What is mastery fodder and what isnt?

[ImmortalGryphon]

Now i am a veteran player and one thing i noticed throughout my warframe experience (from MR0-MR21) is that more than half of the gear that you can get your hands on is considered mastery fodder to players. Now that i have made builds for all the OP weapons like Lex prime, Soma prime, Quanta Vandal etc.. im starting to look at weapons that are really underated or have great potential in order to reduce the number of gear that are considered mastery fodder. Right now im working on a build for the prisma tetra, and most people i meet consider it nothing but mastery fodder. The ultimate goal here is to reveal the true potential of gear that people consider mastery fodder (doesnt matter if their stats are outclassed by another of the same weapon type, e.g. aklex is outclassed by lex prime). So all veteran players, please enlighten not just me but any noobs who have these weapons about their real potential before we write them off as mastery fodder. And heres a tip, the MK1 Paris may seem weak at first but with 3-4 forma and a potato cirt build i was 1-2 shotting level 50 corrupted heavy gunners so have a good think about what you say here, i only accept constructive feedback, NO pointless ranting.

Edited June 8, 2016 by GRIFFONP

[ImmortalGryphon]

3 hours ago, Wopel said:

In a nutshell, you want to single handedly redefine the term "Mastery Fodder" ? Good luck with that lol.

What you are asking for has been done with the various tier/god tier weapon lists, forum posts about "best weapons" and numerous videos out. Some weapons are "late bloomers" and require multiple forma to reach potential, those are well documented for the most part if you look.

Not redefine but reduce the number of weapons that are considered mastery fodder. Sure there are dozens if not hundreds of "best weapons" lists, but im not looking for a "best" im making builds for weapons that are seriously under rated or low on popularity, again it doesnt matter if the weapon is outclassed, all i want is to make a build for weapons that have the potential to do good in any situation (NOT JUST ENDLESS MISSIONS!).Granted people do alot of endless missions and i respect that but even if a weapon doesnt scale well in endless missions, considering it mastery fodder because of that is just one-track minded thinking, it doesnt matter how many forma they need either, if it has potential to do good ill make a build for it. Also there is meaning in the phrase "newer isnt always better" so if you think that newer is better and the older stuff is pointless to even try to make a build for it then this isnt the post you should be commenting on.

Edited June 9, 2016 by GRIFFONP

[DatDarkOne]

What I consider Mastery Fodder.  In my rush to get to MR12, I ranked up a fair amount of weapons and frames.  I have one prime example of something I consider Master Fodder.  For me Excalibur was fodder.  I view him as that because I don't want him and don't ever plan on playing him ever again.  Nyx was Mastery Fodder from the gate because I got her at the same time I got Nyx Prime.  

There are some weapons I got that I don't use but refuse to get rid of for some reason or another(Broken War is a good example).  I'm pretty much collecting all the bows.  Then there is the Tonkor.  I hate the Tonker for all the reasons that everyone else seems to like it.  This weapon is without a doubt master fodder in my mind.  Then there are weapons like the Stradavar that I like a lot.  Because it has style and is fairly decent.  I thought the Azima was going to be crap, but it surprised me a lot.  

TL:DR.  If I like it and doesn't have a upgraded version, I keep it. If I don't plan to ever use it again, MF it is. 

[TARINunit9]

There are three main categories of Mastery Fodder:

1. Weapons that are, in all forms of practical play, less useful than something else or otherwise FAR more trouble than they're worth. This primarily includes older weapons you craft into newer ones (Kama, Dual Skana) as well as weapons whose main selling points are utterly worthless either by themselves or rendered that way by the weapon's other downsides (Dark Sword, Twin Ballsack). Note that weapons that were already pretty OK and later gained a stronger version (Sybaris) are usually excluded from this

2. Weapons what were hyped and turned out to be less than seller (Furax Wraith). This usually goes away after a few weeks

3. Weapons that the oh-so-wonderful vocal minority has arbitrarily declared worthless because they aren't the Boltor Prime (Dera Vandal/Karak Wraith)

[(XBOX)guywhoiam]

I consider a weapon Mastery Fodder if I dont' have fun using it. For example, I enjoy the Mutalist Cernos and do not consider it Mastery Fodder, but hate the Tonkor and think it is.

