Focus 2.5 - My ideas

[Azamagon]

My general opinion on Focus:

I like what DE tried to do with Focus 2.0, really. However, it still needs huge improvements, but I still think the frame of the mechanics are nice.

Imo, Focus should be viable to be used in an "Operator alone"-fashion AND at the same time be able to be fully complimentary for your Warframe useage.

Penalties in something as requiring as Focus is also a total no-go (thinking of the energycost increases mainly). Many of these mostly apply to Void Mode upgrades, which is currently best left unupgraded in any Focus-school and Void Mode simply used as a revival tool instead. That's just not right.

Focus gains and lenses:

This is something I'd tear up rather radically:

1. Focus gain is now automatic on level 30 gear, once you have completed The Second Dream (no need to install lenses on ANYTHING). This is to bring back more of that good old "freedom of choice" feeling in regards to Warframe- and Weapon-choices. Not all of us "main" things, but lenses partially requires us to do so (until you are practically swimming in lenses, that is). It simply removes a massive hassle.
2. Focus is just gained in one big pool now, no longer tied to any particular school. This is basicly required if point #1 happens.
3. Focus gain is MASSIVELY improved by default (note; I have changes for the Convergence Orb further down too), so you can play the game "regularly" (i.e., no need to go out and deliberately "focus farm"). DE's new intention of a softcap with diminishing returns thereafter is completely compatible along with this. What do I mean by massively improved? Well, think a base conversion of about 20% (compare this to the current situation of having an Eidolon lens + Convergence Orb active, which equals to 18% conversion rate)
   Killing with Operators could be even better, like 50% conversion rate or higher (even 100%?)
4. Lenses no longer have blueprints, nor any school ties. Lenses are now simply consumables which grant you a flat amount of Focus (similar to Brilliant Eidolon Shards)! Swimming in lenses? No problem anymore!
5. Convergence Orbs now grant a flat amount of Focus too (basicly, free auto-handed-in Lenses!). This keeps them as something you'd like to go out and get (i.e. just pick it up whenever you can / have the time), but without making you play in the weird, unintiuitive and unfun ways it currently promotes either, such as;
   • It currently encourages not killing anything until the orb spawns (if you are farming focus, mainly) and save up LOTS of enemies, then kill them all as quickly as possibly once you have picked up the orb. This highly promotes AoE burst-damage gameplay (such as (ab)using Maim Equinox, Resonating Quake Banshee, etc), something I've heard you dislike yourselves, DE (yes?).
   • It currently leads to delaying gameplay, like in defense missions, so that the orb's timer runs out first before you finish the mission/wave (specially on each 5th wave), so you get the bonus without losing out on bonuspoints. This can bother your teammates a whole bunch.
   • It DOES encourage you to move around here and there, yes, but so would increasing the passive gains so we don't HAVE to dedicatedly farm for Focus points (but rather let us play casually and still get decent amounts of it every day), as per point #3. The cap is there anyway, so what's the point of miniscule gains as well?
   • Further, combine the fact that lenses by themselves lead to anti-diversity of gameplay + certain Warframes being favoured for focus farming and you get even more anti-diversity in gameplay. Why do you think you see so many Banshees on Hydron, eh?

Focus schools:

So, this is the big one. I hope these can fulfill that intention I said in the start; "Focus should be viable to be used in an "Operator alone"-fashion AND at the same time be completely complimentary for your Warframe useage"

GENERAL CHANGES (not directly related to Focus per se, but has a very strong impact on their schools in one way or another):

• Warframes regenerate 1 energy per second, by default.
• The Melee Combo Counter now has Naramon's Power Spike combo decay-effect by default (with whatever value is most fitting for balance). Mods like Body Count etc, could obviously need some rebalancing, with that in mind.
• Finisher-stuns now have a new "debuff-effect" -> Instead of relying on the stumbling animation only, an enemy will also have some energy surging in towards its body, with X (teal?) colour (think of the Verlorum Prime Sigil in how it looks in effect) lasting 4 seconds or so, to indicate that they are finisherable. This would help those moments when the enemy refuses to change into the finisher-animation, due to any animation-priorities/issues (this would greatly help stuff like Ash's Teleport etc, to become more reliable).
• Killing an enemy within 1 second still counts as a stealth-attack (making silenced weak-per-shot rapidfire weapons viable for stealth too). In addition, enemies don't audibly notify other enemies of their awareness before this 1 second timer has expired either (further aiding stealth-play).
• The stealth affinity multiplier (SAM for short) now no longer has a duration (But is obviously still all lost when you fail to do a stealthy attack). This means, when doing stealthy approaches, you can take your time (no need to rush in fear of losing the SAM).
• Puncture-procs now not only reduces the damage dealt from enemies (by 30%), but they also increase the damage they take (by 45%).
• Channeling now drains 3 energy per second (rather than 5 per strike) and increases your melee weapon's reach by a noticeable amount (60%?), visualized by the channeling energy also directly lengthening your weapon (think, lightsaber addition, heh). Sure, channeling needs more changes than this (most notably to its mods), but these are the things I'd like to change first and foremost.

GENERAL CHANGES (directly related to Focus and Operators):

• Jumping into Operator-mode, the little dash that is done then, that counts as a short, free-of-energycost Void Dash! Use this wisely!
• Focus penalties are all completely removed (i.e., no longer has energycost increases). Things are rebalanced with this in consideration, if I felt it was necessary.
• Void Dash disarms enemies by default! (To go in line with its effects against Kuva Guardians).
• Operator's Beam/AMPs deal 50%(?) bonus damage (dealt as bonus Finisher-damage?), against enemies who are unalerted, or afflicted by the "finisher"-debuff (as mentioned above). Basicly, this is Operators' version of doing "finishing moves".

