Weapons/Frames for Higher Missions Help

[ZahielTheDreamer]

Hi! Well, I'm back after a break, and I'm loving all the new content for sure.

I'd like to get to a point where I'm more useful, too. I don't do a lot of damage, and my survivability isn't great either, even on my tankier frames. 

 

I usually play Rhino Prime / Titania right now, also getting into Trinity Prime. I know Titania isn't tanky but I got interested in her Razorwing and now we're here. Her Dex pistols do a fair amount of damage but still not that much compared to what I see a lot of people doing, although with the Butterflies it gets pretty good.

 

My question is mostly: what's the go to weapons for damage Output at higher missions (sorties, arbitration, etc) and good survivable warframes/setups? I know Trinity is alright at helping everyone survive, but I'm unsure how to build her to really reach decent levels of usefulness. Rhino is good and I love playing him, he's my most used frame, but even he melts at higher levels for me, so I clearly need to change something!

 

I'm perfectly fine with farming and working towards weapons and frames and mods I don't have (I usually use Soma P, I have the Vectis P and Boar P too, but still seem a little weak).

[NinjaKitsune56]

27 minutes ago, flightlessfox said:

Hi! Well, I'm back after a break, and I'm loving all the new content for sure.

I'd like to get to a point where I'm more useful, too. I don't do a lot of damage, and my survivability isn't great either, even on my tankier frames. 

 

I usually play Rhino Prime / Titania right now, also getting into Trinity Prime. I know Titania isn't tanky but I got interested in her Razorwing and now we're here. Her Dex pistols do a fair amount of damage but still not that much compared to what I see a lot of people doing, although with the Butterflies it gets pretty good.

 

My question is mostly: what's the go to weapons for damage Output at higher missions (sorties, arbitration, etc) and good survivable warframes/setups? I know Trinity is alright at helping everyone survive, but I'm unsure how to build her to really reach decent levels of usefulness. Rhino is good and I love playing him, he's my most used frame, but even he melts at higher levels for me, so I clearly need to change something!

 

I'm perfectly fine with farming and working towards weapons and frames and mods I don't have (I usually use Soma P, I have the Vectis P and Boar P too, but still seem a little weak).

First off... quests. Run ALL the quests. Several Warframes are locked behind them if you're not willing to break out your wallet. The only one I can justify dumping Platinum for is Harrow, and that's because DE scattered his parts across the map with how they're acquired.

Second, Rivens. These things are the Avatars of RNGesus. Desired stats are generally additional damage and multishot, with reduced zoom or whatever bad stat the weapon has, (like reduced crit chance on a weapon that has very little to begin with) as a negative. They can turn an otherwise meh weapon into a trench broom real fast.

Third, weapons in general. Crit weapons are great for DPS, obviously. Most often, they'll be employed against the Eidolons for Arcane farming. Status weapons are good for the long haul, with Radiation/Viral on occasion, Blast/Corrosive being an all-rounder, and Gas/Magnetic working for crowd control in general since it'll eat shields and health equally.

Fourth, Eidolons. You'll meet them eventually. These oversized Sentient fragments are completely immune to conventional weapons while their shields are up. You'll need Void damage to crack their shields, charged Eidolon Lures to stop them from teleporting away, and a Radiation-based crit weapon for dealing with their weakspots, and them once the weakspots are destroyed. They're the only source of Arcanes.

 

Beyond that, Baro Ki'teer drops by on occasion with mods like Primed Flow, Primed Continuity, and Primed Point Blank mixed with weapons, smaller mods like Jolt, and Baro-specific cosmetics and even a Sentinel. His inventory is randomized with each visit, and you'll need Ducats as well as credits to get these items.

If you're really lucky, he'll have the 3-day Affinity booster in stock. Or you can spend your time stocking on credits and Ducats, then when TennoCon rolls around, grab a Digital Access Pack and visit the TennoCon Relay, where Baro will have EVERYTHING in stock... which is now a rather extensive list of goods.

Edited January 1, 2019 by NinjaKitsune56

[ZahielTheDreamer]

Yeah, done most of the quests, done eidolons, etc. Sorry if I wasn't clear, was more asking for 'meta' weapons and frames that help me do enough damage to assist in these things, which I already have unlocked. And survive more. Eidolons aren't a survival issue so much as a damage issue, but sorties and arbitrations and higher alerts I'm struggling with survival.

