Faction Focus: The Grineer

[Ced23Ric]

Hey, why am I strapped to this chair?

Oh hai! Welcome to another piece of writing with Cedric. You may know me from such guides as "Let's Chat About Crafting" in Firefall Beta, "Build Comparisons" in Section 8 or "The Social Button and You!" in Battlefield 3! Today we are going totalk about one of the three opposing factions in Warframe!

Oh my god, I need to get out of here.

This article is meant for newer players, but might have some info even for those of you who have been playing for a bit longer. I try to put in as much information as possible, to later on branch out to the other factions and eventually cover the entire (Whoa, Nelly!) game in such a manner.

This guy is crazy. okay, so. What are the Grineer?

Although the lore is a bit spotty, with what we can learn from the game and website, the Grineer appear to be the last remnants of a human nation long gone. Their home planet is earth, and they exhibit strong stratocratic tendencies. In their sociological interactions, they ...

Eff this.

... they are military dudes from Earth. They "won", whatever conflict, by mass-producing themselves with cloning, but inadvertendly messed up their genepool in the process. Now they have an army of soldiers, well equipped and trained in squad-tactics, but severely lacking in the facial aesthetics department. They use cover a lot, leapfrog towards hostiles, retreat when met with force and generally are armoured, making them bullet sponges - except that their ugly faces are quite vulnerable. Some suits have faceplates, but they still take a lot of damage when shot into the kisser. They rely on their troops alone and don't use any gimmicks or environmental changes to secure their ships.

Here is a list of all Grineer I have encountered so far:

Melee Grineer, a bunch of creepy stalkers.

• Grineer Sawblade
  
  • Gear: Back & Decker hand-held buzzsaws
    
  • Special: He is just especially adorable.
    
  • Behaviour: Runs towards you, using cover to close the distance, with every intention of punching you (slooooowly).
    
  • Weakness: No armor, added damage for headshots.
    
  • Tactics: It's Face McShooty's aggressive brother. Chopping works great, too.
    

  [*]Grineer Powerfists

  • Gear: Furax powergloves.
    
  • Special: His hits ignore shields, and go directly to your health.
    
  • Behaviour: Same AI as the Sawblade.
    
  • Weakness: See above.
    
  • Tactics: See above. Dodge his hits, he is slow.
    

  [*]Grineer Fireblade

  • Gear: Some sort of dual-wielded power weaponry.
    
  • Special: Shields, will teleport.
    
  • Behaviour: He teleports into hugging range, then tries to hit you. What a creep.
    
  • Weakness: The face, I say.
    
  • Tactics: Get rid of the shields (Oh hai, Electricity damage!) and either cut him into bite-sized chunks or, again ... the face.
    

Ranged Grineer, who put the Ew! in Pewpewpew.

• Grineer Lancer
  
  • Gear: Mk. 1 Braton Assault Rifle, Green Body Armour, Grenades (at higher levels)
    
  • Special: Is armoured, so: damage reduction.
    
  • Behaviour: Uses cover, retreats when you come to close, tries to riflebutt you in a pinch, mostly pewpewpew, rarely grenades.
    
  • Weakness: Brain ventilation.
    
  • Tactics: Armour piercing mods help a lot, and so do Puncture mods. Faceshooting is a favourite.
    

  [*]Grineer Trooper

  • Gear: Strun Shotgun, Yellow Body Armour, Grenades (at higher levels)
    
  • Special: Again with the armour, so see above.
    
  • Behaviour: Behaves pretty much like the Lancer, just more up close and personal.
    
  • Weakness: Corrective skull surgery.
    
  • Tactics: See above, he's pretty much the same guy with a bit more hp and a shotgun.
    

  [*]Grineer Shield Lancer

  • Gear: Sicarius Pistol, Riot Shield, Green Body Armour
    
  • Special: Not just heavily armoured, but also hiding behind his riot shield.
    
  • Behaviour: He walks slowly towards you, offering cover to other Grineer, and if you get too close, he will push you over and then shoot you. Or he will charge at you, to push you over. Or just shoot you from behind his shield. This guy is craven.
    
  • Weakness: Physical, cranial damage.
    
  • Tactics: You can either shoot the sliver of forehead peeking over the shield, or run around him and shoot/cut his kidneys. Be sure to aboid being knocked around by him, though, as his push stuns you for a short time.
    

Heavy Grineer, the bullet sponges.

• Grineer Commander
  
  • Gear: Braton Assault Rifle, grey-ish Body Armour
    
  • Special: Has shields, can teleport-switch you like Loki.
    
  • Behaviour: He sees you, does the switcheroo, then does what a Grineer Lancer does. (Hint: Pew, pew, pew.)
    
  • Weakness: He usually teleports himself away from his buddies. And his head is a crit spot.
    
  • Tactics: After he ported you, run back to where you were and wear down his shield (electricity damage, ho!). After that, spread his frontal lobes evenly across the closest wall.
    

  [*]Grineer Heavy Gunner

  • Gear: Gorgon LMG, lime + white Body Armour
    
  • Special: Has shields, does Rhino Stomp.
    
  • Behaviour: He likes to shoot. A lot. If you get too close to him, he will Rhino Stomp you on your butt. Also, heavy armour.
    
  • Weakness: Long time between firing bursts, still a mushy head.
    
  • Tactics: Draw fire, let him empty his ammo, then take him out. He has about one stomp in him, after that, you can melee him in his downtime. Or, you know what else to do by now, eh?
    

  [*]Grineer Napalm

  • Gear: Napalm Launcher, blue + white Body Armour
    
  • Special: Has shields, does Rhino Stomp. Leaves lingering fires.
    
  • Behaviour: He likes to hang out and start bonfires in your general direction.
    
  • Weakness: When you are up in his grill, he doesn't shoot, because he is afraid of fire himself.
    
  • Tactics: Run and dodge towards him, avoid fires (those are bad) and then melee him to death. Or shoot him from afar. Guess where.
    

  [*]Grineer Bombard

  • Gear: Rocket Launcher, red + white Body Armour
    
  • Special: Has shields, does Rhino Stomp. Shoots seeking missiles with tremendous damage..
    
  • Behaviour: He doesn't like you, and neither do his homing missiles of pure hatred.
    
  • Weakness: Long downtime between shots, doesn't shoot when you are close.
    
  • Tactics: Try to get close, have him shoot walls and pillars by getting into cover when he fires. After that, lots and lots of bullets (because, shield) or melee. Try to get to know his rhythm, and get back into cover before he is ready to fire again. Those missiles hurt. Oh, and if he has no shield and you shoot him, try the face. It's kind of a thing for the Grineer.
    

There are Grineer bosses, which are usually variants of the heavies, except for Captain Vor, the first Grineer boss you have to put down. He uses a Bo staff.

Can I go now..?

Sure! See you next time. :)

PS: Pictures coming soon™, as in: As soon as I am home and take screenshots.

Edited December 28, 2012 by Ced23Ric

[ap0k41yp5]

This was fun and entertaining even though I think most players will already know that, except those that just started. I never saw you on the firefall forums, but I didn't go there for months now :p

[Ced23Ric]

This was fun and entertaining even though I think most players will already know that, except those that just started.

I never saw you on the firefall forums, but I didn't go there for months now :p

Yeah, I know. But nevertheless, DE started an invite wave 23rd of December, and Founder's Packs are out, so there will be an influx of new players (like me, for example) - so it does have some merit. ;)

As for Firefall: http://tinyurl.com/ff-compendium is my brainchild. I started playing Firefall in June.