[Oranji]

8 hours ago, GRIFFONP said:

If all you want to say is that it is pointless, then this isnt the post you should be stating your opinion on. All i want is to reduce the number of weapons the community see as mastery fodder because as new weapons come out, people dont pay as much attention to the older weapons to the point that they just write it off as mastery fodder when in fact it scales very well in endless missions or is useful in other situations. Also i did say to use constructive feedback, just saying things like "tiberon and stradavar is mastery fodder" that isnt constructive or objective. If you said something like "tiberon and stradavar are mastery fodder because i tested it and it ultimately didn't help" then that would have a greater effect, its the same in life, no one wants to hear whiners. If you want to say that a weapon is mastery fodder, put some forma and actually use it for a while rather then use it once then sell it when its maxed out, then your opinion would have some weight and evidence behind it

.

1. Welcome to the forums where everyone has the freedom to voice their opinion.

2. I have Tiberon and Stradavar both fully polarized and ultimately didn't help. They deal decent damage but not something that I would use on the go. Hence for me they are fodders.

3. Players decide whether they deem weapons as mastery fodder or not. Not you nor anyone can decide on that... to each their own.

[(PSN)Magician_NG]

Any weapon you don't enjoy using is considered mastery fodder.

Sure some weapons have higher dps than others, but at the end of the day...everything on the star map dies quickly.

[ImmortalGryphon]

7 hours ago, (PS4)Magician_NG said:

Any weapon you don't enjoy using is considered mastery fodder.

Sure some weapons have higher dps than others, but at the end of the day...everything on the star map dies quickly.

 

8 hours ago, Oranji said:

1. Welcome to the forums where everyone has the freedom to voice their opinion.

2. I have Tiberon and Stradavar both fully polarized and ultimately didn't help. They deal decent damage but not something that I would use on the go. Hence for me they are fodders.

3. Players decide whether they deem weapons as mastery fodder or not. Not you nor anyone can decide on that... to each their own.

what both of you say is true and everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but this wasnt meant to be a discussion of weather the term mastery fodder has been mis-used, from the very beginning of this post i was asking any players who know how to mod weapons properly about any weapons that have decent potential to do high damage (doesnt matter what situation or if he/she would deem it mastery fodder), as i keep saying throughout the post, I am ultimately trying to reduce the amount of weapons that I and anyone who shares my perspective on this would consider mastery fodder from their base stats alone, again the fact that people consider it mastery fodder does not matter here, if it has "potential" then say the weapons name and ill try and make a build for it. Sure not all the weapons have the potential to good as lots of people have said in this post but if anyone can provide a list of weapons that have done well in certain situations. Here is the type of comment i was looking for from the beginning of this post:

"Boltor Prime: While its damage falls off a bit in endless missions, it still does pretty well in exterminates and other non endless missions."

This was what i was expecting to see on this post but instead i get this:

12 hours ago, DatDarkOne said:

What I consider Mastery Fodder.  In my rush to get to MR12, I ranked up a fair amount of weapons and frames.  I have one prime example of something I consider Master Fodder.  For me Excalibur was fodder.  I view him as that because I don't want him and don't ever plan on playing him ever again.  Nyx was Mastery Fodder from the gate because I got her at the same time I got Nyx Prime.  

There are some weapons I got that I don't use but refuse to get rid of for some reason or another(Broken War is a good example).  I'm pretty much collecting all the bows.  Then there is the Tonkor.  I hate the Tonker for all the reasons that everyone else seems to like it.  This weapon is without a doubt master fodder in my mind.  Then there are weapons like the Stradavar that I like a lot.  Because it has style and is fairly decent.  I thought the Azima was going to be crap, but it surprised me a lot.  

TL:DR.  If I like it and doesn't have a upgraded version, I keep it. If I don't plan to ever use it again, MF it is. 

