Focus "3.0": Revamp to better incentivize Operator + Warframe gameplay

[Synpai]

By TBGKaru

 

I waited until after the devstream to see if my concerns/criticisms for Focus would be brought up; Spoiler alert: Other than the costs, they didn’t.

Overall:

• Schools have lackluster abilities that aren’t worth investing in
• Assess to lenses is severely lacking (simplifying lens progression and making them more than one use will do wonders for the experience grind)
• Wisps being nonsensically difficult to gather/see
• Some schools lost thematic abilities that made them interesting
• Others got thematic abilities...that didn’t fit their theme
• Some abilities punished players for leveling them (why I've separated Void Spiral abilities from void dash to avoid arbitrary cost additions)(If anything Drain over time abilities should start at the higher cost and then go lower).
• Much like the Zaws and Amps, experimentation is limited/punished with no respec option (It’ll have a price, but I’m willing to pay it to right my wrongs)
• Operator + Warframe gameplay and mechanics were sold short; They’re not truly enticing or engaging enough to validate the effort (This rework is an attempt to remedy that).
• Way-bound passives are fine, some of them just need a little boost in % to be more meaningful changes (Naramon, ~Madurai, ~Zenurik). Visibility of these stats effect would also do wonders too. Please, in the future make sure we understand what void dash speed increase really means numerically so it doesn't feel like we're blindly investing into skills.
• Void damage and amps should have a bit more defined usage. It feels a little cheap for them to strictly be resistance reset tools against a rare enemy type in non-eidolon gameplay (though this could change with the Tau system).
• Being able to set active focus schools based on Loadouts would make preparing for the next mission less of a hassle.
• After the overall cost reduction "Focus Mastery" and Excess Focus became a concern. (Thanks to @Darkuhn and his post for inspiration https://forums.warframe.com/topic/954217-focus-mastery-an-idea-for-venus/)
• PS: Lenses (Much like companion abilities/mods still dropping) are two steps back. Maybe with the changes to focus it’ll make lenses less of a hassle, but I know I, personally, like to control what school my focus goes to which ends up limiting what I can and cannot bring into missions I end up only bringing Naramon only lensed gear for example.

*There’s also a concern involving lack of customization and choice. I.e: If you didn’t want your void dash to displace enemies that limits you to two schools with Focus 2.0. (There’s potential for a Borderlands 2 skill tree style for focus where you choose between augments for abilities like Void Dash Speed, Width, or Damage).

****DISCLAIMER: To prevent getting caught up in a number’s game I tried to forgo specific percentages or durations in most cases. Most of the numbers included were taken from previous abilities.I'm a true believer in play-testing for confirmation. Equally to ease implementation, I've attempted to incorporate existing mechanics as much as possible****

 

This post was originally small tweaks to the existing schools, that has grown into something more complex.

The rework includes the following ability categories in an attempt to normalize the trees:
Passives: Abilities that are active at the start of mission
Way-bounds: Abilities that are passive to the Operator that can be unlocked for each school using a Radiant Shard and focus
Energy Regen: Some manner in which to regen energy (Note: though numbers aren't fully involved Zenurik will do this better; For all but Zenurik it is imagined that when energy regeneration is triggered, it can be increased in strength (to a cap of ~4/s) over the duration, but not refreshed until the duration ends). There's also the possibility to be a flat energy gain, still likely following energy rules for channeled abilities  (I.e: +2 energy per enemy killed with Madurai's Energy regen method) 
Void Blast: All schools create magnetize bubbles when enemies are Void Blasted (Note: Operator Magnetize Bubbles cause headshots); Part of me feels each school should have their own damage type buff. I.e: Madurai’s Bubble increases fire, Zenurik’s Electricity, etc, but maybe tying them in with kill skills is enticing enough.
Wisps: Revamped into "Amp Waybounds"
Void Status: Status effect triggered by amps
Kill Skills: Triggered after killing enemies hit by Void Blast’s effect (As long as the magnetic effect lasts: ~5s). If allies kill enemies affected by void blast, it will provide a lesser effect or chance to trigger; allies must still fulfill the condition Madurai Example: if an ally kills a target affected by your void blast you will gain a fraction of a stack (or a 50%-75% chance to get a stack instead of guaranteed).
Void Dash:  Void Dash leaves a trail; DOES NOT DISPLACE UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED.
Void Glide: Functions similar to Aim Glide while in operator form except a bit more whimsical like Kingdom Heart's or Blade n Soul's (Amps and other abilities are usable; I think this would be an interesting way to keep operators from being so rigid and allow for more vertical gameplay and fast movement as we move into more spacious gameplay)
Void Comet: Sprinting + Void Glide, Adds momentum to the glide (drains energy slowly overtime; there are thoughts to change the Void Blast mechanic during this mode); Can be toggled.
Void Spiral*: Void Dash + Void Blast spends energy to release a wave, then leave a field for a few seconds. 2 Fields Max (Effects don't stack)
Void Spiral, Contact Allies (CA): Allies hit by the initial AOE of Void Spiral 
Void Spiral, Duration Allies (DA): Allies that walk into the area left by Void Spiral
Void Spiral, Contact Enemies (CE): Enemies hit by the initial AOE of Void Spiral
Void Spiral, Duration Enemies (DE): Enemies that walk into the area left by Void Spiral
Void Mode Duration: Buffs/ Debuffs that apply so long as void mode is active (I have mixed feelings about the perma-invincibility granted by this) 
Channels: Formerly “Ghost Mode (Hold 5).” Expanding on the idea of channeling as “Hyper Transference” that allow the Tenno to do some powerful abilities at high cost afterward. Only available after unlocking all nodes, rank increases as experience is spent maximizing the tree and then a little more via excess focus once the tree is maxed. (Negative effects may not be the way to go, as a cool down would be fair depending on implementation). 
Mastery: Upon completing a focus tree the passives from the tree are able to be unbound (only one can be active at a time; can be changed); Alters bullet jump to leave ONE Mastered Focus School Symbol with added velocity and elemental damage. Not sure about the added effects like Madurai's lesser radial blind, given the small proc chance it should just be a neat not game breaking addition.
PARTIAL RESET: Allow players to redistribute focus for a particular school for a cost.
FULL RESET: Allow players to redistribute focus and lenses for all for a higher cost.

*NOTE: Because Void Exit triggers at the end of void dash (and costs energy) I think adding the extra mechanic to void blast to trigger effects is the best of both worlds, so that energy isn't drained beyond the player's control; It removes the need for the Void Exit trigger though.  I'm still giving the Contact and duration effects another look to see if it's worth having two stages of Void Spiral (Contact vs Duration). 

