A Player's And Beginner's Guide To Banshee

[Telkhines]

 

Recently, I've been seeing lots of posts and comments (especially on the Wiki) of people talking about Banshee needing a buff to her abilities becasuse they're too weak. So, I've drafted up this quick guide on how to build and play a successful Banshee. This build requires one forma (For a '--' Polarity, however, it isn't a necessity if you don't max all your mods), an Orokin Reactor, and recommendation for Arcane Helmets. {([Note: I've neglected to put the values of mod ranks in for ease of understanding and for customization of this build])}

 

○  ○ ○○○○ Banshee Essentials ○○○○ ○  ○

Arcane Reverb

 

Why Buy Arcane?:  The stat modifications are an obvious must. The Reverb offers 10% maximum energy, at the cost of -5% maximum health. If you sheild build your Banshee, the extra energy will take you miles, especially when casting Sonar for support. It'll also also you to chain cast. For example, I use Sonic Boom, Sonar, then Sound Quake for the knock down (to take less damage) then damage boost from Sonar, and then the massive hits from Sound Quake.

 

Arcane Chorus

 

Why Buy Arcane?:  The Chorus offers energy effiency at a 10% reduction, which means that abilities will have less of a draw on your energy pool. This is good for creating choke points with sound quake, however, the -5% draw on stamina means that you'll have to budget your movements and melee attacks (though Sheild Flux or Marathon will help dampen that).

 

○  ○ ○○○○ Modding Banshee ○○○○ ○  ○

 

In my opinion, all caster builds should have a way to assure that they always have energy, especially in the heat of battle. Energy Siphon offers energy regeneration (which also gives energy regen to your whole team), assuring that you always have a source of energy, especially when the drops are scarce.

 

Banshee, by default, has two 'V' Polarity slots, so therefore, Intensify (or Blind Rage depending on how you modify this) is a must. Why? Intensify increases the damage from Sonic Boom and Sound Quake, it also increases the damage boost created by sonar and the intensity of the stun caused by Silence.

 

As I said before, all casters should have energy, and with Flow, you'll be sure to always have a place for that energy to go. A larger pool of energy is good for those deep in matches where you don't have time to run around to look for extra energy orbs and leave the pod unguarded. It also allows for lots of casts, so you can blast off tons of abilties and only dent your reserves of power.  Coupled with the Arcane Reverb, you'll be a casting machine with 155% extra maximum energy.

Energy efficiency isn't a must, but it's nice to have, so if you ever get down on energy, you aren't frantically looking for just one more orb that's nowhere to be found. It also stacks with Chorus, for a total of 45% effiency.

Natural Talent is a great mod that increases the casting speed of a Warframe. It makes firing off abilities a lot faster, and in the case of Sound Quake, it's useful for starting your damage as fast as possible, so you aren't locked place longer than you need to be before enemies start recovering from the knockdown from Sonic Boom.

Stretch is a necessity! All of Banshee's abilities benefit from it; crucially Sonar. It's nice for all of them, but Sonar especially. It helps lock down the map and gives the whole team a damage bonus when hitting weakspots.

Having regenerating sheilds is a must, obviously. If you're playing with the Arcane Reverb, you don't want to waste capacity by using a mod that is hindered by your helmet. It's counter productive. Plus, sheilds regenerate, unlike health.

 

○  ○ ○○○○ Playing as Banshee ○○○○ ○  ○

 

I'm a diehard fan of Banshee, and use a build based on Power and Energy Efficiency. However, you can go for spread/distance: Max Stetch and Fleeting will lock down an entire Defense map (granted the bonus damage suffers, but even though I don't use a build like that, it still works just fine with intensify to counteract Fleeting Expertise. 

Sonar should really be your primary ability. You can run around and spam it near large groups, and then rain hell upon them with your weapons. A multishot build on Paris Prime is great for CC, or just use Torid, Penta, or Ogris, and wipe the floor. You can even run up to the group, cast Sonic Boom, Sonar, then Sound Quake, and you don't have to worry about Vulerability (Having a Loki use Radial Disarm also helps too because it makes the enemies move closer to you, but isn't necessary for it to be effective). I also highly recommend an Arcane Reverb helmet. The boost to your pool of engery is great to have, along with Flow; and by shield building Banshee, the health loss makes it bearable.

