In Depth Chroma Changes: Full on Rework Suggestions (Updated 6/30/2016)

[Sajochi]

Yeah. Most Chroma players are for an actual passive, but don't think he should lose out on the color change mechanic. It just wouldn't feel right. Hopefully we can get more ideas to jot down, or figure different ways to enhance his abilities. So far, from the suggestions I placed and the ones I gathered from here and other threads, we're getting to that sweet spot of where Chroma players want him.

[Sajochi]

Bumping this thread because it seems to be getting lost in the forums (I hate having to do this). 

I've been pondering something for Chroma, mainly with the element switch mechanic. Just a shower thought that I won't add to the OP because it could potentially be broken. Giving Chroma the ability to combine elements into their advanced forms. 

Here's what I was thinking, Chroma starts with fire, activates EW, and switches element to Ice. When he uses SS, the damage is explosive damage instead of a steady stream of ice damage. 

You can see why this would be potentially be broken but I thought it was interesting enough to share and funny to think about a dragon breathing bombs, or rads, or magnets, or even farts.

[Archwizard]

Heh, I see a lot of suggestions I've made myself in here. Couple thoughts:

• I've always loved the idea of being able to decouple energy color from element selection, since it was always a case of cosmetics determining effectiveness; if you normally use blue but want to build him to self-heal, you're out of luck.
  Problem is... he's named Chroma. He's literally named after the energy color gimmick. If he'd been named something like Fafnir or Sigurd, decoupling would've been a no-brainer since Quiver came out.
• The passive. As you do have the element type swapping with Spectral Scream, the energy color isn't as relevant to the damage type selection. It's entirely possible to decouple the elemental selection mechanic from the passive. Further, five jumps is... excessive; a frame passive would be sufficient with just a third one.
• While the passive puts a lot of emphasis on being able to "fly" around, his abilities themselves have an odd lack of that. For instance, Effigy has wings, but can't be cast while airborne and falls to the ground if you drop it off a ledge. Spectral Scream disallows any jumping or parkour while it's active. If his passive gives him more mobility, he should be able to use that with his skills.
• Spectral Scream itself doesn't really have a purpose in Chroma's kit. It looks cool, and you have it scaling with Vex Armor, it doesn't get much else. His Effigy can already breathe fire, in some ways that makes Spectral Scream seem a bit redundant. It needs to be evaluated: what's its purpose within his kit?
  Consider: In Volt's rework, Shock became something of a magic wand for his other skills. Mag's Pull now rewards you for using it to snag killing blows. Ivara's Quiver has each skill bring a different utility, not simply the same effect in a new element or form. How do you bring Spectral Scream to a comparable level?

Overall though, lots of good work and nice suggestions.

Edited May 29, 2016 by Archwizard

[Sajochi]

In order of what was presented:

• Agreed. It is something that would be preferred in a game like warframe. I always seen Chroma as the mater of elements and felt he should be as much. Although his name is derived from the Greek translation of "Color," it doesn't necessarily mean he can't swap elements. The energy color would still determine his starting element.
• Five jumps is a bit excessive in hindsight. I will drop it to 3 without hesitation since that seems fair.
• I'm actually uncertain how to go about this process. I tried to have SS work close to the ignis when held down without locking you into a stance but it seemed broken. I would actually like to see people jumping around as Chroma breathing elemental death from above. As for Effigy, I don't see a reason why it can't be casted in the air.
• SS is a bit redundant, I will admit. However, it does fit with Chroma's elemental mastery feel. Maybe if he points SS while in range of Effigy, Effigy will also focus attacks where Chroma is aiming, while still allowing Chroma to have a dependable low drain damage ability.

Other than that, i'm pretty much stuck. Thanks for taking the time to review this thread @Archwizard

[Morphic224]

I agree with practically everything you've said. I've been playing Chroma from the start and even now I still love playing him but I do see all of the downsides.

 

If I can just coin an idea in as well and I'm unsure if it's been mentioned (I prey I'll be forgiven for skipping the second page). I believe the elemental swapping mid game needs to happen, Something most people are skipping is that it is not a swap of abilities, when Vauban or Ivara do it they get access to a new skill, we get a different "passive" which is something I feel could be utilized in a great manner. To reduce work load I think that Chromas passive should be his current elemental benefits, the ward itself can be pressed to select which element and upon selecting it does the self defense part of the skill and the passive is the other benefit, such as the fire aura, or reflective ice. 

Whilst this look like an lazy quick fix it's to make way for another change that we're going to steal from equinox, I don't think it's been mentioned but she can also select the colour of her frame based on which form she is in, something that we could utilize on Chroma as well to maintain the elemental theme (I can't be the only person that uses dark reds and oranges as fire, dark greens, as toxin etc etc)

 

As for an augment on the vex armour, I would coin that taking damage at max stacks would refresh some of the duration based on damage done to help eliminate how frequently this ability (and elemental ward) need to be activated (which even with a full duration build is still just over 80 seconds I believe). Another augment idea for the effigy is one I've actually stolen from the original power ranges series, remember the green rangers armour? How in that episode the red ranger gets it given to him? That's right! I was thinking that we would somehow be able to bind the pelt to another person giving them the 50% armour we lose (maybe 30% because of the next part) and allow it to fire whilst attached

 

I do understand that this augment is an absolutely crazy idea and probably not worth the effort to make it fit every frame in the game but one can hope right? ;) 

 

EDIT: If I understand correctly your idea for SS is basically to function like the dragon shouts in skyrim correct? Eliminating the need to channel? I think this change alone would be incredible alone even if the damage is still in need of a touch up.

