The Eternal's Build

[Austerity]

“And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

 

The Eternal’s servant is always on Guard with lightning fast Reflexes. The Eternal’s servant walks surefooted along the straight and narrow path. Rarely does he stumble. The Eternal’s servant is Quick Thinking often finding Equilibrium in the heat of battle, where lesser tenno fall. The Eternal’s servant is rich in Vitality given him extended endurance. From the Eternal’s servant comes a Flow of Fotritude that is a Rejuvenation to to all they accompany. What kind of the Eternal’s servant will you be?
 

http://youtu.be/3sx6zuxfDjI

Solo Play (image)

When you let go of the Rage and stop playing solo, then you won’t need to siphon energy off of others, instead you will be rejuvenating them! With this knowledge you gain Vigor.

Team Play with Four Eternal's build (image)

The Eternal’s build is unique. Designed to complement the new and improved melee system, the Eternal’s build is a universal fit for all properly polarized Warframes.

Logistics behind the build

How as a Tenno can I gain eternal life? For starters, don’t get hit by the Enemy. What is an efficient way to accomplish not getting hit? To block. If I’m only blocking how do I deal damage? Reflect the attacker’s damage back. What’s to stop me from blocking 100% of the time? Obstacles like being knocked down by almost every kind of mob and often doors. How do I prevent this? With Knockdown resistance. But what if I do take damage? Health regeneration is essential. How do you regularly regenerate Health? Either by Aura or pickups. What’s the best way to increase health from pickups? By using Equilibrium. If you are losing health you should have a sizable pool. Vitality is a must. Shouldn’t I have redirection? No, because with Vigor you get a small shield bonus and Fortitude gives you fast shield recharge. Additionally your shields recharge while you are blocking. What if I get in a real jam and am overwhelmed by mobs? Quick Thinking will buy you escape time. If Energy is going to be part of health Flow is important. How do I expel energy so Equilibrium is effective? One skill is required. Does the skill matter? It’s complicated. There are 72 possible skill choices that could accompany this build. I haven’t tested them all. The best answer is to try the different ones for yourself. Some are a no brainer like blessing or renewal, so you might want to start with Trinity or Oberon.

First Impressions

I unequipped both my primary and secondary and took it for a test run. This is the most fun I have had in Warframe in months. Wow this is fun! I learned real quick certain things are impervious to melee attacks (refraining from spoiler). As the frame is based around eternal life it seemed only appropriate to now make a weapon loadout and put Life Strike on the melee weapon. This in many ways served as training wheels do on a bike. It’s not necessary, but it definitely compliments the build in game play in multiple ways such as channeling while blocking to gain health back from the Reflected damage (Fixed according to Darzk *see comment below*). More often than not I found when I was channeling it was for the damage bonus from killing blow or to activate Parry, not for the health boost from Life Strike so eventually I removed Life Strike all together and opted for a much larger damage boost.

I found that with Life Strike the build is very beginner friendly, allowing new players to better understand the dynamics of the game. The build is also fun for veterans. Choosing not to use lifestrike requires greater skill moving through maps

After trying the build in a few games with friends and being impressed with the results, I went to test it solo making a few adjustments. What better place than Nightmare mode Pluto, after all, one of the most difficult maps for players is Nightmare no shield mode. I died, I died again. Ok so immortality this build is not, but it was the most fun dying I think I’d ever had. So I continued to play a few more Nightmare mode games solo. I was having so much fun, it’s the first time I’ve bought revives since what seems like forever. After 3 or 4 games I began to really get a feel for it, so I decided to be brave and turn the HUD off.

I found it a completely different experience when you don’t need your HUD. Energy doesn’t matter with one skill, Shields don’t matter when your focus is health regeneration, skill timers don’t matter when you aren’t reliant on them, and the Overlay Map is still accessible if direction is needed. Unhindered by fear of death and undistracted by the constant bleed proc. animation on the hud, I realized it made focusing on my melee combat skills even easier. So how do you know if you are about to die or need healing? All you have to do is listen for the sound of your beating heart. Decide to retreat or push forward. If you have Life Strike you can easily push forward, if not retreat and regenerate health. It actually made Nightmare mode no health my new favorite game.

