Operator Weapons Reborn (Spectral Melee)

[MrTitan123]

Here I begin with a disclaimer. I by no means intend to make people angry/salty with this thread. This thread is purely just throwing out a concept and seeing if people will like it. No, this is not a complete idea and not all topics are covered, so don’t be that guy who nitpicks absolutely everything. Last, convey your criticism, feedback, and your own ideas for the subject in a calm and collected manner. If you b!tch and whine, I will laugh mercilessly at you. Also I don’t account for waybound unlocks in this. Alright, let’s go.

 

Back when the plains were first announced, and I mean FIRST announced, like...back before the previews and trailers, weapons for the operators were hinted at. I was so friggin excited! Finally my Operator isn’t a useless plot device! Or so I thought. When the plains actually came out, we were given amps. That’s what disappointed me. When zaws were shown, I was thinking our Operator would be able to wield smaller ones like daggers, swords, and machetes (Blech). If you’ve made a custom amp, you know how tedious as hell that is. None of us want to go through that again. (Except me apparently, because I’ve crafted three amps already.)

Focus 2.0 brought along some much needed changes and improvements. The major downside was the removal of the ‘Ultimate’ abilities. (Madurai’s death beam, Naramon’s mind control, Zenurik’s energy pulses, ETC.) Well, Madurai’s ult is still technically in the game. I’m not going to touch on that because a lot of you already know what I mean by that. Anyway, moving on.

I was poking around the old idea vault and pulled out a new one. SPECTRAL OPERATOR WEAPONS. 

So here’s my proposal: Depending on what focus school is currently active, your Operator can summon a spectral melee weapon comprised of pure void energy. The weapon would deal exclusively void damage with the exception of status effects that could be unlocked.

For example: Madurai would be a longsword with a small but upgradable chance to set enemies ablaze. Naramon might be a staff with a chance for radiation. Zenurik could be a rapier with a chance for a single, low power energy vampire pulse. We all know Unairu would be a hammer. Probably a chance to petrify enemies, too. This idea is to keep the theme of the elements of the focus trees, and the relative effects of the ‘Ultimate’ abilities from focus 1.0

Another idea would be stances. Since standard melee has stances, why not these? Although, stances improve mod capacity and certain combos provide different damage options. Since mods for operators aren’t a thing, I think new combos would be unlocked the more focus you put into it. 

Speaking of focus, These weapons would be separate from the rest of the focus tree. Maybe a mini tree? Weapon damage stemming to Crit Chance, status chance, and combos. 

 

This idea could bring a whole new depth to Operator combat aside from amps! We shouldn’t just channel void energy into tools exclusively for eidolon hunting, make tools for average gameplay! Besides, void damage is hindered by armor, so it’s not nearly as useful as anyone thought it would be...

Let me know your ideas and feedback! I appreciate every bit of it!

Edited March 14, 2018 by MrTitan123

[Aeon94]

Oh God , I love this idea :O

[Dark-Sheer]

Great idear! I especially like that it is different weapons with different styles suited to the theme of your focus school.

[Darkuhn]

vor 46 Minuten schrieb MrTitan123:

Zenurik could be a rapier with a chance for a single, low power energy vampire pulse.

I like the Idea, but in my opinion a Staff would be more fitting for the "Mage" Focus School.

[Aeon94]

1 minute ago, Darkuhn said:

I like the Idea, but in my opinion a Staff would be more fitting for the "Mage" Focus School.

Yea , Zenurik could use Staff tho. Its more of caster / mage based school.

Dagger / Rapier / Nikana fit more to rogue / agile aspect of Naramon.

[MrTitan123]

18 minutes ago, Darkuhn said:

I like the Idea, but in my opinion a Staff would be more fitting for the "Mage" Focus School.

I chose a rapier because of the attitude of Zenurik's operator animation set. Gave off a sophisticated or snobbish vibe. Hope that clarifies my thought process a bit.

[Kainosh]

1 час назад, MrTitan123 сказал:

Depending on what focus school is currently active, your Operator can summon a spectral melee weapon comprised of pure void energy

I would prefer Left hand Amps that modify Void Blast into a melee attack and enable stealth finishers and slam attacks.    Dont want to be limited to a single weapon type.

 

[MrTitan123]

3 minutes ago, Kainosh said:

I would prefer Left hand Amps that modify Void Blast into a melee attack and enable stealth finishers and slam attacks.    Dont want to be limited to a single weapon type.

 

I was thinking more along the lines of standard weapon switching. Just hold F to retract your amp and summon your focus weapon. Press it again to return to amp mode.

