The question has been asked time and time again. “What is the best weapon in the game?” Then everyone answers, “there is no best weapon in the game.” While this is true, there are indeed weapons that fail miserably in the game. Also take into consideration that all the best weapons have pros and cons. Each weapon has a strength in a given situation but a weakness in another. For example Tigris prime is an extremely hard hitting single target weapon. It will destroy bosses and tanky higher level enemies. However, if you wanted to murder mass amounts of enemies, an amprex will destroy groups of regular enemies much faster than a Tigris prime. This guide will give you several options for different situations in the game. It will also include ordinarily mediocre to good weapons that will become absolutely amazing with a riven.
OPTICOR VANDAL (MR 14)
Opticor Vandal’s lasers have a charge up time. It has some nice area splash damage when lasers land on their target. The opticor has pin point accuracy with barely any effect from heavy calibur’s negative 55% accuracy stat. Its lasers are hitscan. Opticor is a top choice. *Effective range is 300 meters in plains of eidolon.
This build has a faster charge time for better utility effective up to Sortie level content (level 90).
AMPREX (MR 10)
This shoots extremely damaging electric bolts that chain to enemies around. The bolts reach up to 18 meters without the mod “Sinister Reach.” This doubles as both a heavy hitter and an area damage weapon. To reach a larger area of 30 meters, take a small hit in dps and swap “High Voltage” for “Sinister Reach” as shown in the “Area Damage Weapons” section.
SYNAPSE (MR 11)
This weapon is definitely one of the strongest weapons in the single target rifle category. It rocks innate corrosive to strip armor, and high crit chance which synergizes with hunter munitions. This build uses viral which is strong against flesh health. This is a very unique weapon and designed for high-level end game content. This build uses argon scope to maintain its high accuracy. Heavy caliber provides more dps but at the expense of accuracy. Bladed rounds also provides more dps comparable to heavy caliber. Argon Scope, Heavily Caliber, and Bladed Rounds are interchangeable and player preference.
ZARR (MR 7)
This grenade launcher is built to be a status weapon from the build above. It is very powerful, and can be used for both single target or area damage. Its disadvantage like all grenade launchers is its ability to inflict self-damage. You need to be careful with grenade placement. Be wary of teammates suddenly walking in front of you, because that will cause the grenade to prematurely detonate.
The previous build is a run of the mill build. However, this build is stronger, but must be played a specific way. After the initial explosion, a bunch of cluster bombs will spread. The cluster bombs are guaranteed crits. Therefor, it synergizes well with hunter munitions. The trick however, is to get the cluster bombs to land on target. Aiming at the feet of enemies is recommended.
IGNIS WRAITH (MR 9)
Ignis wraith is a very popular weapon. Being a flame thrower, it fires within a cone that goes as far as 30 meters! It is very effective at killing multiple enemies at once. It’s a heavy hitter that doubles as an area damage weapon! What’s not to like about that?
QUANTA VANDAL (MR 10)
This weapon’s primary fire works similarly to the synapse boasting very strong single target damage. It does not have innate corrosive damage like the synapse, making it less effective in super high-end game. However, quanta vandal’s secondary fire shoots slow moving cubes that does damage in an area. The cubes detonate after landing on a target or prematurely shooting them with primary fire. To proc argon scope, the cubes should be detonated above enemy heads.
FERROX (MR 14)
The ferrox is a competitor to the opticor. It has a shorter charge time than the opticor, but it does not have splash damage and as big of a hitbox as the opticor. The ferrox has an secondary fire where the whole weapon is thrown and afterward needs to be picked back up to be reused. This build is a critical build, but the secondary fire has low base critical chance and high base status chance. Therefor, this build will not work with the secondary fire. I do not recommend using the secondary fire nor creating a build for its secondary fire. Having to pick up your weapon every time takes too much time.
TIBERON PRIME (MR 14)
Tiberon Prime has much versatility and can be switched between automatic, burst fire, and semi-automatic modes. This build is designed to be viable for all three modes. The strongest mode is the burst fire, followed closely by full automatic. The weakest mode is the semi-automatic mode.
FULMIN (MR 8)
This build is for auto mode only. A more balanced build designed for both auto and semi-auto modes is in section, “Fully Automatic Assault Rifles,” and, “Area Damage (Primaries).” This build does abnormally high damage for a fully automatic assault rifle. However, a major drawback to the Fulmin is its small magazine size of 60. This build makes Fulmin do very high burst damage requiring frequent reloading. Fulmin has infinite ammo and reloads from 0 to 60 in 2 seconds.
GLAXION VANDAL (MR12)
Glaxion Vandal is a very powerful single target beam weapon that causes splash damage and a slowing cold proc to all enemies within 3 meters of your target. The only drawback to this weapon is its limited range of 21 meters. It’s got a nice magazine size of 100. High Voltage can be swapped for Sinister Reach and the Glaxion Vandal will still be very effective up to sortie level content. With Sinister Reach Glaxion Vandal reaches up to 42 meters.
TIGRIS PRIME (MR 13)
Probably the strongest single target weapon in the game, not counting rivens and melee weapons. It is a double barrel pure status slash shotgun, making it perfect for tanky enemies and the infested. It has good range for a shotgun, viable at mid-range. “Seeking Fury” can be swapped with “Chilling Reload” for more reload speed and dps, but with no punch through. “Seeking Fury” can also be swapper for “Primed Charge Shell” for more damage per shot.