This isnt the feedback i was looking for. From my perspective thats just ranting about how you as a person hate particular weapons and are just trying to weigh me down to just sticking with weapons that

A. Look Good

B. OP at everything

That isnt why i posted this in the first place, if all you have to say is what you consider mastery fodder then this isnt the post for you. I want constructive feedback and ideas on weapons that have the potential to make builds for, and i can't stress this phrase enough "all comments need to be constructive" as it would help no one if all you do is rant on about what you consider mastery fodder. This is "players helping players" whereas all this ranting is doing the exact opposite.

Edited June 9, 2016 by GRIFFONP

[Wopel]

I guess the point that you might be missing is, anything that performs well gets talked about. Something like the amprex gets mentioned in the billionth post about "what are the best weapons, I'm new and too lazy to look it up on my own", someone makes it and it underperforms. Then later on, someone mentions it takes 4 forma to get it to work when that someone comes back and complains about how horrible it is.

What you are essentially saying, is "forum-goers, give me all those weapons that are on those lists that take forma to reach their potential." If they weren't able to be tricked out and work well, they wouldn't be on the lists in the first place, correct? The reality is, any weapon can do the star chart. And any weapon can get 8 polarities and be made to function better. If you aren't running endless and 60+ sorties, everything is mastery fodder, because everything is capable of doing missions below that with proper modding. 

The information is out there already, I know it is as I read those tier lists where they explained why the weapons deserved the spots instead of other weapons when I started playing. Why don't you go look them up and read instead of asking us to consolidate the list for you? I mean, you have enough time to post multiple times in defense of your desired views, you could have easily researched the lists and read them by now instead and gotten the information you were after. It would also keep you from having to deal with other's opinions on your artificial and arbitrary restrictions on what the term "Mastery Fodder" means to the vast majority of players. The term basically exists because of how weapons perform (or don't as the case may be), in the scenarios you are saying you don't want considered.

[DatDarkOne]

I'm sorry that you thought my post was "ranting".  My intention was to provide examples of what I consider Mastery Fodder.  Examples which are outside the accepted norm.  Since the question you posed has completely subjective answers, I gave my subjective opinion.  Ooops, my bad for not realizing you are really wanting an analysis of those weapons. Why don't you give examples of what you are really looking for in this topic.  Pick some weapons and give feedback on each weapon.  This would lessen misinterpretation when reading the topic. 

Example:

Mutalist Cernos:  A status bow that has good DoT potential.  It's toxin cloud can be utilized to great effect with Saryn's spore build. 

 

Edit:  Wopel just provided a great post that you should also consider OP. 

Edited June 9, 2016 by DatDarkOne
edited

[ImmortalGryphon]

1 hour ago, Wopel said:

I guess the point that you might be missing is, anything that performs well gets talked about. Something like the amprex gets mentioned in the billionth post about "what are the best weapons, I'm new and too lazy to look it up on my own", someone makes it and it underperforms. Then later on, someone mentions it takes 4 forma to get it to work when that someone comes back and complains about how horrible it is.

What you are essentially saying, is "forum-goers, give me all those weapons that are on those lists that take forma to reach their potential." If they weren't able to be tricked out and work well, they wouldn't be on the lists in the first place, correct? The reality is, any weapon can do the star chart. And any weapon can get 8 polarities and be made to function better. If you aren't running endless and 60+ sorties, everything is mastery fodder, because everything is capable of doing missions below that with proper modding. 

The information is out there already, I know it is as I read those tier lists where they explained why the weapons deserved the spots instead of other weapons when I started playing. Why don't you go look them up and read instead of asking us to consolidate the list for you? I mean, you have enough time to post multiple times in defense of your desired views, you could have easily researched the lists and read them by now instead and gotten the information you were after. It would also keep you from having to deal with other's opinions on your artificial and arbitrary restrictions on what the term "Mastery Fodder" means to the vast majority of players. The term basically exists because of how weapons perform (or don't as the case may be), in the scenarios you are saying you don't want considered.

