Devstream 114

Devstream #114 aired on August 3, 2018 @ 2pm ET

This week’s Devstream had a lot of gameplay footage of our new Melee 3.0 system, our Gas City remastered tileset and more, so we really recommend watching the full livestream to get the full effect. If you don’t have time (or headphones) to do so – worry not! We’ve compiled our TL;DW version for you below.



Housekeeping

 * Don’t miss the two Gift of the Lotus Alerts that are live for 24 hours after this stream!
 * You can expect the re-run of the Sacrifice Twitch Drops campaign for consoles next week! Full details can be found in this forum thread.
 * The Acolytes are returning next week (August 7) on all platforms!

Melee 3.0
We’ve spoken about our plans for a Melee rework in past Devstreams, but we’ve come prepared for the show portion of ‘show and tell’ this round! The melee system is incredibly complex, so we’ll break down different components for you.

To help set expectations, we showcased this new system despite it being only half-way polished. There’s still much to do, but we are confident that we have the core elements down-pat.

Basic Overview and Goals

 * Like with the Secondary and Primary weapons earlier this year, all Melee weapons will be given a balance pass. The delay is a result of our plans to rework the melee system, which needs to be done first!
 * Stance combos have been unified to require less memorization across all mods. Once you get a feel for the system, you should be able to apply it consistently across all weapons.
 * Channelling button has been replaced with a heavy attack button now, which is charged using the combo counter. Energy will no longer be consumed by channeling!
 * The changes will change up the melee Meta, but it also comes with a radical buff to range and damage.
 * Your expected ground and spin attacks are still executable – worry not!

Stances and Combos
Your attacks will vary depending on your movement state:
 * Standing still
 * Movement input
 * Starting from block

Here is it in action using the stance:

All blocking goes towards combo counter as well!

Other Changes of Note
All mods and game mechanics that deal with channelling will be repurposed. Except a Dev Workshop with more info as we get closer to release. We are looking into changes in certain mobility actions when melee is equipped (not just quick melee). Ex: Bullet jumping will now cause damage; rolling will be tighter to help keep you in close-combat (instead of rolling you away from your enemy). A ton of cleanup is done to the stances themselves – swings that look like they don’t hit, etc.

Dual Wield
This functionality already exists at some level in the current build of Warframe, but in the future you’ll be able to dual-wield any single-handed secondary weapon and melee weapon for some added flair:

"New Channelling" (still very WIP)
We're toying with the idea of building up your channelling energy for an ultimate melee mode. All we have is animations, we’re looking to play with this system more before we can offer more details:

Equip animations:

Gas City Remaster
We’re looking to remaster the Gas City tileset to help bring it to the same standard of newer tilesets. Part of this is a visual update, with some lore sprinkled in match the current progression of Warframe’s story.

Since this tile predates Parkour 2.0, it didn’t make use of the cool movement systems that make Warframe so fun. So, we’ve changed quite a few aspects of this tile to encourage more mobility play. Here’s some clips showing various tiles of this remaster (still very much a work in progress):

In this, we’ve also repurposed the “Use [button] to use zipline” function for similar environment elements to make them easier to land on.

Revenant
We’ve shown the Revenant Warframe in quite a few Devstreams now, but here’s an update on his abilities following more playtesting and community feedback:

Third Ability: Moves much more quickly, and can be cancelled – feels much more like an escape move! Health and shields are stolen from enemies you pass through, with a bonus from your enthralled foes.

Fourth Ability: Killing enthralled enemies with this abilities will cause them to drop pickups that give overshields. Can be combined with his third ability for the ultimate spin to win.

Dojos
The talent and creativity that our community has shown with their Dojos deserves so much praise – as a result, we’re looking into a Featured Dojos mode to help shine a spotlight on the truly stellar work done by our Tenno. One Clan of each tier will be featured in the Star Chart for others to marvel at. The contest criteria and rotation (weekly/monthly/etc.) of these Dojos is still being decided, but it’s something our Ikea-frame community can look forward to in the future!

Additionally, we are looking to add a new Decoration set to the Dojos, with a nature theme! Items include:
 * Icicles
 * Grass
 * Rocks (from a variety of tilesets)
 * Trees and foliage
 * And more!

Vauban Changes
There has been a lot of feedback and suggestions given to us about Vauban’s kit, and we are looking to make some tweaks. Here are our current plans:
 * Now you can charge your Tesla to increase your damage and proc chance.
 * We’re looking at the rest of his kit but have nothing else to share at this time.
 * If you have a lead on the bugs, please send them to us! We’re having issues reproducing it.

Nyx Changes
We are looking at making some requests to Nyx following community feedback:
 * Potentially will be getting rid of Psychic Bolts and replacing it with Chaos.
 * Looking at making a new debuff ability for her 3.
 * Keeping her 4 as-is but with new math!
 * If you have suggestions, post them on the forums!

Orb Vallis – Kubrodons!
Here’s a look at more wildlife to expect with the coming Venus Landscape. These little (and big) guys will be part of the conservation system introduced with the Solaris United. No word on scale, currently.

The cub!

Restoratives Refresh
Your Energy/Ammo/Health/Shield restores will be getting a refresh to visually indicate what they restore! Now you will no longer have to guess what flavour of pizza your fellow Tenno dropped.

Other Tidbits

 * Looking to replace wall-hopping with wall-running, still working on the animations. It was originally changed to wall-hopping to help remedy issues with wall-running over small bumps. We’re hoping to iron that out and bring back the coolness of
 * Titania’s Razorwing will no longer take collision damage.
 * We’re reworking our anti-aliasing system for a crisper Warframe experience!

Source: Devstream #114 Overview -

"Who: Rebecca, Scott, Steve, and Geoff!

What: Sharpen your steel, Tenno. We’re going to be playing with our work-in-progress Melee system changes on this Devstream! Trying out combos, slaughtering some Grineer, tune in to see how our Melee 3.0 changes are coming along! We’ll also be providing developer commentary and insight into the changes. We’ll also be looking at some unreleased content, including more work on ‘Revenant’ and Warframe: Fortuna!

Prizes? Oh yes, Platinum and Prime Access awaits lucky Twitch viewers!

Where: live at https://twitch.tv/Warframe (among other places)!

When: Friday, August 3rd at 2 p.m ET!"

Source: Coming Soon: Devstream #114!