 

Banshee is no tank, to be sure, but she also isn't a glass cannon. With the right mods and equipment, Banshee can be just as useful as a Nova, Vauban, or Hydroid in defense missions. People, I think, have a hard time realizing that she is a niche warframe (albeit with some flexibilty in builds), and is meant to require a higher level of experience to play as (not to say that a new player couldn't). If you're standing there getting shot at, yes, it will hurt, however, that's why she has Sonic Boom (and the stun from Silence). If you knock an enemy down, it can't hurt you, but you can hurt it.

 

As Banshee, you can run right into combat for support and crowd control, or take a defense role and hang back and guard, dealing massive amounts of damge from long range, and crowd controlling when you need to. Just be smart about how you play, and never forget to have fun. I hope that this guide helps out people looking into using Banshee, or want to improve upon how they play as her. I'm sorry it seems really basic, or overexplains things, but I just want to cover everything, even the basics. Enjoy!

[-FrostByte-]

nice! I suggest you post screen shots of the end product mod builds and maybe which mods to prioritize over

Edited August 25, 2014 by n0lyfe

[Zero.No.Hikari]

I like this.  It helps beginners grasp how to use a banshee.  Though some peeps might have variations on her.

 

This  is how I have mine built right now.  and with Shade I can just become a walking stun machine with Silence while using Sonar to boost my teams or my own damage.  a little side note I noticed that Sonic Boom will get a bonus with Sonar sometimes if it's a bug I would like it made into a thing. but over all I would add two more D slots so she could use Redirection and Vitality but as it stands if you play her right she won't get touched but allows for quick and deadly strikes.   I use Sonar on large groups then enter Silence stunning them for a few seconds while I line up the shots to the orange areas.  If I'm lucky no one fires at her until they get into Silence's range allowing me to chain stun if need be by running them out of range then back in.   Works good in survival defense or any mission you wanna use her in.  but does take some practice getting used to timing when to use Silence in a large group.

[DCypherThis13]

Nicely done. Aside from Mag, Banshee is my next favorite frame. The OP says it all.

[Agullimux]

I smell op trying to sell arcane helms from his secret stash.

[Darzk]

Efficiency is much more key than duration or energy pool. I would absolutely replace Flow with Fleeting Expertise. Not only will you be able to cast more abilities with a full energy pool, your regen is proportionally much higher - ESiphon and Orb drops are worth more.

 

Power Strength is crucial for Sonar builds - I replace Natural Talent with Blind Rage.

 

For Grineer and Void I still run CP aura, despite the damage boost from Sonar. But Bashee is the ONE frame I can see running with ESiphon all of the time, because the extra 40%+ damage isnt needed when amplifying by 10-11x.

[Agullimux]

I like this.  It helps beginners grasp how to use a banshee.  Though some peeps might have variations on her.

 

This  is how I have mine built right now.  and with Shade I can just become a walking stun machine with Silence while using Sonar to boost my teams or my own damage.  a little side note I noticed that Sonic Boom will get a bonus with Sonar sometimes if it's a bug I would like it made into a thing. but over all I would add two more D slots so she could use Redirection and Vitality but as it stands if you play her right she won't get touched but allows for quick and deadly strikes.   I use Sonar on large groups then enter Silence stunning them for a few seconds while I line up the shots to the orange areas.  If I'm lucky no one fires at her until they get into Silence's range allowing me to chain stun if need be by running them out of range then back in.   Works good in survival defense or any mission you wanna use her in.  but does take some practice getting used to timing when to use Silence in a large group.

why in gods name u changed offensive to defensive when u could have just forma skill mod and one extra mod there. Sonic boom only cost 3 on blank so having "4" skills is bad excuse. You just lost free mod slot for nothing?

edit: vigor+ redirection + vitality equals insanity

Edited August 25, 2014 by Agullimux

[Zero.No.Hikari]

why in gods name u changed offensive to defensive when u could have just forma skill mod and one extra mod there. Sonic boom only cost 3 on blank so having "4" skills is bad excuse. You just lost free mod slot for nothing?

