Ancient player looking to return

[Zihark.]

Very ancient tenno looking to return to this game. We enjoyed this game back when tower keys were a thing and we would strategize and optimize our gear for those crazy 100 round tower 3 defenses/survivals but we quit after those were replaced with void relics since there really wasnt any more "endgame" to work towards. Is this still the case? or does warframe have something that is both challenging and rewarding nowadays? If so, we would like to jump back in the game.

[dwqrf]

il y a 30 minutes, Zihark. a dit :

Very ancient tenno looking to return to this game. We enjoyed this game back when tower keys were a thing and we would strategize and optimize our gear for those crazy 100 round tower 3 defenses/survivals but we quit after those were replaced with void relics since there really wasnt any more "endgame" to work towards. Is this still the case? or does warframe have something that is both challenging and rewarding nowadays? If so, we would like to jump back in the game.

Don't listen to the other guys. He is just salty and struggles with mid game content, and trashes the forums with non-sense.

Warframe evolved greatly giving new content and challenges for every one and every type of gameplay. I won't talk in detail to avoid any form of spoil, but I'm truly certain you can only have a blast with this wonderful game. It sure does have flaws, and is sometimes unbalanced, and not everything is meant for everyone, but you'll find what you are looking for.

[Circle_of_Psi]

5 minutes ago, dwqrf said:

Don't listen to the other guys.

Don't listen to this guy, he is a Sentient!

_{^{(This was a joke, plz don't hurt me)}}

6 minutes ago, dwqrf said:

Warframe evolved greatly giving new content and challenges for every one and every type of gameplay. I won't talk in detail to avoid any form of spoil, but I'm truly certain you can only have a blast with this wonderful game. It sure does have flaws, and is sometimes unbalanced, and not everything is meant for everyone, but you'll find what you are looking for.

But yeah, I agree with this ^

Warframe has really expanded over the years, there is a few new "End Game" stuff, but like Dwqrf said, don't want to spoil anything and let you discover them yourself, but if you want to know about a few without Lore spoilers, we'll be happy to let you know

Also, welcome back @Zihark.

 

[ApoXx95]

I definitely recommend focussing on the Story Quests first because that will unlock further content.

In terms of 'endgame' though that is challenging and rewarding: Probably Eidolon hunts on the plains of eidolon for once.

Disruption missions are hella fun, too and great for relic farming (I do recommend the steel path variant though if you want a challenge and better/more loot)

archon hunts (which are unlocked after some story quests) are a 'harder' version of sorties and weekly instead of daily and also have slightly better loot.

Probably the most 'endgame' content we have currently is Deep Archimedian - this one sadly is limited to once per week, too though (but it contains 3 missions in one - similar to sorties except that the missions directly chain onto one another without going back to the orbiter first)

 

[dwqrf]

il y a 3 minutes, Circle_of_Psi a dit :

Don't listen to this guy, he is a Sentient!

_{^{(This was a joke, plz don't hurt me)}}

Break me if you dare.

[Zihark.]

22 minutes ago, Venus-Venera said:

Unfortunately, this is a complete waste of time, because trading is EXTREMELY quicker and is a complete waste of time and only causes frustration and has absolutely nothing to do with skill...

 

15 minutes ago, dwqrf said:

Is that because it's too hard for you that yo go the trading route ?

I think youre missing the point. Im not looking for efficiency. I spent hours in the past collecting all the parts for my favorite weapons, enhanced mods by grinding fusion cores, and testing all sorts of numbers and damage combinations and made the most optimal gear i can that enhances my preferred playstyle. T3 defenses and survivals were great cause thats where i got to use my optimized gear AND get more prime parts as a reward. With void relics, 1 relic will always equal to 1 prime part, thus, removing any incentive to go past the 5 minute mark or wave 5. What i am looking for is a worthy enemy to use my best gears on cause no enemy in the star chart can stop me now and theres no reason to go on crazy defense/survival runs. Im hoping that some of the new content that came out while i was away has filled that void that will give us a reason to come back. (and if you have to spoil some stuff to let me know. so be it. i prefer to walk in knowing that theres a great challenge)

Edited September 4 by Zihark.