One of the most fun fight’s I’ve had so far was against the Stalker. I was tanking him for about 3 or 4 minutes before the Corpus finally killed him. It was really fun getting to watch a host of his animations without any worries. And the moment he told me my skills were useless, I laughed in his face as I was not on a build that was reliant on skills. I can’t wait for him to show up again!

LARGE IMAGE

Being on the Eternal’s build has definitely changed my gameplay for the better. And I believe it will for others also, I hope everyone gives it a try rather than rushing to judgment before experiencing the build first hand and all it has to offer.

About the Video

Disclaimer: It was never my intention when recording this for it to be public display as I play on a four year old laptop with a somewhat defective keyboard (Space bar works intermittently and CTRL key sticks). I was merely doing testing and as such was recording so I could evaluate the results later. I was testing out Dakra with the Eternal’s build to compare it’s block/reflect radius with orthos prime . Also as you can see by my initial first few missed shots with the Paris Prime, I was working on my primary aim using no HUD. I have edited out load screen and elevator times to shorten the video as I thought 4 min. of gameplay was more than adequate. Lastly, being on a new alternate melee I was unfamiliar with kept me from doing any fancy sword combos, so an example of quality swordplay this video is not.

I posted the video as a response to a suggestion for it. I chose this one because it exemplifies some of the points I have mentioned which I will discuss now.

#1 As the Eternal’s Frost Prime loads in you will notice the Carrier activate Guardian trying to restore Frost’s non-existent shields. This is how I immediately knew I was in no shield mode, even without a HUD.

#2. As you watch the play you will notice you can hear Frost’s heartbeat when he’s at low HP. Sometimes in the middle of battle but it’s very noticeable as Frost goes through the hall with no enemies (could be 80hp, could be 2hp). Before his next encounter the Heartbeat stops meaning Frost has at least regenerated enough hp to be over 100 health.

#3 When the Eternal’s Frost Prime arrives at the top of the elevator; he comes around the corner and engages a Moa, almost immediately he is attacked by a second unseen moa peeking by the corner of the door. Reflex guard jumps into action saving Frost valuable HP. You can also notice Reflex Guard activating in the following enemy engagement in the hall multiple times.

#4 Relying on solely on Reflex Guard will only help you so much. Its important to develop your own blocking skills to compliment it. As an example the Eternal’s Frost practices blocking on two stomping moa.

#5 In the last encounter, the Eternal’s Frost takes a shot and misses, Reflex Guard kicks in and to “clutch” Reflex Guard so taking another shot is possible Frost uses the pillar to avoid line of sight. Honestly when I reviewed this encounter, I realized it would have been a more appropriate choice to use H to look around the pillar for a clean shot to keep Reflex guard from activating a 2nd time. Thankfully I was still able to pull off a clean Flèche Fillet*.

A Few Tips & Tricks

Learn your flips, rolls, etc. goes a long way to avoid being hit by the AI.

When tanking Napalms, get in close you want them to hit you almost point blank so not only are they taking Reflection damage from their initial shot, but they are also feeling the burn from their own napalm as you continue to block its damage. Just remember to keep that Block up.

I have yet to kill an arc trap by reflection damage alone.

Block when you walk through doors.

If playing with no HUD (which I highly recommend) try a primary and secondary weapon that complements having no crosshair. I personally found that Paris Prime and Haikou were a wonderful fit and went a long way to the ambience.
Learn to when to switch to melee in a firefight. Sometimes its better to defend and snipe before diving in head first to a mob of unfriendlies.