look i get what youre saying but im not looking for that, i want to play the game differently by using different weapons that require different ways of thinking rather than just one weapon, NOT! the best at everything, and all youre doing is ranting saying that this is pointless and i keep saying that its not helping anyone when all you do is rant. The thing is this post is directed at other players who have made builds for all the weapons and can recommend to make a build for. Im not asking for a build to go with the list i just want to be pointed towards weapons that can deal a decent amount of damage (no matter what the situation, being low level planets or high level sorties it doesnt matter) and you misunderstand what i said, i have already done all the weapons that are considered OP, what i am looking for are weapons that have potential to do well in certain situations. I mean doing just one weapon style is just boring so for example i may want to try a glaive for a change instead of using the usual polearm or i may want to use a weapon like the stradavar instead of soma prime, plus i want to challenge myself in the game by making builds for weapons that people write off as mastery fodder due to it being "outclassed" or "under rated". For the record im not being lazy and i am willing to put effort into the builds but i also dont want to have to make a build for every weapon in the game as i have a limited amount of plat to use for forma (primarily cause i cant get enough bps from the void or derilect), all i ask is players recommendations on weapons that can handle themselves reasonably well on missions leveling from 30+, and there are such weapons that wont be useful in situations at that level which i understand. And to make it a bit clearer as to what i am saying it doesnt have to be the best, as long as it does reasonably well on planets/moons like ceres or pluto and provides challenges for me to do while waiting for new content to be released then ill make a build for it.

Edited June 9, 2016 by GRIFFONP

[ImmortalGryphon]

1 hour ago, DatDarkOne said:

I'm sorry that you thought my post was "ranting".  My intention was to provide examples of what I consider Mastery Fodder.  Examples which are outside the accepted norm.  Since the question you posed has completely subjective answers, I gave my subjective opinion.  Ooops, my bad for not realizing you are really wanting an analysis of those weapons. Why don't you give examples of what you are really looking for in this topic.  Pick some weapons and give feedback on each weapon.  This would lessen misinterpretation when reading the topic. 

Example:

Mutalist Cernos:  A status bow that has good DoT potential.  It's toxin cloud can be utilized to great effect with Saryn's spore build. 

 

Edit:  Wopel just provided a great post that you should also consider OP. 

youre completely right and i should have been a bit more clearer about that. i am looking for weapons the while they may be outclassed or under rated, they can still do really well on planets like ceres or pluto, they may not scale very well but it will give me challenges in the game that i can overcome while waiting for content in future updates to be released.

here are some examples of weapons that fit the aspects im looking for:

1. Mutalist Quanta

2. Prisma tetra

3. Seer pistol (uncertain)

[(XBOX)MarineDawg]

20 hours ago, GRIFFONP said:

youre completely right and i should have been a bit more clearer about that. i am looking for weapons the while they may be outclassed or under rated, they can still do really well on planets like ceres or pluto, they may not scale very well but it will give me challenges in the game that i can overcome while waiting for content in future updates to be released.

here are some examples of weapons that fit the aspects im looking for:

1. Mutalist Quanta

2. Prisma tetra

3. Seer pistol (uncertain)

bah, I sold my Seer yesterday, The Mutalist Quanta I'll have to check out and play around with. Currently my most used weapon is Quanta (5 forma) and I just put a fifth in to the vandal. Once remaxed I'll fiddle with the Mutalist and dare I say not run it with Saryn, good/frustrating times ahead...

[Wopel]

On 6/9/2016 at 5:44 PM, GRIFFONP said:

look i get what youre saying but im not looking for that, i want to play the game differently by using different weapons that require different ways of thinking rather than just one weapon, NOT! the best at everything, and all youre doing is ranting saying that this is pointless and i keep saying that its not helping anyone when all you do is rant. The thing is this post is directed at other players who have made builds for all the weapons and can recommend to make a build for. Im not asking for a build to go with the list i just want to be pointed towards weapons that can deal a decent amount of damage (no matter what the situation, being low level planets or high level sorties it doesnt matter) and you misunderstand what i said, i have already done all the weapons that are considered OP, what i am looking for are weapons that have potential to do well in certain situations. I mean doing just one weapon style is just boring so for example i may want to try a glaive for a change instead of using the usual polearm or i may want to use a weapon like the stradavar instead of soma prime, plus i want to challenge myself in the game by making builds for weapons that people write off as mastery fodder due to it being "outclassed" or "under rated". For the record im not being lazy and i am willing to put effort into the builds but i also dont want to have to make a build for every weapon in the game as i have a limited amount of plat to use for forma (primarily cause i cant get enough bps from the void or derilect), all i ask is players recommendations on weapons that can handle themselves reasonably well on missions leveling from 30+, and there are such weapons that wont be useful in situations at that level which i understand. And to make it a bit clearer as to what i am saying it doesnt have to be the best, as long as it does reasonably well on planets/moons like ceres or pluto and provides challenges for me to do while waiting for new content to be released then ill make a build for it.

