Am I just playing this game wrong or is it the game itself?

[J_walker6]

So let me just start out by saying this game is AMAZING. I love it. All I've ever wanted was a game that had amazing gameplay and a never-ending grind and lo and behold, here comes Warframe! Sure, there are some things I want like house/base building and collections of stuff to display in my ship, but overall the game is amazing regardless.

However, here is my problem and the reason I quit 6-7 months ago. I always played with frames/weapons below max level so that I was always getting mastery experience. I know I've progressed through Mastery quickly, being mastery rank 12 by 90 hours, because I always want to do things the most efficient way. Yet, since I always switch a max level weapon to a new weapon the moment it hits max level, my weapons always feel weak. Around Neptune or so, I found that my weapons simply weren't strong enough to do the missions, so I became stuck. I could use a max level weapon like my Hek and do the missions, but I felt like I was missing out on experience. Or I could use low level weapons and just get stuck doing earlier missions. Eventually, I couldn't keep myself alive, was dying in one hit to everything, and just felt like my progression was grinding to a halt. To add to this, the focus system also felt rough, since I never used max level stuff so I never got any focus ever. Then I would see groups doing high level content like sorties, rifts, and the like and I knew I couldn't join them as my gear just didn't feel up to par.

Am I just playing this game wrong? How do I keep progressing in harder content while still raising my mastery level and new weapons at a reasonable rate?

Any help is super appreciated!!!

[xethier]

Warframe isn't one thing. I know your pain, intimately. 

You're not 'playing it wrong' but you are focusing on a singular part of the game. Grinding mastery.

Find a setup that you love, that one frame you really enjoy with a battery of weapons you enjoy and work on mastering those. Multi-forma weapons / warframe, etc. Use that for late-game play. Things like: focus acquisition, planetary completion, nightmare missions, alerts, raids, etc. When you're not grinding out mastery, use this setup. 

Eventually, you're going to 'hit-the-wall' when it comes to mastery. All that's left to you past that point is waiting on new released stuff and/or prime items / trading or... god help you... getting all the mods.

Just don't become so focused on 'that one thing' that you loose sight of the rest that warframe offers.

[GinKenshin]

well, that's not really the games fault tbh. personally, I didn't really focus on MR when I first started. I just crafted like 5-6 weapons and unlocked most of the star map with them, up until I hit MR 6 or something I started building weapons and frames

you're MR12, that's basically enough to use and craft every weapons (with some exceptions). what I suggest you do now? build/use the weapons and frames you like to your hearts content, farm resources or primes or do whatever. when you finally get bored, go and build other things and experience them 

[Ryunokage]

Some comments:

1. As Xethier noted, you're overly fixated on a singular aspect of warframe, there's more then just gear grinding to do. As you noted the game-play itself is already engaging and enjoyable on its own, and that's before noting the other components of the game experience: Story missions, focus, planetary completion, raids, sorties and nightmares.

2. DE has made some alterations to warframe's mechanics that allow your weapons and warframes to have the same mod capacity as their equivalents at a rank equivalent to your MR. That is a player at MR20 will have a mod pool of 20 points on a new, uncatalysed weapon at the start. That mod pool will remain at its current value until you level the weapons rank past your MR.

3. At higher levels, trying to face tank anything is going to get you killed. Getting killed in a single hit by enemies in late game is not uncommon and occurs frequently. You need to learn how to rely on movement and manoeuvre, standing still in the open will get you killed.   

[Mister-God]

If you expect newly built mastery fodder to carry you though the entire starchart without any help, then clearly you're doing something wrong... you could probably do it, but it would take a very long time.

If you want the starchart progression to be even more trivial than it is now, then you should play a different game like cookie clicker or something.

Just carry 1 good weapon and gain xp on other weapons passively. It's not efficient if you're progressing solo though because this game is set up so that the meta is leeching off other people for xp.

[Gelkor]

You don't always need to be leveling things, use the weapons and warframes you've been getting and see which ones you really enjoy using. Then max and forma those to fit all the mods you can put on them, and now you can have fun in higher level content.

[Aurea_Hiigara]

Word of advice, don't try to level everything at the same time.

Bring a maxed out frame and a gun that can plow through enemies. Use your weaker stuff while you can, then switch to your heavy artillery if the going gets rough. Level things little by little and remember: There is infinite potential for XP; you don't gimp yourself by killing mobs for a week without getting a single point from them.

[kyori]

Ya I think you are playing it wrong as you are too concentrating into getting MR. It is your habit to play the game efficiently as you said hence the habit and hence the problem you are facing.

I playing with a max weapon with other 2 being ranking up weapons etc so at least I can save myself if needed. Also you might want to consider getting all planets and nodes unlocked before going back to MR or focus, You just can't do everything at the same time.

