Venka, Vidi, Vici [7Th Video Added]

[MechaTails]

Added another video to first post

[Yinglong]

useless mogamu video

 

I don't agree with Mogamu's builds most of the time (I think they're suboptimal), but regardless of what you or I think of him, what he said in this one is valid (assuming you actually saw it). Without crit rate mods, Fury and Berserker alone will give you a consistent high attack rate. Even with Spoiled Strike equipped in addition to the two mods I mentioned, you can still get a reasonable of Berserker stacks. I've tested this numerous times and my experience reflects what was mentioned in the video.

[MechaTails]

Added 5th video

[Yinglong]

 

These are vanilla heavies and I won't be altering their armor values. As for the sentinel, I didn't bother to remove it, but it doesn't have a weapon equipped, so it's just there for convenience. Excuse the low quality screenshots, I had to run the game at low settings for performance reasons.

 

The idea here is to build around the Venka's strengths (one of them is shared with the fist class), but I'm still in the process of optimizing the hell out of them for more consistent results. Warframe builder won't help much in this case since it doesn't take procs into account.

 

The weapon itself is still not without issues. One thing is for sure, once I equipped Four Riders, I never looked back. The utility of that stance is too good to pass up.

 

Now for some number eye candy:

 

 

 

 

 

The average TTK was around 2 to 5 seconds, mostly depending on positioning. The fastest KOs were either under a second or nearly instantaneous. but it does require some timing and luck to pull off. At the same time, big numbers don't always tell the story. I can't guarantee the results be the same every time. You'll just have to take my word for it.

 

But the million dollar question is whether Venka works on lvl 90 enemies. I'm curious of at what level Venka dmg would fall off.

 

And now to get back to this question. In order for it to be viable at those levels, there needs to be a level of consistency with TTK under practical conditions, because RNG isn't a factor you'll want to rely on. I'm still in the process of testing this, so I can't come up with a definitive answer for now.

 

Off-topic: I just realized this belongs in Players Helping Players.

[elele]

And now to get back to this question. In order for it to be viable at those levels, there needs to be a level of consistency with TTK under practical conditions, because RNG isn't a factor you'll want to rely on. I'm still in the process of testing this, so I can't come up with a definitive answer for now.

 

Thanks for testing this. If you could take the Venka and maybe do a 50min T4 survival, that would completely solve the question. 

 

Another question: how did you get those big numbers? Are they finisher dmg? 

[MechaTails]

Being able to shred level 90s is irrelevant. There are weapons that are grossly OP, specifically released for players who want to fight lv90s and not die immediately. If thats your measuring stick for what makes a weapon "viable" then youre better off sticking to the usual (unless you find a way to cheese it and make yourself invincible\invisible lol)

Im going to point out for anyone just tuning in that the goal of this topic isnt to show how disgustingly OP Venkas are (or how OP certain warframes are). The goal is to show Venkas can hang in there roughly to level 45 to 50, DE's supposed balancing point, and as far as I'm concerned mission accomplished.

Edited May 13, 2015 by DarkTails

[MechaTails]

Last video added, now let's never again have the argument that Venkas aren't Berserker "viable"

[(XBOX)CeaselessSlim]

My question is.....is buzz kill and/or jagged edges a must...I have neither :(

Edited May 15, 2015 by (XB1)CeaselessSlim

[MechaTails]

I didn't use BK/JE in the videos and they were shredding through Level 30-35s well. Infested especially are no problem. Remember that melee weapons have a combo meter that increases your attack as you hit the enemies, and Malicious Raptor even has innate damage multipliers in the combos.

 

Even if you had the rare mods, I wouldn't suggest you use Venkas against 50+ enemies unless you have a way to reduce the damage you'll be taking from bullets.

Edited May 15, 2015 by DarkTails

[Redhux]

Ripkas and Venkas are reducing mobility with the $&*&*#(%& figure "hadoken" while performing a "zorencopter".

 

Just for that, those weapons are dead.

 

 

Sad, the claws concept was funny.

[MechaTails]

I dont know what that means but thanks for stopping by, Saryn!