1) Holy wall of text. This is the definition of a rant. Didn't even attempt to separate thoughts.

2) I'm not ranting, I'm pointing out what everyone except you seems to know and understand. ANYTHING WORKS FOR STAR CHART. Heck, with 8 forma and maxed mods anything will work in high end missions. Literally anything.

3) You aren't "thinking outside the box." As a matter of fact, using every single weapon is INTENDED and ENCOURAGED by way of mastery rank and mod mechanics. It is a core principle for advancement in the game. If it was fun to use, keep it. If not, toss it. You have the best weapons anyways right?

 

You seem to be confusing "give me suggestions for fun weapons to use" with your stated "I want to redefine master fodder" which are two COMPLETELY different concepts. The first is okay, the second is a foolish crusade because it can't be done with your given criteria. You pretty much have stated you wanted to do the second and I'm having to "read between the lines" to try and tell you, what you really want is the first...

In a game like this, with the customization and options you have, "mastery fodder" are weapons that take too much investment to make perform. When there are 6 versions of a weapon concept, the one or two that perform best will be used often, the rest are fodder. That is the very simple reality. The other side of that is, you can make ANYTHING perform with investment. But you have already said in your last post you don't want to put "too much" investment due to limited resources. Which means you are looking for low tier weapons, not "god tier". Which leads me back to... there are lists out there for this "stuff."

Edited June 11, 2016 by Wopel

[ImmortalGryphon]

On 6/12/2016 at 3:33 AM, Wopel said:

You seem to be confusing "give me suggestions for fun weapons to use" with your stated "I want to redefine master fodder" which are two COMPLETELY different concepts.

Again im not trying to redefine what the terms means, i want to REDUCE the number of weapons that i and others who share my way of thinking would consider mastery fodder. either you didnt read my earlier comment or youre just plain stupid, i know that people will have their own definition of mastery fodder, but this post is meant for people to put up lists of weapons that they think that while from their perspective is considered mastery fodder, can do great against medium category enemies (level 40-60 which would be sortie 1 or 30 minutes into a t4 survival etc), and to top off all this, i have already done ALL the weapons that do better, thats why i am posting this cause i want something to do in warframe while i wait for more content to be released, im not asking for comments about people stating what they think is mastery fodder, i want comments that can point me in the right direction when it comes to weapon builds. I can easily do weapons like dual Inchor (infested dual swords) as their base stats instantly tell me what to build it for (crit or status) but when it comes to "pure-damage" weapons such as boltor prime, im not so sure about because im not sure what to look for depending on a weapns category, for instance i know that shotguns (looking at the sancti tigris) are obviously pure-damage types to begin with without being modded for either crit or status as their base stats indicate very high base damage, but when it comes to other weapon types im not sure of what to look for that would tell me to mod a weapon for pure-damage. As I said in an earlier comment, i am willing to put effort into making the builds but i only have a limited amout of platinum to spend on forma as because i cant get enough forma blueprints from the void or derilect.

[Arkvold]

Look, Mastery Fodder's going to be different for everyone.