Edited June 2, 2016 by Morphic224

[Sajochi]

Gonna break up what you posted so I can give my thoughts on it.

47 minutes ago, Morphic224 said:

I agree with practically everything you've said. I've been playing Chroma from the start and even now I still love playing him but I do see all of the downsides.

 

If I can just coin an idea in as well and I'm unsure if it's been mentioned (I prey I'll be forgiven for skipping the second page). I believe the elemental swapping mid game needs to happen, Something most people are skipping is that it is not a swap of abilities, when Vauban or Ivara do it they get access to a new skill, we get a different "passive" which is something I feel could be utilized in a great manner. To reduce work load I think that Chromas passive should be his current elemental benefits, the ward itself can be pressed to select which element and upon selecting it does the self defense part of the skill and the passive is the other benefit, such as the fire aura, or reflective ice. 

Whilst this look like an lazy quick fix it's to make way for another change that we're going to steal from equinox, I don't think it's been mentioned but she can also select the colour of her frame based on which form she is in, something that we could utilize on Chroma as well to maintain the elemental theme (I can't be the only person that uses dark reds and oranges as fire, dark greens, as toxin etc etc)

I never thought of having EW as his elemental swap button. I'm sure it was mentioned in this thread, but it would be a cool way to give EW some other function besides "buffs aplenty." It already has a cast delay as well which makes it easier to tell if you're swapping or using the ability. I think I'll take on your iteration, minus the separation of buffs to gain different passives. The community really wants Chroma to have a bullet glide passive, and since we're mentioning Equinox we should note that she has a single passive not based on her forms. This leaves Chroma with a simple mechanic with obvious reasons to change elements (swapping buffs for the needed situation). It also makes it easier to tweak Spectral Scream to be a basic damage ability that still holds weight later in the game without locking it into a elemental switch ability.

I for one use the Orokin pallet on Chroma myself since it offers elements and allows me to pretend I have Chroma Prime.

47 minutes ago, Morphic224 said:

As for an augment on the vex armour, I would coin that taking damage at max stacks would refresh some of the duration based on damage done to help eliminate how frequently this ability (and elemental ward) need to be activated (which even with a full duration build is still just over 80 seconds I believe). Another augment idea for the effigy is one I've actually stolen from the original power ranges series, remember the green rangers armour? How in that episode the red ranger gets it given to him? That's right! I was thinking that we would somehow be able to bind the pelt to another person giving them the 50% armour we lose (maybe 30% because of the next part) and allow it to fire whilst attached

I like the Augment idea for Effigy. It actually makes more sense than what I had going (a generic missile barrage). I can already see myself using this augment to offer protection to an ally (since we're also scaling our armor from vex armor) as well as giving them the opportunity to use the triple jump feature  minus the bullet glide passive. We've already agreed that when Effigy is activated we lose our triple jump, but we do retain our elemental bullet glide. I'll add it to the debate section to see what others think of it.

For vex armor, I don;t really agree with the augment. The current one is pretty decent and offers a nice upgrade if you really want to go full on tank. This one would defeat the purpose of retaining a part of your stacks when the ability goes off duration. Vex armor's capabilities are so high, we need some risk when we want to use it and I think having to recast  is risk enough because of the high energy cost it has. Not to mention, since we're aiming to tweak the other abilities to make them worth using, Chroma will be energy starved, which is technically a nice trade-off for so much power.

47 minutes ago, Morphic224 said:

EDIT: If I understand correctly your idea for SS is basically to function like the dragon shouts in skyrim correct? Eliminating the need to channel? I think this change alone would be incredible alone even if the damage is still in need of a touch up.

More or less that. By having it function as a weapon without the animation lock, Chroma can still utilize the proposed passive, have acceptable damage and status chance, and look cool doing so. The augment tweak is to further solidify the dragon identity of "This is my lair!" and give him much needed area-of-denial.

Thank you for your feedback and suggestions.

Edit: Changed the OP, have a read.

Edited June 2, 2016 by CrazyCortex

[Zinthir]

I really don't care much about what you do to chroma concerning Effigy and Spectral Scream, but if Ice Elemental Ward or Vex Armor get reduced at all for Chroma himself I'll be 200% mad.

[Sajochi]

7 hours ago, Zinthir said:

I really don't care much about what you do to chroma concerning Effigy and Spectral Scream, but if Ice Elemental Ward or Vex Armor get reduced at all for Chroma himself I'll be 200% mad.

No one here is calling for nerfs. In fact, EW and VA are pretty balanced imo. They have a pretty high cost and can't be recast during their duration, and the changes that are presented don't touch their power or energy cost (not to mention adding two more stats to toxin). An elemental switch on EW would only increase the cost for the added benefit of swapping a buff when needed after the initial 10 seconds of being locked in, which is ok since Chroma has a relatively high energy pool. Vex Armor trades taking damage to gain armor and weapon damage, and shares the added benefit of matching EW's duration so using them together will put a decent energy investment. Retaining 15% of the accumulated stacks for 5s after the duration ends allows Chroma to stay in fights and recast if needed. 