The doorman has your car keys and will hand them to the taxi driver upon arrival :)

[Yinglong]

My apologies for the delay, I always try to make an effort to squeeze out as much as I can out of the Venka whenever I have the chance. The event, Vermillion Storm farming, leveling fodder, and the booster days (still on-going as of this post) were keeping me distracted in-game.

 

Here's my take on the stances:

 

Malicious Raptor: This is a very awkward and unreliable stance. Performing mid-air rag doll damage was somewhat frustrating solely based on the first strike animation. Difficult, but not impossible. The Vega/Wolverine-esque animations are neat, but that doesn't necessarily translate to practicality on the field for maximum effectiveness.

 

Four Riders: Not as visually pleasing as Malicious, but this gets the job done. Impact procs and strikes that are easy to connect with the enemy makes this a must have.

 

Vermillion Storm: The elusive stance. Current reports are claiming that it's buggy or unfinished. I don't have a copy of it so I can't comment on its effectiveness.

 

But because the Grineer are the bullet sponges in the game, I've decided to build around them.

 

Now for the builds:

 

 

 

Dim Mak (Touch of Death) Build:

 

Referring to my previous post with the screenshots, this build is RNG reliant. When it comes to combos, if you're not doing crits, you're doing chicken scratches. This relies on Slam Attacks, Hungering Encroachment, or Raging Conflict to set up enemy enemies for aerial rag dolling for the one-shot strike.

 

The setup:

 

Perform a Slam Attack or any of the combos listed above next to the enemy.

Stay a close proximity as he/she/it is launched into the air.

Strike the rag dolled enemy with [E] or default melee button before they land on the ground.

 

Overall, this build can be devastating, but only if you're willing to roll the dice. Keep in mind that factors such as environmental geometry come heavily into play. If you wish to give up Life Strike for more damage, go with another 90% elemental to up Viral.

 

I tried reproducing the build on these weapons as well, here is what I got from them:

 

Obex/Kogake: The combos were all over the place thanks to Brutal Tide which resulted in near uncontrollable variable elevated strikes. The stances and much more limited range with this weapon class don't allow for convenient one-shots.

 

Dual Ichor: While this set annihilated the Venka in sheer combo DPS and offered more reliable Viral Procs due to possessing a single native element, I was unable to reproduce the one-shots. I would say it was almost impossible since enemies would just fall over to the ground when attempting Slam Attacks. Swirling Tiger was used for the tests.

 

 

Junheng (Balanced) Build:

 

I'm not the type of person that likes to rely on chance, I prefer consistent results. This one is more reliable than the above for combos. While it may not output risky yet high numbers as the Dim Mak build, it's still decent enough for viral procs. The reason for focusing on all Cold and Toxic mods is to limit the type of procs to Viral as much as possible.

 

 

While swapping one of the raw elemental for a dual status elemental would definitely raise the status chance from 33% to 42%, we also risk diluting our viral procs with fire as well as lowering our damage output at the same time.

 

We also have to consider this common scenario as well: When that Viral proc is inflicted, any more status chance is unneeded and that particular dual status fire mod would have been better off being another 90% elemental to finish off the enemy.

 

I've taken this build with Mesa, it's one of the few warframes that can resist great damage against ranged Grineer. In addition, she does not alter player melee values with certain abilities like Loki, Ash, Chroma, and Valkyr. No Steel Charge or Corrosive Projection was used here to ensure fair values. This build held up until around lvl 60-70 Grineer via combos. Obviously with 4 CPs, it would hold up much longer.

 

I also experimented using all dual status elementals (Radiation + Viral, 51% status chance) with a bias in Viral. This did not perform as well as expected due to the fact that Radiation procs are actually detrimental with melee builds. Drawing enemies to fire or attack at your direction is generally not a good idea. To add to that, the overall damage felt fairly underwhelming despite using Radiation against Alloy targets and it offered no benefit to Ferrite units like Commanders, Drahk Master/Beasts, and Heavy Gunners.

[MechaTails]

I just got Four Riders, it looks great with Ripkas. I'll report how it performs with Venkas later, I need rest lol

 

Also, thanks for doing your own research Yinglong!

Edited September 1, 2015 by DarkTails