Focusing On Exalted Blade

[100SadPandas]

Hey guys, I just got back into the game recently and fell in love with the Excalibro rework. I really like his Exalted Blade and was trying to make it as strong as I could with this build so I could do some high level stuff with him. Could I get some critique with my build please? Thanks!

 

Here's the build on Excal:

And here's the build on my D. Nikana. Of course I change the elemental damage to suit whichever faction I'm facing:

(btw what elemental damage should I be using for each faction? Right now I'm using corrosive for Grineer and Orokin, Magnetic for Corpus, and Viral for the Infested

[xTrimmZ]

Duration is crucial for a good EB build, it makes power drain slower. Just as a personal preference, I like to use Rage. If you're getting low on energy and want to keep EB up, you can just let the enemies shoot you a little bit.

The nikana build is fine, EB is effected by the mods on your melee; so a crit build with berserker basically makes you untouchable.

[xTrimmZ]

You've got the factions and their elements right, BTW.

[KimchiKen_Prime]

Personally I would replace Steel Fiber with Narrow Minded and Flow with Blind Rage.

[(XBOX)Austinjt126]

If you're going for an all-around-useful Excal, I found that modding for Strength and Efficiency is your best bet. 

 

Quick-Thinking / Rage combo, paired with a Vitality/Steel Fiber combo is amazing for maintaining your Power pool.

 

Add in Flow to increase your Power pool to 300+, then throw in Fleeting Expertise for 160% efficiency (130% with a R5 Blind Rage), which makes all of your abilities spammable (to an extent, of course).

 

You can swap out Blind Rage (R5) with Intensify. You either gain 24% Power Strength at the cost of 30% Efficiency. Either way, you gain Power and have to monitor how often you use RB/RD/RJ, or go for Streamline and spam away since everything is dirt-cheap to use.

 

Offset Fleeting with a Continuity or Primed Continuity. Try keeping your Duration ~70%+, since Exalted Blade now scales off of Efficiency AND Duration. The sweet-spot you're looking for is a Energy Drain anywhere between 1.5 - 2.5 energy per second.

 

Steel Charge increases all your Melee attacks by 60% damage, and being an aura, grants another 18 points when you match the polarity.

 

Handspring is amazing for the 160% Recovery when getting knocked-down or dragged by pesky Scorpions/Ancients/Heavy Gunners/etc.

 

You can mess around with the build as a whole, but it's a pretty decent build to both get used to Excalibur, and see how far you can run with him before modding to your liking.

 

 

 

                          Steel Charge ------ Handspring

 

Quick Thinking -            Vitality           -          Steel Fiber     -    Fleeting Expertise

 

        Rage        -    Blind Rage (R5)    -      (Pr) Continuity    -          (Pr) Flow

                                       or

                                   Intensify

 

 

You should end up with:

130-154% Strength

130-160%Efficiency

100% Range

70-95% Duration

 

Strength is really up to you. Put on a decent melee weapon with some good mods and Exalted Blade will be fine.

 

Efficiency-wise, you either opt for Power and monitor your use of abilities at 130%, or spam away with 160%. Pretty clear to see once you start using this build.

 

Range shouldn't matter too much, since sitting at 100% gives you enough range for RB/RD to be usable. Reach somewhat effects the distance that EB travels, so you should still be sitting pretty.

 

Duration, even at 70%, still gives you ~10s on RB, which is more than enough time to gank all the nearby enemies. Your Slide-Blind in Exalted Blade lasts for half as long, and covers half as much ground, but it's still fine for quickly taking out single units like Bombards and Heavy Gunners.

 

https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/584267-excalibur-mods/#entry6617447

 

The second build referenced in this thread also works quite well. Credit to @LoopStricken

 

My build:

 

                          Steel Charge ------ Power Drift

 

Intensify -            Vitality           -          Steel Fiber     -    Transient Fortitude (R9)

 

        Rage        -    Streamline    -      (Pr) Continuity    -          (Pr) Flow

                                    

 

195% Strength

130%Efficiency

100% Range

130% Duration

 

Exalted Blade at 1.35 EPS

Edited December 25, 2015 by (XB1)Austinjt126

[(PSN)CoolD2108]

I run a similar build and it works pretty decent.

Just a little advice: try to get prime continiuty asap and replace flow with Stretch.

DE didn't only rework EB but also RB. It was nerfed to LoS BUT blindet enemys get the stealth multiplier and are finishable.

Meaning that a simple RB cast multiplies your innitial damage by four.

Get controlled damage to manage your energy, blind for CC and bonus damage and get waves going to kill.

Flow is only worth it on a endgame build that doesn't allow management, a stealthed surging dash build for example (huras/shade/naramon focus, surging dash augument.... build up a combo multiplier, strike with 200k waves.)