[dwqrf]

13 hours ago, Zihark. said:

What i am looking for is a worthy enemy to use my best gears on cause no enemy in the star chart can stop me now and theres no reason to go on crazy defense/survival runs. Im hoping that some of the new content that came out while i was away has filled that void that will give us a reason to come back. (and if you have to spoil some stuff to let me know. so be it. i prefer to walk in knowing that theres a great challenge)

There is, but the other shallow whatever-he-is doesn't know it because he didn't reach it. Of course, Warframe is still a horde shooter which has incremental difficulty over time, meaning it's accessible for new ungeared players (but not him) ; but scale quite nicely, and If you don't have the right gear or the mastery of the knowledge of the game you'll struggle and fail from time to time ; without need need of pushing it through beyond the usual C rotation at 20mn~ to find basic difficulty.

But remember the hardest difficulty on Warframe, if you want to own everything, always been Discipline versus Time; even with punctual really Hardcore bosses here and there.

[Circle_of_Psi]

25 minutes ago, Zihark. said:

Im hoping that some of the new content that came out while i was away has filled that void that will give us a reason to come back. (and if you have to spoil some stuff to let me know. so be it. i prefer to walk in knowing that theres a great challenge)

Alright then

So there is a few "endgame" content that might peek you and your pals wishes here:

Eidolon Hunts: The basic of "Endgame" you fight a massive boss and you all have to work in a team to find out why and how, high damage is needed and you'll need to learn the ropes of how to deal with the boss, there is 3, one that gets harder each time, has a time limit, due to its only at Night.

Archon Hunts: Much more harder as you'll be fighting a Sotrie level mobs with a boss at the end that are quite strong, needs a team to kill em and has other challenges inside it.

Deep Archimedian/Elite Deep Archimedian: This is the more "true endgame" as DA and DEA has a ton of moddfiers that can nerf you to the ground and you can set ones you want or don't want, Nerccells are the same but more of a starter version of this. You can even be limited to what weapons and warframes you can bring if you want to.

Steel Path: This isn't end game but makes basic misisons much harder, more so when you go do high level maps. But people can cake-walk them as of now.

 

P.S: If you are in-game as of right now or want to chat, I am down for it to help you out

 

 

Edited September 4 by Circle_of_Psi

[(PSN)Magician_NG]

2 hours ago, Zihark. said:

Very ancient tenno looking to return to this game. We enjoyed this game back when tower keys were a thing and we would strategize and optimize our gear for those crazy 100 round tower 3 defenses/survivals but we quit after those were replaced with void relics since there really wasnt any more "endgame" to work towards. Is this still the case? or does warframe have something that is both challenging and rewarding nowadays? If so, we would like to jump back in the game.

If anything doing level cap runs have only gotten easier since power creep has steadily continued on. And for those who do routinely do level cap runs, the current "endgame" content (Elite Deep Archimedea) is laughable. Between Duviri and EDA, DE are pulling power from players as a visage of challenge. Although WF still looks, plays, and sounds as great as you remember.

[Sephylon086918]

46 minutes ago, Zihark. said:

What i am looking for is a worthy enemy to use my best gears on cause no enemy in the star chart can stop me now and theres no reason to go on crazy defense/survival runs. Im hoping that some of the new content that came out while i was away has filled that void that will give us a reason to come back. (and if you have to spoil some stuff to let me know. so be it. i prefer to walk in knowing that theres a great challenge)

None exist to my knowledge. Base star chart everything dies in 1 or 2 hits of a fully modded out gun. Steel path every boss becomes an annoying bullet sponge with mechanics not worth paying attention to with the right frame *cough dante stynax cough*, even less so with a proper gun.

 

Newest endgame that was added was basically randomized loadout with boosted enemies that rewarded the new rare arcanes and archon shards. 1999 might bring something this winter, but afik thats just a self contained story that will introduce infested liches. Know even less about komei and the 5 hooplas.

 

Also this might be something of interest for you:

https://forums.warframe.com/topic/1411802-why-doesnt-warframe-have-any-substantial-boss-fights/

[dwqrf]

il y a 8 minutes, Sephylon086918 a dit :

None exist to my knowledge. Base star chart everything dies in 1 or 2 hits of a fully modded out gun. Steel path every boss becomes an annoying bullet sponge with mechanics not worth paying attention to with the right frame *cough dante stynax cough*, even less so with a proper gun.