VAYKOR HEK (MR 12)
Vaykor Hek is top tier, and reaches tigris prime damage levels thanks to the mod hunter munitions. Vaykor Hek is semi-automatic and much easier to use than the tigris prime. It is a very solid choice.
CORINTH (MR 10)
This semi-automatic shotgun is so strong, and comparable to the Tigris Prime thanks the mod hunter munitions. In testing, the corinth took 0.2s longer than the tigris prime to kill a level 150 heavy gunner. This shotgun also has a weaker secondary fire that does area damage. See area damage section for build. Important to note, some people don’t like it’s slow fire rate and reload mechanic.
LANKA (MR 10)
Lanka competes with Vectis Prime to be the strongest sniper rifle in the game. Bullets have travel time, but nothing too unmanageable.
VECTIS PRIME (MR 14)
Vectis Prime competes with Lanka to be the strongest sniper rifle in the game. However, Vectis Prime’s bullets are hitscan with no charge time while Lanka has charge time and projectiles with a little bit of travel time.
RUBICO PRIME (MR 12)
This build is designed for regular gameplay. For high-end gameplay against very tanky high-level enemies, replace Bladed rounds with Hunter Munitions and Stormbringer with Primed Cryorounds.
DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE SECONDARIES IN THIS GAME.
SICARUS PRIME (MR 14)
The powerful semi-automatic pistol does a burst fire with a tiny bit of recoil losing effectiveness at long range. It has 24 bullets in a magazine. Since it burst fires 3 at a time, it feels more like 8 in a magazine.
AKLEX PRIME (MR 13)
A semi-automatic pistol with crazy damage, a large magazine size of 16, good accuracy, and some recoil.
LEX PRIME (MR 8)
It’s practically the same as aklex prime except with lower magazine size of 8, more accuracy, and less recoil.
AKSTILETTO PRIME (MR 10)
Akstiletto prime is easy to use, powerful, and has a high rate of fire. It is both a critical and status weapon. It is a very popular weapon.
VAYKOR MARELOK (MR 10)
Comparable to (ak)lex prime.
EUPHONA PRIME (MR 14)
Euphona prime is definitely a strong weapon comparable to the (ak)lex prime and vaykor marelok, but it is somewhat of a strange weapon. It has two fire modes, primary and secondary. The primary fire has high critical chance while the secondary has high-status chance. The weapon cannot be modded for both modes.
The primary mode acts much like (ak)lex prime and vaykor marelok, but its projectiles have a slight arc and travel time. However, since it has a low status chance, it has damage drop off against high-level armored units.
The secondary mode acts much like a shotgun. This build rocks the coveted 100% status chance on shotguns. It does primarily slash damage, so I have modded it for viral in conjunction for flesh health. The problem with this mode, is you have to be within 7 meters! Otherwise it does great damage to heavily armored units.
The community has mixed feelings about this strange weapon. Some people like it and some people don’t. The drawback of the primary fire is its damage drop off with high-level armored units. The drawback of the secondary fire is its optimal range of only 7 meters. The drawback of BOTH modes, is that there is only 5 ammo in a magazine and a long 2 second reload. However, if you can get past the drawbacks, this weapon may be for you.
MARA DETRON (MR 9)
Mara Detron is extremely strong and acts much like Euphone Prime’s secondary fire except with a more concentrated pellet spread viable at short to mid range. Its advantage over the Euphona prime is its bigger magazine size of 8, much faster fire rate, and fast reload speed of 1 second. Mara Detron is also a top-tier choice in conjunction with Mag’s ability, “Magnetize.”
PYRANA PRIME (MR 13)
Pyrana Prime has been received positively by the community. It is fully automatic with a fast fire rate and is a very fun weapon with a unique passive. It is called the Ethereal Pyrana and after killing 3 enemies within 2 seconds, a second pyrana appears in your left hand temporarily for 6 seconds increasing dps, fire rate, and recoil. Additionally an extra 12 ammo is given in a magazine for extended fire and good ammo efficiency. Ethereal Pyrana cannot be refreshed during its duration and will need to be activated again after it runs out. The Pyrana Prime is strong and shoots 12 pellets at a time. Because the pellets have a nice spread, it is not unusual to kill tightly grouped enemies all at once. Pyrana Prime can somewhat be built as an unconventional area damage weapon and an area damage build is in the “AREA DAMAGE (SECONDARIES)” section. Pyrana Prime has a lot of recoil especially when Ethereal Pyrana is proc’d. This can be offset by slightly pointing down after the initial shot and with practice the crosshair can stay in the same spot. If recoil is your pet peeve, then stay away from this weapon.
KULSTAR (5)
This is an amazing weapon. It’s a heavy hitter AND an area damage weapon. However, in order to ensure max singe target damage, all cluster bombs need to land on target. To do this, aiming at the enemy’s feet is recommended. Only drawback is its capability to do self-damage.
