Un-Official Warframe Tier List

[Notso]

No word of a lie I want to slap you in the face.

Why is your response to "scale down" (AKA nerf) Vauban? I know you suggested tweaks for other powers but Vauban is fine, it is the other frames that need to be scaled up, not the other way around!

Because that would trivialize the game. It's called God-tier for a reason. God-tier is the overpowered tier. Anything there needs a nerf.

Edited June 23, 2013 by Notso

[TunaMayo]

Because that would trivialize the game. It's called God-tier for a reason. God-tier is the overpowered tier. Anything there needs a nerf.

Everyone already knows the game is too easy, we need a higher difficulty, not scaling down frames to make them less effective.

Once all other frames are balanced, if vauban is still the clear victor THEN consider nerfing him. But I would much rather that efforts were focused on buffing what is bad than nerfing what is good.

[SHADOWEDzed]

Desing Council in a nutshell. "Everything is fine, don't change anything. New Frames are as awesome as the old one. We don't need any progress. Btw. Buff Ash only."

 

What you suggest is that every Frame with Orokin Reactor, a Forma or two and fully maxed mods is High Tier? I'm not sure if we're playing the same game. Fully modded, reactored Mag is weaker than non-reactored Saryn.

 

You are so wrong, you've spent so much money on the game you don't even fully understand, especially the Meta part of it. Only because some Casual Players out there couldn't care less about the deeper mechanics of the game, it doesn't mean that it can be ignored and shouldn't be patched.

 

I have no idea what point you were trying to get across here.  Never said anything about ash. Mag with reactor is > Saryn stock.  I don't understand the game... You make my head hurt.  I don't like Vauban deal with it. 

 

Thanks for noticing the badge.

Regards,

Hellscare

[Notso]

Desing Council in a nutshell. "Everything is fine, don't change anything. New Frames are as awesome as the old one. We don't need any progress. Btw. Buff Ash only."

 

What you suggest is that every Frame with Orokin Reactor, a Forma or two and fully maxed mods is High Tier? I'm not sure if we're playing the same game. Fully modded, reactored Mag is weaker than non-reactored Saryn.

 

You are so wrong, you've spent so much money on the game you don't even fully understand, especially the Meta part of it.

 

I could say the same thing about F2P players [minus the spending money part], summing it up as "F2P players in a nutshell" and it would be just as true. Sweeping generalizations are not a good thing.

Edited June 23, 2013 by Notso

[NessOnett]

Rhino Stomp too energy inefficient. Bastille is still better.

Rhino Charge is weak and can't go as far compared to Slash Dash.

 

Radial Blast can be effective, but don't use it against Grineer unless you enjoy doing 200 damage, sometimes less. And spending 75 energy for a knock down that barely last 3 seconds on the enemy.

 

So that makes 3 crap abilities and Radial blast being the only one half decent ?

How I know ? I played him the most outside of Exaclibur and his Prime.

 

His Iron skin makes face tanking Hyena and lower bosses a joke, but it becomes lacking very quickly at higher levels.

Consider this, 2 swipes from Phorid negates it's effect.

 

 

Rhino stomp "may" be worse than Bastille(the current best, on-the-table-to-be-nerfed-hard skill). I say may, because Stomp is nearly the same duration, does damage, and has OVER DOUBLE the Radius(Which if you know anything about geometry...). But is still better than nearly every other CC skill in the game. Like, for example, Radial Blind(since hes most often compared to Xcal). Energy inefficient? Must be why nobody uses Soundquake, or Miasma, or Avalanche...oh wait.

 

"Rhino charge is weak" -What? Rhino Charge does more damage than slash dash, ALSO has a knockdown(utility), and goes 90% as far. I have never missed that negligible change in range, but far higher damage and utility makes a world of difference.

 

Radial Blast is a non-ultimate skill that does 1k damage, AND has significant CC. Solid, theres no arguing with it.