Newest endgame that was added was basically randomized loadout with boosted enemies that rewarded the new rare arcanes and archon shards. 1999 might bring something this winter, but afik thats just a self contained story that will introduce infested liches. Know even less about komei and the 5 hooplas.

Also this might be something of interest for you:

https://forums.warframe.com/topic/1411802-why-doesnt-warframe-have-any-substantial-boss-fights/

Yes, anything is cheesable. That's power fantasy for you. Meanwhile, if you don't use the cheese tools, you are going to have a hard time with your everyday gear. Hence why randomized gear is hated because it does highlight the difficulty when not cheesing, and people don't have the knowledge to adapt to it.

[NeDesitVirtus]

1 hour ago, Zihark. said:

 

I think youre missing the point. Im not looking for efficiency. I spent hours in the past collecting all the parts for my favorite weapons, enhanced mods by grinding fusion cores, and testing all sorts of numbers and damage combinations and made the most optimal gear i can that enhances my preferred playstyle. T3 defenses and survivals were great cause thats where i got to use my optimized gear AND get more prime parts as a reward. With void relics, 1 relic will always equal to 1 prime part, thus, removing any incentive to go past the 5 minute mark or wave 5. What i am looking for is a worthy enemy to use my best gears on cause no enemy in the star chart can stop me now and theres no reason to go on crazy defense/survival runs. Im hoping that some of the new content that came out while i was away has filled that void that will give us a reason to come back. (and if you have to spoil some stuff to let me know. so be it. i prefer to walk in knowing that theres a great challenge)

I suggest taking your stug and doing a 60 eyes fragmented one once you get with the whispers in the Walls. It's an assassinate mission and I think it will be very fun. By the way, you were not allowed to use Octavia.

[NeDesitVirtus]

5 minutes ago, dwqrf said:

Yes, anything is cheesable. That's power fantasy for you. Meanwhile, if you don't use the cheese tools, you are going to have a hard time with your everyday gear. Hence why randomized gear is hated because it does highlight the difficulty when not cheesing, and people don't have the knowledge to adapt to it.

I love randomized gear because I can always find a synergy with my team and we slay. The thing is we all consider each other's loadouts and compliment each other so we buff. My only sadness is that the content that is Elite Deep Arcimedia (EDA) does not have a steel path modifier nor does the now very easy and simpleton Netracells. 

 

[Kaotyke]

1 hour ago, Zihark. said:

Im hoping that some of the new content that came out while i was away has filled that void that will give us a reason to come back. (and if you have to spoil some stuff to let me know. so be it. i prefer to walk in knowing that theres a great challenge)

Hm... well, what I can tell you is about what is on the tail end of the Questline. 

Some say Steel Path  (You do all nodes in the game, up to the ones in Whipsers in the Walls, its a NG+ with enemies with more Health/Shields/Level and you get more resources drop as a bonus) is easy, but when you just enter it, it can be quiet daunting, the enemies there get 3x buff in Health and Shields. But it did got easier with the last changes to Armor, so your builds are not much in the "Use Viral to optimize otherwise you are screwed", but that is at the end of the Questline as well...

In terms of using your best gear, I would say (Elite) Deep Archemedia or even Netracells, but, again, that is at the end of the current Questline and you need Rank 5 with the faction you unlock after Whispers in the Walls (the last major story quest we have). (Elite) Deep Archemedia requires more that you have a varieted Arsenal with good builds in them because that mode has no Revives and a lot of restrictions to abilities and gear (IF you choose to use them, you CAN use any Gear, but without using the restrictions, your rewards will be lesser). There are, as you likely noticed, 2 types of Archemedia, the normal one and the Elite, the Elite one adds more restrictions and increases the enemy levels from 250 to 400.

Netracells are the easier Archmedia and are unlocked when you finish Whispers in the Walls, I find them easy, but I know that is just me. Elite Deep Arhcmedian kicked my, and my squads, collective asses when we tried the first few times.

When you unlock Steel Path and finish Whispers in the Walls, a node there is a Boss Assassination, in Steel Path there's a secret: if you collect 60 Eyes (yes, Eyes) instead of 30, you get an Optional Super Boss that is far, FAR harder then the normal one with Steel Path Modifyers and you lose all your Revives so you MUST play well while fighting it AND the Eximus adds that spawn. Pick the right team, or go Solo (you crazy bastard), grab a gun with Infinite Ammo for backup and prepare to get constipated because you are going to CLENCH. And that boss IS optional, beause the reward is just a decoration.

