Best Frames For Solo Play?

[(XBOX)Shard77]

Afternoon Everyone,

 

Let me preface my question with a little information: I currently have a level 30 Excaliber and am in the process of building a Rhino.  I have some blueprints for Nyx, but not all.  My Braton is also at level 30 so I am building a Burston to keep upping my mastery.  For secondary and melee I'm using the free weapons we got for the anniversary (Both around level 15-20 right now).  I'm at mastery level 3.  For planets I've unlocked up to Jupiter so far and have played a couple of missions in the void.

 

I have no problem playing coop but, I don't belong to a clan and none of my Xbox friends play WF so I'm only able to play with randoms ATM.  Usually I don't have the patience to wait for a squad to form when I'm trying to unlock various nodes on each of the planets so I end up playing solo.  A lot of the missions this isn't a problem but capture, rescue, and excavation can be troublesome.  Plus, as I advance through the planets, I'm sure it's only going to get harder and harder.

 

So, after all that, my basic question is.....is there a particular frame or frames that is well suited to solo play, even for mid to late game?

 

For some reason, Mesa really appeals to me and seems like a fun frame to play, but she doesn't seem to be conducive to solo play....too squishy.

 

Any tips on frame and/or weapons to build would be greatly appreciated. 

Edited April 2, 2015 by (XB1)Shard77

[lightdragon64]

i found trinity works quite well for solo (even at higher levels), add in all you need for casting link and energy vampire and you are good to go i'd say

[Monguser]

Well if you are in need of a clan you can always check the recruiting threads lots of clans recruit newer players. As for solo play, really any frame can be good for this you just have to play smart (i.e dont run into a group of enemies expecting not to take damage). Surprisingly Mesa is actually quite tanky for a wave clearer and she is extremely fun for solo play, so I would recommend her as well. Loki is a definite must to have. Zephyr is also a fantastic solo frame. Hope this helps!

[(PSN)immanks102]

From what I'm reading you sound familiar new to the game and rhino will be a good solo at first just be careful and use other frames, using rhino teaches bad habits when you first start playing. Once you feel you're starting to get caught up on all the mods and have a decent rank on those mods me personally switched to Nova and for my solo missions and higher tier missions 

[Nighttide77]

For some reason, Mesa really appeals to me and seems like a fun frame to play, but she doesn't seem to be conducive to solo play....too squishy.

 

Doesn't Mesa's Shatter Shield provide up to 95% damage reduction, and Shooting Gallery not only jam enemy ranged weapons, but pretty much stun them into a "gun fixing animation"?

[nickelshark]

As lightdragon mentioned trinity is a good option. Ash and Loki are really good solo frames as well and Rhino can get you through the starchart as well.

 

I forgot to mention Oberon. he is great for solo play as well. With CC and the ability to heal and remove/prevent procs he is well suited to both group and solo play.

Edited April 2, 2015 by nickelshark

[(XBOX)Shard77]

Thanks for the advice guys.

 

I actually bought the Mesa blueprint and spent the 6,000 credits to do the Patient Zero quest.  I didn't realize until after the fact that to build the Assasinate Keys I need to farm Mutalist Nav Coordinates that only come from Infested Invasions.

 

I'm actually considering spending some real $$ on the game and just purchasing her for the 375 plat...

Edited April 2, 2015 by (XB1)Shard77

[steamrick]

Tanky solo frames that go well into endgame:

 

- Trinity (easily no. 1)

- Chroma (with an armor-focused ice build)

- Zephyr (maximum turbulence)

- Loki (invisibility)

 

I don't count Rhino because after a certain point, his Iron Skin isn't all that good anymore.

 

edit: Mesa's Shatter Shield makes her pretty strong against weapons fire, but she goes down really easily to bleed procs or grenades or area effects or any number of stuff.

For that same reason I'm not including Ash: Loki is better at being invisible and for anything else he's better as part of a team rather than a lone frame.

Edited April 2, 2015 by steamrick

[GinKenshin]

Thanks for the advice guys.

 

I actually bought the Mesa blueprint and spent the 6,000 credits to do the Patient Zero quest.  I didn't realize until after the fact that to build the Assasinate Keys I need to Mutalist Nav Coordinates that only come from Infested Invasions.

 

I'm actually considering spending some real $$ on the game and just purchasing her for the 375 plat...

well, she's on pare with vauban with the most RNG needed frame to get, but I suggest u spend a little time, and when you reach your limit then buy her

as for solo frames, valkyr seems a good option, shes a perfect melee frame and she can survive and take a lot of hits, she's also perfect for these nightmare missions, since u seem new and you need these nightmare mods 

[(XBOX)Bornout Gamer]

Nova, frost prime and vauban are the best for me.

The frost snow hold on 75 sek ;)

[Nosomma]

You should build rhino. He is easy to get and can help to get other frames later.

[TheBrsrkr]

Rhino, Ash and Trinity (with reservations) are the best solo frames for a new pllayer that can be easily acquired. Maybe Mag if you're good....

