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

[SmashingGudTime]

my top 5;

1.Trinity

2.Loki

3.Chroma

4.Valkyr

5.Mirage

[(XBOX)rickthemang]

I had exactly the same issues as you when I started out. I found that Nyx (was my second warframe) was my go-to character for handling some of the more hectic missions in solo, like interception, excavation and defense.

Her absorb skill will do enough damage when levelled up to kill mobs with 1-2 casts, and her chaos skill is extremely useful for distracting enemy attention away from objects you're trying to defend.

Feel free to add me to your friend list and next time I'm on I can help you clear out some of the nodes if you'd like.

Gamer tag is rickthemang

[(PSN)IkariWarrior83]

I had a similar issue, too.  One of my friends started playing and helped me out, and then he went to go play other games, and I ended up coming here on the forums and running into a guy who needed help rebuilding his clan.

 

To answer the topic at hand:

If you're Mastery 2 or higher, Rhino is a good beginner-solo frame. As others have said, he's a great tank, and Iron Skin is a boon, but it's important to learn good habits, like taking cover, and learning how to fall back when taking too much fire (regroup, get energy, refill ammo, etc).  These are skills that come with time, though.

 

In my experience, there are different "best" frames for the different missions:

 

Oberon is a great solo frame for survival

Limbo is a great solo frame for rescue and to a lesser degree, capture (before you could banish capture targets, and it looks like you can't anymore).

Loki (second-hand experience) is great for Spy 2.0

Frost is awesome at excavation, defense, and mobile defense. (frost is hard to get though since he's on Ceres and Frost Prime was recently removed from the drop tables)

It goes without saying, but basically every frame is "best" at Exterminate.

 

As far as the Void is concerned:

I enjoy running Exterminates with highly mobile frames like Nova or Zephyr because they allow me to get to the sometimes impossible-to-reach treasure rooms.

 

Depending on your mastery rank, there are different weapons that will suit the different missions, too.

[furNeR98]

I like going solo t4 with Mesa :)

[(PSN)IkariWarrior83]

Regarding the expenditure of 375 plat for Mesa:  I would say wait it out.  Once you have the outer planets (Europa, Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto) unlocked, there are frequently infestation invasions that will yield you a Muta Alad V coordinate as a reward.  Last night I played for maybe two hours, and an infestation on Neptune had an infested Alad V coordinate which ended after about 40 mins, and then a second one popped up an hour later.

 

Basically none of the beginner/mid-range content (Mercury-Phobos) will bag you an Alad V coordinate.  Once you get out to Neptune, you could potentially earn a key a day or a key per week.  375 plat can save you a bit of time and RNG woes, but if you keyshare in the recruiting thread here or the recruiting tab in chat, your odds dramatically increase.

Edited April 3, 2015 by (PS4)IkariWarrior83

[(XBOX)Shard77]

Thanks, a ton, guys for all the information.  That's one of the things I love about this forum - there are a lot of people that are willing to help us new guys out.

 

Trixorz and Rick, the next time I'm on, I'll shoot you a friend request.

 

Unfortunately, I have limited access to my Xbox One (Long, boring story) so I can only play Warframe a couple weekends a month.  For this reason, I'm reluctant to join a clan because I won't be able to play consistently and don't want to come across as an undedicated member.  It also makes me favor sentinels over Kubrows because of the constant maintainance Kubrows require.

 

As suggested in so many places, I used my initial plat on extra frame and weapon slots.  The more I read, the more I'm convinced that I'm going to have to spend some real $$ if I want to get Mesa any time soon.  Maybe I'll buy the Volt Prime pack and use some of the plat that comes with it to buy Mesa as well...

Edited April 3, 2015 by (XB1)Shard77

[steamrick]

One more piece of advice:

 

Rather than buying Mesa outright, if you want to speed things up you should buy Muta Alad V Assassination keys.

They're fairly cheap now (at least on PC they go for less than 10P apiece - I bought 3 keys for 20P when I got my Mesa) and if you enter a keyshare, one or two keys will get you all parts unless RNG hates you.