 

"2 swipes from Phorid negates [iron Skin]" As opposed to every other frame, where 2 swipes from Phorid gets you killed? Hmmm. If you can't find a way to survive with 1000 bonus health AND immunity to disables, then I have to say you're just...bad. Ignoring that it's spammable. But even IF you count Iron Skin as 99% useless(which makes you an ignorant and butthurt dumbass), there are plenty of skills like Super Jump, Silence, Contagion, etc on frames that are higher up on the list. So that alone shouldn't be enough to say he's "low."

 

 

Rhino has problems. There's no disputing that. There's noticeable overlap between 2 of his skills. He could use a little work. So could Banshee and Saryn(They both need more actually). But that doesn't stop them from being useful in the now. And it doesn't stop Rhino either. Hes average at worst, and very good at best.

[Grimpiggy]

Saying Volt and Rhino are low tier is like saying they're bad.

The only thing wrong with Volt in my opinion is Shock.

Electric Shield is my favourite power, the damage boost against Grineer is decent, and it makes Ancients look like a joke.

I'm fairly Neutral on Overcharge and Rhino's powers. 

Overall Rhino's power set makes him a fine frame.

None of their powers aside from shock are in real need or buffing or reworking.

[mL_2010]

I really don't know what people think is so good at Vauban. In my opinion he is one of the weakest Warframes^^ And yes, I played with him and I've done better with Mag for example...

[Mhak]

I really don't know what people think is so good at Vauban. In my opinion he is one of the weakest Warframes^^ And yes, I played with him and I've done better with Mag for example...

Because Bastille can single-handedly make infested 100% trivialized. Any skill that completely shuts down an entire faction for only 75 energy is pretty strong.

 

Also tesla is arguably one of the strongest if not the strongest #1 skill in the game right now. It's really just those 2 skills together on one frame that give him a lot of potential that few other frames can hope to stay on par with.

[Empiren]

Vauban just scales better with endgame content.

[JollierThanThou]

Rhino stomp "may" be worse than Bastille(the current best, on-the-table-to-be-nerfed-hard skill). I say may, because Stomp is nearly the same duration, does damage, and has OVER DOUBLE the Radius(Which if you know anything about geometry...). But is still better than nearly every other CC skill in the game. Like, for example, Radial Blind(since hes most often compared to Xcal). Energy inefficient? Must be why nobody uses Soundquake, or Miasma, or Avalanche...oh wait.

Crucially, Bastille affects mobs who wander in after the cast.

[NessOnett]

Crucially, Bastille affects mobs who wander in after the cast.

 

And that is the key aspect for why it's arguably better. And it probably is better. But not by such a substantial margin. And it doesn't change that Stomp is better than 90% of the CC skills in the game, most of which are considered good, useful, and "bringing X frame into a higher tier."

[CharginTarge]

Mag really blows. I took Mag as a starter frame and I didn't use her abilities at all except for Crush, and even then that ulti is kind of meh. It was absolutely no question which of my 2 warframes I was going to ditch once I got my third. 

 

Rhino could also use some love. Two of my friends play Rhino and other than punching the ground occasionally they don't do very much.

[Cypress85]

Ember, excalibur, and ash kinda belong in the mid tier. They have good abilities (some of which need buffs) that are great for the scenario they're built for (ember vs infested, excalibur for all-weapon offense/defense mix, and ash for stealth).

 

But as much as I'd hate to say it, rhino kinda does belong in the low tier.

 

Frost does belong in the high tier, solely because of the need for snowglobe on corpus/grineer defense missions.

Edited June 24, 2013 by Cypress85

[FallenKingErzon]

I'm secretly rhino!? Never knew.

[Tetragen]

Frost does belong in the high tier, solely because of the need for snowglobe on corpus/grineer defense missions.

Actually there have been reworks done to his Ice wave, making it surprisingly effective against just about anything, and even costing slightly less. That said I agree it shouldn't be high tier just becaues of his Snowglobe, but given how well balanced he is with defense, a single target CC, a Decently damaging (last I got was 450 on a single hit) Wave attack, a Highly effective Defensive ability, and the usual Ult, he absolutely deserves to be in high teir in my opinion.