*Void Spiral buffs are one time per area; being affected or walking into a new area "refreshes" the buff instead of stacking (However, players may gain a buff that they're missing).

**Unless otherwise stated the player that "Casts" is , due to code, considered an "ally" **

Spoiler

Passive, 1: Increases Physical and Elemental Damage by 25%
Passive, 2: Cycles through base physical damage types and fire (Slash, Impact, Puncture, Fire) conveys +30% damage of that type
Way-bound, 1: Increase Energy for Amps and Void Beam by 10% / 20% / 30% / 40% / 60%.
Way-bound, 2: Increases the regeneration rate of Energy for Amps and Void Beam by 10% / 20% / 30% / 40% / 50% / 60% / 80%.
Energy Regen: Killing X enemies with the correct damage type locks that damage type for a brief period.  While the cycle is locked, the player regenerates energy over time when getting kills with that damage type.
Void Blast: Creates a chargeable ball of fire that increases in range and explosion radius (Spawns magnetic bubbles on affected enemies).
Wisps: Perfect Void Blast Resets Amp Delay (similar to glaive timing window)
Void Status: Enemy burns for X true damage over time.
Kill Skills:
1.Weapon kills on enemies affected by Void Blast, add stacks that increase damage dealt. Similar to melee’s combo counter where the stacks = hits and not gaining stacks will reset the multiplier, but NOT the same (45 kills for 2.5x multiplier? In your dreams; I feel like 1x or 2x multiplier should be the max).

2.Ability kills on enemies affected by Void Blast, add stacks that increase Power Strength (This is different as well, it’ll give a small bonus capped at 10~20%). Similar to melee’s combo counter where the stacks = hits and not gaining stacks will reset the multiplier.

NOTE: Ally weapon or ability kills will provide a fraction (~1/4) of the appropriate stack.
Void Glide: Operator is suspended in air by void fire
Void Comet: Operator is surrounded and propelled by void fire
Void Dash:  Void Dash leaves a trail of searing fire that deals 1000 damage per second and blinds enemies for a brief period.
Void Spiral: Void Spiral expends energy to erupt in a vortex of fire (think mini-fire eximus) that burns in the area for 10s.
Void Spiral, Contact Allies (CA): Allies hit by the initial vortex gain increased fire rate and reload speed for a brief period.
Void Spiral, Duration Allies (DA): Allies that walk into the blazed area, gain increased multishot for a brief period.
Void Spiral, Contact Enemies (CE): Enemies hit by the initial vortex are blinded and Lesser Molecular Primed for a brief period.
Void Spiral, Duration Enemies (DE): Enemies that walk into the blazed area are slowed and (after a few seconds) staggered.
Void Mode Duration: While Void Mode is active, stack bonuses persist and apply to allies (excludes "Caster") in range.
Mastery: Upon completing a focus tree the passives from the tree are able to be unbound (only one can be active at a time; can be changed); Equally when Madurai is primary focus, Bullet jumping stamps a burning Madurai Sigil. Bullet jump velocity and element matches that of Firewalker mod, but adds a small chance to Lesser Radial Blind.

 

Channels: 
Void Maim: Stores damage dealt (by you) for a short duration then releases it to enemies in range. Increases damage taken for a duration after use | Warframe sits inactive for a period after use (These are just examples, depending on the implementation it’s not necessary for there to be negatives).
-or-
Umbra Blaze: Weapon gains unlimited ammo and increased fire rate for a short duration. During this time weapons burn enemies for a % of their hp.

 

Spoiler

Passive, 1: Melee Combo Counter now decays while out of combat by 5 every few seconds, instead of depleting completely. Increases combo multiplier by .25 (a lesser version of the Venka prime passive) and duration by 3
Passive, 2: Heavy attacks have a %[x] chance to apply a burst of attack speed or movement speed (both bursts have the same duration) on Critical and Status procs respectively. Proc-ing both of them on a swing ALSO activates shadow blade over the burst duration. Shadow Blade duplicates melee attacks at reduced damage.
Way-bound, 1: Increase the movement speed of the Operator by 7% / 15% / 22% / 30% / 50%.
Way-bound, 2: Increases the speed of Void Dash by 20% / 40% / 60% / 80% / 100% / 120% / 140%.
Energy Regen: Melee kills on enemies open to finishes (this includes forced finishes like Fatal Teleport) triggers energy regeneration
Void Blast: Charging Void Blast will blink to targeted enemy within range and slam attack, knocking enemies down in a radius. Charging increase knockdown radius. Spawns magnetic bubbles on affected enemies.
Wisps: Firing from Void Mode increases critical chance and fire rate 
Void Status: Void Status sends kunai into the enemy dealing true damage and stacking up to 3 times. The third stack causes a burst of true damage and surrounds the target in glaives that deal true damage to nearby enemies.
Kill Skills: Melee kills on enemies affected by Void Blast, cause them to drop souls. After collecting X souls, Melee Damage and Critical Damage is increased against that enemy type. 
NOTE: Ally melee kills will provide a fraction (~1/4) of a soul.
Void Glide: Operator is suspended in air by void shadow
Void Comet: Operator is surrounded and propelled by void shadow
Void Dash:  Void Dash leaves a trail of smoke that reduces accuracy and visibility range of enemies; Effect lasts a few seconds after leaving the area. User gains increased finisher speed for a brief period.
Void Spiral: Void Spiral expends energy to drop a smoke bomb that clouds the area for 10s; User gains increased finisher speed for a brief period.
Void Spiral, Contact Allies (CA): Allies hit by the initial explosion gain increased attack and movement speed for a brief period.
Void Spiral, Duration Allies (DA): Allies that walk into the clouded area, gain increased melee critical chance for a brief period.
Void Spiral, Contact Enemies (CE): Enemies hit by the initial explosion are put to sleep for a brief period; accuracy and visibility are reduced if they wake.
Void Spiral, Duration Enemies (DE): Enemies that walk into the clouded area are are opened to finishers (staggered) after a few seconds; reduces accuracy and visibility range of enemies (Not as effective).
Void Mode Duration: While Void Mode is active, allies are cloaked and enemies are highlighted through the environment (for allies too). Attacking doesn't remove the caster from cloak and allows them to move at increased speed.
Mastery: Upon completing a focus tree the passives from the tree are able to be unbound (only one can be active at a time; can be changed); Equally when Naramon is primary focus, Bullet jumping stamps a Smokey Naramon Sigil. Bullet jump has enhanced velocity and covers the user in smoke. Adds slash to damage similar to Rending Turn mod but the same velocity and damage as the gold elemental mods; with a small chance to gain brief invisibility.

