Best damage types for each faction?

[Ne0nRunner]

I'm somewhat new to the game so I'm still figuring out how to maximize damage output for weapons. Which damage types would you recommend I use for each faction (Corpus, Grineer, Infested, Orokin)? And should I prioritize weapons/mods with high status chance?

[Leqesai]

Generally Grineer are the tankiest faction so people almost always build their damage specifically for dealing with them.

Grineer:

Typically you want to go Viral+Heat+Slash or Corrovie+Slash when fighting against Grineer. The most important thing to remember is Viral makes you hit harder and Slash bypasses Armor. Heat and Corrosive both reduce armor but Corrosive has bonus damage against armor.

Corpus:

Corpus are generally pretty squishy if you're using Toxin damage since it bypasses shields altogether. You can also go with Magnetic and Impact if you do not have access to Toxin.

Infested:

Infested enemies are very easy to kill with Viral+Heat combos. You don't need slash because they do not have armor mitigation like the Grineer do, so stack big damage numbers and use Viral multipliers (status proc).

Also, Infested units in Cambion Drift are immune to viral status procs so it is better to stack corrosive + heat IMO.

Sentient:

Sentient I try to go with corrosive + cold whenever possible to help negate armor issues. Stripping their damage reduction with void damage is important as well (operator or xaku's subsume ability).

Corrupted:

Corrupted are the most diverse faction and it is generally best to build like you're fighting Grineer since the corpus and infested units are much easier to kill.

 

 

As far as prioritization of weapons is concerned it is good to understand the role and importance of Sustain VS Burst DPS.

Crit weapons are Burst DPS and benefit most from high damage and high multipliers (multishot, faction bonuses, raw damage increases). Crit weapons do not need high fire rate to be effective (IE: Sniper rifles, bows)

Status weapons are Sustain DPS and benefit from high rate of application (multishot, fire rate, status chance) as well as an appropriate combination of status procs that can increase your damage output (Viral multiplies damage dealt, for example).

Hybrid weapons are the meta and they generally lean towards Sustain DPS. They have crit multipliers that are valid alongside status application. These weapons can be fast or slow depending on how you are weighting the Sustain/Burst variables. Hybrid weapons are most useful with Melee since they can build combo which can directly impact both status and crit stats in a major way.

 

A meta loadout typically includes one Burst DPS weapon, one Sustain DPS weapon and a Hybrid DPS (generally a melee). 

Some examples of Burst DPS weapons:

Kuva Bramma, Arca Plasmor, Exergis (this is an example of a high damage weapon that doesn't have great crit stats), Vectis Prime, Daikyu, Crit-Zaw Heavy Attack build, Fragor Prime Heavy Attack build

Some examples of Sustain DPS weapons:

Mutalist Cernos, Ignis, Twin Kohmak, Kohm, Boar Prime

Some examples of Hybrid DPS weapons:

Ignis Wraith, Kuva Nukor, Ninkondi Prime, Gram Prime, Pangolin Prime

[TheArcSet]

15 hours ago, Ne0nRunner said:

I'm somewhat new to the game so I'm still figuring out how to maximize damage output for weapons. Which damage types would you recommend I use for each faction (Corpus, Grineer, Infested, Orokin)? And should I prioritize weapons/mods with high status chance?

Excluding faction mods, Infested are squishy, but heats a good bet; for corpus units high-level enough to shield tank some raw damage, Toxic bypasses their shields; for any armoured unit (Grineer or Corrupted) Bleeding (not slash) bypasses armour and Ignited halves it, for a while, after a few seconds.

Since it's rework, Viral gives you 425% damage to health.

So some combo of Viral-Bleeding is a good bet; often Viral-Heat is used with Hunter_Munitions.

Specific builds depend on weapon stats and full loadouts.

[Leqesai]

1 hour ago, RazerXPrime said:

@TheArcSet @Leqesai

I've played Nyx in Deimos with Viral/Heat Viral/Slash builds to great effect since for her enemies have no shields or armor.

However the apex enemies are the ones that are the most difficult to kill. The enemies that are not immune to viral status will die if you sneeze at them. So if you have no way to strip armor and you're dealing with decently levelled enemies I would still opt to bring corrosive/heat if you for instance go for a Tier 3 Isolation Vault bounty.

I agree

[RazerXPrime]

@TheArcSet @Leqesai

I've played Nyx in Deimos with Viral/Heat Viral/Slash builds to great effect since for her enemies have no shields or armor.

However the apex enemies are the ones that are the most difficult to kill. The enemies that are not immune to viral status will die if you sneeze at them. So if you have no way to strip armor and you're dealing with decently levelled enemies I would still opt to bring corrosive/heat if you for instance go for a Tier 3 Isolation Vault bounty.