There is a learning curve to the build so the more you use it the better a servant of the Eternal you will become. For example: Learning to work with Reflex Guard rather than fighting against it.
As a universal build it not only works for players but for your specters. And with only one skill you can better control the actions of your specter’s AI.

Using exclusively melee I began to develop better technique allowing me to move through levels faster while still maintaining a high DPS output through channeling. In addition to killing techniques provided by stances, I have begun to better develop my own unique fighting style, coupling my personal moves together with combos. Here are a few to get you started. I encourage you to develop your own unique fighting style!

The Blossoming Lotus* refers to sliding spin attack where the user is able to maintain an almost stationary position.

Flèche Fillet* refers to fighting style where you fire a quick shot from your bow, before immediately entering a spin attack.

Pendulum* refers to the fighting style where one dives into a mass of enemies and spin attack through them, as you come out of the final spin you turn and copter back through the same mass. Very effective for keeping moving and taking down mobs that require multiple melee hits.

Flèche Pendulum* a combination of the above two moves where you copter through mobs firing off arrows as you spin.

NOTES:

Just wanted to add a few Notes based on questions that have come up from fellow Tenno.

#1. I can't stress enough how important it is for you to learn the build as is. I do understand the addiction to skill based killing, and up until now, all players have been reliant on them. I also understand the temptation to believe that an entire skill set is needed to be effective. But as I have learned through experience. This build will make you faster and more lethal than skill based players, so much faster that you won't feel the need to race them anymore.

As the game often is, First person to a group of mobs gets the choicest group to attack by which ever means they wish. Generally speaking, people would customize their frames around skills. People rush to mobs and then skill to kill as large a grouping as possible, before rushing on. With the Eternal’s build you are able to traverse though maps at a faster rate than others due to being unhindered by the types of obstacles that slow down your fellow Tenno. Because of this you can get to mobs first meaning it becomes your choice how you kill them. When your option is to spin attack through your clustered enemies without stopping being able to continue to the next set of choice mobs or wait out cast animation times before moving forward. It becomes a no brainer, Melee is faster and keeps you moving faster. Knowing that melee is faster, means whomever is the fastest and most efficient with Melee will become the new Lead in Warframe. Additionally with some of the melee combat techniques you can actually accelerate through mobs even faster.
The Eternal’s build offers much more than just racing. Imagine if you will, four individuals in a T3 survival all on the Eternal’s build. Each feeding life giving health to one another, each near invincible… How long do you think you could stay? Till your weapons give out? But wait, Reflect damage scales with enemy levels.
What can you achieve with your Eternal’s build?

Since the first day I joined the Warframe community (in open Beta over a year ago) I realized a race was underway. That everywhere I looked everyone was racing to be First; First to post on the Forums, First to the Finish line on tilesets, First to be max Rank, etc. Everywhere around me people were racing. I’m not exactly the competitive type, and I knew there were some races I couldn’t possibly win such as max rank, but I did choose to involve myself in a few others after all that’s the game. A couple I was able to be First in, and many I was not.

But if you still want to race, there is a better race currently under foot and that is finding the most powerful Eternal's build. After all, there are 72 skills and 59 Melee so that's 4248 possible combinations. But it won't take just the melee and warframe it will take the skills to master using them in combination with each other. Especially as everyone begins converting to this build. Lucky for me I have a weeks head start ^^. I understand some people fight change and are not looking to the horizon, but It's a game and I expect that everyone will play it to their own satisfaction. I suppose really this race is just for people that are striving to be be the best and strongest they can be. But I still think it's good fun for everyone.

#2. I can't stress enough how important it is that you start with melee only, removing both your primary and secondary. It really goes a long way towards helping you refocus your thinking and better understanding Not just the dynamics of how the Eternal's build works, but also why. It also helps with rethinking the way you look at traversing through the tile sets and helps you better deal with the obstacles you encounter untill they are no longer obstacles for you at all.

