Warframe

Hello everyone,

Just did a few missions on the Zariman and remembered a post from here or back on the old subreddit talking about some people still never using Operator mode. So I figured it'd be interesting to hear what people think about it and how much they've invested into it:

• Do you use Operator/Drifter mode any more than absolutely necessary?
  • If so do you prefer the Drifter or Operator?
• How much effort have you put into your Amp(s)?
  • Have you built several with significantly different behaviors? [Ex one a flamethrower, one a grenade launcher etc]
• Do you use Operator &/or Amp Arcanes?
  • If so which ones?
  • If so have you raised them to maximum rank?
• What Focus School do you main?
  • Is it the school you started with?
  • How far into it are you?
• Have you used other schools?
  • If so have you unbound anything from them?
• What would you say your primary method of getting Focus is?
  • Do you like that method?
• Compared to your main Warframe how effective is Operator Mode for you?
  • Compared to an average Warframe how effective is Operator Mode for you?
• Is there any stand out utility of the mode for you?
• What would you say your general opinion of the mode is?

Calculations for my extreme turbo tank build:

• Base health with Umbral Vitality R8: 763
• Health with Arcane Blessing R5: 1963
• Armour with 5x Tauforged Azure: 1230
• Armour with 3 stacks of Health Conversion: 2580
• Base EHP = 1963/(1-2580/2880) = 18844.8
• EHP with Merulina = 188,448
• EHP with Eclipse = 753792

Bombard rocket does 65 damage at base, which oneshots Yareli at around level 6300, or around 3100 with the +200% T4 Void damage multiplier.

Yareli is truly a "Metal Slug". We're so close, sea slug fans!

On a more serious note, if you don't want to invest so heavily in stacking armour, Eclipse shield tanking is a good alternative: Primed Redirection gives her 62,160 effective shields, more than enough for anything EDA can throw at you aside from the Mech Mines.

That all said, I think Pillage or Condemn + Primed Redirect is the most ideal way to tank nowadays, as the 2.5s shield gate from shield healing works nicely with the chunky Merulina shields for a good mix of active and passive defenses.

I just took anything synergizing with cold damage and put it on Frost and it works pretty well!

Frost

• Biting Frost augment
• Arcane Ice Storm
• Freeze Force augment
• Icy Avalanche ofc

Tenet Glaxion

• Shivering Contagion
• Primary Frostbite arcane
• Photon Overcharge (still missing this one but soon I'm adding it too)

Glaxion melts everything in front of you, spreads cold like crazy which also adds ability strength and duration due to arcane ice storm, you have huge crit chance and dmg, you have excellent armor strip and can easily generate overguard.

Since no merciless on glaxion you have to run serration but if I had max rank arachne I'd maybe try that instead of arcane grace once I have photon overcharge from NW. Am I missing anything else thats fun and that could be added to the mix?

Not sure if I should go with vile acceleration on glaxion or maybe add something like hunter munitions or bladed rounds instead.

In any case, it takes a bit to set up the whole build but it feels very thematic and flexible, Frost really becomes even more of a powerhouse with it, I only ever used him for his bubble until now.

edit: I'm also thinking about what to subsume over his #2 since it seems kinda useless, it is low damage and you have plenty of cold procs even without it. Nourish might be the boring but safe option?

If you know, you know: Xata Ivara is an absolute powerhouse of damage output due to Xata's weird spaghetti code mechanics, and now we can finally use that potential to N U K E.

Video is captured footage of the end result, although I hadn't begun labbing things at the time. You can also freeze frame and spot a whopping ~8x Xata hit coming off a Blast death detonation.

Basically, Xata will trigger a second hit off Blast detonations, and be scaled massively off the big death blast detonations. I've been having the most luck with the hybrid snipers like Lanka, Sporothrix, and Komorex to place big blast procs. Komorex is in a class of its own with the elemental boost, high rate of fire, and AoE though.

I plan to continue testing this with blast beam secondaries, due to Arcane Precision's capabilities in setting large Blast detonations quickly, as well as good status and hybrid Blast spreaders like Akarius Prime. Epitaph is also potentially an option, since the tapshots do both Blast and self-prime a multiplicative Shiver and Galvanized Shot with forced Cold...

If anyone else wants to test some weapons, please do let us know here.