Edited December 25, 2015 by (PS4)CoolD2108

[(XBOX)Austinjt126]

I run a similar build and it works pretty decent.

Just a little advice: try to get prime continiuty asap and replace flow with Stretch.

DE didn't only rework EB but also RB. It was nerfed to LoS BUT blindet enemys get the stealth multiplier and are finishable.

Meaning that a simple RB cast multiplies your damage by four.

Get controlled damage to manage your energy, blind for CC and bonus damage and get waves going to kill.

Flow is only worth it on a build that strongly relys on casting, a stealthed surging dash build for example (huras, build up a combo multiplier, strike with 200k waves.)

 

I'm sorry, but that's a terrible idea. Stretch is completely unnecessary. You already cover 20m with 100% Range, and Reach effects the range of Exalted Blade since it scales off of equipped Melee Mods. 

 

Take it from someone who plays Excal religiously. Your idea is a bad idea, especially for maintaining precious energy in later levels, seeing as you'd be spending much more time worrying about your energy pool than I would.

[(PSN)CoolD2108]

I'm sorry, but that's a terrible idea. Stretch is completely unnecessary. You already cover 20m with 100% Range, and Reach effects the range of Exalted Blade since it scales off of equipped Melee Mods.

Take it from someone who plays Excal religiously. Your idea is a bad idea, especially for maintaining precious energy in later levels, seeing as you'd be spending much more time worrying about your energy pool than I would.

How would you ever manage your energy in the first place when you're expecting damage that's able to 1hit you? Why would you bring a build including rage and steel fiber if you do?

Flow is a nice idea if you're able to get your energy from somewhere else (trin, plates) so you're able to stay in EB longer without interruptions but it is WASTED if you're getting energy anyways.

Better CC+ damage range (as EB is NOT capped at 20m) is therefore quite a good option.

Edited December 25, 2015 by (PS4)CoolD2108

[B0N3M4N]

As a main Excalibur player I can say that if you want to make EB viable into the endgame you don't need power strenght, you just need to blind your enemies and(eventually) hit them with a finisher, which also grant a kill at every level with your Nikana build.

 

Second, Fleetin Expertise isn't really needed, because your Duration is vital both for having a good efficency with EB(which IS affected by Negative Duration) and RB, which is gonna be your move to do some CC/Support for your allies and damage boost when you'll eventually start to kill with more hit that needed. Also using Rage with Steel Fiber could make the cycle of Health-Energy kinda slower, that's why I'd also suggest you to use QT instead of it.

 

In short, personally for how I use Excalibur, the main changes are:

 

Substitution of Steel Fiber for QT

Substitution of Fleeting Expertise for Reach(More range with RB and also all the other skills)

 

And with this you're good to go. Also I'd suggest you to get P Flow and P Continuity as soon as you can because these mods(Especially Flow) are really useful when building like this.

 

Well maybe mine is a bit more all-rounded build but oh well, just something from someone that doesn't really like to "Abuse" of EB and instead decide to get melee with his melee weapons, only to use it when the necessity is real.

[(XBOX)Austinjt126]

How would you ever manage your energy in the first place when you're expecting damage that's able to 1hit you? Why would you bring a build including rage and steel fiber if you do?

Flow is a nice idea if you're able to get your energy from somewhere else (trin, plates) so you're able to stay in EB longer without interruptions but it is WASTED if you're getting energy anyways.

Better CC+ damage range (as EB is NOT capped at 20m) is therefore quite a good option.

 

You do realize that QT paired with Rage is how you maintain your energy. Anywhere between 70-100% Duration is perfectly fine, since at the most, your EB Drain stops around ~2.5 EPS, which is entirely manageable due to said Mod Combo above.

 

Your Energy becomes effective health due to Quick Thinking, and with the 240% transfer efficiency, and Steel Fibers Damage Reduction to Health, you gain more Energy than you lose while taking damage from the front. So long as you're not being an idiot, you'll effectively have infinite energy with blocking/monitoring and you really shouldn't be dying down unless you get staggered, knocked down, or taking massive damage from behind.

 

As a main Excalibur player I can say that if you want to make EB viable into the endgame you don't need power strenght, you just need to blind your enemies and(eventually) hit them with a finisher, which also grant a kill at every level with your Nikana build.

 

Second, Fleetin Expertise isn't really needed, because your Duration is vital both for having a good efficency with EB(which IS affected by Negative Duration) and RB, which is gonna be your move to do some CC/Support for your allies and damage boost when you'll eventually start to kill with more hit that needed. Also using Rage with Steel Fiber could make the cycle of Health-Energy kinda slower, that's why I'd also suggest you to use QT instead of it.

