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Hail Tenno!
Today we’ve got a double shot of Warframe rework goodness. You may want to make a snack; we’re gonna be here awhile.
The subjects of today’s Workshop are two of our oldest frames, and as such, many of our players are very invested in their continued viability. We have listened at length to your feedback, and hope to have struck a balance between adding new features and facelifting old favorites. That being said, everything presented here is subject to further change before release.
You've all waited long enough - let’s begin!
First up...
The greatest tacticians make use of all tools at their disposal, to achieve something greater than the sum of its parts.
This is the fantasy we aimed to deliver with VAUBAN, our engineer-themed Warframe. Over six years have passed since his release back in 2013, and although his crowd-controlling abilities were valuable to mitigate damage in high level missions, the state of our ever-changing game rendered his tools less useful over time. Improvements that came with his Prime variant in 2016 gave Vauban more tools to choose from, but after observing how our players chose to utilize his powers, it became apparent that his abilities were still too one-dimensional.
When revisiting Vauban, we aimed to retain his status as a crowd control powerhouse, while increasing his mobility and lethality to keep up with 2019 Warframe’s lightning-quick pace.
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TESLA DRONES (replacing Tesla Grenades)
Instead of sticking to surfaces, these new Tesla Drones will roll around, following the player. Once an enemy comes within range, these Drones will latch on and emit a shock that stuns the target and nearby enemies. Each Drone has a limited number of shock charges before it must be replaced. Hold cast to summon multiple Tesla Drones at once!
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MINELAYER
All four of his mines have been replaced with new options:
-”Sticky Ripline” pulls a number of nearby enemies to wherever it sticks, rendering them immobile.
-”Nail Grenade” fires high velocity nails in all directions, inflicting puncture damage to any unlucky enough to be nearby.
-”Boost Pad” lays down a walk pad, granting a boost of speed in a chosen direction (indicated by arrows).
-”Damage Amp” will latch onto a nearby ally, enhancing their damage output for a period of time.
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ORBITAL STRIKE (Bastille moved to #4)
A deployable beacon marks a location on the map. After a short countdown, the area is struck by a massive orbital laser explosion (and yes, it does work indoors).
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BASTILLE (combined with Vortex)
Vauban’s two marquee powers have been combined into a new and devastating ultimate ability!
When deployed, a Bastille will capture nearby enemies, stripping enemies of their armor over time. Players standing within a Bastille’s radius will gain a temporary armor increase, building up over time based on how much armor is currently being stripped from enemies.
When a Bastille’s duration expires, it collapses into a brief Vortex at the center of the cast for easy group kills. Want the Vortex to appear sooner, or last longer? Holding the cast key will collapse all active Bastilles early!
Overall, many of Vauban’s powers have been streamlined or replaced, making his tools less redundant, and much more versatile for keeping up with the pace of an average Warframe mission.
Next....
While Vauban is at his strongest while controlling the battlefield, today’s other frame thrives on widespread panic and chaos. EMBER, our fire-based caster Warframe, has seen her usage stats cool off over the years - so it’s time to turn up the heat!
Although their kits are very different, our goals for this rework were similar: increase the options available to Ember players in moment-to-moment combat, offering more synergies for flexible gameplay, instead of encouraging one-dimensional specialization.
New Passive: All enemies within a certain range that are on fire will grant Ember added ability strength (up to a cap).
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FIREBALL
Works fundamentally the same as it does now - tap for quick fire, hold to charge for greater impact. Enemies already inflicted by any heat status effect will now take additional damage.
The damage output and charge speed also scale off of one of Ember’s newest abilities...
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IMMOLATION (replacing Accelerant)
Time for a history lesson! Prior to Update 11.5, Ember’s second ability used to be “Overheat”, offering an aura of heat damage which also protected her from enemy fire. Almost SIX years later, it’s time for this ring of fire to come full circle.
When cast, Ember Immolates herself with protective fire armor. Her current level of self-Immolation is indicated by a unique UI indicator; the higher the heat, the more damage resistance, and the more effective Ember’s other abilities become.
Empty -> Full
The Immolation meter will build slowly at first - killing enemies and casting Ember’s Fireball (or her new ultimate ability) causes the meter to build faster. But be warned! If the meter reaches 100%, Ember will “overheat”, unleashing a wave of flame expending ALL energy. To prevent this from happening, use Fire Blast to expel a portion of your heat meter, or toggle Immolation off to reset meter build.
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FIRE BLAST
Like Fireball, this ability remained the same function-wise, with a few usability buffs: Casting time has been greatly reduced, and the ability now strips armor from nearby enemies, scaling in effectiveness based on current Immolation levels.
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INFERNO (replacing World On Fire)
Upon casting Inferno, all enemies currently within sight are struck by a fiery comet, lighting each target ablaze in a personal ring of fire.
If an enemy ignited by Inferno comes in contact with another unit, the fire will spread, igniting them as well with a fresh ability duration. Damage of the heat AoE scales with current Immolation meter level.
With these changes, players will take a more active role in “bringing the heat” to all that stand in their way, with added protection that encapsulates Ember’s volatile nature.
To reiterate, we will be listening closely to feedback, and will remain open to changes both before and after release.
Thanks for reading, everyone!