 

Channels: 
Void Harmony: Resets alertness of enemies in range (regardless of game type, such that they take finisher damage) and grants allies temporary cloak. The cloak will end after the duration expires or upon damaging an enemy with something other than Melee.
-or-
Umbra Lance: Warframe surges with shadow increasing movement speed, attack speed, range and life steal. Melee kills in this state may cause enemies to drop souls (as per the kill skill; can stack)

 

Spoiler

Passive, 1: Reflects 100% damage + %[X] HP or %[Y] Armor (which ever is higher) taken to the attacker; Reflected bullets have a chance to inflict Lesser Petrification. Lesser Petrification lightly slows an enemy and stacks up to [#] times until the enemy is fully petrified or the status duration expires. Fully Petrified enemies have 100% chance to drop Lesser Rubble. Lesser petrification gives a smaller increase in drop chance depending on the stacks. 
Passive, 2: Damage taken has a minuscule chance to trigger Lesser Arcane Grace.
Way-bound, 1: Increase armor for the Operator by 50% / 100% / 150% / 200% / 220%.
Way-bound, 2: Increase the radius of Void Blast by 15% / 30% / 45% / 60% / 80%.
Energy Regen: X% of health damage taken is converted into energy.
Void Blast: Summons a rock wall, the next activation will send the rocks crashing toward the enemy as a boulder. Charging increases wall width and health as well as boulder size, force, and damage. Spawns magnetic bubbles on affected enemies.
Wisps: Spending Operator Energy supplies Amp ammo
Void Status: While active, Void status petrifies target causing them to take X true damage from all sources
Kill Skills: Weapon kills on enemies affected by Void Blast, cause them to drop double items. Drop chance includes "rubble"; applies chance to drop twice like arcanes as opposed to doubling the drop chance itself.
NOTE: Ally weapon kills will convey a lesser drop increase (~25%).
Void Dash:  Void Dash leaves a stone path that reduces enemy armor and damage; has a chance to apply Lesser Petrification.
Void Spiral: Void Spiral expends energy to release a sand vortex that leaves quicksand in the area for 10s.
Void Spiral, Contact Allies (CA): Allies hit by the initial sand vortex gain a scarab shield that absorbs damage and damage enemies for X% of caster's Warframe armor or Y% of caster's Operator armor (whichever is higher).
Void Spiral, Duration Allies (DA): Allies that walk into the quicksand scavange ammo for all their weapons and partial scarab armor over time, so long as they remain in the field.
Void Spiral, Contact Enemies (CE): Enemies hit by the initial sand vortex are petrified; they have reduced armor and damage if they break free.
Void Spiral, Duration Enemies (DE): Enemies that walk into the quicksand are knocked down after a few seconds and opened to be devoured briefly. 
Void Mode Duration: While Void Mode is active, allies in range take 80% reduced damage.
Mastery: Upon completing a focus tree the passives from the tree are able to be unbound (only one can be active at a time; can be changed); Equally when Unairu is primary focus, Bullet jumping stamps an Unairu Sigil Crater. Bullet jump velocity and effect matches that of Ice Spring mod (slows except with a rocky, earth effect), but conveys a small chance to Lesser Petrify and proc puncture on enemies in path. 

 

Channels: 
Void Statue: Taunts all enemies in the area and grants the user invulnerability for a short period after cast; Reflected bullets have enhanced critical chance, damage and status chance during this time. They do not apply lesser petrificaiton, but can still do the reflected bullets normal status effects such as an impact).
-or-
Umbra Gorgon: Petrifies enemies within a large range (Line of sight) then releases a shockwave to shatter them, reducing enemy armor and damage, at the end of the duration.

 

Spoiler

Passive, 1: Increases affinity range by 25m. Player absorbs %[X] of damage taken (it reduces the damage by this absorbed amount from allies including the player; THIS EXCLUDES SELF-DAMAGE FROM ANY SIDE) from allies in affinity range. This absorbed damage creates an aura that damages enemies and heals allies over time.
Passive, 2: Next 5 revives are instant; These charges regenerate after a cool-down (3~5 minutes) that gets longer with every 4 charges used. Lethal damage instead consumes two charges (if possible) to fully heal the player.
Way-bound, 1: Increase health of the Operator by 25% / 50% / 100% / 150% / 170%
Way-bound, 2: Increase health regeneration of the Operator by 1/s / 2/s / 3/s / 4/s / 6/s.
Energy Regen: Healing allies triggers energy regeneration based on the number of allies affected (Minimum 1).
Void Blast: Releases a short wind wave that link enemies together making them share damage; Can be charged to release a tornado that pulls enemies together (still linking them) as it travels. Damage and status done to the tornado is shared to the enemies
Wisps: Percentage of Amp damage is returned as healing; improved during Void Glide.
Void Status: Void status causes a true damage blast that deals true damage and knocks enemies down.
Kill Skills: Weapon kills on enemies affected by Void Blast, causes healing "will-o-wisps" to spawn [#] and seek players (range limited) each healing a split of %[#] enemy HP over [time].
NOTE: Ally weapon kills will convey a fraction (~1/4) of wisps.
Void Dash:  Void Dash leaves a wind wall path that nullifies enemy attacks.
Void Spiral: Void Spiral expends energy to release a wind vortex that leaves a wind sphere (Wind sphere reflects attacks with a chance to inflict impact) in the area for 10s.
Void Spiral, Contact Allies (CA): Allies hit by the initial wind vortex are granted immunity from damage for 5s and healed 75% over 5s.
Void Spiral, Duration Allies (DA): Allies that walk into the wind sphere gain a Lesser Jet Stream that increases projectile flight speed and sometimes nullifies bullets; this lasts for a short duration upon exit.
Void Spiral, Contact Enemies (CE): Enemies hit by the initial wind vortex are stunned.
Void Spiral, Duration Enemies (DE): Enemies are repelled from the wind sphere for the duration.
Void Mode Duration:  While Void Mode is active, absorbed damage is increased and allies are cleansed of and immune to status effects; enemies in range have a chance to have weakspots revealed.
Mastery: Upon completing a focus tree the passives from the tree are able to be unbound (only one can be active at a time; can be changed); Equally when Vazarin is primary focus, Bullet jumping stamps a Vazarin Sigil Vortex (wind effect). Bullet jump has enhanced velocity and covers the user in wind (Adds impact to damage similar to Battering Maneuver mod but the same velocity and damage as the gold elemental mods); with a small chance to cause a Lesser Wyrm Pulse.