[Fiaryn]

You people do realize that with maxed mods, most frames are on par with each other in terms of usefulness.  There is also a synergy aspect between the frames that make them more useful when playing with other frames. 

 

There isn't really a tier system in this game.  Every frame can be deadly if you know how to use them effectively.  Some are easier to use than others.  Vauban is not god tier, Vauban is I hate this A****** tossing tesla's and vortex's everywhere so I can't move right, and I have to deal with this stupid ball obstructing my vision.

 

I let Vaubans die... u should too

 

This is simply not true, I'm sorry. A Volt with maxed mods is garbage next to a Saryn, Ember, or Frost. It neither has the damage output nor the survivability of any of those frames.

[ZWarhammer]

I have every single frame in the game, all potatoed, some polarized.

From what i see.

 

High Tier.

 

1. Vauban ( Good Crowd control and damage abilities but low survivability) ( the bounce skill is my gripe here it's funny but i'd rather have a turret )

2. Frost. (  High  survivability, really good on defense missions, okay damage abilities, slow as hell and squishy ) ( first 2 abilities pointless )

3. Excalibur ( Average survivability, decent damage potential, decent mobility/utility, weak crowd control abilities ) ( free from start )

4. Banshee ( Good AOE board clearing ultimate, Decent utility abilities, average survivability. ) ( hard to farm. ) ( Those shoes man. )

 

Mid Tier

 

1. Nyx ( Decent survivabilty, good crowd control, great ult when works , average mobility ) ( first 2 skills kinda useless) ( no quick nukes )

2. Loki ( low survivability, good utility and mobility ( fastest frame in the game ) ( good for soloing ) ( Useless in pvp ) ( Dat helmet ) ( Dat alt helmet )

3. Trinity ( okay survivability, good supportive abilities, low mobility/utility, no crowd control to speak of. ) ( Best tank the the game cough.. cough )

4. Volt ( Decent survivability, really high mobility, situational ultimate. ) ( first skill needs a change. ) ( Third skill could use a buff alongside ult )

 

Pointless tier ( aka others do that job already )

1. Ember ( average survivability, low mobility, no utility, no late game spells, trivial crowd control. ) ( Banshee does your job better. ) 

2. Rhino ( high survivability, decent crowd control, really low mobility. ) ( Trinity tanks better ) ( Vauban has better crowd control ) ( Casts Fist at least

3. Mag If pressing 4 makes you feel good look no further.

 

I know ash is missing that' cause he ( good or bad ) is my fav frame so i decided to devote more time to this one.

EDIT: gonna do that later it's late here e.e

Edited June 24, 2013 by ZWarhammer

[GTG3000]

I have every single frame in the game, all potatoed, some polarized.

From what i see.

 

High Tier.

 

1. Vauban ( Good Crowd control and damage abilities but low survivability) ( the bounce skill is my gripe here it's funny but i'd rather have a turret )

2. Frost. (  High  survivability, really good on defense missions, okay damage abilities, slow as hell and squishy ) ( first 2 abilities pointless )

3. Excalibur ( Average survivability, decent damage potential, decent mobility/utility, weak crowd control abilities ) ( free from start )

4. Banshee ( Good AOE board clearing ultimate, Decent utility abilities, average survivability. ) ( hard to farm. ) ( Those shoes man. )

 

Mid Tier

 

1. Nyx ( Decent survivabilty, good crowd control, great ult when works , average mobility ) ( first 2 skills kinda useless) ( no quick nukes )

2. Loki ( low survivability, good utility and mobility ( fastest frame in the game ) ( good for soloing ) ( Useless in pvp ) ( Dat helmet ) ( Dat alt helmet )

3. Trinity ( okay survivability, good supportive abilities, low mobility/utility, no crowd control to speak of. ) ( Best tank the the game cough.. cough )

