How Do I Get Better? - New Player

[RestInBeats]

Hey everyone,

SKIP PAST THE TILDE ~~~ LINE TO SKIP A SAPPY RANT I NEEDED TO GET OUT

I started playing about 2 months ago and Warframe has been amazing. But I've recently hit a wall. I first noticed it when I reached the Raptor boss. BOOM! No damage. I learned that you should build status, etc. Watched some youtube to learn more then slapped some status on and I managed to start dealing a less than okay amount of damage. But in the end I was carried past it by some higher MR players who happened by. Very unsatisfactory and I regret it. Regular missions on the planets afterwards, breezed through them. Bosses, not so much. Strokes of luck and Ivara + Redeemer <3 Now I'm on Pluto and I'm not doing enough damage at all. I know I won't make it pass the next junctions or bosses. What do I do now?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm not doing enough damage and I'm taking too much damage. MR 8, on Pluto now. My main loadout consists of Mutualist Cernos, Pox, and Redeemer. How should I be building them, what mods should I be looking for and how to get them (have been using the wiki but no luck on most drops), how can I raise my damage output, how do I play against enemies that do more damage now? How do I get better?

I'm still a noob to Warframe, so I'm not familiar with all the terminology, what to do, etc. But lay it on me. 

Thanks in advance!

 

P.S. I realize I can just watch youtube videos, but they aren't always up to date on patch stuff so I end up being misinformed sometimes. I could ask in game, but most players aren't willing to take the time.  Also, I just want to connect to other players through the forum because it's a good feeling knowing there are people who can respond to you directly and help you out.

[(PSN)haffmo]

Get gud 

[Tacgnomancer]

to hard to talk here, msg me ingame :) (user name)

[Mover-NeRo]

Most of the time its all about mods (high lvl Serration, at least rank 8, elemnent mods and mulltishot mods). Then pick up a good weapon, put catalyst into it and 1-2 formas and you should be ok.

Can you post your mod configuration on your primary?

[Cyriann]

First and foremost, you need damage mods. They are unfortunately mandatory on any weapon build, since they augment the raw damage if your weapon by a pretty massive percentage.

There are one for each weapon type:

(I'll add their English names later, when I have the time to look for them)

Also, building for status depends purely on your weapon, ergo, the Mutalyst Cernos, which is one of the most terrifying ones I know. Status building requires that damage mid I mentioned above, since the massive boost will translate in your elemental damage. As well, you have to take into account the type of element you choose, since our enemies have set resistances and weaknesses to specific elements and basic damage types.

That's for the basis modding if your weapons.

 

Now the frame, you talked about Ivara, who is one of the less resistant frame of the game (no blame onto her she isn't a tank and works perfectly when you work around it). Which almost doesn't benefit from health and shield mods all that much. A vigor mod will give a double boost to these and I'd say a health mod, even not fully ranked should be enough to tank through hazards.

I just finished her and from my point of vue, what she needs to survive in heavy leveled missions is duration and energy efficiency, so that she can maintain her invisibility for as long as possible.

"You can't kill what you can't see"

 

Since I don't play the game in English, I'll update this post with all the mods that are accessible easily to you that would enhance both survivability and damage dealing.

 

And just a final point, if you haven't tried and have an inventory space to spare, try out the Lex, which you can buy from the market, it is one of the strongest secondary I know and pretty straightforward in terms of what to do for its modding.

 

Hope that helps, I'll bump the thread once I have the mod names added.

Edited October 6, 2016 by Cyriann

[RestInBeats]

4 minutes ago, Mover-NeRo said:

Most of the time its all about mods (high lvl Serration, at least rank 8, elemnent mods and mulltishot mods). Then pick up a good weapon, put catalyst into it and 1-2 formas and you should be ok.

Can you post your mod configuration on your primary?

How do I take an ingame screenshot? ctrl + prtscrn isn't working, my desktop just shows up in the picture :/

[Doxorn]

For weapons try:
Atomos, Rakta Ballistica, Synoid Gammacor, Vaykor Marelok

Hek, Tonkor, Ignis, Paris Prime/Dread

Galatine, Dual Ichor

These are all req MR6 or less. I assume you are already MR6. With proper modding these can help you clear the starchart. You will just need to Forma them a few times for all mods to fit on.