SYNOID GRAMMACOR (MR 7)
Synoid Grammacor is a strong single target weapon, and like all beam weapons, damage ramps the longer an enemy is targeted. That damage ramp up is lost when changing targets. Synoid Grammacor is unique and has an innate entropy effect. When triggered, entropy will release an AoE radial attack 25 meters around the player, dealing 1000 magnetic damage and applying the Magnetic Status Effect to enemies in range. It will also restore 25% of the player’s base energy, and provide a base energy boost of +25% for 30 seconds.
MAGNUS (MR 10)
Comparable to (ak)lex prime, vaykor marelok, sicarus prime, and euphona prime’s primary fire. It has good fire rate, some recoil, magazine capacity of 8, and a reload time of 1.4 seconds.
AKMAGNUS (MR 12)
Akmagnus has pretty much the same stats as magnus except it has a magazine capacity of 16, and a reload time of 2.4 seconds.
ARCA SCISCO (MR 10)
Wow, the arca scisco is definitely a top contender. The pistol sports 36 in a magazine and is semi-automatic. Though it is semi-automatic, it’s fire rate can reach up to 7.467 rounds per sec with this build. It has a special mechanic called target analysis. After each shot, target analysis will stack and up to 5 times for a total damage buff of a flat +20% critical chance and +20% status chance.
The bonus lasts 2 seconds, but is refreshed if a shot lands on target before timer ends. With this build after 2 shots, maximum stack of 5 will be achieved. This weapon is amazing for both single target and multiple regular enemies because of its fast fire rate. A important drawback to this weapon is that it’s very spammy and you’d have to constantly be clicking. The fire rate is so fast that it would be hard to reach max fire rate, physically clicking the mouse button. A macro might come in handy, though for some reason I couldn’t get one to work properly.
PANDERO (MR 7)
An accurate semi-automatic pistol. It is comparable to the other pistols, but has a some damage drop off against heavily armored enemies. What’s different about pandero is its great reload speed of only 1 second, and its secondary fire. The secondary fire unloads all 8 bullets in a magazine in quick succession. It loses its accuracy and has some recoil, so it will only be good against small compact groups of enemies and cannot replace a true area damage weapon.
AKBOLTO PRIME (MR 13)
Akbolto Prime is a powerful secondary though some of the other guns in this category are slightly stronger. The projectiles are not hit-scan and have some travel time. What this gun has going for it, is its large magazine size of 40 and only 1.3 second reload which is good for sustained fire. However, there are so many options in this category that do sustained fire better such as the Akstiletto Prime and Pyrana Prime on top of being hit-scan and fully automatic. Beware that the Akbolto Prime has a pretty good fire rate for a semi-automatic pistol, so using this gun involves a lot of clicking. Still this gun deserves a place on this list and some players like this weapon. On the plus side, it comes with 4 polarities and only requires 1 forma.
AKJAGARA PRIME (MR 12)
Akjagara is one of the most powerful weapons in the game. It is a very unique secondary, being one of the only few slash type secondaries. It bursts two bullets at a time with 40 in a magazine. With a fast reload speed of 1.4s, Akjagara Prime boasts great sustained dps. It also has an insane 5-circle disposition. The Akjagara Prime is semi-automatic but its fast fire rate resembles an automatic assault rifle.
All the following fully automatic rifles do very strong and comparable damage (with a few exceptions). However, there are things to consider while choosing and those are magazine size, accuracy, hitscan/flightspeed, fashion frame, and any unique mechanic that interests you.
Tiberon Prime has much versatility and can be switched between automatic, burst fire, and semi-automatic modes. This build is designed to be viable for all three modes. The strongest mode is the burst fire, followed closely by full automatic. The weakest mode is the semi-automatic mode. Out of all the weapons in this section, it has the slowest fire rate, but makes up for it in damage. The bullets are hitcan.
This build is purely designed for automatic mode, if you want to ignore the other modes.
The supra vandal is an automatic assault rifle. Supra Vandal has bad recoil so the “stabalizer” mod is used in build. However, if you don’t mind the recoil, you can replace “stabalizer” with “stormbringer.” If you would like the entropy burst, then either replace “thermite rounds” or “stabalizer” with “entropy burst.” The bullets have slight travel time.
Dera vandal has a very high status chance ensuring good damage against armored enemies. It is also very accurate. The bullets have slight travel time.
The Baza is very accurate with 40 bullets in a magazine. Because of its low magazine size and high fire rate, there will be frequent reloading. However, the reload time isn’t very long at 1.4 seconds. This build boasts 100% critical chance after argon scope is proc’d which causes a 30% slash chance from hunter munitions. The bullets are hitscan. Baza is completely silent and synergies with invisible warframes.
Projectiles have travel time, making it necessary to lead shots at mid-range and above. This is a high status weapon which ensures good damage against high level armored enemies. In testing, the boltor prime killed a level 150 heavy gunner in 2.17 seconds. The bullets have some travel time.
The Boltor Prime and Telos Boltor are similar yet very different. Boltor Prime is a status weapon and Telos Boltor is a critical weapon that relies on hunter munitions. They both have similar damage output. However, because Telos Boltor is a critical weapon, it is more reliant on scoring head shots to maximize dps. The recoil pattern often goes side to side and in all directions, making head shots inconsistent and therefor damage inconsistent. Telos Boltor does have a larger magazine size of 90 versus Boltor Prime’s 60. Telos Boltor also has the syndicate proc, Truth. When triggered, Truth will release an AoE 25 meters around the player, dealing 1000 gas damage and applying the gas status effect to enemies in range. It will also restore 25% of the player’s max Health, and boost all 3 parkour maneuvers (wall latch, aim glide duration, and bullet jump velocity) by 25% for 30 seconds. The bullets have some travel time.
