So Devstream 53 had a bit to apologise for after the last stream, which was a little lack luster frankly, but this time DE have packed a double barrelled punch with this one, cramming in a ton of new content. Here's our take on the highlights.
Excalibuff
As a fan of Excalibur (my beloved first frame and always in my heart) this is something I've been waiting for for a long time. Excal was always a middle of the road frame but now it seems he is going to be given rebirth as a true swordsman.
Super Jump is no more and Radial Javelin has been downgraded to the number three slot to make way for an impossibly cool looking fourth power.
When activated, Excal will now draw a sword of pure energy for a set duration ( affected by duration mods). This sword has its own unique stance and each swing produces a ranged power wave that is similar to the Archwing Fluctus weapon. These waves seem to do high slash damage, cutting in half any lower level enemy in a single blow. As if this is not enough, slide attacks while this power is in play will trigger a small radial blind effect for that extra multiplier against stunned enemies.
Additionally, slash dash and radial blind have been given a makeover. Radial Blind can now be triggered whilst on the move and slash dash now ricochets Excal between any targets in its cone of travel, slashing at each in turn. The loss of super jump has been accounted for by adding the ability to slash dash in multiple directions propelling you into the air should you so wish.
This looks awesome and I cannot personally wait to dig out my old Excal for some truly ninja style swordplay.
Sharkwing
It's been talked about for a while now , but now we get a true glimpse of what's in store. In what may or may not have been an orchestrated surprise reveal, during the Excalibuff demonstration, a accidental (?) landing in a pool of water showed the Archwing appear as if by magic and fuse to the back of Excal. Lo and behold, we were suddenly witness to to a seamless transition into underwater Archwing gameplay.
In all honesty, it looked OK, the transition was smooth and the Archwing animation was good. I personally would have liked to see a few more bubbles and surrounding animation to show the difference between space and water versions (currently it was hard to see the difference between Archwing and Sharkwing past the intial plunge) but it's a work in progress so in conclusion a big thumbs up, especially since this paves the way for a On Foot to Space combat transition, It may be too much to hope for but I long for the day I can bug out of a crowd of enemies by going vertically supersonic.
Catbrow
So let's talk about the feline elephant in the room. Catbrows got a mixed reception, and yes It is what it sounds like. A new species of companion is being worked on which is significantly more feline in nature than a Tenno's current best friend. The Catbrow (better name pending and probably going to be ignored now) is a feline/reptilian cross that is entering the fray.
As with Kubrows there will be both Feral and Grineer versions to tussle with too. Not everyone is jumping up and down for this though it would seem (I guess some people just don't like cats), most complaints tend to stem from the concept that there are far more important things that DE could be dedicating time to right now (*coughsolarrailscough*)...
Other Stuff
Massive performance improvements
Raids have finally come to PS4 along with the Nightmare mode
Parkour 2.0 progresses with wall jumps and off-enemy mobility
Trading improvements with Sets being shown together better
Dark Sword/Dagger and Burston remodel
Full body Lotus model in development
Pre-Corpus Valkyr Skin in the works
Overall, a pretty amazing Livestream and some pretty amazing things to come, well done DE.
Carry on Tenno!
TomVandersteen