 

Also as @Mover-NeRo suggested, rank up all pure +% dmg mods and rank up all elemental mods to max. Also get Multishot mods.

[Photovoltaeic]

So first off, I would say this- 

The gear may be the biggest determining factor in how quickly you "kill" enemies, especially on the higher level planets such as pluto. 

As useful as the Redeemer is, I don't think it would cut it (no pun intended). There are lists of "high tier" weaponry that you can find as you trawl the forums... and they have a bit of deviation. not everybody agrees on it because of their unique playstyle (but ill cover that in a moment). But as you go through them you should find some good weaponry to use on high level missions/sorties. 

Secondly is playstyle. If you are trying to "tank" without the proper mods and frame... you will die. very very quickly. I've found that moving typically = surviving. but then again thats my playstyle. find something that will keep you alive. extermination missions are usually good for determining this generally speaking.

as for having a squad, a lot of people need help on boss missions. Ive been playing for two years (albeit very relaxed). I haven't attempted the raptor and i've left pluto by itself for a majority of my playtime. point is, having help isnt bad. some people are more support some people are more dps.

well... its not alot but that's the biggest point I can get at. The more you play/tweak stuff the more your gonna figure out your playstyle. I toyed around with volt (my starter frame) for bout 4 months before I expanded my collection/changed frames and tactics. Weapons are a different story. get a feel for the top ranking ones on the forums. (personally I like broken war/tonkor-simulor/insert secondary here

 

if you need any help in game my username is... well its my username.

[polarity]

Both the wiki and warframe-builder.com are kept up to date (comments in the former are usually as much help as the page content).

If you really want to play with bows then the Dread, Paris Prime and Rakta Cernos are considered the top 3.  The first can drop from the Stalker, who will eventually show up to try and kill you after you kill one of the bosses, the Paris Prime parts drop from void fissures, although it has more parts than other weapons, so can be a pain to farm, and the rakta cernos requires MR12 and the highest standing with the Red Veil faction (although you can buy it from players if you have the MR).

[GinKenshin]

9 minutes ago, RestInBeats said:

How do I take an ingame screenshot? ctrl + prtscrn isn't working, my desktop just shows up in the picture :/

it's alt+F6 iirc 

for the OP, just lvl up your mods, dmg and multishot first, then all 90% elementals, then crit chance/dmg, then try to get all the dual stat mods, since these are the main mods to get more status, then all the secondary mods like fire rate and attack speed and reload speed and such 

also, you should learn how to mod, learn the elemental combinations, use crit build on 15% crit chance weapons, use status build on 15% status chance weapons. if the weapon has both crit and status, go for crit first always 

as for the frames, have at least 1-2 defense mods, learn what their abilities do and what power they need, you can always go for a all-round build that has all the power mods like duration and strength and stuff. and almost always keep your efficiency at 70-75% (aka: maxed) 

[SenorClipClop]

I recommend trying a weapon that focuses on critical hits. The weapons you describe rely moreso on status, which is a good way to go about things, but critical damage might just give you the burst damage you're looking for.

If you haven't yet, pick up the Soma. It's a simple, effective gun that works well at most ranges and is easy to mod for a variety of situations. It's also heavily reliant on critical hits. Mod it with Serration, Point Strike and Vital Sense. After that, mod to your discretion. (I add Hammer Shot, a dual Element/Status Chance mod like Rime Rounds and usually an Ammo Mutation mod, but feel free to play whatever's comfortable.) Make sure you're upgrading your Mods and applying the right damage types to the right factions you're fighting. (This is an oversimplification, but: Puncture for Grineer, Impact for Corpus, Slash for Infested. Also check your elemental damage.)

Alternatively, you can try another weapon with a high base damage and lower fire rate. If you're good with a bow, snipers might treat you well. I'm a big fan of the Vectis for its versatility and mixed damage types: not super duper optimal against any one faction, but it gets the job done against 'em all. I always mod it to be as fast as possible (high Fire Rate and Reload Speed), since I tend to use it in the thick of things and not as much the typical non-Warframe sniper.

