A guide for solo clearing Orphix Endurance with Bonewidow (and only Bonewidow)

[Xaero]

You won't need to use your frame or operator. But you will have to max Bonewidow out first, obviously. Fortunately, we currently get double affinity (until January, 4), so it won't take too long if you also get your personal affinity booster (with plat/as a daily reward/from Baro if he brings one), it stacks with universal booster for 4x affinity. For leveling I recommend second event mission on Saturn, as it always has Grineer soldiers which are great for affinity farming.

Here's the Bonewidow build:

Every mod matters.

Vitality and Steel Fiber - general survivability (obviously).

Slipstream, Refuel, Thrusters - allow you to move around quickly.

Flow, Streamline and Rage - you likely won't ever run out of energy.

Intensify - buffs your Ironbride and Meathook.

Pressure Point and Fury - just for Ironbride.

Hydraulics - for jumping (more about it is described later in the post).

 

So, Ironbride and Meathook are the only abilities you need to use. Forget about the shield, you need to receive HP damage to regenerate your energy with Necramech Rage.

Meathook is great for healing. The more health target has, the more HP you get.

At higher levels you can even go from, like, 100 HP to 5500 in just one bite with some enemies. This allows you to stay alive throughout the whole mission. And you won't run out of energy thanks to Necramech Rage.

By the way, you can interrupt Battalyst spinning attack with Meathook.

 

Now for the Ironbride, your main source of damage dealing. Here's the build:

Nothing much to say about it. Sentient units are vulnerable to corrosive damage. They're also immune to status so it's best to focus on crit-related mods in the build. You can ignore Astral Autopsy if you don't care about codex scanning.

 

Ironbride has a powerful heavy attack with a long-range projectile.

It's great for dealing with crowds, and you don't even have to get close. But I don't recommend to use it against Orphix because you'll have to aim precisely at the core and your DPS will be lower compared to spamming normal attacks. By the way, normal attacks damage Orphix core from any angle, even if you stay behind Orphix's back.

 

How to deal with Orphixes on the walls and ceilings? Necramech Hydraulics is your best friend. Jump high, hold aim button to hover, and spam melee attacks.

Or just jump on top of them and start hitting. Just don't forget to control your movement so you don't fall down.

 

Use slam attacks to destroy Orphix Resonators fast. Slam attacks deal AoE damage that passes through walls and obstacles.

 

When you move between objectives, chain dashes and slam attacks to save up some fuel without losing speed. Mostly works in more or less open areas.

 

Well, that's it. Damage from Ironbride will be enough to destroy all 36 Orphixes, as you can see here:

 

 

All in all I prefer Bonewidow to Voidrig. While Voidrig unquestionably wins in DPS department, Bonewidow is much better at mobility, survivability and self-sustaining. And more buffs for it are on the way.

[(PSN)Madurai-Prime]

 "Here's a tactic to beat this event solo, all it takes is a perfectly built loadout with specific requirements."

Like obviously dude. Thanks though.

[chofranc]

Thanks, this will come handy since i can only play solo because the strict nat problem. Question, Why are you using Extend?

[Xaero]

1 minute ago, chofranc said:

Thanks, this will come handy since i can only play solo because the strict nat problem. Question, Why are you using Extend?

+3m melee range for Ironbride. 6m total.

[Xaero]

15 minutes ago, (PSN)Madurai-Prime said:

 "Here's a tactic to beat this event solo, all it takes is a perfectly built loadout with specific requirements."

Like obviously dude. Thanks though.

I've seen quite a few players who had no idea Meathook can be used for healing. Or that you can jump on top of Orphix and destroy it with Ironbride.

And many won't even try Bonewidow because they heard it's trash.

[(PSN)Madurai-Prime]

48 minutes ago, Xaero said:

I've seen quite a few players who had no idea Meathook can be used for healing. Or that you can jump on top of Orphix and destroy it with Ironbride.

And many won't even try Bonewidow because they heard it's trash.