 

Channels: 
Void Mirror: Surrounds the user in a tempest that nullifies bullets growing in size, damage and status chance when damage is taken or absorbed; The tempest launches forward and explodes once the duration ends.
-or-
Umbra Valkyrie: Surrounds the player in regenerative winds that lightly heal allies over time; While this is active, revive charges regenerate rapidly. Revive charges are consumed automatically to revive downed allies that come into radius of your winds. Enemies killed by allies under the effect spawn lesser healing wisps; while enemies killed in radius of the winds release a healing burst (cannot do both).

 

Spoiler

Passive, 1: Energy pickups grant 50% additional energy over 5 seconds; conveys 20% chance to cause Lesser Entropy Burst. Lesser Entropy Burst: RestoreS energy and magnetic pulses enemies at a smaller amount and range than Entropy Burst.
Passive, 2: While shields are above [threshold], Warframe sends out a pulse every X seconds that adds shields to nearby allies (this can cause minor overshielding).
Way-bound, 1: Increase Operator Energy Regeneration by 15% / 30% / 45% / 60% / 75% / 90% / 110%.
Way-bound, 2: Increase Operator Energy by 15% / 30% / 45% / 60% / 75% / 90% / 110%.
Energy Regen: Regenerates energy by 1.5/s
Void Blast: Releases psychic bolts that suspend enemies in the air for a short period. Can be held to continuously release bolts.
Wisps: Amp damage supplies operator energy; headshots return more energy
Void Status: Electricity chains to nearby enemies near the affected target, dealing true damage.
Kill Skills: Enemies that die (from weapons) affected by Void Blast respawn as ghosts for 12 seconds.
NOTE: Ally weapon kills will only spawn ghosts for 1/4 of the time.
Void Dash:  Void Dash leaves two linked Tesla grenades that shock enemies that come in range and trip those that pass through.
Void Spiral: Void Spiral expends energy to release an energy surge that leaves a hallowed field (think radiation hazard) for 10s.
Void Spiral, Contact Allies (CA): Allies hit by the initial energy surge have improved efficiency by 20% briefly. 
Void Spiral, Duration Allies (DA): Allies that walk into the hallowed area gain 5 energy/second for 30 seconds.
Void Spiral, Contact Enemies (CE): Enemies hit by the energy surge are disarmed and radiated.
Void Spiral, Duration Enemies (DE): Enemies that walk into the hallowed area are inflicted with magnetic and pulled to the center.
Void Mode Duration: While Void Mode is active it creates a bubble that grows overtime (similar to vazarin's current ability, but doesn't offer protections or cc), allies within the bubble have increased shield capacity (Think Shield Osprey; allowing over-shields) and regeneration along with a chance to discharge enemies that attack them.
Mastery: Upon completing a focus tree the passives from the tree are able to be unbound (only one can be active at a time; can be changed); Equally when Zenurik is primary focus, Bullet jumping stamps an electrified Zenurik Sigil. Bullet jump velocity and element matches that of Lighting Dash mod, but adds a small chance to Lesser Arc Coil.

 

Channels: 
Void Refund: Warframe power costs are refunded on cast with improved casting speed for 10 seconds. (Channeled abilities only refund the initial cast, the rest of the channel is completely free.) This effect also applies to melee channel attacks (as per the Smeeta's Charm ability).
-or-
Umbra Spike: Sends out 5 pulses (Think Eidolon Energy Spike) that add energy and shields (can produce overshields) to allies (EXCLUDES CASTER) while damaging enemies and inflicting magnetic.

 

Spoiler

Note: It's just a school made for funsies.

Passive, 1: Player leaves a corrosive infested trail behind them that increases caster’s movement speed and armor for each ally (excludes the "Caster") on the trail; Allies on the trail have reduced drain (All drains over time, even parasitic) and share W% of the caster’s healing.Trail length scales with Hemocyte stacks.
Passive, 2: Small increase to status duration; Small chance to resist status procs; Toxin procs have a chance to restore health to player over status duration.
Energy Regen: At [#] Hemocyte stacks, the player regenerates energy.
Void Blast: Creates a chargeable Bug Swarm that corrodes and briefly distracts the first enemy hit or shields (Iron skin) and empowers the health of the first ally hit (Has a chance to be spread via Swarm Blade).
Wisps: Has a 100% chance to buff allies in range to increase Operator Fire Rate and Movement Speed 100% for 12s.
Kill Skills:
Melee kills on enemies affected by void blast adds a Hemocyte Stack, spreads Maggot Spores to adjacent enemies and adds Swarm Blade to your next [#] melee attacks (consumed per enemy, not per hit).
*Swarm Blade: adds corrosive damage, has a chance to infest enemy with Bug Swarm.
*Maggot Spores: explode on corrosive hits (Instantly explode when affected by Bug Swarm; If all maggots destroyed, deals %HP damage via gas cloud).

Other kills on enemies affected by void blast consumes a Hemocyte Stack, spreads Maggot Link to allies.
*Maggot Link: negates the next [#] attacks, kills a maggot for each negated attack; If Maggots survive, ally rapidly regenerates HP
Void Dash:  Void Dash leaves a molt copy at the end of the dash that taunts enemies before exploding into a gas cloud damaging enemies over time.
Void Spiral: Void Spiral expends energy to infest the area for 20s. Passive applies to this field.
Void Spiral, Contact Allies (CA): Allies hit by the initial vortex gain increased maximum health and energy.
Void Spiral, Duration Allies (DA): Allies that walk into the infested area, temporarily have a chance to regenerate of health on toxin procs and energy on magnetic procs.
Void Spiral, Contact Enemies (CE): Enemies hit by the initial vortex are immediately pulled to the center (Larvae) and inflicted with viral
Void Spiral, Duration Enemies (DE): Enemies that walk into the infested area are slowed (starts low, but increases progressively) until they are webbed by corruption (think Gara Wall effect, but low duration)
Void Mode Duration: While Void Mode is active, allies receive a toxin aura and damage taken is redirected to you and reduced by [#]% (Operator is not immune to this redirected damage). Drains energy (from operator) to stop lethal damage with [#]% efficiency).
Mastery: Upon completing a focus tree the passives from the tree are able to be unbound (only one can be active at a time; can be changed);Equally when Hemocyte is primary focus, Bullet jumping stamps an infested Hemocyte Sigil on the ground. Bullet jump velocity and element matches that of Toxic Flight mod, but adds a small chance to Lesser Larvae.

