I’m going to be honest, it’s not easy being a Warframe veteran at this point. I’ve been playing this Cinderella story for the last 6 years. And any time I think they can’t top this or polish these mechanics more, Digital Extremes makes me question myself again.
Warframe has had time-limited mission alerts for as long as I can remember. And these alerts offer anything from large pools of In-game credit rewards to exclusive cosmetic items and rare resources. But Warframe players have complained about these alerts as they’re limited to time. Not everyone is as jobless as me to sit around 24 hours to get that one alert that gives one Nitain Extract. And since DE cares for all of their players, they went back to the drawing board.
Fast forward it to 2019 and the first Devstream of the year is taking place on 18th January is going on. Steve Sinclair, the creative director takes center stage to unveil DE’s roadmap for 2019 on a whiteboard. The roadmap is pretty simple, filled with projects from earlier years and quality of life changes. And in the midst of all, Steve finally talks about the much-awaited rework of Alerts.
Titled Wolf of Saturn, it was supposed to breathe new life into the old alert systems. However, true to DE fashion there were no solid release dates. And true to the typical Warframe player fashion, we just assumed it was “soon”.
Ride the nightwave:
As per my usual routine, I was checking the forums and on 22nd of February, DE published an article on the much-debated Nightwave. The article expanded upon how the old alert system is filled with pros and cons. And also upon how Nightwave will attempt to curb it in a much simpler manner.
The old alert system is really beneficial for the newer players, allowing them to rack up a lot of credits quickly. It was also the only gameplay method to acquire certain cosmetics and also some resources. Coupled with the fact that they were time-limited and offered no narrative tidbit, older players were obviously pissed with it.
Out came Nightwave which tried to solve all the issues by taking the time out of the question. Well almost entirely. Instead of fighting against time, in Nightwave you fight against challenges. The first Nightwave will focus on a rouge prison escapee, The Wolf of the Saturn Six. Defeat his cronies, complete daily and weekly challenges and you can earn standings to further your standing with the faction.
As your standing levels increase, you gain reputation levels. These level increments can either grant you additional weapon or warframe slots, an Umbra forma, new customization elements and most importantly Wolf Creds.
Revamped lifespan:
Remember when I was talking about cosmetic rewards of the older alerts? This is where they now belong. As you gain Wolf creds, you can buy the rewards from the vendor Nora Night. She has almost all the stuff from the old alert pool. No more pay to win, no more sitting by the computer waiting for that perfect alert to pop up. It’s all there on a rotation so hold your breath, complete your missions and objective and you’ll be set. By the way, if you reach max level during a Nightwave, you can prestige the progression and continue earning Wolf Creds by leveling up again.
Speaking of Nora Night, she’s the cryptic radio station manager of the Nightwave. She directs the players during the Nightwave missions, provides narrative context and congratulates you on your progress. Nightwaves are divided into seasons with each season going on for about 10 weeks. Each week brings a rotation in the challenges and the rewards (hopefully). There are also talks of expansions in the future and with Tennocon on the horizon, we can always be ready for surprises.
The biggest surprise in this season is the fact that the Wolf of Saturn Six, isn’t actually a placeholder enemy. He can actually spawn into the in-game missions just like the Stalker and other field bosses. The Wolf is a formidable opponent and upon death, he has a chance to drop his signature weapon, The Wolf Sledge. Talks are already going on to increase the spawn rate of the Wolf as the event progresses so players can get the Wolf Hammer easily.
The future:
It’s been 4 days since the launch of Nightwave. And the devs have already started talking about the next Mainline update which is coming next week. Imagine this, the fabled Kingpin system in combination with the Nightwave mode. I hope the devs are listening. But until they do, I’ll be following the content plan for Warframe 2019. And rest assured, you’ll get to know it in detail from me. P.S: I can’t wait for the new Plains of Eidolon remaster. You can see more of that here.
And as for the rest of the roadmap, we’ll cover it as soon as we get all the tidbits in place.
