What is the point of secondary weapons?

[Gromzok]

Ok first of all this is not bashing on secondary weapons its a genuine question. I am still pretty new to Warframe but i am at a point where i got 3 builds (working on more) that can melt anything up to lvl 120 without effort and i never used secondary weapons. Can someone tell me their purpose and recommend good ones for endless missions? My fav part of the game is pushing myself to my limits through endless missions so i need weapons that are effective against high lvl enemies.

[Melanholic7]

first of all : this game if sandbox of some sort, player is trying to entertain himself. Firstly i thought the same - “why I need any secondary weapon when i Have OP ignis? why i need any frame when i Have Rhino/Mesa/Inaros with ignis?”.  

its just interesting to use other weapons. With different shooting feelings and etc. 

[(PSN)Eluminary]

Secondary weapons have completely different mod sets than primaries in fact secondary weapons have better mods than primary weapons for the most part in my opinion especially when it comes to crit mods.  Currently the most used secondary is the Catchmoon kitgun.  You need to get faction with fortuna to be able to build this.  there are several different types of kitguns all of them are pretty good catchmoon is just the most popular at the moment.

 

AkStiletto prime, staticor, Mara detron are other good ones that are on par with if not above many primary weapons

Edited October 15, 2019 by (PS4)Eluminary

[Frenotx]

I usually bring primaries and secondaries with different roles in mind. For instance:

1) Secondary that's great at clearing out hoards, and a primary that's great and killing the hard targets that survive. One of my more-used versions of this is a catchmoon for wiping out the trash enemies, and a Cernos Prime for quickly dispatching the things like noxes, heavy gunners, or anything else that doesn't die in one or two catchmoon shots.

2) Weapons with different ranges. In the case of your ignis, you could bring a sniper secondary for precise shots vs. targets you can't otherwise reach. Arca Scisco would be a good choice here.

3) Utility weapons. I really love dual wielding with a glaive. Zakti + glaive prime is probably my favorite, and is hella strong. Since I usually have my secondary out, I bring a primary that can offer utility: the Ferrox. I can snipe with the Ferrox if needed, or I can throw it to both instantly switch to my glaive + pistol, and set up an AoE that clusters + primes enemies for condition overload.

In a nutshell, look at what your main weapon does worst, and think about what type of secondary might best fill that gap. If there's no gap to fill, then think about what extra utility you might be able to pack with you via your other weapon.

[Frennick]

Secondary is great for many. In my case it's mainly distance based.

I know Catchmoon is a favourite to many, but Pyrana Prime is wack due to it's "passive" effect when killing 3 in a row. It acts like an auto shotgun that excels at clearing anything up close. Primary is often anything long ranged hitscan 😄

[taiiat]

• your two Guns, means that you can have two Guns.
• Gun A and Gun B don't have to do the same things.
  • sooooo you can bring more types of things with you at once, since you can Equip more than one Gun at once.
• you never need to use one Gun Slot vs the other (excluding when you're carrying anything), it simply provides more options that you can use to increase your flexibility, potentially increase your power, Et Cetera.
• if you have ever run out of Ammo for one of your Guns, well.... you can carry two, so if you mixed using two, then you probably won't run out of Ammo.

Edited October 15, 2019 by taiiat

[MonsterOfMyOwn]

What is the point of primary weapons ?#catchmoon #redeemer

[Viges]

21 minutes ago, MonsterOfMyOwn said:

What is the point of primary weapons ?#catchmoon #redeemer

Eidolons and Orbs obviously.

[WhiteMarker]

2 minutes ago, Viges said:

Eidolons and Orbs obviously.

Catchmoon demolishes Eidolons. So just Profit-Taker Orb (if you run solo. If you run as a team, then you don't even need a primary for the Orb)

[belanya]

The same as your primary, killing things. There is no difference, they are just smaller guns with the same output at the end.

[kyori]

1 hour ago, Gromzok said:

Can someone tell me their purpose

So that you can shoot enemies while carrying a data mass or power cell.

[0_The_F00l]

Just variety mostly. 

Also different mods can have some good complimentary effects. 

I run a high status secondary (cause the multishot possibility on Secondaries is pretty high) for spreading status / armor stripping. 

And high crit primary (cause HM exists) that can do focused damage on tough enemies. 

Or visa versa as I feel like,

you are free to not use Secondaries or primaries completely. 