Channels:
Void Tendrils: Unleases a stomp that impales and incapacitates enemies (Think: not so Divine Spears) in the area with sharp, branching tendrils that deal a [#]% of their HP overtime.
-or-
Umbra Plague: Conjures HemoScythe (Lephantis’ scythe; I couldn’t resist the pun). Wielding the HemoScythe infests all allies with Bug Swarm and Swarm Blade and causes swarmed allies to release maggots that latch and spore onto enemies.
*The Hemoscythe is functionally similar to the Caustacyst (let the goo be with you)

 

 

 

Spoiler

NOTE: This is still under some maintenance, just trying to put the information down so I can edit it throughout my free time. You may see some incomplete things as I'm testing format.There may also be nonsense as I'm rushing to put this in past my brains functioning hours.

The Store:
Currently I imagine the store using Sentient Cores as currency, as per the quills, but instead of "ranking up the Syndicate" the Store will be "Max rank" and certain items will have Medallion requirements before you can purchase them.

0. The Endless Harvest Stuff:

• Radiant Config Slot - Allows player to re-add polarities after adding the slot
• Radiant Forma - No longer resets to Zero
• Radiant Riven Transmutation - Changes the polarity of a Riven
• Radiant Veiled Riven - Locks onto weapon and requires ~3 days of challenges; guarantees weapon for riven unveil.
• Radiant Exilus Adapter - Unlocks augment specific exilus slot
• Radiant Artifact - When paired with a relic allows re-rolling of relic rewards (up to 5 rolls, based on stored traces); This should lessen some of the sheer annoyance of relics
• Janus Key (meme's aside, check it out) - Unlocks special Boss, "The Destroyer,"  (A golden maw on steroids) in the Void; Defeating this weekly boss drops a component that can be paired with a primed weapon to enhance it's unique effect (I.e: longer ghosts on the Ballistica Prime & increased multiplier on the Venka)

1. Focus Medallions:

Spoiler

These exquisite radiant Eidolon gems are shaped to match each of the focus symbols.

 

1. Players are required to have one school maxed before receiving a medallion from the merchant (The first one is free and must match one of the schools the player has maxed).
2. They are equipped in the Focus menu (only one may be active at a time).
3. Once equipped, all focus lenses that match the school are removed from equipment.
4. While medallions are active they convert a higher percentage of affinity into focus as if you had 5 lenses (including Operator) equipped higher than Eidolon (I wont give specifics, because other lenses and affinity in general are already highly criticized for the amount they give)
5. Medallions use excess focus to rank up (this allows you to pick an item from the shop at each rank until you get all the things for that school).
6. The Medallions also convey minuscule class specific buffs along with cosmetic effects (halos, wings, or crowns etc.) that rank up (to a cap). I.e: Naramon would slightly increase base sprint speed, Shadow Strike chance, and combo multiplier; Unairu: Base armor, petrify chance, reflected bullet damage; Madurai: Base reload, etc.

 

2. Mastery Operator Outfits:

Spoiler

Class specific operator outfits that show off your dedication!

 

3. Elemental Companion Gene Masks/Skins:

Spoiler

Get your Cats n Doggos n Robots as a force of elemental fury (Fire, Electricity, Shadows, etc.)

 

4. Mastery Syandanas, Glyphs, Regalia, & Sigils

Spoiler

• Elemental ornaments and capes showing off school mastery, in style!

 

5. Focus Augments/Mutations:

Spoiler

These act as toggle-able alterations to Operator abilities (I've listed a few examples below):

Madurai:

• Void Blast can be further charged to cause a meteor storm at the impact location
• Void Blast can no longer be charged, but leaves a small field of fire with a high status chance on impact
• Void Spiral no longer affects allies, but conveys a larger personal buff
• Void Status stores true damage that is released in a explosion on Void Dash or Blast

Naramon:

• Void Blast instead can be held to fire Void Kunai at the enemy causing them to bleed overtime
• Void Blast launches a slow traveling wave that damages enemies and traverses through walls
• Charge attacks occur much slower, but have a higher chance to trigger shadow blade for increased intensity and duration
• Void Dash no longer releases a smoke trail, instead it expels a chargeable burst of blades.
• Void Mode no longer cloaks allies, it instead conveys Lesser Shadow Blade to allies in range

Unairu:

• Void Blast instead summons a Lesser Rock Golem (Splits into fragments and hits spawn magnetic bubbles) that explode on death (chance to inflict Lesser Petrification)
• Start missions with maximum Rubble stacks, decreases all drop chances from enemies
• Void Dash no longer leaves a stone path, instead it can be charged to displace enemies and increases operator armor per displaced enemy (to a cap)
• No longer reflects bullets, instead Operator and Warframe are immune to staggers and knockdowns

Vazarin:

• Reverses the cost of self-revives and teammate revives; total revives reduced
• Void Blast can instead be held to drain health from enemies
• Void Mode instead causes allies to regenerate health

Zenurik:

• Zenurik's Void Blast no longer shoots bolts, it instead acts as a Lesser Polarize (allowing overshields) around the operator.
• Zenurik's Void Dash instead leaves two portals for allies to travel through.
• Energy spent by the user is added to the passive shield pulse; pulses have a longer delay.
•  

 

6. Mastery Amps:

Spoiler

These amps would be non-exclusive amp variants (as in it in no way locks new amps behind this wall; it merely alters "existing" ones skinned in a school specific texture and may alter the appearance of some of the firings, but more notably it allows the operator to build a Syndicate style AoE burst that changes depending on the school. 

Madurai:

• Mastery Granmu Prism (possibly shoots fire birds)
• Mastery "Ignis" Scaffold
• Mastery "Draining" Brace - Shots drain more energy but have improved damage; adds a second charge tier to chargeable amps

Naramon:

• Mastery "Fluctus" Prism- Operator charges amp in "shealth" and unleashes a mid-range directional blade slash (direction can be changed while charging)
• Mastery "Blade Laser" Scaffold - Shoots low-range range slicing beam
• Mastery "Extended" Brace - Increases the effective range and fire rate of amps

Unairu:

• Mastery "Zarr" Prism
• Mastery "Grattler" Scaffold

Vazarin:

• Mastery "Ogris Napalm" Prism
• Mastery "Ignis" Scaffold

Zenruik:

• Mastery "Synapse" Prism
• Mastery "Simulor" Scaffold

 

 

 

Spoiler

• Requires a Rank 3 arcane 
• Capturing a Teralyst conveys x% chance to evolve the arcane to Rank 4
• Capturing a Gantulyst conveys >x% chance to evolve an arcane to Rank 4 (if Rank 3) and %y chance to evolve an arcane to Rank 5 (if Rank 4)
• Capturing a Hydrolyst conveys >x% chance to evolve an arcane to Rank 4 (if Rank 3), and >%y chance to evolve an arcane to Rank 5 (if Rank 4), and a z% chance to evolve an arcane to Rank 6 (if Rank 5)
   
• As Virtuous arcanes increase in rank beyond Rank 3 they grant (Amps) +10%/+25%/+50% bonus damage to sentients
• As Magus arcanes increase in rank beyond Rank 3 they grant (the Operator) +10%/+25%/+50% resistance to damage from sentients
   
• Allows Refined Gems to be stacked into amps to tweak specific stats (Dependent on gem) to a cap.

