Saryn Spore guide. Everything you need to know about spreading... diseases.

[Suira]

It would seem that there has been multiple people asking about Saryn, her weapons and how to mod everything. So I will do my best to break down everything you need to know about Saryn.

How do I build Saryn?
There is only one stat that matters when building a spore build Saryn, and that is range. Now you don't want to go negative or to much into the negative (90% is as low as you want to go in anything) on any of her others stats, but they really don't warrant that much attention.
So 250 range is our goal. I also suggest Regenerative Molt, Steel Fiber and Vitality.

 

How Does Spore work?

To quote the wiki:
Saryn infects a target within 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 meters with 2 / 2 / 3 / 3 virulent spores. Each spore inflicts 4 / 10 / 14 / 20  Viral damage per second over a duration of 6 / 8 / 10 / 12 seconds. If a spore is popped, 25  Viral damage with a 100% status chance is dealt within 8 / 10 / 12 / 16 meters, and 2 / 2 / 3 / 3 spores are transmitted to each affected enemy.

If an infected enemy is being damaged by a  Toxin proc, popping a spore on that enemy will also spread Toxin damage to surrounding enemies. The spore will have 25% of the initial base damage that triggered the Toxin proc added to its burst damage as  Viral damage with a 100% status chance for  Viral and  Toxineffects.

You will get more damage out of Saryn by spreading a lot of Toxic procs onto enemies and popping their bubbles to inflict the viral status proc.
The best way to do this is by using concealed explosives on a status build Hikou Prime geared towards gas. When the gas procs every enemy will get a toxic proc. The math break down to this:

Number of enemies= X
Status chance of Hikou Prime= 67.4% = Y
Concealed Explosives chance= 80% = Z
Fire Rate of Hikou Prime= 9.33 = W

In one second you get:
Y x W= 6.28842
Z x W= 7.464
Now we are going to use the lowest number and round down for the most realistic number to find or spread, which is 6.
Spread= 6

Each Concealed Explosive proc pops 9 spores per target so we are going to times by 9.
6 x 9= 54
Now we factor in the amount of enemies affected by this, which is 10 for this example.
X x 54= 540

Each tick of toxic dot generally ticks for 5 and lasts for 10 seconds with Saryns passive.
So 540 x 5 x 10= 27,000

So you can do 27,000 damage in 1 second on a mob of 10 without factoring in damage for the Hikou Prime or the damage from spore. BTW, every enemy within 40 meters takes this damage.
So what happens when you attack these enemies for 10 seconds (the point where toxic procs fall off)?
27,000 x 10= 270,000

Now factor in the fact that you inflict a viral proc cutting the enemies health in HALF!

Now you can use other weapons other than the Hikou Prime, I just used it for this example.
Also, it is possible to pop every spore and then get no effect from them what so ever.
So I suggest you don't shoot one group of enemies for to long.

 

What weapons should I use to pop Spores and spread Gas? Or is that the other way around?

Well, there are criteria that HAVE to be met when trying to spread your spores on Saryn.
They are as follows:
Has to have AOE to pop the spores. (I am excluding all normal shotguns and normal bows.)
Has to have a high status chance to proc gas.
Has to do both things rapidly to get a good effect.

So that means your choices are:

Amprex
Pros:
Can reach 100% status chance.
Can reach 100% crit chance.
Great CC through the electric proc.
Deals really good damage even without Spore.

Cons:
Terrible ammo efficiency.
Long reload.
Short base range.
Does not pop the spores as fast as many other weapons.

Ignis
Pros:
Can reach 100% status chance.
Goes through walls.
Good ammo efficiency.

Cons:
Low damage.
Short base range.

Synoid Simulor
Pros:
Great damage even without spore.
Can reach a decent status chance.
Really good CC.
Great ammo efficiency.

Cons:
Short range.
Does not proc gas very often due to a low rate of fire.

Torid
Pros:
Great damage even without spore.
Can reach a decent status chance.
Status will proc often.
Can be attached to your Kubrow to help you spread spores.

Cons:
Any enemy that steps into the gas cloud will have all of their spores instantly removed. (This can be used to your advantage by using another weapon to spread spores onto enemies inside the cloud which then reverberate the spores back out.)
Low fire rate.
Long reload.
Small magazine.

