Warframe’s latest arrival, Dante, is an absolute powerhouse boasting excellent damage output and survivability—at least he was. Digital Extremes has slammed the Nerf hammer down on Dante, and many players aren’t too happy about it.
How was Dante nerfed in Warframe?
Digital Extremes has made two impactful changes to Dante’s kit. First, his nuking ability, Tragedy, now requires a line of sight (LoS) to hit opponents. Dante’s Triumph ability, which gives the team Overguard, also provides lower values than before.
This 2-pronged nerf significantly impacts the Warframe’s damage output and survivability.
Why is the community unhappy with the Dante Nerfs?
Community sentiment is split, but it seems that the majority are unhappy with the nerfs. The most common complaint isn’t that Dante was nerfed but more how it was done.
One particularly busy thread on the official Forums is full of players criticizing the changes. Many point out that numerous Warframes can nuke rooms of enemies and have been that way for years.
Forum user KidNehza says Dante isn’t fun to play anymore, and “LoS is just stupid; people that want to exploit nuke are going to play Saryn anyway.”
Many other users in the thread share similar sentiments. LoS means you must be able to see your targets for the ability to land. The issue is the LoS mechanic has always felt inconsistent in Warframe. There are many areas made of tight corridors that strip most of the value from abilities like this.
A thread on the Warframe subreddit simply called Womp Womp Dante Nerf is full of similar complaints.
Reddit user u/KruxR6 posted a meme that reads, “Honey, it’s time to go back to Mesa, Saryn, and Octavia”
With the right build, this trio of Warframes can delete rooms of enemies in a split second. At the time of writing, this post has over 800 likes.
Another interesting point that several users bring up is the cost. There’s a good chance that some players bought Dante with Platinum after hearing how good he was. Would those players still have parted with their hard-earned currency otherwise? We can’t say for sure.
Will the Dante nerfs be reverted?
Nobody knows what factors contribute to balance changes other than Digital Extremes. I’m surprised they nerfed Dante so quickly and how they did it. We’ll have to see if any changes are rolled back in the future, but knee-jerk reactions don’t help the dev team or the player base.
While Dante has suffered severe Nerfs, he’s still useable with the right build. Just don’t expect him to be the powerhouse he was at launch.