[(XBOX)Shard77]

One more piece of advice:

 

Rather than buying Mesa outright, if you want to speed things up you should buy Muta Alad V Assassination keys.

They're fairly cheap now (at least on PC they go for less than 10P apiece - I bought 3 keys for 20P when I got my Mesa) and if you enter a keyshare, one or two keys will get you all parts unless RNG hates you.

Ok, here's a dumb question: what is a keyshare?  I'm assuming it's when players agree to share their void keys and such with other players, but how do I join a keyshare?

 

Also, I'm assuming the Alad Assination keys get consumed every time I use one so, depending on RNG, I could take me 10 or more keys to get all three parts correct?

 

A semi-related question: do I need to be in a clan to sell/buy/trade items?

[steamrick]

To sell/buy/trade you need to be MR2 or higher and have access to a trading station in a Clan Dojo.

Typically the person selling things will invite you into his clan's dojo, so you don't need to be a clan to buy stuff - but it's highly recommended if you want to sell things. In Warframe, joining a clan is pretty much a given if you want to progress.

 

Keyshare is where everyone agrees to put forth a key (or more) and for the whole group to complete those keys after. Typical procedure:

1) You host or join a keyshare group - the recruitment chat message will always specify keyshare

2) Everyone who joined shows their key once

3) Normally, the Host will start off the keyshare with his own key; if he doesn't then you should ask him to show his key to prove he's not a leecher

4) You complete the mission again and again until everyone has used up a key

5) You decide as a group if you want to go another round

 

Issues with keyshare:

- people going on missions and then quitting when they're supposed to submit their own key

- people quitting when whatever component they wanted drops and they have no further reason to come along

- people generally being A******s

[(PSN)D-onlinekilla-4D]

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

^this, coupled with melee, also Loki would be a good frame to get but may be a bit out of reach at the moment, unless he is still on the market for 75 platinum (which includes warframe slot and reactor) pretty good value

[EvilKam]

I would duplicate a lot of people's advice.  If I'm solo, I'm probably running Loki for my perma-invis build on missions.  

 

Also, if you're new, my usual advice always applies.  You should read a guide.

[(XBOX)Shard77]

I would duplicate a lot of people's advice.  If I'm solo, I'm probably running Loki for my perma-invis build on missions.  

 

Also, if you're new, my usual advice always applies.  You should read a guide.

Hi GS,

 

I've actually read your attached guide and found it extremely helpful.  Thanks!

[EvilKam]

^this, coupled with melee, also Loki would be a good frame to get but may be a bit out of reach at the moment, unless he is still on the market for 75 platinum (which includes warframe slot and reactor) pretty good value

 

OH MY GAWD!  LOKI IS 75 PLAT?  Considering the reactor and slot are 40 plat, buying one of the game's best frames for basically 35 platinum is darn nice.  That's not even a bad deal, unlike 90% of the market.

 

Also, Shard, I'd be totally appreciative if you could upvote my guide.  I'm trying a grassroots method of getting it stickied, or better yet, ADDED TO FREAKING WARFRAME.

 

Seriously DE, I'm willing to work out a deal on this.  I've done the groundwork, and I'm even willing to delete the sarcasm if you promise to fix my legitimate gripes.

[Darkmoone1]

I would say Loki, Oberon, Trinity, Chroma, and Valkyr.

[(PSN)D-onlinekilla-4D]

OH MY GAWD!  LOKI IS 75 PLAT?  Considering the reactor and slot are 40 plat, buying one of the game's best frames for basically 35 platinum is darn nice.  

It was around U11 if my memory serves me well, not sure if they're still available, there was 3 frames that was on offer for 75p each. I also agree that is a pretty good deal.

Edited April 3, 2015 by (PS4)D-onlinekilla-4D

[(PSN)IkariWarrior83]

Excal, Mag, Loki, and Volt I think are all 75 plat, maybe not Volt, but basically all the original starter frames are 75p.  I was tempted to buy Loki but I wasn't sure if I'd like him (I was wrong, he's awesome), but I just refuse to pay plat for beginner frames, even if I have to farm excal on pluto (which I did, lol).

