Building Nova P

[Ratkinzluver33]

So, I'm pretty new, been playing for almost two months now, and I'm still a bit stuck on Nova's build. 

 

http://i.imgur.com/AbwENIn.png - This is my build right now. I know, not the best. Any tips? I haven't forma'd her yet.

[SquireAngel]

I would ditch Quick thinking. For Nova, you want to focus on as much killing with nova as you can, not trying to make her less squishy. Nova is and always will be a glass cannon, so best to turn her into as powerful a nuke as you can. With the CC from M prime, you theoretically shouldn't have too much overrunning you. I would swap out trans fort and quick thinking for vitality, just in case, and Antimatter absorb, if you really want to worry about her not dropping. Antimatter Absorb will absorb all incoming shots that would pass through it, and combo'd with an MPrime, can wipe out entire rooms. You just need to play a little more careful with Nova. Try to keep from barreling into giant clusters of enemies; Mprime has a wide range with duration, let it do it's job. Also, a narrow minded would work well for Mprime build.

Also, just a tip in general; don't use Qthinking. While it looks good on paper, A well modded ability, especially Nova's Molecular Prime, can be much better at keeping you alive than that slight amount of effective HP you get from QT. QT eats energy, keeping you form casting abilities, which is basically the point in having different frames, and eats LOTS of capacity to do it. If you find yourself relying on QT to stay alive, either try to take things slower, or maybe nova isn't the frame for you. There are plenty of frames, 28 and still more coming, so you get to choose which ones you prefer. I have Nova myself, and I love her to death, but my mains are usually Saryn, Valkyr, Loki, and Ivara. With the regen molt augment, Saryn and Valkyr have some nice damage thresholds, and can stay alive. Maybe you should think about playing Rhino, Frost, Wukong, or Ne Zha if you're looking for a meatier frame. 

Also, just in general, don't be afraid to run some lower-mid tier missions to test a build. Sometimes, a new mind can find a better build to fit their purpose. 

[Ratkinzluver33]

Thank you so much for the advice! I'll definitely try that out and see. I've been playing Nova for a bit now, so I know I like her enough to invest time (and formas) into her, even though she's a glass cannon. Longer I play, less I'll need QT after all :D.

[SquireAngel]

I getcha lol. Nova was one of my first loves, and she's great, I just like to jump into the foray or sit back and pick off targets most of the time, and Nova isn't great for those playstyles lol. 2 things I would recommend is that, if you get Antimatter absorb, use high burst DPS weapons, or those with good sustain. My go to's are shotguns, especially the Sancti Tigris, and just popping off both chambers allows antimatter to explode for 800k dmg. Also, if there's a large cluster of enemies coming towards you, AA makes a great buffer, and can drop the entire group sometimes. Play with it long enough, and it gives you a very nice rolling shield to stay alive.

[-CdG-Zilchy]

Quick thinking is a matter of personal choice, some like it and some don't, though with the cost of her abilities QT definitely needs Primed Flow to not completely handicap you energy-wise if you get shot. But I would choose one of either Redirection OR Quick Thinking as it's wasting a mod slot. Your build is missing Narrow Minded if you want the best out of Molecular Prime. Range for the ability scales off of Duration not Range(weird huh) so concentrate on maxing efficiency and Duration. The Power Strength cap for maximum slowing bonus on MP is 145% so no need to go over that Power Strength amount. For survivability, he's right, she's a glass cannon but Wormhole can get you out of trouble fast if you plan your escape in advance.

Edited January 21, 2016 by Zilchy

[(XBOX)VehementCrusher]

Previous posts are giving good advice.  I will just add this for reference.  You can make molecular prime slow enemies or speed them up.  But no matter which you choose, you will still need the duration and efficiency.

 

Slova - strength 145 or above = maxed slow of 75 percent decrease in speed

Spova - strength 40 = maxed speed of 40 percent increased speed

Nova - strength 100 = neutral or 30 percent decrease in speed

[Ratkinzluver33]

Thank you! I'll definitely take all this into consideration. :)

[(PSN)Onder6099]

If you decided to Formae her, I have 5 Formas, exchange from V polarity to D polarity is must, here are the build:

Slova (Slow Nova)

Aura: Depends on u, mostly CP or SD

Speed debuff can ´t exceed 75%:

Intesify + Power Drift (Exilus slot) will cover that

Max Duration (distance of MP):

Narrow Minded, Primed Continuity, Constitution

Efficiency:

Primed Flow, Streamline

Quick Thinking

1 Slot left: It ´s up to u, i use NT, sometimes Stretch (bigger explosion radius), also Intruder ( Rescue sortie)

Speed Nova:

Put the Overextended into free slot, with exchanging or removing Intensify and Power drift u can easily manage which speed will enemies have

[Omnimorph]

The build seems fine to me.  Unless you're doing higher level T4 Void stuff where you really want to hit the slow cap (to slow down incoming damage as much as possible), the TF is a bit overkill and takes away duration that you're not yet able to counter-balance with a higher-ranked Prime Continuity, but I suppose with that stupid 3rd V polarity, it's the most useful thing to stick in there.

 

IOW, for most content short of higher level T4 stuff, you can get away with just Intensify for a 130% Power Strength, it's quite sufficient; so you can stick something else in there (maybe Vitality for more safety).

 

When you have more forma in and can rank up the Prime Continuity (or if you're going for the Narrow Minded type of build for Defences, with more forma) then you can stick a single TF in with 8 pips for the full 145% slow at the cost of just one mod.  Maxing out Duration isn't actually necessary except in Defences, and in fact it's counter-productive for Survivals. 160-odd percent is fine for most purposes.  And even with Defences you don't really need max max Duration to cover the entire map if you fire off MP in the decorative circle on the floor just in front of the pod.  Even with the later Defences where the Defence spot moves around on a larger map, it's just as viable to fire off a few MP around the map as to have a single one that covers the whole map.

 

Also, unfortunately you need to change one of the polarities from a V to something more useful (preferably a D to cope with Narrow Minded for that type of build, then stick in a Dash too, and then another Dash or another D).

Edited January 22, 2016 by Omnimorph