Mods 2.0 - Update 7

Card-style system that supersedes old Upgrade Tree / Mod slots. Although it is a 'Card' metaphor we are going to continue calling this 'Mods' and 'Mod' System. The Upgrade Tree is gone. Mods are short for Modifcation but in Warframe they are intended to be symbolic of Orokin-derived technology. "Lost tech". This system is a collection umbrella intended to unify the metaphor and interface for these concepts:

1. Upgrades (the boring filler nodes in the old upgrade tree)
   
2. Powers (the fixed ability nodes in the tree that forced certain optimal paths)
   
3. Mods (the empty slots in the tree you placed collected mods)
   
4. Passives (the artifacts you activated in the lobby)
   
5. Actives (coming 'player scope/once per day' abilities)
   
6. Precepts (behaviours/powers for Sentinels)

Mod Attributes:

1. Fancy Name ("Retribution" ... "Edge of Madness"). No more generic.
   
2. Unique Image (2.5D parallaxing screenshot). It needs to feel valuable, like a prize.
   
3. Item Comparability (generic like 'Warframe' or specific like 'Rhino' or 'Snipetron')
   
4. Fusion Level and Max Fusion Level (all Mods start at 0, max can be 0-10) Level is shown in text if > 0 as well as notches on the right side.
   
5. Description (Colorful, like Warframe powers, or simple like +25% health)
   
6. Rarity (Common, Uncommon, Rare)
   
7. Drain
   
8. Polarity (show as a symbol: Power, Attack, Defense, Tactic, Precept).

Note: These classifications aren't strict, e.g. a Defense Mod could indirectly damage). It is more suggestive and subject to renaming. Lore pending connects polarity to the original Orokin clans where the designs originated from.

Obtaining Mods:

1. Comes automatically with some items as a result of purchase/foundry. Warframe powers are 'Mods' now, so a Warframe comes with his 4 Power Mods. A
2. Sentinel comes with a few Precepts.
   
3. As loot (but do not do the auto-leveling old Mods did, instead higher level enemies drop rarer Mods).
   
4. Foundry (pending).
   
5. Sign-in (pending).
   
6. Rising in player rank (pending).
   
7. Purchasing booster packs (pending).
   

Mod-Supporting Item Attributes:
Mod slots (10 Warframe, 8 Weapon, 8 Sentinel).
A single slot can be Universal (supports any Mod) or have a polarity (Power/Attack/etc) that favors a Mod Polarity (opposing polarity can still slot in however).
Mod Energy Capacity equal to the Item's level (level 30 Warframe = 30 Mod Energy).
Mod Capacity is doubled if you have supercharged with a "potato" (Orokin Reactor / Catalyst). Supercharged level 30 Warframe = 60 Mod Energy.

Installing a Mod:

1. Drag a Mod from your collection and drop it on a Mod slot.
   
2. If your Mods drain is less or equal to the Item's Mod Energy it will install and Mod Energy will be deducted.
   
3. Drain can be modified by the target slot type however:

---Matching polarity reduces drain: Slash Dash costs 2, but dropped into Power polarized slot costs only 1.
---Conflicting polarity increases drain: Slash Dash in an Attack Slot will cost 3.

1. Now your item has the benefits off the Mod. Go kick ass.
   
2. Mod stacking is gone. Installing matching-types of Mod won't work.

---This gives us much more interesting design possibilities: we can create very powerful Mods without worrying about corner cases (e.g. I stacked 12 sprint mods and the game crashes or is unplayable). Stacking puts pressure on us to nerf Mods we don't want to.
---Hard-core specialization will still exist through polarity choices and 'similar type but not the same

Mod Fusion:

1. Fusion increases the value of Mods you may not want. Rather than just sell them for credits (which is apt to be reduced in the future) duplicates and 'junk'
2. Mods can be consumed to make the Mods you like more powerful.
   
3. All Mods start at rank '0'. It has never been fused. The max fusion rank of a Mod varies but is typically 3 or 5.
   
4. You can 'rank up' the Mod by fusing other cards into it. You destroy the other Mod and the fused Mod becomes better.
   
5. To rise in rank you must fuse a total value doubling proportional to the next level.

---Fuse to rank 1 = 1
---Fuse to rank 2 = 2
---Fuse to rank 3 = 4

1. The fusion value of a Mod is based on how similar it is to the target Mod. Its a bit narly because the rank of the level affects it generally:

---Fusing a duplicate = 100% (1 duplicate required to reach level 1)
---Fusing of matching polarity = 50% (2 matching polarity Mods to reach level 1)
---Fusing unrelated = 25% (4 unrelated Mods to read level 1)

1. A higher level Mod is worth more in fusion as well.
   
2. A higher level Mod has its drain increased slightly.

What about my hundred pages of 1.0 Mods?

1. 1.0 Mods can be used in the Fusion system to level-up new Mods based on how highly ranked they were (now called Fusion Cores).
   
2. For those who had hoped for an exchange system we apologize... however, consider this: An exchange system would convert and destroy to the new (small) set of 2.0 Mods. Because of the interaction with the fusion system, old Mods actually have future value that can vest when a new Mod comes out and you want to immediately fuse and max it out.
   
3. Finally - 1.0 Mods will continue to exist, as a universal fusion energy with high value ones dropped by harder enemies. This allows us to give scaling rewards more predictably (vs. long wait between rare drops).

I hope you guys like it. Here is an example:



This is Blessing. Works only on Trinity. Drains 10 points. Is Rare. Can be fused 3 levels (notches on left) and is a 'Power' polarity (upper right symbol).