Would a Mod-less challenge run be posible?

[NeverToReturn]

Hello. Coming from someone who enjoys watching people put themselves through unbearable challenges for our entertainment (challenge runners are the modern day gladiators), I've come across Sabuuchi's run of Warframe jumpless.

This made me wonder a thought, and idea: Would it be possible to beat Warframe without mods?

Simple deal, reach the New War quest without a single mod in your warframe, weapons and/or companions. Without cheating or exploiting, at most limiting your arsenal to dojo/quest stuff and no trading, do you believe that would be doable?

It turns raw base stats into an important factor, things that can hit hard naturally. I can see high status weapons that inflict viral or slash being a must in this, or stuff like the Xoris that deals immense damage for no reason with its detonation. There are nuances I'm missing for sure, so I extend you the invitation to discuss this idea.

[Pizzarugi]

There is a modless run, you do it while getting base Grendel's parts.

I think that's all we should get. If you wanna reach New War without modding, you can do that as a self-imposed challenge.

[Dryu259]

Maybe with certain weapons now but I remember when I was starting out I didn't know you could fuse mods(I thought they had to drop at higher ranks) so I was playing with just base ranks mods and enemies in the 20's almost felt like minibosses and I was maybe tickling enemies in the mid 30's.  

[PublikDomain]

I don't think there are any specific barriers preventing this. The regular missions on the way around the starchart would get tedious towards the end but there aren't any mods you need to have equipped in a mission to progress. There are some spots where a mod would end up being equipped, but you could just take it off right after. For example when you get Umbra during The Sacrifice he comes pre-equipped with the five Umbral/Sacrificial mods, and you might have to equip a mod during the tutorial. It also depends if you want to do it solo or not. If you can play with others, then basically none of what you do matters anyways and you could just get carried in the starchart missions. If it has to be solo, mission types like Hijack would suck as well as missions like Defense. Probably not impossible, but definitely sucky.

1 minute ago, Pizzarugi said:

If you wanna reach New War without modding, you can do that as a self-imposed challenge.

Isn't that exactly what OP is talking about...?

[NeverToReturn]

31 minutes ago, PublikDomain said:

I don't think there are any specific barriers preventing this. The regular missions on the way around the starchart would get tedious towards the end but there aren't any mods you need to have equipped in a mission to progress. There are some spots where a mod would end up being equipped, but you could just take it off right after. For example when you get Umbra during The Sacrifice he comes pre-equipped with the five Umbral/Sacrificial mods, and you might have to equip a mod during the tutorial. It also depends if you want to do it solo or not. If you can play with others, then basically none of what you do matters anyways and you could just get carried in the starchart missions. If it has to be solo, mission types like Hijack would suck as well as missions like Defense. Probably not impossible, but definitely sucky.

Well it would be assumed that you'd unequip the mods after it, with the rules being more about "don't run any mission with mods installed". But you brought up good points, like running it solo to have an actual challenge.

In addition, one other warframe that could mention would be vauban. His Flechette orbs, even without power strength, deal so much damage and cover such an area that your only limiting factor would be energy. And with us executing Eximus enemies and their drops of energy all the time, that could be a saving grace.

[Aruquae]

…Yes… Grendel’s run proved it was possible.

Would anyone like that? Probably, good for pushing the limits of how you are with that frame. 

[NeverToReturn]

1 hour ago, Aruquae said:

…Yes… Grendel’s run proved it was possible.

Would anyone like that? Probably, good for pushing the limits of how you are with that frame. 

An unaware me made the original post, not knowing of said Grendel run. Sorry for the redundancy of my post and if it caused you any aggravation or distress. I've just returned to playing warframe this year, so I've got a lot to catch up on. Still, cheers, and thanks.

[Aruquae]

2 minutes ago, NeverToReturn said:

An unaware me made the original post, not knowing of said Grendel run. Sorry for the redundancy of my post and if it caused you any aggravation or distress. I've just returned to playing warframe this year, so I've got a lot to catch up on. Still, cheers, and thanks.

Oh no, it wasn’t you at all. 
Mb if you thought I was mad or anything, I just got PTSD from remembering those missions. Grendel missions… wouldn’t recommend unless you got Hildryn, which I did not at the time. 

[Merkranire]

I forget what level range we’re dealing with exactly. The Grendel missions are up there where you can do it, and it can get pretty chaotic and panic-inducing for some loadouts, but can also start getting kind of tedious for other loadouts of gear that don’t really do sufficient damage but also aren’t in particular danger.

