurately aimed. It just needs to around the same area. It doesn't punish you for not knowing how to use it. 

 

Mistimed Ash's smokescreen ? WAIT IT OUT.

Teleported to the wrong enemy ? GET ROFL STOMPED.

Don't have perfect aim ? Freeze wont connect.

Playing solo ? GL using EV/WoL.

[TheLexiConArtist]

12 minutes ago, Sunfaiz said:

Trinity: She's boring. Hear me out.

I started the game as Loki master himself and he was BAD not in sense he wasn't useful just that he dull. I came to be a Space ninja and I'm looking at Excals Dashing and Slashing, Mags Pulling and crushing and I...Put a decoy  ? Teleport? 

Not to mention her first two abilities are useless in solo play.

 

Playing solo ? GL using EV/WoL.

For a very long time Trinity was my main warframe, and even when I branched out, she remained my soloing frame of choice.

 

Before the rework to allow Energy Vamp to generate its remaining energy on target death, WoL had a use - EV into WoL gave the target some beefiness while it pulsed.

Now, WoL is semi-useless (except for isolating a target for codex/synthesis scanning), but EV is not useless as a solo player at all. EV allows a solo Trinity to keep Linked with enemies. EV allows a solo Trinity to always be able to heal herself back up with Blessing, where most other frames suffer in solo play because health damage usually sticks, and once you're out of health, nobody is there to pick you back up.

That was a lot more relevant with day-limited revives, but there's still a place for not losing your Affinity or ever risking that fifth death, especially for players without a lot of EHP or health restores.

New players can drop hard with squishy starter frames and no Vitality and Redirection at high ranks to keep them healthy. Trinity skips all of that by using EV and Blessing herself.

 

_{My new solo frame is Ivara because tactical godliness. The stealth of Loki meets the damage of Ash thanks to that sweet, sweet Stealth Melee Multiplier she can still access in the middle of open combat.}

[tnccs215]

4 minutes ago, EDYinnit said:

For a very long time Trinity was my main warframe, and even when I branched out, she remained my soloing frame of choice.

 

Before the rework to allow Energy Vamp to generate its remaining energy on target death, WoL had a use - EV into WoL gave the target some beefiness while it pulsed.

Now, WoL is semi-useless (except for isolating a target for codex/synthesis scanning), but EV is not useless as a solo player at all. EV allows a solo Trinity to keep Linked with enemies. EV allows a solo Trinity to always be able to heal herself back up with Blessing, where most other frames suffer in solo play because health damage usually sticks, and once you're out of health, nobody is there to pick you back up.

That was a lot more relevant with day-limited revives, but there's still a place for not losing your Affinity or ever risking that fifth death, especially for players without a lot of EHP or health restores.

New players can drop hard with squishy starter frames and no Vitality and Redirection at high ranks to keep them healthy. Trinity skips all of that by using EV and Blessing herself.

 

_{My new solo frame is Ivara because tactical godliness. The stealth of Loki meets the damage of Ash thanks to that sweet, sweet Stealth Melee Multiplier she can still access in the middle of open combat.}

you forget something: Starter players dont have access to all powers, and much less to all mods. Trinity demands an array of mods newbies don't have. Starter frames need to be effective from the get go. She isn't.

[TheLexiConArtist]

1 minute ago, tnccs215 said:

you forget something: Starter players dont have access to all powers, and much less to all mods. Trinity demands an array of mods newbies don't have. Starter frames need to be effective from the get go. She isn't.

Trinity came from Earth, third planet at the time after Mercury and Venus, and I definitely didn't have many mods. Still used and immediately mained her.

She just relies on weapons for offense while her abilities are defenses and utility for herself. If you want to really grind things down to below rank three, then even Well of Life is useful. It's useless compared to Blessing but it still lets you heal up.

I specifically avoided mentioning the WoL -> EV at expiry trick since I wouldn't expect a new player to know about that (even if I happened to figure it out for myself, not everyone would).

As soon as you get Link at rank five you're self-sufficient and reflecting damage back as you go.

 

Another reason I mostly stopped using Trinity recently is because I don't like her 'meta' builds. Minimum duration feels dumb and self-damage superblessing is tantamount to exploit.

