New Weapon Category, Augmentation

[Arunasoul]

First off, Augmentation isn't really the right word for this, but it's the closest term I could think off at the time that would make sense to the majority. There is some need to rename the idea, but the idea seems good to me at least, and I'd imagine there's quite a few out there that already had something similar but didn't combine it into a somewhat 'neat' package for the DE to utilize.

 

The Augmentation weapon category would be a series of weapons with specific, custom tailored effects depending on the purpose of the design, however, each would not actually be a 'weapon', per say, but rather boost the effects of something else. Bare with me, I'm almost to the point where I give a meaningful explanation.

 

The Augmentation would take up a 'slot' in the Tenno's weapons slots and have some form of drastic effect on something else. Let's say the Tenno equipped an Augmentation in the Primary weapon slot, so that the Augmentation would have the highest possible effect. This effect (specific to each augmentation, I'll list ideas below) would alter survive-ability of the Warframe, damage applied by a weapon, increase power damage, increase power efficiency, etc. While the Tenno would, effectively, loose a weapon slot to do this (I'm thinking the Melee slot should never EVER see an augmentation weapon) the Tenno would gain increased effectiveness on their other weapons or survive-ability of the Warframe that would be a fair trade off.

 

As a general rule, Secondary Weapon slot Augments would be focused on one particular stat, where as Primary slots would hit multiple stats bringing about a way to change your play style.

 

As an example, a 'secondary weapon slot' Augment would be focused on one particular stat, such as Primary Weapon damage. If the Augment was designed to apply a weapon damage boost of 25%, then whatever weapon was in the Primary slot would gain a 25% boost in it's NORMAL/ORIGINAL damage type, which would then be affected by mods after the application of the boost.

 

For mods, this weapon category would see a completely different style then other weapons do, as Augmentations would be more based around allowing you to alter your play style to match what you want it to be. The obvious first mod would be 'Augmentation effect +%' so that all Augments would naturally be improved by it, however smaller things could also be inputted like MINOR scale versions of the following energy regen, shield regen, shield/heath cap boosts, melee damage boosts... basically, the ability to have minute but noticeable effects on the abilities of your Warframe.

 

 

Now, initial ideas so that people kinda see the concept instead of just read or hear about the idea thinking 'oh, like a crappy extra 8 slots for warframe mods'. Suggested 'Augment effect + %' mod would affect EVERY aspect of what's listed by that percentage. The percentage would be higher for the Secondary Aug's then the Primary Aug's since the Secondaries are for focused effects. The 'Effect + %' mod would NOT affect other mods in the Aug, just the Aug's initial effects.

 

Primary Slot Ideas, meaning these are the playstyle changes that knock your (insert favorite primary here) out of your hands to give you a new way to play with a secondary and a melee weapon. The names are chess pieces cause it kind of fits the idea of each suggestion. (Avoided King and Queen because the Queen is OP so an Aug with such a name would fall into the same category and the King's abilities would suggest a slow moving beast that never dies. The concept for Augs is mostly as a effect booster, so while I acknowledge decreases could be set in to increase the playstyle change, I wasn't sure what would make or break them so I'm leaving it at simply boosting at the moment without losses other then the obvious loss of your weapon slot.)

 

Suggestions follow this pattern!

 

Name <Archetype Name based upon themes from other games> Text describing effects. (Closing notes on what the play style aimed for was.)

 

Bishop, <Caster>, Improves energy regen by 0.3~ per second, increases power efficiency by 10%, increases power damage by 10%. (This was kind of an obvious first suggestion for the category. You blow like 6 mods on TRYING to be a viable caster right now, so this would, effectively, support those mods by taking it one step further and causing the play style change.)

 

The Rook, <Berserker>, Improves Health and Shields by +35% of base value (so that it's applied before Redirection on the frame), Improves armor by +15 points (flat so that Warframes with 10 armor actually can benefit from the mod, would still be affected by 'Augment effect + %' mod.), increases Melee damage by 40%, causes Melee armor penetration of 15%. (Kind of the total package for the Melee brawler lined with survival and damage so that Melee becomes more viable then it was previous at higher levels. I was thinking about a % of enemy health for damage, reduced by armor, to allow for higher level play with melee weapons but it seemed like that might break the game pretty quick against lvl 1800 enemies. I saw pictures, that's not an exaggeration.)

 

Knight, <Gun and Sword Hybrid>, Improves running speed by 15%, Secondary Weapon damage by 35%, Melee weapon damage by 40%, increases secondary weapon reload speed by 15%, increases Melee swing speed by 20%. (The idea was kind of a hybrid of a Space Marine who would have a pistol with a chainsword, with something like a thief or assassin who would rely on their speed, not their armor, to save their arse when bullets started flying. The blade was deadly if it got in close enough to use it, but wasn't as dangerous as a flat out Barbarian swinging an axe with an arm thicker then the blade the frigging axe at you. The Knight, in chess, is a more cunning opponent that uses it's speed and oddball style to take things out from safety, which I think this represents well.) 

 

Pawn, <Jack of all trades>, 10% boost to all mod's effects slotted into the Pawn Augment. (The idea is to make a basic all encompassing mod that would allow the 'min-maxing' people to play some serious customization games with. The purpose of the Pawn is to Promote, allowing it to become any other piece on the field, so an Augmentation that aims for customization of it to be it's main draw. This Augment would also benefit IMMENSELY from the  'Augment effect + %' mod, since it would essentially boost all mod effects on the Pawn. Some care would have to be taken in the code or the stats would rise endlessly, yes, so they'd have to prevent the loop by implementing any number of things I can think of off the top of my head.)