Zhuge Thunderbolt
Pros:
Great status chance.
Great fire rate.
Good damage even without spore.
Good ammo efficiency.

Cons:
Only a 30% chance to explode.
Small magazine.
Long reload.
Can self damage.

Atomos
Pros:
It's a secondary.
Greats status chance.
Amazing fire rate.

Cons:
Short range.
Poor ammo efficiency.

Hikou Prime with Concealed Explosives
Pros:
It's a secondary.
Great status chance.
Very fast reload.
Amazing fire rate.

Cons:
Can deal self damage.
Poor ammo efficiency.

Staticor
Pros:
It's a.... you know.
Fast fire rate.
Great status chance.
Can CC with a radiation proc.
Great damage from charge shot.

Cons:
Has a long travel time on shots.
Charge shot is very slow.
Has a semi small explosion radius.

 

 

Now a few words about the weapons.
I personally prefer to have a secondary as my Spore weapon. The reason being is that most of the time at really high levels big enemies like a Bombard or a Heavy Gunner will not die from Spore. So a second weapon that can deal with them easily is required. Now you could of course use a secondary weapon like the Lex Prime to deal with them.
 

I'll probably come back and tweak this guide a bit later. Feel free to critique this guide in any way and comment on your favorite weapon or Spore build.

Edited March 30, 2016 by Suira

[(XBOX)RAG is NAROK]

On 5/9/2016 at 3:23 AM, ButterLutter said:

Id say use whatever you want, her 3rd ability makes every weapon good :)
Bigger range might help spreading spores though.

I am using Mios because of its toxin proccs on slam attacks and it has a great attack range

That sounds pretty good seeing as I already have a Mios. So what is a good build for the Mios? I am just wondering because I am still getting used to it. Also I am not sure how you activate the whole hook and grab on the xbox (is it just part of a combo or is it an attack I perform using a button I am unaware of).

Also what would be the better elemental combo on a melee weapon for a sayrn build? Gas or Corrosive? Or does it really make a difference when it comes to the melee weapon?

Edited May 12, 2016 by (XB1)RAG is NAROK

[ButterLutter]

2 hours ago, (XB1)RAG is NAROK said:

That sounds pretty good seeing as I already have a Mios. So what is a good build for the Mios? I am just wondering because I am still getting used to it. Also I am not sure how you activate the whole hook and grab on the xbox (is it just part of a combo or is it an attack I perform using a button I am unaware of).

Also what would be the better elemental combo on a melee weapon for a sayrn build? Gas or Corrosive? Or does it really make a difference when it comes to the melee weapon?

http://goo.gl/23Yb4V
thats the build i am using.
you could change True Steel into Primed Reach, might be worth it. I didnt try it out yet to sacrifice a bit of damage for more easy spore popping. Mios already has a great range though (and you would need to forma it once..)

charge attacks activate the hook and grab. regular combos also use the hook but they dont pull enemies like the charge attack.
i personally never use the charge attack, takes too long for just a pull :D

you can obviously change the elements however you like it. i am using full toxin to feed the spores. no need for gas because they get popped anyways with every melee strike thanks to toxic lash.

Edited May 12, 2016 by ButterLutter

[(XBOX)RAG is NAROK]

21 hours ago, ButterLutter said:

charge attacks activate the hook and grab. regular combos also use the hook but they dont pull enemies like the charge attack.
i personally never use the charge attack, takes too long for just a pull :D

Yes, but how do you do the charged attack? Would I just have to hold "B" on my xbox controller or is there another button I have to click/use?

[ButterLutter]

2 hours ago, (XB1)RAG is NAROK said:

Yes, but how do you do the charged attack? Would I just have to hold "B" on my xbox controller or is there another button I have to click/use?

you hold your attack button (i have no idea which button does what on xbox)

[(XBOX)RAG is NAROK]

How about the Phage? Would that be a good weapon to use with Saryn?

[(PSN)thinkfasthippie2]

Can you not just cast spore on molt and then recast molt for an aoe spread without worrying about weapons? Is there some advantage to popping spores with a weapon that I don't know about?

[Tchesco]

On 18/05/2016 at 9:10 PM, (PS4)thinkfasthippie2 said:

Can you not just cast spore on molt and then recast molt for an aoe spread without worrying about weapons? Is there some advantage to popping spores with a weapon that I don't know about?

