How to buff Koumei

I’ve shared my first impressions of Koumei previously—feel free to check it out. After further testing, I have a few minor tweaks and suggestions for improvements.

The first major quality-of-life change would be to reduce her casting times, either specifically for Kumihimo or as a general reduction across all abilities. Currently, Kumihimo is an attack that forms a long, narrow line, applying status effects in a small area. That line looks like a series of X shapes. However, the status effects are random and not controlled by the user, making it feel like a roll of the dice for a chance to apply each effect. Reducing the casting times here is essential. Alternatively, the shape of the attack could be adjusted for easier application and greater consistency, or the gaps between the lines could be narrowed.

For Omikuji, an obvious improvement would be to reduce the number of kills required for challenges at the start. Additionally, allowing players to choose decrees would make this ability more user-friendly. Another option could be to offer a bonus for collecting decrees. Overall, the requirements to complete these challenges need reviewing. A re-roll system with a cooldown would be helpful, and the cooldown period for completing a challenge should be shortened.

With Omanmori, the internal cooldown on charms should either be removed or reduced to 0.2 seconds. Players should be able to recast it before it expires.

As for Bunraku, I think it would be fine with a reduction in casting speed.

I’m not asking for a damage increase, as Koumei is a frame geared towards early players, and I’m unsure how these changes would impact her overall damage output.

Dante, Jade, and Koumei: First Impressions

Koumei

Koumei’s theme centers around randomness, a mechanic core to Warframe’s looter-shooter design. Given that randomness is fundamental to the game, integrating it directly into a frame’s abilities could lead to some interesting gameplay. But how does it play out? Koumei’s abilities are impacted by five dice rolls, each making her abilities more effective based on a high enough roll. Only benefits—no penalties here. Here’s a breakdown of what she does:

Kumihimo creates lines with random elemental status effects. High rolls apply all effects, while lower rolls apply fewer. Each line has a unique status effect and is spaced two meters apart.
Omikuji grants a random decree, challenging you to complete a task. Unlike Duviri’s system, you don’t have a choice here, and there’s a long cooldown after each cast.
Omamori can heal or block incoming damage based on dice rolls and may even grant invulnerability.
Bunraku deals a cone attack based on line of sight, with the number of applied status effects determined by dice rolls.

Koumei’s kit sounds promising in concept, offering randomness that’s generally predictable enough to be practical. But in practice, Kumihimo typically only applies a single status effect, and the scattered damage can be unreliable. You might get unlucky with where each line lands or what effects they apply, often leading to only one status effect taking hold—if an enemy even walks over it. The casting speed here is slow, too; the lines spread only after you cast, forcing you to recast repeatedly in hopes of better results. Not ideal for a caster frame, as her damage output feels too low for the risk you’re taking with these rolls.

Omikuji brings back the downside of Duviri’s decree mechanic, offering random challenges without player input. While random decrees might sound cool, the lack of choice means you can end up with something almost worthless, and the cooldown for earning another can feel punishing. In shorter missions, this ability feels rather wasted as you’re unlikely to earn many decrees per round.

Omamori has some defensive utility but still feels too random. With internal timer limits and dice rolls impacting the number of charms, it’s unreliable for survival.

Bunraku is Koumei’s only reliable damage source, but even it suffers from inconsistent damage types. However, it’s easier to apply than Kumihimo, which is a plus. Overall, while her kit provides variety, Koumei’s randomness and lower base power end up making her feel frustrating to play. Though she has potential for high status output when luck’s on your side, she seems destined for the bottom tier without major quality-of-life updates. It’s disappointing for a frame that had an entire update named after her. New players can find her on Earth, but she requires some advanced mods to make full use of her status effects. On the bright side, her theme song is great! Go give the soundtrack a listen.

Build suggestions alone can’t help reduce frustations with low damage output, slow casting speed. Natural talent helps with casting speed, but damage is to random. Problems are to great for modding to address. Just can’t recommended playing her at the moment not even for star chart.