 

OP: if you buy Prime Access, buying Mesa will not be a bad investment with the ridiculous amount of plat that you get.  I would also recommend Vauban since he's the other RNG nightmare.  

 

I'm on the fence about buying Oberon for plat.  He's my favorite frame, but Eximus enemies show up in basically every mission, so every mission there's a chance an eximus enemy will drop an Oberon component.  That said, if you buy or farm Oberon, I highly recommend.

[Fedaykyn]

I'm on the fence about buying Oberon for plat.  He's my favorite frame, but Eximus enemies show up in basically every mission, so every mission there's a chance an eximus enemy will drop an Oberon component.  That said, if you buy or farm Oberon, I highly recommend.

 

I see Oberon parts dropped everywhere. I would give you mine (I already have Oberon) but I'm on PC.

Edited April 3, 2015 by Fedaykyn

[Gammaion]

Nova, Frost (Prime), Valkyr, Trinity, Rhino (Prime) to an extent, Loki, Ice Chroma, and Vauban

 

Nova, Frost (Prime) and Valkyr are the ones I have had the easiest time soloing with. You can save yourself with snowglobe as Frost, and clear large crowds with avalanche. As for Nova, you can annihilate extremely large groups of enemies paired with the newbie-friendly Soma. Valkyr can be invincible for over a minute, allowing plenty of breathing room.

[srlhama]

He is a starter and ppl sugesting frost and loki????

Just build your Rhino, I hate Rhino, more than 1 month last time play with him, but, right now all you need is Rhino cause with Redirection+Intensify you are good to clean most planets untill neptune/eris...

I personally sugest Saryn with rage(droped from bombards) and Regenerative Molt (syndicate mod that you can get for a max of 15/20plat. You took moderate damage on health you gain energy, you use Molt and starts healing 50 HPp per second, with Regenaration (easiest aura you can get) you dont died more if you use a little caution.

Trinity is imortal but you will need some mods hard go get.

Right now you need to worry yourself on get mods like Flow, Streamline, Serration, Continuity, Stretch every build you will need it.

Edited April 4, 2015 by srlhama

[steamrick]

Don't pay more than 15P for syndicate mods. 25k standing is too easy to farm for them to be worth more.

[EvilKam]

He is a starter and ppl sugesting frost and loki????

 

Absolutely.  Loki is a fantastic frame, and as a n00b, I can't count the number of times that invisibility was what kept me alive.  For a supposedly "advanced" frame, Loki's kit lends fantastically well to solo.

 

Once you get your perma-invis build, 75% of the game's solar map is a cakewalk.

[Gilmaesh]

Rhino will  help you clear most of the starchart.

 

Lokl with continuity+constitution is a must. Both mods are cheap.

 

 

I personally sugest Saryn with rage(mod from nightmare missions) 

 

Rage drop from napalm or orokin container, not from nightmare mission.

[steamrick]

Once you get your perma-invis build, 75% of the game's solar map is a cakewalk.

 

I dunno... any decent perma-invis build requires a few corrupted mods including a decently ranked Narrow Minded...

I wouldn't consider Loki a true starter frame. He's not good until you've managed to acquire a decent batch of the rare power modifiers.

[Gilmaesh]

You don't really need narrow minded in the beginning.

 

edit : but sure a frame like rhino make a descent work with cheaper mods 

Edited April 4, 2015 by Gilmaesh

[srlhama]

Absolutely. Loki is a fantastic frame, and as a n00b, I can't count the number of times that invisibility was what kept me alive. For a supposedly "advanced" frame, Loki's kit lends fantastically well to solo.

Once you get your perma-invis build, 75% of the game's solar map is a cakewalk.

He only have Jupiter now how he is supose to get on ceres and netuno????

Asking taxi to these places will be hard...