 

In short, personally for how I use Excalibur, the main changes are:

 

Substitution of Steel Fiber for QT

Substitution of Fleeting Expertise for Reach(More range with RB and also all the other skills)

 

And with this you're good to go. Also I'd suggest you to get P Flow and P Continuity as soon as you can because these mods(Especially Flow) are really useful when building like this.

 

Well maybe mine is a bit more all-rounded build but oh well, just something from someone that doesn't really like to "Abuse" of EB and instead decide to get melee with his melee weapons, only to use it when the necessity is real.

 

Range isn't necessary to touch, AT ALL. Like I said, between your base 20m with RB, and the additional range from Reach being on your melee weapon, you don't need to be slinging waves that far away. That's your Primary and Secondary weapons job. 

 

The only crucial need for Range would be in regards to Radial Blind, which isn't necessary since 20m is actually a pretty good range, and since the largest map you'll be operating on is something like Draco, more than 20m IS NOT NECESSARY. Anything over your base 100% is just a waste. I've tested this on countless occasions solely to refute the exact point that you're trying to make.

 

The sweet-spot in regards to EB's Drain is anywhere between 1-2.5 EPS, since with Rage & QT, energy is a non-issue. Block when you need to, fill up your energy bar, and get back to slinging waves or blinding enemies. Duration doesn't matter all the much. 70%-100% is what you should be shooting for, which is why Fleeting works. Your abilities become spammable and energy still doesn't matter anyways.

 

Actually, Power Strength does come into use. Use a base 100% or even 130% Strength Exalted Blade against Level 50-100 enemies. Now swap out to ~180%. Notice a difference? The fall off is much less noticeable as the enemy level increases. It's easy to build for, and requires less Power management in earlier content. I really don't have to start using Radial Blind till much later in long missions solely because of the difference in Power Strength.

Edited December 25, 2015 by (XB1)Austinjt126

[100SadPandas]

 

If you're going for an all-around-useful Excal, I found that modding for Strength and Efficiency is your best bet. 

 

Quick-Thinking / Rage combo, paired with a Vitality/Steel Fiber combo is amazing for maintaining your Power pool.

 

Add in Flow to increase your Power pool to 300+, then throw in Fleeting Expertise for 160% efficiency (130% with a R5 Blind Rage), which makes all of your abilities spammable (to an extent, of course).

 

You can swap out Blind Rage (R5) with Intensify. You either gain 24% Power Strength at the cost of 30% Efficiency. Either way, you gain Power and have to monitor how often you use RB/RD/RJ, or go for Streamline and spam away since everything is dirt-cheap to use.

 

Offset Fleeting with a Continuity or Primed Continuity. Try keeping your Duration ~70%+, since Exalted Blade now scales off of Efficiency AND Duration. The sweet-spot you're looking for is a Energy Drain anywhere between 1.5 - 2.5 energy per second.

 

Steel Charge increases all your Melee attacks by 60% damage, and being an aura, grants another 18 points when you match the polarity.

 

Handspring is amazing for the 160% Recovery when getting knocked-down or dragged by pesky Scorpions/Ancients/Heavy Gunners/etc.

 

You can mess around with the build as a whole, but it's a pretty decent build to both get used to Excalibur, and see how far you can run with him before modding to your liking.

 

 

 

                          Steel Charge ------ Handspring

 

Quick Thinking -            Vitality           -          Steel Fiber     -    Fleeting Expertise

 

        Rage        -    Blind Rage (R5)    -      (Pr) Continuity    -          (Pr) Flow

                                       or

                                 Streamline 

 

 

You should end up with:

130-154% Strength

130-160%Efficiency

100% Range

70-95% Duration

 

Strength is really up to you. Put on a decent melee weapon with some good mods and Exalted Blade will be fine.

 

Efficiency-wise, you either opt for Power and monitor your use of abilities at 130%, or spam away with 160%. Pretty clear to see once you start using this build.

 

Range shouldn't matter too much, since sitting at 100% gives you enough range for RB/RD to be usable. Reach somewhat effects the distance that EB travels, so you should still be sitting pretty.

 

Duration, even at 70%, still gives you ~10s on RB, which is more than enough time to gank all the nearby enemies. Your Slide-Blind in Exalted Blade lasts for half as long, and covers half as much ground, but it's still fine for quickly taking out single units like Bombards and Heavy Gunners.

