How Should I Mod Non-Potatoed Frames?

[Androgynous]

I'm not sure whether I should be equipping all my frame abilities or not. Some of them could be useful, but the problem is that I don't think I have enough space for all the frame powers, and at the same time, power mods to make the abilities good, so instead I opt for having fewer powers that are stronger, rather than 4 weak powers.

 

Also I tend to run Energy Siphon on almost every frame except Trinity since she has Energy Vampire, even if the polarity slots don't match. Should I be using an aura with the correct polarity, or do you agree that Energy Siphon is hands down the best aura in the game?

 

I'm not sure about using Forma, because I don't want to use a Forma then end up regretting it.

 

Some of my frames I rarely play anymore, partly because some got reworked, and I never got round to asking how to mod them since their change until now. Currently the only frame I use right now is Loki because I like running solo in stealth mode. Sometimes I use these other frames for defence / survival / et cetera, but I feel like I'm not being as effective as I could be due to the way I've modded them, does anyone have any advice on what mods I should change?

 

Frost mods

After the change to Snow Globe I didn't bother with higher level content with him, I wasn't sure how well the snow globe would hold up, since my mods aren't good, I assumed my snow globe would just be destroyed instantly after the invulnerable duration.

 

 

Loki mods

Loki is mostly what I use now, and I tend to play missions solo where I'm invis for most of the time, but in things like defence or survival where I'm with some teammates, I want to be able to use Radial Disarm so that I'm not totally useless.

 

 

Rhino mods

I had Rhino back when I was new, so I didn't have any good mods so I just used Iron Skin + Stomp and focused just on stunning people. Added the Rhino Charge when the point cost got reduced and I had a few points spare. Does Roar only increase weapon damage, or does it increase skill damage too?

 

 

Trinity mods

I've not played her in a while so this was prior to the Blessing change. I know that Link is a good skill, but I don't know what to remove for it. Should I have shield / health mods if I have an ability that restores them anyways?

 

 

Vauban mods

I don't use Vauban much, the times I did use it, it was infested defence where I just threw vortexes near the cryopod and rarely used Bastille since it's number of units it can suspend is limited unlike Vortex. I can't seem to find space for shield / health mods, so I didn't use him vs Grineer or Corpus since they'd just shoot me from outside of Vortex or Bastille range.

 

[izzatuw]

Well if you have Fleeting Expertise I'd suggest you should put it on Frost and Loki.

Frost and Loki: Radial Disarm/Avalanche, Fleeting Expertise and Essence Loki helm or R2 Streamline.

Edited May 19, 2014 by izzatuw

[Ungabunga_Prime]

You definitely don't need all abilities on all frames. In fact most of the time, you can get by with just that frame's signature ability (usually the 3 or 4 power) and use the rest of your mod slots to enhance that and make yourself more durable.

 

As for forma, the best way to decide is "Do I use this frame often enough that I would level it back to 30 anyway?"

If the answer is yes, then it's definitely worth making that frame more powerful.

Edited May 19, 2014 by Santaphrax

[taiiat]

I'm not sure whether I should be equipping all my frame abilities or not.

I'm not sure about using Forma, because I don't want to use a Forma then end up regretting it.

 

 

After the change to Snow Globe I didn't bother with higher level content with him, I wasn't sure how well the snow globe would hold up, since my mods aren't good, I assumed my snow globe would just be destroyed instantly after the invulnerable duration.

 

Loki is mostly what I use now, and I tend to play missions solo where I'm invis for most of the time, but in things like defence or survival where I'm with some teammates, I want to be able to use Radial Disarm so that I'm not totally useless.

 

Does Roar only increase weapon damage, or does it increase skill damage too?

 

Should I have shield / health mods if I have an ability that restores them anyways?

 

I don't use Vauban much, the times I did use it, it was infested defence where I just threw vortexes near the cryopod and rarely used Bastille since it's number of units it can suspend is limited unlike Vortex. I can't seem to find space for shield / health mods, so I didn't use him vs Grineer or Corpus since they'd just shoot me from outside of Vortex or Bastille range.

- most people don't equip all 4 Abilities at once, everyone starts to run out of slots and points if they have 4 Powers Equipped.

- Forma is not all that uncommon in the Void, you should be able to aqquire a pretty fair amount of it, enough to where you'll start to think it's worth nothing :D

 

- Snowglobe should fare ehhh without Armor or Power Strength boosts, but generally, yes, you'll need atleast one of them for it to survive well 'lategame'.

this is the Loadout i use when i use Frost to cover something important. don't mind the Thief's Wit, it's just more useful than anything else i could put there IMO, since dying isn't really something i'd be doing.

