Cestra or Ballistica

[Statikin]

Hi all,

Im still a bit of a noob in Warframe, and I'm deciding between building two weapons just to shake things up from my current secondary (Lex), which is pretty good but doesn't feel fun to use. Based on your experiences, which secondary would you say is better, Cestra, or Balistica. I really like the design and function of the Ballistica based on description, but the Cestra also seems interesting and I'm not sure which is better.

 

thanks!

[Rowancroft]

The Ballistica is similar to the Lex since it's a high DPS single target weapon, but it comes with the option of firing charged shots for more damage like a bow. If you want to shake things up I would go for the Cestra since it's more different, but if you want something really different (and reasonably cheap) I would suggest crafting something like the Atomos.

 

Edit: As for which is better, the whole Cestra line (Cestra/Dual Cestra/Secura Dual Cestra) is fairly low tier, while the Rakta Ballistica is very strong and certainly endgame viable. I assume the standard Ballistica isn't too far off the syndicate variant :)

Edited November 30, 2016 by Rowancroft

[DanujCZ]

Personaly i find Ballistica far more useful than Cestra. Yes Cestra has high fire rate but comparable to Ballistica wich is a burst/charge weapon, Cestra deals lower damage. Also Ballisticas bursts are suprisly effective agains nullifier bubble-shields. That combined with hinger damage. So in conclusion i would choose Ballistica over Cestra. (Note that this is my personal opinion and you migh feel different about this after you try them both, wich is something that you will eventualy do.)

[(PSN)Agent_CHAR]

Both are mastery fodder.  Build them, max rank them, then turn your cestra into a dual cestra (also mastery fodder) while you just sell off the ballistica.

The Rakta ballistica is FAR superior to the normal one.  It is a very good secondary.

The Secura dual cestra is not good as it suffers from all the problems of the normal one, namely very poor ammo economy and wild recoil sending your bullets all over the place.  These force you to burn two mod slots on an ammo mutation and a recoil mod which then limits your ability to mod for better damage.  With that said, I still find them entertaining to use so I pull them out for an odd mission every now and again.

[(PSN)Darth-Escar]

Rakta Ballistica is a great general weapon which refills energy. Easy to use and no complications with builds. Secura Dual Cestra is amazing, if you can control the recoil, and put Eject Magazine on it. It can be awful otherwise. Any regular variants of those are bad.