All we're doing is bringing Effigy and Spectral Scream up to par with these two abilities, and tweaking EW and VA just enough to feel like they synergize with his whole kit instead of just with each other.

[maimus]

12 hours ago, CrazyCortex said:

There's a large discussion about Chroma here where we discussed his Spectral Scream and synergy within his kit.

We opted out of putting a quiver function on SS and instead having it scale with Vex Armor while adding some other QoL changes in general. I won't go into too much detail here.

What we did do was suggest Elemental Ward would gain the quiver function due to it giving different buffs based on elements. It fits perfectly and gives clear incentives to swap elements.

Back on this thread's topic, if we're going for a quiver mechanic on Spectral Scream, it needs a different casting method beside toggling through abilities. It's too clunky at the moment and doesn't fit in a fast paced game like warframe. I've already suggested this multiple times but the 8th times the charm I guess:

1. Press SS to enter "Element Swap" mode for 3s

2. Press 1-4 to swap elements where 1 is Heat, 2 is Cold, 3 is electric, 4 is Toxin

3. Hold the key to use SS normally. Releasing will turn it off to allow for smoother transitions

Note: not pressing anything within the 3s will not cause a change. Additionally, holding an ability key will overwrite a change to cast the ability instead (a fail-safe feature to prevent any unintentional swaps).

Also glad someone else recognizes Chroma needs this feature as well. We are but a small section of the community that really loves our Dragon Master.

Having the quiver function on Elemental Ward sounds like a good idea and makes more sense and they could be limited to the energy colour determining what element you start with until they unlock the power. I think the Quiver function will work best for selecting the element you want to be active. 

I agree that Spectral Scream needs a buff and Elemental Ward or Vex Armour do not need to be changed unless Elemental Ward receives the Quiver function as mentioned above.

as for Effigy I am happy with it as it is. as I use it mainly for a quick bit of CC.  

[Kai_Shiba]

Honestly, his passive is fine as it is.

[Sajochi]

27 minutes ago, KJRenz said:

Honestly, his passive is fine as it is.

I think we've been down this road a bunch of times. It isn't a passive, it's a game mechanic that is not unique to Chroma. Equinox shares this mechanic where energy color determines if she is in Day or Night form, and she has a passive. Not only that, but she can switch forms mid mission that changes how her abilities work. Chroma only has one ability that grants different effects based on elements, and two that just apply elemental damage. He has the mechanic, yes, but no true passive. There really is no reason for Chroma to not have a true passive that A) Fits his theme and B) works alongside the mechanic. That's why we're asking for an extra jump because of his wings and a bullet glide passive.

4 hours ago, maimus said:

Having the quiver function on Elemental Ward sounds like a good idea and makes more sense and they could be limited to the energy colour determining what element you start with until they unlock the power. I think the Quiver function will work best for selecting the element you want to be active. 

I agree that Spectral Scream needs a buff and Elemental Ward or Vex Armour do not need to be changed unless Elemental Ward receives the Quiver function as mentioned above.

as for Effigy I am happy with it as it is. as I use it mainly for a quick bit of CC.  

I can see what you mean with Effigy. It's in a weird place of being good for soft CC but bad if you're looking for extra damage outside low level missions and infested defense missions. It just needs some QoL love more than anything as well as synergy within Chroma's kit.

Edited June 4, 2016 by CrazyCortex
when you want to be determined but forgot what determines

[maimus]

1 minute ago, CrazyCortex said:

It isn't a passive, it's a game mechanic .

I was just about to say this exact thing.

 

An extra jump sounds like a nice idea for Chroma passive.

[achromos]

free bump.  Absolutely love the ideas for chroma though!  Hope the devs take a look at even half of this.  :C

[Sajochi]

Thank you, but I can't take all the credit. Over half the players who commented in this thread helped flesh this out more. I'm not trying to say that we represent all Chroma players, but we're a small group that really loves our dragon.

Also, I think I should bring these topics up. They were ideas other players have suggested that can use more discussion. They mostly have to do with Effigy.

On 5/22/2016 at 1:57 AM, CrazyCortex said:

Currently debatable: 

• Allowing Chroma to change Effigy's position by holding ability key while Effigy is out, causing it to "fly" to the targeted location and ram enemies it flies into. Credit to @SempaiMint for this suggestion
• Suggested by @(PS4)Snakeboy1990. Instead of summoning his pelt, Chroma becomes a floating dragon and moves around the battlefield. Needs more suggestions to flesh out if this change is more popular.
• @Olianu suggests that Effigy has a larger energy cost, but no longer drains energy in favor of HP (much like a frost globe). When effigy dies, it goes away. Can still be called back when needed. This has some potential.
• @Morphic224 suggests a Dragon Armor style augment for Effigy. This augment would allow Chroma to bind Effigy to an ally, giving them the armor Chroma loses on cast as well as giving consistent damage and protection.

[Sajochi]

Decided to bring attention to this thread once more. It's not without reason, I assure you that. All the suggested changes in the op are for the most part what a very minute section of the community feel should be added for Chroma. 

