Beginner's Guide to The Index

[Canach]

All,

I have put together a Beginner's Guide for The Index.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dGnyG-5YZcDF95737ofVfWnR1UoaaBfz2HTcyKN0Zps/edit?usp=sharing

Please give it a read and let me know what you think.

All feedback is appreciated!

[Calistin]

As a new player I say very nice and thank you.  😀

[kevekev302]

Thank you this is incredibly useful for new players...anyone who wants to try the index should def take a look at this

[k05h]

I think Atlas also deserves a spot in your guide. With steel fiber, armored agility and rush he brings more than 1k armor and lots of agility. - I always bring him or Rhino. 

For the damage types: In Index as well as Arena I prefer radiation +  cold combo on my shotguns because enemies have shields and alloy armor. 

I will put your guide on my guide listing https://wfgui.de/. 

[PsychoIntent]

Nice guide.  May have to try my hand at Ash on the Index.

[tobascodagama]

Looks good. It's nice to have an updated guide that doesn't include the old mechanics and a bunch of warnings against accidentally increasing the round timer.

[Canach]

2 hours ago, k05h said:

I think Atlas also deserves a spot in your guide. With steel fiber, armored agility and rush he brings more than 1k armor and lots of agility. - I always bring him or Rhino. 

For the damage types: In Index as well as Arena I prefer radiation +  cold combo on my shotguns because enemies have shields and alloy armor. 

I will put your guide on my guide listing https://wfgui.de/. 

I have never tried Atlas, and haven't seen him used so I didn't say anything about him - I did review his abilities and added him in there on your recommendation - thanks! 

Also, nice guide list - I'll have to read some of them.

Edited July 31, 2018 by Canach

[Twentyside]

Nice job 🤘

I personally run Excal or Umbra on index with a toxic build and my duo runs Rhino. I kill everything instantly and she picks up all the points 🙂

[(PSN)NecroLord91]

Personally I've got a lot of issues with that guide...

1st.) Speedva will also increase the attack speed of the enemies... increasing their DPS... I've lost way too many matches because our team would instantly melt cuz a Speedva will increase the DPS of the enemy team. Inversely, a Slova is a lot better because the slower attack speed and slower movement speed apply to the enemy. If you are that hard crunched on time, then your team has already ****** up.

2.) A Nekros with a Creeping Terrify Build is very similar to a Slova. It'll slow enemies down to make them easier to kill, it'll keep them from attacking and weaken their armor while Terrify is apply. This shouldn't be overlooked due to how all the Combatants you face has armor.

3.) The best possible setup for a 4 man Index squad is a tank (point carrier), offense (main killer), 2 support (1 for time management and 1 to weaken the enemies).

4.) One of the best and efficient farms for Low Risk is 4 Runs in 1 Round. Any shorter the time spent between matches adds up quickly and any longer you are better off doing a higher risk.

[Firedtm]

18 hours ago, Canach said:

All,

I have put together a Beginner's Guide for The Index.

Please give it a read and let me know what you think.

All feedback is appreciated!

Really great guide for a helping the newer players to get into the index.

[Veridian]

Great guide, a little nitpick, since it seems to aim to be an introduction to people who haven't done Index at all, you can add the negative impact of picked up index points on HP and energy, that the more points your team collects, the stronger the enemy gets and that if the Corpus get in the lead with more than 10 points you lose. But if I'm simply blind please ignore 😄

Another near invulnerable tank I'd add is Inaros, at 15 stacks he still has ~300hp if built right and the enemy doesn't do more than 2-3 a hit to him in high risk index. Also you can cheese with him, covert lethality and some CC

Another weapon, which I find useful is the Ignis, it loses some of its effectiveness after 50-60 points in high risk index, but it has a reliable hard CC throughout, plus you can take out multiple enemies at once a bit easier than with a tigris or arca plasmor.

 

Great guide, 5/7.

Edited August 1, 2018 by Ver1dian

[Canach]

4 hours ago, Ver1dian said:

Great guide, a little nitpick, since it seems to aim to be an introduction to people who haven't done Index at all, you can add the negative impact of picked up index points on HP and energy, that the more points your team collects, the stronger the enemy gets and that if the Corpus get in the lead with more than 10 points you lose. But if I'm simply blind please ignore 😄

Another near invulnerable tank I'd add is Inaros, at 15 stacks he still has ~300hp if built right and the enemy doesn't do more than 2-3 a hit to him in high risk index. Also you can cheese with him, covert lethality and some CC

Another weapon, which I find useful is the Ignis, it loses some of its effectiveness after 50-60 points in high risk index, but it has a reliable hard CC throughout, plus you can take out multiple enemies at once a bit easier than with a tigris or arca plasmor.

 

Great guide, 5/7.

"Corpus get in the lead with more than 10 points you lose" - added, thanks!

"the more points your team collects, the stronger the enemy gets..." - I've also heard, "the more points your team banks, the stronger the enemy gets" but I've never seen anything actually say that. What I 'think' is true is that as enemies are killed and respawn levels increase. If this is specifically explained somewhere, I'd love to see it. All I know for sure is that levels increase as you play, but not significantly if you only do one round, cash out, and repeat.