 

- i may recommend opening some Derelict Vaults to get Fleeting Expertise, having a cheaper cost everything will really help whether in a group or solo. you'll be able to use Invisibility more often, and Radial Disarm will hurt less to use since it'll cost so much less.

 

- Roar Affects Weapon Damage, as well as Power Damage. it boosts Stomp, and AFAIK, most other Direct Damage Powers. it won't say, boost debuff effects and etc, but if a Power deals Direct Damage, it probably boosts it.

 

- personally, i'd use Vigor and Quick Thinking as a solution there on Trinity. swapping out Redirection and Link for Quick Thinking & Vigor(which gives more Burst Survivability as well as increasing Health for making it easier to cut your wrists more without actually dying - alternatively, just buckets of Health from Vitality) is an option. perhaps a useful one for you.

 

- Bastile definitely has it's uses, certainly good for Emergencies when you need to stop some Enemies in their tracks, Et Cetera.

you'll generally need to cast multiple though, but sometimes the situation can arise where you want to be holding some Enemies in a single spot.

 

and you can throw those Grenades a lot further than you think, throw them while moving quickly (preferably air sliding), and you can throw them quite far from your current location.

Edited May 19, 2014 by taiiat

[Androgynous]

You definitely don't need all abilities on all frames. In fact most of the time, you can get by with just that frame's signature ability (usually the 3 or 4 power) and use the rest of your mod slots to enhance that and make yourself more durable.

 

As for forma, the best way to decide is "Do I use this frame often enough that I would level it back to 30 anyway?"

If the answer is yes, then it's definitely worth making that frame more powerful.

 

What's your opinion on Energy Siphon vs other auras? I dont want to forma an aura slot into dash only to find out that there's a non-dash aura that's supposed to be used on a certain frame.

 

 

Well if you have Fleeting Expertise I'd suggest you should put it on Loki.

 

-snip- i may recommend opening some Derelict Vaults to get Fleeting Expertise, having a cheaper cost everything will really help whether in a group or solo. you'll be able to use Invisibility more often, and Radial Disarm will hurt less to use since it'll cost so much less.

 

I'll be able to use invisibility much more often because it's duration is shortened. Disarm will benefit from the efficiency, but at the cost of Invisibility. Is that worth it considering I try to spend most of my time invisible?

 

I used to have FE but traded it away since I didn't feel like I had enough mod energy to equip it with duration mods to cancel out the lower duration on certain frames, so I thought it would just end up having a negative effect on me.

[taiiat]

I'll be able to use invisibility much more often because it's duration is shortened. Disarm will benefit from the efficiency, but at the cost of Invisibility. Is that worth it considering I try to spend most of my time invisible?

 

I used to have FE but traded it away since I didn't feel like I had enough mod energy to equip it with duration mods to cancel out the lower duration on certain frames, so I thought it would just end up having a negative effect on me.

it's 60% and 60%, it's basically just shorter Duration for cheaper cost.

 

kind've a plus plus technically.

and as long as you are regenerating / getting more Energy than you're using casting, Invisibility is permanent. doesn't really matter how long it lasts, right?

 

it's definitely something good, and you could perhaps trade off something like Flow to get as many points as possible. 

i'd definitely cut out Constitution, now that i think about it. it does add Duration, yes. but it's just too freaking expensive to Equip unless you've got your other Duration mods on and still NEED more. not would like it, literally need it.

[Darzk]

- is always a good choice for ES, Enemy Radar, or Corrosive Projection.

D is usually okay to keep for Rejuv aura.

V should always be changed, probably to -

 

FE only keeps the energy:duration ratio the same if you have NO other +duration or +efficiency mods. As soon as you add one, such as Continuity in the V slot for Loki, or the essence helm, FE makes Invisibility cheaper per second to use.

[Androgynous]

and as long as you are regenerating / getting more Energy than you're using casting, Invisibility is permanent. doesn't really matter how long it lasts, right?

 

it's definitely something good, and you could perhaps trade off something like Flow to get as many points as possible. 

i'd definitely cut out Constitution, now that i think about it. it does add Duration, yes. but it's just too freaking expensive to Equip unless you've got your other Duration mods on and still NEED more. not would like it, literally need it.

 

 

- is always a good choice for ES, Enemy Radar, or Corrosive Projection.

D is usually okay to keep for Rejuv aura.