What I really want to try and get a discussion on is Effigy, possible augments for it, and additional tweaks that might have been missed. That is the main subject. If anyone has suggestions for Chroma's other areas, do not be afraid to voice them. I figured this would be better than opening a new thread since a lot was written here. 

[Morphic224]

9 hours ago, CrazyCortex said:

Decided to bring attention to this thread once more. It's not without reason, I assure you that. All the suggested changes in the op are for the most part what a very minute section of the community feel should be added for Chroma. 

What I really want to try and get a discussion on is Effigy, possible augments for it, and additional tweaks that might have been missed. That is the main subject. If anyone has suggestions for Chroma's other areas, do not be afraid to voice them. I figured this would be better than opening a new thread since a lot was written here. 

 

If it hasn't already been mentioned I think another augment/built in mechanic could be that elemental ward is also placed on the effigy, like when you activate it the aura is placed on both you AND the effigy so if people are closer to the effigy they can use it to gain the buffs.

[Sajochi]

29 minutes ago, Morphic224 said:

 

If it hasn't already been mentioned I think another augment/built in mechanic could be that elemental ward is also placed on the effigy, like when you activate it the aura is placed on both you AND the effigy so if people are closer to the effigy they can use it to gain the buffs.

Yep, it's in the op

 

On 5/22/2016 at 1:57 AM, CrazyCortex said:

Gains an Elemental Ward Aura (does not receive buff) when casted. Does not utilize tempest release functions. Elemental Ward aura swaps elemental damage on cast.

It's actually a really popular suggestion.

[Morphic224]

On 6/13/2016 at 10:26 PM, CrazyCortex said:

Yep, it's in the op

 

It's actually a really popular suggestion.

 

My bad then, I had another idea but it doesn't help with the "press 4 to win" issue the game is trying to get rid of.

 

I thought that if you use the effigy mid air (with the augment ofcourse) the wings beat downwards releasing a huge radial aoe nuke doing damage based how much energy is spent and how much damage the effigy would've done for said energy cost.

It sounds very strong I admit, might need some numbers tuning but we're here for ideas not balance :P.

 

If I think of anything else I'll post.

[Sajochi]

12 minutes ago, Morphic224 said:

 

My bad then, I had another idea but it doesn't help with the "press 4 to win" issue the game is trying to get rid of.

 

I thought that if you use the effigy mid air (with the augment ofcourse) the wings beat downwards releasing a huge radial aoe nuke doing damage based how much energy is spent and how much damage the effigy would've done for said energy cost.

It sounds very strong I admit, might need some numbers tuning but we're here for ideas not balance :P.

 

If I think of anything else I'll post.

You might be onto something there. Perhaps making it based on power strength instead of energy spent would be a better direction. As for what the mechanics are, I'll leave that to you to flesh out.

[Morphic224]

32 minutes ago, CrazyCortex said:

You might be onto something there. Perhaps making it based on power strength instead of energy spent would be a better direction. As for what the mechanics are, I'll leave that to you to flesh out.

 

It needs to deal damage based on the frame by default, mods are there to improve the stuff not be the reason the stuff works. That mechanic I mentioned was only for chroma due to the fact that the effigy is a toggle which deals its damage based on how long it is active, if it does 100 damage per 1 energy consumed then it's 10000(if my math is worth dog) per 100, and then power str further improves it if you follow me?

 

The idea is that the effigy in its current form stays, it is only with the augment and being in the air is this secondary effect utilized so you can use it as both a sentry and a huge aoe nuke to deal with a bad situation. I'll think more on it though.

[Sajochi]

So, I just had me a nice thought. I was having a discussion with a buddy who recently unlocked Chroma and he told me that outside of pure damage and tank, Chroma isn't really interesting to play. He basically opened my eyes to the fact that with the coming changes to enemy scaling (tbd on what that will entail) may or may not make Chroma's kit outdated. He has percentage scaling on one ability based on damage taken and a percentage boost on another based on element. There may be a case where these will become flat values but to avoid a doom thread, this might actually be a healthy direction to go as it will highlight that Chroma needs a full on rework. Everything from the color change mechanic, synergy between abilities, and even some visual updates. I'll edit the OP with new suggested changes while incorporating some suggestions in a couple days. Currently not at my pc, but I promise to show all my brain was cooking up for the last week.

If anyone has something they would like to add, feel free as I like to get a feel as to what other players think of Chroma.

Long live our dragon king.

[Sajochi]

Updated the OP with a full cleanup, and I promise this will be the last bump I do for this thread. I have added a visuals sections with some rough descriptions but will be adding to that once I find some images that fit what I'm describing. Feel free to comment on any other suggestions that come to mind, I want Chroma to be both fun and practical.

[Soketsu]

On 22/05/2016 at 7:57 AM, CrazyCortex said:

Greetings once more Tenno,

After a long thought process and a discussion with a friend of mine, I have concluded that Chroma needs a full scale rework. Everything should be touched on from his ability mechanics to his visuals due to the upcoming changes to enemy scaling (which are still in the process of being announced). I am an avid Chroma player, spending my time once I unlocked him learning the ins and outs of the dragon master and synergies he has with multiple loadouts. We're going to go as in depth as possible and see what changes can be made to our grand master of the dragon ways.