Final note, I did a quick test on my Xata Loki and it seems to work just fine on regular Xata users. Blast is already silly, this just makes it sillier.

The waverider, the other water themed frame, beaten by a random Grineer henchman in her own lore entry - Yareli!

Release date: 2021-07-06

Passive: Everflowing with the seas, whenever Yareli moves for at least 1.5 seconds, she gains the Critical Flow buff that increases Critical Chance on her secondary Weapon by 200%.
Sea Snares - Form three water globules that seek out enemies and expand on contact, simultaneously damaging and immobilizing their victims.
Merulina - Summon Merulina, a rideable creature of the waves, and the inspiration for K-Driving. Merulina protects Yareli by absorbing a large portion of incoming damage.
Aquablades - Tear through foes with a trio of orbiting aquatic blades.
Riptide - Drag enemies into a crushing maelstrom and then blow them away in a watery burst. Each enemy trapped in the vortex increases the burst's Damage.

Acquisition: Main blueprint is acquired by completing The Waverider quest. Component blueprints are acquired through Research inside the Ventkids' Bash Lab within the Clan Dojo.

Quick maffs to compare it to Secondary Encumber+Galvanized Shot:

Hornet Strike/Secondary Surge: (1+2.2)*8 = 25.6. Encumber/GShot: 1+1.2*13=16.6.

In fact, your Surge multiplier only needs to hit 5.19x to reach parity with Encumber/GShot.

Now, there are two big caveats here, of course. The first is that you will need to build for max energy on your frame, which some people won't want to do. The second is that this is an altfire build, which is fine since the primary fire is adequate for killing weak enemies and charging the altfire.

I'll do a quick rundown of my "greatest hits" builds that I've tried so far:

• Banshee: affinity range fullstrip and an extra 3x multiplier on Sonar with Vome Invocation. I just change my rhythm to double-casting Sonar before doing an altfire nuke.
• Mirage: the clones also shoot their own altfire, although it doesn't benefit from Secondary Surge.
• Inaros: the living grouping ability strikes again! Ball 'em up, zap 'em down.
• Yareli: Crit buffs, and a ragdoll grouping ability. Can spam Sea Snares to charge Surge. Natively high energy pool.
• Zephyr: I finally have a use for Airburst Rounds. Not sure what the interaction with tornadoes is, and hard to test because everything is dead immediately.
• Ivara: Natively high energy pool, can set up for a big Navigator shot with just one extra cast beforehand. Haven't tested if it's even possible to exploit Piercing Navigator.
• Harrow: occasional headshots have kept Lasting Covenant rolling on my 155% duration build. The bullet hose effect from Penance is quite nice for using the primary fire too.
• Equinox: book rips off armour, so I can just Maim to my heart's content and run a more defensive Eclipse build.
• Gyre: more power strength! And a bit of armour strip, not that she needs it. Coil Horizon naturally sets up for the altfire. Electric ticks from Cathode Grace can keep Arcane Precision rolling passively.

The phantom, the reaper, the devourer of Forma himself - Sevagoth!

Release date: 2021-04-13

Passive: On fatal injury and entering Bleedout, Sevagoth's body petrifies into a broken tombstone as his Shadow manifests itself.
Reap - Sevagoth’s Shadow flies outward ravaging enemies in his path. Survivors are damaged by Death’s Harvest over time. The souls of the dead fill the Death Well.
Sow - Plant a death seed in nearby targets to drain their lifeforce. Reap what has been sown to detonate afflicted enemies, dealing a percentage of their health as radial damage. The souls of the dead fill the Death Well.
Gloom - Summon a radial pulse wave that ensnares and slows enemies, siphoning their lifeforce for the Death Well. Allies within the wave steal health with each attack.
Exalted Shadow - When the Death Well fills to above 75%, Sevagoth’s Shadow form is ready to be released. Tear the enemy asunder with a collection of Melee-focused Abilities.

Acquisition: Main blueprint is acquired after completing the Call of the Tempestarii quest. Components each have a 10% chance of being awarded as a bonus reward at the end of Void Storm missions exclusively in Neptune Proxima, Pluto Proxima, or Veil Proxima.

Besides Viral Damage and status chance, obviously. I've been slowly wringing all the MR out of my favorite primer, my Kuva Nukor, and I've gotten to the point where I'm not sure if my mod selections are quite worth the slot... and I've got plenty of capacity to work with.