 

https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/584267-excalibur-mods/#entry6617447

 

The second build referenced in this thread also works quite well. Credit to @LoopStricken

 

My build:

 

                          Steel Charge ------ Power Drift

 

Intensify -            Vitality           -          Steel Fiber     -    Transient Fortitude (R9)

 

        Rage        -    Streamline    -      (Pr) Continuity    -          (Pr) Flow

                                    

 

195% Strength

130%Efficiency

100% Range

130% Duration

 

Exalted Blade at 1.35 EPS

 

So after I take into account what you said I get this:

Does this look about right? Basically I'm just trading my efficiency for damage.

[B0N3M4N]

*snip*

For me what you're actually trying to do is a build that points on using one only ability and that supports only yourself while many times you have a team to take care of too, having more range and duration makes you not only a good support but also a good offensive frame as much as any other Excalibur with a build full pointed on using EB.

 

Also no, I don't see any difference between 130 and 180, mainly because I do still oneshot every single enemy while doing sorties even without going for EB but melee only using RB, and even if this kind of "endgame" level scaling isn't balanced at all I still do prefer this instead of doing 2 hours of survival and getting the same rewards that I'll usually get at 20m.

 

Maybe mine isn't the most centered EB build but it's a pretty good jack of all trades that makes you get the most from the frame you're using. Also it's just a suggestion so it end up with what OP will decide to take as example, that's it.

 

And there are many areas where you're not gonna be capable of blind the entire room without Power Range, mainly because Warframe isn't anymore about small Corpus titlesets as it was like 2 and half years ago, there are many large maps yknow.

Edited December 25, 2015 by Redskull94

[(XBOX)Austinjt126]

So after I take into account what you said I get this:

Does this look about right? Basically I'm just trading my efficiency for damage.

 

It's only a suggestion. Play around with it and see what fits your playstyle. 

 

My whole point, in conflict with RedSkull94, is he's willing to sacrifice precious slots for less than necessary mods. 90% of the maps you'll play on are largely composed of small rooms and corridors, where Range and Line of Sight are a non-issue. Even with large tilesets like Draco, your base Range is perfectly fine, and building for Range is just a wasting slots that could be used for something better.

 

For me what you're actually trying to do is a build that points on using one only ability and that supports only yourself while many times you have a team to take care of too, having more range and duration makes you not only a good support but also a good offensive frame as much as any other Excalibur with a build full pointed on using EB.

 

Also no, I don't see any difference between 130 and 180, mainly because I do still oneshot every single enemy while doing sorties even without going for EB but melee only using RB, and even if this kind of "endgame" level scaling isn't balanced at all I still do prefer this instead of doing 2 hours of survival and getting the same rewards that I'll usually get at 20m.

 

Maybe mine isn't the most centered EB build but it's a pretty good jack of all trades that makes you get the most from the frame you're using. Also it's just a suggestion so it end up with what OP will decide to take as example, that's it.

 

And there are many areas where you're not gonna be capable of blind the entire room without Power Range, mainly because Warframe isn't anymore about small Corpus titlesets as it was like 2 and half years ago, there are many large maps yknow.

 

Neither of the builds that I posted are solely for Exalted Blade. They're for use of ALL of your abilities. How did you even come to that conclusion?

 

The first build is Efficiency>Strength, and the second is Strength>Efficiency with a slight boost to Duration. They both focus on using ALL of your abilities, the first being able to frequently use them, and the second opting for power, keeping in mind when to properly use them.

 

Range is a non-issue. 20m in any mission is more than enough to support your teammates. This isn't Frost. You don't need to cover 50m+ here to help out. Your teammates should be able to cover themselves anyways. Excalibur isn't a Support-Frame, he's a Damage-Frame who happens to have a good CC ability.

 

I think your issue is that you don't understand how far 20m in-game actually is. You seem to see it as more = better, instead of using what you have and modding for more important things. I had the same issue, and thought that I needed to cover as far as I could with RB, and my builds suffered for that. 

 

Take my builds and HONESTLY test them out. Don't go in biased or you'll only reach the exact conclusion you were looking for. I'm telling you your base 100% Range is more than enough to do what you need it to do. Anymore than that, and you're just being greedy.

Edited December 25, 2015 by (XB1)Austinjt126

[Krios]

Excal build aside here's waht you should do with weapon mods:

- do not use physical damage mods (buzz kil, and so on), even +120% event ones. Because your ex blade damage consists of 1000 dmg evenly dispersed between 3 physical dmg types, one elemental +90% mod would benefit you more than one +120% phys dmg mod.

So dump that buzz kill for elemental mod.

 

 

P.S. http://goo.gl/Ga47dC (swap redirection for whatever surv mod you like). This is as pure Ex blade as it gets.

You cut through everything. Also you need carrier to compensate for no flow mod.

Edited December 26, 2015 by Krios

[Otenko]

I'm not much of an Excalibur main, much less one that focuses on Exalted Blade. The other posts seem to have covered it.