Let's talk: Pros and Cons

Pros

• Chroma is a DPS Tank allowing him to stay viable throughout all levels of content
• All his abilities fit his theme rather well
• One of the few warframes that can make any weapon useful thanks to one of his abilities
• He is a Dragon Master/Spell Caster

Cons

• His kit is good for solo play, very selfish in a team setting
• Only two of his abilities work well together, the others are lackluster or very niche
• His visuals for one ability has very little variation
• His passive is literally: "He's Chroma"

Ability analysis and Changes

Chroma's kit is one of the more unique ones between frames that aesthetically fit into his theme of being a dragon knight. However, there are glaring issues per ability that need to be addressed before we can say Chroma is ready for the challenges ahead. To keep things focused, I'm going to avoid any and all number values and stick to mechanics. This is mainly due to the upcoming enemy scaling changes and the trend of percentage scaling abilities gaining flat number values.

Passive - Elemental Alignment
Argued as a mechanic more than a passive, this allows Chroma to determine his element based on energy color. This is essentially what makes Chroma, well, Chroma. It may be seen as a strong passive by some, but it's rather restricting and doesn't allow for much in build variety. Chroma should obviously keep this aspect of this passive but gain the folowing:

• Energy color determines Starting Element (check Elemental Ward Changes)
• Current selected element is applied to bullet jump (see Ice Spring and similar mods)
• Chroma gains an extra jump (Triple jump) while wearing his pelt, with the last jump having increased height

Spectral Scream
This is one of the more visual pleasing abilities in the game as you're breathing energy like a dragon. The downside is it lacks synergy in Chroma's kit and has a very poor damage falloff towards later content coupled with a sub-par status chance. Not to mention, you're locked into a stance that restricts movement and makes aiming the ability a bit difficult. I, as well as others, propose these changes:

• Gains innate 2m Punch Through
• Counts as a weapon for cases such as Vex Armor weapon buff, or Shooting Gallery Buff
• While Effigy is Active, Chroma can direct attacks by holding the key down while within effigy's attack range (this also makes the point of attack from Effigy as two elemental breaths are a bit overkill)
• No longer comes with a stance lock, allowing Chroma to use the ability freely while airborne. It will still disable weapon attacks.
• Augment: Afterburn
  • No longer fires an elemental projectile (PvE only, conclave stays the same)
  • Leaves patches of elemental damage on any surface Chroma aims for based on duration. Enemies who step on these patches will take the elements proc damage and effects.

Elemental Ward
Chroma's bread to his butter, this ability is one of the essential things to build for. It synergizes extremely well with Vex Armor, and provides a defensive bonus along with an offensive bonus. This ability is gated by Chroma's current passive, however, and only two elements are ever used outside of extreme cases. How about we fix that:

• Now gains an ability switch mechanic
  • Each element can be argued as being it's own ability, which further warrants granting Chroma the ability to swap elements
  • A new casting style should be made, not just for Chroma, but for all frames with an ability switch mechanic
    • Pressing the ability button will open up a secondary hotbar for a few seconds
    • Pressing any of the ability keys (1-4 for PC) will switch to a corresponding ability
    • Hold the cast button to use the ability
    • Have an option in the settings menu to allow it to work in reverse, Hold key to access hotbar, Tap key to use ability
    • This allows for ability switches to work in a fast paced game like warframe
• After swapping elements, Chroma is locked into the casted ward for 15s to prevent unnecessary quick switching. You have to commit to your ward for a bit.You can still swap elements for the sake of Spectral Scream and Effigy.
• Only one buff can applied at a time. Switching will override the last EW buff Chroma has, as well as any buff his teammates gained
• Other Chromas are under their own EW are not affected by your buff changes
• Toxin ward gains increased fire rate and melee attack speed alongside current buffs to make it the sustained damage buff
• Augment: Everlasting Ward is built into the ability by default
• New Augment: Tempest Release
  • Upon switching element, Chroma releases a radial burst whose damage type is determined by his last element. Each burst has a different effect
    • Heat: Applies knockdown status to all viable enemies in burst
    • Cold: Slows all enemy movement in burst, or freezes enemies solid
    • Electric: Applies a stun to all enemies in burst
    • Toxin: Blinds enemies in burst, or reduces enemy armor

Vex Armor
The butter, the ability that allows Chroma to retain viability in the late game, the only way for Chroma to take a stick into battle and win. This is the ability that is prioritized in almost every single build, and for good reason. It gives bonuses for taking damage: more armor for shield damage, more weapon damage for health damage. Pair it with Ice Ward and Quick Thinking + Flow, and you can permatank with your ehp in the billions while dealing insane amounts of dps (personally, my highest damage without using a Tonkor was a 900k red crit on dread). Of course, this is a percentage scaling ability, so the following changes to mechanics are meant for flat value abilities:

• Stacks of Scorn can be gained with overshield
• Retains 15% of accumulated stacks for a few seconds after the initial duration ends. This allows for Chroma to stay in fights with a minor buff while allowing the ability stacking to be refreshed. If no action is taken within this time, the retained stacks are lost as normal.
• While active, gives Chroma additional 25% knockdown resistance
• Augment: Vexing Retaliation will receive no change as it is pretty solid in terms of an augment