I like my Trinity well-rounded, and that doesn't require any mods, much less the Corrupted ones and QT you're probably referring to.

[tnccs215]

7 minutes ago, EDYinnit said:

Trinity came from Earth, third planet at the time after Mercury and Venus, and I definitely didn't have many mods. Still used and immediately mained her.

She just relies on weapons for offense while her abilities are defenses and utility for herself. If you want to really grind things down to below rank three, then even Well of Life is useful. It's useless compared to Blessing but it still lets you heal up.

I specifically avoided mentioning the WoL -> EV at expiry trick since I wouldn't expect a new player to know about that (even if I happened to figure it out for myself, not everyone would).

As soon as you get Link at rank five you're self-sufficient and reflecting damage back as you go.

 

Another reason I mostly stopped using Trinity recently is because I don't like her 'meta' builds. Minimum duration feels dumb and self-damage superblessing is tantamount to exploit.

I like my Trinity well-rounded, and that doesn't require any mods, much less the Corrupted ones and QT you're probably referring to.

Very well, I withdraw my criticism. You have good enough arguments to beat mine.

though, I suppose you used a maxed narrow minded mod for link. It is not an easy mod. And I say this because Link it self has quite a short duration.

[LightstealKnight]

41 minutes ago, Sunfaiz said:

Ash: Teleport leaves something to be desired

Teleport is a great assassination ability allowing you to get a free finisher, it is also great to get around and close the gap on enemies with guns.

44 minutes ago, Sunfaiz said:

Frost: Requires a very Heavy amount of investment including mods.

Not true at all.  An unmodded frost does perfectly fine on all of the starter missions and planets.  He probably has one of the smoothest progressions out of all of the frames.  He is one of the most demanded frames in team and void missions and is a great frame for anyone used to playing tank frames in mobas or mmos.

47 minutes ago, Sunfaiz said:

I started the game as Loki master himself and he was BAD not in sense he wasn't useful just that he dull.

This is just a bad statement.  Loki is one of the best frames in the game.  All of his abilities scale into late game, his radial disarm is one of the best abilities in the game and he has the longest invisibility.  Anyone that plays stealth characters in games would enjoy Loki, but I think that Ash is closer to home for most people that enjoy the Rogue playstyle.

[LightstealKnight]

1 hour ago, tnccs215 said:

I still think Trinity should be kept out of the starters, at least until she gets reworked.

You would be surprised at how many people enjoy playing support type roles in games.
Not everyone wants to be a damage dealer and get the most kills.  I understand that you don't enjoy this kind of play, but I've met people both in MOBAs and MMOs that enjoy the social aspects and healing and supporting their team.  They get the most pleasure out of being wanted around and being depended upon.

1 hour ago, tnccs215 said:

But, honestly, I'm not very bothered.

I'm not bothered either, because I already have every frame in the game, I'm just trying to think of the new player experience.

 

12 minutes ago, tnccs215 said:

I suppose you used a maxed narrow minded mod for link.

Link has a decent enough duration with continuity (which by the way is waay too rare a mod imo.  I've only ever found 1 of them in my 3 years of play and in contrast I have 200+ serration mods).

I've made many posts in the past about this topic and recently I made this post that hasn't really gotten any traffic.
 

 

Edited March 3, 2016 by Enemy1

[TheLexiConArtist]

25 minutes ago, tnccs215 said:

Very well, I withdraw my criticism. You have good enough arguments to beat mine.

though, I suppose you used a maxed narrow minded mod for link. It is not an easy mod. And I say this because Link it self has quite a short duration.

Thank you. I really do think that putting her on such a restrictive Assassination as Phobos' double-fight is a crime against new players. There's no real support accessible as a result until... hmm. At least four or five planet tiers in. Or Infested invasions for Nyx, I suppose.

 

For the record, I didn't and still don't mod Narrow Minded for Link; it's completely nonfunctional if it can't reach a target to Link to, so reducing range is a good way to get yourself sniped or gunned/exploded down by a heavy unit. Other than upgrading to Primed variants, my general purpose, rounded build actually doesn't fit any corrupted mods at all. Just the goold old crowd of Streamline, Stretch, Intensify and (Primed) Continuity.. with a little (Primed) Flow to make sure there's always a buffer of energy to cast Link and a couple Blessings if under heavy fire with no chance to spare for an EV until out of the firing line.