 

(btw what elemental damage should I be using for each faction? Right now I'm using corrosive for Grineer and Orokin, Magnetic for Corpus, and Viral for the Infested

You should use Corrosive for Infested as well. Viral is bad against light Infested (Chargers and Leapers in particular).

[(PSN)Hayabusa_3-17]

Just my two cents, I'd rather have maxed power efficiency than use Flow. Using maxed out efficiency mods plus Flow on Excalibur is wasting a mod slot. Duration drain of Fleeting Expertise and Transient Fortitude is easily countered with a Primed Continuity. 190% Efficiency (Yes exceeding 175% Efficiency still affects toggled abilities) means you'll only need 40% duration to get the lowest drain out of EB. With a maxed Primed Continuity you'll still get enough duration for your Radial Blind to have 10 secs, plenty of time to destroy all blinded enemies with Exalted Blade.

 

150 Energy pool isn't good enough to warrant Flow + QT. Plus your goal as Excalibur isn't to tank but to do damage. Why waste mod slots on Quick Thinking when you have such a low energy pool. Reserve Quick Thinking for the High Energy Pool Frames. Besides smart use of Exalted Blade + Life Strike should guarantee your survival, if an attack is going to one hit you chances are you'll still die even with Quick Thinking + P.Flow on.

 

Having maxed out efficiency is enough for all your energy needs. With all the kills your gonna get your bound to get a few Energy orbs here and there and having maxed out efficiency means you'll get more out of that 25 energy from orbs than using the Flow method. Again if you use Flow with Maxed Efficiency, you're wasting a mod slot.

 

Edit: Just to clarify

 

High Energy Frames: I can manage with Streamline OR Fleeting Expertise + Flow/P.Flow since they have so much energy.

Low Energy Frames: Streamline + Fleeting Expertise is better in my opinion

 

Using Streamline + Fleeting Expertise + Flow/P.Flow is overkill.

Edited December 25, 2015 by Loki

[(XBOX)Austinjt126]

Just my two cents, I'd rather have maxed power efficiency than use Flow. Using maxed out efficiency mods plus Flow on Excalibur is wasting a mod slot. Duration drain of Fleeting Expertise and Transient Fortitude is easily countered with a Primed Continuity. 190% Efficiency (Yes exceeding 175% Efficiency still affects toggled abilities) means you'll only need 40% duration to get the lowest drain out of EB. With a maxed Primed Continuity you'll still get enough duration for your Radial Blind to have 10 secs, plenty of time to destroy all blinded enemies with Exalted Blade.

 

150 Energy pool isn't good enough to warrant Flow + QT. Plus your goal as Excalibur isn't to tank but to do damage. Why waste mod slots on Quick Thinking when you have such a low energy pool. Reserve Quick Thinking for the High Energy Pool Frames. Besides smart use of Exalted Blade + Life Strike should guarantee your survival, if an attack is going to one hit you chances are you'll still die even with Quick Thinking + P.Flow on.

 

Having maxed out efficiency is enough for all your energy needs. With all the kills your gonna get your bound to get a few Energy orbs here and there and having maxed out efficiency means you'll get more out of that 25 energy from orbs than using the Flow method. Again if you use Flow with Maxed Efficiency, you're wasting a mod slot.

 

Edit: Just to clarify

 

High Energy Frames: I can manage with Streamline OR Fleeting Expertise + Flow/P.Flow since they have so much energy.

Low Energy Frames: Streamline + Fleeting Expertise is better in my opinion

 

Using Streamline + Fleeting Expertise + Flow/P.Flow is overkill.

 

You do realize how Quick Thinking synergizes with Flow, right? Cause if you don't, then you either haven't used it properly or at all.

 

I didn't post on this board for my health. I posted it because it works. I wouldn't even mention QT and Flow if it hadn't been useful or live-saving on countless occasions. Try solo survival on T4 up to the 80 minute mark without spamming RB or Exalted Blade and then you can give me "theoreticals" with how Quick Thinking or Flow aren't necessary.

 

The builds I posted are useful builds. Otherwise, I wouldn't have said anything at all.

[(PSN)Hayabusa_3-17]

You do realize how Quick Thinking synergizes with Flow, right? Cause if you don't, then you either haven't used it properly or at all.

 

I didn't post on this board for my health. I posted it because it works. I wouldn't even mention QT and Flow if it hadn't been useful or live-saving on countless occasions. Try solo survival on T4 up to the 80 minute mark without spamming RB or Exalted Blade and then you can give me "theoreticals" with how Quick Thinking or Flow aren't necessary.

 

The builds I posted are useful builds. Otherwise, I wouldn't have said anything at all.

