Brand New, Having Trouble Picking Main Frame

[(XBOX)D34thst41ker]

Pretty much the title. I Initially chose Volt, and was doing alright with it. However, I was looking at the abilities of the different frames, and thought Mesa looked interesting, so I grabbed some Platinum and bought it outright. However, I'm finding that I'm dying a lot. I'm used to games where you have shields that recharge, but Mesa hardly has any shields, so I take a lot of health damage and then end up dead. I'm thinking something with a decent shield stat would be a good choice, but I'm not sure. My playstyle tends to be very aggressive, with little to no cover use. If I was describing it in terms of the Trinity roles (Tank, DPS, Healer), I'd be looking for a DPS/Tank Hybrid. I'm willing to adapt to whatever playstyle works best with whatever frame I go with; I just don't know what frame to actually go with. I'm wondering if I initially made the right choice with Volt, or if some other frame would suit me better.

Oh, and I'm not looking for a build to be handed to me; I'm just looking for some direction to help me find the frame that works best for how I play. All I'm really looking for is something like, "Try the X frame. From what you've said of how you play, it sounds like it would be a good fit for you."

[Scryed]

Get you Rhino warframe if you do not like to use cover and just like to run up into things.

 

And upgrade your shield and health mods to higher levels.

[denshibushi]

If you're looking for a tank then Rhino is the one you want. When maxed he has lots of shields and health and his ironskin ability helps with the damage too. 

 

You might also want to look at Valkyr. She has a lot of health and an immunity ability for melee.

[Brynslustafir]

This may not sound very helpful, but I suggest simply not picking a main. Use whatever seems more fun at the moment. 

[Nurmetya]

Mesa isn't a heavy aggressive unit, she's pretty squishy but once you get to the point where you can use her shattershield then you'll have less to worry about as for a DPS/Tank Hybrid that's either Saryn or Rhinoobin' it.

[Vesper_Vigile]

It sounds like Valkyr would be the frame for you. High speed, high stamina, ridiculously high armor(highest in the game at 600 base), and abilities focused solely on getting in fast and destroying everything. Almost no shields, but a decently leveled armor and health mod and you're good to go, regardless.

[FLSH_BNG]

If you're trying for the tanky side then Rhino's always a good place to start. Oberon is decent too since he can heal himself and allies.

 

Mag has a high shield value so she's pretty decent against short periods of intense combat, but she's still a squishy caster when you get to it.

 

For the most part though, I think your difficulty stems from just having low ranked health and shield mods, but that'll pass in time.

[counterflux]

agressive with little to no cover... mmmh let's see.

If you just don't want to think and just be a tank I say

rhino or valkyr.

 

If you want help from some abilities: (use 1 or 2 abilities so you simply won't get hit that much)

trinity (link + 99% blessings)

loki with radial disarm (every enemy will go only melee)

nyx with chaos build (enemies will hit each other instead of you)

[(PSN)CoolD2108]

Thers a lotta tanky frames out there. Rhino would be the first choice, iron skin offers a layer of armor. Valkyr is a good one as well since she offers good health and amazing armor. You'll have to run a life-strike, energy replentish combo and stick to melee though. Zephyr offers cc and has a wind shield that simpli nullifies evry type of bullet except hitscan. (Great for corpus, void and on a tornado build even for infested. Not recommendet for grineer. Mod -range, +strength, +efficiency, =/-duration for the best result)

And if youre looking for pure survibility, stick to ash or loki.

Edited February 10, 2015 by (PS4)CoolD2108

[RoboDoge]

Avoid Rhino in the large circle as he promotes bad habits. If you want tanky and DPS, go for Saryn as she is quite good in terms of survivability and damage.

 

 

And she sports quite nice boobage.

[Blackout751]

Rhino's good when you're lower-levelled and need to clear the star chart or build up your mods because he requires near to no strategy to use (most players just press 2 every 5 seconds as Rhino, so) but, with the right player, can be a pretty huge benefit to a team and turn the tide of a losing battle with either Roar or Rhino Stomp. Summarised, he's easy to use and he'll serve your playstyle well for the time being.

Valkyr's like Rhino but a more advanced tanking playstyle better for advanced players, able to take huge amounts of damage yet use powers mainly about getting in close or improving your effectiveness up close. This might also eventually suit you because melee is a very aggressive playstyle, and with Valkyr gives you the options to get in there fast with Ripline or coptering, to dramatically increase your melee attack speed and armour or to render yourself invulnerable and steal the life from enemies. Summarised, she's not at all good when you first start out with her but she becomes god-like at the end... not good for new players, but very good for advanced players with her near-invincibility when given the right stuff.

