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

[Kothophed]

Gas Caustacyst+Growing Power seems crazy in my first tests.  Auto-proc for Growing Power, then cast spores on the paralyzed enemies.  Then hit again and distribute the gas procs.  It clears rooms.

Edited October 22, 2016 by Kothophed