Shards - Do you feel the difference?

[Steeldragonz]

So I haven't bothered equipping shards to any frames, even my go to's for certain modes. Its mostly out of laziness, but also because of my playstyle depending on the mode relying on either a frames skillset, or weapon traits [for the mode]. I have been wondering just how much of a difference a full set of shards makes.

 

The reason i say that last thing is because of this, I can see the value in stacking Crimson: 

- 75% Strength/Duration, 

- 187.5% Melee Crit Dmg

-187.5% Secondary Crit Chance

- 187.5% Primary Status chance 

 

While when it comes to Azure, im wondering if people are just using these to replace Maxed Mods on their Frames givens stats they provide.

Azure:

- +1125 Health/Shield Cap/Armor (+450% EHP - Below 3000 Total Armor)

- +37.5 Health Regen/s

-+375 Energy Cap

For Amber (maybe because of my playstyle) I struggle to see the benefits of using a single shard, let alone stacking (minmax), so im really interested in people explaining there choices for using them.

Amber:

- 225% [45%ea] Max energy on spawn

- 750% [150%ea] Health Orb Effectiveness

- 375% [75%ea] Energy Orb Effectiveness

- 187.5% [37.5%ea] Casting Speed

- 112.5% [22.5%ea] Parkour Velocity

 

Other then a meme build i don't see the benefit in those last 2 at all right now. Anyway just asking for some feedback on how other people have been using there Tauforged Archon Shard sets [if anyone has been lucky enough to get a full set. 

Here is what i have so far for reference:

Edited May 29, 2023 by Steeldragonz
Melee Crit, instead of Melee crit dmg

[FulfillMyWill]

17 минут назад, Steeldragonz сказал:

- 187.5% [37.5%ea] Casting Speed

- 112.5% [22.5%ea] Parkour Velocity

 

Other then a meme build i don't see the benefit in those last 2 at all right now.

 

Having 5 Parkour velocity shards makes any frame a speedster. It also allows faster movement with abilities that restict your movement, but still allow roll/dodge (like Ivara's prowl, Mesa's Waltz Peacemaker, Hildryn's Aegis storm)

Casting Speed can help with really slow casting abilities (like Equinox's Maim) or when you need to spam them (like Thermal Sunder).

Edited May 28, 2023 by FulfillMyWill

[Steeldragonz]

7 minutes ago, FulfillMyWill said:

Having 5 Parkour velocity makes any frame a speedster. It also allows faster movement with abilities that restict your movement, but still allow roll/dodge (like Ivara's prowl, Mesa's Waltz Peacemaker, Hildryn's Aegis storm)

Casting Speed can help with really slow casting abilities (like Equinox's Maim) or when you need to spam them (like Thermal Sunder).

On this point I tend to Bounce with Mesa, so I can avoid use of a mod slot for walltz and dont notice the movement restrictions anyway. But i see your point, again its my playstyle i guess mitigating things.

[cute_moth.npc]

On some Warframes like Trinity who are starving for more duration, range or strength to make their whole kit feel good but there's normally not enough mod space?

Yes.

On Warframes where freeing up the arcane slot that might be taken by energize unlocks a lot more power, also yes..

On like.. Inaros, are you really going to notice Azure shards? Not really. 

The effects can vary wildly. My CC Titania builds basically doubled in damage output, Trinity feels nicer to play, other Warframes it's more like slapping on a bonus that's there but doesn't revolutionize anything.

Amber is really good. Parkour velocity is normally hard to get a lot of, casting speed is as good or better than Natural Talent with only 2 shard slots and extra energy from orbs can easily replace Energize.

[Exxion]

Casting speed is very useful on certain frames. Most notably Harrow, because it speeds up Thurible's charge.

[RLanzinger]

To @Steeldragonz,

Do I fell a difference : With a maximized bonus HELL Yeah ! 🤠

My Main is Frost Full-Armor : 4 Normal⁺¹⁵⁰, 1 Tau⁺²²⁵

Having so much armor on my Frost is a real game changer (is slowness make it a perfect target)...

My Second is Nova Full-Energy : 4 Normal⁺⁵⁰, 1 Tau^{+75% Orbs Effect}

Nova Starting mission with Almost 1K Energy is a bliss in Railjack or short mission.

My Third is "Archon's Killer" MESA Secondary critical : 4 Normal⁺⁵⁰, 1 Normal^{+5O% Orbs Effect}

If  I cannot do the Archon hunt with the boosted frame of the week, I choose her and she's the Best-Archon-Support but I still need a Tau shard for a +75 Energy Orbs effects.