Ooh, Paris Prime too. You can actually get that thing really strong, and the parts aren't that hard to find.

[Airwolfen]

16 minutes ago, RestInBeats said:

How do I take an ingame screenshot? ctrl + prtscrn isn't working, my desktop just shows up in the picture :/

F6. The screen shots will be saved in your windows image folder.

[Noobverest]

Key mods to level:

Frame: Vitality (hp is the most important, get it to at least like r6)

Primary: Serration, Split chamber (max these if possible, it's how you get the most damage without needing a ton of forma)

Secondary: Hornet strike, Barrel diffusion, Lethal torrent (same story)

Melee: Pressure point, Fury (same story)

 

Spy missions can give dual stat mods (it's a rare drop), those help if you need lower cost elemental damage + status chance mods, I used those before I had enough for to make a bunch of dash polarities on my weapons, so you can try to get those from farming spy.

For weapons, MR 8 is really when you can just get a weapon and bulldozer through everything (soma/tonkor + syndicate melees), if you want a great melee weapon go for tonkor and telos boltace. It's like easy mode activated. You'll never be lacking in damage again

Most weapons in warframe = Mastery fodder, so you just make whatever you can, level it to 30, get rid of it (or buy more slots). Some weapons have other blueprints that require older weapons so keep an eye out for that (use the wiki) and make sure you don't get rid of weapons that can be used as materials.

If you want a prime weapon that kicks &amp;#&#33; and isn't hard to get:

Lex Prime

Braton Prime is also a good choice but it requires a few forma investment before it starts killing really well (and you need dual stat)

 

Edit: BTW Mutalist cernos sucks imo, if you like bows, go for Rakta cernos

Pox is a pretty good weapon but it's kind of weird? I still think Lex P is one of the best single-shot weapon in the game atm

 

Best Noob friendly setup atm would probably be:

Synoid Simulor (need MR 12 :( )/Tonkor

Lex prime/Akstiletto prime/Sonicor

Telos Boltace (MR 8 :D)/ Galatine prime (MR 13 :( )

 

 

Edited October 6, 2016 by Noobverest

[RestInBeats]

@Cyriann

here's what I use on my Cernos, Pox, and Redeemer

http://imgur.com/Uvk1eEn

http://imgur.com/dgPs4Yj

http://imgur.com/gluNd6S

Also, I appreciate all the advice everyone has been giving. I'm getting a better idea of how to progress now :)

Edited October 6, 2016 by RestInBeats
Wanted to thank everyone who replied so far

[(XBOX)freakytiki3]

mods, catalysts, reactors

[Endless_Destruction]