#3 I am happy to give anyone who wants it the two builds I use for Melee. They should fit on any melee that is rank 30 and has a potato. Currently I am testing out possible better builds.

#4 Doesn't Block toggle negate the need for Reflex Guard?

I was concerned that the changes in the new update might break this build. After all, as discussed above whats to stop you from blocking all the time? especially now when you have a permanent toggle to permanently block. Wouldn't this de-necessitate the need for Reflex Guard? So while in a T3 Def with a group of friends I tested it out around wave 30 for a good 10 waves. What I found was not only is it a worse user experience. It actually increases the learning curve and will for sure make players using it less effecient with melee as compared to those who choose to use the Eternal's build.

#5 What about the channel toggle?

I tested this also. I foresee a large number of people trying to achieve the same kind of results the Eternal's build gives you by enabling channel toggle and block toggle while using Life Strike. However don't be fooled at imitations, a mock combo of skill toggles will never give anyone the speed or power that you get while using the Eternal's build.

Have questions? Fee free to PM me or leave a message in my inbox. Or ask here and I will try and answer as quick as possible.

 

EDIT: Strike through on Block HP Regen.

Edited July 27, 2014 by Austerity

[SharkWithALaserBeam]

i give you props for actually leveling reflex guard.

Thats such a sack of crap.

[dragonboss]

Interesting build... very interesting, but it essentially turns you into a onetrick power pony. I like to be diverse and adapt to situations accordingly.

 

I have only 2 gripes with this post:

 

1. Combos? What combos? Warframe does not yet have actual combos.

2. A fighting style is composed of more than one tactic/move.

 

+1 for playing with no HUD, it is actually nice most of the time.

[Austerity]

i give you props for actually leveling reflex guard.

Thats such a sack of crap.

 

I used to think so also. Tried it in a build when it first came out and found it mostly pointless, however with this build it works perfectly and I've been amazed at how useful it is when you learn to manipulate it, sort of similar to the way you might force a car with an automatic drive system to shift.

 

 

Interesting build... very interesting, but it essentially turns you into a onetrick power pony. I like to be diverse and adapt to situations accordingly.

 

I have only 2 gripes with this post:

 

1. Combos? What combos? Warframe does not yet have actual combos.

2. A fighting style is composed of more than one tactic/move.

 

+1 for playing with no HUD, it is actually nice most of the time.

 

Thank you for your response. The only way we improve is through the help of our peers. As the landscape sits now, it seems everyone is close to a one trick pony already. Most people hyper focus their builds towards spamming only one skill, maybe two. This build shifts the focus from warframe based attacking to melee based attacking. In doing this, I have found not only does this open up greater options for game play, its more fun.

 

I believe a combo is a series of moves. Wall running to gain additional thrust to propel yourself further into a spinning leap attack, allows you to cover greater distance with your spin and enables you to kill a greater number of mobs. This is a combo. it is neither just wall running and its not just a spin attack. Regardless of whether or not its an inherent press E twice than long hold E for a "special move."

 

It's my understanding that a "fighting style" consists of the style with which one fights, regardless of the number of moves.You can perfect a move so perfectly that you only need one move to defeat your opponent. Does this mean you have no fighting style? No, on the contrary your style is that one move.

[Kinjeto]

What I said in this post before the editor ate it was that.

There are people who are riding the next big powerful frame and I think this is a very important point. Then when the frame gets nerfed, they have a S#&$, because of that. I had my fair share of bollocks when Trinity got nerfed. But I've adapted all my other frames thus.

I also demonstrated in this post that you can adapt your build to it. Which sounds like evidence to me. I also provided proof of
http://i.imgur.com/JhlA05t.jpg
times where I've gone places in the past [sic].