Summary:

Pros: High potential for status output
Cons: Low damage, inconsistent effects, random decrees add little, not beginner-friendly

Jade

Jade’s theme is angelic jade light, which offers a mix of support and offense. I really liked her original concept art, which brought me back to the game after a long break. The idea of an angel frame is fresh in Warframe, where we’re often cast as demons by NPCs—her look and lore give her a unique place among frames. Her passive ability provides two aura mod slots, which is quite handy. Overall, her concept is strong, though her gameplay can feel a bit clunky at times. Here’s what she brings to the table:

Light Judgment heals and deals heat damage.
Symphony of Mercy boosts strength, damage, and shields per second, allowing players to pick the enhancement they need.
Ophamn Eyes lowers enemy defense, slows them, and deals heat damage. It can revive allies, though it’s not the most effective tool for that.
Glory on High grants flight and activates a heat-powered exalted pistol, which can detonate judgments. Unfortunately, movement in this form is limited, often causing you to hit the ceiling in narrow areas.

On paper, Jade’s abilities seem well-rounded, and she feels balanced as a frame that can support teammates while dealing decent heat damage. Her Symphony of Mercy adds versatility to her role, letting you adjust to team needs on the fly. However, the restricted movement in Glory on High impacts her survivability since she relies on mobility to dodge damage. Limited testing in Steel Path shows that Glory on High has okay scaling, though there are still concerns about it. A few tweaks to her aerial mechanics could make her playstyle smoother. Overall, though, Jade is promising and has a good balance between support and offense.

Build Suggestions: Focus on heat mods to enhance her heat damage output. Range with strength with fire rate is something to consider. Glory on High output can be increased with fire rate.

Playstyle blends defensive and offensive, not just a purely focused support role. You can do that but pure focus on that is wasting the oppounity.

Summary:

Pros: % healing, heat damage, strong buffs, defense reduction, two aura slots
Cons: Restricted movement in Glory on High, survivability linked to her exalted form

Dante

Dante’s theme centers around being a seeker of knowledge and keeper of Orokin history—a librarian isn’t exactly the most thrilling concept in a looter-shooter, but it surprisingly works here. His passive scans enemies into the codex, which might not be groundbreaking but suits his lore. Honestly, I didn’t have high expectations, but he’s turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Dante combines power and flexibility in a way that feels genuinely effective. Here’s a breakdown of his abilities:

Noctua is an exalted tome weapon dealing either slash or radiation damage.
Light Verse grants overguard and increases health.
Dark Verse deals slash damage in an X-shape in front of you.
Final Verse allows you to combine verses to create unique spells:
Triumph (two Light Verses) creates a boosted Light Verse.
Tragedy (two Dark Verses) applies slash, heat, and toxin damage over time in an area.
Wordwarden (Light followed by Dark) summons a Noctua copy that attacks at 50% of your damage.
Pageflight (Dark followed by Light) increases enemy damage taken and applies a small amount of slash damage.

Dante is a true caster frame that manages to support and deal damage effectively. His primary damage source, Noctua, is versatile, making him flexible without being overpowered. My biggest concern here is scaling; Noctua might struggle in higher-end content. Simple yet effective, his kit requires a bit of planning with Final Verse, allowing you to focus on either support or pure damage depending on your needs. This versatility is refreshing, but relying heavily on Noctua for most of his damage can be a bit limiting. Overall, Dante is a strong addition that’s fun to play and offers a satisfying balance between offense and support.

Build Suggestions: Given Noctua damage heat focused build seems to be the way to go. Strength seems to be the way to go but have not played enough to settle on final direction.

Everything beneifts from each other so just chain stuff together and enjoy the spell book fun.

Summary:

Pros: Overguard and increased health, versatile damage types, flexible verse combinations, can act as a weapon platform and status primer
Cons: Noctua’s scaling may struggle at high levels

Closing Thoughts on Dante, Jade, and Koumei

All in all, Dante and Jade stand out with their balanced support and damage capabilities, giving players a solid set of tools without overshadowing other frames. Both bring a unique feel to the game, and their abilities are fun to use. For builds, focus on Noctua for Dante, with a generalist approach to benefit the rest of his kit, and emphasize Glory on High for Jade to get the most out of her abilities. Koumei, however, needs significant quality-of-life updates to become viable. Quick comparison: Jade is more ability-focused, and Dante is a bit more weapons-focused. I plan on using both Dante and Jade during Steel Path and other high-level content. Two out of three solid frames isn’t bad at all!