[Dylki]

That's an interesting idea, I would love an alternative form of operator combat! I'm not too sure about weapon types, but I could suggest some unique characteristics to give Tenno an incentive to use them, and also make them different from other existing weapons!

The 5 Focus schools seem to be based off of the 五行 (woo-sing) or the Five Elements Theory of Chinese philosophy! Each Focus school seems to represent one of the 5 elements:
Naramon is Wood

Madurai is Fire

Unairu is Earth

Zenurik is Metal (in the background it's shown as a crystal, though...but it's the closest I can imagine! >.<)

Vazarin is Water!

Perhaps melee weapons could have special effects and abilities centering around the nature of such elements. Here are some suggestions!
Wood symbolizes constant growth (of plants) and nonstop motion, like shoots bursting forth. Naramon already enhances the way that melee combos work, so perhaps a corresponding weapon could be based off of that! Something that encourages a continuous flurry against enemies, perhaps a melee that gets significantly stronger as it builds its combo! If I remember correctly, the Venka Primes are the only melee weapons with any modifiers to the way its combo works, the Naramon melee could be different in a sense that it doesn't only build damage faster, perhaps it could increase in critical chance, status chance and range! The range bit would be to represent growth, and literally how plants get larger as they grow. The crit and status increase is something I see as an incentive of sorts to use it, because Operators can be rather squishy without the Vazarin school, so it would be an incentive that would make the weapon more appealing, or even worth the vulnerability in the first place!

Right now I don't have any suggestions for the other schools, I'll edit my post if I come up with anything! >w<

[Kainosh]

26 минут назад, MrTitan123 сказал:

Just hold F to retract your amp and summon your focus weapon

Operator is immune to damage in "melee" mode? 

Because if not, they will die real fast.

  Operators are not suited  for direct combat.   Best melee attack for operator is a fast, single strike thing.   If you want long combos and tankiness, use a Warframe.

 

Also, 

47 минут назад, MrTitan123 сказал:

standard weapon switching

sux.   Waiting for weapon to swap...everytime you need to smack something?....Thats tedious.  

 Instant melee is best melee.

[MrTitan123]

5 minutes ago, Kainosh said:

Operator is immune to damage in "melee" mode? 

Because if not, they will die real fast.

  Operators are not suited  for direct combat.   Best melee attack for operator is a fast, single strike thing.   If you want long combos and tankiness, use a Warframe.

 

Also, 

sux.   Waiting for weapon to swap...everytime you need to smack something?....Thats tedious.  

 Instant melee is best melee.

Well, the reason I suggested having to switch to melee is because quick melee for operators isn’t a thing. Void blast is bound to quick melee, and that can’t just be discarded. Sure, there would probably be a faster switch time since there’s no sheath or holster to pull the weapon from. Think of it like Excalibur’s exalted blade. As for survivability, maybe an innate armor bonus or aura while using your melee? Idk, might work.

[RagingReaper67]

I actually strongly support this idea. It's easy to say "if you want a tank, use a Warframe", but this would just be another option for versatility, which is what Warframe is all about.

Imagine, if you will: You have a low lvl Warframe that you're trying to level up. Instead of accepting your punishment, you just unleashe your operator to fight for you. Or, maybe you are trying to play a caster/fighter hybrid. Can be tricky without health/shield/armor mods, but with a more beefy operator it's pretty simple.

 

Or maybe your running a Limbo, rift-walker build.....

[Kainosh]

6 часов назад, MrTitan123 сказал:

because quick melee for operators isn’t a thing

Void blast. Its Operator version of quick melee.    Exept its too dispersed to actually damage anything. 

6 часов назад, MrTitan123 сказал:

can’t just be discarded

Not discarded. Focused into a weapon.  Just like Void beam can be focused into grenade launcher, shotgun and such.   

 

Besides, Tenno cant control their energy good enough to create weapons.  Thats why Warframes and Amps exist.  Tenno can emit simple waves and blasts and beams...but thats it.

If you expect your Tenno to suddenly become Noctis from FFXV...thats not gonna happen.

 

[Maka.Bones]

I'd much more prefer it if the weapon types weren't tied to focus schools, and were Instead tied to amp parts. 

People who like to use their operators a lot, or have a lot of focus points invested into the different trees, usually like to switch out their focus school depending on the job. I'll use madurai for boss runs/eidolon hunts. Vazarin for trinity runs. Naramon for melee fun. Zenurik for general energy regen/conservation (and I hate staves). Unairu for dolon hunts, tanky/high hp frames, or for shenanigans.