Less energy cost, more damage

[(PSN)thinkfasthippie2]

On ‎2016‎-‎05‎-‎29 at 3:10 AM, Tchesco said:

Less energy cost, more damage

Regenerative Molt?

[Tchesco]

16 hours ago, (PS4)thinkfasthippie2 said:

Regenerative Molt?

The point is: Using a weapon to pop and proc is safer than running towards enemies and casting Molt. Saryn is tanky, but not that tanky

[(XBOX)RAG is NAROK]

21 hours ago, (PS4)thinkfasthippie2 said:

Regenerative Molt?

Personally I prefer to use Regenerative Molt as an escape tactic. Running low on health in the middle of a fight, drop a molt and run away to fight another day. :D

[(XBOX)RAG is NAROK]

So recently on Xbox we got the chance to play Rathuum and a new mode known as Rift Strike came out for the melee weapon Twin Bisolk (or something like that) that allows the player to teleport to the enemy while swinging this weapon, which has a really high status chance. So I was wondering would having win Bisolk with Rift Strike and all four duel stat elemental mods, arranged to have gas and another element be good to have on a Saryn Prime build?

Also I have been hearing the Prisma Duel Cleavers are also really good on Saryn Prime. Any comments?

[Sweaty_Pleb]

On 3/29/2016 at 7:50 PM, Suira said:

It would seem that there has been multiple people asking about Saryn, her weapons and how to mod everything. So I will do my best to break down everything you need to know about Saryn.

How do I build Saryn?
There is only one stat that matters when building a spore build Saryn, and that is range. Now you don't want to go negative or to much into the negative (90% is as low as you want to go in anything) on any of her others stats, but they really don't warrant that much attention.
So 250 range is our goal. I also suggest Regenerative Molt, Steel Fiber and Vitality.

 

How Does Spore work?

To quote the wiki:
Saryn infects a target within 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 meters with 2 / 2 / 3 / 3 virulent spores. Each spore inflicts 4 / 10 / 14 / 20  Viral damage per second over a duration of 6 / 8 / 10 / 12 seconds. If a spore is popped, 25  Viral damage with a 100% status chance is dealt within 8 / 10 / 12 / 16 meters, and 2 / 2 / 3 / 3 spores are transmitted to each affected enemy.

If an infected enemy is being damaged by a  Toxin proc, popping a spore on that enemy will also spread Toxin damage to surrounding enemies. The spore will have 25% of the initial base damage that triggered the Toxin proc added to its burst damage as  Viral damage with a 100% status chance for  Viral and  Toxineffects.

You will get more damage out of Saryn by spreading a lot of Toxic procs onto enemies and popping their bubbles to inflict the viral status proc.
The best way to do this is by using concealed explosives on a status build Hikou Prime geared towards gas. When the gas procs every enemy will get a toxic proc. The math break down to this:

Number of enemies= X
Status chance of Hikou Prime= 67.4% = Y
Concealed Explosives chance= 80% = Z
Fire Rate of Hikou Prime= 9.33 = W

In one second you get:
Y x W= 6.28842
Z x W= 7.464
Now we are going to use the lowest number and round down for the most realistic number to find or spread, which is 6.
Spread= 6

Each Concealed Explosive proc pops 9 spores per target so we are going to times by 9.
6 x 9= 54
Now we factor in the amount of enemies affected by this, which is 10 for this example.
X x 54= 540

Each tick of toxic dot generally ticks for 5 and lasts for 10 seconds with Saryns passive.
So 540 x 5 x 10= 27,000

So you can do 27,000 damage in 1 second on a mob of 10 without factoring in damage for the Hikou Prime or the damage from spore. BTW, every enemy within 40 meters takes this damage.
So what happens when you attack these enemies for 10 seconds (the point where toxic procs fall off)?
27,000 x 10= 270,000

Now factor in the fact that you inflict a viral proc cutting the enemies health in HALF!

Now you can use other weapons other than the Hikou Prime, I just used it for this example.
Also, it is possible to pop every spore and then get no effect from them what so ever.
So I suggest you don't shoot one group of enemies for to long.

 

What weapons should I use to pop Spores and spread Gas? Or is that the other way around?