[JoKeLy]

IMO Frost is a great solo starting frame.  His globe allows so much forgiveness if you lack fully upgraded mods.  It allows you a lot of breathing room however it is a much slower playstyle.  In the end all frames can work as long as you have plenty of health/energy/ammo/shield packs.

[(PSN)Magician_NG]

Frames with survival skills.

 

Despite what the community thinks of Rhino, his skills do make him a good choice for star map completion running solo.

[Kantazo]

Rhino is the first one you should try, he can help you farm the other frames you will like to develop in the future, with a good weapon like Soma Prime Rhino is a killing machine.

[JDP04]

Loki - stealth/run mission like sabotage, spy, rescue, etc.

Frost - defense mission.

Saryn - mass mobs clearing like exterminate, invasion, mobile defense, etc.

[knightp25]

I use loki, I have him modded for invisibility

[Lost_Cartographer]

Let's pretend that a brand new player isn't going to have much access to the void or the platinum to purchase things like Soma Prime for a moment...

 

Rhino is a good, new guy friendly warframe.  Iron Skin is a very powerful skill that makes playing very forgiving, but can teach bad habits if a player takes it for granted.  A decent player can clear the star chart with Excalibur, Loki or Mag.  Generally, their powers are only really required in endless defense and excavation game modes.  This goes for most frames actually.  Non-endless stuff can be beat with raw firepower and good use of cover.

 

As for primary weapons, if you enjoy the Braton:

 

-The Karak is the next logical step for sheer firepower in a fully automatic rifle.  

-The Grakata is kind of a cousin to the Soma (Soma being among top tier for new guy friendly weapons) but you'll want the mods point strike and vital hit to get very much mileage out of it.

-The Hind is a solid burst fire weapon.  Good damage, great accuracy.  Fires 5 shots, and kind of slowly per burst at that.

-The Latron stands out as a battle rifle or DMR.  Generally very high damage per shot.  If you manage to nab a forma and don't mind sacrificing it over using it to polarize a weapon or frame, you can get a very powerful burst rifle in the Tiberon.

-The Bolter is mostly an anti-grineer weapon and can be tricky to use until you become comfortable with the projectiles having actual velocities.

-The Tetra stands out as an alternative to the Boltor - more damage but lower rate of fire and no knock back on kill.  Flying dead bodies damage bad dudes.

-Burston is okay I guess.  The recoil is really what kills it though.

 

For secondaries, DEX Furix are pretty boss.  The Vasto, Magnus, and Bolto lines make for very solid and dependable secondaries as well, but can be pricey to put together.  Orokin Cells are more valuable than the stuff they're consumed to make.

 

For melee, DEX Dakra is pretty much top of the line for what you can get so early in the game.

 

And if you ever purchase platinum, invest it into a few weapon and warframe slots first.  You'll regret any other purchases otherwise.

Edited April 2, 2015 by Littleman88

[(XBOX)Shard77]

Let's pretend that a brand new player isn't going to have much access to the void or the platinum to purchase things like Soma Prime for a moment...

 

Rhino is a good, new guy friendly warframe.  Iron Skin is a very powerful skill that makes playing very forgiving, but can teach bad habits if a player takes it for granted.  A decent player can clear the star chart with Excalibur, Loki or Mag.  Generally, their powers are only really required in endless defense and excavation game modes.  This goes for most frames actually.  Non-endless stuff can be beat with raw firepower and good use of cover.

 

As for primary weapons, if you enjoy the Braton:

 

-The Karak is the next logical step for sheer firepower in a fully automatic rifle.  

-The Grakata is kind of a cousin to the Soma (Soma being among top tier for new guy friendly weapons) but you'll want the mods point strike and vital hit to get very much mileage out of it.

-The Hind is a solid burst fire weapon.  Good damage, great accuracy.  Fires 5 shots, and kind of slowly per burst at that.

-The Latron stands out as a battle rifle or DMR.  Generally very high damage per shot.  If you manage to nab a forma and don't mind sacrificing it over using it to polarize a weapon or frame, you can get a very powerful burst rifle in the Tiberon.

-The Bolter is mostly an anti-grineer weapon and can be tricky to use until you become comfortable with the projectiles having actual velocities.

-The Tetra stands out as an alternative to the Boltor - more damage but lower rate of fire and no knock back on kill.  Flying dead bodies damage bad dudes.

-Burston is okay I guess.  The recoil is really what kills it though.

 

For secondaries, DEX Furix are pretty boss.  The Vasto, Magnus, and Bolto lines make for very solid and dependable secondaries as well, but can be pricey to put together.  Orokin Cells are more valuable than the stuff they're consumed to make.

 

For melee, DEX Dakra is pretty much top of the line for what you can get so early in the game.

 

And if you ever purchase platinum, invest it into a few weapon and warframe slots first.  You'll regret any other purchases otherwise.

Very helpful info on the weapons, Littleman, thank you.

[(XBOX)Kaptain IV]

If you want to solo 2 hour t4 survival. Choose Loki. Spam invis and disarm and you're good. 