So where I've gone the past is 2 hours:
http://i.imgur.com/QW3FGn1.jpg

What's more I'm willing to give the melee build a go. I wouldn't mind attempting to try and go for 50 with the melee build. I also find it interesting Darzk that you only use long T3 as an example. Which is pretty much an open ended example. T3 Void? Pluto? Ceres? Eris? As Austerity has stated as tried Sechuria as a defense and had no trouble. But then again, it depends if you count long as Wave 30 or 50? or Wave 100 as long?

You might also notice the old Heads Up Display. To prove that I was using Trinity before a lot of Warframe users caught on that "Natural Talent" was a thing [sic]. Which in my humble opinion is quite hilarious. Just users jumping from frame to frame and focusing on one frame when you've got quite a lot.

The other thing was I was trying to put the empahsis that Reflex Guard as a mod is a start. You could also remove it.
You could also potentially remove Sure Footed as well as the user progressed being more competent with melee.

Edited June 7, 2014 by Kinjeto

[Darzk]

Vitality is a must. Shouldn’t I have redirection? No, because with Vigor you get a small shield bonus and Fortitude gives you fast shield recharge. Additionally your shields recharge while you are blocking.

....

what

 

So basically, just because you can heal, you're voluntarily throwing away the majority of your effective health. Okay then. Enjoy.

 

 

I can't understand the mindset of so desperately trying to make melee builds viable. So long as you run slower than a bullet fires, it will never be competitive with just shooting something. And while you've modded into keeping yourself from being swatted off the map when you run into melee, the guy hanging back has access to powerful powers and abilities that can synergize with teammates. 

 

Building as a tank - building as a melee - building as anything other than a powers or gun platform makes you a detriment to your team. Keep it in casual play and you're fine, but bring that **** into a long T3 and expect to not be invited back.

 

 

OP isnt even a melee build per say, just a halfassed tank build that has maybe 1/3rd the effective health of someone using Redirection and Steel Fiber. Reflex Coil is awesome purely because blocking works with no stamina, but careful stamina management can make it fairly pointless with melee equipped and it pretty drastically effs with your effective damage output when using a gun.

 

Edit: Also, I would stay away from knockdown mods. They're like Iron Skin - encouraging bad habits. Every knockdown in this game is avoidable. Work on your situational awareness, don't mod so you can ignore it.

 

Edit2: To be honest I haven't made it through the whole OP yet, let alone the next few walls. I got a little sidetracked at the point where he said a build with maxxed quick thinking and Reflex Guard is good for newbies to learn game mechanics. I assume that they'd have a pretty good idea by the time they'd put in the few hundred hours it takes to get those mods. Only good 'tip' I've seen so far was channeling blocks with LS and Reflection causing healing, but its totally glossed over.

 

Edit3: I can understand the desire to do something fun. I can understand doing something like this as a challenge. I'm just calling absolute bullS#&$ on 

 

This build will make you faster and more lethal than skill based players, so much faster that you won't feel the need to race them anymore.

 

With the Eternal’s build you are able to traverse though maps at a faster rate than others due to being unhindered by the types of obstacles that slow down your fellow Tenno. Because of this you can get to mobs first meaning it becomes your choice how you kill them. When your option is to spin attack through your clustered enemies without stopping being able to continue to the next set of choice mobs or wait out cast animation times before moving forward. It becomes a no brainer, Melee is faster and keeps you moving faster. Knowing that melee is faster, means whomever is the fastest and most efficient with Melee will become the new Lead in Warframe.

 

Especially as everyone begins converting to this build.

 

I suppose really this race is just for people that are striving to be be the best and strongest they can be.

 

There is absolutely no difference between a slide attack with this build and any other build. There is absolutely NO added mobility from any of these mods - in fact you're losing a lot compared to builds with Rush/QR and being locked out of the better mobility weapons due to having to consider other factors.

 

The whole second paragraph sounds like some baked-out-of-his-mind new-age druggie telling me that my bad karma is weighing me down.

Edited June 7, 2014 by Darzk

[Kinjeto]

....

what

 

So basically, just because you can heal, you're voluntarily throwing away the majority of your effective health. Okay then. Enjoy.