[geninrising]

This is easy. You should not "Main" anything. The simple fact is that there is a different tool for any job you want to do. To play melee style use Loki, to kill with powers use Excalibur/Saryn/Mesa/ Mag. To defend the pod in Defense use Frost.  If you want to be a CC god look at Rhino or Nyx. Being a "main" in WF is not really a valid concept because no 1 frame rules them all except in Reputation runs where Excalibur clearly out kills everything. (https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/399939-by-the-numbers-warframe-powers/?p=4413024#entry4413024) 

[RoboDoge]

This is easy. You should not "Main" anything. The simple fact is that there is a different tool for any job you want to do. To play melee style use Loki, to kill with powers use Excalibur/Saryn/Mesa/ Mag. To defend the pod in Defense use Frost.  If you want to be a CC god look at Rhino or Nyx. Being a "main" in WF is not really a valid concept because no 1 frame rules them all except in Reputation runs where Excalibur clearly out kills everything. (https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/399939-by-the-numbers-warframe-powers/?p=4413024#entry4413024) 

Might i point some flaws in your explanations of specific frames. Not here to argue with you or anything, i will just point few thing.

 

 

While Loki does have excellent melee buff, i would advise playing him exclusively as melee frame. His low shields and health will make you killed with Infested in millions of ways. In my opinion, he is way better in controlling the battlefield than half the other "cc" frames. If you want melee, go Ash or Valkyr because of their higher survivability.

 

While Rhino can spam Stomp i wouldnt call him cc god. That title fits only Nyx, and Vauban comes close 2nd with his augment mod. Limbo is better than Frost now for pod defense. Excalibur kills everything till certain point, and i would always advise going Saryn if you want damage. Hell, go Banshee if you want damage. Her Sonar augment makes Molecular Prime from Nova obsolete how good it is.

 

 

But i agree with you, OP should bother with maining the frame as this game doesnt revolves around maining. Its all about finding your playstyle with different frames and being helpful to the team in any situation.

[(XBOX)D34thst41ker]

As far as the No Main thing goes, I do understand and even support it. However, I'm a new player, so I want a frame that meshes with the way I play the game to use while getting used to the systems that the game uses. I'm a lot more likely to get to 'endgame' with something I enjoy and am comfortable with using than with something that I can't get used to because the best way to play it is contrary to my playstyle.

As for frames, the main suggestions seem to be Rhyno and Valkyr, with a few people suggesting Saryn. Unfortunately, Rhyno is currently XP locked, as my rank is still 0. I do have the test for Rank 1, but I blew 25k Credits on a set of dual Pistols for the Mesa frame, so the only Primary weapon I have is the starting Bow from the beginning of the game. I've currently got about 7k credits, which I'm saving up to get a Primary Schematic, but until I can get a decent Primary to do the test with, I'm stuck at rank 0. I'll probably give Valkyr a try, with the understanding that she will take some getting used to (since she is an advanced frame), and if she doesn't work out, I'll switch to Saryn.

Also, thanks for all the advice. I appreciate it.

[Dalawantahr]

Rhino would be your second frame if you follow the normal progression, you get it by killing Venus boss. Getting to rank 2 is not difficult at all. Even if you have the frame that suits you well you still need the mods to properly build your frame thus helping in your play style and of course weapons and its mods. But if I were you I would concentrate on weapons and weapons mods first.

[(XBOX)D34thst41ker]

Rhino would be your second frame if you follow the normal progression, you get it by killing Venus boss. Getting to rank 2 is not difficult at all. Even if you have the frame that suits you well you still need the mods to properly build your frame thus helping in your play style and of course weapons and its mods. But if I were you I would concentrate on weapons and weapons mods first.

I disagree on it being easy to hit Rank 2, considering I couldn't even beat the first wave of enemies in the Rank 1 test. The test says to use your Primary, but the only Primary I have is the MK1 Paris bow, which takes 2-3 full charge shots to kill a single enemy. Not to mention the 4-5 seconds I spend after each kill trying to find the next enemy.

Now, I understand that my weapon isn't suited to complete the test, and that's fine. What really annoys me is that there was no indication anywhere that I would need a high DPS weapon in very short order. Because of this, not only did I pick up the wrong weapon at the start of the game, I also blew all my credits on a set of crappy dual Pistols, which I can't even use in the test. So I'm stuck at Rank 0 looking at the brick wall that is the Rank 1 test because apparently game companies can't be bothered to give you even a basic understanding of how to play their games; you're just expected to know everything the moment you start the game because you have to be omnipotent or something.

