The Warframe's First Ability.

[Zap15]

I've seen most of talk about each Warframe's abilities, but I haven't seen as much on the first abilities of the Warframes. I feel that the first abilities are just as important to the Warframe.

 

I'd like to know everyone's thoughts specifically on the first abilities of each of the Warframes. How do you guys feel about the first abilities of the Warframes so far? Is it useful? Do you use it all the time? Is it lacking? Should it be improved?

 

I'm just curious to read others first hand experiences.

[HellEnforcer]

 Mag -> Pull -> used to annoy enemies and move them around. Sometimes used just for the brief stun. Lots of fun with it... I wish we could make some sort of grab instead of just a pull... I would be throwing them all over the place, or hold it in front of me as a shield   :D

 

 Nyx -> Mind Control -> Used only if I want a distraction or a tank at some place.

 

 Banshee -> Sonic Boom -> Not equipped. Using the mod points for other stuff.

 

 Ember -> Fireball -> Not equipped. Completely useless. I use the ulti instead. Longer, more damaging, more area, can move while being used, and does the same thing. For 4 times Fireball's cost, the ulti does the same thing but much, much better, worth the trade.

 

 Nova -> Null Star -> Damaging, efficient, permanent, a pain to use if you want a specific kill using certain weapon or want the star to shoot to an specific enemy due to its stun. I use it mostly when I am full energy and I see energy orbs around... which is quite often.

 

 Saryn -> Venom -> Not equipped. Barely used it. Seems to be rather problematic in every sense. I use the ulti instead.

 

 Excalibur -> Slash Dash -> Highly damaging. Highly efficient. Many enemies? Find a location where they get into a line and spam it. 2-3 times and they are all dead.

 

 Loki -> Decoy -> Mostly used to break maps... Yes, I like to break maps... As a distraction is really good at low levels, later on it last less than a couple of seconds.

 

Haven't tested nor used any other WarFrame yet, can't tell what i feel about them. I have seen others using them and such, but I don't have a "fist hand experience" with them.

[alchemistjkt]

Banshee -> Sonic Boom -> Not equipped. Using the mod points for other stuff.

 

 Saryn -> Venom -> Not equipped. Barely used it. Seems to be rather problematic in every sense. I use the ulti instead.

Wat?

you dont do much endless defense do you?

[metroidman12311]

some are useless like ember's fire and volt's electricity, while others are useful like frost's freeze and loki's decoy. it would be nice if some of them got reworked but I think that's what DE is dong right now with the warframe buffs recently.

 

P.S ember is being looked at right now so her abilities might be reworked like rhino's

[HellEnforcer]

Wat?

you dont do much endless defense do you?

 

 To be honest, no I don't. I don't like to do endlessly endless defense mission where the difficulty is on not how good you are, but how well can you draw the fire away from the frozen dude. Frost is a must on Grineer and Corpus defense. Vauban or Nyx might be able to hold them for a while if they are good too. There is no variation to the game whatsoever on that mode.

 

 I would play it a lot more if something happened that made the experience different. Like from time to time 2 different factions attack at the same time. They both target the frozen dude while also killing each other. Or from time to time some random hazard happens that forces the player to stay awake, like a meteor shower, a small toxic cloud wandering around, enemy artillery strike from time to time, make the terrain to change like once in a while drop a wall somewhere, move the pod with a crane, break a wall where enemies can come in, break down a bridge. I don't know, SOMETHING. It is always "Hey, sit here. Wait for them to come. Do not let them attack the pod / artifact / power drill. Use Snow Globe / Chaos / Bastille. Wipe them out before they destroy it... Yay, round complete. Repeat again 15+ times..."

Edited August 9, 2013 by HellEnforcer

[Zareek]

Volt's first ability is pretty good. It's not insane damage but it chains. My Ash also use shuriken now and then, it's also spamable.

Edited August 9, 2013 by Zareek

[Archwizard]

Gonna list 'em in the order I got my frames:

 

Mag - Pull: Pretty friggin' sweet, easily one of the best first abilities in the game. Strong CC, good range, sets up for ultimates, all for the low cost of 25 energy which you're gonna Streamline and Flow into oblivion by the time you realize the power you possess.

 

Frost - Freeze: I use it for the occasional heavy unit or boss, though the bosses don't stay frozen more than a second or two. For everyone else I prefer his 2.

 

Ember - Fireball: Kinda needs some work, to be honest. You get the impression from the description that you hurl it, a massive explosion occurs and then a flaming crater is left behind where your opponent was standing... but it's more like a grenade, minus the explosion. It tends to clip in the air a few inches in front of your target and really only does damage while someone stands in it; might be useful thrown at the ground, but that defeats the purpose of "massive damage on hit"... and it's kind of a tiny sphere, so you'd need to throw more than one even in a narrow doorway for that to work for even a second. Useful if an Ancient gets stuck on a box or in a stairwell on Defenses, but otherwise not unless they're rooted for a good long time. And of course, fire damage is rather weak against non-Infested.

 

Volt - Shock: I don't speak for everyone, but personally I actually think was one of Volt's most improved abilities during 8.3. Good bit of early-level AoE, decent range and a fairly strong amount of damage versus Corpus for its low cost- though sadly, not very high damage elsewhere. Still, got a little 2-sec CC on the side, so that's not bad.

 

Nova - Null Star: It's a good ability, but due to its nature as a self-buff I often completely forget to cast it unless my challenge reminds me to. The staggers it provides are about the closest thing Nova has to a survival skill, but it pulls double-duty as strong damage versus mooks. Sets off Nova's ultimate when you're pressed for time. Only grievance is that it stops your run if you're on the ground while casting it, but that's more of a pet peeve than an actual design flaw.