 

 

 

 

 

EDITS:

 

1/27:

Spoiler

• Added art
• Started Void Status additions

11/30:

Spoiler

• Updated presentation of information, fixed typos, and other general fixes. The calm before the storm.

11/5:

Spoiler

• Added information about the forge

10/02:

Spoiler

• Took away competitive nature of Kill skills. As long as allies meet the requirements (debatable), it rewards 1/4 of the buff; simply because something is better than nothing considering the set up required.
• Removed wisps as a pick up, not sure how to balance the ridiculous nature of finding them during a hunt and just pressing two buttons and winning; considered making them stack up to the max value, but that seemed too trying compared to how it is now. I can just say I don't like hunting for wisps during an Eidolon hunt.

9/18:

Spoiler

• Vazarin, Passive 1:  No longer requires entering or exiting the warframe to trigger damage/healing effect
• Radiant Veiled Riven - Locks onto weapon and requires ~3 days of challenges; guarantees weapon for riven unveil.
• Radiant Exilus Adapter - Unlocks augment specific exilus slot
• Radiant Artifact - When paired with a relic allows re-rolling of relic rewards (up to 5 rolls, based on stored traces); This should lessen some of the sheer annoyance of relics
• Janus Key (meme's aside, check it out) - Unlocks special Boss, "The Destroyer,"  (A golden maw on steroids) in the Void; Defeating this weekly boss drops a component that can be paired with a primed weapon to enhance it's unique effect (I.e: longer ghosts on the Ballistica Prime & increased multiplier on the Venka)

9/4:

Spoiler

• Fixed a few format errors

8/22:

Spoiler

• Found fragmented sentences and typos. Neutralized them!

8/19:

Spoiler

• Masteryyyyyyyy!!

8/15:

Spoiler

• Finally added unedited Mastery information!

8/11:

Spoiler

• Clarified Zenurik abilities to mention over-shielding
• Added purple to aid in reading (hopefully)
• Fixed one of the titles being a different purple =--=
• Added Mastery Shop header
• Vazarin: Changed working to state "Lesser Jet Stream"
• Vazarin, Void Mode Duration:  Changed to: While Void Mode is active, absorbed damage is increased and allies are cleansed of and immune to status effects; enemies in range have a chance to have weakspots revealed.
• Zenurik, Void Mode Duration:  (Vazarin's former Void Mode)
• Zenurik: Updated channels and passives
• Zenurik and Vazarin are still on my radar in terms of a few abilities. Thinking of having Vazarin inherit Hemocyte void mode or something 

8/5:

Spoiler

• Changed wording for Energy Regen
• Added Void Glide and Void Comet mechanics
• Reduced the Maximum number of Void Spiral fields available
• Noted that Void Spiral Buffs don't stack from entering or being affected by a new field
• Mastery note and bullet jump effects added!
• Partial and Full resets added (at the cost of our souls).
• Naramon Passive 1: Merged Combo Counter passives
• Naramon Passive 2: Added Movement or Attack Speed steroid on Status and Critical procs (Respectively); Triggering both gives melee "multi-shot slash"
• Naramon Energy Regeneration: Changed wording such that players need not necessarily perform finishers (animation) to trigger regeneration
• Naramon Channel: Umbra Lance: Reworded the passive to no longer add channeling mods; added kill skill effect for duration
• Unairu Passive 1: Returned Bullet reflection (with some scaling) added a chance to partially petrify enemies
• Unairu Passive 2: Added change to recover health when taking damage
• Unairu Void Spiral, Duration Allies: Specified Allies gain partial scarab shielding overtime when standing in the field
• Unairu Channel: Void Statue: Added reflected bullet enhancement
• Vazarin Passive 1: Removed bullet reflection, added ally damage absorption that can be used to damage enemies or heal allies when exiting or entering warframe respectively.
• Vazarin Passive 2: Added auto-self revive that consumes two charges
• Vazarin Kill Skill: Changed to spawn healing will-o-wisps
• Vazarin Void Dash: Changed to nullify bullets instead of reflect
• Vazarin Void Mode Duration: Added chance to find enemy weakspots for those within the bubble
• Vazarin Channel: Void Mirror: Removed bullet reflection enhancement and added tempest power!
• Vazarin Channel: Umbra Siphon: Changed to Umbra Valkyrie with more revival than we can stomach

8/3:

Spoiler

• Naramon, Vazarin (Thinking of adding void blast healing; changing the channel to be a pure reflection tornado that bombs where the player is looking afterwards) and Unairu (Damage reflection would make it easier to tell who got petrified on attacks) are on the chopping block for post-devstream changes
• Testing format for NPC addition
• Considering adding hybrid mastery similar to @Darkuhn that allows players to select one passive from mastered secondary focus schools. 

7/30:

Spoiler

• Explicitly stated that Void Dash doesn't disrupt enemies
• Unairu Passive 1: Added chance to cause lesser petrification when rubble is active when player is damaged by or melee attacks enemies.
• Added "Waiting for Melee Rework" note to Naramon

7/2:

Spoiler

• Started updating clarity of a few abilities
• Changed Unairu Passive

5/23:

Spoiler

• Reworded a few abilities.

5/1:

Spoiler

• Updated Vazarin to regenerate charges

3/28:

Spoiler

• Hemocyte (Infested school) draft 😄

3/25:

Spoiler

• Passives are now active at the start of mission
• Updated Vazarin passive to also redirect damage taken to nearby enemies (may transfer to another school)

12/20:

Spoiler

• Adjusted spacing and clarity for some descriptions.

12/17:

Spoiler

• Added Void Spiral mechanic to prevent energy being forcefully used while void dashing.
• Changed Zenurik Passive 2 from chance to convert health orbs into energy orbs into chance to proc Lesser Entropy Burst.
• Began altering School abilities to better fit new Void Spiral mechanic.