4. Volt ( Decent survivability, really high mobility, situational ultimate. ) ( first skill needs a change. ) ( Third skill could use a buff alongside ult )

 

Pointless tier ( aka others do that job already )

1. Ember ( average survivability, low mobility, no utility, no late game spells, trivial crowd control. ) ( Banshee does your job better. ) 

2. Rhino ( high survivability, decent crowd control, really low mobility. ) ( Trinity tanks better ) ( Vauban has better crowd control ) ( Casts Fist at least

3. Mag If pressing 4 makes you feel good look no further.

 

I know ash is missing that' cause he ( good or bad ) is my fav frame so i decided to devote more time to this one.

EDIT: gonna do that later it's late here e.e

 

Actually, the ice wave (or how is it called) on frost deals quite a nice damage. About 400 without focus. (sure it's not much on high levels but hey, damage scaling).

 

You could argue that currently Rhino is VERY team-oriented, since his iron skin is said to draw aggro. Maybe I'm missing a point, but it could be useful in conjunction with other frames abilities.

 

Also, wouldn't say that Ember is pointless. Of course I'm saying this because I freaking love that frame, but she has very, very decent tanking ability, and her current World On Fire is, if not a great damaging ability for taking out bosses while being behind a wall from them, is pretty great for making enemies flinch and keeping them from regenerating their shields.

 

(and, you should find better trinity players. if survivability you observe is "okay", you're not playing her properly)

 

Also, kudos for not shouting "nerf Vauban". 

Edited June 24, 2013 by GTG3000

[Fiaryn]

I think you've fundamentally misunderstood the Ember if you believe the Banshee does her job better, ZWHammer. The Ember does the same thing the Trinity does, but with damage capabilities. Overheat is a tanking ability (91% damage reduction for both shields and health, with maxed Focus).

[OrokinNoob]

I'm actually fine with it, simply because the High Tier frames, have atleast 2 powers that are on the weak side or situational. Vauban has 3/4 abilities that are always great to use.

 

I play Saryn and see her as God/S tier, but unfortunately, u take away miasma, too many situations where i would have to rely strictly on weapons.

 

I applaud the thread for starting conversation though, regardless of people's post.

[holdenagincourt]

Looks like a lot of groupthink and only playing endless defense to me. And really only that, because Mag is an entirely serviceable mobile defense character.

 

I agree with some skills needing work, although some of them only need very simply changes. Many of the first abilities still in need of work just need to home and maybe do more AOE or have multiple projectiles (e.g. Shock, Freeze, Venom, Fireball; analogous to what was done to Shuriken).

 

The elemental resistances should be less extreme by faction. Every frame should be able to play against every faction with some utility for all of its skills. Saryn, Vauban e.g. have an inherent advantage by not encountering any resistances to their skills among enemies, while Ember and Volt are harshly penalized against particular factions (though since Overheat was changed into near-invincibility it's much more of an issue for Volt than Ember).

 

I just don't agree with the premise. Some of the frames need work, but a tier list sort of implies that you need to be optimized to beat a considerable proportion of the game's content, which is patently not the case. In 95% of the game at least, any frame with any loadout will be more than adequate, as long as you have some decently leveled mods, situational awareness and know when to advance or retreat. Just because most of the self-appointed elite only play endless defense on Eris, Pluto and Ceres doesn't mean that the entire game should be balanced around that mission type.

[GTG3000]

snip

 

You do have to take in consideration that there is little actual challenge in the game for a fully-levelled/potatoed/polarized frame with right mods.

 

That said, you are right with the first abilities on many frames being useless. Embers' fireball could use to become AoE, or an explosive bolt to throw enemies off their feet, shock begs to become a chain lightning and freeze needs to reliably freeze every kind of enemy.