Effigy
You know, Effigy is a really cool ability. It's a stationary turret that attacks anything stupid enough to come near it (read: all enemies) and looks good to boot. Now, admit that you also cast this ability to look at Chroma's amazing butt in secret (I know I have). On top of these amazing attributes, Effigy has a chance to double any credit drops from enemies it kills. Easily the best turret, it pays you when it kills. Now we come to the fundamental flaws with this beautiful ability; it can be knocked out of position, the damage isn't reliable later on, the energy drain is a bit much considering it can be casted and do nothing, and it's radial cc scream isn't too relevant. Let's get into some changes that can help to improve this ultimate ability:

• Now counts as a weapon to scale with weapon buffing abilities.
• Now gains all the armor Chroma lost on casting. It has to go somewhere.
• Acts as a stationary EW buff area, but will not receive the buff themselves. This is a godsend in a team setting so Chroma can do Chroma things and the rest of the team will have a reliable area to get a buff.
• Effigy's retains Chroma's current element on cast, and can only be changed with a true cast of EW. This allows Chroma players to swap effigies damage
• Cannot be used as a source for Augment: Tempestv Release
• Immune to any and all displacement effects.
• When casted in the air, Effigy will remain airborne until recalled
• Effigy will only consume energy when attacking and will attack at a faster rate.
• Holding cast key while Effigy is active will cause Effigy to reposition to Chroma's last location
• New Augment: Open to suggestions (I don't have any ideas here and there was very little discussion except for a couple suggestions)

Visuals and Eye Candy

As far as I'm concerned, Chroma looks amazing. These suggestions aren't about his model but about the visuals from casting an ability and much needed clarification on what exactly is going on. Let's start off with his passive. Outside of the small circles on his pelt having a change in color as well as other areas, there really isn't any way to determine what element Chroma has outside of the arsenal unless you've played him long enough. What I suggest is that these circles gain some particle effects, like flames shooting out every so often for heat, or electricity arcing across his body, or gas clouds spewing out a bit. Of course these can be disabled through the settings by turning particles off. I can't really find a picture of what I want and lack the skills to make a mock up.

As for Elemental Ward, the visuals need an update badly. Heat, Electricity, and Toxin have this circle that appears around Chroma's feet but doesn't really give the feeling of being enveloped in an element like Cold. Like the passive, this would be represented with jets of fire coming out for heat instead of the mini flames on passive, maybe a burning trail down Chroma's back. Electricity would shroud Chroma in sparks, more specifically around the shoulders and thighs. Cold should get some love, with shards of ice sticking out around Chroma, preferably along his arms, legs, and head. Toxin should be some kind of ooze that drips off Chroma, more so around the hands, feet, and neck.

As for Effigy, the wings should look different per element. Maybe having the elements symbol in the middle of the wings with a different visual per element around the wings.

That's all I have for now. If anyone else has more suggestions for Chroma, or is artistically talented enough to create some of the visual update concepts, feel free to share. This is a major change from what I had before (Mainly a cleanup and some witty things thrown in). For those that wish, the original post can be found just above the changelog.

 

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So I've noticed quite a bit of Chroma talk around the forums and decided to provide yet another set of proposed changes to one of the more interesting frames in the game. I play a lot of this beast during solo void runs and even take him into sorties, pushing him into my most played warframe in the game. I'm actually quite proud of that since Chroma was the reason I decided to come back from a year and a half hiatus that I won't go into confusing details about (it had to do with me forgetting my old account info). I've pondered quite a bit on what Chroma is supposed to be and how to improve his "passive" and his under-looked abilities: Spectral Scream and Effigy.

The Issues At Hand

1. Chroma's mechanic is not a true passive like other warframes. It doesn't provide much in terms of gameplay besides changing elements depending on energy color and only two elements are ever used due to their utility and effects.
2. Spectral Scream is a not usable in most situations. The damage is negligible even with power mods while proc chance is above average. This ability seems like a CC ability in theory but being locked into a slow moving stance makes it not worth using. It is also easily blocked by enemies and structures, and provides no other utility.
3. Vex Armor is a self-buffing ability that pairs well with Elemental Ward (also the major reason why Cold and Heat are mainly used). Although these work in tandem, they are selfish for a co-op game like warframe. Elemental Ward can buff allies if they stay near Chroma, or if Everlasting Ward is equipped, they can utilize the buff no matter where Chroma is after they walk near him once for the remaining duration, which poses another issue itself. Both of these abilities make Chroma a solo-themed frame.
4. Effigy's ability description is misleading. It states it buffs allies while providing  damage with a sentry mechanic. All it does is increase credit drops, making him the king of credit farming, and does moderate DPS that is basically an improved Spectral Scream. Its CC scream is underwhelming and the radial knock back is a gimmick at best.

The Improvements

I've been thinking quite a bit about these. I love Chroma and would like to see him receive the attention he deserves. This is a work in progress that can be improved on by the community.

The True Passive - Putting a couple ideas, one is from the community.

1. Elemental Mastery

• Elemental Status Procs last for 5s longer and are 5% stronger. Decided against this entirely, read the next one.

