Let's talk about Chromatic Fire; the exotic Warlock chestpiece that sees very little use... [b]Crystalline Transistor[/b] [i]Precision final blows from Kinetic weapons create an explosion in the element of your equipped Super and apply a matching elemental effect:[/i] • [i][Arc] Blinds targets.[/i] • [i][Solar] Scorches targets.[/i] • [i][Void] Weakens targets.[/i] • [i][Stasis] Slows targets.[/i] • [i][Strand] Severs targets.[/i] This is one of the most fun, satisfying exotic armor pieces Warlock has. It rewards the player in a couple of ways for using getting headshots with Kinetic weapons. It turns a lot of boring kinetic weapons into fun gameplay styles, and even provides elemental debuffs matching your super. While all of this is great, the exotic is still quite underwhelming. Granted, not every exotic can be SUPER OP KILL EVERYTHING style, but all exotics can be more rewarding if used as intended. I've been using this exotic constantly for at least a month and counting, and I spotted flaws/weak areas and ideas for potential buffs, all while [i]somewhat[/i] keeping some balance in mind, PvE-wise. The main point to keep in mind: [b]KEEP the heavy restriction of Kinetic Precision final blows, but make it WORTH it/COMPENSATE for it.[/b] [b]Flaws/Weak Areas[/b] 1. [b]Explosion Radius/AoE is too small[/b] One of the benefits of this exotic are the AoE explosions after [i]precision[/i] final blows. Even when paired with Kinetic AoE explosions such as Firefly, Cursed Thrall; the explosion from the exotic itself doesn't feel that significant. From experience, even in a group of about 10 enemies, the explosion affects only 3-4 of those enemies with the debuffs, while the number increases if the enemies are closer together. This explosion makes the desire to really use this exotic fairly non-existant, as it feels and looks like it doesn't affect that many enemies. [b]Buff idea: Increase the explosion radius by about 8% - 13%, or by however much is needed to make the explosions more effective, and reliable.[/b] 2. [b]Intended use is fine, but slightly lacks synergy within it[/b] This one is a little complicated. By this point, I mean that yes, it does reward the player for using Kinetic weapons, however with the further restriction that precision kills are required, it should do a little more to compensate. Because this exotic requires the player to use their Kinetic weapons and provides 0 benefit to anything else, this is ample opportunity to spearhead this use and make it much more worth it. While there are many ways to approach this, I did have ideas myself. [b]Buff idea: Fully charged abilities grant bonus effects to the AoE explosion.[/b] 1. [i]If your grenade ability is fully charged, every 2nd AoE explosion will match the element of your equipped grenade, and apply a matching elemental debuff.[/i] To balance this, any final blows from the grenade-enhanced AoE explosion [b]should not[/b] chain to nearby enemies, and the effective radius can be decreased as neccessary. 2. [i]If your melee ability is fully charged, every 3rd Aoe explosion will match the element of your equipped melee, and apply a matching elemental debuff.[/i] To balance this, the same idea stated above will apply. 3. [i]If your class ability is fully charged, your Kinetic weapons will gain a bonus to target acquisition and reload speeds.[/i] This will ease up on the "NO ABILITIES - GUN ONLY" restriction idea, and allows some flexibility. 4. [i]If your Super ability is fully charged, greatly increase the size of the AoE explosion and final blows from said explosion will chain to nearby enemies. Your Kinetic weapons gain a slight bonus to precision damage.[/i] This makes the exotic function similar to Mantle of Battle Harmony; exotics that grant bonuses if abilities are fully charged. To balance this, if the super ability is fully charged, [b]the previous ability-enhanced buffs will not apply[/b], as your super ability obviously is the most important. [u]Basically, if your super isn't ready, you're provided with the bonuses from having your 3 other abilities fully charged. However, if it is fully charged, the bonuses from the other 3 abilites won't apply.[/u] Keep in mind that Chromatic Fire does not benefit the player in any way nor function in any other way aside from Kinetic Precision final blows ([b]as it should honestly be and remain[/b]), so this condition and functionality buff would be perfect. 5. [i]While Transcendant, if all of your abilities are fully charged, each AoE explosion's radius and damage will increase, chain to nearby enemies, apply a matching elemental debuff, and cycle between the elements of your available supers.[/i] This one was a bit of a pipe dream, but it still does seem like it could work. Being transcendant grants bonuses to your weapons (Facet of Grace, that's a big one) and rewards the player for getting kills with Kinetic weapons/being in this mode (Facet of Generosity, too) This buff idea will truly encompass the identity of this exotic, making the player feel greatly rewarded for the extra, consistent effort, without any mistakes. [i]To balance: The player can gain less overall Transcendence energy while using the exotic[/i], as fully building this bar is quite easy. [i]Another balance option is that the player cannot use any abilities while Transcendent[/i], as being granted Sunshot capability + Kinetic damage and acquisition boost can be far more powerful than intended if combined with ability usage. Overall, I am [i]VERY[/i] passionate about the Chromatic Fire exotc (I even bought the ornament, immediately after realizing how fun it was) and believe it should get some love here, to compensate for the player's effort that's required to make it function. I'm open to any constructive criticism and buff idea adjustments/opinions, as long as it is civil and focuses on the intended use of the exotic itself. Thanks!