(Spoilers) Help In Choosing

[(PSN)Hayabusa_3-17]

In preparation for u18 for consoles I've been reading up on the upcoming Focus system and found that I like the Zenurik and Naramon skill trees the best.

 

My question is which one of these schools is better in your opinion? I'm leaning toward Naramon since I use Excalibur a lot but I can't shake the feeling that Zenurik will serve me better in the long run for my other frames

 

Also after all the patches does Naramon Shadow Step still work with Exalted Blade?

[chaotea]

TBH, there isnt really a 'best' one. You just need to pick a path you like the sound of.

[Airwolfen]

TBH, there isnt really a 'best' one. You just need to pick a path you like the sound of.

 

Indeed. It depends on what is best for you and not someone else. To me it is Zenurik because I mainly play on energy hungry caster frames. But for you it could be different.

[Sir_Alex_Traffo]

My question is which one of these schools is better in your opinion? I'm leaning toward Naramon since I use Excalibur a lot but I can't shake the feeling that Zenurik will serve me better in the long run for my other frames

 

Also after all the patches does Naramon Shadow Step still work with Exalted Blade?

I main Excalibur and I unlocked both Naramon and Zenurik; I can safe assure you that Naramon is the perfect tree for him, miles ahead Zenurik

 

- Zenurik boosted Energy Siphon is insanely good, but as well as the aura, it doesn't work during Exalted Blade; it's the best focus for all the frames but the channeling ones, since even if provides a great energy regain it's just not the best choice. If the power efficency passive was actually a passive and working on EB that would have changed things a bit, but a few seconds are not worth it.

- Naramon not only will boost your EB critical chance by a lot( a flat 30% is a damn lot as EB will crit half of the times without True Steel), but it will provide invisibility everytime you crit. What else do you want? You can forget about the active skills, the passive ones are just too good to be skipped.

Edited December 15, 2015 by siralextraffo

[manub]

I chose naramon because I use melee quite often with critical weapons

But with hindsight if I could choose again I would go with zenurik

Melee combat is situational, but getting energy at faster rate is useful in any situation

Ultimately it depends on your preference & playing style though so just ponder carefully what you expect from focus

As for naramon Excalibur I have heard it's a great combo but I would wait to see umbra Excalibur before installing a lens on it

Edited December 15, 2015 by manub

[Sir_Alex_Traffo]

I chose naramon because I use melee quite often with critical weapons

But with hindsight if I could choose again I would go with zenurik

Melee combat is situational, but getting energy at faster rate is useful in any situation

Ultimately it depends on your preference & playing style though so just ponder carefully what you expect from focus

I'd say Naramon is the best for channeling melee frames, like Excalibur, Valkyr or Wukon, but Zenurik is the way to go for everyone else.

[TrinityPrime]

Madurai's passives add on impact/puncture/slash to weapons and damage abilities as if they're elemental mods being tacked on, only they're adding physical damage [size=1]or so I'm told by one who maxed them[/size], specifically, Ember's world on fire doing i/p/s damage.  Would love to know if this is true for Trinity's Link when used as a weapon.

 

Zenurik, energy is love, energy is life, especially with QT, also there's a see enemies through walls skill but I haven't got there yet.

 

Naramon, if you love melee and everything that triggers off melee crits, this is for you.

 

Vazarin, poor man's Trinity but honestly you're better off spawning an ancient healer specter than using this.

 

I think there was one more but had no advantage that stood out so I forgot its name...

[fatpig84]

Naramon is perfect for those melee fan frames that use channel melee abilities.

Like Excal, Wukong and Valkyr, no surprises huh.

Deadly Intent and Shadow Step alone makes it ridiculous for EB/PF/Hysteria.

Strategic execution gives you more exp which always good.

Even Mind spike is funny against infested, since Confusion turns off infested auras, allowing your team mates to turn the tide if cast correctly.

 

 

Zenurik is perfect for the spell caster.

You get a very powerful Energy Overflow even at low level and Void Pulse gives you minor CC.

For frames that are very thirsty on energy like Novas who press 4 roughly 3 times a second, this is a good idea. 

Same for Loki / Rhino / Nyx etc.  Then add Systemic Override and it becomes even cheaper to cast.

CC frames get the most benefit out of this as most CC skills don't run on channel.

 

 

Vazarin, the school I went with. 

Instant revives. My Loki has done some *@##$ing fast revives under the clock and I only got rank 2 of New Moon unlocked. Polluted waters is situational but plenty powerful, could help if a team wipe is coming then I go into Spess Jesus mode.

Also Mending tide is the ONLY ability in the game that can heal objectives. Not great, but I am not taking my chances if the pod has taken hits.

 

 

Notice that I keep harping on the passive abilities because that is what makes the abilities for me.

Madurai and Unairu right now have terrible passives.

Madurai IPS passive seems to only work if the weapon has IPS damage so it pretty much narrows down your choice. Also, most weapons don't have a 90% alignment to a certain IPS, so that is a huge problem. The damage added is pretty insignificant, unless you use obvious choices like Dread, Rakta Cernos, Opticor etc. But if you like to laser beam stuff, go for this.

 

Unairu, another CC while active but its passive kinda disappoint. The armor buff is rather negligible and the melee passive, while sweet on solo, doesn't really help much in a team perspective.

 

 

So for me, it ultimately went down to 2 choices, Zenurik or Vazarin.

 

Zenurik is by large more selfish and can help you sustain with some team benefits.

But given how each way adds a longer cool down to your Void Pulse, you are better off taking the 3 passives (E Surge, S Override, E spike) and going for Void Pulse Mastery and Void pulse. Or you can dump E spike for something else.

 

Vazarin is pretty much trying to be spess Jesus.  

Nearly NONE of the Vazarin abilities help you in any meaningful way barring Protection ward and Retaliation, but Retaliation does so little right now it is definitely not worth it. Commanding Words only works when you are in Spess Jesus mode, so it again does nothing for you but only helps your team as a minor CC.

 

Anyhow for most people your build is gonna look like this.

New Moon / Polluted Waters / Mending Tide / Mastery / Protection ward.

Which is pretty much team based only and not counting tree unlocks.

 

 

Personally I am not too overly addicted to energy as i got a maxed Prime Flow to shoehorn into my frames. That is the deal breaker between Vazarin and Zenurik.

 

But for general players Zenurik is far better.

For anyone else, use your pads and Synoid syndicate explosions.

Edited December 15, 2015 by fatpig84

[(PSN)Hayabusa_3-17]

Thanks for all the wonderful replies guys. I think I'll go with Naramon since I use Melee a lot and knowing that Shadow Step works with EB it's the ultimate focus tree for Excalibur. Zenurik on paper seems cool but I realized with my current builds I rarely run out of energy as is. Energy Overflow would be overkill and the Efficiency passive only lasts for a short duration which means I can't build my Warframes around it. Naramon seems like the perfect choice

 

On a side note fatpig84's suggestion about Vazarin made me think about that school but I'm more of a solo player and when I do play with teams for high level we usually bring a Trinity. Still... I can see potential in this school. I might unlock this 3rd after Naramon and Zenurik.

 

Madurai and Unairu need some serious buffs from what I've read. o.O

[Yzjdriel]

A little bit of trivia: at the end of The Second Dream there's some dialogue where you can actually give input that directs the conversation.  Based on what you pick, the game will order the schools in the selection screen from left to right, with the most suited to your style based on your choices appearing at the left.