2. Dragon Ascent (The Community Requested One)

• Chroma has 10% increased Bullet Jump and Aim Glide. Also inflicts an additional 15% of his current element as damage during Bullet Jump. His wings are also visible during glides. can perform an additional jump (3 total)

The first one simply makes Chroma the king of elemental status procs. It applies to procs off weapons and his own abilities to allow for more sustained damage, and to increase the CC effects of Cold, Heat, and Electric procs as well as increase the potency of Toxin procs. This even applies to Radiation, Gas, Explosive, Viral, Corrosive and Magnetic.  Info no longer needed. Here for reference sake.

The second one is a what the majority of the community wants for Chroma, granting him more mobility and providing a reliable source of damage. Any Chroma player knows that remaining stationary is actually bad for a high action game like Warframe, so this would fit somewhat.

Spectral Scream - Fus Roh Dah!

• Now has a cycle mode much like Quiver. Although I generally don't like cloning abilities, it fits more for Chroma's kit than anything else I can think of. Tap to cycle, hold to do the following:
  • Send a stream of elemental energy in a cone 5/7.5/11/15m cone that deals 200/250/300/350 damage per sec (scales with strength) with a 50/65/80/95% status chance.
  • Proposed change to Quiver Mechanic as a whole
    • Tapping Key gives you 3 seconds to select your ability type. Pressing 1-4 will change to the corresponding type
    • For Chroma
      • 1-1 Heat
      • 1-2 Cold
      • 1-3 Electric
      • 1-4 Toxin
    • After 3 seconds, if now second key is pressed, the current element will remain. Holding any key will override the change as well and use that ability instead
      • For example, you tapped 1 to change elements, but remember you need EW, so you hold EW key to cast instead of swapping to Cold. Moved mechanic to Elemental Ward
• Has innate 2m punch through to allow for widespread elemental procing on groups of enemies
• Now counts as a weapon to scale with Vex Armor damage buff. Should make it more appealing to use outright instead of a generic Quiver switch.
• When held down while Effigy is active, Effigy will direct attacks towards Chroma's cursor if Chroma is within Effigy's attack range. 
• No longer locks you into animation and has Ignis-style hit detection. Rain death from above.
• Augment: Afterburn
  • Chroma leaves a patch of elemental energy on any surface he aims at that lasts for 5/10/15/20s that deals 40/60/80/100% of Spectral Screams Initial (before Vex armor buff) Damage with 70/80/90/100% status chance to any enemies that walk through the patches.
  • Affected by power duration.

These changes allows Spectral Scream to be reliable on crowds. BY having the SS count as a weapon, it can scale naturally with weapon buffing abilities like Vex Armor and Shooting Gallery. Afterburn changes gives Chroma the Dragon feel, a more "This is my lair" aspect to him, while providing a fair area of denial that is perfect for team play and solo play.

Elemental Ward - I have the power!

• Now has Quiver-style Mechanic to swap elements with a different casting method
  • Pressing 2 will activate "Elemental Swap." Pressing numbers 1-4 will change to the corresponding element.
    • 2-1 Heat
    • 2-2 Cold
    • 2-3 Electric
    • 2-4 Toxin
  • If no secondary button is pressed within 3s, the current element is maintained.
• All elements have a base 6/8/10/12m range (Affected by power range)
• Toxin now gains increased Fire Rate and Melee Speed with the current Toxin buffs. Allows Toxin to become a consistent damage buff.
• Only one buff can be applied at a time. Can be refreshed ONLY with a new element every 10s (to prevent unnecessary quick switching.) New buff overrides the previous buff to prevent buff stacking.
• Cannot stack with other Chroma buffs (Same as before)
• Augment: Everlasting Ward built in to ability. 
• New Augment: Tempest Release
  • Upon casting Elemental Ward, release a wave of elemental energy 10/15/20/25m that deals 100/200/300/400 damage and has a different effect depending on the last element Chroma had
  • Heat: Knock back enemies to outside the range of the blast
  • Cold: Slow all affected enemies' fire rate and movement for 8s
  • Electric: Stun all affected enemies for 5s 
  • Toxin: Blind all affected enemies for 5s 

Elemental Ward was already a decent ability and had a ton of team play, but before the recent augment it really wasn't useful unless your teammates stood right next to you. The new augment, Everlasting Ward, should just be part of the base ability. The new augment adds a more strategic incentive to switch elements on the fly, giving a nice radial damage dealer with added benefits. The 10s cooldown between switching elements helps keep this augment balanced so no one completely decimates groups with a quick elemental rotation nuke.

As suggested by @Morphic224, EW now gets the new quiver mechanic to give it an added feature and further incentive to switch elements.

Vex Armor - What doesn't kill me...

• Retains 15% of accumulated stacks for 5s after Vex Armor's initial duration wears off. Can be refreshed during this period.
• Gives Chroma 25% increased knockdown resistance.

This one really didn't need much change. Just some QoL changes to help Chroma fit a tank role. Retaining some of the total accumulated allows him to stay in fights longer. Not really fun when you have to take cover before using Vex Armor again.

Effigy - His name is toothless.

