I love the Companion Rework and all but...
Maxed out builds are still impossible, this was an issue before the update, now it's even worse since Primed Pack Leader was just as good Rank 1, now it's great to max it out
Hell, I'd love to put in Elemental Mods too but there just arent enough slots
Nobody needs Prime Pack Leader.
This, this build is an absolute overkill supreme in terms of high-cost low-effect mods. Shield mods on companions? Why? A single Bond mod that speeds up revives in place of Pack Leader is all you need, if you really need to have your companion right now you can just revive them like before. And considering both Fetch and Animal Instinct remain active now even while they're down, there is no reason to hurry. Damage mods are still very much irrelevant, Bite has a use if you wanna run the one crit damage bond mod on cats to boost your weapons but that's about it.
I dont know man, it's pretty good to heal my companion, but I must be the only person on the planet playing a not-healer Warframe to be the only one that needs it.
That's the point - by the way. Is that you cannot MAX the builds on everything you have. You have to pick and choose what you can leave behind. It makes the decision making process more difficult and requires more thought.
While that is the intended mechanic for Mod Drain, the record about this situation being a broader issue shows that is not really used for that.
When Galvanized Mods were released, their drain was reduced from the original iteration just so they could actually fit in builds, despite them being way strongher variants for the same Mods. Not even going far back, this very Update Redirection had it's Drain Cost Reduced.
In another example, when More Necramech mods were added, you couldnt have even close to a Maxed Out Build because their drain was far superior than the Capacity, so they gave Necramechs the Rank 40 Mechanic and Balance did not matter, at all.
Both of these things are Player-Controlled room sweepers, that are currently Meta, while Companions arent even close to that, how could it hurt Balance to be able to max them out?
It has nothing to do with balance. It has to do with satisfying gameplay loops.
You don't get a good customization loop by allowing your players to just slap everything they want on. You restrict things in such a way that it's difficult, or that it drives the need to upgrade/alter slots, or even have multiple copies of a warframe/pet, etc for different reasons.
I mean, you're also running garbage like bite and maul... companions do an insignificant amount of damage, they're essentially there as utility and you're treating yours like it's a secondary weapon.
So now, you have been driven to educate yourself on why all these points are used up and you can't fit anything else... you're engaging with the system more, and that's the measure of success they want. More interaction means more time spent in game, more time in game means more chances to get frustrated and spend real money on plat, etc.
As you get frustrated, you'll move things around and figure out a better combination that suits you, and that ends up feeling rewarding in the end.
I'm just glad that my kavat should stop roasting itself alive when it wanders into one of those burst pipes on Jupiter. I think they still need an AI rework before its worth considering putting attack mods on them though.
I have made some test runs on SP Mot with the Companion on screen, they're not crazy but they do Kill, even better than my Riven-Powered Verglas sentinel, so im actually loving their Performance and want to use them.
Huh, I never though about Mod economy before since Companions are such a side thought for me, but that is a bit odd. You could remove or add something that's not as primed, but it still seems counterintuitive.
Kubrow Stances soon, I guess /j
Yeah previous to the update I had this exact same build (Minus Duplex Bond but it was still 0 Capacity Left) and it could fit in because Primed Pack Leader was the same effectiveness at rank 0 as 10. But now it's different, and pretty fucked up that I have to remove 2 Mods to get anything more in