[Leqesai]

On 2021-05-30 at 4:41 PM, TheArcSet said:

@RazerXPrime @Leqesai

To further clarify, only the 5 apex grey-strain infested (& Necramechs) are immune to Viral procs, the rest, ie most enemies in the Drifts, can be effected normally; so Viral-Heat is viable there, as long as you also have a way to deal with those enemies.

 

I suppose you can also note that ancients protect allies in their aura range from all procs too.

Thanks for the clarification! That's a great point.

[Leqesai]

1 hour ago, Traumtulpe said:

Yes, with some niche exceptions all +physical mods are useless. They do not function like elemental mods; A 90% heat mod adds 90% of the entire base damage to your weapon, a 90% slash mod only increases already present slash damage by 90%.

A mod that just "increases damage" is a different multiplier than one that adds elemental damage, meaning you want to have both for the best effect.

This is absolutely correct.

Adding elemental damage allows you flexibility in developing your weapons that physical damage typing simply cannot match.

[Traumtulpe]

1 minute ago, Ne0nRunner said:

is it better to prioritize elemental damage types over physical [...] And should I just use overall damage mods instead of boosting certain physical damage types?

Yes, with some niche exceptions all +physical mods are useless. They do not function like elemental mods; A 90% heat mod adds 90% of the entire base damage to your weapon, a 90% slash mod only increases already present slash damage by 90%.

A mod that just "increases damage" is a different multiplier than one that adds elemental damage, meaning you want to have both for the best effect.

[Ne0nRunner]

On 2021-05-30 at 2:56 AM, Leqesai said:

Generally Grineer are the tankiest faction so people almost always build their damage specifically for dealing with them.

This is a great guide, thanks for taking the time to write it. With regards to modding, is it better to prioritize elemental damage types over physical (slash/puncture/impact) since weapons come equipped with those types innately? And should I just use overall damage mods instead of boosting certain physical damage types?

[TheArcSet]

@RazerXPrime @Leqesai

To further clarify, only the 5 apex grey-strain infested (& Necramechs) are immune to Viral procs, the rest, ie most enemies in the Drifts, can be effected normally; so Viral-Heat is viable there, as long as you also have a way to deal with those enemies.

 

I suppose you can also note that ancients protect allies in their aura range from all procs too.

[TheArcSet]

11 hours ago, gbjbaanb said:

Grineer: slash

Corpus: slash

Infested: slash

Orokin: slash

Sentients: slash

 

There you go.

Just make sure your slash can actually proc bleeding and know that slash mods are a waste on 98% of weapons.

[Leqesai]

5 hours ago, RazerXPrime said:

Small correction. They are not immune to Viral damage. They take normal damage from Viral as per the damage type to their health or armor. They are however immune to Viral procs. This means you will not gain any bonus damage boost vs them by stacking viral procs.

Thank you for the clarification.

[(PSN)FromOtherSpace]

As a beginner, you can go for damage build, especially if you follow the advice above. Status is useful against higher level ennemies. When you face ennemies under lvl +/-50, you dont have time to benefit from status. So you can clean the star chat without playing status and doing (for most mission) the AABC rotation easily.

[RazerXPrime]

2 hours ago, Leqesai said:

Infested:

Infested enemies are very easy to kill with Viral+Heat combos. You don't need slash because they do not have armor mitigation like the Grineer do, so stack big damage numbers and use Viral multipliers (status proc).

Also, Infested units in Cambion Drift are immune to viral damage so it is better to stack corrosive + heat IMO.

Small correction. They are not immune to Viral damage. They take normal damage from Viral as per the damage type to their health or armor. They are however immune to Viral procs. This means you will not gain any bonus damage boost vs them by stacking viral procs.

[CephalonCarnage]

Grineer: slash

Corpus: slash

Infested: slash

Orokin: slash

Sentients: slash

 

There you go.

[Brinstar7777]

3 hours ago, Ne0nRunner said:

I'm somewhat new to the game so I'm still figuring out how to maximize damage output for weapons. Which damage types would you recommend I use for each faction (Corpus, Grineer, Infested, Orokin)? And should I prioritize weapons/mods with high status chance?

Focus on slash; it's one of the best, most flexible damage types. Heat is also effective against a wide variety of enemies. Stay away from combination damage like Radiation and Corrosive unless you're planning on fighting an enemy vulnerable to those damage types; they're more powerful than basic damage types, but have a narrower specialization. For more details, see the link below: https://warframe.fandom.com/wiki/Damage.

[Traumtulpe]

2 hours ago, Ne0nRunner said:

Which damage types would you recommend I use for each faction

• Grineer: Corrosive / viral+heat / slash status+viral.
• Corpus: Toxin.
• Infested: Radiation.
• Corrupted: All of the above, prioritize Grineer elements.
• Sentients: Corrosive.

[Soy77]

You seems to be interested in some knowledge.

Therefore i suggest checking out this page