[Steeldragonz]

so you use it to stack on peacemaker?

[Azamagon]

I just use them as needed to smoothen out builds and add flexibility. Usually strength/duration, casting speed, and armor tend to be my go-to's:

• Strength ones are really good for build diversity (frees up modslots), when you can hit particular breakpoints and whatnot more easilt. But beyond that, I don't see the point of stacking it too much.
• Duration is similar to Strength, but less "necessary". Just QoL, for the most part (I like max ability efficiency, so my durations tend to be on the lower end).
• However, in terms of "feel", casting speed is by far my favourite shard of them all! The smoothness they provide is seriously not to be underrated. It adds a lot of indirect survivablity on Steel Path, not being stuck in lengthy animations. From the top of my head, I use them on Loki, Nyx, Frost, Wukong, Revenant, Titania, Limbo etc.
• Armor I simply put on frames which can get some use of it, basically. Or if I just want to boost up some "lazy survivability".

Edited May 28, 2023 by Azamagon

[taiiat]

Shards is literally like 2-4 extra Mod Slots, soo.....
yes, ofcourse. anyone should feel a big difference. it dramatically increases the amount of stuff you can have at once.

we get to have the same or more stuff without having to sacrifice what we already have. it's literally just Powercreep, but i'm just saying this to convey that it's a big deal, i'm not really complaining at this point.

 

if you've only seen Shards as "a way to get me like 25% more of a Stat i already have 300% of" - you're using them wrong, generally.
use them to let you take more unique stats/traits or compensate for Stat deficiencies - without having to lose anything that you currently have.

similarly the point of Shards is not to use 5 of the same one. that's almost always borderline useless.

[Azamagon]

13 minutes ago, taiiat said:

if you've only seen Shards as "a way to get me like 25% more of a Stat i already have 300% of" - you're using them wrong, generally.
use them to let you take more unique stats/traits or compensate for Stat deficiencies - without having to lose anything that you currently have.

similarly the point of Shards is not to use 5 of the same one. that's almost always borderline useless.

Exactly.

I mean, you COULD do it, but it's objectively the worst way to do it (diminishing returns and all that).

Although, a case can be made for Pillage users, to reach 400% ability strength for full armor-strip in one cast. But that's an exception, not the rule.

[RLanzinger]

To @Steeldragonz, "so you use it to stack on peacemaker? "

YEP, I always boost the FORTE (perks) and never compensate for the flaws. This is why boosting Mesa's Peacemaker with critical build is so much better than range or duration...

Also I have already a MOD for regulator to get wider reticule (FoV) when activating peacemaker. Rising Critical is much better even on Status build.

[TARINunit9]

I haven't even bothered farming them because fighting archons and defending whatshisname isn't fun. I loaded up Frost with a bunch of +energy shards and from them on I didn't need to care about the others.

[PublikDomain]

The most useful things I've found so far are rounding out Health/Armor, increasing Energy, and increasing Casting Speed. +25% Casting Speed is pretty noticeable. Crimsons are great, but for the most part only make sense on a few frames like Protea for Duration. Otherwise the increase will be nice but you need so many Crimson Taus to really make it worth it (and I've only ever gotten 1 or 2 total so far).

[Voltage]

I haven't really gone into them because my builds change often, and I'm not paying an Arcane Distiller tax in the form of Bile for changing builds. 

However, as someone who plays lots of Nova, it is nice that I can use 2 Amber shards to cut Natural Talent which has been pretty much mandatory since her launch if you're a client using Wormhole.

[Leqesai]

My Rhino loves his 4 +shield azure shards.

 

One azure shard on any frame with 125 or lower armor is a really nice boost.

I don't bother with parkour velocity because I've never once thought I need to go faster... I have, however, used the yellow shards on multiple frames to increase casting speed.

Lots of frames benefit from casting speed. 

 

I don't really care about tauforged shards. I'm of the mind that everything in the game has been doable since before archon shards and the new incarnon weapons+adapters.... So if I get one, cool, but I don't really care. 

1 hour ago, taiiat said:

similarly the point of Shards is not to use 5 of the same one. that's almost always borderline useless.

Yep.

Having said that, my rhino loves his 4 shield shards :P 
If for no other reason than being silly.