11 minutes ago, Enemy1 said:

You would be surprised at how many people enjoy playing support type roles in games.
Not everyone wants to be a damage dealer and get the most kills.  I understand that you don't enjoy this kind of play, but I've met people both in MOBAs and MMOs that enjoy the social aspects and healing and supporting their team.  They get the most pleasure out of being wanted around and being depended upon.

It's an often thankless job.. but some of us have to do it. Long-time MMORPG healer, MOBA Support and ex-Trinity main right here.

 

Honestly I'd play Trinity again a lot more if the meta builds weren't practically required - if I had a chance to heal someone in a Sortie before they got dropped.. but those one-shots and fraction-second deaths...

Edited March 3, 2016 by EDYinnit

[LightstealKnight]

2 minutes ago, EDYinnit said:

It's an often thankless job.. but some of us have to do it. Long-time MMORPG healer, MOBA Support and ex-Trinity main right here.

Hey, I've always appreciated and been thankful for players such as yourself.  That is why I think Trinity deserves to be a starter frame.

[TheLexiConArtist]

1 minute ago, Enemy1 said:

Hey, I've always appreciated and been thankful for players such as yourself.  That is why I think Trinity deserves to be a starter frame.

Funnily enough, even with the offensive power of my Ivara (Covert Lethality and Sleep Arrows, no need for Artemis), I still end up playing combat medic in Sorties most of the time. Throw in a Cloak Arrow bubble to stop enemies firing at the downed player's Sentinel, maybe Sleep the immediate area, sneak in and revive. Works fine except for 500 Nullifier Funtimes and the possible carpets of Sapping Osprey bombs..

[Sunfaiz]

2 hours ago, Enemy1 said:

This is just a bad statement.  Loki is one of the best frames in the game.  All of his abilities scale into late game, his radial disarm is one of the best abilities in the game and he has the longest invisibility.  Anyone that plays stealth characters in games would enjoy Loki, but I think that Ash is closer to home for most people that enjoy the Rogue playstyle.

If you take a closer look at what you quoted you will see that specifically said, " was BAD not in sense he wasn't useful just that he dull". Which meant HE IS GOOD. But very boring starting out.

[felixsylvaris]

No.

I think that current selection of starting frames is quite good. We have frame which is more on autoattack and more caster type. All of them are rather not complicated and have some survivalibility.

The good starting classes suggested by OP are: Excalibur, Mag, Volt.

The bad suggestion for starting frame are:

• Ash - does not bring much different stuff than Volt. A bit fancy with jumping and smoke bomb.
• Ember - to fragile to be given to new players and avoid frustracion
• Saryn - combo frame
• Trinity - for startering nodes you can have 4 killers, no need to designed buffer

Generally getting most frames is rather easy. Starting frames should be:

• In good state,not a frame which requires overhaul
• Decent survival kit
• Straighforward (no combo - wombo) No limbo this time :-(
• Solo friendly and group friendly

And present frame set does this.

Frost or Rhino would be decent starting frames, not complicated, somehow tanky. But getting them is not that hard. Adding them would not be major improvment to new players experience.

Edited March 3, 2016 by felixsylvaris

[LightstealKnight]

3 minutes ago, felixsylvaris said:

No.

I think that current selection of starting frames is quite good. We have frame which is more on autoattack and more caster type. All of them are rather not complicated and have some survivalibility.

The good starting classes suggested by OP are: Excalibur, Mag, Volt.

The bad are:

• Ash - does not bring much different stuff than Volt. A bit fancy with jumping and smoke bomb.
• Ember - to fragile to be given to new players and avoid frustracion
• Saryn - combo frame
• Trinity - for startering nodes you can have 4 killers, no need to designed buffer

Frost or Rhino would be decent starting frames, not complicated, somehow tanky. But getting them is not that hard.

Just to be clear, every warframe is useful and can be a potential starting frame.  This is not the point of the post.  Warframes in general defy categorization into standard archetypal classes.  Nobody knows what they are getting when starting Warframe.  I chose the 5 frames because they are vastly separate rolls, they all synergize well together, and they are all closely related to the 5 archetypal classes that most people are used to in the gaming world.