[Shy0]

rhino is a good beginner frame as iron skin doesn't need maxing out with mods (though efficiency helps with all abilities). you'll need to collect pretty much all the rare warframe mods to have enough options to solo e.g. max duration with loki, max distance with nyx, high strength for mesa. i soloed most of the solar map with nyx when i started, but you should find your own favourite frame because we'll all have different playstyles.

 

mesa is actually a pretty good frame to solo with. the problem is farming for keys, mesa has the dumbest grind to get (you'll need to wait for infestation alerts to get the parts to craft the keys to farm the boss to get random part drops). shatter shield gives 95% damage protection with enough power strength, shooting gallery gives a short distance radial stun and peacemaker can mow down enemies the moment they walk into sight.

 

as for weapons, you're lucky to be starting now because of the anniversary weapons. they should carry you quite far in the game.

[S41t]

Some frames are easier to farm than others. Rhino is pretty easy to farm, and also a good solo-frame.

 

Mesa, for me is the most fun, but its quite hard to obtain her without spending real money.

Usually most frames which have a kit that synergizes well with eachother are good for solo play.

Mesa is the Frame for defensive missions or exterminate. 2,3 and her ultimate synergize so well with each other, you might dont need anything else. And by the time you play you might find some Energy efficiency Mods for her, since thats the mods you want if you want to spam Peacemaker all the time. Or less badass action and more conservative gameplay, get duration mods for longer Shooting Gallery and Shattershield.

But stay away from the infested with her. Shatter shield is pretty much useless against them.

 

Another good solo Frame is Valkyr, high stamina, high health and the highest armor. Super Tanky with a godmode/heal and increased dmg as her ultimate ability. If you like melee, pick her. Super frame for solo Survival Missions or infested Defense.

[Deshiel]

zephyr all the way.

[steamrick]

As for primary weapons, if you enjoy the Braton: [...]

 

Personally I think the Attica is an extremely good weapon to start off with.

 

You need to join a clan that already has it researched, but in Warframe, joining a clan early is a given. The only building resource that might be problematic for a newb is the Forma that's required since it's a Tenno Lab weapon.

 

In terms of performance... it's a repeating full-auto crossbow with 125 base damage per shot. It can clean up lower-level missions unmodded and it will respond nicely to any damage or crit-build mods, making it very easy to build for.

Given maxrank mods and 5 forma and the weapon is useful even deep into T4 endless missions - where it cannot quite keep up in terms of DPS, it shines in terms of ammo efficiency.

[(XBOX)Trixorz1179]

Hey, similar to you I play a TON solo. I feel there is no best frame for everything solo. If i were to recommend one it would be saryn because she can effectively do well vs all the fractions corpus/infested/grineer. Mesa really struggles vs infested without a good shooting gallery build. If you build saryn with max efficiency and rage+regenerative molt she becomes pretty hard to kill for most of the game. For me its typically like this

 

Orokin derelict survival (Infested) - Mirage can do really well vs infested in survival. I can easily last 40+ minutes. Although mirage requires really high tier mods (max blind rage etc)

 

Orokin derelict defense (Infested) - Nyx can easily solo 40+ waves here with a short duration chaos build

 

Excavation - Again nyx with chaos makes excavation soo easy with a short duration chaos build

 

Void Survival - Honestly, in the higher tiers 3-4 Mesa is by far the best along with loki. As long as you don't let yourself get screwed over by MOA's you'll be fine as Mesa, but it requires a fully forma'ed weapon though because peacemaker won't be useful in solo survival. The 1-2 towers Saryn can just destroy those up to 40 minutes

 

Defense - Not really sure about the high tier defense missions. I think a loki with a good disarm build would do alright. I personally never do higher tier defense missions solo in the void. In normal defenses like grineer/corpus saryn does really well.

 

I think Saryn is your best bet though from what your telling me.. Just try to get your hands on regen molt+rage. She breezes through the planets. Another suggestion if you play alot solo is try to get a raska kubrow or the guardian mod for the sentinel. Raskas can make squishier frames like Nyx take a lot more damage.

 

Also if you need help farming something like Saryn parts add me in game and I can help you get them if you don't want spend plat buying her. I don't mind. Since I just noticed you only have up to saturn unlocked.

Edited April 3, 2015 by (XB1)Trixorz1179

[Autongnosis]

- Rhino: good overall tankiness at lower levels and Roar and Stomp keep being useful later on. A great forgiving frame for newbies.

- Frost: the Globe is a very nice skill in that it gives you a disposable safe haven for breahing room. Also high armour and shields. Gets some meh damage skills that can marginally help

- Nyx: GREAT CC with chaos, great panic button with Absorb and the ability to remove the annoying auras of eximi and ancients with Mind Control. Very nice solo frame. Also, she's cute.

- Ash: gets a nice kit with a very useful Shuriken (homing damage you can use while doing anything), invisibility, on-demand finishers with telepprt and a very strong ultimate that both clears rooms and gives you some breathing room.