3 Weapon Sets For 3 Enemy Types - Am I Wasting My Time?

[Varasalvi]

Hello! New player here! 

 

I currently have 3 weapon sets. One for Corpus, one for Grineer and one for Infested. I actually like setting up these sets,  would be nice if i didn't have reach rank 6 in mastery to even have 3 loudout slots, but whatever. However, i am not entirely sure this is necessary and if i'm just wasting time and resources. Am i doing this right by setting up these sets? Or is it totally acceptable to just find a good weapon that works good against all enemies? 

The reason i'm doubting this is because i have been watching video guides, but none of them even mention damage types, only elemental damage. Is the elemental damage the part i should be focusing on? 

 

My brain is telling me this is important, but the lack of coverage in guides confuses me, leaving me thinking i'm missing something.

 

Anyway, please give me the rundown, general tips and hopefully reassurance.

 

 

[Kai_Shiba]

Weapons and Warframes in the upgrade section have Config A B C. 

 

It's all about the modding, not the weapon itself.

Edited January 23, 2016 by KJRenz

[(PSN)jFresh215]

I think you should play how you want. If you want to min/max then there are some weapons that will out-preform others against all factions because of raw damage. I personally prefer using weapons that have good base damage types against certain factions ie impact for corpus and slash for infested. But I also, often, just use weapons that I've found to work against a faction. Like using the synoid simulor against the infested because they tend to bunch up.

[Nitresco]

Basic damage types aren't affected as much by resists as elementals are, both negatively and positively.

There's nothing wrong with making puncture weapons for Grineer and impact weapons for Corpus, etc; they will make a difference, although a relatively small difference.

Most people just choose to eliminate the hassle, choose one good weapon, and make multiple builds with it for different enemies.

Edited January 23, 2016 by Nitresco

[(PSN)jFresh215]

Weapons and Warframes in the upgrade section have Config A B C. 

 

It's all about the modding, not the weapon itself.

I think he's asking more should he use weapons against factions that have a base damage that have good multipliers against them. Like using impact weapons against corpus, puncture against the grineer, and slash vs infested. Having different weapons load outs for each faction. But I agree. any weapon can be good against any faction if modded right. 

[Dumfing]

I find physical damage tricky...

Puncture is good vs Armour (Grineer, makes sense)

Slash is good vs Health (Infested, makes sense)

Impact is good vs Shields (Corpus, makes sense)

 

But then, infested ancients come and your Slash weapon damage is hindered. So, you bring puncture next time. Now your puncture weapon is hindered against the more common Chargers, Crawlers, and Leapers :/

 

Against Corpus you realize they all have low health and slash damage gets through that faster but MOA's have resistance to slash damage :/

 

Grineer are cool.

[Varasalvi]

Weapons and Warframes in the upgrade section have Config A B C. 

 

It's all about the modding, not the weapon itself.

 

Surely that can't be true? If a weapon has 90 Slash damage, and then 5 impact and 5 puncture, it's going to do much better against infested than the others? Also the fact that all the damage increase is % based, so the 90 slash is going to benefit much more from the mods than the other two?

 

Could you elaborate? :)

 

Edit: Are you just saying that it's not that important, and it's mainly the modding that matters?

Edited January 23, 2016 by Varasalvi

[Kai_Shiba]

Surely that can't be true? If a weapon has 90 Slash damage, and then 5 impact and 5 puncture, it's going to do much better against infested than the others? Also the fact that all the damage increase is % based, so the 90 slash is going to benefit much more from the mods than the other two?

 

Could you elaborate? :)

 

Edit: Are you just saying that it's not that important, and it's mainly the modding that matters?

 

Here, give a good read.

 

http://warframe.wikia.com/wiki/Damage_2.0

 

Yup, it's all about the modding

 

I don't even use mods like Piercing hit, Rupurte etc

Edited January 23, 2016 by KJRenz

[DaftMeat]

Personally, I set A to Corrosive(+Heat if room allows) for Grineer and Infested, B to Magnetic(+Toxic if room allows) for Corpus, and C to either stealth for guns with noise suppression or for melee channeling.

[taiiat]

Elementals are upwards of 90% of your total Damage with your Weapons.

 

you can get away with using whatever Weapons you like. the Mods you use on the Weapon affects what Enemies it's effective against MUCH more. each piece of Equipment has a few Loadout Tabs, and while not enough IMO, still gives the ability to support different styles.

 

Surely that can't be true? If a weapon has 90 Slash damage, and then 5 impact and 5 puncture, it's going to do much better against infested than the others? Also the fact that all the damage increase is % based, so the 90 slash is going to benefit much more from the mods than the other two?

Physical Damage Mods are a waste of time, you can ignore them unless you have special shiny versions that total up to +120%, even then, only in certain specific situations.

 

Elemental Mods Multiply total Damage, Physical Mods Multiply your Physical Damage.

just focus on Elementals, they're better in almost every possible situation you can imagine.

 

the base Damage Types of a Weapon obviously can factor, as you can get a bit more Damage with this or that Weapon, but almost all of it is from your Mods in the first place.