 

I know Quick Thinking + Flow combo. It's one of the most basic combos in the game. In fact I use it all the time with Nova, Loki, Volt and Bless Trinity. >_>

 

I also go to extremely long T4 matches. Once the enemies get to a point where they can kill you in a few hits Quick Thinking + Flow won't save you. Blind is your life saver in those times. Please stop with the attitude of thinking you're the only one who does high level missions >_>

 

As I said it was just my two cents, MY OPINION. All of you are free to build your Excalibur however you want. I was just stating my point of view on the matter of Flow with regards to Excalibur who has a low energy pool. You're using it as a crutch when you shouldn't even be putting yourself in a position where enemies can drain your health all the way w/o so much as a Radial Blind from you. Once enemies are blinded, Exalted Blade and Life Strike will do the rest. I'm sorry but that's just the way I see it.

Edited December 25, 2015 by Loki

[(XBOX)Austinjt126]

I know Quick Thinking + Flow combo. It's one of the most basic combos in the game. In fact I use it all the time with Nova, Loki, Volt and Bless Trinity. >_>

 

I also go to extremely long T4 matches. Once the enemies get to a point where they can kill you in a few hits Quick Thinking + Flow won't save you. Blind is your life saver in those times. Please stop with the attitude of thinking you're the only one who does high level missions >_>

 

As I said it was just my two cents, MY OPINION. All of you are free to build your Excalibur however you want. I was just stating my point of view on the matter of Flow with regards to Excalibur who has a low energy pool. You're using it as a crutch when you shouldn't even be putting yourself in a position where enemies can drain your health all the way w/o so much as a Radial Blind from you. Once enemies are blinded, Exalted Blade and Life Strike will do the rest. I'm sorry but that's just the way I see it.

 

So, using Flow and Quick Thinking together is somehow a crutch now? The larger energy pool means I don't have to worry about regaining energy 90% of the time. I use my abilities, block, get my energy back, and I don't have to worry about it for awhile. Flow isn't solely for Quick Thinking, I had it long before I ever got Quick Thinking and added it to my build. It's here because of how useful it is to DOUBLE the size of your Energy pool. That means less monitoring and more killing things. Instead of filling my energy pool every couple of RB casts or a minute or two of Exalted Blade, I can literally not worry about it for TWICE as long. 

 

Have you ever been shot by a Level 400 Bombard? No? Didn't make it that far? Well that's because you don't have Quick Thinking. For lower level content, it's a bit cheap, but if you have any mind to go to 90+ minute content, GOOD LUCK tanking a shot from anything, let alone a Bombard. Literally everything will instant kill you, unless you have Quick Thinking and Rage, paired with Steel Fiber and Vitality. I'm not "willingly allowing myself to get so low" and you're dumb if you actually believe something like that. The majority cause of your deaths that late in the game are from taking damage while knocked down, even with Handspring.

Sorry I found a method that involves staying much longer AND refills my Energy bar instantly.

Edited December 25, 2015 by (XB1)Austinjt126

[(XBOX)Austinjt126]

I also go to extremely long T4 matches. Once the enemies get to a point where they can kill you in a few hits Quick Thinking + Flow won't save you. Blind is your life saver in those times. Please stop with the attitude of thinking you're the only one who does high level missions >_>

 

I'm gonna pick this out and deal with it separately.

 

By "extremely long", I hope you realize 50mins doesn't really count. 

 

"Quick Thinking + Flow won't save you." I really beg to differ.If you don't see an enemy and end up taking a hit, you're dead. Your Health bar is gone and now you have to use a revive. I take a hit, lose my health, and it proc's Rage and Quick Thinking, and I gain energy. 

 

Sometimes you die while casting Radial Blind. Sometimes you miss an enemy sitting in the corner and he ganks you. Sometimes you're too low on energy because of your meager 150 pool size that you have to mitigate constantly because you chose something dumb over Flow. These things happen, whether you like it or not. 

 

With that being said, they happen a lot less to me. I get staggered while casting? I live. I miss that Bombard creeping on me? I live. Running low on energy? My pool size is 300 and tanking hits restores it for me, so that never really happens. 

 

Running Excalibur without Quick Thinking or Flow in 60+ min content is honestly a really bad idea and you're one lucky duck if you managed to get that far, because you WON'T be making it much further.

 

Edit: Notice how every major Excalibur build for high level content always has Rage, Quick Thinking, and Flow? Because they're staples. Without them, you will do very poorly. It's not a crutch, it's a necessity that late in game, and IT WILL save you on countless occasions where you would have normally bit the dust. There's a reason that any build with any frame that wants to survive that long solo, uses Rage and Quick Thinking, not because it's easy, but because it works.