Warrior, Assassin, Mage, Tank and Support are the meta-archetype of classes for most games today.  And I chose the 5 frames that would best fit these rolls and that are otherwise easy to get on the starchart.

This just adds a layer of player intuition when starting the game, as most people already have a favored playing class and style.

All warframes are good and useful and could potentially be a starter frame.  If you disagree with this then you don't really know how to play that specific frame properly.

 

[Frivolimous]

I agree that every frame is an effective starter frame.  Which is a shame because you dont get to actually see most frames in action at low level. For me, whenever i get a new frame now i immediately get him boosted to a high level with missions, or just hang back and use weapons until hes strong enough.  I cant remember the last time i used my 1 ability on Frost or Nekros or... well 90% of frames!

I think that as long as players understand what they are getting, and being able to restart the tutorial is a fabulous way to do that, then all the frames will work.  Dont forget that though most players wil, be starting solo, some will join with other noob friends and some will join friends who are existing players, so a variety of frames and roles would be wonderful.

Instead of mirroring archetypes in other games though, why not take advantage of the warframe meta to introduce players to the proper roles early?  As far as i understand it, the roles in warframe are:  damage dealer, defender, rescuer, trinity.  The most iconic characters to fulfill those classes i think are: Excalibur, Frost, Loki, Trinity.  If we add in a 5th one i think it should be a second type of damage dealer like a Mag or Ember.  So basically i like the OPs list lol but for different reasons.

[(XBOX)Skode]

I wanted starter frame changes too esp as Mag is terrible vs Grineer (who are new players enemy on first 2 planets) but DE Scott (lead designer) has been actively playing on new account as her to see strugglers new players face and issues with info overload etc. Both she and Volt are getting tweaked based on that so should be ok as such as starter options (Excal is actually a legit late game frame now after his rework)

[marelooke]

The starter frames used to be selected along these lines, although there were only three (Excalibur, Loki and Trinity were the options when I started I think)

Loki just didn't work as he was presented as an "advanced" warframe, leading many people to pick him without knowing what they signed up for. Since you're kinda stuck with your initial frame for a while this lead to quite a lot of whining on the forums. Without proper mods Loki was just frustrating for many new players. I think it would be a rather bad idea to bring him (or any other stealth frame) back as beginner choice.

Excalibur has always been a pretty balanced frame (decent offense, decent utility, decent defense), moreover he's iconic.

Trinity was removed because her abilities are pretty useless in the early game as stuff just dies too fast, moreover using her non-4 other abilities effectively requires some grasp on mechanics that newbies won't have. Starting with frames with more "regular" powers sets better expectations I think. Moreover I will strongly disagree with Frivolimous putting Trinity in her own category: there are other frames that provide healing (Oberon is the most obvious one, but one could argue for Nekros and Inaros too and possibly a few other I'm missing). I'd even go as far as to consider Oberon a much better starter frame than Trinity since his abilities are much more balanced (eg. not *pure* support) while he can still provide decent healing.

*Tank* imho doesn't make any sense in the context of Warframe as the "tank" role is only relevant in a very few select mission types (note that other frames could also fill the role, depending on the context, like Zephyr), the most popular kind of tank in WF is the "DPS-tank", aka "nuke it before it nukes us". Making an explicit entry for a "tank" would set pretty wrong expectations for new players as the "tank" in WF is *nothing* like those in other games, not to mention that Frost's bubble is often actively not wanted since it also blocks friendly fire, making lower level missions more annoying as more running around is required, while you can argue that this is a problem with the other players, the abuse resulting from a rookie Frost running around bubbling everything isn't exactly fun for anyone, some WF players are rather hot tempered.  Basically Frost suffers the same problem Trinity does as in he has a very useful kit when used in the correct circumstances in the correct team, unfortunately, just like with Trinity, this generally means high level content (endless defense, sorties,...).

[LightstealKnight]

55 minutes ago, Frivolimous said:

As far as i understand it, the roles in warframe are:  damage dealer, defender, rescuer, trinity.

I wonder what frames fit the role of Trinity?