[Dalawantahr]

I disagree on it being easy to hit Rank 2, considering I couldn't even beat the first wave of enemies in the Rank 1 test. The test says to use your Primary, but the only Primary I have is the MK1 Paris bow, which takes 2-3 full charge shots to kill a single enemy. Not to mention the 4-5 seconds I spend after each kill trying to find the next enemy.

Now, I understand that my weapon isn't suited to complete the test, and that's fine. What really annoys me is that there was no indication anywhere that I would need a high DPS weapon in very short order. Because of this, not only did I pick up the wrong weapon at the start of the game, I also blew all my credits on a set of crappy dual Pistols, which I can't even use in the test. So I'm stuck at Rank 0 looking at the brick wall that is the Rank 1 test because apparently game companies can't be bothered to give you even a basic understanding of how to play their games; you're just expected to know everything the moment you start the game because you have to be omnipotent or something.

Learning experience is priceless, and you earn it from failures. In my days there were no MK-1 Paris, all I get was MK-1 Braton, Lato and Skana. I ditched MK-1 Braton because it was not performing well and bought Braton, that's 15K credits if I remember. In the mean time you can try head shots with your MK-1 Paris, practice that in regular mission before you take the test again. Again mod your weapon with everything you got available. If you fail again buy Braton.

 

Question : is it hard for console player to target headshots on a gamepad?

Edited February 11, 2015 by Dalawantahr

[CheeseHasLeafs]

Maybe Frost? Frost is a fairly tanky frame, but his tankiness scales a little because of the Snow Globe mechanics (adds damage taken in the first x seconds to total health). Also Rhino's Iron Skin is what promotes the bad habits, and Frost doesn't have that. 

Frost also shares Volt's high shield stat. 

 

I do recommend you giving Zephyr a try if and when you can. Zephyr has good base statistics (150 shields and 150 health), armour stat notwithstanding, and she's also got the best mobility in the game. She's also arguably one of the most fun. The only problem with her is obtaining her in the first place.

 

Also, mastery is never wasted. Don't stress about not passing the test, any mastery you earn in the meantime will carry over. For now, focus on upgrading your mods and finding a weapon that works for you. High level Serration and Redirection mods are important (redirection less so, depending on your playstyle), and if you have those, you'll pass the first few hurdles with ease. 

The whole game really is about time investment. And, it's a game. Don't put too much stress on anything, just play it and enjoy. Progress is necessarily incremental, and will happen regardless when you play. 

Edited February 11, 2015 by CheeseHasLeafs

[Rakosta_Kai]

As far as the No Main thing goes, I do understand and even support it. However, I'm a new player, so I want a frame that meshes with the way I play the game to use while getting used to the systems that the game uses. I'm a lot more likely to get to 'endgame' with something I enjoy and am comfortable with using than with something that I can't get used to because the best way to play it is contrary to my playstyle.

As for frames, the main suggestions seem to be Rhyno and Valkyr, with a few people suggesting Saryn. Unfortunately, Rhyno is currently XP locked, as my rank is still 0. I do have the test for Rank 1, but I blew 25k Credits on a set of dual Pistols for the Mesa frame, so the only Primary weapon I have is the starting Bow from the beginning of the game. I've currently got about 7k credits, which I'm saving up to get a Primary Schematic, but until I can get a decent Primary to do the test with, I'm stuck at rank 0. I'll probably give Valkyr a try, with the understanding that she will take some getting used to (since she is an advanced frame), and if she doesn't work out, I'll switch to Saryn.

Also, thanks for all the advice. I appreciate it.

 

The truth of the matter is that you will have to find a comfort zone with all of the frames for Mastery ranking and they all play differently depending on the mods you have acquired.

 

Volt is an outstanding all around frame (So is Mesa with levels and mods) At your level I'd be concerned with acquiring Energy Siphon, Redirection, Fast Deflection, Vitality, Streamline, Flow, Continuity, and Intensity and putting some ranks into them.

 

TTK is a huge factor in TTL in this game so I'd suggest ensuring you are ranking weapons up. Plugging some real time into the mercury Survival mission should net you a lot of good mods both for your frames and your weapons.

 

While most players don't make heavy use of cover as the gameplay is too fast paced, you will need to get into the habit of using evasive maneuvers.

 

I view evasive maneuvers as non-optional as enemies kill stationary players.