Well, there are criteria that HAVE to be met when trying to spread your spores on Saryn.
They are as follows:
Has to have AOE to pop the spores. (I am excluding all normal shotguns and normal bows.)
Has to have a high status chance to proc gas.
Has to do both things rapidly to get a good effect.

So that means your choices are:

Amprex
Pros:
Can reach 100% status chance.
Can reach 100% crit chance.
Great CC through the electric proc.
Deals really good damage even without Spore.

Cons:
Terrible ammo efficiency.
Long reload.
Short base range.
Does not pop the spores as fast as many other weapons.

Ignis
Pros:
Can reach 100% status chance.
Goes through walls.
Good ammo efficiency.

Cons:
Low damage.
Short base range.

Synoid Simulor
Pros:
Great damage even without spore.
Can reach a decent status chance.
Really good CC.
Great ammo efficiency.

Cons:
Short range.
Does not proc gas very often due to a low rate of fire.

Torid
Pros:
Great damage even without spore.
Can reach a decent status chance.
Status will proc often.
Can be attached to your Kubrow to help you spread spores.

Cons:
Any enemy that steps into the gas cloud will have all of their spores instantly removed. (This can be used to your advantage by using another weapon to spread spores onto enemies inside the cloud which then reverberate the spores back out.)
Low fire rate.
Long reload.
Small magazine.

Zhuge Thunderbolt
Pros:
Great status chance.
Great fire rate.
Good damage even without spore.
Good ammo efficiency.

Cons:
Only a 30% chance to explode.
Small magazine.
Long reload.
Can self damage.

Atomos
Pros:
It's a secondary.
Greats status chance.
Amazing fire rate.

Cons:
Short range.
Poor ammo efficiency.

Hikou Prime with Concealed Explosives
Pros:
It's a secondary.
Great status chance.
Very fast reload.
Amazing fire rate.

Cons:
Can deal self damage.
Poor ammo efficiency.

Staticor
Pros:
It's a.... you know.
Fast fire rate.
Great status chance.
Can CC with a radiation proc.
Great damage from charge shot.

Cons:
Has a long travel time on shots.
Charge shot is very slow.
Has a semi small explosion radius.

 

 

Now a few words about the weapons.
I personally prefer to have a secondary as my Spore weapon. The reason being is that most of the time at really high levels big enemies like a Bombard or a Heavy Gunner will not die from Spore. So a second weapon that can deal with them easily is required. Now you could of course use a secondary weapon like the Lex Prime to deal with them.
 

I'll probably come back and tweak this guide a bit later. Feel free to critique this guide in any way and comment on your favorite weapon or Spore build.

Heavy caliber along with a range mod on Ignis is probably the best way to spread spores in my opinion, but I haven't tried hikou yet because I use my secondary to kill resistant enemies 

[ThunderZsolt]

Nice guide!

i wouldn't list the "good ammo economy" of the ignis a pro, though... honestly it is not that bad as the amprex, but still really far from good

[(XBOX)SLIM PR1ME]

130+% Ignis Gas build

Malignant Force

Split Chamber

Heavy Caliber

Firestorm

Sinister Reach

Thermite Rounds

Vile Acceleration

Speed Trigger

 

If having ammo efficiency problems swap out speed trigger for Primed Rifle ammo mutation and still have 104.5% status chance. 

Use with Saryn especially against infected.  Throw a couple spores and watch everything go boom

 

 

[NativeKiller]

Nice!

 

I had finally managed to force my lazy asss to farm Saryn Prime and was yet still wondering what I should do with it.

 

Thanks for the easy to understand yet helpful guide! :)

 

Edited June 18, 2016 by NativeKiller

[F0xtr0tP4ws]

How well would a Mutalist Quanta work with Spores?

The bubble has a 100% status proc and is a small AoE on impact, the only downside is that you can't proc it with Gas (Toxic + Fire) since it has naturally Rad (Elec + Fire) proc.