 

 

I can't understand the mindset of so desperately trying to make melee builds viable. So long as you run slower than a bullet fires, it will never be competitive with just shooting something. And while you've modded into keeping yourself from being swatted off the map when you run into melee, the guy hanging back has access to powerful powers and abilities that can synergize with teammates. 

 

Building as a tank - building as a melee - building as anything other than a powers or gun platform makes you a detriment to your team. Keep it in casual play and you're fine, but bring that **** into a long T3 and expect to not be invited back.

 

 

OP isnt even a melee build per say, just a halfassed tank build that has maybe 1/3rd the effective health of someone using Redirection and Steel Fiber. Reflex Coil is awesome purely because blocking works with no stamina, but careful stamina management can make it fairly pointless with melee equipped and it pretty drastically effs with your effective damage output when using a gun.

 

Edit: Also, I would stay away from knockdown mods. They're like Iron Skin - encouraging bad habits. Every knockdown in this game is avoidable. Work on your situational awareness, don't mod so you can ignore it.

 

Edit2: To be honest I haven't made it through the whole OP yet, let alone the next few walls. I got a little sidetracked at the point where he said a build with maxxed quick thinking and Reflex Guard is good for newbies to learn game mechanics. I assume that they'd have a pretty good idea by the time they'd put in the few hundred hours it takes to get those mods. Only good 'tip' I've seen so far was channeling blocks with LS and Reflection causing healing, but its totally glossed over.

 

Edit3: I can understand the desire to do something fun. I can understand doing something like this as a challenge. I'm just calling absolute bullS#&$ on 

 

 

 

There is absolutely no difference between a slide attack with this build and any other build. There is absolutely NO added mobility from any of these mods - in fact you're losing a lot compared to builds with Rush/QR and being locked out of the better mobility weapons due to having to consider other factors.

 

 

I just want to know when, if, things get nerf'd or changed you won't be the one is having a S#&$. Maybe you'll move on to the next "powerful frame" like most of the average players. Austerity is doing his best to answer questions to users.

It also isn't so much about making that melee build viable (in your words). You can still use your guns with Austerity's build. Nothing has changed. It's just preferable to have the melee weapon out over having the main primary rifle, shotgun or secondary out.

Warframe really needs new meta. If anything you (Darzk) would have to admit that.

Yeah and where is that desire for a challenge? More power? More damage? I know I grinned when I saw quite a few Rhinos drop into a downed state with the high reward missions Alad V was sending out. This was very interesting. In fact it made quite a few people actually not just run blindingly like a jackalope through the level.

Rhino is a very overused n00b tube, you've also said it yourself "Rhino encourages 'very bad habits'.". On one hand I acknowledge that we need Rhino, however unfortunate that it is because apparently a lot of people have trouble with the new user experience and working out what is what in Warframe. Even though we have a Codex. But on the other hand I acknowledge we need new metagame and eventually build options.

What Austerity is proposing is a build that could potentially close the distance using melee.

 

Edited June 7, 2014 by Kinjeto

[Yousho]

Been trying this. It's really good. 


Still, do you have any idea how rare 'Sure Footed' is? xD

[Austerity]

Been trying this. It's really good. 

Still, do you have any idea how rare 'Sure Footed' is? xD

 

Sure Footed is rather rare, however you can usually pick it up cheap in trading for around 5-10p (at least for now). The thing is, none of the normal "caster" builds use it. Most people haven't used it or don't think to. I myself tried it around October of last year in a build and hated it and threw it out for something else (probably a power mod). Just wasn't too effective for me at the time. A lot of changes since then in Warframe and with this build it is incredibly viable mod.

 

I encourage people not just to stop with what's here, experiment with it and tweak it to your needs. For instance. The Eternal's Vuban I found was very squishy and he was sponging up damage a bit too fast so I dropped Flow and Added in Steel Fiber and increased his energy with Arcane Helm.  Worked like a charm. Takes enough damage to spam Vortex without feeling like your going to bleed out every other second.

