Show and Tell : Mesa

Warframe does a few things I love especially – stats. Every weapon, Warframe, etc. tracks kills stats, head shots, melee kills – you name it. They also have stats for overall game performance. You can see below that even pushing 55 hours in I have only completed 145/227 nodes (areas) on my Star Chart. Still another 46% to go before I get to the new game update – Plains of Eidolon – that many are saying is one of the best expansions in a F2P game in a long time. It’s crazy to think that I haven’t even scratched the surface on the game and it remains a shining beacon of the exact opposite of the stunts Destiny 2, Battlefield 2, and the like are pulling in the marketplace. I strongly encourage people to give this game a try – you have nothing to lose and rewarding a developer for making a great game and monetizing it in a fair manner is important these days. As mentioned in my Black Friday post I went on a shopping spree and purchased some nice new Warframes and bundles – and of course, my dear Mesa (pictured below) that I have been really interested in playing.
I really enjoy the fact that each Warframe has a video about them to give you a bit of a taste. This post will be the first of many where I am going to introduce my Warframes, show the videos, and discuss what I like about them. Each video is around a minute long so not  huge commitment. Since I used Mesa in my stats picture above we will start there. One of the most attractive parts of Warframe is that every frame plays VERY differently from one another and you quickly find yourself with several different ‘classes’ that you can use on missions depending on what kind it is. Unfortunately I haven’t found a clan yet so have not been able to build a group based on synergies – it has been randomized through LFG.

Mesa is, in MMO terms, a Ranged DPS class with some utility. Think Hunter in WoW.  When paired with a protective Warframe she can really shine but unless your idea of a good time is “kill things faster than they can kill you” she isn’t a great Warframe for soloing.  Her utility of increasing damage of friends (one at a time) and jamming weapons of enemies has limited use in a group, but her reflective shield is a decent defence mechanism. She definitely has her place for the more active, aggressive player (which I am not). I have enjoyed my time leveling Mesa – and still have 8 levels to go  – but she won’t be my go to frame for solo missions. When I get to be in a tightly knit group – such as defence, mobile defence, or survival – I think those are all good mission types to LFG with this offensive minded class.

Her style is definitely Wild West in space and her animations and gun play are quite fun. She gets an innate bonus to dual wielding pistols (fire and reload rate) so if that is your preferred weapon or style she fits the gunslinger icon perfectly. Her skills do not help her shine in a group setting but the rate and power of how she can take down enemies is definitely group worthy. I suspect in a preset group with someone who can return energy, extending her toggled fourth skill – Peacemaker – could have amazing results. I have used it very effectively in some situations where my team was about to get overrun with infested. Hopefully I can find a clan and better explore that style of methodic gameplay.

I realize that almost all of my frames are Black and White – because the shader pack ‘Shadow’ have the muted tones I prefer. The Halloween one I have makes for some godawful combinations and I think I need to invest in more color packs. This post I did shows a bunch of random color options on my Rhino, to get an idea of the palettes I currently have available.

Mesa looks, feels, and plays like a Cowboy which is the obvious goal with this Warframe. I will use her whenever I feel like that kind of play, but I have other Warframes that suit solo play better, and that bring  more to a group in an unselfish way. (Getting all the kills is selfish, right?). I have always been the “team player” in groups and Mesa is better suited for the one who wants to stand out. Still – was a great purchase and will be the right frame for me when I want to step out of my shell and shoot things in the face.

I hope that last line sounded as poetic in written form as it did when I said it out loud.