 

 

however, yes, if you have a Mod that's +Puncture or +Slash, having more of that IPS (Impact Puncture Slash) Type gives you more of a Damage increase.

as aforementioned, there is an extensive Wiki Article for Damage in Warframe.

[polarity]

http://warframe.wikia.com/wiki/Damage_2.0

 

It's also worth getting familiar with each element/combo listed there, and the effects of its status procs, as well as some of the mob types listed on those pages.

 

• Damage from adding elemental mods is calculated from the total base damage (combined I/P/S) as modified by +damage% mods, while adding one of the +impact/penetration/slash% mods only increases that fraction, with no contribution to the elemental portion. This means elemental mods give a better +damage than the separate I/P/S ones, for the same percentage increase, and physical type becomes less important, the more elemental damage is being done.
• When using the correct pairs of element types, they will give higher damage than any single element.
• If more than 2 elemental mods are slotted, then the first 2 will be combined, while a lone 3rd will be uncombined, or 3rd and 4th will also be combined.
• If a weapon has an inate single elemental type, then this will usually combine with the first mod slotted, making the 2nd elemental mod uncombined, until a 3rd is added.
• Single elements are shown here only for when mod slots/points are limited, or mods have yet to be obtained.
• Faction specific +damage mods boost the base damage, which then increases elemental damage further (while I/P/S damage increases do not apply to elemental damage). Because of this faction specific mod will provide more +damage than slotting an additional single element after the first pair (although if you have space or have combined with a weapon's inate element, two pairs of elements will be better).

 

I've listed the physical and single elements here, as new players might not have a full set of elements, or space to fit them, and may have to fall back to what they have (FYI, you can get a full set of +element and + status chance melee mods from low level spy missions, which use up less points fully upgraded than the basic + element ones).

 

 

 

Grineer

All but the rarely seen mechanicals have cloned flesh. Trash generally has ferrite armor, while most elites and bosses have alloy (heavy gunners being the most common exception).

• Puncture - +50% damage to ferrite armor and + 25% damage to alloy armor.
• Heat - +25% damage to cloned flesh.
• Cold - +25% damage to alloy armor.
• Radiation (electric + heat) - +75% damage to alloy armor, and status proc causes confusion (enemies will attack each other if their current target moves out of range/enters stealth).
• Viral (toxin + cold) - +75% damage to cloned flesh, and status proc reduces health by 50%.

Optimal = Radiation + Viral

 

The biggest threats are posed by elites such as bombards and napalms, who can quickly kill an entire group with their area of effect attacks, that penetrate cover.  Heavy gunners only pose a threat when out in the open, and in comparison to the previously mentioned elites, their attacks have a very clear sound, as their gun spins up, making it much easier to spot them, and take cover.

 

 

Corpus

Crewmen are flesh while robots are mechanical, however both have shields.

• Impact - +50% damage to shields and +25% damage to proto-shields.
• Cold - +50% damage to shields.
• Magnetic (electric + cold) - +75% damage to shields and proto-shields, and status procs reduce current shield levels by 75% for 4s (stacking adds to duration).
• Toxin - +50% damage to flesh.

Optimal = magnetic + toxin

 

Magnetic affects almost every corpus enemy type well, as most of their effective HP will be as shields.  Toxin is the best additional type, as the humanoid enemies do still have some health, a much larger amount in the case of Techs.

 

Bosses usually have proto-shields, but if they are of a mechanical type, and have considerably more health than shields, an electric build will be strongest.

 

 

Infested

Trash is infested or infested flesh, while elites are fossilized.

• Slash - +25% damage to infested, +50% to infested flesh and +15% to fossilized.
• Heat - +25% damage to infested, +50% to infested flesh.
• Corrosive - +75% damage to fossilized, and status procs reduce target armor by 25% (stacking reduces modified armor values by a further 25%).
• Blast - +50% damage to fossilized, and status procs knock down enemies in a 5m radius around the target.

Optimal = Corrosive + Blast

 

At mid level you may want to pick a Corrosive/Heat build, as there will be a higher proportion of trash, and you should be able to kill elites quickly with just corrosive.  At higher levels though there will be more elites spawning, and you will want to focus on damaging them.

 

Bosses such as Phorid are Sinew, which takes maximum damage with puncture, cold and radiation.

 

 

Corrupted

With the range of mob types found in the void pretty much every element or combo will give a bonus against something, but it is generally agreed that the best choice is Corrosive, as status procs from this reduce the armor on all enemy types, and it is also the best element to use against the corrupted ancients that boost the health of all enemies nearby, and can also pull players out of cover. Blast is a good second combo, as it also does high damage to ancients, and its status procs can be useful for knocking down other high priority/high damage dealing targets, or disrupting swarms.

Edited January 23, 2016 by polarity

[T3RT1UM]

It't not a waste of time to have specific build for different enemy factions nowadays especially when you consider sorties.

[OniGanon]

Base damage type isn't irrelevant, but it's not something to get too stressed about. In a typical build, base damage only accounts for about ~25% of your total. The rest is made up of your chosen Elements.