Prisma Gorgon’s damage is on par with the rest of the weapons in this section. However, it does have major drawbacks comparatively. It’s more of a machine gun than a rifle and machine guns aren’t very accurate and have recoil. Only real reason to use this weapon over the others, is because you like machine guns or the look of prisma gorgon. The bullets are hitscan.
Soma prime is a meta weapon that is starting to lose its hold on the community. It is now vaulted and many more options have become available. However, it is still a very good weapon because it is extremely intuitive to use. It’s a run of the mill fully automatic assault rifle. It is very accurate and comes with 200 bullets in a magazine. Its bullets are hitscan. Soma Prime doesn’t do as much damage as the other weapons on this list, and will have damage drop off beyond sortie level content.
The tenora has a small spool up time and magazine capacity of 80. It starts out slightly innacurate and becomes very accurate after fully spooled up. The tenora has a secondary fire that has a charge up mechanic and uses 10 bullets at a time. This will help a bit in killing any stronger enemies showing some versatility. The Tenora doesn’t do as much damage as the other weapons on this list, and will have damage drop off beyond sortie level content. The bullets are hitscan.
There are two seperate builds for zenith’s primary and secondary modes. Zenith cannot be modded for both modes. The Zenith doesn’t do as much damage as the other weapons on this list, and will have damage drop off beyond sortie level content. The bullets are hitscan.
This is the fully automatic mode and pure status build.
This build is modded for high critical chance and an increase in dps at the expense of becoming a somewhat slow firing semi-automatic. You have to switch to this mode via secondary fire. While switching, the zenith will shoot a disc that reveals enemies for 30 seconds.
Fulmin has two fire modes. One mode is automatic which works like a traditional fully automatic assault rifle. A major drawback to the Fulmin is its small magazine size of 60. The other mode is semi-automatic which works like a shotgun with a very tight spread. Each semi-automatic round costs 10 ammo. The small magazine size of 60 is much less detrimental in this mode. Note though that the Fulmin is categorized as a rifle. This build is balanced and designed for both modes. The semi-automatic mode does neat area damage because its projectiles have infinite punch through traveling up to 21 meters. The semi-automatic mode is viable up to sortie level content, while the automatic mode can go a bit beyond.
GLAXION VANDAL (MR12)
Glaxion Vandal isn’t exactly your run of the mill automatic rifle, but acts similarly with some added benefits. Glaxion Vandal is a very powerful single target beam weapon that causes splash damage and a slowing cold proc to all enemies within 3 meters of your target. The only drawback to this weapon is its limited range of 21 meters. It’s got a nice magazine size of 100. High Voltage can be swapped for Sinister Reach and the Glaxion Vandal will still be very effective up to sortie level content. With Sinister Reach Glaxion Vandal reaches up to 42 meters.
AMPREX (MR 10)
Amprex is a great weapon. Its lightning will automatically arc to nearby enemies. Amprex doubles as a heavy hitter and an area damage weapon. This build increases the range from the Heavy Hitter’s section build from 18 meters to 30 meters by swapping “High Voltage” for “Sinister Reach.” The dps drop isn’t hugely significant.
IGNIS WRAITH (MR 9)
Ignis wraith is a very popular weapon. Being a flame thrower, it fires within a cone that goes as far as 30 meters! It is very effective at killing multiple enemies at once. It also doubles as a heavy hitter! If you want the flame to go through walls, then swap out Infected Clip for Metal Augur or (Primed) Shred.
LENZ (MR 8)
Lenz is an interesting bow and shoots an explosive arrow. The arrow detonates after 2 seconds upon impact. Any enemies caught within its sphere will be slowed from a cold proc. Lenz has a low status chance. Therefor there is some damage drop off against higher level armored units, though it is somewhat saved by its high critical chance. It is also capable of doing self-damage, though it is relatively easy to avoid because of the 2 second timer.
ZARR (MR 7)
Zarr is very powerful and can be used for high single target damage, as well as area. It’s disadvantage is its ability to inflict self-damage. Be wary of grenade placements and teammates suddenly walking in front of you causing pre-mature detonation.
The previous build is a run of the mill build. However, this build is stronger, but must be played a specific way. After the initial explosion, a bunch of cluster bombs will spread. The cluster bombs are gaureenteed crits. Therefor, it synergizes well with hunter munitions. The trick however, is to get the cluster bombs to land on target. Aiming at the feet of enemies is recommended.
SECURA PENTA (MR 12)
Secura penta is arguably the easiest grenade launcher to use. The reason being that its grenades can be detonated at the user’s will via its secondary fire helping to avoid that nasty self-damage. This build is outfitted with argon scope therefor aiming while scoring head shots are idea to maximize dps.
CORINTH (MR 10)
This shotgun’s secondary fire explodes causing area damage. The projectile explodes after traveling 22 meters. It will not detonate if impacting on any surface. It must implode mid-air. It should do well up to sortie level content, but will have bad damage drop off against high-level armored units. Frail Momentum and Chilling Reload can be replaced with 90 elemental mods for more damage. This shotgun also has a strong primary fire. Details and build are in the Heavy Hitters (primaries) section.