 

The bad habit players are speaking of in regard to Rhino stems from the fact that Rhino players frequently don't know when to make use of evasive maneuvers because IS active means they don't really need to in low/mid levels and won't notice the difference.

I am one of the admitted Rhino fans and I don't suggest him to new players for that very reason.

Iron Skin is a crippling crutch late game.

Edited February 11, 2015 by Padre_Akais

[Gelkor]

This may not sound very helpful, but I suggest simply not picking a main. Use whatever seems more fun at the moment. 

 

[(PSN)KidKosmo]

Mesa, Nova, Vauban, Saryn, Loki and Ember are glass cannons  but will do wonders when paired with some of the tankier frames like Rhino, Trinity, Valkyr, and Frost. If you want something in between I would check out Hydroid, Zephyr, Mag, Oberon, or Nyx.

My fav frames right now are Hyrdoid and Nyx because they have tons of everything that fits my play style CC damage and defense with some good mobility they are pretty balanced frames well in all categories. Trinity is not a DPS frame if you ask me i mean E.Vamp can do damage but, you are better off building tanky with some duration mods for the longer buff for your Ult.

 

Learning experience is priceless, and you earn it from failures. In my days there were no MK-1 Paris, all I get was MK-1 Braton, Lato and Skana. I ditched MK-1 Braton because it was not performing well and bought Braton, that's 15K credits if I remember. In the mean time you can try head shots with your MK-1 Paris, practice that in regular mission before you take the test again. Again mod your weapon with everything you got available. If you fail again buy Braton.

 

Question : is it hard for console player to target headshots on a gamepad?

I took off the aim assist, it made it pretty easy the aim assist really messes up accuracy on consoles.

[(XBOX)D34thst41ker]

Sorry about the rant. This isn't the first game I've played where a choice or action made at the beginning can screw you over due to lack of information. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel gave you a Shock Sniper Rifle at the beginning of the game, for example. I sold it, then continued on until I hit the first boss. He annihilated me. I therefore went to the official forums and asked for advice. The general answer? Use the Sniper Rifle I no longer had. As much as it might sound like it, I'm not asking to have my hand held through games. However, some communication would be nice. In a game where elemental weapons are the norm, an uncommon Shock Sniper Rifle doesn't attract enough attention for me to say, "Hey. I should probably keep this. It may be here for a reason."

As for the question about headshotting with a controller, it can be difficult. I don't have the twitchiness needed for consistent headshots, especially in fast-paced games like this one, but I have friends who can pull it off no problem. It doesn't help that the controller joysticks aren't anywhere near as sensitive as a mouse (I actually do have a gaming computer, but my friends don't, so it doesn't see much use).

[(PSN)SpearOfTheKnight]

Rhino or Zephyr

[(PSN)KidKosmo]

Sorry about the rant. This isn't the first game I've played where a choice or action made at the beginning can screw you over due to lack of information. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel gave you a Shock Sniper Rifle at the beginning of the game, for example. I sold it, then continued on until I hit the first boss. He annihilated me. I therefore went to the official forums and asked for advice. The general answer? Use the Sniper Rifle I no longer had. As much as it might sound like it, I'm not asking to have my hand held through games. However, some communication would be nice. In a game where elemental weapons are the norm, an uncommon Shock Sniper Rifle doesn't attract enough attention for me to say, "Hey. I should probably keep this. It may be here for a reason."

As for the question about headshotting with a controller, it can be difficult. I don't have the twitchiness needed for consistent headshots, especially in fast-paced games like this one, but I have friends who can pull it off no problem. It doesn't help that the controller joysticks aren't anywhere near as sensitive as a mouse (I actually do have a gaming computer, but my friends don't, so it doesn't see much use).

Here is my advice, Don't delete any weapons or warframes until you atleast hit level 30 with it. As it will maximize your mastery rank exp. even if you hate the weapon, if you invest anything into anything you build from here on out the best payback is getting the max mastery rank exp. from that weapon.

[(XBOX)D34thst41ker]

Oh, I haven't deleted anything, and I don't plan to. That's not an issue.

[Defendor]

I think you should focus on getting a decent weapon before worrying about frames. You said you're getting a primary blueprint, but... don't. Buy a Braton for 25K credits instead. It's a good weapon that can get you through lvl 1-20 planets without any trouble. That'll give you lots of mastery, boss options, frame options, mat farming locations, etc. Then, when the 70-80K credits needed to get a new frame don't pose a problem, start thinking about new frames.

 

By the way, Mesa is one of the most durable frames in the game, as she can easily get 95% damage reduction from Shatter Shield.