Experimentation is normal. I'm not online to see if there's a tooltip in the actual game about the healing, but it's already in the wiki, then there's obviously the 4 min experiment in a mission where one can simply use the hook on an enemy.

[Xaero]

Just now, (PSN)Madurai-Prime said:

Experimentation is normal. I'm not online to see if there's a tooltip in the actual game about the healing, but it's already in the wiki, then there's obviously the 4 min experiment in a mission where one can simply use the hook on an enemy.

Well, those who follow all the updates and always experiment probably won't need to look for any guide at all, as they already know what to do.

[Corvid]

1 hour ago, (PSN)Madurai-Prime said:

 "Here's a tactic to beat this event solo, all it takes is a perfectly built loadout with specific requirements."

Like obviously dude. Thanks though.

Sometimes it's nice to have the loadout/technique out there in public so players like me (who don't particularly enjoy build-tweaking) know what to work toward.

[Slaytanic93]

Great work.
It's amazing how people think Bonewidow is trash, to the point they will demand in recruiting "Voidrig ONLY" and the whole "combat discipline" meta setup to keep the team healed when you can easily keep yourself up and going with Bonewidow.
Just like people screaming about Lavos being terrible, how lame do you have to be to think something is terrible because it cant clear a room at the press of a button (or holding a button, as is the case for Voidrig).

[Xaero]

11 hours ago, Slaytanic93 said:

to the point they will demand in recruiting "Voidrig ONLY" and the whole "combat discipline" meta setup to keep the team healed when you can easily keep yourself up and going with Bonewidow.

They’re not completely wrong if they’re aiming for the highest score. Voidrig is essential in destroying Orphixes fast. Completely discarding Bonewidow is a mistake though, since it can destroy Resonators faster than operators and also protect Voidrig teammates from spinning Battalysts.

[Butterfly85]

Have to admit, my opinion of Bonewidow has changed after taking her through a few rounds earlier this week. 

Not fully optimised, hell, I went in at lv15, with basic health mods plus intensify.

Meathook can do a crapton of healing plus She has more armor than Voidrig anyway so can shrug of damage better, modded or not. Pick a tanky target like an eximus and sip,away.

Also has the bonus of being able to pluck Battalysts out of their mid air spin shenanigans as well, which I made full use of.

Her 4 has good range and is great for anything mobs instead of gunning them down. And in between orphixes I did those long dash movements, ploughing anything in my way with the sheild. I'm actually starting to have fun using her now

[(XBOX)ShadowBlood89]

very informative post

[MorradiX]

Looks good.....my lvl 10 BW with zero forma and zero mods wont be doing that this year I think  :D 

[ReddyDisco]

i question the investment if its just for this event, cool guide though

[Xaero]

18 minutes ago, ReddyDisco said:

i question the investment if its just for this event, cool guide though

If DE allow us to use mechs in regular missions leaving everything as is, using Bonewidow will be a viable alternative to regular warframe gameplay.

[vegetosayajin]

Great guide. This is the way a topic should be made!


I have almost the same build except for the hydraulics, I should try it out with it.

[ReddyDisco]

31 minutes ago, Xaero said:

If DE allow us to use mechs in regular missions leaving everything as is, using Bonewidow will be a viable alternative to regular warframe gameplay.

fair enough

[Gen0-234]

Amazing guide, impressive how thorough the guide is - mod config screenshot, complete with reasoning for the mods along with tactics & tips in using the build, backed up with clips, not to mention good formatting (no wall of texts or consecutive pictures/clips without explanation). The video on clearing 36th Orphix at the end adds to the value. Thank you for this!

Best I've managed with Bonewidow (solo) is only 32. At that time, I felt overwhelmed by mostly Summulyst + Choralysts doing really high damage and that I'm lacking in DPS/Range (tradeoff in Ironbride build), with no idea how to improve. Since then I thought it's impossible for Bonewidow to clear 36 Orphix solo and returned to Voidrig. Now that I see it's possible with this guide giving some pointers, I'm interested in trying again until I succeed. Seems like a goods motivation to keep me running the mission (losing drive at the moment but not done with the Arcanes).