ARCA PLASMOR (MR 10)
The arca plasmor is strong with infinite punch through and shoots waves of energy that can destroy compactly grouped sortie level enemies. This shotgun is good at short range, but can be fitted with mod, “Fatal Acceleration.” The accuracy is very poor, so getting shots on target at mid-range will be inconsistent. The area of effect isn’t as big as some of the other weapons on this list. However, I think a good place to use Arca Plasmor’s strengths is in tight maps or small hallways. That way you can shoot down the hall and decimate large numbers of enemies.
SOBEK (MR 7)
The sobek almost reaches heavy hitter status, but not quite. It is an area damage weapon, but not in the conventional sense. After each kill, damage is done to enemies within a 15 meter radius equal to 45% max health. You will not be able to swiftly pin point damage radius like some of the other weapons in this section, because that damage radius will depend on the killed enemy’s position. However, Sobek is incredibly unique because of its scaling damage and is viable in long endless missions against extremely high-level enemies. The syndicate mod “Shattering Justice” causes the weapon to discharge a radial explosion dealing 1,000 Blast damage to enemies around the player, restores 25% of maximum Health, and temporarily increases the maximum Armor by 25% of the Warframe’s base Armor, every gain of 2000 affinity.
QUANTA VANDAL (MR 10)
This weapon’s primary fire works similarly to the synapse boasting very strong single target damage. It does not have innate corrosive damage like the synapse, making it less effective in super high-end game. However, quanta vandal’s secondary fire shoots slow moving cubes that does damage in an area. The cubes detonate after landing on a target or prematurely shooting them with primary fire. To proc argon scope, the cubes should be detonated above enemy heads.
ASTILLA (MR 10)
Astilla is a automatic shotgun with pretty good fire rate. It shoots a single projectile that explodes on impact and will deal 70% of its main damage in a 5 meter radius. The radius is pretty small and will not cover as much area as the other weapons in this section. Still it is a good weapon, viable up to sortie content. Also its ammo efficiency is mediocre.
PHANTASMA (MR 9)
Phantasma is an unconventional shotgun. It’s secondary fire lobs a plasma bomb. The bomb’s detonation does initial damage, but explodes into particles that slowly return to enemies for additional damage. Vicious Spread is equipped to increase it’s default initial explosion range of 5 meters to 8 meters. Alternatively, Sinister Reach can replace Vicious Spread or Contagious Spread to increase particle travel range. To maximize dps, fully charge the secondary fire which takes 1 second. This will use up a whole magazine making it very ammo inefficient. Contagious Spread or Vicious Spread can be swapped for Ammo Stock. Ammo Stock will increase damage per charge at the expense of a longer charge time of 1.6 seconds and more ammo cost. Phantasma will be good up to sortie level content. This weapon’s secondary fire is capable of self-damage.
FULMIN (MR 8)
Fulmin has two fire modes. One mode is automatic which works like a traditional fully automatic assault rifle. A major drawback to the Fulmin is its small magazine size of 60. The other mode is semi-automatic which works like a shotgun with a very tight spread. Each semi-automatic round costs 10 ammo. The small magazine size of 60 is much less detrimental in this mode. Note though that the Fulmin is categorized as a rifle. This build is balanced and designed for both modes. The semi-automatic mode does neat area damage because its projectiles have infinite punch through traveling up to 21 meters. The semi-automatic mode is viable up to sortie level content, while the automatic mode can go a bit beyond.
DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE SECONDARIES IN THIS GAME.
STATICOR (MR 10)
Staticor’s charged shot does damage in an 8 meter sphere. Fully charging shots takes 0.63 seconds. The damage goes through walls making the Staticor one of the best area damage weapons in the game. The damage is good up to sortie level content.
POX (MR 9)
Pox is a powerful secondary weapon. It sprays toxin clouds dealing AOE damage. Being a throwing weapon, its disadvantages are its slow arcing projectile speed, and low ammo reserves.
KULSTAR (MR5)
This is an amazing weapon. It’s a heavy hitter AND an area damage weapon. Only drawback is its ability to do self-damage.
SONICOR (MR 2)
Sonicor is a meta weapon. It does good damage, and ragdolls enemies keeping you safe. If an enemy doesn’t die, they will be ragdolled and temporarily neutralized. Sonicor is a very solid choice. A great strategy is to equip the VIP during rescues and sortie defenses, so that the VIP is capable of protecting himself.
ATOMOS (MR 4)
Atomos is a mini-flame thrower. Its fire automatically arcs to nearby enemies.
PYRANA PRIME (MR 13)
Pyrana Prime has been received positively by the community. It is fully automatic with a fast fire rate and is a very fun weapon with a unique passive. It is called the Ethereal Pyrana and after killing 3 enemies within 2 seconds, a second pyrana appears in your left hand temporarily for 6 seconds increasing dps, fire rate, and recoil. Additionally an extra 12 ammo is given in a magazine for extended fire and good ammo efficiency. Ethereal Pyrana cannot be refreshed during its duration and will need to be activated again after it runs out. The Pyrana Prime is strong and shoots 12 pellets at a time. Because the pellets have a nice spread, it is not unusual to kill tightly grouped enemies all at once. This build is outfitted with punch through for additional area of effect. This is definitely not a conventional area damage weapon, but high kill counts and ability to kill multiple enemies at once, give the Pyrana Prime a place on this list. Pyrana Prime has a lot of recoil especially when Ethereal Pyrana is proc’d. This can be offset by slightly pointing down after the initial shot and with practice the crosshair can stay in the same spot. If recoil is your pet peeve, then stay away from this weapon.