12/15:

Spoiler

• Updated Unairu and Madurai Wisps to ensure the reference is understood.
• Updated Madurai passive to only rotate through Physical and Fire (Impact, Puncture, Slash, Fire) rather than all of the base physical and elemental damages (Impact, Puncture, Slash, Electric, Toxin, Cold, Fire)

12/10:

Spoiler

• Updated Vazarin's Void Blast
•  Added Finisher Speed to Naramon's Void Dash (Thought I put it in, whoops)
• Updated some stats to reflect focus 2.5 numbers
• Updated Zenurik Passive to convey chance to convert health orbs into energy orbs when health is full

 

Edited April 19, 2021 by Synpai

[Sahansral]

Soo many good ideas. Way better than the current implementation and justifying the effort for leveling up focus.

[HyokaChan]

So I read your part about the channel, open up the madurai spoiler

ctrl+f "Phoenix Gaze"
 

I am disappoint.

[Synpai]

34 minutes ago, HyokaChan said:

So I read your part about the channel, open up the madurai spoiler

ctrl+f "Phoenix Gaze"
 

I am disappoint.

They're at the bottom of the spoiler with a space to separate them from the other abilities.

Take another look, and realize Phoenix Gaze is disappoint.

The old "Ghost Modes" were flawed; Channels are trump cards that don't hinder your ability to play while active.

Edited November 10, 2017 by Synpai

[Dasmir]

i feel bad DE will ignore this...

Edited November 10, 2017 by Dasmir

[Sakaira]

This is good :)

[Synpai]

3 hours ago, Dasmir said:

i feel bad DE will ignore this...

;~; story of my life. :P spread the word, then they have to at least look at it 

[--CoB--Rooshi]

I think you're right about alot of the first part of the post. Alot of things in the trees are out of place and seem useless; however, while I hope there comes a day where they change the focus abilities some more to make them more useful, I think your own proposed edition is a tad overpowered. You just seem like you're asking too much. The complexity of play that you're advocating is quite nice though. Perhaps if DE did take some of the essence of what you're putting up, I'd be ok with it.

[Stavish]

I like the ideas for the the active abilities that can be used to buff our Warframe's weapons, given that DE seems to really want to push them on us this would seem to be a good way to go. As is even with a significant investment unbinding all the passives I still find myself only really using the operator for its mobility void dashing across large open tiles or the plains, they just cannot compare to our Warframes in open combat which is 90% of the game. If DE wants us to actually use our operators and not just for zenurik's energy regen or the passives they provide this would seem to be a good way to do it.

This all seems like a massive rework but from what I am seeing a lot of these powers draw from existing abilities so hopefully the code could easily be ported over, if we are gonna get DE to actually revamp some of this stuff beyond just tweaking of the existing numbers then it will have to be easy for them to do and I hope that some of these ideas can be implemented, but what do I know? I'm not much of a coder and I have no idea how the evolution engine works.

[Synpai]

2 hours ago, --CoB--Rooshi said:

I think you're right about alot of the first part of the post. Alot of things in the trees are out of place and seem useless; however, while I hope there comes a day where they change the focus abilities some more to make them more useful, I think your own proposed edition is a tad overpowered. You just seem like you're asking too much. The complexity of play that you're advocating is quite nice though. Perhaps if DE did take some of the essence of what you're putting up, I'd be ok with it.

The Channels are kind of a stretch, but all in all I think the other abilities aren't so bad considering a Warframe/Weapon can do them significantly better. But who knows, I'm a strong believer in testing to know for sure when it comes to balance. IMO (bias) the design seems like a more fun gameplay style than what we have now.

1 hour ago, Stavish said:

This all seems like a massive rework but from what I am seeing a lot of these powers draw from existing abilities so hopefully the code could easily be ported over

This was my intention to give schools mini-warframe abilities to make implementation easier if DE wanted to run with it.

 

Edited November 11, 2017 by Synpai

[Symmasolan]

The ideas are solid, from the quick read-over I did of everything. Not having invested too heavily in the current focus system, I think I could get behind this concept. It'd give me a reason to use my operator, other than for low level fun or for quick movements.

Thumbs up, and here's to the idea hopefully not dying among other threads, and maybe even growing to become something greater than it already is. 

[Texan_Prime]

This is legit, I also wish the operator itself had more mobility, fluidity even...They should move more like the warframes instead slower/stiffer/cheaper whatever you wna call it...and have more validity in use other than Eidolon Hunting....you should be able to pop out and kick as as your operator, I get that theyre human kids and shouldn't be expected to bullet jump around and all that, but they could be a little more, just more...

Hopefully they do something worth keeping cus nothings worse than doing a bunch of grinding and farming for something that's just gona be taken away or changed, this is a really well thought out system, and I could be happy with it, definitely better than what we have now.

[Mattoropael]

Disclaimer: I don't care much for the actives, so I mostly look at the passives and the regen.

Zenurik

• Passive, 2: Converts 20% of health pickups into energy.
• Energy Regen: Regenerates energy by .5/s

I'm sorry, what?

You do realize that this is worse than Energy Siphon, a mod long-acknowledged by the community to be practically useless when used alone?  And that health > energy is generally the useless half of Equilibrium unless you're Nekros?

A passive regen between 2 to 3 per second is more appropriate (adjust Energizing Dash downwards to compensate), and passive 2 needs to go straight back to the drawing board.

 

Unairu

• Passive, 1: Regenerates 9 health per second, +2 revives
• Passive, 2: Increased Armor, 20% unused ammo is converted for equipped weapon
• Energy Regen: 20% of damage taken is converted into energy.

Yes, I know Unairu is super-underwhelming in both Focus 1.0 and 2.0, but this is broken OP.

Seriously, 3x Rejuvenation, 2x Arcane Revives, Ammo Case, and R1 Rage that works on shields?

You gave Zenurik crap Energy Siphon, gave Vazarin, Madurai and Naramon super-niche energy regens that are either hard to trigger or can only be reliably triggered with select frames, and you somehow think it's appropriate to give Unairu super-Rage, even in your scope of balance?

 

Edited November 11, 2017 by Mattoropael

[Synpai]

7 hours ago, Mattoropael said:

Disclaimer: I don't care much for the actives, so I mostly look at the passives and the regen.

Zenurik

• Passive, 2: Converts 20% of health pickups into energy.
• Energy Regen: Regenerates energy by .5/s

I'm sorry, what?