Focus "schools" aren't hogwarts houses. And I'd rather have more of an omni-blade/psylocke dagger/soul reaver, kind of melee

 

Plus IF the focus schools did have ideal weapons, it would probably be more like this (based on the trend of their abilities & mmo media)

Madurai - Great axe, Hand-cannon, or gunblade, greatsword, warhammer. (they purely focus on devastating damage)

Unairu - Sword + shield, lance/spear/polearm, greatsword, or Warhammer . Unairu has a tank theme. (lances/spears/polearms are generally used for defensive-aggressive tactics. They are used to be able to attack, while keeping distance--or knocking people off horses/high places. Greatsword/Warhammer is because since they're tanky, they can afford to make slower swings... Also because the cc from slams, help with survival)).

Vazarin -  Staves, maces, machetes, daggers, whips --since they have the "healing/medic" theme. T(he reason staves are generally seen as healer weps, is because staves with large hooks are usually used to rescue people/animals. I said Machete, because they're used to clear a pathway in overgrown grasslands. I also mentioned daggers, because they're more precision-based tools... medics/docs sometimes need to perform surgical cuts. Whips for utility--think indiana jones meme)

Naramon - Nikanas, Swords, Daggers, Dual Daggers, rapiers... Or actually. any light melee. Because their theme is melee. I did start with classic combat + assassination themed weapons, because their school gives crit buffs +  finisher procs. But their theme is generally melee + movement themed, which seems optimal for any non-heavy melee wep. 

Zenurik -  Staves, Polearms, Whips, Warhammers, gunblades, thrown melees... essentially any melee with long range, consistent CC procs (like slam attacks) or high channeling multiplier.  Its main themes are energy regen, stuns/CCs, AoE damage, and melee channeling. (so they should actually be able to deal more *void melee* damage, or have the lowest melee cost). And the energy regen, synergizes really well with channeling cost reduction. 

 

Edited March 15, 2018 by Maka.Bones

[Maka.Bones]

17 hours ago, Kainosh said:

Operator is immune to damage in "melee" mode? 

Because if not, they will die real fast.

  Operators are not suited  for direct combat.   Best melee attack for operator is a fast, single strike thing.   If you want long combos and tankiness, use a Warframe.

Do you have the vazarin & unairu waybounds unlocked? and have you gotten a maxed set of Magus Husk + Magus Virtue? They're actually pretty tanky... Not as capable as a warframe, but still able to withstand significant amount of damage before poofing back into the robot-space-ninja-suit.

Edited March 15, 2018 by Maka.Bones

[TheGodofCruelty]

For the love of basically everything, please make this happen, this Idea looks absolutely great.

Also on the side note, when will we be able to actually make amps viable for non eidolon farming, aren't our operators supposed to be one of the most powerful beings using void energy and all? How does shabby alloy armor resist the void for example? I'm not talking about specifically buffing the amps, I'm more talking about stuff like special Amp mods and in that sense the void melee weapon mods for the weapon types suggested here, resistances, etc.

Now I'm not talking about stuff serration and split chamber on an amp, but new ones, fitting ones... more customization past the looks and fire modes, let us decide which element it gets etc.
I could imagine a few very unique stances for some of the void weapons, teleporting glaive strikes, gunblades that could shoot energy projectiles or void blasts, polearms that you could actually throw like the primary staff weapons (zeus lightning bolts come to mind).
Maybe you could even combine your operator abilities, imagine a dual dagger stance that allow you to combine void dashing into the combos (Final Fantasy XV teleport combat would be a prime example of what I got in mind for that one, minus the invincibility cause I could imagine voiding takes a lot more focus which you don't have time for when rapidly attacking) there would be so many possibilities with this system, it could be warframe all over again, the other side of the mirror so to speak.

It would finally be a full package, both sides of the medal working together as one but also able to stand on their own like light and darkness, yin and yang right now it's more like darkness... and then slightly less darkness, the balance between operator power and warframe power does not exist yet... but it could!

Also remove the damage resistances on void damage, it should not be strong OR weak against anything, it should be a neutral force that's always present, something you can adapt to but not really defend against, things that come from inside the void could still have special resistances, I don't see a problem, just don't let an awesome tool like the operator mode stay in the category one trick pony like many frames did after some nerfs happened...

Because honestly let's face it, these changes are needed or else operator mode will end up in a corner, forgotten and not missed, with all the use for it being hunting eidolons and nothing else besides being nothing more than another tool that does way less than it could and never lives up to it's full potential.

I for my part do not want that to happen since the  operator mode in my opinion was one of the most interesting things that was added in the whole time I have played.

Edited March 15, 2018 by TheGodofCruelty