 

 

Secondary weapon Augments

 

The problem I have is this, should Primary and Secondary Augments actually, in fact, be the same thing only with slightly reduced effects in the secondary slot, or should their purpose be to jack one thing through the roof. Conceptually, the primary weapons are supposed to be our most used weapons and our 'primary' go to when we need something dead. This means secondaries should really only be there if your primary is out of the boom-boom when you need to inflict some doom-doom. So secondaries should, by their very nature, be underwhelming in comparison to their primary weapon counterparts.

 

Since I'm conflicted on that, I'm leaving the secondary augments empty on purpose until I get some feedback from the community on whether this idea is even a good one to each of you, and your thoughts on what Secondary Augments should be.

 

 

 

 

So instead, I'll write down the ideas for 'Focused' augments that jack one thing through the roof to balance out the loss of the primary/secondary weapon slot.

 

Ideas, (I was trying to use maxed out mods as a reference for maximum boosting of a stat without breaking the game, and staying slightly under that in most categories aside from flat weapon damage as bonuses like that are applied before mod bonuses in my Augmentation concept. Focused augments may need to be applied differently then play style augments due to the nature of boosting the crap out of one stat in particular. The damage/utility may be too ridiculous if applied BEFORE mod effects in this case.)

65% primary/secondary weapon damage

90% melee armor penetration

120% melee charge damage

75% melee damage

50% melee swing speed

 

 

A word in closing, I would expect that, if DE decides to use this idea, they would properly balance the stats to their liking/understanding of what would be fair/reasonable considering the loss of a weapon slot. Therefore, the values stated here are as a guideline to help them and you understand the concept behind Augments (name may change to reflect them better). For this reason, I'd like to keep the discussion focused on the idea OF Augments and away from 'OMG, balance would die a horrible bloody death', as I am aware that some of the numbers placed here would likely break game balance even though I've made some effort to input realistic/usable stats. To all of you that read this far, thank you for your time and please leave me any comments you have on here. I'll be actively monitoring feedback to this and replying to you when I can so while my replies may not be quick, you will get one.

 

Edit:

Idea from SciKnight. Introduce a mastery lock out to prevent newer players from becoming casualties. This would be necessary since they likely wouldn't be ready/have weapons capable of being their only gun at low mastery levels. I completely agree with the mastery lock out, though my opinion differs somewhat on the level to lock out at. SciKnight believes 3 is sufficent, though I'm thinking somewhere around 4 or 5 would be better to prevent issues where people who stuffed plat in earlier put their mastery up too fast to learn or get the mods needed to use one ranged weapon as their only ranged weapon needed.

Edited August 8, 2013 by Arunasoul

[SciKnight]

I'll say this: Bravo.

You obviously put a lot of time and thought into that and it's pretty cool.

The idea is golden and is something I believe DE should do in the future to increase customization options and overall playability of Warframe down the road.

Just one thing to add: DE has made it clear that an overwhelming number of options for weapons is, well, overwhelming (specifically for new players). Since this game isn't based on constantly finding better weapons but rather on taking the ones you have and modifying them, they don't want to have the plethora of weapons that other MMORPG games offer. IN order to prevent this whole system from adding too much complexity to the game for new players, the obvious and I believe necessary addition, is a mastery rank pre-requisite. Probably 3 or so (but again, numbers can be left up to DE and their balancing monkeys).

Balance isn't what's important here. If something is tried and it breaks the game, they fix and tweak or remove it. The concept here is good and people should take notice of it so that it gets into the game.

Oh, one more thing: AUGS (I did it, I coined the term!) should offer some visual augmentation to the frame as well! Wouldn't that be hot! I won't even begin to let my imagination go on this one!

[warbear3d]

wall of text. 

 

pain in my eye :P

[Arunasoul]

I'll say this: Bravo.

You obviously put a lot of time and thought into that and it's pretty cool.

The idea is golden and is something I believe DE should do in the future to increase customization options and overall playability of Warframe down the road.

Just one thing to add: DE has made it clear that an overwhelming number of options for weapons is, well, overwhelming (specifically for new players). Since this game isn't based on constantly finding better weapons but rather on taking the ones you have and modifying them, they don't want to have the plethora of weapons that other MMORPG games offer. IN order to prevent this whole system from adding too much complexity to the game for new players, the obvious and I believe necessary addition, is a mastery rank pre-requisite. Probably 3 or so (but again, numbers can be left up to DE and their balancing monkeys).

Balance isn't what's important here. If something is tried and it breaks the game, they fix and tweak or remove it. The concept here is good and people should take notice of it so that it gets into the game.

Oh, one more thing: AUGS (I did it, I coined the term!) should offer some visual augmentation to the frame as well! Wouldn't that be hot! I won't even begin to let my imagination go on this one!

Yeah, a mastery lock out would be necessary in a lot of ways. Solid point, I'd be more tempted at mastery lvl 4 or 5 since lvl 3 is less then a week to get to depending on your level of dedication. This weapon type would, in a lot of ways, cause noobs to belly flop off the high jump board, even more so if they added negative effects to the AUGS which I avoided in my initial post since it COULD be done but I'd prefer to focus on the boosts.

 

Thanks for the feedback dude!

[Arunasoul]

wall of text. 

 

pain in my eye :P

It's all part of my diabolical plan! :P

 

Yeah, it was big and wordy, not to mention I was tempted to put in small sentences to break it up like *Go kill Grineer before returning to read more* as a way of making it easier on the reader. :)

 

Thanks for making it through. I'll take your feedback on the length into consideration but I don't think there's a too much I can shave off without losing the point I'm trying to make.