[RichardKam]

When you have spent sufficient amount of time on this forum, you will instantly know a thread is going to get hijacked when some familiar usernames show up.

Anyway. My dear OP. Let's just say this game, specifically the arsenal, is getting more and more complex and powerful, to the point that you can make most of the underrated stuff work, if you build them properly. If you are someone who enjoy playing with sandbox game and building arsenal like me, you should definitely come back.

Even if you don't, hey, this game is free. What could go wrong.

[Loza03]

Oh, wow, that's even more ancient than me! Please excuse the forums being the forums. The time after Tennocon when we're waiting for the big winter update gets people antsy, and 'Endgame' is a sensitive topic besides.

 

Warframe has a few pieces of 'Endgame' content these days - quite a lot, actually, though it tends to get swallowed up by optimisation and then the playerbase moves on, causing Endgame to stop being considered Endgame pretty fast. I'll also try not to spoil anything but... I mean the word 'Endgame' does imply that I'm afraid.

From least to most - 'Endgame-y', there's Post New War content. Basically, the quest 'The New War' a 3-hour-long epic of a quest serves as a big watershed and benchmark, not dissimilar to the Second Dream if you remember that. In effect, anything you unlock access to after that tends to be at a higher standard of intensity than content unlocked prior - often about the level of Sorties at the minimum. At the moment, you'll unlock new 'Bounties' - mission types in the Open Map missions - for Fortuna and Cetus, as well as two new 'planets'. These have fewer nodes than traditional planets, but have huge tilesets full of secrets, hidden doodads and work on a different system more akin to those open map missions. As well as a bunch of new weapons and frames apiece. Also Uranus has a new mode in post TNW that has several Arcanes, weapons and a frame behind it. Most everything released these days is Post New War content, so this is just standard starchart progression that's at the end of the game. 

There's the Steel Path and Abritrations, unlocked by completing every node on the Star Chart. Arbitrations is sortie-level content with no revives and some extra caveats, all on endless mission types. These drop 'Vitus Essence' which is used for a variety of new mods, several new cosmetics, as well as the Warframe 'Grendel'. The Steel Path is a re-run of the Star Chart at a higher level with massively buffed enemies (complete with rewarding you with MR points all over again) that drops 'Steel Essence', which you trade in to Teshin to, again, get new cosmetic rewards, as well as Kuva, 'Umbral Forma', Arcane adapters for your guns (yes, weapons have Arcanes now!) and a shotgun weapon recoil mod... for some reason. The Steel Path also modifies several other points of content with increased rewards, and it drops also 'riven slivers' as an alternate way to get Riven Mods.

There's also Duviri, and for Endgame, Steel Path Duviri Circuit. A Roguelite (so semi-randomised gear) endless mode with insane level scaling that also gives you various 'Decrees', buffs to your Warframe that allow you to keep up. These drop Arcanes and 'Incarnon Adapters' - boosts to a variety of weapons, both in terms of base stats and granting a special secondary mode upon hitting enough headshots or combo count. Incarnon Adapter weapons often rank amongst some of the strongest in the game.

Then we swing back round to TNW-themed stuff with Archon Hunts. I won't explain what Archons are for spoiler reasons, but hunting them is a Sortie, The Steel Path and Arbitrations rolled into one. No revives! High levels! Buffed enemies! Somewhat aggressively bullet-spongey boss fight at the end! These are one of the principal sources of 'Archon Shards', minor boosts to various aspects of your Stats - such as to certain damage types, ability strength or duration, parkour speed, casting speed, granting more health and more health regeneration, as well as a set dedicated to a bunch of the damage types.

And last but not least are Netracells and Deep Archimedea. Netracells are single mission with Archon Hunt modifiers, but a crazy high spawn rate of some of the more powerful enemies in the game, and various debuffs to your frame (such as losing health when you walk). Deep Archimedea - and Elite Deep Archimedea - is kind of like Deep Dives from Deep Rock Galactic- a series of missions with no downtime. Whilst there's some baseline modifiers to each run, you can choose to take on further modifiers for even more rewards. These rewards are also highly focused - Legendary Melee Arcanes (and adapters for them) and multiple Archon Shards with a higher-than-usual chance of being Tauforged (basically shards that are stronger). These are all available elsewhere, but as rare rewards - Deep Archimedea is the mighty quest for the rarest, most valuable loot.