 

NARAMON:

• Affinity Spike - Tweaked: Increases affinitygain by 5/10/15/20/25/30% (regardless of weapon used!) and increases all your damage done towards enemies who are fully codex-scanned, by 5/10/15/20/25/30%.
  EDIT: Changed to make this node less melee-oriented and more knowledge-oriented (fitting the node's name). Also, this allows Operators to fully benefit from the passive.
• Power Spike - Completely revamped: (Combo decay is now a default thing, as per the general notes) Increases the damage of any of your attacks against enemies who are unalerted, eligible to finishers by any means, as well as attacks against any of their weakspots (heads, MOA fannypacks, Sonar splotches etc) by 15/25/35/50%. Killing an enemy with your weapons by any of these criteria (if unalerted, via finishers or via their weakspots) also grants you 1/2/3/4 energy. (All this for Operator AND Warframe!)
  Note: None of these criteria stack with one another. So, if an enemy is unalerted, open for finishers AND affected by Void Status while placing a shot on its head, you still only get 50% damage bonus and 4 energy at max rank.
  EDIT; Changed for the same reason as the first passive.
• Executing Dash - Tweaked: No longer increases finisher damage on the targets affected (as that's basicly Power Spike's passive now). Further, enemies aren't unlimitedly finisherable by this dash, but instead places the finisher-debuff on them, along with also putting the "finisher-stun" on them, both which lasts +1/2/3/4 seconds longer than usual (so, 5/6/7/8 seconds), and now also increases the width of the dash's effect by 2/3/4/5 meters.
  EDIT: Changed due to how Power Spike was changed (so the node still has a noticeable reason to be levelled up).
• Surging Shadow Dash - Completely revamped: For 4/5/6/7/8/10 seconds after dashing, you remain in a free-of-cost Void Mode with full mobility (can sprint and everything). Remains for the Warframe too, but in your Warframe it only grants invisibility (not invincibility as well). Cancelled upon attacking by any means, except for using Operator abilities.
  EDIT: Changed for 3 reasons;
  1) Executing Dash got the width and finisher-timer boosts (the width being this ones old only significant boost)
  2) To give the school back a tiny bit of the old Shadow Step, just far less absurd in power
  3) It also synergizes well with the rest of the school, Void Stalker mainly (a node which is changed as well).
• Disorienting Mind Blast - Completely revamped: Enemies struck by Void Blast have their minds going blank for 3/4/5/6 seconds, causing them to be reset to unalertedness and become unable to be alerted for the entire duration!
  Note: Basicly, it allows you to get stealth affinity / stealth damage multiplier in the midst of any battle chaos. Further, if they were alert, then you hit them with this, attack them a bit and then sneak away before the debuff expires, they will STILL remain unalerted afterwards
  EDIT: Changed because confusion, as good as it might be, is actually very anti-stealth, due to how enemy alertedness works.
• Disarming Commanding Blast - Completely revamped: (Changed so heavily, due to disarming being innate to Void Dash now). Charging your Void Blast (1 second charge-up) causes your Operator to launch a rapid energy bolt towards the aimed location. When the bolt lands, your Warframe will teleport to that location, and instantly do a 360-degree energy blast/slash around it, in a X meter radius, dealing Y Void damage to all nearby enemies and knocking them all down. This attack counts as melee damage (so it adds to your melee combo counter, and benefits from stealth and such!).
  Note: Basicly, allows you to redirect your Warframe for various stategic benefits, as well as allows you to keep up with the melee combo counter and such, even while in Operator mode. Also, the knockdown-effect adds a tiny bit of CC as well.
  EDIT: Changed, because disarming was suggested to be baseline for Void Dash. That, and because I thought it was a cool way to cross-interact with your Warframe in some way, without (hopefully) being completely gamebreaking.
• Void Stalker - Completely revamped: Has taken the functions of Madurai's Void Strike; Upon leaving Void Mode, boosts your next 2/4/6/8 attacks by 3/6/9/12% for every second spent in Void Mode (manually or via Shadow Dash), However; No longer has an energy-penalty!
  EDIT: Changed to, once again, remove the extreme melee-bias of the school. Multishot issues should also be fixed (currently only benefits ONE "pellet" from an attack, per charge)
• Void Hunter - Additions: On top of revealing enemies, it will also remove the movementspeed penalty of Void Mode by 25/50/75/100%. Further, no longer has an energy-penalty!
  EDIT: Added, because it felt like Naramon should be the best stealthing school, not just in side-effects, but speedwise too (Because remember; Mind Step is a waybound!).
• Mind Step - Unchanged
• Mind Sprint - Unchanged

With these changes, Naramon is all about stealth and knowledge, but not as directly melee-oriented (even if melee is still one of the better ways to emphasize said stealth), while also making Naramon more viable for more content (such as Teralyst hunting).

MADURAI:

• Phoenix Talons - Additions: Also increases the damage of your Void Beam / Amp, Void Blast and Void Dash by 5/10/15/20%
  EDIT: Changed to give it a benefit for the Operator.
• Phoenix Spirit - Additions: Also, increases your passive energyregen by an additional 0,1/0,2/0,3/0,5 energy per second. Works for both the Operator and Warframe.
  EDIT: Added as an energy-incentive passive, which also gives it a mild Operator-useage.
  Blazing Dash - Additions: This trail now also has a 25/50/75/100% Heat-statuschance and now knocks down targets, rather than launch them away.
• EDIT: Changed to give it some utility, rather than just flat damage.
• Meteoric Dash - Additions: Also, enemies struck by Void Dash or Blazing Dash's flame trail suffer 25/50/75/100% increased status duration (of ANY status), for 10/15/20/25 seconds, and increases the knockdown effect of the dash to keep the enemies down for an additional 1/2/3/4 seconds (Blazing Dash synergy, as well as general utility).
  EDIT: Changed, again, to give it some utility rather than just a flat damageboost.
• Flame Blast - Tweaked: Not sure about the numbers, but the fireball now deals MUCH more damage (still based on Void Blast) and has a 25/50/75/100% chance to knock enemies down caught in its exposion.
  EDIT: Changed... again... to give it some utility rather than just flat damage.
• Rising Blast - Additions: Additionally, charging the ability also increases Void Blast's and Flame Blast's radii by up to 25/50/75/100%, while enemies struck by Void Blast/Flame Blast also suffers up to 25/50/75/100% more damage taken from all sources for 8/9/10/12 seconds.
  EDIT: Changed because... guess what? Utility!
• Void Radiance - Changed: Exitting Void Mode blinds enemies in a 6 meter radius, for 3/4/5/6 seconds. Radius and duration increases by 0,5/1/1,5/2 meters and 1/1/1/1 second, for every second you stayed in Void Mode before exitting, with a max bonus of 1,5/3/4,5/6 meters and 3/3/3/3 seconds (max bonus reached after remaining in Void Mode for 3 seconds which would then be 7,5/9/10,5/12 meter radius and a 6/7/8/9 second duration). No longer has an energy-penalty!
  EDIT: Changed like this because I wanted to remove the energy-penalty without making the blind-effect too powerful if used "spammingly".
• Void Strike - Revamped: Movementspeed in Void Mode is increased by 10/15/20/25%. Upon exitting Void Mode, this movementspeed bonus lingers (for Operator and Warframe alike), for 1/2/3/4 seconds per second spent in Void Mode, up to a max duration of 3/6/9/12 seconds (so, max duration after 3 seconds), while also increasing all weapondamage and attackspeed (for Operator weaponry included) by 10/15/20/25% for the duration.
  EDIT: Changed partly because Naramon took its original effects (it was more fitting for Naramon's slower approach, imo), and partly to add something to this school which it was lacking, if lore was to be taken into account: Speed!
• Inner Gaze - Unchanged
• Eternal Gaze - Unchanged

Now, Madurai Operators can be a much better damagedealer, along with being a mild crowdcontroller, while also synergizing amazingly with the Warframe as well.

VAZARIN

• Mending Unity - Additions: Also heals all allies by 0,5/1/1,5/2 health every second, who remain within Affinity range.
  EDIT: Additions to it so there's more of a reason to actually be closer to one another, other than for just Affinity.
• Mending Soul - Tweaked: Reviving speed (both from you, and at you) is increased by 50/100/150/200%. (Note: This change is simply to reduce the current weird interactions with the charges and such. Can be left untouched with the instant revives, if hated on too much).
  Also, grants you 0,25/0,5/,75/1 "Soul" (This "Soul"-effect is basicly identical to Syndicate-explosions, but its "explosion" grants 50 health, 50 shields and 25 energy to yourself and all allies within Affinity Range, but grants no lingering buff. Can be built up at the same time as other Syndicate-effects).
  EDIT: Changed to make the reviving utility less weird (as per the note), and to give it a benefit towards actually staying ALIVE, along with working with allies and doing objectives etc.
• Protective Dash - Unchanged
  Sonic Dash - Tweaked: When you finish your Void Dash, you then emit a 8/10/12/14 meter radius AoE-stun.
  EDIT: Changed to simply add CC to your dash, rather than just change its CC-type.
• Guardian Shell - Tweaked: Casting Void Blast creates a lingering frontal shield which nullifies damage, with an amount of health equal to 150/200/250/300/350/400 per energy spent on the Void Blast. Holding Void Blast allows you to keep the shield up past the regular health-limit, draining more energy once its health is gone (with the same efficiency). Recasting Void Blast will refresh the health of the lingering shield to its max again. Works until destroyed, and lingers outside of Transference, meaning it can be used by your Warframe too!
  EDIT: Changed so you are allowed you to keep a health-limitted shield up without constantly having to hold down the ability, while still allowing the continuously lasting shield to optionally exist as well.
• Guardian Blast - Tweaked: Grants 100/200/300/400 shields per blast. No longer has an energy-penalty!
  EDIT: Changed because this node is (and probably still would be) nigh worthless.
• Void Regen - Additions: Healing now also applies to all allies (and your own Warframe!) within 25/30/35/40 meters. No longer has an energy-penalty!
  EDIT: Changed to be more selfless.
• Void Aegis Cloud - Completely revamped: Grants invisibility for all allies within 10/15/20/25 meters. No longer has an energy-penalty!
  EDIT: Changed (or rather, swapped) because it felt more fitting here.
• Enduring Tides - Unchanged
• Mending Crashing Tides - Completely revamped: Increases the radius of Void Blast by 15/30/45/60% (Note; This increases the size of Guardian Shell's shield too!)
  EDIT: Changed (or rather, swapped) because the selfregen felt more selfish (imo, not so fitting for Vazarin), while the utility of a wider blast feels like can aid more towards helping your allies, be it via the CC of Void Blast, or by the Blast bonuses of Vazarin.

Pretty much, just tweaks to it so it is better as a "nullifier" and healing school.

UNAIRU:

• Void Spines - Tweaked: Now also converts 4/8/12/16% of damage to health into Energy. Works for both Operator and Warframe.
  EDIT: Giving this node an innate (albeit quite weak) Rage-effect would definitely make it a more attractive choice. The reflection still might need to be more powerful though (dealt as finisher damage, perhaps?)
• Stone Skin - Tweaked: Grants 10/12/15/20% more armor, as well as an additional 40/60/80/100 flat armor after that.
  EDIT: Changed so it is useful for both low-armor frames (the flat bonus) AND for high-armor frames (the percentage bonus).
• Sundering Dash - Additions: Still permanently reduces armor and shields by 10/20/30/40/50/60% on the struck enemies. Furthermore, they also lose an additional 15/20/25/30/35/40% of their armor and shields (stacks additively with the permanent reduction), for 5/6/7/8/9/10 seconds.
  Note: This means that they lose ALL defenses at max rank, but only temporarily so. The permanent reduction still stacks multiplicatively with itself upon re-dashing, while the temporary part is only refreshed (or reapplied, if it has fallen off first).
  EDIT: Changed to make it feel more rewarding, and to make it feel like you don't need to spam it as much on singular targets.
• Crippling Disorienting Dash - Completely revamped: Enemies who are dashed into are confused for 6/9/12/15 seconds and suffer a Puncture-proc for the same duration.
  EDIT: Changed because keeping the enemies' damage output more or less the same (as per the Puncture-proc changes) is useful for Void Spines + its own confusion-effect + as well as for Gaia Blast (the next node). Confusion also works better for Unairu than it does for Naramon (since, as explained in Naramon, confusion on enemies is not very stealth-friendly).
• Magnetic Gaia Blast - Completey revamped: All enemies struck by Void Blast debuffed for 9/12/15/20 seconds. Any damage they deal is reflected back onto themselves, for 100/150/200/250% of their damage dealt (as finisher damage, perhaps?). Further, if one of these debuffed enemies die (by any means), it has a 25/50/75/100% chance to drop a health orb.
  EDIT: Changed for a few reasons:
  1) This further emphasizes the "retaliatory" playstyle, somewhat similar as Void Spines
  2) Gives Unairu a way to selfsustain health, to benefit the reflection of its own linking-effect + Void Spines, along with giving allies some potential healing.
  3) If enemies are not attacking something, you won't gain any benefit from Blasting the enemies (which feels bad, since this is not fully passive, unlike Void Spines). Thus, Blasting the enemies and then killing the enemies, be it by yourself, via your allies or via the confusion-effect of Disorienting Dash, or for whatever reason, still has an incentive due to the potential healing.
  4) Further, if your frame can't tank much (in regards to getting much use of the "thorns"-effect, or simply being low health) there is also a general reason to Blast enemies for kill-healing.
  5) Bullet Attractor (its old effect), while neat, doesn't work with disarmed enemies. And considering Void Dash was suggested to have disarm by default, well, then I really felt this node needed to change radically too (as to prevent potential dissynergy).
• Unairu Wisp Binding Blast - Completely revamped:  Launches a wisp in front of you (which then quickly comes to a halt and hovers in the air, a la Simulor orbs). This wisp lasts for 6/8/10/12 seconds and latches on to all enemy that comes near it (pulsates its "grip" every 2 seconds). Enemies cannot move more than 5 meters away from the wisp and they all suffer 50/65/80/100 Toxic damage every second (0% procchance). Only 1/2/3/4 wisps can exist at once (new replaces the oldest).
  Basicly, think Ferrox's altfire, pretty much, but "thrown" as a Simulor-esque orb instead.
  Note; It will also IMMEDIATELY bind all enemies caught by your Void Blast, bunching them together neatly.
  EDIT: Changed because the current node is ... just weird, honestly. I felt this CC was both more generally interesting and more thematic to boot (As Unairu has this "steady mountain" feeling), while also synergizing well with the rest of the Unairu school (Synergy? Yes, because while hard CC is nice, the Confusion and/or the reflection-effects of Void Spines and Gaia Blast calls for enemies to still being able to fight. Restricting their movement and grouping them up allows them to still fight and get use of Confusion/reflection-effects, while still being useful semi-CC in itself).
• Void Chrysalis - Completely revamped: Swapped node-place with Void Shadow (so this focus-talent is the first choice). Each second spent in Void Mode grants you 40/60/80/100 Void Chrysalis health (think Iron Skin, but which doesn't prevent status effects). Once outside Void Mode, this Void Chrysalis health slowly decays over time, losing X of its health every second (unsure of the value). Works on your Warframe too! This node no longer has an energy-penalty either!
  Note: Void Chrysalis' health works with Void Spines' and Gaia Blast's reflection effects!
  EDIT: Changed to further emphasize the tanky nature of Unairu.
• Void Shadow Aegis - Completely revamped: Swapped node-place with Void Chrysalis. Has taken the functions of Vazarin's Void Aegis; Void Mode creates a shield that grows up to 6/8/10/12m over 5s. This shield does NOT block allied shots anymore. Further, no longer has an energy-penalty!
  Note: Void Spines' reflection works with this Aegis-shield!
  EDIT: Changed (or rather, swapped) because it felt more fitting here. Also swapped in position with Void Chrysalis, so that this barrier (which can in some cases be an unwanted effect) is optional to pick up.
• Basilisk Scales - Unchanged
• Basilisk Gaze Heart - Completely revamped: Grants the Operator 1/2/3/4 health regeneration per second.
  EDIT: Changed (or rather, swapped) because self-regen seemed to be a great tank-esque bonus, more fitting for Unairu than for Vazarin, imo (especially considering Vazarin already has other regen-tools)

You wanted a tanking school, to outlast your enemy? Here you go! ;)

ZENURIK:

• Energy Pulse - Additions: Also causes your Operator to restore 1/2/3/4/5/6 energy when an enemy dies within 30 meters of the Operator.
  EDIT: Changed to give it a benefit for the Operator too.
• Inner Might - Additions: Also reduces the energycost of all Operator abilities (Blast/Dash/Mode) by 5/10/15/20/25/30%.
  EDIT: Changed, again, to give it a benefit for the Operator too. The melee channeling bonus could arguably be changed too, but I think with some tweaks to melee channeling's base mechanics (hence the suggestions above in the general section, among other things) it, and thus by extension, this node, has a lot of potential.
• Energizing Dash - Unchanged
• Lightning Dash - Tweaked: Also, every zap causes the struck enemy to be unable to move by itself (can still be moved by other means, such as with Void Singularity) for 0,25/0,5/0,75/1 second. Also, once again no longer has an energy-penalty!
  EDIT: Changed to give some more utility on this node, rather than just flat damage.
• Temporal Blast - Unchanged
• Volatic Blast - Unchanged
• Void Static - Additions: Each damage-tick now also permanently removes 5/10/15/20 armor and shields from the enemy. Also, no longer has an energy-penalty!
  EDIT: Changed to give some utility on this node, rather than just flat damage.
• Void Singularity - Tweaked: No longer has an energy-penalty!
• Void Siphon - Unchanged
• Void Flow - Unchanged

Zenurik was already pretty awesome, so just some small tweaks was added for the less useful nodes.