"Another near invulnerable tank I'd add is Inaros..." - I said "other tanky frames", but did not recommend him because his powers don't work in the Index - Devour is disabled, I thought Desiccation might also be disabled, and his self-res is of no value in the Index and presumably never works either - he's just a lot of hit points. Have you used Inaros yourself in the Index much? Can you confirm Dessiccation works normally in there? I only tried him once, and don't remember...

"...you can add the negative impact of picked up index points on HP and energy...Another weapon, which I find useful is the Ignis.." - Already in the guide, the Ignis is only mentioned as a good weapon for Nova (great weapon, but has to be built right to do well against these opponents - except when used with molecular prime" 

[Veridian]

16 minutes ago, Canach said:

"Corpus get in the lead with more than 10 points you lose" - added, thanks!

"the more points your team collects, the stronger the enemy gets..." - I've also heard, "the more points your team banks, the stronger the enemy gets" but I've never seen anything actually say that. What I 'think' is true is that as enemies are killed and respawn levels increase. If this is specifically explained somewhere, I'd love to see it. All I know for sure is that levels increase as you play, but not significantly if you only do one round, cash out, and repeat. 

"Another near invulnerable tank I'd add is Inaros..." - I said "other tanky frames", but did not recommend him because his powers don't work in the Index - Devour is disabled, I thought Desiccation might also be disabled, and his self-res is of no value in the Index and presumably never works either - he's just a lot of hit points. Have you used Inaros yourself in the Index much? Can you confirm Dessiccation works normally in there? I only tried him once, and don't remember...

"...you can add the negative impact of picked up index points on HP and energy...Another weapon, which I find useful is the Ignis.." - Already in the guide, the Ignis is only mentioned as a good weapon for Nova (great weapon, but has to be built right to do well against these opponents - except when used with molecular prime" 

I use almost only Inaros and Ash, while I don't pretend to score points with Ash, Inaros with a good weapon can comfortably go 1v3-4 at over 15 stacks at 200 hp, most of his kit may be useless but his passive is not. Plus he is a frame, who if built with covert lethality will be the only useful tank with that build outside of the Index I can think of. There are better options, but there are worse ones as well.

 

Also I must admit I'm not 100% sure what makes the enemy strong, is it kills or points, but I usually bank the 15+8 and I notice straight after I teleport the Corpus become stronger.

I saw the nova part, but it has a hard CC that may have uses outside her alone, very useful later on for anything from comfortably melting faces to disengaging. Naturally Tigris>Ignis since death is the best CC, but my point is Ignis does have its use.

Edited August 1, 2018 by Ver1dian

[Canach]

7 hours ago, (PS4)NecroLord91 said:

Personally I've got a lot of issues with that guide...

1st.) Speedva will also increase the attack speed of the enemies... increasing their DPS... I've lost way too many matches because our team would instantly melt cuz a Speedva will increase the DPS of the enemy team. Inversely, a Slova is a lot better because the slower attack speed and slower movement speed apply to the enemy. If you are that hard crunched on time, then your team has already ****** up.

2.) A Nekros with a Creeping Terrify Build is very similar to a Slova. It'll slow enemies down to make them easier to kill, it'll keep them from attacking and weaken their armor while Terrify is apply. This shouldn't be overlooked due to how all the Combatants you face has armor.

3.) The best possible setup for a 4 man Index squad is a tank (point carrier), offense (main killer), 2 support (1 for time management and 1 to weaken the enemies).

4.) One of the best and efficient farms for Low Risk is 4 Runs in 1 Round. Any shorter the time spent between matches adds up quickly and any longer you are better off doing a higher risk.

Thanks for posting, it's cool to disagree on tactics. 👍

Your first two point are about slowing combat down instead of speeding it up - you prefer the former, I prefer the latter.

Your built team setup - I get the tank and offense obviously, but can't imagine anyone wanting two support members. I don't get a support to weaken enemies, as I'm recommending single medium runs and so enemies already die in one or two shots to most, say MR10 or above, players. It would make sense for players with lower MR weapons or gear that's not maxed - but there's a lot of better places to level gear. I also don't get a second support for "time mangement" - that would be killing things and banking points, right? I would say any team with at least one player collecting points (and watching the friggin score and clock) and at least one player 'spanking and banking' the other two players could be either, and one of them could be support (I mention Speed Nova for that). 

I can't agree with your fourth point, but there's no way to prove anything and it may vary by who's doing it. I will continue to recommend single runs of medium as "most efficient" and will take some convincing otherwise.

[Canach]

4 minutes ago, Ver1dian said:

I use almost only Inaros and Ash, while I don't pretend to score points with Ash, Inaros with a good weapon can comfortably go 1v3-4 at over 15 stacks at 200 hp. Plus he is a frame, who if built with covert lethality will be the only useful tank with that build outside of the Index I can think of.

Thanks for the response - appreciate the confirmation. I play Inaros a lot, and will give him another chance on The index. 