 

EDIT: Oh and if your here than you might want to read this also the Eternal's build Week 2

 

Thanks for trying it out!

Edited July 27, 2014 by Austerity

[Darzk]

Still, do you have any idea how rare 'Sure Footed' is? xD

Edit: Also, I would stay away from knockdown mods. They're like Iron Skin - encouraging bad habits. Every knockdown in this game is avoidable. Work on your situational awareness, don't mod so you can ignore it.

 

Also worth noting that channeled block with Reflection and Life Strike no longer restores health. That always felt like a bug tho.

 

In doing testing around the time of this thread I did conclude that Reflex Guard is completely overpowered and needs to be nerfed >.> Should definitely be a staple for any melee focused build. I would still argue that going melee is far less effective than sticking with guns and abilities, but it's certainly a lot of fun.

 

Melee becoming the new Lead in Warframe certainly fell flat. There's some effective builds out there, but they mostly prioritize survivability and there's not really enough damage output or utility to bring to challenging content. Have very rarely seen any pure-melee in endless missions. That said they're common enough in pugs and fun+effective for midlevel content.

[Austerity]

Also worth noting that channeled block with Reflection and Life Strike no longer restores health. That always felt like a bug tho.

 

In doing testing around the time of this thread I did conclude that Reflex Guard is completely overpowered and needs to be nerfed >.> Should definitely be a staple for any melee focused build. I would still argue that going melee is far less effective than sticking with guns and abilities, but it's certainly a lot of fun.

 

Melee becoming the new Lead in Warframe certainly fell flat. There's some effective builds out there, but they mostly prioritize survivability and there's not really enough damage output or utility to bring to challenging content. Have very rarely seen any pure-melee in endless missions. That said they're common enough in pugs and fun+effective for midlevel content.

 

Hey Darzk, 

 

Thank you for noting that the Block Life Gain was changed. I haven't used it in a long time, as I found it mostly a novelty not a functional combat tactic.

 

This was never intended to be a melee only build. While I did discover the build when my intention was a focus on melee. The build meshes very well with a variety of weapons. Also while I have encouraged people start with melee only, that is merely so users can become attuned to how the build works and feels. I highly suspect most users will add in guns within a few missions. (For me it was after the first time i tried to get rid of the sensor light above a grineer door, but before I realized that the energy loss from the doors didn't matter a single bit.)

 

The thing is, for end game content skill damage drop-off comes faster than weapon damage drop-off under most circumstances. Skills become useful for their utility and not damage at that point. So why teach people the bad habit of focusing on increasing skill based damage? Especially if later they will need to unlearn it all to build a loadout that compliments weapon play. I'd like people to be stronger from the start, focusing on skills as utility and not relying on them as a crutch.

 

What I like about the Eternal's build is it allows you to make mistakes with out paying dire consequences for them. It supports you when you need support. Keeps you going and allows you to tank if you have to. It helps avoid the pitfalls that so many of us have become accustomed to in the game.

 

I haven't seen many pure melee in endless missions either. Not because people can't, but because the builds most people use don't support them doing it. Again I never, ever meant for people to play melee only all of the time.  At the time of this post I wasn't, currently I don't, why would I expect others to? It almost seems as though you are intentionally trying to misdirect people into believing they must melee only. They don't.

 

Some Extras:

 

Personally I got rid of the skills on the mouse wheel, I never used it as I found it vastly slower than using number keys. Shortly after using the Eternal's build, I bound mouse wheel up to switch between Primary and Seconday. Mouse wheel down is bound to fast switch to melee. It makes switching in combat very easy as when you take your finger off the mouse button to reload/stop firing you can quickly scroll down and pull at melee and finish off mobs. Similarly if using Lifestrike you can swap between weapons rapidly in combat to regenerate HP before switching back to Primary to finish off heavy hitters.

