What is the purpose of Archguns?

[War.Machine.9]

They seem to not do any greater damage than our other weapons.

Actually mine fully modded does less damage than my normal weapons.

So why don't we just use normal weapons in space?

[tyreens]

It is good for one boss (profit taker) and that was it. Again a great design concept from DE.

[Loza03]

 

They're set-up to be big ultimates, but are sustainable enough to be regular weapons in the right conditions...

[Mrevasivepants]

well, the ayagan and larskpur are really good...

[zoffmode]

They're good as backup weapons in normal missions. If you invest into Archguns and mod them correctly, they do great damage actually and provide good utility.

[schilds]

Archguns have special engineering that, unlike your other guns, allow them to function in space.

Your other guns are especially susceptible to wear and tear (assuming they function at all) at a temperature of absolute 0, and damage from high energy particle bombardment.

You would know this if you hadn't skipped out on your extra-terrestrial science and engineering classes.

Edited November 20, 2019 by schilds

[(XBOX)SupremeMorph]

Honestly, until they boost the damage output a bit, they're basically just a backup weapon for when you run out of ammo, or something to complete a particular build. Like an armor-stripper that chains to everything on screen, or a sniper rifle when all you have is an Ignis and a catchmoon (basically a long range weapon when all your guns are short range, I'm bad at explaining)

[Yakhul]

They are basically the big weapons for big baddies, tho unfortunately, my opticor vandal kills faster than my Imperator vandal, which is kind of a let down. A buff to the stats in atmosphere to archguns would be most welcomed.

But as some said already, they are backup weapons for when you have no ammo. They can be used depending on the situation. I like my imperator vandal cause it completes my build, both in functionality, and looks.

[Oreades]

As far as purpose.... pretty much the Profit Taker. 

They have some additional potential but the summoning mechanic sorta kills that and most people just forget that they exist. Honestly I love them in regular missions when I remember they exist but that isn't terribly frequently. 

I really wish they would just integrate them into the game as normal weapons (once you've Gravimagged them) cause they don't really punch any harder than a lot of the standard weapons that we have. They could just be a normal thing and instead of summoning them you give up say both your Primary and Secondary to equip a heavy weapon. Anyhow that is my secret wish. 

[ZeroX4]

1 hour ago, DullahanDan said:

They seem to not do any greater damage than our other weapons.

Actually mine fully modded does less damage than my normal weapons.

So why don't we just use normal weapons in space?

idea behind it was to let us carry HEAVY weapons like Heavy Machine Gun or Gatling Gun
but de realized it would be too op so they nerfed it + time gated their usage

but on other hand idk how for other weapons but fluctus is great wallshooter
whenever ur on defense and u see that 1 stubborn enemy who just wont die and wont come to u and fight
in most cases 1 or 2 shots trough the wall and wave is done 

[Miser_able]

Honestly, the issue isn't really stats, it's mods. Compare for example rifle crit mods vs archgun crit mods. 

[Numerikuu]

Mainly as a for-fun thing. Who doesn't like shooting things with a big fooking gun?

Also it's fun when they bug out and you're left looking like this 😅

[EdinaMonsoon]

my archgun has been a life saver on many occasions when my primary has run out of ammo and there's too many enemies for melee

the big laser one is amazing against orb vallis corpus if you mod it right

[TARINunit9]

Archguns were originally designed for a completely isolated famemode. Against Archwing mission enemies, Archguns are ridiculously overpowered, and this was fine because the complete isolation of their missions meant that 1 point of normal damage and 1 point of Archwing mission damage didn't have to be equal

But then when they put archguns in normal missions and revealed that yes, damage points are equal, it became clear just how far behind archguns truly were

[nslay]

I'm more curious about the purpose of Archmelee. At least Archguns can be used in normal missions and have a special place in a boss fight. But melee attacking stuff in Archwing? Talk about awkward!

[taiiat]

just Profit-Taker, as far as intentional uses. you won't need them for anything else, but uh - isn't that a good thing? when games make certain Equipment a requirement, is when games quickly become monotonous and boring.

i used my Archgun for the Wolf, as it was a Weapon Slot that i wasn't going to use otherwise so i didn't have to be like those goofballs that complained about having a Weapon Slot welded for Wolf (when that wasn't necessary to say the least).
i even still have my Archgun of choice (for ground) Modded just for Wolf, as i don't really have much of a reason to change it. however, i've been thinking of trying it on Liches since Liches do share some similarities with the Wolf. and my chosen Archgun atleast tied if not outperformed any of the Spike Damage Weapons in the game.