Edited December 25, 2015 by (XB1)Austinjt126

[Darzk]

Literally everything will instant kill you, unless you have Quick Thinking and Rage, paired with Steel Fiber and Vitality.

I do occasionally run a QT build for higher level content, especially solo. It does provide more of a damage buffer than other options. That said, it is by no means mandatory, and what I would not do is sacrifice your CC ability's effectiveness to be able to install the QT/Rage/Flow/health+armor combo; totally preventing damage will trump being able to take it in nearly every situation.

 

Alongside that 5 mod QT combo, you still need near-to-max efficiency (FE+Streamline) and a decent duration+range (probably +duration or at best +30% str). What this ends up hurting most is your power strength, leaving you with ~1/2-2/3rds the damage output of a strength oriented build, which would be admittedly much more squishy.

 

As with any Warframe, there's multiple effective builds. Building to be relatively tanky is not 'better' or 'required' over a more damage oriented setup. It's merely a different playstyle. What works out to be more effective depends too much on personal circumstances - team composition, enemy level and type, personal playstyle, etc.

 

The two EB builds I use most:

'Tanky': 5mod QT combo, FE+Streamline (both maxxed), Intensify, Cunning Drift [130%PS, 115% range, but only 40% duration on RB)

'DPS': Rage, Vit and SF, FE+Streamline, Primed Continuity, TF+Intensify, Power Drift [200% PS, 100% range, 95% duration on RB)

 

I've considered dropping the armor on the DPS build but I find it's more useful than other options; I don't see much of a need for Stretch. As others have said, the base range on RB is decent, and I use the Cunning Drift aura when I want a slight bump in range to be sure.

Even on a Radial-Blind based setup, more than ~160% range is detrimental to using SD as a movement tool.

 

Edit: You're also exaggerating grossly.

 

Have you ever been shot by a Level 400 Bombard? No? Didn't make it that far? Well that's because you don't have Quick Thinking.

A level 400 Corrupted Bombard's missiles would hit for 12,176 raw damage. With SF, Primed Flow, QT and Vitality, Excalibur's effective health reaches only 4523 effective health. QT will not save you - only avoiding the missile or blinding the Bombard before he gets it off will matter. At that extreme of a level range, Stretch is actually much more helpful than the 5modQT combo.

Edited December 25, 2015 by Darzk

[(XBOX)Austinjt126]

I do occasionally run a QT build for higher level content, especially solo. It does provide more of a damage buffer than other options. That said, it is by no means mandatory, and what I would not do is sacrifice your CC ability's effectiveness to be able to install the QT/Rage/Flow/health+armor combo; totally preventing damage will trump being able to take it in nearly every situation.

 

Alongside that 5 mod QT combo, you still need near-to-max efficiency (FE+Streamline) and a decent duration+range (probably +duration or at best +30% str). What this ends up hurting most is your power strength, leaving you with ~1/2-2/3rds the damage output of a strength oriented build, which would be admittedly much more squishy.

 

The two EB builds I use most:

'Tanky': 5mod QT combo, FE+Streamline (both maxxed), Intensify, Cunning Drift [130%PS, 115% range, but only 40% duration on RB)

'DPS': Rage, Vit and SF, FE+Streamline, Primed Continuity, TF+Intensify, Power Drift [200% PS, 100% range, 95% duration on RB)

 

I've considered dropping the armor on the DPS build but I find it's more useful than other options; I don't see much of a need for Stretch. As others have said, the base range on RB is decent, and I use the Cunning Drift aura when I want a slight bump in range to be sure.

Even on a Radial-Blind based setup, more than ~160% range is detrimental to using SD as a movement tool.

 

A level 400 Corrupted Bombard's missiles would hit for 12,176 raw damage. With SF, Primed Flow, QT and Vitality, Excalibur's effective health reaches only 4523 effective health. QT will not save you - only avoiding the missile or blinding the Bombard before he gets it off will matter. At that extreme of a level range, Stretch is actually much more helpful than the 5modQT combo.

 

The first build I listed is an Efficiency>Strength build, whereas the latter, which I run, is Strength>Efficiency.

 

Secondly in reference to the damage calculation, I'm talking about the auto-blocking feature with EB, with reduces all incoming forward damage by 60%, whereas without it, you will die. Quick Thinking allows your energy pool to become effective health, which both benefit from Steel Fiber and your base armor rating since it turns energy into health at 240% efficiency. Either way, I know my Excal can tank 1 hit from a Level 400 Bombard with Exalted Blade active without instantly dying, which is what allows me to pop off a RB and get back in business, which is really all possible because of the QT combo, otherwise I would be using a revive.