This is my current build. To me the point is that it applies max stacks of Viral ASAP, as an added bonus it's Kuva element is Radiation which prevents buffing enemies from doing much of anything. As is unless I'm on SP the Nukor can and will kill most enemies quite efficiently.

So, what do you do with a Viral Primer once it primes Viral with all the gusto is can?

Edit: Taking all the suggestions here's what I've got:

This is looking pretty awesome now.

The alchemist, master of the elements, "HUNTER! Try another ability!" the frame - Lavos!

Release date: 2020-12-18

Passive: Purifying himself from all ailments, Lavos cleanses all active negative Status Effects and gains status immunity for 10 seconds upon collecting an Energy or Universal Orb.
Ophidian Bite - Lash out with a toxic serpentine strike, consuming the target to heal Lavos.
Vial Rush - Dash forward, crashing through enemies and leaving an icy trail of broken vials.
Transmutation Probe - Launch a probe that converts Health and Energy Orbs into Universal Orbs that provide both, and ammo pickups into Universal Ammo Pickups. The probe shocks enemies in close proximity. Each electrocuted foe reduces other ability cooldowns by one second.
Catalyze - Catalyst Probes erupt from Lavos and douse combatants in a fiery gel. Damage is doubled for each element afflicting an enemy.

Acquisition: Main and component blueprints are available from Father with Entrati standing.

IF THIS IS A LEAK WE'RE SO BACK, IF IT'S A MISTAKE IT'S SO OVER

I'd love to hear esoterica or historical curiosities or fun synergies; or whatever else you can think of!

Just finished building the Hespar and slapped a build from Overframe on it... I didn't use to have a favorite melee weapon beyond what looked nicest strapped to my hip. I didn't really use melee much. Hespar w Galeforce Down is now my favorite. Love the wide swings and quick forward advance letting me carve through hordes with minimal effort.

Might just have to put together a loadout using all my favorite things now since there's enough to fill all slots.

Got your Bingo cards ready? Because I do, post yours in the comment and let's all see how things go down tomorrow

The fragmented one, 3 frames in a trench coat, Unlimited Gun Works - Xaku!

Release date: 2020-08-25

Passive: Shifting their pieces unpredictably, Xaku has a 25% Dodge chance to harmlessly phase through incoming enemy weapon attacks, while protected by a 25% Damage Reduction against area of effect damage.
Xata's Whisper - Wield Void damage for all attacks from equipped weapons when activated.
Grasp of Lohk - Void Tendrils steal weapons from nearby enemies to use as your own floating, auto-targeting armament.
The Lost - Cycle through and cast one of the three abilities originating from the Warframes that make up Xaku: Accuse, Gaze, and Deny.
The Vast Untime - Temporarily shed the outer pieces of Xaku in a destructive blast, then stalk the battlefield in a new, swifter skeletal form. Enemies damaged by the body shrapnel are rendered weaker to Void damage.

Acquisition: Main blueprint will be awarded upon completion of the Heart of Deimos quest. Component blueprints are acquired from Cambion Drift Bounties.

Website were DE is posting entries each day. there is currently 2

Things that i have noted:

• Albrecht is kinda of an Internet Cryptid
• There is some sort of military contractors involved on this
• There is something in the sewer

The better engineer, turret frame, erectin' a dispenser - Protea!

Release date: 2020-06-11

Passive: Every 4th ability casted by Protea gains an additive 100% Ability Strength bonus.
Grenade Fan - Throw out 3 grenades in an arc. (TAP) Creates a slashing, staggering swirl of shrapnel. (HOLD) Protea reconfigures 3 Grenades to work as overcharging shield generators, protecting her, her allies and companions. When Shields break a Satellite is destroyed to extend the period of invulnerability.
Blaze Artillery - Deploys an artillery unit to blast plasma charges at enemies it faces. Each enemy hit increases the power of subsequent plasma attacks.
Dispensary - Deploys a device that generates 3 pickups after a short delay: empowered health orb, universal ammo pack and energy orb.
Temporal Anchor - Drops a Temporal Anchor which, after a short duration, Protea rewinds to triggering a temporal implosion. Implosion damage increases based on damage dealt between anchor drop and rewind. Everything lost or expended in that time is returned. Dying while Anchor is active rewinds Protea to the anchor, saving her. Protea is knocked down and the anchor vanishes.