This section is dedicated to the niche category, bows and crossbows. This section includes only bows and crossbows with conventional mechanics and excludes Lenz.
ZHUGE PRIME (MR 14)
Zhuge Prime is one of the best bows in the game offering both high damage and great utility with its rifle like rapid fire and small aoe damage. It’s only draw back is its ability to do self-damage.
DREAD (MR 5)
Dread is a strong critical damage machine. It also primarily does slash damage, great for tanky enemies. It has a charge up time of 0.5 seconds.
DAIKYU (MR 10)
One of the strongest bows in the game under the dread. Bladed rounds can be swapped with Vile Acceleration for shorter charge up time.
CERNOS PRIME (MR 12)
Cernos Prime is a heavy hitter. It shoots 5 arrows simultaneously lined horizontally. Activating secondary fire changes the pattern vertically. For maximum single target dps, vertical spread is recommended and short to mid-range is need for all arrows to land on target. The horizontal spread could potentially be used for multiple enemies, but because of the tight spread, this is probably unlikely.
PARIS PRIME (MR 8)
Paris prime is a very strong bow. Make sure to fully charge shots for maximum critical chance. Argon Scope or Bladed Rounds can be swapped with Hunter Munitions if you want slash damage for tankier enemies.
RAKTA CERNOS (MR 12)
Rakta Cernos is the syndicate variant of the Cernos series. It is not a heavy hitter and will only be good up to sortie content. It’s advantage over heavy hitting bows is its short charge time of 0.25 seconds.
NAGANTAKA (MR 9)
Nagantaka does good damage because of its slash damage. Its primary fire is semi-automatic and secondary fire is fully automatic. The secondary quickly unloads all 9 bolts in a magazine, but is uncontrollable and a bit unwieldy. The secondary fire might have to be reserved for high single target damage due to difficult aiming. Replacing Vigilante Armaments with Vile Acceleration at the expense of some damage provides a tighter spray for multiple targets and better overall utility. If opting for Vile Acceleration replace Rime Rounds with High Voltage.
These weapons aren’t necessarily the strongest weapons, but I am listing them because they are either popular, easy to use, fun, have great utility, and/or have a unique mechanic.
SYBARIS PRIME (MR 12)
The sybaris prime almost made it to the heavy hitters list, but not quite. Its strength is its high fire rate for a semi-automatic and some people find it fun to use. It is, however, overshadowed by Tiberon Prime.
VULKAR WRAITH (MR 7)
Vulkar Wraith definitely does not reach lanka, rubico, or vectis prime damage. It is however, easy to use due to its respectable fire rate, hit-scan bullets, and nice magazine size of 8.
TWIN GRAKATAS (MR 9)
Twin grakata’s high dps is derived from its incredible rate of fire. It has the second highest rate of all weapons. Modding twin grakatas for corrosive elemental will make for insanely quick procs, chewing through armor. Its disadvantage is its bad ammo efficiency which can be alleviated by the carrier sentinel’s mod “ammo case.” Because of its high rate of fire, magazines will be emptied very quickly. Spending half the time reloading dampens its dps.
BRAKK (MR 6)
Brakk is a mini-shotgun. It is one of the favorite weapons of the famous youtuber, Noobshowtek. I, however, found its damage a bit lower than (ak)lex prime and is only good at short to mid-range.
HIKOU PRIME (MR 2)
Hikou prime only really shines with the mod, “concealed explosives.” The mod causes the stars to explode destroying groups of enemies level 40 and below. Be wary though to stay outside of its detonation range because it can inflict self-damage. Carrier sentinel’s mod, “ammo case,” is recommended due to hikou prime’s poor ammo efficiency. Due to its insane fire rate, It can also make one feel like a true ninja of the shogun!
EXERGIS (MR 8)
The Exergis is powerful and another “BMG” similar in appearance to the Opticor. However, their similarity ends there as the Exergis is a close-range shotgun. The Exergis is held back by its small magazine size of 1. Mod slots are wasted on +magazine and +reload mods.
Note that there are plenty of niche weapons people find fun to use. They might not necessarily be used for their damage per second, but if it floats your boat, more power to you!
DE is reworking melee soon. Melee effectiveness and builds subject to change!!!!!!!
The reason I am making a seperate section for melee is because melee is the strongest weapon type in the game due to mutipliers. People who push hours into endless missions like survivals most often use melee weapons for their combo damage multipliers. Note that the builds listed are for normal use only and not for survivals lasting several hours.
GRAM PRIME (MR 14)
Gram prime is basically a Galatine Prime except with all around higher stats. The biggest difference besides its higher damage, is its slower attack speed of .8 versus Galatine Prime’s 1.0. The slower speed is very noticeable, but doesn’t reach Hammer levels. Gram Prime also has a 5 circle disposition vs Galatine Prime’s 1 circle disposition.