Usually I just use modless to get my bearings before I build, getting a feel for the stable baseline of gear and loadouts and how it works before I start endlessly customising it for the content I’m doing and how I want to play, and there are definitely cases where I’m glad to have the mod system even if I’m pretty sure that the gun is performing as designed

[Merkranire]

When you start hitting level 30-40 enemies, their Eximus varients and the overguard that comes with them will start feeling particularly crunchy comparitively, so you’ll want at least a 111 amp from Cetus to take advantage of the void weakness of overguard

Edited January 23 by Merkranire

[Merkranire]

Also, viral/slash is a lot less crucial outside of Steel Path because the standard game doesn’t have the modifiers SP does; if you just watch the damage types of what your gun does and what the enemy’s weak to, you should be fine

[Packetdancer]

3 hours ago, Merkranire said:

I forget what level range we’re dealing with exactly. The Grendel missions are up there where you can do it, and it can get pretty chaotic and panic-inducing for some loadouts, but can also start getting kind of tedious for other loadouts of gear that don’t really do sufficient damage but also aren’t in particular danger.

The Grendel missions are 25-30 on the star chart, though I'd argue the issue with them for many people is less the level range and more the length. 20 minutes for survival and getting 800 cryotic on the excavation can be a rough run for some modless loadouts.

 

3 hours ago, Merkranire said:

Also, viral/slash is a lot less crucial outside of Steel Path because the standard game doesn’t have the modifiers SP does; if you just watch the damage types of what your gun does and what the enemy’s weak to, you should be fine

I will counter that slash and viral can be very effective in this specific mission; it's like the one place on the star chart I think it can actually make a difference if someone is struggling badly. If someone doesn't have Hildryn and finds the missions frustrating (but doesn't want an escort), I tend to recommend either Glaive Prime (if they have it) or Cerata (which is much easier to get). Both for the AoE and the decent status chance on the innate slash (for Glaive Prime) or viral (for Cerata).

[Merkranire]

1 minute ago, Packetdancer said:

The Grendel missions are 25-30 on the star chart, though I'd argue the issue with them for many people is less the level range and more the length. 20 minutes for survival and getting 800 cryotic on the excavation can be a rough run for some modless loadouts.

Ah. I meant more the level range that OP was talking about in terms of completing Warframe according to the criteria

I agree that the grendel missions could be a little on the long side, though the defense one was pretty good and time flew by because of the fighting. I think I ended up corpse dragging the excavator one

5 minutes ago, Packetdancer said:

I will counter that slash and viral can be very effective in this specific mission; it's like the one place on the star chart I think it can actually make a difference if someone is struggling badly. If someone doesn't have Hildryn and finds the missions frustrating (but doesn't want an escort), I tend to recommend either Glaive Prime (if they have it) or Cerata (which is much easier to get). Both for the AoE and the decent status chance on the innate slash (for Glaive Prime) or viral (for Cerata).

I’m not saying slash and viral can’t be useful, but it’s not so much-so that we’re forced into it; even without those specific items, missions are still doable, you just need to be aware of damage types and weapon roles to get the most out of what you’re shooting and who you’re shooting it with (though obviously not all weapons are initially the same tier), and to also get used to using different weapons against different enemies within the one faction and different scenarios. Doesn’t hurt to know things like how to manage aggro on a Mobile Defense target or know when and when not to go in for melee

[Packetdancer]

1 minute ago, Merkranire said:

I’m not saying slash and viral can’t be useful, but it’s not so much-so that we’re forced into it; even without those specific items, missions are still doable, you just need to be aware of damage types and weapon roles to get the most out of what you’re shooting and who you’re shooting it with

Fair. I just see the viral/slash meta parroted at folks not doing Steel Path, which seems silly; I agree it's not the be-all and end-all on the star chart, and if you are going for exploiting things you can probably do better with a more targeted build.

It's just that I do think for this one specific set of missions, with their weird and unique constraints, there's particular value in viral/slash if you can get the combo -- or even just inflicting either status on their own, if not.

[Merkranire]

8 minutes ago, Packetdancer said:

Fair. I just see the viral/slash meta parroted at folks not doing Steel Path, which seems silly; I agree it's not the be-all and end-all on the star chart, and if you are going for exploiting things you can probably do better with a more targeted build.

It's just that I do think for this one specific set of missions, with their weird and unique constraints, there's particular value in viral/slash if you can get the combo -- or even just inflicting either status on their own, if not.

I think that’s fair. Regardless of damage types, viral can be pretty potent as a status effect, to the point I wouldn’t mind seeing it reduced in effectiveness while maintaining its purpose, and bypassing armour can be pretty good, though without SP’s modifiers just hitting armour with the right damage type has a lot more opportunity to be effective in this modless run through the game that relies on innate attributes

Edited January 23 by Merkranire

[Monolake]

yeah easily. you dont need much to beat the standard lvl <40 starchart content, see grendel missions that are not just modless (almost) but also have plenty of other restrictions but you can easily solo them with certain frames

Edited January 23 by Monolake