[(XBOX)ECCHO SIERRA]

2 hours ago, Steeldragonz said:

So I haven't bothered equipping shards to any frames, even my go to's for certain modes. Its mostly out of laziness, but also because of my playstyle depending on the mode relying on either a frames skillset, or weapon traits [for the mode]. I have been wondering just how much of a difference a full set of shards makes.

 

The reason i say that last thing is because of this, I can see the value in stacking Crimson: 

- 75% Strength/Duration, 

- 187.5% Melee/Secondary Crit Chance

- 187.5% Primary Status chance 

 

While when it comes to Azure, im wondering if people are just using these to replace Maxed Mods on their Frames givens stats they provide.

Azure:

- +1125 Health/Shield Cap/Armor (+450% EHP - Below 3000 Total Armor)

- +37.5 Health Regen/s

-+375 Energy Cap

For Amber (maybe because of my playstyle) I struggle to see the benefits of using a single shard, let alone stacking (minmax), so im really interested in people explaining there choices for using them.

Amber:

- 225% [45%ea] Max energy on spawn

- 750% [150%ea] Health Orb Effectiveness

- 375% [75%ea] Energy Orb Effectiveness

- 187.5% [37.5%ea] Casting Speed

- 112.5% [22.5%ea] Parkour Velocity

 

Other then a meme build i don't see the benefit in those last 2 at all right now. Anyway just asking for some feedback on how other people have been using there Tauforged Archon Shard sets [if anyone has been lucky enough to get a full set. 

Here is what i have so far for reference:

I think blue shards in armor are under rated. 

I have 3 tau blue on mesa for armor and 2 tau red for secondary cc. Its like having pre nerf arcane guardian with 100% uptime. Pets using link armor are magically more survivable.

I dont have to worry about things that can bypass shatter shield as much. 

It makes her health tankier in general.

2 tau red i forget what my secondary cc is for peacemaker but it isnt nothing. Helps with secondaries i generally use too.

 

Yellow parkour velocity is criminally under rated imo.

 

Theres a lot of things in this game that come down to >go to place >do thing >extract as quickly as possible.

Yellow can help with that without sacrificing a precious arcane or mod slot.

Health regen shards on garuda are extremely useful as she will always always always be able to cast bloodletting (even if it isnt a "full" cast worth of health to energy conversion). It gives her extremely good energy economy which means she can crutch on her abilities for shield gating/invinc frames more often.

Pillage is 100% armor strip at 328 strength with one corrosive projection. Red shards can help hit that specific number.

 

Duration shards benefit a lot of frames like protea's turrets having more time to stack damage and her shield nades and dispenser lasting longer. 

 

A lot of frames *can* crutch on shield gate and or rolling guard and or dragon key but blue armor/health shards can make that more forgiving if not executed perfectly.

As for tau vs not tau.

3 tau = 5 regular. Having tau can either give more build flexibility or allow you to simply spike certain numbers harder. 

 

I used to run energize and guardian on mesa *not* velocity. Id run anemic on peacemaker.

I swapped guardian for 3 tau armor and replaced it with velocity, replaced anemic with galv shot. Which overall is a huge W for mesa that she kinda needs in long steel path runs.

[(PSN)robotwars7]

depends on what you're lookign for:

- Blue shards offer enough armor (Tauforged especially to make ultra-squish frames like Banshee and Gyre rank amongst the mid-tier durability frames, while still having the insane power that comes with being one of these glass cannons.

- Red Shards are, ironically, not the most noticeable in terms of effects, unless you're stacking several Taus, or trying to reach a specific stat threshold - a certain percentage - without having to use Corrupted mods that could ruin your build in other areas.

- yellow shards are great for the Casting speed, especially on slow casters. the parkour velocity boposts can be nice too, but I think when you've played the game for such a long time, and seen the casting animations so many times, you just find them kind of unnecessary, and unless it's Garuda you can get downed before the power casts (or worse, it takes your energy, but then you get downed just when it would start to take effect.)

shards themselves are great.. the acquisition of them though... that has a lot of room for improvement IMO.

[(PSN)GEN-Son_17]

I decided to go full Azure on Frost Prime, capitalizing on 4 armor upgrades and one health (all Tau). This setup perfectly supplements my Bubble Tank build, starting my bubble off with 25K damage with 197% strength and ~1980 armor. Adding his 1700 shields and 1640 health, all I needed to complete the two setups was to subsume his 1 for Shield Pillage on the first build (Attack Build) and Parasitic Armor on the second build (Defense Build).

