1. Warframe companions are immortal now...sort of
One of the biggest game-changing updates to come from the Abyss of Dagath update is immortal pets and companions. The various dogs, cats, and robots of Warframe previously had to be revived to stick around, which could be bothersome for mid- or high-level players depending on companion buffs or abilities during solo missions. With this update, companions become incapacitated for 60 seconds, instead, automatically recovering after that base duration.
Companions, except for Sentinels, can still be manually revived by players when they're knocked down, and companions have a five-second period of invulnerability after being revived. There are some nuances mentioned in the patch notes, like the fact that Sentinels can still use Vacuum and Animal Instinct when incapacitated, and that Khora's Venari can still be summoned by spending energy.
Celebrate the Nights of Naberus with Abyss of Dagath, available now on all platforms!
— WARFRAME (@PlayWarframe) October 18, 2023
Deal extra damage with the faceless 54th #Warframe, enjoy numerous QoL improvements, and hone your Fashion Frame with new Customizations from the in-game Market: https://t.co/t98uIkXXZg pic.twitter.com/O6DZIY78FC
Are you a techie who knows how to write? Then join our Team! Wanted:
- News Writer (Romania based)
Details here
2. Dagath launches as a faceless nightmare
Of course, as with most big updates, Abyss of Dagath brings with it a new Warframe. The titular Dagath joins the game as a haunting faceless Warframe to be farmed in the Abyssal Zone. Dagath's blueprints are found in the new Dojo room called Dagath's Hollow, where players will be regaled by a tale from the headless horseman-themed Warframe's grandmother.
As 2023's Halloween Warframe, Dagath's ultimate ability, Rakhali's Cavalry, sees her summon phantom Kaithes — the equine creatures introduced in the Devuri — to charge ahead into battle. Wyrd Scythes surrounds Dagath with spinning scythes that seek out nearby enemies, while Doom condemns nearby enemies, inflicting viral damage and a stagger effect. Her third ability, Grave Spirit, grants Dagath with up to 50% additional critical damage, and allows her to escape the next fatal blow.
3. Changes to Warframe stats and shields
For Abyss of Dagath, Digital Extremes has reworked the base and final stats for Warframes, as well as the behaviour of shields. As with any RPG with a modding system, there is more nuance and intricacy in the patch notes, but the bottom line is that Warframe's shields now offer twice the damage resistance to different damage types — 50% damage resistance instead of 25%.
The shield gating mechanic, which grants players a small window of invulnerability, also now scales from 0.33 seconds to 2.5 seconds, depending on the amount of shields a player has. Previously, players were invulnerable for 1.3 seconds, regardless of the shield stat.
Apart from that, mods no longer change the stat based on a Warframe's base stat at level 0. Instead, mods now change stats based on what the stat is at the Warframe's current level. This means that Warframe base stats and stat mods, like Vitality, Steel Fiber, and Redirection, have all been adjusted to balance the changes. The goal of these stat changes was reportedly to make modding easier to understand and a little more scaleable while levelling up a Warframe.
Buy a Logitech Logitech G PRO X Superlight 2 Lightspeed Wireless Gaming Mouse on Amazon.
4. UI and Accessibility updates correct clutter
To make enemies stand out against their chaotic backgrounds slightly more, the Abyss of Dagath update adds customisable enemy and ally highlights to the accessibility options. It's also now possible to view buffs and debuffs in the pause screen. This is bound to be helpful to new and returning players that may not be familiar with the small icons that often crowd the top right corner of the display.
Based on user feedback, Digital Extremes has also added auto-melee functionality to Warframe. Instead of having to mash E to execute repeated melee strikes, the melee button only needs to be pressed and held until the enemy standing before you is no longer standing.
Digital Extremes also mentioned that it is not done refining the melee system, and that more changes are coming. The developer specifically mentions that heavy attacks and combos are being revisited in an effort to make melee gameplay more engaging than just holding down a button and hoping for the best.