Acquisition: Main blueprint is rewarded upon completion of The Deadlock Protocol quest. Component blueprints can be acquired from within the Granum Void.

I'm looking through the old 2023 stats page, and I see Caliban is extremely unpopular. Part of this is definitely availability, since he's gated behind a bounty farm after New War. But how much is it availability?

I get the sense that Caliban is a cult frame, split between people (especially YouTubers) who think he sucks and a minority that appreciates how wide his support toolkit is.

Will Caliban Prime give the sus space man some new appreciation, or will the stink stay on him forever?

Gauss' best friend, the meatball man, the vore frame - Grendel!

Release date: 2019-10-31

Passive: Devouring his prey whole, Grendel slowly digests the enemies he swallows via Feast. Each enemy still alive in Grendel's belly passively grants him 250 Armor, to a maximum of 1,250 bonus armor at the 5 enemy cap.
Feast - Swallow an enemy whole and store it in Grendel’s gut. Hold to vomit out stored enemies covering them in toxic bile.
Nourish - Regenerate health as Grendel absorbs nourishment from enemies in his gut. While he digests, enemies that attack or are attacked by Grendel suffer Viral Damage and energy sources provide more energy. These buffs extend to squad mates.
Pulverize - Grendel curls into a ball. He heals over time as he rolls, knocking over anyone in his path. Jumping slams Grendel into the ground and generates a damaging shockwave.
Regurgitate - Violently puke out a bile soaked enemy from Grendel’s gut, turning the consumed into a toxic projectile.

Acquisition: Main blueprint can be purchased from the Market. Component blueprints are awarded by completing certain missions on Europa using Locators, which can be purchased from the Arbitration Honors vendor found in any Relay.

The sport of champions

play Banshee btw

This is a widespread problem that applies to almost any game, something I've noticed for years but never as much as I have with Warframe. Players have bugs, glitches or other issues and they make posts, comments etc. about it but all they get as answers is "nah, that never happened for me so there is no chance it's a thing" or "you just suck, git gud."

I've never felt so dismissed before, or seen so many others get dismissed in this way. People just decide that it's because they're new players, they're doing something wrong or whatever else, anything but the chance that there's an actual issue. I've now spent 3 days trying to do bounties on orb vallis and cambion drift with very few finished ones. I understand what to do and have no issues with difficulty, they just fail for no valid reason. Examples:

On orb vallis with the tax the taxmen bounty, when you need to capture and defend containers it just fails to register that you're close to a container so nothing happens and enemies endlessly spawn until you fail. I've spend over 10 minutes standing right by a container with no effect.

On cambion drift with the last stage of the brute force bounty, the Grineer just instantly win while having like 25% while you're at 60%.

Both of these issues and everything else I've has issues with have been posted about by many others through the years yet not once have I seen an actual answer that helps them or takes their problems seriously.

As with anyone else, there have been things I or others have simply not understood for a bit, but absolutely everything is being treated like that. I've seen posts from people that just stopped playing warframe or other games because they never got any help or even a clear answer other than that it's their own fault.

I've noticed this trend and thought about it for years and have been wanting to write an actual article about it, it's a real issue and often even the devs themselves go along with the denial and dismissal. This is especially prevalent with hard games like the souls-like genre. Any issue or feedback about actual bad balancing is dismissed because it's so easy to just decide it's someone who's not good enough or is failing to understand something.

I'm sure we all remember when Topaz shards were utterly overpowered only to be nerfed so hard as to be all but abandoned outside secondary crit chance. Since then DE have said they follow the same rules Calibans lethal progeny ability, this howerver is incorrect and Topaz shards appear to be even more limited. They in fact seem to obey the following 2 rules.

• Overshields cannot be generated.
• Shields cannot be generated during ANY kind of recharge delay.

The second point is important because any recharge delay includes the brief one every time you'r hit, even if you still have shields and haven't shield gated. The result is that Topaz shards cannot generate any shields while under fire.

This in my opinion is likely an oversight as it renders them utterly useless since their only potential utility is when you're not in combat yet still able to kill enemies with a blast, a situation not only incredibly rare but also one where shields regenerate on their own anyway.