 

This isn't an Exhaustive list of everything introduced since you've been away though @Zihark. - there's tons of new stuff that's been added, and you'll have your work cut out for you. This is just the stuff that meets the definitions of 'Endgame'.

Tl;Dr - If you want endgame, you'll need to make a beeline for the New War. Most everything you're looking for that's 'endgame' is unlocked after this point. But enjoy the ride to get there, because it's a long old journey from where you left off.

[Numerounius]

3 hours ago, dwqrf said:

Don't listen to the other guys(Venus). He is just salty and struggles with mid game content, and trashes the forums with non-sense.
 

Yep, blocked that guy a while ago. All of their comments do not read like they belong in another thread. Comes off as snobby.

3 hours ago, Zihark. said:

Very ancient tenno looking to return to this game. We enjoyed this game back when tower keys were a thing and we would strategize and optimize our gear for those crazy 100 round tower 3 defenses/survivals but we quit after those were replaced with void relics since there really wasnt any more "endgame" to work towards. Is this still the case? or does warframe have something that is both challenging and rewarding nowadays? If so, we would like to jump back in the game.

There is a lot of systems in Warframe. When I returned I treated Warframe as a somewhat brand new game rather than trying to carry my ethos of why I quit in the first place on my return. Perhaps you can do the same since the game has changed so much since then.

There is still challenging content you can work towards if that is what you desire. But the more common reality is that there is multiple paths to explore with the experience being more about the various aspects of gameplay with the rewards spread out to ensure you reach these various facets rather than the end game goal of having a singular high power level content that rewards everything.

Edited September 4 by Numerounius

[RLanzinger]

Welcome back @Zihark.

It's been a while since U19 in 2016 when void relics was out...

So you got a lot fo updates and contents mainly Tons of Quests and Lore to catch Up, Openworlds, a bit of spacebattle (Railjack), tons of bosses.

About EndGames :

• Enemies Levels was change twice since SO levels past 100 are not so hard (exponantial to almost weak linear) so you can battle vs level 999 now...
• Endgame PRIME warframes still are the best, a lot more accessible
• Endgame Weapons are Prime + Void boost module (incarnon)
• Endgame Super Weapons are PRIME ARCHGUN (yeah Archwing heavy weapons in casual play, and no that not a joke...)
• Endgame Abilities are Void Schools, you can have almost infinite revives... (yeah, not a joke either....)

Hope to see you around n' maybe in the field, 😉

[Sephylon086918]

Should I get the popcorn?

 

Anyway @op to sum it up the best I can: while I think the endgame might not be what you're looking for given what you said, the grind towards it will atleast be fun, especially if you have a clan to do it with. I think @dwqrf called them freyand?

 

 

Worst case you can build towards doing solo endurance runs with any and every weapon you collect as your endgame. Or do what my clan did and go crazy; make a zaw, moa, and kitgun for each and every possible configuration just so you have something to do

Edited September 4 by Sephylon086918

[trst]

It's still the same game. Nothing stopped you from running a 100 wave Fissure with the new system. Plus there's more endless modes now all of which have their own rewards and some even feature currency/pity shops.

All that's really different is that "optimizing" a loadout/squad is only something worth doing for level cap content. And even then that's just a continuation of the gradual powercreep the game has had since the beginning.

But even if none of that fits your specific definition of "end game" I don't see how it matters. You have so many years of content to catch up on that you have mountains of things to do before you could even consider optimizing a loadout again. Plus the game being both free and your gear from back then only having gotten better with time means there's no loss in just jumping back in. 

[Zihark.]

2 hours ago, trst said:

But even if none of that fits your specific definition of "end game" I don't see how it matters. You have so many years of content to catch up on that you have mountains of things to do before you could even consider optimizing a loadout again. Plus the game being both free and your gear from back then only having gotten better with time means there's no loss in just jumping back in. 

I heard they added a bunch of more lore so I am personally excited to go back in. I just need non-lore reasons i can provide to persuade my friend to come back in with me.

