The New Eximus Enemies Are REALLY Tough!

Alongside the Angels of the Zariman update, we actually got not one but two reworks for older systems. Focus, which is what Operators use to make themselves strong, got a weird rework which shook up Focus overall. But we also got an enemy rework. More specifically, we got a rework for Eximus enemies. You know, those weirdly larger enemies that have more health and a variety of passive effects. The rework was aimed at updating Eximi into more noticeable and powerful enemies, rather than the weird enemies with auras that they were. Basically, we all wanted Eximus enemies to be less annoying.

Editor’s Note: This article was written before the changes to Operators having shields, health and more armour. However, some of the problems listed here are still unsolved. While, yes, the Operator dies a little less, we also have an issue of Amps doing not a lot of damage, and the Overguard system overall being limiting.

Well, turns out that they have made Eximus enemies into walking nightmares.

Another health bar.

Basically, Eximus enemies all gain an extra health bar, called the Overguard. This shield makes Eximi immune to crowd control, gain extra damage resistance and just overall seem to block everything. The Overguard has to be destroyed before you can start killing an Eximus enemy. So not only are Eximi buffed and healthier, but they have a massive shield which gives them even more damage resistance.

On the flip side, at least the new Eximus enemies are easier to identify, at least in a vacuum, and their attacks have become a lot less passive. Still, if there are a lot of Eximus enemies, all their attacks become harder to dodge and avoid. However, some Eximi do have a habit of tracking you while you are invisible, so you still need to be careful.

Better to just shoot them, I guess.

At the end of the day, while you can try and beat Eximus enemies down with abilities and automatic rifles, it turns out that it’s just easier to hit everything with a rocket launcher. After all, Eximi are always accompanied by a small platoon of normal soldiers, and using an area-of-effect weapon just makes things so much easier.

The other option is to use Operators with Amps to destroy the Overguard health. After all, Overguard is 50% weak to Void damage. That would be fine, but Operators are pretty squishy. You can get away with popping in and out of your Warframe on lower levels. But against higher level enemies, it’s pretty easy to get your Operator killed, and your Amps’ damage falls off greatly. And with an actual punishment for dying as Space Kid too much, it just gets tedious.

However, this seems kinda weird to me. A big issue lately in Warframe is the appearance of the AoE meta, and doing as much damage as possible, as quickly as possible. Both players and developers don’t seem to particularly like this AoE weapon meta, and there have been calls to have another look at things like Wukong’s Celestial Twin and the Kuva Bramma. While the new Eximi look like they’d offer more avenues to fight, instead the Eximi are making this meta more prominent. It’s easier just to fall back on explosives and take all enemies out, rather than use tactics like finishers or crowd control.

How the hell do newbies deal with these enemies?

Honestly? Although I appear to be complaining a lot, I don’t really have a problem with Eximus units. After all, I’m a True Master with a large and varied arsenal. Worst case scenario, I go ham with my melee weapon or something like that. But that definitely isn’t the case when it comes to newer players.

Most new players don’t have an arsenal of explosives, or a collection of Warframes. They just have bare minimum basics. But the biggest part of a newbie’s kit is crowd control. Excalibur, Volt and Mag all have great crowd control elements… except Eximus units are immune to that crowd control. Not only that though, but a ton of players don’t even have a maxed out, maximum health Operator, or all the right Amp parts. So actually dealing Void damage to break Overguard is nearly impossible.

At the end of the day, I’m not a fan of these changes. I’ll be fine, I’ll cope. But for anyone who isn’t really a veteran, running into an Eximus enemy can end up being a death sentence. I feel like there’s a lot of tweaks that need to be done, for Eximus units to be more balanced.