 

I don't really use the second V and with a D I can use Narrowminded.  Also I haven't really finished building her so as it stands there's room for change. 

[Agullimux]

I don't really use the second V and with a D I can use Narrowminded.  Also I haven't really finished building her so as it stands there's room for change. 

You could have put D to "=" slot. and use V for more damage or continuity to counter fleeting expertise(instead streamline). Also replace redirection instead of vigor that is worse than corrupted magnum force. Sentinels 100% shield recharge for the win. If you need 30 seconds to kill enemies, there is something wrong with your weaponry. Unfinished building is bad excuse, because after 10 forma you still don't have completed build, by your way of wasting formas.

Edited August 25, 2014 by Agullimux

[Zero.No.Hikari]

You could have put D to "=" slot. and use V for more damage or continuity to counter fleeting expertise. And redirection instead of vigor that is worse than corrupted magnum force. sentinels 100% shield recharge for the win. If you need 30 seconds to kill enemies, there is something wrong with your weaponry. Unfinished building is bad excuse, because after 10 forma you still don't have completed build, by your way of wasting formas.

 

10 forma? it only has 2.....  Besides with just Blind Rage and using Chorus and Streamline energy isn't an issue.  Spamming Sonar is nice but if you can get a entire group with a single cast that works wonders, same with Silence and the reason I didn't take out the ability slot is I also have a balanced build where I have a normal non-corrupted build which is good for when i figure a team won't need Sonar but might need more CC. 

 

Shield building is nice but not when you start getting Slash procs through the shield so Vigor is good to have since by end game you shouldn't be getting hit since even with 740 HP and Shields you'll go down as easily.  

 

This  is the planned end build but I still feel even with stacked shields I would rather use Vigor and have Equilibrium so that I can regain HP from EN and Vice versa.  Though getting hit shouldn't be my priority.

 

Banshee in my eyes is a Sniper meaning Sonic boom to push people away and with shade creating a Sonar well before rushing back to pick them off at a distance.   granted with how small the maps are it becomes lacking but in the bigger more open maps it's a joy being able to line up a shot and stopping a heavy unit before they can reach your team.

 

Also the build I use is for slightly better equipped peeps who want to specialize Banshee, while the thread is about a beginners use of her.  So let's focus on that.  OP got most of it right though I feel Natural Talent will be a hard one to get for beginners unless RNG has blessed them.

Edited August 25, 2014 by Zero.No.Hikari

[Agullimux]

 

10 forma? it only has 2.....  Besides with just Blind Rage and using Chorus and Streamline energy isn't an issue.  Spamming Sonar is nice but if you can get a entire group with a single cast that works wonders, same with Silence and the reason I didn't take out the ability slot is I also have a balanced build where I have a normal non-corrupted build which is good for when i figure a team won't need Sonar but might need more CC. 

 

Shield building is nice but not when you start getting Slash procs through the shield so Vigor is good to have since by end game you shouldn't be getting hit since even with 740 HP and Shields you'll go down as easily.  

 

This  is the planned end build but I still feel even with stacked shields I would rather use Vigor and have Equilibrium so that I can regain HP from EN and Vice versa.  Though getting hit shouldn't be my priority.

 

Banshee in my eyes is a Sniper meaning Sonic boom to push people away and with shade creating a Sonar well before rushing back to pick them off at a distance.   granted with how small the maps are it becomes lacking but in the bigger more open maps it's a joy being able to line up a shot and stopping a heavy unit before they can reach your team.

 

Also the build I use is for slightly better equipped peeps who want to specialize Banshee, while the thread is about a beginners use of her.  So let's focus on that.  OP got most of it right though I feel Natural Talent will be a hard one to get for beginners unless RNG has blessed them.