• Use Orokin Catalysts->Double the mod capacity of weapons. You can only do it once, but it doesn't matter when you do it on the weapon, it will always have double the mod capacity that the item level allows for, and will increase by two instead of one per level.
• Use Orokin Reactors->Catalysts for everything that isn't a weapon.
• Use Forma->Only available for level 30 stuff. Resets item level to 0, but gives a polarity slot, halves the mod drain for any mod with the same chosen polarity that you put on the slot.
• Upgrade mods->Go to the mod section of your orbiter, and select the mod you want, use the fusion option. Uses up a resource called endo, makes mods a heck of a lot more powerful, and increases their drain. The game leaves a lot unexplained, and has criminally bad tutorials. It took me practically a month of frustration and weakness (why don't I do damage???) before I figured out you could do this.
• Mod Intelligently->Only going to talk about weapons here. I can't really speak for the other moddable stuff. So for every weapon you have 5 numbers you must pay attention to:
  • Critical Chance->Build for crit if your crit chance is 20% or greater. 15% works pretty well, but for something to really shine, I prefer 20+.
  • Critical Damage Multiplier->1.5x is LOW. Do not mod for crit if this is your multiplier. Build for crit if you have 2.5x or higher, but not lower than 2.0x. You can make it work, but if you want it to shine, try modding for another option.
  • Status Chance->You want 15% ish or greater. 20% is recommended, but more is always better. When modding, keep in mind your current enemy, and use the appropriate elements. I recommend reading the damage 2.0 chart on the wiki so you can see what you should use for each enemy. You don't have to do this if you don't want to, but status procs can be powerful.
  • Weapon Type->Some weapons/weapon types have distinct advantages and disadvantages that you want to capitalize on and nullify respectively. For instance, a slow melee could benefit immensely from Berserker and/or Fury.  Whips can hit multiple targets, so throw on a Reach for better crowd-killing. Dread is a bow, give it a charge speed/fire rate mod. Tonkor grenades going wild? Give it an accuracy mod, or something to fix the severe arc. Also, melee mods have stances, giving massive damage boosts upon execution. Look for stance mods when farming, always have one on your melee. Some weapon types have special mods that only apply to them. Covert Lethality is a crutch mod for Daggers to make them instakill when undetected, and is beautifully broken. Abuse it before nerf. Beam primaries have a mod called Combustion-something->allows killed enemies to explode on death.
  • Slash/Puncture/Impact/Other damage types->If you can't go for status or crit, or just don't like status which is fine, then go for pure physical or elemental damage. Whatever number is the highest at the bottom section of the weapon info panel is the number you want to rely on. Throw on as many brute force damage mods as possible, and at least one elemental combo/single mod (if you prefer) is a must have no matter what you are building for. There is no enemy that you'll regret choosing this path with.
• Playstyle->Stay in stealth whenever possible, unless you are sure there is nothing that poses a substantial challenge, or you are in a rush. In which case, strike from behind, aim down the sights to squeeze in headshots, and don't hesitate to run away from a problematic encounter. In a pitched battle, stick to walls and lockers and other environmental obstacles. The Golden Rule of Don't get Hit is always in play. Just don't get hit. Be constantly on the move, even if it is only a shuffle (as in when aiming down sights), jump/aim glide often, and USE YOUR MELEE when close.

I hope this helps.

 

Edited October 6, 2016 by Endless_Destruction
Spelling

[Inarticulate]

For most non-melee weapons, you can start with a template build:

• Non-shotgun primary weapons: Serration, Split Chamber, 2 elementals
• Shotguns: (Primed) Point Blank, Hell's Chamber, 2 elementals, Blaze
• Secondary weapons: Hornet Strike, Barrel Diffusion, Lethal Torrent, 2 elementals

The reason is that mods that affect the same stat (such as Serration and Heavy Caliber, which both affect base damage) are additive to each other, so adding a second mod of the same type is typically less effective than adding a mod that affects a different stat (such as Split Chamber for multi-shot). Stacking mods of the same type is usually done once you have exhausted other options.

For the "2 elementals" listed above, you want to use the 90% elemental mods for weapons with low status chance and the 60% status-elemental mods for weapons with higher status chance. Corrosive (Electricity + Toxin) is a good all-round elemental damage type. If your weapon does not have enough polarized mod slots to fit other mods due to limited mod capacity, you can always switch out the 90% elemental mods for 60% status-elemental mods to save mod capacity without losing the elemental damage combination, assuming you have the corresponding mods (some of them, especially the Electricity mods, are hard to obtain, after all).

For weapons with usable critical hit stats (10% critical chance with 2x critical damage is barely "usable" for weapons with a high fire rate, but you'll want a higher critical chance for weapons with a lower fire rate), you can add the critical hit mods:

• Non-shotgun primary weapons: Point Strike, Vital Sense
• Shotguns: Blunderbuss, (Primed) Ravage
• Secondary weapons: (Primed) Pistol Gambit, (Primed) Target Cracker

From here, you'll have between 1 and 4 mod slots remaining depending on the type of weapon and whether it is viable for the critical hit mods. Consider the strengths and weaknesses of the weapon and mod accordingly. Depending on the number of polarized mod slots the weapon starts with and the number of Forma you have invested in the weapon, you may or may not have enough mod capacity to fill out the rest of the slots, but the thought process is mostly the same. For example:

• The Braton Prime (non-shotgun primary, not critical-viable) has high base status and is an automatic weapon. For the 4 remaining mod slots, I picked the remaining 2 60% status-elemental mods to further increase the status chance, Heavy Caliber to increase the base damage because the Braton Prime is not a critical hit weapon and can afford to trade accuracy for more damage, and Shred to add punch-through and slightly increase the fire rate.
• The Soma Prime (non-shotgun primary, critical-viable) is a critical-viable automatic weapon. For the 2 remaining mod slots, I picked 1 90% elemental mod to improve the weapon's raw damage and Shred to add punch-through and slightly increase the fire rate. Because the Soma Prime is a critical-viable weapon, Heavy Caliber is detrimental because the decreased accuracy makes it harder to land head shots for the additional head shot critical hit multiplier.
• The Zhuge (non-shotgun primary, critical-viable) is a critical-viable automatic weapon that has heavy recoil. For the 2 remaining mod slots, I picked Stabilizer to reduce the recoil when firing in full auto and Bladed Rounds to boost the damage dealt by critical hits. Unlike the above weapons, the Zhuge ragdolls enemies on kill, dealing damage to enemies behind them, reducing the need for punch-through.
• The Dread (non-shotgun primary, critical-viable) is a high-critical bow. For the 2 remaining mod slots, I picked 1 90% elemental mod to improve the weapon's raw damage and Vile Acceleration to significantly shorten the amount of time required to charge a shot. Note that the -15% damage penalty from Vile Acceleration is additive with Serration, which makes its effect negligible.
• The Aksomati (secondary, critical-viable) is a critical-viable automatic weapon with a wide bullet spread. For the 1 remaining mod slot, I picked Seeker to add a massive 2.1 meters of punch-through, allowing it to more easily mow down groups of enemies and hit enemies behind cover, making the wide bullet spread less of an issue.

21 hours ago, Noobverest said:

Edit: BTW Mutalist cernos sucks imo, if you like bows, go for Rakta cernos

The Mutalist Cernos is the status bow. It might be weaker than the other bows in damage output, but it is still plenty viable for Sortie 1 and 2, especially modded for Blast to apply crowd-control, and against any Assassination target vulnerable to Corrosive procs.

10 hours ago, RestInBeats said:

here's what I use on my Cernos, Pox, and Redeemer

I haven't used the Pox or Redeemer extensively, so I can't really make any suggestions for those, but I can certainly make suggestions for the Mutalist Cernos. Note that some of these suggestions will take a bit of work. Also, if you're finding you like the Mutalist Cernos, feel free to add a Forma or two as necessary to fit the mods you want. (Though, admittedly, the Mutalist Cernos is on the weaker end in terms of bows.)

Consider farming for the 60% status-elemental mods (Thermite Rounds, Rime Rounds, High Voltage, and Malignant Force). Thermite Rounds and Rime Rounds drop as a reward from Spy missions. Malignant Force drops from Corrupted Vor in the Void. High Voltage will be the hardest of those to get, only dropping from caches in Hive missions or occasionally in Baro Ki'Teer's stock.

The Mutalist Cernos is a status-focused weapon, and it will be in your best interest to boost its status chance as much as you can (though Hammer Shot and Rifle Aptitude are not worth the mod slots). Also, being a status weapon, it's a lot lighter on the Forma because the 60% status-elemental mods have lower mod capacity drain than the 90% elemental mods.

Consider farming vaults in the Orokin Derelict for Vile Acceleration. You can replace Speed Trigger with Vile Acceleration for an even faster charge time and it matches the mod slot with a dash polarity.

My build looks like this:

• Serration
• Split Chamber
• Vile Acceleration
• All 4 60% status-elemental mods
• 1 mod of your choice

I'll suggest Infected Clip for the "1 mod of your choice" because Toxin mods count towards the gas cloud's base damage when calculating Toxin and Gas proc damage. It also skews the gas cloud's proc distribution in favor of Corrosive (over Blast), Gas (over Magnetic), and Viral (over Radiation).