The only way to really know what weapons are mastery fodder or not is to try them - at least to rank 30, maybe even into the formas if you think it's got potential.  Almost any weapon can be made decent if not good if you potato it and forma it enough, and have the right mods to leverage the capacity.  Some weapons just have greater high-end potential, like the Tonkor, Sancti Tigris, Lex Prime, (Vaykor) Hek, Vaykor Marelok, Synoid Simulor, and Boltor Prime.  Others have useful traits that make them great for specific missions or mission types, or when used in conjunction with specific builds or specific Warframes, like the Lanka, Ignis, Amprex, Dread, or Panthera.  Still others are just (subjectively) fun to use, even if they're not typically considered 'meta-effective' - like the Drakgoon, Boltace, Glaxion, or Ninkondi.

Then there are weapons that are basically "X but worse" which are generally considered mastery fodder universally.  Stuff like most normal versions of Prime weapons, or single-secondary versions of dual-wield secondaries.  There are some exceptions, yeah, but by and large, some weapons just exist to be holdovers until you can get the 'good version of it.'  Soma -> Soma Prime, Kronen -> Boltace, Kohmak -> Twin Kohmaks, Akstilletto -> Akstilleto Prime, Vulkar -> Vulkar Wraith, Gorgon -> Prisma Gorgon, and any and all Prime Warframes compared to their regular versions.  I mean, cool if you like the regular versions of most of these weapons, but most of them have versions that are strictly better in any objective measurement.  I'd say it's weapons like these that are the only things that can be objectively identified as Mastery Fodder, and TBH if someone could make a convincing argument for keeping 'em, then hey, whatever floats your boat.

TL:DR - if you want a definitive list of what's mastery fodder, and what's not, you ain't gonna get it.  There's always going to be some dispute over what qualifies.  Decide what matters to you in a weapon, and look for weapons that meet your criteria.

[Wopel]

6 hours ago, GRIFFONP said:

Again im not trying to redefine what the terms means, i want to REDUCE the number of weapons that i and others who share my way of thinking would consider mastery fodder. either you didnt read my earlier comment or youre just plain stupid, i know that people will have their own definition of mastery fodder, but this post is meant for people to put up lists of weapons that they think that while from their perspective is considered mastery fodder, can do great against medium category enemies (level 40-60 which would be sortie 1 or 30 minutes into a t4 survival etc), and to top off all this, i have already done ALL the weapons that do better, thats why i am posting this cause i want something to do in warframe while i wait for more content to be released, im not asking for comments about people stating what they think is mastery fodder, i want comments that can point me in the right direction when it comes to weapon builds. I can easily do weapons like dual Inchor (infested dual swords) as their base stats instantly tell me what to build it for (crit or status) but when it comes to "pure-damage" weapons such as boltor prime, im not so sure about because im not sure what to look for depending on a weapns category, for instance i know that shotguns (looking at the sancti tigris) are obviously pure-damage types to begin with without being modded for either crit or status as their base stats indicate very high base damage, but when it comes to other weapon types im not sure of what to look for that would tell me to mod a weapon for pure-damage. As I said in an earlier comment, i am willing to put effort into making the builds but i only have a limited amout of platinum to spend on forma as because i cant get enough forma blueprints from the void or derilect.

So... a wall of text (rant) AND personal insult. Nice, you've just won the internet. Good luck with what you are trying to do, because you've shown you obviously aren't the type of person willing to listen or worth the headache of trying to help.

[ImmortalGryphon]

18 hours ago, Wopel said:

So... a wall of text (rant) AND personal insult. Nice, you've just won the internet. Good luck with what you are trying to do, because you've shown you obviously aren't the type of person willing to listen or worth the headache of trying to help.

I meant no insult, but from what you said it sounded like you were misunderstanding what i was trying to do in the first place, and im not trying to cause anyone any trouble, all i was asking for is peoples recommendations on weapons that have a decent potential to do grest up to a certain point in the game. Granted most if not all weapons can handle themselves great on planets like ceres when modded right, but im looking weapons that are ruled out as mastery fodder when it was considered the most powerful of its weapon type. A good example of this would be the supra, it handles well at high level but was ruled out as mastery fodder to most people when the soma came out. I plan to revisit old weapons and see if newer mods can help those old weapons do great in high/medium level situations (high level is around level 80+ enemies and medium is enemies around levels 50-80). Again im sorry you thought i was insulting you, its really hard to tell weather someone is misunderstanding something or is just being plain stupid when just reading text alone.