Natural talent is like 100% reward in every interception before t4 key. Natural talent= 0 plat

I'm glad u finally told your final build and showed that you are not brainless but someone with intellect. Slash stacks getting problem you might consider health restores. If you really intend to keep this minute sonar, do you feel need for flow, or have u considered quick thinking for extra defense instead of vigor or over some of the defensive mods.

by 10 forma i meant that if you don't know what you would build and keep changing same polarities again again again.

 

Beginners can't get arcane helmets without platinum so you should not worry about natural talent. Rest of mods from this "guide" can be got easily from low level defense mission by wave 20. Corrupted mods might not be easiest because rng does not like fleeting expertise or blind rage or narrow minded. (mostly weapon mods) Aura Alerts, better hope you are online when siphon appears.

Edited August 25, 2014 by Agullimux

[Zero.No.Hikari]

Natural talent is like 100% reward in every interception before t4 key. Natural talent= 0 plat

I'm glad u finally told your final build and showed that you are not brainless but someone with intellect. Slash stacks getting problem you might consider health restores. If you really intend to keep this minute sonar, do you feel need for flow, or have u considered quick thinking for extra defense instead of vigor or over some of the defensive mods.

by 10 forma i meant that if you don't know what you would build and keep changing same polarities again again again.

 

I've had Banshee since I think U9 or U8(forgot when Nova was first released) and Quick thinking isn't all that neat of an idea for me since I enjoy the challenge that late missions bring when you know it's either you dodge or you die.  Since Sonar is able to be recast even while the timer is still running I enjoy being able to set up multiple Sonar placements allowing my team to have a cheap variant of Enemy Sense.  I do use the Restores but they feel so damn slow when you're in the middle of the action, sure you could run and find cover to heal but then it defeats the idea of using them for a team.  Huh I also didn't figure that they made it so easy to get.  Guess it would be easy for a newbie to grab NT,  yet peeps still complain DE(L) made a harsh and hard game

[Darzk]

Besides with just Blind Rage and using Chorus and Streamline energy isn't an issue. 

I would 100% remove Flow for Fleeting Expertise. It will make uptime on Silence shorter but much easier to maintain, and drastically reduce energy costs for other abilities. The duration on Sonar is waaaay overkill anyways as you'll be recasting for new mobs long before it runs out. I would also drop Blind Rage to R9; but thats more of an OCD thing :P The evened out energy costs are less important because of the use of Energy Siphon aura - I still use CP to help out teammates so its important for me for abilities to fit nicely into a single energy orb.

 

I don't use Silence, so I build without NM, making the range on SQ and Force Push much larger. I find that range to be more important than duration; ~20 seconds works well for me for Sonar. 

http://goo.gl/eneKq5 is my current setup; For newer players I would recommend swapping out BR down to Rank 4 (2 if you don't have the arcane chorus helm). This will actually save a forma. If you don't have access to Vaults, something like http://goo.gl/UrTPsQ would work pretty well.

 

She is fairly squishy. I could see the benefit from running Vital, QT, even Equil to heal back up after an emergency QT. I'm just not sure what to drop to fit those in. Constitution is really the only 'wild card' and the quicker recovery has saved me a few times (knockdowns are really dangerous due to her low ehp).

Edited August 25, 2014 by Darzk

[Noble_Cactus]

Efficiency is much more key than duration or energy pool. I would absolutely replace Flow with Fleeting Expertise. Not only will you be able to cast more abilities with a full energy pool, your regen is proportionally much higher - ESiphon and Orb drops are worth more.

 

Power Strength is crucial for Sonar builds - I replace Natural Talent with Blind Rage.

 

For Grineer and Void I still run CP aura, despite the damage boost from Sonar. But Bashee is the ONE frame I can see running with ESiphon all of the time, because the extra 40%+ damage isnt needed when amplifying by 10-11x.

 

^This

 

I don't use Redirection or Vitality on my Banshee. With both Silence and Sonic Boom, I don't get hit very much at levels where having a shield actually matters, and the only time I go down is when I get careless or I overmeasure my generosity and try to rez someone who is in the middle of mobs (and Shade doesn't activate or wears off). I use Continuity in that slot instead.