Vauban - Rework the rework

[Colyeses]

I didn't actually play the rework when it launched. Vauban didn't really interest me much at first because he had very boring gameplay. Tesla grenades were funny, but other than that, it was just the occasional 4 spam to keep your vortex going.

Now I've got Vauban Prime and I've been leveling him, and I have to say...

He absolutely sucks. An incredibly disappointing warframe where it feels like half of his kit just... Doesn't even function or barely has any potential to begin with.

Tesla Grenades? Well, they're probably one of his stronger tools. Mostly because they're highly spammable, like little turrets capable of exerting some control and minor damage. Tesla Link is a fun concept, but often doesn't seem to work. None of this scales into even mid-game content, however, so after enemies hit about level 30, you're not gonna get too much use out of these.

Worst aspect, however, is the way the grenades work with Duration. Rather than actually increasing the lifespan of these things or making them zap more frequently, they increase the number of charges a grenade has. However, due to the fixed lifespan and time between zaps, the number of charges effectively has a hard-cap, limiting build customisation. This also negatively impacts Tesla Link, as you can't increase the duration the lines stay up.

The arsenal of deployables is a bunch of fun concepts, but none of them seem to work. Bounce pads often end up facing whichever way they feel like, they don't scale for damage, they're pretty garbage control... Trip wires don't do -any- damage, and their control is even worse, on top of being extremely situational due to requiring enemies to actually move, making them function pretty poorly against ranged enemies... Which make up about 75% of the game. Shrapnel Mines seemed to be the big damage thing, but apparently their base damage is unbelievably minute and doesn't scale well either, and then last and perhaps not quite the least is the flashbang, which doesn't do damage but instead applies a small amount of control.

Then there's Bastille, which stops a limited amount of enemies without hurting them. Decent control... But you might as well use a warframe that can control and additionally support or kill.

And there's Vortex, which unfortunately has an incredible amount of overlap with Bastille, causing these two abilities to basically serve the exact same purpose. Except Vortex neatly bundles them up for a quick Opticor or Lenz shot to wipe them all out.

Overall, Vauban is an extremely high control warframe... But that doesn't mean anything when -death- is the best CC effect in the game. Other warframes offer similar levels of control, in addition to a host of other values. Nidus' Larva controls large areas, and Nidus is the single strongest caster warframe in the game. Equinox's Peaceful Provocation, Rest and Maim all exert extensive control, while leaving Equinox with additional support abilities. Newly reworked Hydroid's tentacle swarm and undertow are excellent control abilities as well, they just happen to also kill things affected by them.

The trouble with Vauban is that the vast majority of abilities in his arsenal fulfil the exact same purpose. Why have seven different abilities if they all do the same? Well, that's not fair, Tesla grenades and Shrapnel Mines fill different roles. But everything else is purely about control. Some of which is extremely clunky to use, too!

In summary, I really don't think Vauban is working at the moment.

So what would have to change? Well, if you want to keep the concept of a deployable-oriented Warframe, it needs to be more than just abilities that pretend to be deployables. We need actual deployables, like turrets, automatic minelayers, rearming traps! Turn Vauban's gameplay into a game of 'Orcs must Die'!

The first thing that means is that these deployables either need -significantly longer lifespans-, or even go so far as to have no lifespan at all. What are some of your options? Well...

Passive: Nearby mechanical devices, allies and companions are augmented according to Vauban's power stats.

This would suit an inventor/battlefield engineer much better than just getting a nominal amount of bonus armour from having allies nearby. It would synergise him with sentinels, it would synergise him with that mechanical companion you guys wanted to add, it would synergise him with the deployables of his kit.

1: Tesla Grenade. This can stay, although the weird 'Charges =/= lifespan' clause has to go. It makes things incredibly cluttered and causes duration to malfunction. Longer lasting tesla grenades, with a limit to how many can be active at a time, can make Tesla Link much easier to wield, and allows for a more 'Fire and Forget' playstyle, which is at the core of deployables.

Additionally, Tesla Grenades can also be made to serve as auxiliary batteries to his other deployables, using their charges to refresh duration of nearby deployed objects.

2a: Sentry Turret. Xiphos Air Support v2.0. Lower fire rate, less spray, and have it scale with Vauban's power stats. Duration increases firerate, strength damage per bullet, range increases lock-on distance.

2b: Energy Spike Trap. Projects a plasma lance to horrifyingly impale a nearby enemy. Gruesome display terrifies other nearby enemies for a short duration. Strength improves damage dealt, range increases the lock-on range and the terrify range, duration improves rearm time.

2c: Corruptor Device. Locks onto mechanical objects within range to assume control. Can be deployed next to Corpus gates to activate a reconfigured laser grid that fries Corpus instead of Tenno. Otherwise, will lock onto the first mechanical device in range. Will assume control of robotic Corpus proxies, will assume control of rollers and latchers, will assume control of Hellion jetpacks and crash them, will assume control of mutalist ospreys and moas.

2d: Magnet Wall. Wide line which repels enemies that try to pass through it, and blocks incoming projectiles.

