Warframe has recently introduced a new system: the Kuva Lich, an enemy that tracks you from planet to planet and can only be permanently defeated by complex secrets that have powerful minions in the Lich area.
That sounds pretty good on paper, but so much of Warframe revolves around the lateral progression. Instead of switching from mission to mission, I tend to jump around in the origin system. Sometimes I’m in the void, building Argon Crystals to make some nice new Warframes. Or sometimes I’m on an older planet because I need a bunch of nano-spores to build beautiful plants in the dojo that I share with my friends.
And so, while I produced my own Kuva Lich called Halidd Sorr, I did not get too far to beat her. In her opinion, that’s pretty rude. I emerge, hiding her form of larvae with a very impressive and deadly sting, and when she revives as a dark vengeance and takes over a whole planet in revenge, I just let her read. In the Warframe universe, this is the ultimate neg.
Am I the bad guy?
The Grineer are a kind of tragic bunch. They were once the working class of a vast, galaxy-spreading empire led by a group of expansive sociopaths. When this empire was overthrown, the griner rose. The only problem is that they have been genetically modified by the Empire and are constantly deteriorating without easy access to this technology. The Grineer rescue everything they can, clone in bulk and swear allegiance to a pair of evil queens.
At this point in Warframe, I’ve mowed down thousands of Grineer. In general, I have not thought too much about it. With the exception of Tyl Regor, an absolute daddy of a Grineer general, and the noble Steel Meridian faction, the Grineers are not for me. They may have a tragic backstory, but the world of Warframe is grim. Nobody is feeling well! There is no excuse for trying to assassinate me!
Hey . I’m really sorry I set you on fire and stabbed you. My bad ones. Digital extremes
Because I am in the condition of having a nemesis, but not triggering their higher aggression levels, we are both in a small cold war. This is how a tag expires while playing Warframe, where Halidd Sorr is in my shop:
I log in, and Halidd Sorr sends me a little bon mot and calls me her opponent. Usually it’s about how they will destroy me and crush my weak, brittle pewter skull. I make adventures on some missions that have nothing to do with each other and assure myself of their idle threats. Then she steals part of my quest rewards!
Come on, what the hell? Am I not allowed to sweat on my forehead?
At this point, I’m not afraid of Halidd at all. I wish she would stop calling me so often at work because it’s unprofessional, but she stays on her side of the system and I stay mine. Everything is fine until it changes.
Halidd Sorr shows up in one of my missions to hit my ass.
How could you want to murder this robot and her cute cat? Digital Extreme
I’m bullied online
I will not lie: it was a humiliating encounter. I’m on the phone with my friends and I’m just explaining how a particular upgrade works when I call myself “OH NO!” Truncation. My Kuva Lich has arrived and her health message is taking up a massive part of my video. She yells at me, trying to get out of the elevator shaft that I’m in, so I can start a fight, and my friends assure me that everything will be alright.
We break her about a third of her health, and then Halidd Sorr grabs me and breaks my back over her knee a la Bane. After I revive, I finish the mission and she steals more of my prey! I have not experienced such a cruel bullying act since high school.
I can not stress enough how alarming that is. Warframe is a power fantasy in which I can jump 80 feet into the air, slide down a catwalk, and kill a dozen guys without breaking my sweat. Now I know how these guys feel, because that’s how easy Halidd Sorr sends me.
Suddenly, I realize that the day I sacrificed and stabbed a kuva larva on Saturn was the most important day in Halidd’s life.
I do not deserve that
The worst part is that Halidd Sorr sees me as an enormous threat to the Grineer’s original system and way of life. It’s technically correct, but I’m not killing Grineer for a mission, for ethical reasons, or anything else. All I need is nanospores and plastids so I can build koi ponds in my dojo. But then my day is interrupted by an immortal nightmare demon. It is a bit disturbing and I would like to apologize to Halidd Sorr. I am really sorry that I exploded an explosive barrel, shot you in the face, and then stabbed you.
Please be nice to me. I have to build so many single shrubs and feed a big space dog. Can you at least stop calling me every day to tell me how much you will enjoy killing me?