 

So there... phew, this took most of my Sunday to write... would appreciate some feedback on this! :)

Edited February 17, 2018 by Azamagon

[CY13ERPUNK]

lot of interesting ideas in OP

not going to comment on everything, but in general i agree with a few and just wanted to streamline the things that i think are the most important

after 2nd dream questline : 

all rank 30 gear passively gains small amount of focus that goes into a generic/universal pool at a base rate of 3-5% of affinity gained

either A - remove the convergence orbs completely

B - rework the orbs to just be a flat random 3-9k focus reward and have them spawn rarely

C - have the orb spawn rarely again and have it function as a 3x multiplier for any/all focus gained during the entire mission [ie adds up all focus gained before and after the pickup, since it would just do the calc at the end of the mission, ie total mission focus x3]

keep lenses in the game, but give us a distiller as a way to remove them, even if such a distiller 'breaks' a greater lenses back into 4 smaller lenses

small lenses now channel focus gains into a specific school rather than the generic pool, small lenses gain 6-9% 

greater lenses gain 11-13% 

eidolon lenses imho r stupid, but whatevs, make them like 17-20%, but id be fine with them going away as well

focus gains per day should still be capped, whether soft or hard, id be fine with a base 300k hardcap that then goes higher with MR, going up to 900k at MR30 ; or a softcap around 300-400k that gives 50% less diminishing returns and another 50% at 500k and again 50% less at 600k and so on

the schools themselves ya need a lot of work and they dont line-up well with the ingame lore about them imho, but in general : 

Madurai - should have atk spd and move spd buffs, should have ways to deal more dmg at the cost of shlds/armr/hp/energy, lots of blast/KB/fire is ok as well

Naramon - should have dmg bonuses and +evade dodge based on enemy scans in codex, passively highlighting weakpoints on enemies maybe, potential confusion procs, ways to cause enemies weapons to jam or explode on them ; possible disarms 

Vazarin - life leech and/or energy leech on melee hits , thorns auras, auto-parry chances, etc, ie 'counters' dmg multiplier based on blocked amounts or recieved dmg 

Unairu - hp/shld regen boosts , +flat armor boosts {ie +50-100, etc not %} , +flat hp/shld boosts , similar auras for the team 

Zenurik - ways to strip shlds/armor/energy from enemies, silence/nullify enemy abilities , passive energy regen gains and +max energy passives ; possible disarms 

this is imho what the ingame lore for each school sounds more like

[Azamagon]

23 hours ago, CY13ERPUNK said:

1) lot of interesting ideas in OP

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2) not going to comment on everything, but in general i agree with a few and just wanted to streamline the things that i think are the most important

after 2nd dream questline : 

all rank 30 gear passively gains small amount of focus that goes into a generic/universal pool at a base rate of 3-5% of affinity gained

either A - remove the convergence orbs completely

B - rework the orbs to just be a flat random 3-9k focus reward and have them spawn rarely

C - have the orb spawn rarely again and have it function as a 3x multiplier for any/all focus gained during the entire mission [ie adds up all focus gained before and after the pickup, since it would just do the calc at the end of the mission, ie total mission focus x3]

keep lenses in the game, but give us a distiller as a way to remove them, even if such a distiller 'breaks' a greater lenses back into 4 smaller lenses

small lenses now channel focus gains into a specific school rather than the generic pool, small lenses gain 6-9% 

greater lenses gain 11-13% 

eidolon lenses imho r stupid, but whatevs, make them like 17-20%, but id be fine with them going away as well

focus gains per day should still be capped, whether soft or hard, id be fine with a base 300k hardcap that then goes higher with MR, going up to 900k at MR30 ; or a softcap around 300-400k that gives 50% less diminishing returns and another 50% at 500k and again 50% less at 600k and so on

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3) the schools themselves ya need a lot of work and they dont line-up well with the ingame lore about them imho, but in general : 

Madurai - should have atk spd and move spd buffs, should have ways to deal more dmg at the cost of shlds/armr/hp/energy, lots of blast/KB/fire is ok as well

Naramon - should have dmg bonuses and +evade dodge based on enemy scans in codex, passively highlighting weakpoints on enemies maybe, potential confusion procs, ways to cause enemies weapons to jam or explode on them ; possible disarms 

Vazarin - life leech and/or energy leech on melee hits , thorns auras, auto-parry chances, etc, ie 'counters' dmg multiplier based on blocked amounts or recieved dmg 

Unairu - hp/shld regen boosts , +flat armor boosts {ie +50-100, etc not %} , +flat hp/shld boosts , similar auras for the team 

Zenurik - ways to strip shlds/armor/energy from enemies, silence/nullify enemy abilities , passive energy regen gains and +max energy passives ; possible disarms 

this is imho what the ingame lore for each school sounds more like

1) Thanks! :)

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2) Well, one could go about it like that (which would be multiple different middlegrounds of current situation and my suggestions), but the main reason I suggested the things I did in regards to focus point acquisition was this:

Keeping it simple.

Complexities can be fun. But imo, not when it comes to stuff like THIS. Handling lenses is exactly the type of micromanaging which is just tedious. It would be such a relief, in regards to choice freedom if there was no needing to think about "what lens did I put where", or the need to play so weirdly with the convergence orb (I honestly don't know who on DE who actually thought the current implementaiton of that orb was a good idea, but it really isn't. It just encourages meta-farming, rather than to "play normally", which seemingly was its intention somehow, even though it was obviously not gonna work that way).