As for MR... only need to get to 13 to have access to every weapons in the game... then can forget about MR if you wish.

[Soulden]

3 hours ago, J_walker6 said:

I could use a max level weapon like my Hek and do the missions, but I felt like I was missing out on experience. Or I could use low level weapons and just get stuck doing earlier missions. Eventually, I couldn't keep myself alive, was dying in one hit to everything, and just felt like my progression was grinding to a halt. To add to this, the focus system also felt rough, since I never used max level stuff so I never got any focus ever. Then I would see groups doing high level content like sorties, rifts, and the like and I knew I couldn't join them as my gear just didn't feel up to par.

Don't worry about focus, it is nice and all but not too long ago players got by w/o it.

As for your weapons/warframes feeling weak. Lots of Forma + Corrupted mods. Dont forget Orokin catalysts, reactors and mod upgrades. Playing the game with base stats proves challenging at mid level nodes.

Game might be free but it comes with its grind walls.

I did tried the completion game w/o Forma, Corrupted mods, nor primed variants. It does put your skills to test, and from someone who also didnt wanted to spend 20+ mins per mission (strategic moving/killing/dying/etc), I just turned to the rest of the game in order to improve, and it makes a great difference.

Hope you find what you need, and glad you are enjoying the game fellow Tenno.

[(PSN)NASTYRIDE]

At mastery rank 12 you'll have 12 extra points to spend on mods... so yes and no... Mastery Rank is actually helpful when using new weapons and forma'ing the good ones.

Just always take at least one efficient killing tool with you and you'll be fine

[DatDarkOne]

6 hours ago, xethier said:

You're not 'playing it wrong' but you are focusing on a singular part of the game. Grinding mastery.

Find a setup that you love, that one frame you really enjoy with a battery of weapons you enjoy and work on mastering those. Multi-forma weapons / warframe, etc. Use that for late-game play. Things like: focus acquisition, planetary completion, nightmare missions, alerts, raids, etc. When you're not grinding out mastery, use this setup. 

This is probably the best advise for you at this time OP.  I almost got caught up in the mastery grind myself.  It can be addictive.  :D  The only thing that kept me from having the save problem as you was that I had one frame and playstyle in mind from the get go to focus on. 

[(PSN)maso_sage-mode]

7 hours ago, J_walker6 said:

So let me just start out by saying this game is AMAZING. I love it. All I've ever wanted was a game that had amazing gameplay and a never-ending grind and lo and behold, here comes Warframe! Sure, there are some things I want like house/base building and collections of stuff to display in my ship, but overall the game is amazing regardless.

However, here is my problem and the reason I quit 6-7 months ago. I always played with frames/weapons below max level so that I was always getting mastery experience. I know I've progressed through Mastery quickly, being mastery rank 12 by 90 hours, because I always want to do things the most efficient way. Yet, since I always switch a max level weapon to a new weapon the moment it hits max level, my weapons always feel weak. Around Neptune or so, I found that my weapons simply weren't strong enough to do the missions, so I became stuck. I could use a max level weapon like my Hek and do the missions, but I felt like I was missing out on experience. Or I could use low level weapons and just get stuck doing earlier missions. Eventually, I couldn't keep myself alive, was dying in one hit to everything, and just felt like my progression was grinding to a halt. To add to this, the focus system also felt rough, since I never used max level stuff so I never got any focus ever. Then I would see groups doing high level content like sorties, rifts, and the like and I knew I couldn't join them as my gear just didn't feel up to par.

Am I just playing this game wrong? How do I keep progressing in harder content while still raising my mastery level and new weapons at a reasonable rate?

Any help is super appreciated!!!

you Sir, need some friends to play with :) warframe is awesome but if played alone can be boring. You have to max your mods and forma your gear to make it stronger...you just can t play with lv 30 weapons because lv 30 doesnt mean anything...you need maxed out mods ! these make the difference.

1: build all the utility frames : frost, nova, trinity, loki, banshee, nekros, rhino.

2: build killer frames for fast clear of the missions: ember, saryn, equinox, ash.

3:build good weapons: yess go with the best ones, put formas on them

4:max out your mods!!! 

5: find a clan! 

6: profit :D 

Edited November 4, 2016 by (PS4)maso_sage-mode

[-HAKUNA-YOUR-TATAS-]

How are your mods?  Are they nicely leveled?  Have you checked on how to "build" your warframes and weapons optimally for different situations in game as well?

Having high mastery and many weapons leveled is one thing, but having mods and modding properly is important too.  I would also look at some of the builds shown on Warframe-Builder.com.

