Nyx: A Response to DE's Request for Suggestions

[Lloathe]

DE,

Introduction: Nyx needs a reason to use Psychic Bolts. This rework attempts to address this deficiency through the addition of a secondary resource that also enhances the rest of her kit. All numbers are for illustration purposes only. I did try to clean up some of the more obvious edge cases. 

New Passive: Psychic Pain (PP) [name WIP]
    • A stacking buff that represents the strain Nyx endures through heavy power use. 
    • It stacks up to 15 by default. No timer. Nullifer bubbles remove the buff.
    • Nyx takes 1% reduced damage and deals 1% increased damage for every stack. 
    • All abilities may choose to spend charges of Physic Pain to empower their effects. This empowerment is in addition to the baseline effect. 
    • All abilities cast this was cost zero energy.
    • A mystic energy glow builds up around Nyx as the stacks increase. Think INSERT WARFRAME ENERGY COLOR, slowly flickering flame effect. Standard Psychic stuff. A UI element showing the stacks should also be added.
Augment: Endless Pain
    • Nyx can store 200% more Psychic Pain.

Normal casts (original abilities) are a single button press while empowered casting is a press and hold for ~1 second.

Psychic Bolts
In addition to current effects:
    • Swapped to being the 1 power, energy cost reduced to 25.
    • All targets are stunned for 5(?)seconds.
    • Generate 1 Psychic Pain.
Empowered Psychic Bolts
    • Costs 2 Psychic Pain. 
    • All targets are made vulnerable to finishers and take 100% increased damage from finishers.
Augment: Pain Management
    • Psychic Bolts generates 1 additional Psychic Pain per cast and costs 30% less energy.
Note: Pacifying bolts becomes redundant. It could increase the stun duration and finisher multiplier instead.
Note2: A cheap, one-hand cast stun that builds up power for more impactful abilities. 

Mind Control (MC)
In addition to current effects:
    • Swapped to being the 2 power, energy cost increased to 50.
    • Damage taken by the mind controlled target grant Psychic Pain at a rate of 1 per 50% of the Mind Controlled target's combined maximum health and shields. 
    • Unless otherwise stated, only two PP can be gained per cast.
Empowered Mind Control
    • Costs 5 Psychic Pain. 
    • Mind control lasts forever and the target moves and attacks 50% faster. 
Augment: Mind Freak
In addition to current effects:
    • Gain 1 stack of Psychic Pain every 30 seconds the Mind Controlled target stays alive.
QOL Adjustments
    1. Quick-casting the ability directs the MC target to defend an area, guard an ally or attack specific targets. The default behavior is to guard Nyx.
    2. As recasting the ability without a target is the current method to cancel the ability, charging the ability and releasing without a target will end the ability instead.
    3. Accumulated damaged from friendlies depletes the health and shield bars as normal. However, an orange bar remains to show how much health and shields the target has for the remaining duration of Mind Control. (It would be nice to know when we have dealt enough damage to kill it so we can move on)

Chaos
    • No changes
Empowered Chaos
    • Costs 5 Psychic Pain. 
    • All effected targets take 100% increased damage from all sources. 
Augment: Chaos Sphere
    • No changes
Note: The fact that Chaos does not grant Psychic Pain charges is intentional. The augment would work with the empowered form of Chaos.

Absorb
In addition to current effects:
    • Gain Psychic Pain based on energy spent. 100% of maximum energy (before mods) gives 15 PP.
Empowered Absorb
    • Costs 5 Psychic Pain. 
    • Nyx can move at 130% speed.
    • Empowered Absorb lasts for up to 15 seconds, not affected by duration mods. 
    • Nyx suffers from Psychic Exhaustion for 30 seconds after the effect ends. Psychic Exhaustion prevents Nyx from casting Empowered Absorb. This effect cannot be removed by anymeans other than its duration. This includes nullifer bubbles, falling off the map or even death.
Augment: Pain Echo
    • Absorb explodes 3 times.
Note: Old augment could remain unchanged and only affect uncharged Absorb or be granted an additional effect for Empowered Absorb. 
Note2: 33% invulnerabilty uptime is good enough. Nyx is not supposed to be a tank. Duration mods could be made to work here, but they would need to increase the duration of the debuff. 
Note3: Abaddon's, from DOTA 2, aphotic shield is the inspiration behind the empowered effect. Not a perfect match but it works. I would be okay with a perfect match...

A few words on resource management:
    • Absorb is the most efficient for PP generation at 15 energy per PP. However, it is the most unreliable and generally slowest method. Fellow Tenno could lend a hand...
    • Psychic Bolts is the least efficient but by far the fastest way to gain PP.
    • Mind control PP gain should be considered "natural gain." 
    • The design of Absorb will reward Tenno who use the power well (I.E in a large group of enemies to draw fire).
    • Psychic bolts becomes a "builder" power. While Chaos does a better CC job, using Psychic Bolts instead allows for extremely powerful, limited use abilities for key moments. 
    • Chaos is still Chaos. Always worth the cast time and energy. 

Summary: These changes would give Psychic Bolts a reason to exist when compared to Chaos. 
    • One hand stun.
    • It builds PP to unleash empowered abilities.
    • When empowered it fills the original damage role by allowing for high damage finishers. 

Thanks for reading
 

[Malravoc]

Psychic Bolts could be a charged skill
-  While charging, nyx redirect an % of damage in area
- The damage is accumulated to the bolt
- Release: a bolt deals base damage + absorbed dmg
grofit.

Duration: + charge duration to absorb more damage over time
Strength: + base damage, multiply absorbed damage and the % of absorption
Range: + area of absorption
Efficiency - energy cost
 

[Atsia]

As good as these ideas are, seems they're moot as it looks like psychic bolts is getting the boot off her kit