Just out of curiosity, My optimized loadout consisted of:
Vauban Prime
Supra Vandal/Dera Vandal
Kulstar/Twin Gremlins
Orthos Prime

Has any of these got a significant change or a better version? Or would they still play the same way I am familiar with?

[Sephylon086918]

45 minutes ago, Zihark. said:

I heard they added a bunch of more lore so I am personally excited to go back in. I just need non-lore reasons i can provide to persuade my friend to come back in with me.

Just out of curiosity, My optimized loadout consisted of:
Vauban Prime
Supra Vandal/Dera Vandal
Kulstar/Twin Gremlins
Orthos Prime

Has any of these got a significant change or a better version? Or would they still play the same way I am familiar with?

Kinda

For weps you have some new mods and elements to play with along with the arcanes. Twin grems has a prisma version, and every melee can basically be a room nuke with melee influence arcane. You also now have the changes to semi auto weps, letting them be able to hold to fire like auto weps, plus a mod specifically for them. Also some leaks floating around that dera might get an incarnon soon.

 

From what I'm told vauby does well with ambassidor, so give that gun a whirl if you like. Also not sure how long ago it was, but he also got a rework, might be of interest to you.

 

As for what to use them on: your grind towards better weps aka incarnon, kuva, tenet and the upcoming infested lich weapons. Basically alot of new toys for you t experiment with.

Edited September 4 by Sephylon086918

[trst]

9 minutes ago, Zihark. said:

I heard they added a bunch of more lore so I am personally excited to go back in. I just need non-lore reasons i can provide to persuade my friend to come back in with me.

Just out of curiosity, My optimized loadout consisted of:
Vauban Prime
Supra Vandal/Dera Vandal
Kulstar/Twin Gremlins
Orthos Prime

Has any of these got a significant change or a better version? Or would they still play the same way I am familiar with?

Vauban did get a rework you might have missed but it made him considerably stronger. CC as a mechanic has only continued to get further outclassed but Vauban has enough tools to not need/care about that. 

As for the weapons there are considerably stronger options that are similar. Though only the Gremlins got a direct upgrade with the Prisma Gremlins (sold by Baro on occasion like other Prisma gear). But since then we've had Rivens, gun Arcanes, Galvanized mods, Primed mods, as well as other stronger mod additions. Plus system reworks to things like enemy armor, elemental resistances, and elemental status effects. Also melee has seen a number of reworks and changes like how the spin meta is long dead and channeling is long gone but melee is still one of the strongest options with the right gear.

So yeah those weapons, aside from maybe your melee weapons, will feel the same but you've got a whole lot of upgrades you can tack onto them. Which when put together will allow you to optimize nearly any weapon into being effective for any content on offer.

 

And as for general reasons to return aside from all the new gear there are a lot more variations on endless. Some even feature reasons to go beyond 4 rotations with a repeating C rotation reward structure. And the latest "end-game" modes feature new stacking conditions and debuffs (think nightmare missions but far more impactful). Look for thing like the Circuit after Duviri Paradox and Netracells/Deep Arcimedea after Whispers in the Walls. Plus there's the Steel Path as an optional toggle for most content (much stronger enemies, higher levels, and higher spawnrates) unlocked after clearing every mission on the star chart at least once. 

Though semi-randomized loadouts has become a staple in some modes (Circuit and Elite Deep Arcimedea). Which while that might not be your cup of tea it has pushed players to either optimize the bulk of their arsenal or to step out of their comfort zone and try gear/setups you normally wouldn't. 

So there is a lot to see and try out beyond the old days of just sitting in the same Defense room for hours. 

[Loza03]

21 minutes ago, Zihark. said:

I heard they added a bunch of more lore so I am personally excited to go back in. I just need non-lore reasons i can provide to persuade my friend to come back in with me.

Just out of curiosity, My optimized loadout consisted of:
Vauban Prime
Supra Vandal/Dera Vandal
Kulstar/Twin Gremlins
Orthos Prime

Has any of these got a significant change or a better version? Or would they still play the same way I am familiar with?