PARACESIS (MR 10)
Paracesis is very powerful and very unique. After every forma, it raises in +sentient damage bonus, and max rank by 2. After 5 forma, it reaches its maximum rank of 40 and +60% sentient damage. With both Sacrificial mods, that comes to a total of +142.6% damage against sentients. Bonus sentient damage isn’t particularly useful yet, but DE may release future content that will make proper use of the bonus.
GALATINE PRIME (MR 13)
Hits like a truck and one of the best looking weapons in the game. It deals primarily slash damage, an amazing damage type against heavily armored enemies.
LESION (MR 7)
Lesion is very strong. It is a status weapon dealing primarly slash, the best damage type against armored units. With this build after only a few strikes, the combo meter will reach 2x, and the chance for an elemental to proc twice will be 48.2%. The chance to proc twice will keep rising as the combo meter rises. To do significantly more damage, use the howling gale combo (e, e, hold e, e).
ZENISTAR (MR 6)
Zenistar is a top tier weapon and is a favorite among warframe elites. It does an innate fire damage. With this build, after building up the combo meter to 2x which only takes 15 consecutive hits, the chance for a status element to proc twice is 52% and will keep on increasing when the combo meter rises. The zenistar is only rewarded after 300 days of logins.
SILVA AND AEGIS PRIME (MR 12)
A very strong weapon with innate fire damage.
OHMA (MR 8)
Ohma is a very powerful tonfa due to several reasons. It has great base statistics, an innate electric elemental, and powerful combo from sovereign outcast stance called, “Rogue Edict.” “Rogue Edict” can be performed by pressing E, RMB + E E E E. The combo guarantees slash type damage.
VAYKOR SYDON (MR 8)
A strong weapon. It has a great mechanic. After blocking 15 consecutive attacks, and releasing, you perform a radial blind. This blind causes a nice stealth damage multiplier. You’ll see a symbol at the top right corner indicating number of attacks.
The problem though is against high-level enemies, while standing there and blocking, you will suffer significant amount of damage. The time it takes to build up to 15 also takes an inconsistent amount of time. You’d need a strong tank. There are other ways to activate stealth multiplier damage through warframe abilities that take a shorter and consistent amount of time. Vaykor’s blind mechanic may be a little inconvenient. But all in all this is a great weapon.
ARCA TITRON (MR 10)
Top tier Hammer.
JAT KITTAG (MR 5)
Jat Kittag is a heavy hitter but like all hammers, has a slow attack speed. It looks amazing with the palatine skin.
FRAGOR PRIME (MR 7)
Comparable to the Jat Kittag and Arca Titron.
WAR (MR 10)
Some say it is THE best looking weapon in the game. It definitely hits hard, but has an unideal damage type, impact. It is also very hard to get, as it has a low drop chance from the stalker.
NIKANA PRIME (MR 0)
Who doesn’t like a samurai sword and a powerful one to boot? It isn’t as strong as some of the other weapons on this list but still earns its place. To significantly increase dps, an option is using the “tranquil cleave” stance and using the combo “Breathless Lunge” (e, e, pause, e, e ,e ,e). The last strike of the combo does a guaranteed knockdown causing a damage buff.
ENDURA (MR 7)
Endura is a strong single-target weapon due to its short range. However, there is a very strong combo, Hidden Flourish, that guarantees slash procs with multiple stabs and 360 attacks. The Hidden Flourish combo is E, hold E, E E E E. The first, third, and fourth attacks have a chance to proc slash, while the second and fifth attacks do a 360 attack. If you don’t want range on it, you can replace Prime Reach with Primed Fever Strike.
REDEEMER PRIME (MR 10)
This melee weapon is very unique and acts like a shotgun firing 10 pellets per shot. This weapon also doesn’t use any ammo. It is very powerful even though combo damage multiplier does not apply to this weapon. It is possible to increase the fire rate by timing E correctly.
WOLF SLEDGE (MR 7)
Most notable combos for Crushing Ruin are Shattered Village (E, E, pause, E, E) and Winding Temper (E, E, hold down, E, E). Wolf Sledge does comparable damage to the rest of the top tier hammers, but is the only one that is able to be thrown via charge attacks.
NINKONDI PRIME (MR 10)
If you want more range, replace Organ Shatter with Primed Reach.
ATTERAX (MR 2)
Atterax is THE best whip in the game. It is used in conjunction with the mod, “maiming strike.” As the saying goes, “spin to win,” aka slide attacks. It has high status chance procing that powerful damage type, slash! It has a range of 10 meters. There are many builds available, depending on your preference, number of status effects, objective, and whether you are using naramon’s powerspike.
This is general purpose build where there’s no special circumstance.
The four following builds are designed for long survivals where the combo meter will consistently rack up. Naramon’s power spike synergizes with these builds.
This is a slash only build. Relentless combination will ensure quick gain in melee combo counter!
This build uses viral and slash combo, if you don’t want all slash like previous build.
Dps depends a lot on the amount of status effects affecting your target because of the mod, “condition overload.”
This build sacrifices critical damage for ton of status chance. Good for sorties with modifier, “Enemy physical enhancement,” and “Augmented enemy armor.” For “Augmented enemy shields,” swap “vicious frost,” for “volcanic edge,” to make gas and bypass shields. If running a defense, then you’re going to need “drifting contact,” which can be switched out with relentless combination.