• Damage and Armor now scales with Vex Armor buffs. This should help it retain uses in the late game.
• Retains the last element Chroma had when cast.
• Only Drains energy while attacking
• Gains Chroma's missing armor
• Gains an Elemental Ward Aura (does not receive buff) when casted. Does not utilize tempest release functions. Elemental Ward aura swaps elemental damage on cast.
• Immune to knockbacks
• Acts as a platform *not needed, just a QoL idea
• Has higher priority Threat Level to enemies in 20m
• Can be casted Mid-Air, staying afloat at the point of cast directed at Chroma's feet. Chroma will lose his triple jump feature but not his elemental bullet glide.
• Augment: Dragon Nest
  • Spawns 1/2/3/4 drones every 15/12/10/8s that seek out targets and deals 20/25/35/45% of Effigy's total Damage. New Augment needed here

This one includes a lot of things the community has suggested for Effigy in general. Effigy is an amazing ability that summons a dragon to aid us in battle, but it tends to fall short outside of infested defense missions and credit farming. The Vex Armor synergy is to allow for more use late game, and would makes sense thematically since Effigy was once part of Chroma. This also allows Effigy to protect vital areas on missions while Chroma on the front lines doing what he does best: take damage and give it back tenfold. By allowing Effigy to gain an EW aura, you'll be able to further aid allies to grant them an EW buff, since Effigy is more or less in one area for them to head to when needed. In a fast paced game like Warframe, having a stationary haven for allies without hampering your own movement is a must.

Currently debatable: 

• Allowing Chroma to change Effigy's position by holding ability key while Effigy is out, causing it to "fly" to the targeted location and ram enemies it flies into. Credit to @SempaiMint for this suggestion
• Suggested by @(PS4)Snakeboy1990. Instead of summoning his pelt, Chroma becomes a floating dragon and moves around the battlefield. Needs more suggestions to flesh out if this change is more popular.
• @Olianu suggests that Effigy has a larger energy cost, but no longer drains energy in favor of HP (much like a frost globe). When effigy dies, it goes away. Can still be called back when needed. This has some potential.
• @Morphic224 suggests a Dragon Armor style augment for Effigy. This augment would allow Chroma to bind Effigy to an ally, giving them the armor Chroma loses on cast as well as giving consistent damage and protection.

The conclusion

Chroma really needs more love. I hope some of the things I placed here gives you guys some ideas and invokes discussion. As for the stuff asked for countless times, like the bullet glide passive and vex armor change, I'll look around the forums to find the threads that mention them and quote them here. There are a ton of threads for Chroma, so it will take a bit.

Current discussions on Chroma

Changelog

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6/27/2016

• Re-did the entire post for increased clarification as well as added suggestion for old posts
• There is now a visuals section that will be updated as soon as I can find what I'm trying to describe in picture form.

6/2/2016

• Moved Quiver mechanic to EW as per @Morphic224's suggestions
• Added Effigy Augment Idea to debate section
• Cleaned up some text to prevent confusion

5/29/2016

• Removed animation lock on SS and added Effigy synergy
• Added effigy being castable mid-air at the cost of extra jump
• reduced jumps on passive from 5 to 3
• Thanks to @Archwizard for their suggestions.

5/27/2016

• Reverted elemental changes for Ew, save for Toxin which is a fire rate/melee speed buff 
  • Correction: Added Buffs alongside current buff stats for more consistent damage in regards to toxin.
• Added @(PS4)Snakeboy1990's transform suggestion under the debatable area
• Added @Olianu Effigy suggestion

5/26/16

• Changed some text in Spectral Scream and Vex Armor to indicate it scales with Vex Armor Damage buff
• Changed some Elemental Ward effects to match current suggestions
• Removed Elemental Mastery due to conflicts with new proposed EW changes

5/24/16

• Added note to Effigy's platform suggestion
• Added clarification on buff stacking for EW. Forgot to write that down initially so apologies to those who where confused.
• I found the discussions
• Added SempaiMint's suggestion for Effigy to be discussed.

5/23/16

• Added Proposed Quiver Mechanic Change to Spectral Scream
• Added percent health damage to Spectral Scream. Number may change.
• Reverted animation lock change on Spectral Scream
• Tuned Augment: Dragon Nest numbers.

5/22/16

• Removed Vex Armor giving Chroma increased Aggro
• Added Effigy only draining energy while attacking

 

making chroma intelligent to play, +100

hmm for the augment effigy it's depend what we should add to the gameplay of chroma, either a support augment, or a nuke, or a CC(incapacitate or making enemy fighting each other) either the abilties must be soft in that case each element have a different effect, or one of this who complete the warframe meta can't be the copy of any other ability, need to experiment the reworked frame & ivara in order to be sure

[Sajochi]

45 minutes ago, Soketsu said:

making chroma intelligent to play, +100

hmm for the augment effigy it's depend what we should add to the gameplay of chroma, either a support augment, or a nuke, or a CC(incapacitate or making enemy fighting each other) either the abilties must be soft in that case each element have a different effect, or one of this who complete the warframe meta can't be the copy of any other ability, need to experiment the reworked frame & ivara in order to be sure

Yeah, that's what some were thinking in terms of an Augment. I know there was a dragon armor augment that someone suggested but I couldn't figure out how that would work since it would entail binding effigy to an ally, thus putting a mobile turret on someone else. As far as what he's missing, he doesn't have a nuke or hard CC. Elemental Ward already provides support in a way. I did suggest moving the mechanic for Afterburn onto effigy, where four projectiles pop out when effigy does it's radial scream that seeks out nearby targets and deals  the current elements damage. That was in the old post.

[Antiphoton]

I main a Chroma and I approve everything the op said.