So while your suggestions are ofc better than the current situation, I'd prefer a much simpler design (such as my own :P)

---

3) Actually, in regards to how I changed up some of the schools, I had a few main things in mind when tweaking them:

• What is their lore flavour text (this seems to be taken with a grain of salt even by DE themselves)
• While taking lore text in consideration, also remembering what could actually work as good ideas in game (which is why both DE and myself took the flavour text with a grain of salt. Also, remember that flavour texts in Warframe have the tendency to be HIGHLY misleading (Volt *coughcough*))
• How are they currently designed (i.e., what did DE seemingly want their style to be in game)
• What are their icons, and what does it represent (i.e. Unairu is the Mountain/Stone school etc)
• How do you make ALL of it work as a whole (basicly, look for opportunities to make natural synergies and such, and avoid dissynergies)

But let's look at how you see them, how DE's flavour contra actual effects are, and what I have done overall:

Madurai
* Your view: Swiftness, LITERAL offensive recklessness, blast/KB/fire
* DE's loretext: Swiftness & Brutality, basicly
* DE's actual effects: Damage, fire, mild CC (with most of the damagestuff being non-scaling, at least the Operator stuff)
* My suggestions: Swiftness, damage, damageboosts, fire, mild/moderate CC. Basicly, the aggressive caster/fighter.

This school is rather straightforward, and it seems like I did my job right here, no? :P

Naramon
* Your view: Damagebonus, Codexbased evasion (ok?), Weakpoints highlighting, Confusion, Weapon explosion/jam/disarm
* DE's loretext: "Knowledge is Power", basicly
* DE's actual effects: Lots of meleebonuses, Scan-sight, Finishers, Speed, Confusion, Disarming
* My suggestions: Lots of stealthbonuses, Scan-sight, Finishers, Speed, Damagebonuses related to precision/stealth/opportunistic fighting (That, while making Disarming a general move via Void Dash)

Some notes here:
* Since DE seemingly wanted Naramon to be the "rogue" (aka stealth) school, confusion is not the greatest of ideas to add here. While it fits the "distraction"-theme of ninjas, it is also HIGHLY disruptive to Warframe's stealth-mechanics. So, I'd leave confusion out of Naramon and why I find the "Mind Blast" effect to be more functional for the school's stealth-theme.
* DE's choice of making the "knowledge is power" being the stealth-tree is highly fitting imo. Because, being stealthy is one of the best ways to safely watch an opponents moves up close, no?
That said though, their implementation of making it so highly melee-based feels more restrictive rather than interesting, hence my changes to make them more "generic" stealth-ish bonuses, so you aren't "forced" into using melee weapons with Naramon (even if melee is highly promoted). This also makes Naramon more helpful for the OPERATOR, not just the Warframe.
* As for highlighting weakpoints, I actually had that as Void Hunter's new bonus at first. I might re-add that again, as it's highly fitting after all, we'll see.

Vazarin
* Your view: Leech-effects, Damage-reflection, Auto-parry
* DE's loretext: Bit vague, but nullfiy/counter attacks of enemies (Counter could mean so literally, or to "undo" their attacks, i.e. heal their damage done)
* DE's actual effects: Health/Shield restoration, Revival bonuses, Damage-nullifying barriers
* My suggestions: Health/Shield restoration, Revival bonuses, Damage-nullifying barriers and effects

Some notes here:
Here is where the school's lore text might confuse people (understandably). But, even so, I think they did a good job with this school (the lore text could just better clarify that it's a healing school, rather than a counter-attack school. That it's some form of protective school at least is clear). After all, if this was also a "tank"-focused school (rather than protective/restorative), Unairu and Vazarain would have more severe overlaps.

Unairu
* Your view: Durability, for self and team
* DE's loretext: Durability, basicly
* DE's actual effects: "Durability", Damage-reflection, Enemy-defense-reduction, Team protection (and then that random Wisp)
* My suggestions: Durability, Damage-reflection, Enemy-defense-reduction, Team protection

Some notes here:
Again, lore versus what DE has done for the school are rather confusing. A bunch of the effects here seem to fit better in other school's (Damage reflect in Vazarin, Enemy-defense-reduction in Zenurik). That, and it's clear intention, increasing durability of yourself (mainly) is really lacking in actually making the Operator or Warframe actually durable.
However, I can see the difficulties of having a tree almost ENTIRELY focused on just making yourself and your team durable. Having more varied effects can make it more interesting. I'm particularly fond of the idea of the damage-reflection being this school's "damagebonuses", as it synergizes so well with the durabilityboosting.

Big note: I've had HUGE difficulties to rearrange Vazarin and Unairu, and was originially gonna swap around a whole bunch more, but realized how singleminded the school's would then become. Their current varieties are arguably more interesting. I do plan to look at these two schools heavily again.

Zenurik
* Your view: Defense-reduction, Enemy-debilitation, Energy, Disarming
* DE's loretext: Dominate enemies (Be it by weakening, crippling or killing, is how I read it).
* DE's actual effects: Energy, CC of various kinds, "Damage"
* My suggestions: Energy, CC of various kinds, "Damage"

Honestly, I think DE fit their description quite well with how it pans out in gameplay, due to how it is so energy and CC-centric, while also having good synergy within the school itself as well. That's why I had so few changes too.
Sure, it could be a bit more "wittle enemies down"-like (by making it better at reducing enemy defenses, as per the "choke an enemy of all resources"-lore tidbit), but I'd only add that to Zenurik if I could polish up Vazarin and Unairu a bit better.
Hmm... I could see it being added to Void Static, for example (which could directly, along with its damage, permanently remove a small amount of flat armor/shield on every damagetick, instead of the suggested stagger)

Thanks for the feedback, I'll go back to polishing this up more real soon. To be updated! :)