I'm working on rivens but I'm not much good with Kuva farming either, and I don't like feeling like a leech because I don't help a lot. 

[Fiewel]

How about this?

 

[NinjaZeku]

17 hours ago, flightlessfox said:

Her Dex pistols do a fair amount of damage but still not that much compared to what I see a lot of people doing

That sounds like you should work on your Mods first.

Shiny new weapons are great and all, but only if you mod them correctly.

[ZahielTheDreamer]

I mean, yeah, I know that, but I don't know what mods to go for either other than the primed ones that is basically just hopeful with Baro since I won't be looking to buy them from others. 

I read up on what does what for every frame I use, and work to their strengths as much as possible in regards to mod maximisations, but still doesn't seem to work out. Guess I'm just bad at Warframe.

[SgtHotPepper]

For long run missions (Arbitrations etc.) you need a solid warframe and a way to regain health.

Sentinel mods, arcane grace, consomables, rage(or hunter adrenaline)/quick thinking combo, operator arcane healing warframe... Whatever you choose.

 

You need to have a solid damage output and a way to bypass armor.

Modding weapons for corrosive, gas or slash proc, corrosive projection aura and some warframe abilities help with the armor problem.

 

Waframe have many good weapons and warframes and most are viable if you do things right.

Try things on http://warframe-builder.com/ because the ingame stats dont really show the potential of some mod combinations (melee combo counters, dmg with crit multiplier, influence of multishot).

Keep in mind that you have different layers of damage.

The base damage, the elemental build, the critical occurence and multiplier, the multishot...

Try to max the dmg layers and not only one.

It's better to mod a weapon with 2 elemental mod and crit mods (or stat if the weapon is status oriented) that with 4 elemental mods.

A mod that add 90% slash is not as beneficial that the one with 90% multishot.

And so on...

 

Rivens are good but very expensive and not so necessary.

Exemple : A Tigris prime without riven can reach 60k damage with a 100% status proc, very often in slash (bypass armor and shields), with just one format.https://goo.gl/kwxWuT

It's a extreme exemple of damage but weapons dealing less damage often have others advantages.

A amprex will sweep entire romms, a hystrix give you choice between 4 garantee procs aside your build...

Dont forget the melee : Zaws are probably the bests (dokhram or plague zaw) builded for damage and hybrid but even à orthos prime can be a beast with few formats.

 

And dont understimate the status procs.

I have a Phantasma build to do a large spray and 100% stat. Great with sarys to pop the spores and the 100% radiation make the ennemies fight each other if they dont die.

Just sit and take some popcorn watching.

 

And you have abilities.

Some abilities have raw damage output (Saryn Spores, Mesa shooting, Revenant discoball etc.) others offer opportunities to CC and deal damage (rhino stomp) and some are pure buffs ( rhino roar).

 

Use ALL possibilities of your warframe and your gear and you will be usefull.

 

For the survavibility (aside having a way to heal yourself because sh*t happens) you can make your warframe tanky.

But tankiness=/=lot of armor only.

Many bad guys deal toxic or slash procs or strip your armor.

Having a good pool of health [looking at Inaros] or a constant regen [looking at Nidus] help because you are less easely OS.

 

Or you can make ennemies die fast so they cant harm you. Some warframes excell at it (Mesa etc.)

 

And always be in motion. Because the bullets that cant hit you dont hurt you.

Rhino prime is cool and less clumsy that rhino, but put on him a Armored Agility and maybe a Vanguard Arcane Helmet and his survavibility rise alot.

 

Even if some warframe or weapons are easier to adapt to high level content the best bet is to use a warframe and weapons that you know and appreciate and to get the best of them.

Because just copy a godly build on a warframe that you dont appreciate and dont are used to, not only diminish their efficiency but will not be very funny to play.

(I have a 5 format Chroma that take dust in arsenal...)

 

I try to aswer my best but if you still have questions PM me.

Im a relatively recent player and  not so long i hit this "imnotveryusefull" wall myself.

So i read a lot and try to undersatnd not only the internal mecanics but the meta of warframe. (some mods multiply the base stats and some add a flat bonus, some damage are much better that others, some mecanics are treacherous ( 99% status on a shotgun is meh but 100% is very nice), some effects not awesome per se give great result in interaction, etc.)

Forum is a good place to ask and im sure some players will point things that i forget to mention.