V should always be changed, probably to -

 

FE only keeps the energy:duration ratio the same if you have NO other +duration or +efficiency mods. As soon as you add one, such as Continuity in the V slot for Loki, or the essence helm, FE makes Invisibility cheaper per second to use.

 

I get where you guys are coming from now that I figured it out.

 

atm I have +50% duration and +30% efficiency, which is a 18s duration invis for 35 energy, so I'd need about 2 energy per second to remain invisible.

 

with a 50% fleeting, 30% continuity and a 25% streamline, I'd have 9.6s of invis for 12.5 energy which is only 1.3 energy per second to maintain perma invis.

 

I guess instead of flow (5) and constitution (12), I could get FE and and disarm instead.

 

I'm probably going to change the V slots on my Rhino and Ash to - too, now that I've got other people's opinion on the matter. Thanks for the help everyone.

[TheBurritoSlayingTaco]

Alright, the first step is to buy a potato, (which you obviously can) and throw on randomly ranked mods and random mods in general.

 

 

I actually do spray random mods on my Warframes, I make the ranks of the mods higher and somehow my builds are actually good. but dont do that strategy because it'll probably end up with a loki with nothing but switch teleport

[(PSN)SpiderRoll]

I'm not sure whether I should be equipping all my frame abilities or not. Some of them could be useful, but the problem is that I don't think I have enough space for all the frame powers, and at the same time, power mods to make the abilities good, so instead I opt for having fewer powers that are stronger, rather than 4 weak powers.

 

Also I tend to run Energy Siphon on almost every frame except Trinity since she has Energy Vampire, even if the polarity slots don't match. Should I be using an aura with the correct polarity, or do you agree that Energy Siphon is hands down the best aura in the game?

 

I'm not sure about using Forma, because I don't want to use a Forma then end up regretting it.

 

Some of my frames I rarely play anymore, partly because some got reworked, and I never got round to asking how to mod them since their change until now. Currently the only frame I use right now is Loki because I like running solo in stealth mode. Sometimes I use these other frames for defence / survival / et cetera, but I feel like I'm not being as effective as I could be due to the way I've modded them, does anyone have any advice on what mods I should change?

 

If you're not going to potato a frame, I see even less reason to use forma on it.  (Basically, if I don't think a frame is worth a potato, it's definitely not worth a forma.)  With only 30 points to use, not counting how you set up your aura, it'll be difficult to equip and buff all of your powers.  You're probably better off focusing on one or two powers and setting up the rest of your mods to boost them.

[taiiat]

If you're not going to potato a frame, I see even less reason to use forma on it.

i presume, the reason for this, is he doesn't have any Potatoes available, but could get Forma and use it.

 

you might as well Polarize anything you enjoy using, simply due to the availability. i'd have a similar ideal for Potatoes, but they're not readily available for everyone, making them a rare choice.

[(PSN)SpiderRoll]

i presume, the reason for this, is he doesn't have any Potatoes available, but could get Forma and use it.

 

you might as well Polarize anything you enjoy using, simply due to the availability. i'd have a similar ideal for Potatoes, but they're not readily available for everyone, making them a rare choice.

Yeah, that's a valid point, and I'm pretty stingy about potatoes and forma with my gear.  I've only potatoed a few of my frames, and I simply do my best to run a passable build for the other frames.

 

Androgynous, it wouldn't hurt to mess around in Warframe Builder to plan out your builds.  That way, it can help you see how important the forma will be if you come back and potato a frame later.  It would be awkward to spend a bunch of forma on a non-potato spec, and find out it's overkill on a potato spec.

[Sta1kher]

To be really honest it really relys on your play style.

 

ENERGY SIPHON IS A MUST! no really it is.

 

Solo: (Me personally)

Vitality - a must

Abilities - usually 1-3 (depending if I want to play stealth/Defence/Offence)

Flow - helps with the above

 

Solo optionals:

Natural Talent - helps get stuff off quicker

Redirection - more shields

Streamline - Helps with energy use

Vigor - ONLY IF your getting hit a lot (not my first choice either)

Intensify - makes ability stronger

Stretch - hits a wider radius

 

Multiplayer:

Vitality - see solo

Intensify - stronger abilities

Abilities - 2-3 depending on the node (D/MD/E/I/R/C)

Flow - see solo

 

Muliplayer optional:

Natural Talent - same as solo

Fleeting Expertise - allows more uses but reduction to duration

Blind Rage - Stronger abilities but you'll lose Efficiency

Streamline - see solo

 

This is just my 2¢