[CY13ERPUNK]

ya i think the biggest issue with the lenses atm is just their rarity but also the trickle that focus comes in even with them equipped and again they are 1-time use as well, so its just a perfect storm ; opening things up by having a generic pool with low returns for no lens is a great 'catch-all' and then if we just had a way to distill and/or remove/replace/move lenses, then they wouldnt be the perceived problem they are atm {ie baseline focus would be no lens, and then any lens would be a directed bonus to earned focus, so they would not feel as wasteful and of course being able to get them back if you wanted to change gear}

there is definitely a lot of design-space crossover between vaz/una with both of them being counter/heal/withstand/durability and how the ingame mechanics work, i was just trying to make them as different as possible in a rough draft without fleshing out a whole tree ; same goes for zen/nar with the knowledge is power and overwhelming power shtick =] , again i just wanted them to be more like they sound and still trying to make them more different from each other ingame

in general i always thought the original weakness of the focus schools is that they are almost all just watered down amalgamations of other warframe abilities ; its why the focus 1.0 passives were the only things anyone was interested in, and even the focus 2.0 system is the same thing... its just sad that DE cannot figure out a way to make the focus system feel like something unique and distinct from all of the warframes =/ 

sidenote - i was an avid CoH/V player back in the day and Paragon Studios made a pretty excellent 'incarnate system' in their game as an 'endgame' subsystem ; it was layered, had a variety of actives with long cooldowns with big effects, and passives, and procs, and summons, it was just so well fleshed out that i still think about it in the context of other games and how they try to develop and add similar systems

[Brutal-Error]

all I see here is someone who thinks warframe needs more unbalancing things, in all honesty: I want these changes too. But come on dude, why dont you just say buff everything and make the enemy weaker? It would save some hassle, and a whole bunch of typing. Honestly I dont think any of your buffs are viable for warframe. I dont think this would make warframe fun.... This would make the game waaaay to easy. want that? go play mario, or minecraft.

 

Edited December 6, 2017 by Brutal-Error

[Azamagon]

5 hours ago, Brutal-Error said:

all I see here is someone who thinks warframe needs more unbalancing things, in all honesty: I want these changes too. But come on dude, why dont you just say buff everything and make the enemy weaker? It would save some hassle, and a whole bunch of typing. Honestly I dont think any of your buffs are viable for warframe. I dont think this would make warframe fun.... This would make the game waaaay to easy. want that? go play mario, or minecraft.

 

Actually, if you knew me from my previous suggestions (unlikely, considering how long I've stuck to this game, heh), you'd know me for suggesting to balance almost everything in this game, most notably to tone down most mods (as they are usually what breaks things), among them suggesting to revert the Ability Efficiency mods (so they become actual efficiency and not just power cost reductions). That, while also making the "base" effects of abilities and weapons (among other stuff) generally a bit better. And that's including the Operators, as you can see from this thread.

As a hypthetical example; I'd nerf Serration down from 15% per rank, to just 5% per rank (from 165% total, to 55%). That alone would tone down the gap between vets and newbies a whole bunch, but I'd do similar changes to other mods to further narrow the extreme gaps between unmodded and fully modded. For example; A Soma can deal 70 times more damage when fully modded (probably even more by now) comapred to when unmodded. 70 times stronger is absolutely ABSURD. That's the difference between shooting for 1 second or over a minute to deal the same amount of damage...

In short; Better bases, but also far less extreme lows and highs, basicly. It's way easier to balance the entire game that way.

 

[Ventura_Highway]

Don't you wish that you could have abilities not latched onto basic Operator ability? Like can you imagine if Warframes had all of their abilities latched onto the bullet jump, dropkick and whatnot? I'm just wondering why everything in the Focus school has to be tacked onto a preexisting Operator ability.

I think your suggestions are generally good though. I have some issues with Focus 2.0 that aren't addressed here, but it's not like you've tacked on anything that wasn't already there.

[DrBorris]

It is late, so I am going to hold off on school-specific feedback till tomorrow...

 

And honestly, for the other stuff, I don't really have much feedback. It all looks really good, a lot of good concepts the community has talked about. A lot of it may not necessarily fall under a "Focus Rework", but they are all changes that would be great for the game.

[(PSN)PowerArmorMeow]

TBH I actually like being able to turn invisible and providing invisibility to all my allies in Unairu. I just wish there was a timer or something that told me it was over.

[Azamagon]

22 hours ago, Ventura_Highway said:

Don't you wish that you could have abilities not latched onto basic Operator ability? Like can you imagine if Warframes had all of their abilities latched onto the bullet jump, dropkick and whatnot? I'm just wondering why everything in the Focus school has to be tacked onto a preexisting Operator ability.

I think your suggestions are generally good though. I have some issues with Focus 2.0 that aren't addressed here, but it's not like you've tacked on anything that wasn't already there.

Ofc that would be cool, but that kind of defeats the purpose of the Operator's. And while I'd prefer the bonuses to be given to the Warframe, DE does not, so I've kept it rather similar in structure (even if some of the specifics can be rather radical).

12 hours ago, DrBorris said:

It is late, so I am going to hold off on school-specific feedback till tomorrow...

 

And honestly, for the other stuff, I don't really have much feedback. It all looks really good, a lot of good concepts the community has talked about. A lot of it may not necessarily fall under a "Focus Rework", but they are all changes that would be great for the game.

Eager to hear your specific feedback! :)

As for the "other stuff", it actually ties in to Focus. Explanations:

• Passive regen -> Makes Zenurik slightly less "go-to", and also alleviates some of the frustrations of RNG (such as energy orbs refusing to drop), which also helps our fellow newcomers (powers are harder to use in the start). However, as you can see from my response to Brutal-Error, I'd like it to shift a bit more; 1,5 energy/sec passively, while Zenurik is just providing 3 energy/sec from Energizing Dash. That further reduces Zenurik's "go-to" status (while STILL being a great choice) and further improves the base mechanics of energy.
• Melee Decay -> A big change, because this bonus belonging solely in Naramon is TOO good right now (and its maxed benefit is also extremely powerful). Being able to keep your combo counter up real high for MINUTES without hitting anyone in between is rather extreme (especially with Blood Rush and its ilk in mind). And this change obviously affects Focus...
• Finisher-stun Debuff -> QoL in general, yes, but also ties in to some changes of Naramon.
• Stealth Attack Leeway + SAM Duration -> Further ties into the Naramon changes
• Puncture Proc Changes -> Ties directly into one of the suggestions of Unairu
• Channeling Drain -> Indirectly ties into Zenurik's passive (making it a more appealing choice).

2 hours ago, (PS4)PowerArmorMeow said:

TBH I actually like being able to turn invisible and providing invisibility to all my allies in Unairu. I just wish there was a timer or something that told me it was over.