Edited October 7, 2016 by Inarticulate

[(PSN)haffmo]

The best way to get better is playing more. Joining a clan. Youtube can also help. Friendships will help the best.

[Inarticulate]

Looked at my build for the Mutalist Cernos now that I've logged into the game, and boy was I off. I forgot that the Mutalist Cernos reaches 100% status with only 2 60% status-elemental mods.

Here's the build I'm currently using:

• Serration
• Split Chamber
• Vile Acceleration
• 2 90% elemental mods
• 2 60% status-elemental mods
• (Primed) Bane of Faction or another 90% elemental mod

For armored Grineer and Infested, I use pure Corrosive for my 4 elemental mods. Quick-firing arrows at heavier Grineer enemies allows you to quickly deplete their armor with repeated Corrosive procs, leaving them easier to kill with subsequent shots.

For Corpus, I'm using Gas with the 2 90% elemental mods and Magnetic with the 2 60% status-elemental mods. This gives a higher chance of a Gas proc than a Magnetic proc from the cloud, which is a more favorable setup.

For any mission where you may prefer crowd-control over damage, use either Corrosive-Blast (180% Corrosive, 120% Blast) or possibly even Electricity-Blast (150% Electricity, 150% Blast) depending on the opposing faction.

[Cyriann]

So first Cernos :

12 hours ago, RestInBeats said:

http://imgur.com/Uvk1eEn

Hammer Shot, Split Chamber, Serration and Infected Clip, those 4 are basic and logical choices for Mutalyst Cernos max all of them out and your damage should be pretty horrific already, especially with poison damage which goes straight through shields.

Next, the speed trigger is... Well pretty unnecessary, bows have pretty short charge times, especially compared to the one of the Daikyu which is... Just plain taking forever. I see where you are going with stormbringer, creating a corrosive damage combo is very powerful against the Grineer, but lacks in effectiveness against the Corpus. (Use the ABC tabs to create different iterations of your molding to adapt to different enemy types)  these two mods are thus pretty much unnecessary as long as the other mods aren't maxed out.

As for addition to your build I'd recommend looking for the dual stat elementary mods, which I think can be found in spy missions. These mods will give you a 60% boost in element damage AND to status proc chance (once maxed) which should turn your bow into a terrifying instant poison weapon with monstrous damages.

I'll see if I have a few spares of these, and if you are online at the same time a me I'll pass them along to you.

 

I will look into pox and redeemer later, since I didn't used them yet myself, the reflection will be only based on stats. Also, modding reflects also a part of your style which can thus depend on how you approach situations, my modding for example focuses always on dealing heavy damage in one shot, to maintain stealth or clear rooms rapidly.

Edited October 7, 2016 by Cyriann

[Inarticulate]

9 hours ago, Cyriann said:

Hammer Shot, [...] are basic and logical choices for Mutalyst Cernos

No. Hammer Shot is a completely outclassed mod. It's fine for a starting player who doesn't yet have access to the 60% status-elemental mods, but should be replaced as soon as the 60% mods are acquired.

9 hours ago, Cyriann said:

Next, the speed trigger is... Well pretty unnecessary, bows have pretty short charge times, especially compared to the one of the Daikyu which is... Just plain taking forever.

A 1-second charge time is pretty long. Just because there are longer charge times out there doesn't make it any less long. Speed Trigger is a perfectly good choice for a mod on any bow (other than the Rakta Cernos, which has a 0.3-second charge time) if the player doesn't have Vile Acceleration.

9 hours ago, Cyriann said:

I see where you are going with stormbringer, creating a corrosive damage combo is very powerful against the Grineer, but lacks in effectiveness against the Corpus.

Corrosive is a good all-round combination to use. Against the Corpus, it only suffers against Proto Shields, but is at minimum neutral to every other shield, health, and armor type. The actual projectile's high Impact damage actually helps in this case to somewhat mitigate that weakness.

However, Cyriann is right that it is advantageous to build multiple mod configurations for different factions. If you're still low on mod capacity (i.e. if you haven't yet invested any Forma into the weapon), use Cryo Rounds and Stormbringer to form a Magnetic-Toxin combination on your gas cloud.