ATLAS Rework Discussion

[(XBOX)Sylvanius Rex]

So the Atlas Rework has finally been announced, and after changing my underwear, I figured it would be a good idea to be proactive as community members and to pool together all our ideas and suggestions together in the naive chance that one of the devs sees it and takes inspiration when looking into the Rework. I've been itching for this rework for a while now, and have decided to use the forums as a means to communicate some possible ways we can improve Atlas when his rework finally rolls around. Any criticisms/alternate ideas are welcome to this board, let's get constructive baby!

Ability 1: Landslide: Keep it, it’s perfect. And with new impact damage types coming around with Khora, it’ll be @(*()$ magestic.

Okay, maybe a few suggestions for Landslide: In later combos, have Atlas use his legs for some aesthetic/combo flair. He’s a brawler, and I’m sure brawlers aren’t restricted to pugilism (though I may be wrong here. If so, disregard this).

Aesthetic suggestions/Landslide: This ability is already awesome in function and style. Though I’ve noticed that it can also target airborne units without really changing in terms of the animation used when punching them into orbit. My recommendation would be to tweak the animation sets that Atlas uses against airborne enemies so it’ll be less awkward to look at when Atlas “punches flat” in midair (if that makes sense). And please don’t remove the airborne targeting, it’s one of the few things about this ability that make it awesome.

Another suggestion would be the rocks themselves. I get that they are rocks, and it’d look stupid for them to have exactly matching colors to the warframe, but at least add some form of molten cracks (based on energy color) to the rocks to give the warframe/ability color schemes some level of synergy.

Ability 2: Tectonics: Arguably one of the most niche and useless abilities out there, only remotely useful when the augment is in place (ridiculous waste of mod space). I say replace the summon of a single rock segment at the push of a button with the “growth” of a custom sized wall that drains energy as you hold the button down and “grow” it. The player can move slowly (much like they do in the petrify ability) to expand where and how his wall grows. This solves the problem of its niche use, while not turning it into a Gara/Frost shoddy knockoff ability.

Now of course, this brings up a problem with the wall’s “rolling stone” alternate and the augment that goes with it, Tectonic Fracture. I say remove the “rolling boulder” aspect of the ability altogether, and instead turn Tectonic Fracture into an augment that “blasts” portions of the grown rock wall towards the general direction of the enemy as it is fired at or when it loses enough health (perhaps have a limitation that gives the wall in total less health if there’s a need to balance it out).

Aesthetic suggestions: Molten cracks in the rocks like in my previous aesthetic suggestion for Landslide, but have their glow increase as they are fired upon to help players indicate which part of the wall is weakening.

Ability 3: Petrify: Admittedly another one of the most useless abilities in Atlas’ arsenal, since [insert Warframe here] can, has, and continues to have abilities that do what petrify does exponentially better. So how can petrify be improved in the rework? Well, I say if you can’t replace the ability completely (it seems the devs are uncomfortable with those types of ideas), then make petrify a more nuanced and effective ability.

Suggestion 1: Make the ability a quick “blast” of conical energy that petrifies those within the cone, blinds those at the edge, and knocks back (perhaps with impact damage?) those around him. It removes the need to “crawl” everywhere, increasing Atlas’ mobility (which is important if DE wants to keep this a fast-paced game).

Suggestion 2: Make the ability a “blast wave” that petrifies those around him within a certain radius and blinds enemies slightly outside the radius of petrification. Once again, it maintains mobility, and keeps the ability useful. However it does run the risk of overshadowing other abilites in this form, and once again just proving to be a knockoff.

Ability Four: Rumblers: An interesting and cool, whose effectiveness is questionable (at least to me). I call it a wrong execution of the right idea. So how to improve their effectiveness? I say instead of putting the rumblers on a timer, have them be toggle-summoned at the cost of “reserved” energy based on a predetermined percentage of the total energy available (similar to how Path of Exile reserves mana for some abilities, if that makes sense). It gives the rumblers a chance to last for useful amounts of time, while also providing a penalty that doesn’t mimic the summoning abilities of other Warframes like Khora.

Aesthetic suggestions: Molten cracks like before with the other two, perhaps have a fire aura that flares up from the rumblers as they take on more damage that reaches a minor radius for aesthetic/strategic purposes (color based on energy, of course).

Synergy Suggestions: Landslide + Tectonics: Have the tectonic targetable by Landslide punches, and for every punch that goes towards the rockwall, have a smaller rolling boulder shoot down the direction where the punch is aimed.

Petrify + Rumblers: When petrify is used (regardless of suggestion), have the rumblers also use petrify within their own radiuses to expand the range and effects of the ability (perhaps at a cost to effectiveness, maybe have their versions be weaker or not as long lasting).

Landslide + Rumblers: Have the rumblers also be targetable by landslide. When hit, the rumbler in question becomes fused to Atlas (I noticed Atlas has the rumbler cover his body during casting, perhaps base the aesthetic on that?), and increases his armor and attack power in the process (to be deactivated when the “rumbler armor” wears off (perhaps it can wear off with each attack given and taken by Atlas). When the armor wears off, the rumbler collapses while the unused rumbler remains active, to be used for a backup “skin” if the player wishes (this can play into the rumblers augment, which can increase the effectiveness of the ability itself and the synergized variant here.