 

Reflex Guard activating will interrupt your weapon reload. I have found that there are times in game when you don't have the option of taking cover for reloading and on weapons like Boltor Prime, some might find the long reload times frustrating. Here is what I do to solve this. Very simple, Strafe. Try and make sure the bulk of the mobs are in front of you and just alternate moving to the left a short distance and than back to the right and keep repeating as you reload. Not a lot just a few feet/meters back and forth.

 

OH BTW: This is not a PVP build. 

[Darzk]

Not to beat a dead horse: 

This was never intended to be a melee only build. While I did discover the build when my intention was a focus on melee. The build meshes very well with a variety of weapons. 

Logistics behind the build

How as a Tenno can I gain eternal life? For starters, don’t get hit by the Enemy. What is an efficient way to accomplish not getting hit? To block. If I’m only blocking how do I deal damage? Reflect the attacker’s damage back. What’s to stop me from blocking 100% of the time? Obstacles like being knocked down by almost every kind of mob and often doors. How do I prevent this? With Knockdown resistance. But what if I do take damage? Health regeneration is essential. How do you regularly regenerate Health? Either by Aura or pickups. What’s the best way to increase health from pickups? By using Equilibrium. If you are losing health you should have a sizable pool. Vitality is a must. Shouldn’t I have redirection? No, because with Vigor you get a small shield bonus and Fortitude gives you fast shield recharge. Additionally your shields recharge while you are blocking. What if I get in a real jam and am overwhelmed by mobs? Quick Thinking will buy you escape time. If Energy is going to be part of health Flow is important. How do I expel energy so Equilibrium is effective? One skill is required. Does the skill matter? It’s complicated. There are 72 possible skill choices that could accompany this build. I haven’t tested them all. The best answer is to try the different ones for yourself. Some are a no brainer like blessing or renewal, so you might want to start with Trinity or Oberon.

Seems like blocking is a pretty integral part of the build to me. And don't point at Reflex Guard - that mod really messes with your ability to shoot back. I hadn't noted the problems with reloading you mention, but I did note that you can't simply shoot while the blocking animation is active. You can get around it with quick melee/ability use/ spinning but any of those will still reduce your effective output. 

 

The thing is, for end game content skill damage drop-off comes faster than weapon damage drop-off under most circumstances. Skills become useful for their utility and not damage at that point. So why teach people the bad habit of focusing on increasing skill based damage? Especially if later they will need to unlearn it all to build a loadout that compliments weapon play. I'd like people to be stronger from the start, focusing on skills as utility and not relying on them as a crutch.

When I was talking about ability synergy and building to prioritize abilities, I wasn't necessarily referring to the damage abilities can do. I was thinking more along the lines of CC and utility abilities. For example you show gameplay with Frost and yet never use Snowglobe. Works when solo, but that's a huge loss to team gameplay.

 

Personally I got rid of the skills on the mouse wheel, I never used it as I found it vastly slower than using number keys. Shortly after using the Eternal's build, I bound mouse wheel up to switch between Primary and Seconday. Mouse wheel down is bound to fast switch to melee. It makes switching in combat very easy as when you take your finger off the mouse button to reload/stop firing you can quickly scroll down and pull at melee and finish off mobs. Similarly if using Lifestrike you can swap between weapons rapidly in combat to regenerate HP before switching back to Primary to finish off heavy hitters.

Seconded. This is a great keybinding setup; I use something similar with alternate buttons on my gaming mouse but the concept is the same. At the very least when using LS to heal I would recommend binding fast switch to melee somewhere, holding the weapon switch key is an extra half second you sometimes can't afford to give up.

[Darealslenderman]

i give you props for actually leveling reflex guard.

Thats such a sack of crap.

Reflex Guard isnt that bad in U14, but it is bad with most builds. certain ones it can be generally help. and depends on how you play.