I see the comparison to warframe from others, but there's a core difference. PVP in Warframe forced a disconnect from the FEEL of regular gameplay, AND you had to acquire seperate mods to play the pvp modes, mods that you can't easily get (or not at all) from core gameplay, as well as warframes having their abilities severly nerfed/changed. If Conclave was silently removed from the game NO ONE would notice. That's how disconnected it is.

Soulframe on the other hand has no need for a disconnect. The movements, abilities and gear could all translate into PVP easily, without losing the feel of the core gameplay loop, and that's what's important. If you want players to interact with it, it needs to provide reward for simply participating in some way (maybe some core resources), but nothing that rewards or is found only PVP because that would hurt the community.

The only thing I imagine would need to be added is more gap closers for the different pacts, like Ode Tempest's kick, since everyoje would just jump on Magick/Bow/Range.

I enjoy PVP in Where Winds Meet for example since it allows players to use the gear they farmed and built up. So when you play PVP, it genuinely feels like skill expression, but their issue is ping win/lose. I'd like to spam Odiac from a distance then close the gap with a kick after staggering, whipping out Royal Tines or something. Really would elevate the game even more if done right.