 

[Gromzok]

21 minutes ago, kyori said:

So that you can shoot enemies while carrying a data mass or power cell.

This... is a pretty good point actually...

[Teljaxx]

Way back when this game first came out, secondaries were pretty much universally weaker than primaries. Because of this, players were expected to mostly use their primary for its power, and only switch to their secondary when they had to. Carrying something, being downed, running out of ammo, whatever. So secondaries were intended to be a backup weapon.

But that is no longer the case. There isn't a difference between primaries and secondaries in terms of overall effectiveness anymore. There are now plenty of secondary weapons that completely outclass primaries. So secondaries aren't really secondary anymore.

I wouldn't mind if DE simply made it so that we had two gun slots, instead of separating them into primary and secondary slot. Along with this, they should also make it so that you don't need to switch to a pistol to carry something, or when you are downed. We can already carry things with dual guns and two handed melee weapons, so why not rifles as well?

[Isokaze_BestKaze]

Usually I take an AOE or a fast firing weapon with crit or corrosive as a primary, and a status secondary to proc condition overload for the melee.

Other options exist. Like armor stripping secondaries. Crit secondaries, etc.

The whole point is to create build that synergize and are fun to play. One of my favourite combo as of late is Acceltra for AOE damage and crits, Rad/Viral Quatz for status and single traget damage, and Gaz Glaive Prime for nuking anything that previously got shot by Quatz.

[Corvid]

17 minutes ago, JilloftheJungle said:

and then expecting everyone to play catch-up, through various PAY WALLS. 

What pay walls, perchance, are you referring to?

[ant99999]

I sincerely apologise if it was a joke, but I didn't get it (in which case I have a really bad sence of humor).

But as far as I'm concearned most shooters give you an ability to carry more than one weapon to have some options how to approach an enemy. In some cases weapon slots can be interchangeable, like in Borderlands, but in case of Warframe they are divided into primary, secondary and melee weapons. In some games the ammount of slots can reach up to 10 like in Doom or more. Warframe decided to stop at 3 to 4 slots.

I hope my explanation was clear.

[(PSN)CrazyBeaTzu]

2 hours ago, kyori said:

So that you can shoot enemies while carrying a data mass or power cell.

The real answer.

[(PSN)Dishinshoryuken]

37 minutes ago, JilloftheJungle said:

i'm starting to realize this game has become pointless goop,

events end too soon, rewards are improperly matched to missions and the effort needed to complete.

there is so much wrong, you almost wonder if marketing over in warframe hq just wants the game to crash and burn...
 

tragic, cuz it was getting pretty good aestheically/cosmetically/graphically....

too bad they just can't stick to one story, they can't just give people a chance to progress before changing said story,

and then expecting everyone to play catch-up, through various PAY WALLS. 

WHAT makes it all EVEN SADDER is that this is still a BETA, and we will never see the complete game hit the shelves before interest dies off.

And you missed the whole idea behind WARFRAME™. It's not supposed to be a quick in and out game that there is a start and end point. It's a universe that a company is doing it's best to keep building the way THEY want for a mass appeal in the lines of a product THEY control to tell a full storyline and build upon.

It's kind of in the way of Star Wars when it first came out. Most thought the one movie was it but then, WHAM!! Empire Strikes Back came out and people started to see the story go forward as well as start more than just a single movie. Kids started wondering what was next and if the main hero could be hurt so much and continue, they wanted to see where he would go. Then there were much more interest in what ifs, merchandise, cosplaying, playing games, and so forth to GROW along with the franchise. It became bigger and is still going today in books, movies, cartoons.

Yeah, you can look at just the game and ignore the people who create costumes and props in the real life aspect. Ignore the artist drawing and the merchandise being sold. Pay no mind to those who want the game company and game to succeed by them buying the Prime packs. Don't think about TennoCon or Twitch content.

Go right ahead and focus on the video game just as those who watched Star Wars  back then did with that as the single thing, who missed everything else afterwards that is still going forth. It's not the start but what the future holds that many are here for.

[(PSN)CrazyBeaTzu]

"Why is this game giving me options and variety?"

[Kaotyke]

4 minutes ago, (PS4)CrazyBeaTzu said:

"Why is this game giving me options and variety?"

It should add Battle Passes, Lootboxes that give power, every update as Purchable DLC only, monthly subscription and every time you change a mod it costs plat.