You do realize that this is worse than Energy Siphon, a mod long-acknowledged by the community to be practically useless when used alone?  And that health > energy is generally the useless half of Equilibrium unless you're Nekros?

A passive regen between 2 to 3 per second is more appropriate (adjust Energizing Dash downwards to compensate), and passive 2 needs to go straight back to the drawing board.

Don't want the emphasis to be on passive regeneration so much as the dash, which only gets better with passive regeneration, but yes I do know that since they'd theoretically stack. The other variation was a chance to knock down enemies on energy pick ups. 

Note:

On 11/10/2017 at 6:53 AM, Synpai said:

****DISCLAIMER: To prevent getting caught up in a number’s game I tried to forgo specific percentages or durations in most cases. Most of the numbers included were taken from previous abilities.****

Numbers only go so far and without the ability to test them in action: I plea the fifth in terms of numbers/percentages.

 

7 hours ago, Mattoropael said:

Unairu

• Passive, 1: Regenerates 9 health per second, +2 revives
• Passive, 2: Increased Armor, 20% unused ammo is converted for equipped weapon
• Energy Regen: 20% of damage taken is converted into energy.

Yes, I know Unairu is super-underwhelming in both Focus 1.0 and 2.0, but this is broken OP.

Seriously, 3x Rejuvenation, 2x Arcane Revives, Ammo Case, and R1 Rage that works on shields?

You gave Zenurik crap Energy Siphon, gave Vazarin, Madurai and Naramon super-niche energy regens that are either hard to trigger or can only be reliably triggered with select frames, and you somehow think it's appropriate to give Unairu super-Rage, even in your scope of balance?

 

Unairu's rage wasn't intended to work on shields :] fixed that wording.

Why do I always forget about Rejuvenation!? I was using Nidus as reference, but using rejuvenation as a reference: 2hp/s is likely more along the lines.

I was worried about more than one extra revive, but in the end it doesn't even matter. Most people can barely go through 4 revives and numbers aside I think the point comes across about Unairu's possibilities; I'll leave the balance to the people who can actually see what these numbers mean

[Sakaira]

Bump ;p

[Radazuken]

A lot of this looks incredibly solid, like the post it's self said that you aren't trying to get too far into the numbers game which is understandable (since some of the numbers do look *a little* out there) but beyond that the core idea is fantastic.

 

Like others have previously mentioned I feel kinda bad that there's a high chance DE will not bother looking much into this post if at all. The idea here is absolutely brilliant.

[Jamalcain]

A lot of great ideas here, hoping here DE will actually look at these and reconsider adding these in for 3.0 rework

[Galataya]

I just want my phoenix gaze back.  madurai doesn't even have a forum emoticon 

Edited November 15, 2017 by Galataya

[Jukantos]

Is it sad that it took me all the way until 3 days after the Focus 3.0 reveal to realize the 60% channeling efficiency from Zenurik where actually good when using a Zaw with the Exodia Triumph upgrade? I've only just unlocked this ridicolously cool niche build and now i'm going to lose it and i actually regret ranting against the channeling efficiency earlier.

 

IM SORRY FOR BEING SO STUPID :(

[Jamalcain]

Bump to keep this alive

[Synpai]

17 hours ago, Illusiomist said:

Bump to keep this alive

You're the hero I don't deserve <3

[Azrael]

On 11/10/2017 at 6:53 AM, Synpai said:

Way-bound passives are fine, some of them just need a little boost in % to be more meaningful changes (Naramon, ~Madurai, ~Zenurik)

Lol, what? Those are the three strongest sets of waybound passives. How does "7 void dashes in a row, 2.2 times the dash distance, and 40 more amp ammo" need a buff? Mind Step needs a buff, yes. But that's the only weak passive out of those 3 schools.

I'm really confused about your feedback as far as these nodes go. Are you proposing eliminating the waybound passives altogether? Or are you just leaving them as-is and not mentioning them?

 

 

[Synpai]

37 minutes ago, Azrael said:

Lol, what? Those are the three strongest sets of waybound passives. How does "7 void dashes in a row, 2.2 times the dash distance, and 40 more amp ammo" need a buff? Mind Step needs a buff, yes. But that's the only weak passive out of those 3 schools.

I'm really confused about your feedback as far as these nodes go. Are you proposing eliminating the waybound passives altogether? Or are you just leaving them as-is and not mentioning them?

 

 

Just not mentioning them cause they're fine for the most part. It's likely the lack of visibility of those stats that make them feel underwhelming.

Specifically Mind Step, Mind Sprint and Void Siphon.

Not being able to see a cause and effect really hampers the ability to know if these are up to par with say...200% armor from Unairu you can at least equip an arcane and do math around that (and I'm sure you know Vazarin's madness)

 Without Magus Husk I would say Unairu's waybound would be in the same boat. We're given numbers that don't really have meaning.

 

P.S: Void dashing across the map has been a blast

Edited November 17, 2017 by Synpai

[Azrael]

9 minutes ago, Synpai said:

Just not mentioning them cause they're fine for the most part. It's likely the lack of visibility of those stats that make them feel underwhelming.

Specifically Mind Step, Mind Sprint and Void Siphon.

-snip-

P.S: Void dashing across the map has been a blast

Ah, okay. Sorry for the misunderstanding. I'm glad to know you aren't trying to take my super-mega-instant-dash powers away from me. :D

 

10 minutes ago, Synpai said:

Without Magus Husk I would say Unairu's waybound would be in the same boat. We're given numbers that don't really have meaning.

That waybound is clearly designed around magus husk, which I see as a design flaw.

 

Overall though, I DO think that some of this will be addressed soon. I realize they didn't specifically say that they were going to change how some of the nodes work, but I can definitely see the tweaks they did say they'd do as including changes to - for example - zenurik's two void mode nodes, the on that pulls in enemies and the one that tickles them with electricity. Same goes for the perma-open-to-finisher bs that comes with naramon. I'd be amazed if they didn't change some of that.

As it is I really love a lot of the nodes that people ignore. For example, Zen's two void blast nodes, the slow and the electric proc, are great. The ball lightning is awesome too. Madurai's damage dealing nodes are a little weak, but still very fun. Unairu's wisp and enemy weakening nodes are pretty fun and unique and useful. There's a lot to like here, despite the claims of those who say that the system isn't any good.

I'm sure there are some neat ideas in this post, I'll have to check it out later. There's just too much to wrap my head around all at once! :)  I just wanted to say that some of us really do enjoy many of the current nodes, only a few of them are truly bad.

[Jamalcain]

Another Bump