The results VERY FAR exceeded my expectations!! This is why I love how this game is made. You haven't lived until you can slow walk with a trumna and just annihilate every SP enemy for 100s of levels (becomes an issue in the thousands but I didn't build this for super, hours long, level cap endurance runs. Not enough personal time and that is always boring. 😂). Of course, this setup works when combined with Adaptation, Arcane Guardian, Arcane Grace (defense build) and Arcane Aegis (attacked build).

Super happy with the results 

[Cerenax]

You can 100% feel the difference when using the blue shards to give decent armor and health to squishy frames. When it comes to red shards I usually prefer using them for duration since there are already too many ways to increase your power strength (operator abilities, pax bolt, parazon mod, growing power, etc.), but not so many to increase duration.

[quxier]

4 hours ago, Steeldragonz said:

 

- 187.5% Melee/Secondary Crit Chance

- 187.5% Primary Status chance 

You have to take into account base crit/status.

10% base would give you ~19% (rounded up). So change from 10% to 29%. It doesn't make too much difference. Even with full pistol mods you get ~7x chance so that's 80%. 19% from shards gets closer to 100%. So it's basically level 1 crit in most cases.

ps. melee crit dmg

4 hours ago, Steeldragonz said:

While when it comes to Azure, im wondering if people are just using these to replace Maxed Mods on their Frames givens stats they provide.

Azure:

- +1125 Health/Shield Cap/Armor (+450% EHP - Below 3000 Total Armor)

When you have this shard + hp arcane you can reduce some mods. Shards don't have to be maxed. It's not the best but if you don't have other more expensive stuff it works fine.

4 hours ago, Steeldragonz said:

- +37.5 Health Regen/s

I had one shards (7.5%) on Xaku for convenience. If you don't build for hp regen (e.g. melee) and you don't want to use certain stuff (e.g. pizzas or Sentinel heal-on-jump) then it's nice.

It would probably work with Citrine passive (hp regen per second).

4 hours ago, Steeldragonz said:

- 375% [75%ea] Energy Orb Effectiveness

It's alternative to Energize but with different requirements. If you can get orbs regularly you can get more energy that way. Do you need more OR Energize is enough? That's question you have to ask yourself.

I think I've put 1-2 on Citrine/Voruna because they already generate those orbs. It's basically minmaxing for my needs.

4 hours ago, Steeldragonz said:

 

- 187.5% [37.5%ea] Casting Speed

- 112.5% [22.5%ea] Parkour Velocity

Keep in mind that Casting speed has diminishing rewards. Same probably applies to Parkour.

As fair I remember, the highest change you would see putting 2-3 normal or 2 Tau. After that you would see change at ~5th shard but much less than first 2.

You could test it with Focus school & Natural talent (50% x2).

If I want Cast speed I would put max 2 and put ANYTHING else instead.

4 hours ago, Steeldragonz said:

- 225% [45%ea] Max energy on spawn

For quick runs (e.g. E/SO) you want some energy to cast base abilities. Even 1 shards (normal) gives you enough starting energy to cast all abilities (maybe even twice).

Otherwise it's more convenience.

 

As for main question:

- Yareli starting energy let me cast Roar & Aquablades

- On Xaku: hp/regen for convenience, 10-20% strength to make full armor strip and probably cast speed

Otherwise I don't bother with hunts so I have only few to spare.

 

[(PSN)Joylesstuna]

Their help is felt enormously. 2 casting speed shards makes a huge difference. 5 strength red shards on gyre so I don't have to rely on madurai sling strength is amazing. If your build is missing something or low on something, shards can fix that.

[Tiltskillet]

6 hours ago, Steeldragonz said:

187.5% [37.5%ea] Casting Speed

- 112.5% [22.5%ea] Parkour Velocity

 

Other then a meme build i don't see the benefit in those last 2 at all right now.

That's funny.  Because when you asked if shards feel like they make a difference, those two are the ones that come to my mind first.  Most frames feel so much better to me with even one of each.  

[Lionsheart89]

The results can be felt, but it all depends on what your goal is and what frames you attach them to. There is a right way and a wrong way to use them.

[ReddyDisco]

Yes ofcourse, 2 orange shards is natural talent, few blue shards can make it so you don't need primed flow. red shards on nova and protea for duration is amazing.

[RafMatador22]

The biggest use of these fragments for me is to make the build a little more flexible, and make it possible to dispense with the use of some mods like natural talent for example, which is a mod that consumes a lot of space just for the luxury of faster skill use speed .