 

The reason I so grossly defend Quick Thinking is because of how often I run Solo Survs, both before and after obtaining QT. The builds that have Quick Thinking tend to survive much longer, albeit at the cost of some other portion of the build. I don't defend it for giggles, I do it because it works and it's a practical mod to have that late in the game.

 

My whole issue surrounds the idea that Quick Thinking & Flow are considered crutches. You wouldn't chop wood with a spoon, because an axe makes the job too easy. You would use the practical choice. If it isn't broke, don't fix it.

 

As with any Warframe, there's multiple effective builds. Building to be relatively tanky is not 'better' or 'required' over a more damage oriented setup. It's merely a different playstyle. What works out to be more effective depends too much on personal circumstances - team composition, enemy level and type, personal playstyle, etc.

 

This I will wholeheartedly agree with. I'll admit, Quick Thinking and Flow are completely personal choices.

Edited December 26, 2015 by (XB1)Austinjt126

[-CdG-Zilchy]

.

Edited December 26, 2015 by Zilchy

[ThorienKELL]

Imo, Loki is right, most of my frames have one or none defensive mod, and I am dying very rarely, most of days I don't die at all. Have played all sorties by now, some with random newbies as well. 

 

Using rage +flow +QT +vitality is using, how much, 4 defensive mods? Even my newbie rhino builds used less defensive mods, I do use QT in many squishy frames, with large energy pools /low armor that use only streamline cause I want max duration on them, like nova or some mirage variants, few more as well.  

 

Ofc if you are find yourself dying all the time and you think you need all the protection you can get, go ahead. In meantime, my excal will work with higher damage, better range and cheaper skills to spam that blind forever and will need very little energy input for a lot of effect. 

[-CdG-Zilchy]

Thorienkell what is your Excalibur build? Sounds like you play the game similar to me and I'm just levelling up Excalibur now after avoiding him for ages.

[(XBOX)Austinjt126]

Imo, Loki is right, most of my frames have one or none defensive mod, and I am dying very rarely, most of days I don't die at all. Have played all sorties by now, some with random newbies as well. 

 

Using rage +flow +QT +vitality is using, how much, 4 defensive mods? Even my newbie rhino builds used less defensive mods, I do use QT in many squishy frames, with large energy pools /low armor that use only streamline cause I want max duration on them, like nova or some mirage variants, few more as well.  

 

Ofc if you are find yourself dying all the time and you think you need all the protection you can get, go ahead. In meantime, my excal will work with higher damage, better range and cheaper skills to spam that blind forever and will need very little energy input for a lot of effect. 

 

Even with max efficiency @ 175%, Radial Blind still costs 15 EPU, Radial Javelin costs 20 EPU, and Dash costs 10 EPU, whereas Exalted Blade varies due to it also tying in to your Duration. Without Flow or Primed Flow, your energy pool is rather small, sitting at 150 Energy. 

 

Obviously, my abilities aren't as efficient since I'm sitting at 130% Efficiency, but with an Energy Pool of 300+, and a Defensive build that gives me massive amounts of energy from just tanking a hit or two. 

 

 

                          Steel Charge ------ Handspring

 

Quick Thinking -            Vitality           -          Steel Fiber     -    Transient Fortitude (R9)

 

        Rage        -    Streamline    -      (Pr) Continuity    -          (Pr) Flow

                                    

 

150% Strength

130%Efficiency

100% Range

130% Duration

 

So my abilities are a tad more costly, but it evens out with how easily I manufacture energy and my massive energy pool to boot. It requires no mitigation whatsoever, unless I'm dealing with Leech Eximi or Sapping Ospreys, in which I can just block to the same effect. 

 

Ofc if you are find yourself dying all the time and you think you need all the protection you can get, go ahead. In meantime, my excal will work with higher damage, better range and cheaper skills to spam that blind forever and will need very little energy input for a lot of effect. 

 

My Strength is literally sitting at 150%, and can go to 165% if I swap out for Power Drift at the cost of Handspring. More isn't always better.

My Range is fine, because unlike 90% of the players out there, 20m is more than enough for where I'll be playing. Everyone doesn't seem to understand how far 20m actually is in-game.

Duration is still above 100%, which is fine if I wanted another 5-7 seconds on my RB timer. I don't need it because I'll have killed everything in half the time.

Efficiency is 130%, so my abilities aren't as cheap as yours, but they're still quite spammable with my large Energy pool and how easy it is to make energy with Rage/Steel/Vit.

 

The difference between your build that you have yet to show, is that you trade your defense, supposedly for power, whereas I can tank to make energy if needed, and still kill things just as effectively as you. I'll give you two guesses which build will run out of revives faster, and I can promise is won't be mine.

Edited December 26, 2015 by (XB1)Austinjt126