You have only 3 choices:

• Rad + Toxic (Less dmg than Gas and no AoE cloud, but does the Viral + Toxic combo, friendly fire) 
• Rad + Viral (Looking at wiki for Spores math, don't seem it would give Spores a dmg boost, refreshes Viral proc + friendly fire)
• Rad + Corrosive (No extra dmg on Spore, effected enemies have lower armor + friendly fire)

Results:

• Toxic seems the better choice since it does what it should + with natural Rad proc you have a weapon that also gives you a small boost towards survivability (enemy friendly fire) and bonus sustain if you have Regen Molt for health restore.
• Viral... I don't think it's of any use, the more I look at the wiki the more it seems it does nothing (could be wrong, the math made my head hurt X_x")
• Corrosive honestly even if you went Corrosive Projection and the Corrosive weapon debuff (-55% armor) I doubt it would do as much dmg as Toxic + Viral, plus if you own a Saryn Prime or are building one odds are you own at lest 2-3 corrupt mods (1 Range + 2 STR preferred).

Unfunded Saryn build:

• Corrosive follow up: on a regular ("unfunded") Saryn maybe you could spread Corr + Rad with M Quanta (any AoE, mid-high proc Primary), then re-add Spore and pop it with a Secondary that has a Gas proc (Atomos (?)), might work (on paper not practice(?)).
• Plus side: it does the intended combo and adds Corrosive debuff (-55% armor w Corrosive Projection) with friendly fire (mehh on low lv/waves, but good on high)
• Down side: Finding a willing tenno that would acts as a debuffer (not that hard to find) Need 2 weapons to achieve the desired results, maybe get a second tenno/Saryn player and have them spread the Toxic + Viral while you do Rad + Corrosive.
• Improvement: Second tenno (debuffer/CC) spreads Corrosive + Rad while Saryn (dmg dealler) goes Toxic + Viral, heck put two Corrosive Projections and laugh at the -85% armor reduction, Confusion debuff and the Spore combo.

 

And that's pretty much my 2 cents on the though, do note this is untested and is merely a theory (have yet to try it out myself), will try it out on regular Saryn with corrupt mods however until Saryn Prime is built take it with a grain of salt. Unless someone can debunk it before I can test it out :D

 

PS: Sorry in advace for any typos or word misplacements :P

[(XBOX)RAG is NAROK]

Is the new Pox weapon on the PC any good with Saryn Prime? Also can it used concealed explosives be used on the Pox?

[Xzorn]

Pretty good guide.

I never liked her pure Spores build though,

I usually go Naramon Melee for 300-400k a swing or Venom Dose Hybrid for post lvl 300 group value.

[(PSN)lhbuch]

Dont have it yet for the consoles build but the Pox seems to be a good option for spores.

[(PSN)forChristsake]

On 4/27/2016 at 7:00 PM, Mandelbrot said:

 

For your consideration I'll mention the proc from Arbiter weapon mods - Truth

Specifically the Telos Boltor and the Burston Prime.  Caveat they aren't secondaries, but I have heavily forma'ed my Amprex, Ignis, Torid and Zhuge in my ongoing quest to better spread cooties, and the Telos Boltor is comparable in it's effectiveness; my anecdotal observation anyway.

 

 

 

Just discovered how awsome burston prime with truth proc really is the other day. Made my defense SO much easier. To the point I was told by a person in a public squad that it was a pleasure lvling with me.

[catastrophy]

Also, it's considered polite and good sport to say "Gesundheit" ("Bless you") when proccing a large group of enemies.

[Operator-7G]

On 8/22/2016 at 7:43 PM, (XB1)RAG is NAROK said:

Is the new Pox weapon on the PC any good with Saryn Prime? Also can it used concealed explosives be used on the Pox?

I think so. Certainly better, IMO, than the Hikou Prime method for popping spores: no self-damage and the lingering clouds will pop spores on enemies who stand in them or move through them. Used this way the most notable "flaws" of Pox aren't problems at all.

Pox cannot use Concealed Explosives. But then, Pox doesn't need it.

[(XBOX)RAG is NAROK]

So what does everything about that new embolist armor set and that cataclyst weapon?

[(XBOX)oox SNAP xoo]

Pox is fantastic for saryn. I have a build screenshot on live for any on xbox. Quite possibly my new favorite weapon.

[Defendor]

Mutalist Cernos is actually great on Saryn. Its clouds pop spores instantly, it has a high status chance (though low damage), and like other bows it has great range. You can just fire a couple of uncharged shots and a group of enemies to proc all of their spores and fill a pretty large area with the clouds, causing even more procs from new spores and enemies entering the area. I've used it quite successfully in sorties.

Of course, the problem is that it's a bad weapon normally, so you'd have to mod it just for Saryn. 

Edited October 22, 2016 by Defendor