 

Tier lists aren't doing the balancing any justice anyway, but they start discussion. As soon as we don't treat OP as trying to open absolute truth, and don't take pikes and torches to siege windmills of madmen who dared making more than 2 warframe abilities useful allround, we can all agree which frames need change.

 

And Mag really needs some sort of a rework, seeing how her first ability is massively reliant on her weaons being able to score instakill and her second being next to impossible to aim in the pressing situation where it could actually be useful. I wouldn't say Bullet attractor isn't worth it though, as it is a reliable skill to a - stop a dangerous enemy from shooting and b - create an improvised cover for the whole team (not to mention how well it works with Javelin), making it quite a good utility for me. If a bit situational.

[Neuhnee]

I Love the over specialization of the Frames. This game is all about bringing the right tool for the job. I was honestly surprised that I was the only one who ever brought a Volt to the Corpus missions in this weekend's artifact event.

 

I think most of the opinions about how useful/useless a given Frame is are based on an expectation that every Frame should be just as good in every situation. Don't take Volt to an infested mission, don't take Ember to a Corpus mission and don't take Banshee to a mission.

[JollierThanThou]

I'd like to respond to the arguments "this list is biased toward defense" and "but X is good at bosses."

 

If I were to submit my ballot for a tier list, it might look something like this:

 

Missions

Vauban: 10/10

Frost: 8/10

Rhino: 8/10

Mag: 9/10

 

Bosses

Vauban: 8/10

Frost: 9/10

Rhino: 10/10

Mag: 10/10

 

Tier 3 Void

Vauban: 7/10

Frost: 10/10

Rhino: 8/10

Mag: 6/10

 

High Wave Defense

Vauban: 9/10

Frost: 10/10

Rhino: 1/10

Mag: 0/10

 

Every frame is at least an 8/10 on missions and bosses. In ranking them, it only makes sense to focus on the ways they differ.When new endgame content gets introduced, it will be time to revisit the tier list. Until then, high wave defense is the only endgame we've got - and the only way to judge frames relative to one another.

Edited June 25, 2013 by JollierThanThou

[Yargi]

I have to say, I haven't played all the Frames yet, but Mag was my first one and I wouldn't change that. I'm not saying that she shouldn't be buffed, but I think that at the lowest she should be in the Low Tier. Pull is moderately useful (I use it on Grineer shield carriers), and her ulti is very useful in a crowd, but shield polarize... I only have it equipped because I can't stand having a blank spot in my menues. Bullet Atractor is very useful when paired with something like the Grakata or Gorgon, and when used with Excalibur's ulti it can make one of the most powerful comboes I know of. I think that on some of the bosses, like Jackal and Hyena, Bullet Atractor is a little short range though.

I'm pretty happy with Trinity. Not the greatest at soloing, but it's a healer. And Link. I get *really* trolly with Link sometimes. She can also keep allies completely full on energy *and* life in a boss battle via Well of Life/Energy Vampire. I know someone that plays Excalibur and he tends to just dash over and over and I toss on Energy Vampire and spew Grakata and easily fill my energy too.

I just got Ash and I really like the techs (that ulti <3 ), but I can see how it can be a bit weak in a lot of situations. Frost I don't have up to 30 yet, but I really like being able to walk into a room and pick off my enemies of one by one without having to constantly be ducking behind cover. And Ice Wave is *amazing*. I also enjoy flinging tons of Freeze into a crowd and watching them shatter everywhere. ^^

Excalibur/ExPrime I haven't played much of, but I pretty much just Dash everything to death. And I put Radial Blind in the same spot as Shield Polarize.

So, I like Ash, Trinity, Frost and Excalibur, and I put a potato into Mag and then a Forma and I wouldn't take either of those back even if I could (I'm still working on leveling Mag back up to 30 after the Polarity Slot tweak). I'd be OK with a rework there, but I also have to say that I want to see new stuff added along with old stuff tweaked. I have seen several games that got stuck because they were so worried about fixing the old stuff to perfection that they stopped adding new stuff.

Edited June 25, 2013 by Yargi