Builds For New Players

Discussion in 'Warframes & Companions' started by MagnusEffect, Oct 8, 2014.

  1. MagnusEffect

    MagnusEffect Administrator Staff Member Jarl SC Huscarl

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    These are all designed with new players in mind. All follow some basic rules I have set:
    • All Warframe mods fit without requiring an Aura (although an Aura has been included as a recommendation).
    • No Forma have been used. If a Prime version of the Warframe exists, I recommend saving your Forma for that (not required, though).
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    Ash
    TBA

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    Banshee
    TBA

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    EXCALIBUR - Balanced (recommended for new players)
    http://warframe-builder.com/Warfram...2-8-69-4-f-f-14-5-5-9-4-9-71-7-3-9_0/en/1-0-5

    This is a fairly straightforward design. Radial Blind offers you excellent crowd control. Slash Dash helps you clear hallways and Radial Javelin helps you clear rooms. Narrow Minded is crucial to getting the most out of Radial Blind. Just don't fall into the bad habit of relying on your damage dealing abilities too much; these do not scale well against tougher enemies. By comparison, Radial Blind works against any enemy regardless of level. When enemies become tougher, you will need to rely heavily on Radial Blind to keep you safe.

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    FROST - Defensive Support (recommended for new players)
    http://warframe-builder.com/Warfram...11-74-5-f-f-1-5-2-8-7-9-75-7-37-14_0/en/1-0-7

    Although Frost has a lot of damage dealing abilities, it is Snowglobe that truly distinguishes Frost from other Warframes. If you don't like Snowglobe or prefer a more offensive approach, I recommend taking something else. However, Frost is ideal (and sometimes preferred) for defending specific points from ranged attacks. This is most commonly useful on Defense, Mobile Defense, and Extractor missions, but a creative person can use Snowglobe in a more offensive capacity by maximizing its range (enemies trapped inside attack slower). That being said, Avalanche is an excellent offensive AOE ability, but (like all damage dealing abilities) does not scale well against tougher enemies.

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    LOKI - Stealth + Crowd Control
    http://warframe-builder.com/Warfram...-77-4-78-5-14-5-49-12-5-9-f-f-8-14_0/en/1-0-9

    Without Forma, you are fairly limited in what you can do. I recommend focusing on buffing Decoy & Invisibility duration as these both rely on similar stats (good synergy). Decoy is too cheap an ability to not take and once you get good at using it, it has surprising crowd control capabilities. Invisibility is essential for keeping Loki from taking too many hits. Switch Teleport is useful for using with Decoy to reach places you could not otherwise, but is not essential (I don't find very useful to use against enemies). Probably the most difficult mod to obtain on your own is going to be Narrow Minded, but it is fairly common for a "rare"; I strongly recommend getting one cheap by trading with another player. You can max it out if you want (very expensive), but I think getting it to Rank 6 is plenty sufficient starting out. I included Rush because it helps you get the most out of Invisibility; the more enemies you can find and kill before Invisibility wears off, the more chances of them dropping crucial energy orbs to keep your energy pool fueled.

    FINAL NOTE: I recommend a very aggressive playstyle with this build; Invisibility + Rush will allow you to get close to your enemies where melee and shotguns can do a ton of damage.

    LOKI - Crowd Control
    http://warframe-builder.com/Warfram...77-4-f-f-14-5-46-11-4-9-79-7-8-14_0/en/1-0-9/

    This build is intended to work specifically with a Vauban in Defense & Survival missions (do not use against Infested!). With Vauban's Bastille up, Loki can zap all enemies in the area with Radial Disarm, which forces them to use melee and traps them in Bastille. This combination has immense crowd control capabilities. The build can also work with anything else that slows or stops large numbers of enemies, but is far less effective when used on its own.

    On a side note: Radial Disarm is one of the more powerful abilities in PvP and I use it regularly for that. Check the wiki for details: http://warframe.wikia.com/wiki/Radial_Disarm

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    MAG - Balanced Support
    http://warframe-builder.com/Warfram...8-81-4-f-f-5-4-7-9-4-9-82-5-21-14_0/en/1-0-10

    Compared to others, Mag is extremely powerful early on against Corpus due to most of its abilities dealing Magnetic damage. Unfortunately due to the nature of faction resistances; this also means that Mag is far less effective against Infested and extremely ineffective against Grineer. That being said, Mag offers some good utility with two abilities: Push ragdolls almost anything in a cone of fire (like a Jedi "force push") and is easy to spam on large groups of enemies. Shield Polarity will instantly replenish shields of allies while damaging shields of enemies (if they have shields). I also included a third ability that has more limited use: Bullet Attractor is only recommended for targeting very dangerous enemies such as Eximus units and bosses that don't have specific weakpoints.

    FINAL NOTE: Mag is not "bad" but her effectiveness is entirely dependent on what faction she is fighting. She is, however, definitely NOT recommended when going against Grineer. Also, due to the fact she can do very little to mitigate damage on her own, it is recommended she work alongside Warframes with good defensive abilities (ex. Frost, Volt, etc.). She is definitely NOT recommended for solo action.

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    Nova
    TBA

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    Nyx
    TBA

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    RHINO - Crowd Control (recommended for new players)
    http://warframe-builder.com/Warfram...-4-f-f-2-4-6-11-16-11-107-7-3-18_0/en/1-0-16/

    Tougher but slower than the Excalibur, the Rhino is another well-rounded warframe for beginners. Iron Skin will keep you alive and prevent you from being affected by most of the nastier status ailments (this is particularly important for new players). Rhino Charge is good for clearing hallways and Rhino Stomp is good for clearing rooms and crowd control. For newer players, it requires Mastery Rank 2, but it is well worth it. I did not include Roar because the ability does not synergize well with the others (it requires more Duration and the others do not).

    RHINO - Offensive Support
    http://warframe-builder.com/Warfram...4-f-f-2-4-6-11-49-12-106-5-21-14_0/en/1-0-16/

    If you want to use Roar, this is how you do it. By focusing on Strength and Duration, you can massively buff your entire team's damage output! Iron Skin was also included because it is almost always useful and doesn't take too much energy away from Roar.

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    Saryn
    TBA

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    Trinity
    TBA

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    Valkyr

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    VOLT - Balanced Support (recommended for new players)
    http://warframe-builder.com/Warfram...-4-126-5-14-5-49-12-5-9-f-f-21-14_0/en/1-0-21

    Volt combines a potent mix of offensive and defensive abilities. Although most players are quick to grab Shock and Overload, it is actually Speed and Electric Shield that are Volt's most powerful abilities. Speed not only gives a massive movement buff to all players within range, it also increases their attack speed. Similar in application to Rhino's Roar ability, this can give a massive boost to a team's offensive power. Volt is rather fragile, but Electric Shield can help mitigate this and unlike Frost's Snowglobe, it can absorb an unlimited amount of damage. On tougher missions, a well place Electric Shield (or more than one!) can have a huge impact on the outcome of a mission. However, unlike Snowglobe (which is fairly easy to spam), Electric Shield is completely useless against melee enemies and you have to be more careful about getting the right position to make it effective.
     
    Last edited: Oct 12, 2014