 

Trinity - Well of Life: Eh. Single-target debuff, so when you try taking advantage of its low cost your target's probably gonna die a good bit before you get any use out of it. Most people just use Trinity's 3 and 4 instead because of this.

 

Vauban - Tesla: This one's actually kinda fun on Defenses when you pick up the extra energy to spam it. Pair about a dozen of these off with his 3 to make your own private torture chamber for a round. Pretty good range, too, since you can throw it. It's basically everything Fireball wishes it could be, in electrical form.

Edited August 9, 2013 by Archwizard

[merryfistmas]

Out of all the frames I have:

 

Pull: great ability, nothing else to say

 

Shock: meh, not that useful although at least it's damage is consistent and doesn't get you killed like overload. It's really not as bad as everyone says it is but at the very least it should one shot ospreys up to ~70

 

Fireball: worst Ability imo, no practical use. Just needs a AOE explosion/CC, a monstrous damage buff, armor melt, SOMETHING.

 

Venom: It's incredible damage to power ratio is made pretty much obsolete by the 4 button

 

Tesla ball: situational but still a good overall ability, no complaints

Edited August 9, 2013 by merryfistmas

[Phoenix86]

Considering i own all frames my toughts on first abilities are:

 

Ash's Shuriken: a nice high dmg skill with auto tracking 6/10

 

Banshee's Sonic Boom: spammable aoe CC 7/10

 

Ember's Fireball: useless single target dmg with small aoe 3/10

 

Excalibur's Slash Dash: probably still the best #1 in game 9/10

 

Frost's Freeze: single target CC, only useful against shielded enemies... situational 5/10

 

Loki's Decoy: invaluable if used good, a bit too squishy in higher contents 8/10

 

Mag's Pull: reverse of Sonic Boom, spammable aoe CC 7/10

 

Nova's Null Star: nice dmg but becomes useless kinda quickly 6/10

 

Nyx's Mind Control: take the bigger foe and turn into your best friend 8/10

 

Rhino's Charge: basically a crappier Slash Dash 6/10

 

Saryn's Venom: situational 7/10

 

Trinity's Well of Life: simply useless 3/10

 

Vauban's Tesla: nice dmg, long duration, a useful tool 7/10

 

Volt's Shock: improved in last update, now 6/10

[Tarudizer]

Guess I'll leave some imput here as well. It must be said, I don't do endless defense, and I play mostly by myself, occasionally with a couple friends. I have quite a few hours in this game, now and before I reset my account for silly purchases.

 

Ash (Shuriken) : It's pretty good, auto aim and hits two targets for high damage, though like most first skills, I only really use it when I'm full and/or standing near an energy orb.

 

Volt (Shock) : Used to be utter poo, it's gotten quite a bit better. Very fast travel time, good damage and it chains.

 

Banshee (Sound Wave) : Mostly just used for the knockback, the damage is actually not needed on this skill since it's fairly decent already, but is a nice addition.

 

Excalibur (Slash Dash) : Probably the strongest first skill in the game. It deals high damage to anyone in a straight path and functions as an escape/mobility tool as well. Makes his ult feel like it's wasting a slot, instead of the other way around.

 

Rhino (Rhino Charge) : While not as good as Slash Dash, this is still a good skill. Damage, escape and mobility rolled into one.

 

Saryn (Venom) : Very nice at low levels, but becomes semi-useless when you can just spam your ulti instead. Which is a shame, because the mechanic is pretty cool (though, the hitbox on the venom spores are a bit off). Something drastic must be done to make this good, which involves entirely reworking the way powers are used (which I think should be done, but there we are).

 

Ember (Fireball) : Decent damage, but the slow projectile speed and surprisingly tiny hitbox of the projectile itself makes it very tricky to aim. Usually better off aiming it at the ground or just..... shooting them, really. Up the projectile speed, slightly enlarge the hitbox, and make it do splash damage in an area around the target.

 

Frost (Freeze) : Low damage, but the freeze effect is quite good, especially on heavies. A way to improve it somewhat is to slow enemies near the target.

 

Trinity (Well of Life) : UTTERLY useless, unfortunately, since I sometimes like being the "healer". Taking health damage either never happens (if you play it safe and have high shields and use cover), or happens so quickly that the current effects won't help much. More things besides the skill itself needs to be tweaked here, but a way to improve it is to be able to target an ally and heal it (or yourself, if you have no target).

 

Loki (Decoy) : Best used before initiating, it takes the aggro of enemies (some might still come your way, but hey, that's when Invisibility comes in handy) and if you put it in weird places, it can last for quite a while. Gets destroyed in seconds at higher levels, though. However, it is quite nice to get to places with when teamed up with Switch Teleport.

 

Nova (Null Star) : Each orb deals good damage and staggers, which is good. However, you have to be quite close to enemies, which given her frailty, is not that good.

 

Vauban (Tesla) : Decent damage, last a long time, can be attached ANYWHERE, even to allies or your own sentinel!

 

Nyx (Mind Control) : Useless on smaller enemies, but quite good to use on heavies. They also don't give a damn when you shoot them in the face, so it's basically a free kill! You know.... minus the bullets.

 

Trinity's Well of Life: simply useless 3/10

 

Useless is a 3 out of 10? Dang.

[Phoenix86]

eheh, as you can see i've stayed in a mid range with all skills... i usually never give 10/10 nor 1/10

[Tarudizer]

eheh, as you can see i've stayed in a mid range with all skills... i usually never give 10/10 nor 1/10

 

If 3/10 is useless, 2/10 would be actually hurting yourself when casting the ability, and 1/10 would cost you and your entire team a revive!