Balancing Warframe: Skill and Experience over Powercreep and Cheese

[(PSN)AllEyezOnThee]

Wall of text but worth the read for a solution to warframes improvement.. 

Also, I know damage 3.0 is coming - this post is to inform people of the intention of what balance brings and why it needs to happen to improve warframe - and what my idea on the matter is.

TL;DR

Spoiler

Skip to the bottom for the balancing list for warframe (Up for revisions) 

The rest of the post is to why these balances need to happen.

 

Explaining why Balance is needed

Spoiler

 

Players from the beginning would choose a path that fits their type of play style (swords, hammers, magnums, lever actions, fast, tanky, etc.) and by the end game would hone their skills on their particular play style to make them unique from others - and would enjoy the path they choose. Overcoming end game content to get the high end items and show off what earned with their skill, experience, and hard work.

A foundation for a game when it comes to progression, player damage, enemy damage, health, play styles, etc all boils down to a end-game which translates to hard capping the players level/arsenal and hard capping the enemies level/arsenal. After that, it all depends on skill and experience to justify who can do end game content and who needs more practice to hone their skills to overcome endgame content. 

 

The perfect co-op/pve game would be one where every character/power, weapon, pets etc. is balance as whole to each other.

In turn creates a wide variety of playstyles that aren't hindered or powerless whether it be from beginning all the way to end game.

Every character, every gun, every companion is viable and when hitting end game the ones who are able to get the best gear/loot (ex:sorties and T4) will be the players with the most skill and experience - not the ones with the most OP flavor of the month gear which we currently are at.

Being able to choose the type of weapon you want and frame that fits your playstyle will be able to overcome end game content with enough skill and experience without being 2nd to other OP items that make it a cakewalk. With a balanced game you get to choose whichever loadout your preference/playstyle wants and still compete with the items selected at any moment through game.

Games should be about improving oneself with skills and knowledge - showing that if you have the know-how and the determination to get passed difficult obstacles, you as a player and person will shine in the face of adversity.

The game should never be about who has the best items, spent the most money, has maxed every "mod," or who grinded 16 hours a day. Never ever should.

Skill is Skill, experience is experience - whoever has the most of both should be the elites of a game playing "T4 missions" and "sorties" or whatever the endgame may be - and help others when in need or if they choose to. This also creates more teacher and disciple scenarios. Bigger bonds, and respect for those who reached the top with hard work.

Being the best shouldn't be easy - in fact it should be very difficult. But, it should never be as tiring/tedious/aggravating as the current game entails which is mind numbing grinding for the sake of mastery, one hit quit replay-ability, and RNGesus mentality (which acquiring things should be leaning more towards ones skill). Which all these would be affected by balancing - curing this disease of cheese and creating a game based on skill and experience.

Having any over powered anything destroys the balance in which turn creates more OP things which creates more OP enemies which creates obsolete frames and weapons in end game since endgame needs to be buffed for the OP items which creates bandaids for said OP things that never really helps which in turn brings out un-band aid OP weapons and the cycle continues. More weapons becoming obsolete for higher content, players having to cheese cheesy enemies that 1 shot you with grakatas that were created for said higher content. It's a viscous cycle, OP things can never exist in a co-op/pvp game like warframe for the sole fact it affects everyone unlike a single player game like DOOM, Fallout, etc where its one person.

With a balanced game, you get to pick whatever you want as a preference and its still viable to the end - that is what this post is trying to get at.

This post isn't about nerfing your beloved things to oblivion - it's to even the playing field for everything so that your play style isn't hindered or weak compared to others AND what truly separates the great players wouldn't be using the best items in the game but who has the most experience in the game and who has the skill to defeat the challenges.

This hardcap will not affect warframes uniqueness in terms of play style or frame abilities - cause each frame will still have it's own play style - but not as overkill as it is now, so players will still have options when it comes to frames. Enemies will be hardcapped to also prevent enemy bullet sponges and one-shotting players, so there will be no need for players to be dependent on abilities as frequently as they do currently. 

Your frames will still be unique, they will still have their own play style - whether it be to CC, heal, tank, or to kill - It just won't be as overboard as it is now - you instead combine your skills of movement, gunplay, and warframe abilities to tackle the challenges and endgame content without one thing being the necessity.

 

 

 

Here are some ideas of mine to start the balance of warframe (up for debate)

 

1. Hard cap enemy level to 40 (while keeping players at 30 the same). enemies at 0-10 for beginners, 10-20 for intermediate, 20-30 for advanced, and 30-40 for high end/challenging content. 40+ (at that point good luck difficulty) for endless missions so players at some point will be forced to leave or die. Enemy health/damage scaling will be linear and AI will be more difficult as level increases.
2. Readjust frames, weapons, companions to be viable for new enemy levels and level cap. Elemental mods, damage type mods will convert weapon damage into that specific type instead of a pure damage bonus. (example: 100 damage sword with 60% shocking touch mod creates 40 damage and 60 electric damage - making it still a good build for corpus).
3. Remove all pure damage mods (serration, pressure point, etc) and implement them into the weapons and pets so as the player levels - so does their damage. (The increase in damage to level goes with idea 2's statement).
4. Remove warframe ability mods intensity, streamline, stretch, and continuity and keep and expand the corrupted mods (having an advantage/disadvantage in return for a specific type of playstyle focus for players).
5. Add damage/power/movement bonuses for skillful plays/combos/teamplay.

 

This would be the start for an ideal warframe that gives players the most options, challenge, and fun.

Remember - skill and experience over meta and cheese.

Edited June 19, 2016 by (PS4)lNoctus
Spelling and additions