[LightstealKnight]

7 minutes ago, marelooke said:

Loki just didn't work as he was presented as an "advanced" warframe

Loki worked perfect except for the fact that the new tutorial relies on you killing someone with your 1st ability.  He was removed when the new tutorial was added (witch was a mistake in my opinion).

 

7 minutes ago, marelooke said:

Trinity was removed because her abilities are pretty useless in the early game

Trinity was not a starter frame, it was Loki Volt and Excalibur, then it became Mag Loki and Excalibur in U7, and now it's Mag Volt Excalibur since U14.

Edited March 8, 2016 by Enemy1

[marelooke]

3 minutes ago, Enemy1 said:

Loki worked perfect except for the fact that the new tutorial relies on the fact that you can kill someone with your 1st ability.  He was removed when the new tutorial was added (witch was a mistake in my opinion).

I'm not sure I agree, while some people undoubtedly enjoyed him for what he was the fact that WF isn't a particularly stealthy game (especially not when you play public matches) combined with Loki's reliance on his powers (which you can't exactly boost as a rookie) make him rather unfit imho.

Perhaps if newbies were given the option to change their choice at the end of the tutorial (and then possibly the chance to re-run it with the newly chosen frame), then I might agree. Of course there's the chance that due to a bad experience in the tutorial people would never touch certain frames again. Eh...

4 minutes ago, Enemy1 said:

Trinity was not a starter frame, it was Mag Volt and Exalibur, then it became Mag Loki and Excalibur, and now it's back to what it was originally.

Possible, it's been a while. My point about Trinity still stands though :)

[LightstealKnight]

21 minutes ago, marelooke said:

I'm not sure I agree, while some people undoubtedly enjoyed him for what he was the fact that WF isn't a particularly stealthy game (especially not when you play public matches) combined with Loki's reliance on his powers (which you can't exactly boost as a rookie) make him rather unfit imho.

Perhaps if newbies were given the option to change their choice at the end of the tutorial (and then possibly the chance to re-run it with the newly chosen frame), then I might agree. Of course there's the chance that due to a bad experience in the tutorial people would never touch certain frames again. Eh...

Possible, it's been a while. My point about Trinity still stands though :)

 

I suggested Ash (not Loki) in the OP, however, Loki has one of the best kits in the Game.  Everything but his 1st ability scales into endgame.  He lacks damaging abilities which is why most people do not like him but that is exactly why he scales well.  His radial disarm is almost a requirement for endgame content, and most missions can be done more effectively and speedily (rescue, capture, spy, deception, sabotage) when stealth is active.  This is not even a debate, this is just fact.
One of my best friends only plays games with stealth-like elements and he joined the game back when Loki was a starter hero.  Until this day Loki is still his favored frame.

My brother has always loved support type playstyle, and the first frame he crafted was Trinity and he barely plays anything else.  

I have played Vauban the most because CC has always been what I loved to do.

The 5 frames that I chose in the OP (Excal, Frost, Ash, Trinity, Ember) is a diverse selection that will cater to different playstyles.  And give newcomers a broad choice in frames.
They are all basic frames that can be attained from completing the Star Chart, they are some of the earliest frames released and all have Prime versions to upgrade to and they support the Meta-Class-Archetypes that most people are used to.

They are perfectly suited for newcomers to chose the playstyle that they prefer and serve as a baseline for them to grow from.

Besides the fact that two of the frames (Frost and Trinity) are some of the most demanded frames in groups.

Edited March 8, 2016 by Enemy1

[Frivolimous]

I think Trinity was a starter at some point in early beta?  She belongs in her own category not just because of the healing but because of Energy Vamp.  The only other frame that grants energy is Desecrate Nekros and not to the same extent. Oberon could be an interesting starter, but he definitely loses relevance.

The thing is that in early levels there are many, many different ways to play and get through the levels.  Guns play a major role and powers a lesser one. I remember i started with Mag and just because of energy constraints i killed most things with my braton and saved my powers for emergencies.

The first 2 abilities with frost are strong damaging abilities and are useful in their own right during early game. He is tough so he can take a few hits and then baboom everyone with his frost wave. No problem.  Lokis decoy lends immense utility to a team early game, taking all the fire while you and your squishy team gun the enemy down.  Ash is probably a better starter frame because he is tankier but nothing was wrong with Loki as a starter IMO.