Edited June 13, 2016 by GRIFFONP

[ImmortalGryphon]

On 6/13/2016 at 10:35 AM, Arkvold said:

Look, Mastery Fodder's going to be different for everyone.

The only way to really know what weapons are mastery fodder or not is to try them - at least to rank 30, maybe even into the formas if you think it's got potential.  Almost any weapon can be made decent if not good if you potato it and forma it enough, and have the right mods to leverage the capacity.  Some weapons just have greater high-end potential, like the Tonkor, Sancti Tigris, Lex Prime, (Vaykor) Hek, Vaykor Marelok, Synoid Simulor, and Boltor Prime.  Others have useful traits that make them great for specific missions or mission types, or when used in conjunction with specific builds or specific Warframes, like the Lanka, Ignis, Amprex, Dread, or Panthera.  Still others are just (subjectively) fun to use, even if they're not typically considered 'meta-effective' - like the Drakgoon, Boltace, Glaxion, or Ninkondi.

Then there are weapons that are basically "X but worse" which are generally considered mastery fodder universally.  Stuff like most normal versions of Prime weapons, or single-secondary versions of dual-wield secondaries.  There are some exceptions, yeah, but by and large, some weapons just exist to be holdovers until you can get the 'good version of it.'  Soma -> Soma Prime, Kronen -> Boltace, Kohmak -> Twin Kohmaks, Akstilletto -> Akstilleto Prime, Vulkar -> Vulkar Wraith, Gorgon -> Prisma Gorgon, and any and all Prime Warframes compared to their regular versions.  I mean, cool if you like the regular versions of most of these weapons, but most of them have versions that are strictly better in any objective measurement.  I'd say it's weapons like these that are the only things that can be objectively identified as Mastery Fodder, and TBH if someone could make a convincing argument for keeping 'em, then hey, whatever floats your boat.

TL:DR - if you want a definitive list of what's mastery fodder, and what's not, you ain't gonna get it.  There's always going to be some dispute over what qualifies.  Decide what matters to you in a weapon, and look for weapons that meet your criteria.

I get that most weapons are outclassed by better versions but that isnt always the case, a good example is ankyros v.s. ankyros prime and braton v.s. braton prime. While ankyros prime scales very well (if youre into fist type weapons), the normal ankyros does pretty much the same except it doesnt scale as well, say ankyros prime can go past level 100 whereas the normal one can only reach about level 60-80 before becoming ineffective. Braton on the other hand is different and this one kinda fits what you said about what is unviversally considered mastery fodder. The normal braton cant scale very well to begin with as its stats dont really do much but it can do good up to mission levels like ceres tier etc.. but after that the damage severely falls off, but Braton Prime scales amazingly well with the mod build i have for it. Ultimately im not looking for a list of what is mastery fodder and what isnt, the list will primarily comprise of weapons that have potential to do great in medium tier situations (my definition of medium tier would be level 50-80 and high tier would be level 80 onwards) but were written off as mastery fodder because a new version of itself or a new weapon of the same type was introduced in a later update. An obvious example of this is the supra, in its time it was considered the most powerful assault rifle, but was quickly written off as mastery fodder when the soma was intoduced. You answered most of my question in a nutshell which i am happy about, while i have already done builds for weapons that are OP and the most heard of at this time, i dont want to stop making builds there. I want to turn back to past weapons that have had a large amount of popularity in its time but was quickly forgotten about when a better version was introduced. Sure there may be youtube videos for such weapons but trying to look for them would either take me to complaints about that particular weapon or basically dead ends and i dont want to have to spend hours just searching thousands of youtube results for what i need. Also who knows, peoples perspective of a weapon that they consider mastery fodder now, can be changed since new mods are constantly being introduced, for example with the introduction of the shadow debt mods, in my eyes, the rakta cernos is now on par with the paris prime for the title of the most powerful bow in the game and the other bows quickly follow behind in terms of scaling thanks to mods like bladed rounds and argon scope, even the Mk1 Paris is now an absolute monster against enemies on planets like ceres and pluto thanks to argon scope.