A few questions:

1. What would you replace Astral Autopsy with? (Assuming one doesn't bother with scans, or already done with them) I'm thinking either Blazing Steel (+120% Heat) or Ion Infusion (+60% Electricity, to boost the Corrosive)
2. When healing with Meathook, do you prioritize Corpus/Grineer, or Sentients? I find that Corpus/Grineer heals very little early on (though builds up on later rotations) and harder to hit, while Sentients heal a ton, but for only a short burst (after that, the heal tick seem to be greatly reduced)

[Xaero]

1 minute ago, Gen0-234 said:

What would you replace Astral Autopsy with? (Assuming one doesn't bother with scans, or already done with them) I'm thinking either Blazing Steel (+120% Heat) or Ion Infusion (+60% Electricity, to boost the Corrosive)

Yep, any of the two.

2 minutes ago, Gen0-234 said:

When healing with Meathook, do you prioritize Corpus/Grineer, or Sentients? I find that Corpus/Grineer heals very little early on (though builds up on later rotations) and harder to hit, while Sentients heal a ton, but for only a short burst (after that, the heal tick seem to be greatly reduced)

I usually catch anything that gets close, but try to prioritise spinning Battalysts (to avoid receiving heavy damage) and eximi.

[Monolake]

17 hours ago, (PSN)Madurai-Prime said:

 "Here's a tactic to beat this event solo, all it takes is a perfectly built loadout with specific requirements."

Like obviously dude. Thanks though.

It doesn't, he doesnt even use specific meta weapons like Fluctus to kill resonators faster (which is a must have for solo).

And you can lose the movement mods and instead use fast frame or operator dash to get around - which will save you hassle of needing this many formas too, Hydraulics is needed for some maps. But you can also bail if you dont like the map having orphixes up high or being too far apart, because time lost will cost you points. I really dont like Hydraulics messing your movement in narrow areas like hallways. Also you can stop dash animation with shield instead of jumping or ground slamming all the time if you want to move around fast in Bonewidow.

[Tiltskillet]

22 hours ago, (PSN)Madurai-Prime said:

 "Here's a tactic to beat this event solo, all it takes is a perfectly built loadout with specific requirements."

Like obviously dude. Thanks though.

...

[White_Matter]

Can confirm, meathook is OP. Will surely get nerfed soon.

Also it renders the shield completely redundant(very useless on its own too).

[vanaukas]

Nice guide tenno, thank you for sharing it!

[PhiThagRaid]

On 2020-12-24 at 8:06 PM, Xaero said:

By the way, you can interrupt Battalyst spinning attack with Meathook.

This is the best ability that currently exists for mechs. Except for miniboss enemies, if you don't like an enemy, just pick it up. A battalyst doing spin to win? Just pick it up. A Nox slowing you down? Just pick it up. A Nullifier bugging your DPS Voidrig team mate? Just pick it up. Getting berated by the exploiter Orb? Pick her up and throw her in a pond(sadly patched out). Need to charge a lure in an eidolon hunt? Just pick up and throw the vomvalysts at it.

Oh and I guess it also gives some health.

[Reitrix]

5 hours ago, White_Matter said:

Can confirm, meathook is OP. Will surely get nerfed soon.

Also it renders the shield completely redundant(very useless on its own too).

Nope. Shield provides an absurd amount of mobility.

With no Shield deployed, every time you Slide, your Bonewidow will stop dead, carefully place the shield back on its chest and then allow movement. 
Deploy the shield, none of that. Slide-stop-twist-slide. No downtime.
Can also employ Slides during melee combos to basically cancel the final swing recovery into an energy free shield slam and go straight back to swinging with no recovery animations. 

Meathook is insanely good for healing, but if you don't need the Health, put that shield up. Your mobility comes from having it deployed and working slide cancels into everything you do.