[(PSN)Lord-Reikaz]

Wonderful write up. They need to add that link to the wiki for the Index Entry under player guides.

[Canach]

38 minutes ago, (PS4)Lord-Reikaz said:

Wonderful write up. They need to add that link to the wiki for the Index Entry under player guides.

Thanks, added the link on the Wiki page's comments section.

[ghostjghost]

Nice Guide - Very thorough.

I would suggest the "Pox" as a good secondary weapon - should one be needed. It can do good initial damage as well as massive DOT and armor stripping. Which is especially useful against the bursa enemy.

[(PSN)CoolD2108]

You may wanna add ember to the list. Fire status opens to finishers what makes her quite the solid choice for index. Pretty sure the finishers in there do not actually do finisher damage but the burst damage is the real deal.

Edited August 1, 2018 by (PS4)CoolD2108

[Canach]

57 minutes ago, (PS4)CoolD2108 said:

You may wanna add ember to the list. Fire status opens to finishers what makes her quite the solid choice for index. Pretty sure the finishers in there do not actually do finisher damage but the burst damage is the real deal.

I currently don't list Ember as good or bad, as she really is built more for AoE, not 1 or 2 enemies at a time, and her energy costs could be hard to supply in The Index. Do you actually use her in the Index often? How does she compare to other frames you use there?

[(PSN)CoolD2108]

vor 30 Minuten schrieb Canach:

I currently don't list Ember as good or bad, as she really is built more for AoE, not 1 or 2 enemies at a time, and her energy costs could be hard to supply in The Index. Do you actually use her in the Index often? How does she compare to other frames you use there?

Poorly when it comes to carrying coins but her fire abilities opening enemys to finishers let me 1-2 shot all enemys on the ground. I usually stick to some rhino in there and simply take care of the kills.... in that regard it doesn't get much better then her.

That it isn't made finisher damage basicly means that Accelerant takes effect on the finisher multipliers.

Edited August 1, 2018 by (PS4)CoolD2108

[Canach]

14 minutes ago, (PS4)CoolD2108 said:

Poorly when it comes to carrying coins but her fire abilities let me 1-2 shot all enemys on the ground. I usually stick to some rhino in there and simply take care of the kills.... in that regard it doesn't get much better then her.

That it isn't made finisher damage basicly means that Accelerant takes effect on the finisher multipliers.

Ember was a goddess in 2013/2014 before her big nerf (ahem) rework - I was really loving her and then she got 'fixed'. Unfortunately I dumped my Ember Prime at that time, and since I've already mastered both versions, I have no inclination to re-earn her (yet).

It sounds like she's working well for you, but I think I'll let the guide cover her in the existing statement "I am sure there are others that also work very well." Otherwise, I would end up listing all the frames as recommended eventually. 🙂 You have given me something to think about, however, but I still have several frames yet to even try...  ah those girls you let slip away... 

[Toran]

+1
Great guide, should clear some clouds for newcomers.

A good alternative to Rhino: Inaros. Extreme health pool, great armor, no energy needed at all.

If you got the means and go for the extremes with Umbral mods, you get over 8k hp and can easily hold the 15 points you recommend as maximum. With Umbral Fiber, Armored Agility and Gladiator Aegis and Scarab Swarm bonus you can rack up armor to 965, add Arcane Guardian and you got 1,565 armor (even 1,625 with Unairu)!

Additional tips:

• If you do The Index as team, Nidus is the perfect addition for crowd control and easy kills for the group
• Unairu Focus can work wonders in The Index and Arena: Magnetic Blast adds Bullet Attractor to the enemies and pushes them to the ground and Sundering & Crippling Dash reduce enemy armor/damage by 75%/50%.
• Void Dash to score: increased void energy and maxed out void dashes help tremendously in The Index. Not only do you move around quickly, but safely too. Nothing can hurt you in Void mode.

 

Edited August 2, 2018 by Toran

[Veridian]

18 hours ago, Canach said:

Thanks for the response - appreciate the confirmation. I play Inaros a lot, and will give him another chance on The index. 

Last thing, although his abilities are lacking in index, his position as a point carrier often inhibits the use of abilities altogether, even Rhinos cast only their shield, Inaros only has to charge his 4. Coupled with the energy scarcity that is present in the index, it's not much of a drawback his 1 and 2 don't work as they should.

[Canach]

5 hours ago, Toran said:

• Uinaru Focus can work wonders in The Index and Arena: Magnetic Blast adds Bullet Attractor to the enemies and pushing them to the ground and Sundering & Crippling Dash reduce enemy armor/damage by 75%/50%.
• Void Dash to score: increased void energy and maxed out void dashes help tremendously in The Index. Not only do you move around quickly, but safely too. Nothing can hurt you in Void mode.

I still don't use my Operator much, and hadn't thought of him, also I'm developing Madurai right now, not Uinaru, but definitely something to think about. For now, I've added a brief statement.

Thanks for posting!

 

Edited August 2, 2018 by Canach

[Xiqan]

Excellent read Thx!

Ran the index a few nights back with booster on and made over 5 million in a very short time comparatively speaking to all other sources of credits.