Understandable. I wouldn't say the swap of Void Shadow and Void Aegis is downright NECESSARY (likewise for their waybound swaps), but imo they seem more fitting to their schools when swapped *shrug*. If they wouldn't be swapped, I wouldn't mind (it's generally only a thematic swap suggestion, rather than something I consider nigh crucial).

 

Also; I'm gonna update the OP in a bit, adding a bit of reasoning for the changes/suggestions I've made.

[Tyfyter2002]

no offense, but while a lot of these ideas are great (everything that's just an addition, along with things like the Void Radiance change), but there's also a few ones that are just bad (in my opinion) (Lenses being consumables rather than just staying mostly unchanged, Warframes regenerating 1 energy per second by default, The Melee Combo Counter now has Naramon's Power Spike combo decay-effect by default, Finisher-stuns now have a new "debuff-effect", Channeling now drains 3 energy per second, anything revamped in Naramon , Void Strike's Revamp, Meteoric Dash having the damage boost removed, mending tides' Revamp, and Void Aegis still existing even though it does nothing but reduce the damage output of allies and otherwise inconveniencing them)

Edited December 7, 2017 by Tyfyter2002

[Azamagon]

On 2017-12-08 at 12:39 AM, Tyfyter2002 said:

no offense, but while a lot of these ideas are great (everything that's just an addition, along with things like the Void Radiance change), but there's also a few ones that are just bad (in my opinion) (Lenses being consumables rather than just staying mostly unchanged, Warframes regenerating 1 energy per second by default, The Melee Combo Counter now has Naramon's Power Spike combo decay-effect by default, Finisher-stuns now have a new "debuff-effect", Channeling now drains 3 energy per second, anything revamped in Naramon , Void Strike's Revamp, Meteoric Dash having the damage boost removed, mending tides' Revamp, and Void Aegis still existing even though it does nothing but reduce the damage output of allies and otherwise inconveniencing them)

Care to explain WHY those ideas are considered bad to you?

* Lenses being consumables to aid Focus means that you want as many as possible, instead of forcing you to use specific gear to level up Focus.
* Warframes regenerating 1 energy per second by default is to reduce emphasis on Zenurik's dominance, while also helping the newbies who haven't gotten a hold of efficiency-mods. How is this a bad idea by any means?
* Power Spike's combo decay by default is very powerful (depending on numbers), yes. But is it bad? This also allows the tree to focus on more general stealth/knowledge, instead of being so incredibly melee-focused.
* Finisher-stuns now have a debuff-effect, so you don't have to rely on the direct STUN to finish enemies (sort of similar to blind-effects). How's this BAD by ANY means? It's pure QoL!
* Channeling draining energy over time means it's not biased towards heavyhitting melee, allowing fast+weak melee to use it well too. How's this bad?
* Anything revamped in Naramon... be more precise please, this doesn't help feedback whatsoever.
* Void Strike's revamp is bad? Why? It's not as potentially powerful, but it's a lot faster to use.
* Meteoric's plain damageboost... well, I'll add that back then (not that it's a very powerful boost, just fyi).
* Mending Tides was just swapped (not removed) with one of the Waybounds of Unairu. It was clearly explained WHY too. To add to that; Especially considering this focus-school ALREADY has a self-healing tool in Void Regen.
* Void Aegis -> Noted, I added that it won't block allied attacks at all. See, explaining why you dislike it actually gave me a reason to change stuff! :)

EDIT: Also, changed a few things, namely:
Affinity Spike = Simpler affinity bonuses, and a codex-related bonus
Void Strike = Now grants a smaller offensive bonus-percentage, but not aids BOTH rate of fire AND damage.
Void Aegis = No longer blocks allied shots (as pointed out by @Tyfyter2002)
Void Chrysalis + Void Aegis = Swapped their positions in the Unairu tree, so that the Aegis shield isn't necessary to grab for the sake of getting Chrysalis (even with not blocking friendly fire, it might still be an unwanted effect, since it can obscure vision and such).

Edited February 17, 2018 by Azamagon

[Azamagon]

Added another thing for all schools:

Energy restoration mechanics (so that Zenurik doesn't hold this entirely by itself, even though it still does this mechanism generally the best)

* Zenurik -> Still has Energy Pulse (Energy Orb grants more) and Energizing Dash (Energyrestoring field upon landing your dash)
So yeah, unchanged. It simply fits with the wizard-like motife of Zenurik.

* Madurai -> Phoenix Spirit = Also restores energy passively by an additional 0,1/0,2/0,3/0,5 energy per second.
Not very powerful, but it fits quite well with the "simplistic" and direct approach of Madurai.

* Naramon -> Power Spike = Also restores 1/2/3/4 energy upon specific weaponkills, namely: Upon killing unalerted enemies, killing them with finishers or upon killing them with a strike to their weakspots (like headshots and such).
By being stealthy or utilizing enemy weaknesses, you are quite decently rewarded. Careful and/or skillful play thus rewards a good Naramon-player, fitting with this school's knowledge/stealth style.
EDIT: Note that since it says WEAPONkills, it won't work with abilities like Ash's Bladestorm, but it would work with his Teleport.

* Unairu -> Void Spines = Also gets innate "Rage" (damage to health = energy), but only at a rate of 4/8/12/16%.
Unairu school is the tanky school, so a Rage-like energy restoration sounded incredibly fitting to me.

* Vazarin -> Mending Soul = Also gets 0,25/0,5/0,75/1 "Soul". Soul is basicly the same as any other Syndicate-gauge (like Justice, Blight etc), and upon it being filled, it grants a friendly blast, restoring 50 health, 50 shields and 25 energy to yourself and allies within Affinity Range.
Vazarin is a mix of healing and support school, so this Soul-mechanic seemed like a nice way to emphasize its theme of sticking around teammates and cooperating with them, while still being a useable effect on your own.

Edited February 17, 2018 by Azamagon