 

if you mean for in Archwing mode rather than on the ground - Archguns exist there because they didn't want you to use your normal Weapons in space. so you don't. vs Enemies in space, the Archguns are very powerful. however that is majority due to Archwing Enemies being much weaker overall currently, so that Archwing Weapons had and have much weaker Mods was not an issue since at that time you could only use those Weapons in one place anyways.

again, you don't need them on the ground, and the game is better when you don't need them as needing to use certain Equipment is one of the most boring things in Video Games generally.

[Lakais]

As many have noted, the purpose of archguns in ground combat is to provide a "heavy super weapon" for when you need overwhelming and indiscriminate firepower. A sort of short term weapon that you are not meant to use for extended periods but periodically against particular enemies or in specific situations. A literal BFG. 

Now, the issue of performance in relation to "standard" Tenno "small arms" is that of design principle. Archgun weapon stats and mods are built and based with lessons learned from implementations of normal mod loadouts. DE learned that the insane degree of power-boosting out normal mods allow simply break any and all attempts at balance and reasonable damage progression, so all Archwing mods have, in general, far more reserved power progression. This has the theoretical benefit of making the content of AW more sustainable because out own damage output is not as extreme.

This leads to the fact that when archweapon damage could and is surpassed by great many standard firearms, that is not a problem with archwings or archguns. That is a problem inherent in our standard weapon mods and how needlessly extreme in power they are. 

[Paradoxity]

3 minutes ago, Lakais said:

As many have noted, the purpose of archguns in ground combat is to provide a "heavy super weapon" for when you need overwhelming and indiscriminate firepower. A sort of short term weapon that you are not meant to use for extended periods but periodically against particular enemies or in specific situations. A literal BFG. 

Now, the issue of performance in relation to "standard" Tenno "small arms" is that of design principle. Archgun weapon stats and mods are built and based with lessons learned from implementations of normal mod loadouts. DE learned that the insane degree of power-boosting out normal mods allow simply break any and all attempts at balance and reasonable damage progression, so all Archwing mods have, in general, far more reserved power progression. This has the theoretical benefit of making the content of AW more sustainable because out own damage output is not as extreme.

This leads to the fact that when archweapon damage could and is surpassed by great many standard firearms, that is not a problem with archwings or archguns. That is a problem inherent in our standard weapon mods and how needlessly extreme in power they are. 

Funny part is, Archwing is where we absolutely should have had the runaway killing power we see with our regular weaponry, instead of the  more paced slugging matches we've got.

Instead of Top gun we got... IDK. Bowling.  

 

[PhoenixFury]

It's the BFG, except less powerful than your other weapons.

[Zekkii]

I really have no idea what you're talking about, Imperator Vandal can get 100k DPS with 10 status procs per second.  What guns are you using that do more than that?

[KnossosTNC]

Well, I like clearing Void Fissures with my Larkspur. Yes, I could get the same effect with the Atomos, but I never got over how arse-ugly Atomos is. No way I'm touching that horrid-looking thing.

And yes, Archguns could use a buff.

[MonsterOfMyOwn]

They are mandatory for the Profit Taker. They are equivalent to "average" primaries with additionnal drawbacks : less ammo, can't use melee, clunky to switch back to normal weapons, cooldown.

But they can be really OK if you need high rof (Imperator Vandal) or status (Larkspur)

[SenorClipClop]

Anime.

[Teridax68]

8 hours ago, tyreens said:

It is good for one boss (profit taker) and that was it. Again a great design concept from DE.

This I think is unfortunately the truth. Like many mechanics in Warframe, atmospheric Arch-guns are just a gimmick that were shoehorned into a random content update and paired up with a paid consumable of dubious value (Gravimags). They can work as a backup weapon if the player ever runs out of ammo, and are mandatory against Profit-Taker (not that they really add to the fight, though), but otherwise have no real purpose of their own.

[Berserkerkitten]

I wish that Archguns were a little more extreme in regular missions. Limit their usage even more, but make them stupidly powerful to make it reeeeally worth using them when you want that extra oomph. I mean, the Imperator Vandal is so hilariously massive and then it doesn't even come with innate punchthrough? What the heck is this gun firing, nerf darts?