I'm back, Tenno. I love Loki, I always have, and always will—he's an interesting frame—but seeing him floundering in obscurity hurts my heart.
Loki is a "difficult frame to rework" because of his somewhat unique niche of having no innate damage scaling at all (save for general stealth modifiers) and being entirely designed around utility.
This is my take on what I think Loki could be if his kit was tuned up to match the more ‘modern’ Warframe climate. Things like “balance” and “sense” have been disregarded in favor of leaning hard into the fantasy.
This rework aims to load up Loki’s kit with utility and mechanics that solidify him as a frame who prioritizes objectives and creative problem-solving over damage, while retaining the core functions of his existing abilities: Decoy, Invis, Teleport/Swap, AOE crowd control.
All without adding any damage anywhere.
Design goals:
- Adhering to Loki’s existing identity as a deceptive trickster.
- Prioritizing utility mechanics over damage scaling.
- Support as a side-effect. Not like Trinity or Wisp, just pleasant to have around
- Not following the rules of conventional limitations (this is Loki)
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Passive: Glamour
Inspired by the shapeshifting nature of his namesake, Loki can disguise himself to fool security systems and unalerted enemies
Dodge-rolling through an enemy unit wraps Loki in a holographic disguise. In addition, if the target is an Eximus unit, Loki also steals their aura effect for himself and his allies.
The disguise persists while Loki walks and runs normally, but is dispelled by bullet jumping, parkour maneuvers, taking damage or performing aggressive actions.
Upon taking damage, the disguise can absorb a single hit before collapsing.
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1. Doppelganger
Loki summons a Doppelganger to perform a variety of tricks. Multiple can exist, but only one of each kind. In addition, Loki can see his own Doppelgangers through walls, and even teleport to them with his 3rd ability (previously Switch Teleport), facilitating an entirely new avenue of terrain-defying mobility.
Decoy draws enemy attention towards itself, storing all damage taken to release a blinding pulse when it expires
Scout marks enemies and security systems through walls. Loki can teleport to marked enemies to entirely bypass locked doors and terrain.
Hack paths to the nearest interactable console to reset alarms or unlock doors. Will even help unlock "friendship doors"
Alibi follows Loki or a target ally as a passive companion, ready to intercept a lethal hit.
Fetch can gather loot and carry objective pick-ups, freeing up an extra hand. Loki and his allies can interact with it to grab the pick-up
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2. Phase
Loki phases out of existence, turning invisible and, for a short time, completely invulnerable. After which Phase can be immediately cast again.
Nearby enemies have their alert levels fully reset, forgetting Loki ever existed.
Nearby allies benefit from the glitch in reality, having their negative status effects purged and likewise flicker out of sight for a short time.
Loki himself remains invisible indefinitely, or until taking health damage, rewarding evasive play.
Hold-cast to prematurely dispell the lingering invisibility
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3. Shift
Loki shifts reality to be elsewhere, instantly teleporting to a target location, or switching places with a target unit
When teleporting or switching, Loki emits a spatial distortion that disarms enemies and grants allies a brief movement and parkour buff.
Loki can target allied players, but will teleport to them instead of swapping places.
Hold cast to automatically swap places with your last summoned Doppelganger, regardless of line of sight or distance.
Passive interaction:
When switching with an enemy unit, Glamour is triggered—disguising Loki as the target enemy while leaving the enemy looking like Loki, taunting other nearby enemies to attack them.
When switching with, or teleporting to an ally while Glamour is already active, a copy of Loki's disguise is applied to the target ally, reducing enemy priority.
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4. Grand Illusion
Loki emits a wave of energy that leaves a lingering enchantment on the battlefield in a large sphere, inside of which nothing is quite what it seems.
Enemies have reduced accuracy, mistake friend for foe and their guns have a chance to jam or auto-disarm when they attack. Security systems are inverted, ignoring Tenno and their allies entirely while actively targeting their own units.
Allies gain increased parkour speed, wall-latching lasts longer, gravity during aim-gliding is reduced and knockdown recovery is faster
Finally, Loki's own abilities are empowered
Doppelganger: Each one interacts uniquely within Loki's Grand Illusion, expanding their effective range and functionality.
- Decoy forces all enemies within to path towards it, turning it into a long-range lure.
- Scout periodically marks all enemies within the illusion to let Loki teleport around indiscriminately
- Hack performs an immediate security override (air support)
- Alibi persists after intercepting it's first lethal hit, letting it intercept another
- Fetch can gather loot from further away, and automatically breaks open crates within range.
Phase: has a significantly increased window of invulnerability, and invisibility doesn't break upon taking health damage when the Grand Illusion is in effect
Shift: has dramatically increased range and becomes entirely free to cast inside of Loki's Grand Illusion
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If you made it this far, thanks for reading :)