 

Dont give up !!

Edited January 3, 2019 by SgtHotPepper

[wakestarr]

Mesa P has good survivability and sick damage. Unless doing long endurance she's all you need ;) Just beware of melee, explosions and stuff like toxin.

Some weapons I like;
Primary: Arca Plasmor, Astilla, Kohm, Zenith, Prisma Grakata
Secondary: Catchmoon (and Tombfinger) from Fortuna (with haymaker and splat), Pyrana P, Twin Grakatas (Because Clem!)
Melee: I don't melee much now days but my Scoliac with an riven often comes along, though mostly used as a can opener. I like Redeemer P with bullet dance for the giggles and to heal my kavat from a distance.

Most weapons require a hefty forma investment before they start to shine.

Remember most of the damage comes from the mods and primed mods where possible are a huge boost. Rivens can be frustrating to roll and farm kuva for, or extremely expensive to buy with good rolls...

[FreeWilliam]

Melee. 

Get a mobile stance, (Clashing Forest for staves, Final Harbinger for S&S), ramp up the attack speed, add Healing Return, and RAAAAMMMPAAAGGGEEE.

Get a fun boomstick you like to fall back on, but treat all problems like they're just solved with a whack to the face.  

Some frames are unusually good for this approach (Atlas and his glorious 'I laugh at CC' passive, Garuda and Valkyr for mobility and strength, Zephyr for moar mobility with less strength, Spaghetti Nidus to bring friends to the party, etc.) but even with a freshly forma-ed frame and nothing but a fast staff zaw with Clashing Forest and Healing Return the only things I can't cheerfully take on are Eidolons. (I really want to be able to melee Eidolons)

[corallein]

It should be just mods. Dex Pixia is built like a standard crit pistol. Hornet Strike, (Primed) Target Cracker, (Primed) Pistol Gambit, Barrel Diffusion, Lethal Torrent, Anemic Agility (or Gunslinger if you don't have Anemic Agility), and your choice of 90% elemental mods (or 60% dual status mods if you're short drain, and Heated Charge has a Primed version which is also a consideration). And do you have all the important corrupted mods (which is all the warframe ability ones)?

For weapons, I mostly use kitguns and zaws and any decent weapons I have a good riven for. Melee I mostly use polearms or staves with quick melee slide-to-win builds because it's still a thing and Melee 3.0 hasn't arrived yet to change it. The kitguns are really strong with the ability to reach 100%+ crit with just Primed Pistol Gambit and the Pax arcanes are a really nice bonus (and much more useful than the Zaw exodias). I don't really do any content where armor stripping is required (multi-hour long endless missions), so crit or hybrid weapons are what I pack (also, 4x CP is better for armor stripping anyway).

Trinity is a pure support frame (now that the ridiculous Link damage build was fixed/nerfed). EV builds (min duration, max strength) are also no longer really a thing with the death of raids, so you either want a hybrid build or a pure Bless build. Pure bless is enough strength to get 75% DR on Bless, max duration, and then efficiency (in that order) - range is a dump stat as Bless uses affinity range and does not depend on ability range. A hybrid build will keep more range so that EV remains more usable for team-wide energy gain while maintaining 75% DR on bless and sacrificing a bit of duration and efficiency for that range.

Rhino should not melt at any level except when you get nullified. If he is, you're not packing enough armor and ability strength, or you're not using Iron Shrapnel so you can refresh Iron Skin when it gets dangerously low. Duration and range don't affect Iron Skin, so you can dump them if you don't care about Roar or Stomp duration.

Other frames I use are: Mesa is a turret that mows down everything not in a nullifier bubble; Excalibur is like a more mobile and more focused Mesa that can actually deal with nullifiers; Limbo is for protecting stupid sortie defense operatives that refuse to stay put and excavators; Ivara is my "I'm-too-lazy-to-do-spies-correctly" frame; Equinox is my low-level nuking frame; Chroma is for Eidolons and Profit Taker; Frost is like Limbo; Duality Equinox is my afk-Index frame; Rhino is my Index point carrier; Zephyr is for PoE Wisp farming; Nekros and Hydroid are loot frames; Titania is for PoE bounties so I can shoot down dropships before they drop anything.

And there are other frames that I don't regularly use that other people do that are great (in the right situation: don't take Vauban into Profit Taker expecting any of his abilities to be useful)