[Callback]

Have you tried playing since back then?  They changed things around to fix this a bit.  New weapons now behave as if they are the same rank as your mastery, until they rank above that.  So for you at 12, they start with 12 points.  That should be enough to deal with most things outside of the stalker showing up while you are solo.

Worst case you end up relying on melee, since that has your base 12 plus up to 10 stance energy.  You can mod that up pretty well from the start.

For your frame, focus on defensive mods first.  For star chart content redirection is probably the most reliable mod to slot early.

 

Do make sure to have a good setup for when you need it tho.  Void keys aren't a thing anymore, but you definitely want a potato in a strong weapon to bring for sorties and the like.  Know when to change from normal leveling trying new things to serious mode.

[Rolunde]

Alright lots of really good advice already, just going to add my 2 credits to the mix then.

As has been said if you feel you're ready to progress farther but your weapons are no longer doing the job it'd be a really good idea to have a few on hand that you can count on.

I'd recommend having at least one reliably effective weapon (that you do actually enjoy using!) available for each slot (so a Primary, Secondary and a Melee). 

That way you can swap out a weapon or two to level up when you want to, while knowing you've still got a weapon or two on you that you can fall back on to keep you going. 

As an MR12 player you're able to equip all of the Syndicate weapons and some of them are very fine weapons indeed.

IMO particularly good ones are:
Primary - Vaykor Hek* 
             - Sancti Tigris
             - Rakta Cernos

*note: it is actually easier to mod the 'regular' Hek using its syndicate mod Scattered Justice to be better than the Vaykor Hek without the use of Primed Shotgun mods. They're both really good though.
Sancti Tigris really would depend on how you feel about that Duplex Trigger mechanic (or just ignoring it and letting it double-shot and reload continuously)
Rakta Cernos depending on how you feel about Bows. It does have a way faster draw than any other bow though.

Secondary - Vaykor Marelok (this thing is just great, such good stats, it's super reliable and totally competes with the Lex Prime.)
                   - Rakta Ballistica (charged shots are Silent, 'tap fire' is really good if you're not bothered by the side to side movement of the gun, aiming down sights helps)

Melee - (really these are pretty much all just upgraded versions of their non-Syndicate counterparts, so if you like using the weapon then this version is generally just that but better. I think melee maybe more than anything just depends on personal preference since there is such an array of them.)

Otherwise I think some really solid weapons that are easy to mod well, should work for a very long time and are not hard to get/are cheap to buy are:

Primary    -   Braton Prime, Soma Prime
Secondary - Lex Prime, Sonicor, Staticor, Hikou Prime 
Melee    -    Jat Kittag, Galatine, (I am personally a huge fan of the polearms and have found them all to be pretty good: Serro, Lesion, Tonbo, Orthos/Prime.)

Once you've got some reliable weapons that you like to use along with a Frame you enjoy it's just about getting the mods to get the most out of them. Hopefully with the equipment side of things covered you can have fun with all the parts of the game still ahead of you.

Cheers!
~R~

[RodeInOnaUnicorn]

On 11/4/2016 at 2:38 AM, J_walker6 said:

So let me just start out by saying this game is AMAZING. I love it. All I've ever wanted was a game that had amazing gameplay and a never-ending grind and lo and behold, here comes Warframe! Sure, there are some things I want like house/base building and collections of stuff to display in my ship, but overall the game is amazing regardless.

However, here is my problem and the reason I quit 6-7 months ago. I always played with frames/weapons below max level so that I was always getting mastery experience. I know I've progressed through Mastery quickly, being mastery rank 12 by 90 hours, because I always want to do things the most efficient way. Yet, since I always switch a max level weapon to a new weapon the moment it hits max level, my weapons always feel weak. Around Neptune or so, I found that my weapons simply weren't strong enough to do the missions, so I became stuck. I could use a max level weapon like my Hek and do the missions, but I felt like I was missing out on experience. Or I could use low level weapons and just get stuck doing earlier missions. Eventually, I couldn't keep myself alive, was dying in one hit to everything, and just felt like my progression was grinding to a halt. To add to this, the focus system also felt rough, since I never used max level stuff so I never got any focus ever. Then I would see groups doing high level content like sorties, rifts, and the like and I knew I couldn't join them as my gear just didn't feel up to par.

Am I just playing this game wrong? How do I keep progressing in harder content while still raising my mastery level and new weapons at a reasonable rate?

Any help is super appreciated!!!

When a warframe/weapon/companion reaches rank 30, you have the option of using a forma http://warframe.wikia.com/wiki/Forma . This allows you to tailor your mod slots with the polarities you want, and resets the gear to rank 0. These slots also gain stars, and I believe become more powerful.

Ways to gain mastery experience -> http://warframe.wikia.com/wiki/Mastery_Rank

There's no reason to rush through. Warframe seems to be a collector's game.