[taiiat]

1 hour ago, Teljaxx said:

There are now plenty of secondary weapons that completely outclass primaries. So secondaries aren't really secondary anymore.

and visa versa too, ofcourse. stand out options of different sorts in each Slot.

1 hour ago, JilloftheJungle said:

too bad they just can't stick to one story, they can't just give people a chance to progress before changing said story,
and then expecting everyone to play catch-up, through various PAY WALLS. 

ok i couldn't really fault you until you got to this point where you lost me.

Warframe is painfully the opposite of what you describe in these two phrases. you have years, years to grind some generic Stats or XP Bars before another really major thing comes out.
and even if you don't, catching up is generally quite quick and borderline effortless.

i don't know what game you're playing in order to think that Warframe is going too fast in the 'giant Update' level progression content.
and to think that you can't get that stuff done far, far quicker than anyone that did it when it was the new stuff quickly when it no longer is. every time there's another massive Update, all of the stuff introduced with the previous Update becomes essentially trivial.

 

 

 

15 minutes ago, (PS4)Dishinshoryuken said:

It's kind of in the way of Star Wars when it first came out. Most thought the one movie was it but then, WHAM!! Empire Strikes Back came out and people started to see the story go forward as well as start more than just a single movie. Kids started wondering what was next and if the main hero could be hurt so much and continue, they wanted to see where he would go.

were people actually that naive? did they not expect future Movies after the financial success of the first? did they actually wonder if the main Hero Characters would succeed in the future? ofcourse the main Hero Characters always succeed, if they die the story ends. Hollywood and Plot Armor have stronger bonds than Protons and Neutrons have.

Edited October 15, 2019 by taiiat

[(PSN)Dishinshoryuken]

3 hours ago, Gromzok said:

Ok first of all this is not bashing on secondary weapons its a genuine question. I am still pretty new to Warframe but i am at a point where i got 3 builds (working on more) that can melt anything up to lvl 120 without effort and i never used secondary weapons. Can someone tell me their purpose and recommend good ones for endless missions? My fav part of the game is pushing myself to my limits through endless missions so i need weapons that are effective against high lvl enemies.

Welcome to WARFRAME ™, A game that gives so much choice that many focus on the gains over the enjoying said choices. So much so that they made Sorties that show off certain aspects some don't use. If a Secondary Only shows up, you need a Secondary to do it.

Certain missions, as others have stated, have shown the need for a Secondary.

There is a fun build where you stay on the ground downed and slaughter many enemies and then have your squad pick you up. Did it once with a group of Nekros and his Soul Punch augment. Was fun. You need a Secondary for it though.

It gives the chance to go Gun n Glaive, which is fun as well instead of just using Primaries.

When I first started playing, a PC transfer told me that in most cases, your Secondary can get more powerful than the Primary. Seen it a few times since way back then.

[AzureTerra]

Different damage types, different damage effects, firerates etc.

My general rule is that if i have a Fast RoF Primary i will have a Slow Secondary (and vice versus) and will try to make sure that the primary damage type of one is not the same as the other.

[(PSN)robotwars7]

several reasons to carry a secondary.

- some primaries have bad ammo economy, so just like in a more "realistic" shooter, you could run out of ammo for your primary weapon, at which point having a sidearm is nice.

- "switching to your pistol is always faster than reloading." it's not just a CoD quote, even though our weapon switch speeds are too slow for what they are, it's still faster than reloading most weapons. even though you likely aren't against other players, it lets you keep clearing the map for a little longer in endless modes.

- you can make your loadout more versatile: a sniper for long range, secondary shotgun for close up, or beam weapon for close range, pistol for enemies out of beam range. then you can also factor in multiple damage types, elemental damage, etc. if we end up against a ton of Sentients in the New War (which seems likely), you're gonna wanna carry as many damage types on you as possible (or just run around hacking them up with a Paracesis, whatever suits you best.)

- you can use Secondaries while carrying items, good for if enemies are far away as you move between consoles in MD.

- you can shoot them whilst downed. it really does make a difference: it's harder to revive someone who is surrounded by heavy enemies, but if they have a good sidearm they can clear the area and make it safe to revive them. plus there's also the principle of "if I'm dying, I'm taking you with me!"; that level 100 Bombard won't have long to enjoy his little victory!

- once we (eventually) get dual wielding for more than just Glaives, it'll look cool AF going around with sword and gun simultaneously.

 

Edited October 15, 2019 by (PS4)robotwars7