3: Vortex. Key ability, can stay. Replaces Bastille because having both Bastille and Vortex really doesn't make sense to me. They're -too much- alike in terms of functionality and use.

4: Tenbot. Vauban deploys a customisable proxy, standard armed with a shockwave generator that knocks enemies down for minor damage. The Tenbot can be armed with Vauban's second ability to change functionality. 2a arms it with its own gun, 2b give it a plasma lance which it will use to gore enemies, 2c will make it constantly radiate radiation damage and 2d will give it a larger hitbox, make it more durable and cause it to periodically restore ally shields.

Hold 4 to order the Tenbot to move to, or attack target.

Augments

Tesla Link: Unchanged.

Perpetual Vortex: Removed. Now powered by Tesla Grenades.

Auxiliary Slots: Allows Tenbots to carry 1/2/3/4 additional modules.

AND/OR

Partial Autonomy: Allows deployment of a second Tenbot, but Tenbots run out of charge 70%/60%/50%/40% faster.

ECCM: Augment for his 2nd ability that renders the deployables immune to nullifier bubbles.

 

This is a deployable rework/build that I can think of off the top of my head, as a suggestion to replace the current rework. I think it would create a more unique gameplay, in addition to expanding his role from 'you can disable enemies' to a much wider range of options.

Let me know what you guys think!

Edited August 29, 2017 by Colyeses
Added ECCM Augment

[DawnBlossom]

And give us the ability to get a MOA or a RATEL as something like a Kubrow to go with it!

[YUNoJump]

I really like this idea, my biggest gripe with Vauban (other than Bastille being basically a crutch ability for everything) is that every single one of his abilities is "throw a ball". They all do area damage and cc (minus tesla), they all use the same boring graphics (oh boy nondescript energy projections) and none of them have a particularly impressive design (Bastille's is the most unique and it's not really that interesting, turns the entire area into a point-and-click). This rework looks like it really makes him an engineer other than "throws little trap things".

If they want to make an actual trap-based frame, I feel like they could make it more interesting than Vauban's little balls that have lines come out of them. Maybe some sort of hunter frame, or something based on fear that messes with enemies from the shadows, like some sort of horror villain.

[Colyeses]

Added ECCM as augment for 2.

[TaylorsContraction]

I agree that Vauban's kit has overlapping effects. He is in fact the only Warframe that I don't like in the entire game and avoid using as much as possible.

One of the things added with his rework was toggle abilities. Personally I do not like how these function (Ivara has then too). It is too clunky to swap abilities with tap Anna hold to cast or vice versa. They need to rethink how these function in a more fluid way. I like Ivara but switching between sleep and stealth arrows is a pain on the fly.

[Eyeless]

Vauban's my main, he has been since U8. 

I don't think he needs a complete rework, I think his 1 and 2 could be better. 

Tesla: Agreed that the duration / charge limit is counter intuitive and redundant. Changes I'd like to see to this ability are easy enough to implement that I think you'd agree with:

a) Remove duration but keep charges

b) Buff proc chance to 99% Just with these two  changes we'd have a much more consistent degree of widespread CC withotu Vauban needing to babysit pools of Tesla mines. 

 

Bounce & Co: Bounce is still really useful for defending terminals and the radiation mines are stellar against any unit with an AoE aura, such as eximus and Ancient Healer units. Tripwire and Concussion mine are pretty redundant outside of novelty, and Concussion Mine's CC rarely works at all- I think replacing two of these with more defensive tools like a small cover shield or a unit-controller are great ideas- but would prefer the first two abilities listed remain alongside the new ones you proposed. This being said- I have been noticing lately the bounce pads have been deploying sideways- which has me frustrated as well.

One idea for bounce- Overlapping bounce pads make a larger bounce pad which requires an increasing number of enemies to trigger it. This way when you have a crowd of 6+ enemies coming around a corner they can walk onto a larger bounce pad and simultaneously get thrown into the air. 

This is where we get into the meat of the matter- 

I never thought Bastille and Vortex were redundant / overlapped- here's why: 

Bastille has a wider AoE and leaves enemies open for headshots. At higher levels this makes it much easier to sort out problem enemies like Healers and Bombards for your entire team to focus on, it's hard to hit vulnerable areas when they're all ragdolled- and the Ancient Healer allows enemies inside Vortex to fight back. 

Bastille is fantastic for quickly and efficiently dispatching key enemies and allowing your team to clean up whatever's left floating within. With less energy cost and higher range- it's super easy to stall loose packs of enemies Vortex wouldn't be able to suck in. This makes clearing corridors a breeze. Whereas Vortex is far better suited for condensing much larger and tightly packed  crowds into a compact ball for you to ground finish. 

Both have their strengths- but I've always felt they had enough to stand apart from each other. 

TL;DR

Tesla definitely needs buffed

His two could do with some working abilities and bugfixing. 

Tesla and Vortex have enough variances for me to argue against merging them. 

Edited August 29, 2017 by Hastur609