Questons about hitboxes and unintended warframe quirks

[MechaTails]

Some anecdotal info for this topic:

Against Lv30ish enemies, when I use Banshee, it feels like everything can one shot me. Sometimes she brushes lightly against a Lancer's elbow and spontaneously explodes in a sprawling mess of motor oil and goo. Instant game over.

Against the same enemies, when using Zephyr, using similar tactics, with similar amounts of Health/Shields, she can take a beating before being downed.

Both Warframes have only 15 armor.

I have 70% use time with Banshee, and only sparingly started using Zephyr a few weeks ago. Even though I play them similarly, Zephyr feels way more durable (yes, without Turbulence).

So what's going on here? Does Zephyr's floaty ability maybe passively let her dodge bullets, or give her damage resistance? For example, Bombards will 1 to 2HKO Banshee, eating through 1400+ points of health and shields, but the same blast will only do like 200-300 damage to Zephyr's shields.

I use the jet-shark-fin Reverb helmet with Banshee, it makes her head noticeably bigger than the other helmets. Could this helmet maybe have a bigger hitbox so it passively has a greater chance of getting hit? lol Using the default helmet, does Banshee get damaged if she gets shot on the big fin part, but not the head directly?

I'm grasping at space straws here, there has to be an explanation for the difference in durability I'm noticing.

Edited June 17, 2016 by MechaTails

[Duavey]

LV 30, maxed Redirection/Vitality, Zephyr has 1110 each Health and Shields, while Banshee has 740 each. Zephyr is faster and more floaty, making her relatively harder to hit. Assuming you didn't forma the Aura slot, Zephyr has a D Aura slot, typically filled by Rejuvenation, or rarely Physique. Banshee has a V slot.

Short answer: Zephyr is more durable because Zephyr is more durable. 

[(PSN)theelix]

Zephyr is faster, which causes enemies to miss more based on some algorithm that I don't have the graph for. It's certainly a feature -- we've been updated on it and there's a mod to increase it -- and this gives her a better "base" for survivability. Along with this, air manuevers(sp) decrease accuracy further. Being that Zephyr can stay longer in the air than any other frame, I'm sure this also gives her a survivability bonus over other frames.

However, this difference in durability that you speak of simply doesn't exist, bar a negligible difference in health and shields. I haven't checked the new passives, but it's unlikely there's any difference. I'd hate to say you're not playing Banshee right, but I fear you're playing her simply too aggressively. She's not supposed to be hit at all, your CC and stuns should get there literally 20-40 meters before you do. The enemies shouldn't have the chance to shoot at you. With Zephyr, however, her power set allows her to get face first into the action because she can force enemy projectiles away from her.

These are two different playstyles and what I believe you're experiencing is a frame that better suits your playstyle rather than a true difference in durability.

[MechaTails]

2 hours ago, (PS4)theelix said:

Zephyr is faster, which causes enemies to miss more based on some algorithm that I don't have the graph for. It's certainly a feature -- we've been updated on it and there's a mod to increase it -- and this gives her a better "base" for survivability. Along with this, air manuevers(sp) decrease accuracy further. Being that Zephyr can stay longer in the air than any other frame, I'm sure this also gives her a survivability bonus over other frames.

I prefer to melee with both frames.

Yeah, I play very aggressively with Banshee. Furax/Seismic Palm have more than enough knockdown power to manage crowds, and Sonic Boom is there for emergencies. I'm all over the place punching and kicking and headbutting jerks in their babymakers. I rarely use Silence/SQ, they seem like cowardly tactics to me.

I use Zephyr similarly. Turbulence is great for not worrying about ranged attackers while meleeing, but even without it she's still more durable, even with similar health/shields. I do tend to be in the air a lot more with Zephyr, so you may be right that that's where the "passive durability" is coming from.

Still doesn't explain why Bombards completely wreck Banshee but only nudge Zephyr lol. I'll have to do tests on that.