Vauban has seen a considerable rework! His 'minelayer' isn't mines anymore, it's a variety of other similarly useful bombs - and one that AFAIK can shred through almost anything with the right clustering. His 1 now spawns the Nervos as basically mini Roller drones that do the same thing, just seeking targets. His old 3 and 4 have been combined into a single ability, and his new 3 is basically an Orbital Strike laser that I wish was more useful. Crowd Control in general is no longer as powerful thanks to the addition of 'Overguard', which means certain powerful enemies, including eximus units, only succumb to CC after a sort of shield has been taken down. It'll still mess up pretty much all the mooks though. Of course, there's also a ton of new Warframes, so you'll probably find something else you like.

The Supra I believe remains passable and The Dera is likewise apparently in a functional state. However, if you like Auto-rifles, especially of the Corpus bent, you'll want the Tenet Tetra or the Tenet Flux Rifle weirdly enough (as lover of the Flux Rifle as a beam weapon, my loss is your gain), since one of those should work. If you just want power though, there's plenty of great primaries, as well as several great auto-rifles (including the Incarnons)

The Kulstar, meanwhile... I don't think anyone uses. And looking at its stats, I'm afraid it's probably not holding up in the modern day! Fortunately AoE weapons are all the rage so you should be able to find something to fill that void. However, the Twin Gremlins have recieved an upgrade in the form of the Prisma Twin Gremlins, which I hear are pretty good as Akimbo Secondaries go. 

Ironically, whilst Melee has seen heavy reworks, I'm pretty sure the base playstyle should be fine for Orthos. You'll probably need to remod, but aside from range getting a nerf polearms remain polearms. However, as per - there's definitely been better Melee weapons released in the interim. In terms of Polearms, the Guandao Prime is superior in terms of base damage and crit and the Koruum is superior in terms of base damage and status (though it is less well weighted towards slash and it has a unique block combo that is absolutely terrible). If you're dedicated though, I'm sure you can make it work once you get to Melee Arcane territory. Maiming Strike is dead though, if you used that.

[Voltage]

I'm going to be honest, lots of players here are missing the mark on the type of gameplay OP is asking about. He's from a bygone era of this game.

10 hours ago, Zihark. said:

Very ancient tenno looking to return to this game. We enjoyed this game back when tower keys were a thing and we would strategize and optimize our gear for those crazy 100 round tower 3 defenses/survivals but we quit after those were replaced with void relics since there really wasnt any more "endgame" to work towards. Is this still the case? or does warframe have something that is both challenging and rewarding nowadays? If so, we would like to jump back in the game.

8 hours ago, Zihark. said:

I think youre missing the point. Im not looking for efficiency. I spent hours in the past collecting all the parts for my favorite weapons, enhanced mods by grinding fusion cores, and testing all sorts of numbers and damage combinations and made the most optimal gear i can that enhances my preferred playstyle. T3 defenses and survivals were great cause thats where i got to use my optimized gear AND get more prime parts as a reward. With void relics, 1 relic will always equal to 1 prime part, thus, removing any incentive to go past the 5 minute mark or wave 5. What i am looking for is a worthy enemy to use my best gears on cause no enemy in the star chart can stop me now and theres no reason to go on crazy defense/survival runs. Im hoping that some of the new content that came out while i was away has filled that void that will give us a reason to come back. (and if you have to spoil some stuff to let me know. so be it. i prefer to walk in knowing that theres a great challenge)

What you are looking for is not really this game anymore. That era is long gone. There is certainly new content with many new rewards to sink your teeth into, but the days of what you're looking for is pretty much long over. The closest thing there is to this is farming a gamemode called Void Cascade (unlocked after Angels of the Zariman quest) in a Steel Path (a star-chart wide mission modifier that buffs enemies and adds drops) Omnia Fissure (you can use any Relic from any Era). Even then though, because this is all that's really left, lots of Players are farming it, so the rewards are okay for Platinum in trade, but nothing crazy like the old Prime Parts market (pre-Relics). 

With that said, I don't want what I wrote to sound like this makes the game objectively worse, but this sort of gameplay isn't normal or even sprinkled throughout most content. "Endgame" has become self-fulfilling goals, and keeping up with scheduled server reset missions like any other live-service seasonal game these days. All the top rewards are time-gated to require your attention at specific times. You will have plenty of quests and gear to acquire, but the game has shifted towards leaning on "everyone wins with no consequences" rather than the stakes and optimization present back when Tower Void, Trials, and general teamplay was the norm. Most players now are one-man-armies on auto-pilot just churning out mission rewards.