SECURA LECTA (MR 8)
The secura lecta has a range of 10 meters and is weaker than the atterax but still does well. The secura lecta guarantees credit drops on kills with the secura lecta out and equipped. The credit boost scales with your personal Mastery Rank. At Mastery Rank 8, you’ll get on average 2x Credits from kills. At Mastery Rank 18 you’ll get on average 4x Credits from kills (capped).
GUANDAO (MR 4)
The Guandao has the max range of all polearms at 8 meters.
General Purpose Build – Viable up to sortie level content.
Long Endless Build.
ORTHOS PRIME (MR 2)
The Orthos Prime has the max range of all polearms at 8 meters.
Pure Status Build.
Status and Crit build.
A very strong weapon with the highest reach of all non-whip melee weapons at 8 meters with primed reach.
CONDITION OVERLOAD
This section lists primaries and secondaries which can accompany a melee weapon that has Condition Overload equipped to help proc as many status effects as possible. These builds were made for a melee weapon with slash and viral in mind. Rivens with around +100% status duration is recommended.
STATICOR (MR 10)
Out of all the weapons in this section, staticor has the best utility by far. It has 45 in a magazine and will proc status on enemies within a 16 meter area. This build will proc radiation, magnetic, and gas.
PHANTASMA (MR 9)
Phantasma secondary fire will proc status effects in a large radius ensuring guaranteed procs to many enemies. With this build, impact, radiation, magnetic, and gas procs will spread evenly. Phantasma secondary fire has bad ammo efficiency if fully charged. In this case we will not be using Phantasma for direct DPS, so therefor the weapon need not be fully charged. To save ammo, just tap fire.
ZAKTI (MR 6)
Zakti does not have a large area of effect. Zakti’s advantage, however, is that it also opens up enemies to finishers.
Here I’m using Zakti and Galatine Prime equipped with Condition Overload on a level 150 Heavy Gunner. The kill took 1.97 seconds. Mind you this is starting from 0 combo counter, so you can imagine even more damage ramp up with higher combo counter.
CYANEX (MR 8)
Cyanex’ drawback compared to the other weapons on this list is its bad accuracy. Since melee is close range, this won’t be too much of a drawback, however.
SARPA (MR 8)
Sarpa is super effective at armor stripping. It works similarly to a burst fire gun. It can completely strip Wolf of Saturn Six in less than 10 seconds. Yellow health will turn to red health after complete armor strip. The great thing about this armor stripping mechanic, is that enemies will always take the same amount of shots to completely strip armor no matter the level. Dps mods can be equipped. However, the mods above are the only mods that affect armor stripping effectiveness.
IMPORTANT NOTE!
This section is dedicated to Heavy Weapons, which are Archwing weapons that are deployable on land using an Archweapon Deployer. To unlock this content, you must be max rank in Solaris United and have progressed in the Orb-Taker quests. Also note, that weapon stats are significantly different when in Archwing mode and Heavy Weapon mode!!! This section only refers to Heavy Weapon mode!!! After running out of ammo, the Heavy Weapon will be on a 5 minute cool down before ammo is restored. Heavy Weapon ammo drops from Corpus in Orb Vallis and will instantly eliminate cool down time and replenish all ammo. Heavy Weapon ammo is not available elsewhere. Team Ammo Restores do not work on Heavy Weapons.
IMPERATOR VANDAL (MR 5)
This thing is a heavy hitting BEAST and is currently the only minigun in the game. It is also accurate with low recoil. If you don’t have Contamination Casing, it can be swapped for Charged Bullets. If you’re using this for Orb Taker, swap Electrified Barrel, Venomous Clip, and Contamination Casing for +120% elemental mods of your choice.
FLUCTUS (MR 2)
The Fluctus’ projectiles act and look similarly to Excalibur’s Exalted Blade. It shoots waves of energy with infinite punch through for up to 50 meters with no diminishing damage at range. The Fluctus is a great area damage dealer and viable up to sortie level content.
LARKSPUR (MR 8)
Larkspur is a great area damage weapon whose beams arc to nearby enemies. This build is built for its primary fire and is viable up to sortie level content. For more damage at the expense of ammo efficiency, swap Magma Chamber with Automatic Trigger.
In my opinion, 99% of meta weapons with faint 1 circle dispositions aren’t worth getting rivens for, because they already do great damage and the damage gains are minimal. I’ve listed weapons with mostly neutral to strong dispositions, because the dps gains are totally worth it.
SYNAPSE
Strong single target rifle with an insane 5 circle disposition.
OPTICOR
An already amazing weapon with a good riven will become stupidly overpowered.
AMPREX
Absolute insanity!
ZARR
As if killing yourself wasn’t easy enough!
SECURA PENTA
TIBERON PRIME
TENORA
Becomes stronger than the soma prime.
DERA VANDAL
Dera Vandal with riven outclasses the tenora with riven because of its greater disposition. It is possible to achieve heavy hitter status.
SUPRA
FERROX
PRISMA GORGON
Prisma Gorgon’s damage is on par with the automatic rifles listed in this guide. With a 4 circle disposition, Prisma Gorgon can become very strong. However, it does have major drawbacks comparatively. It’s more of a machine gun than a rifle and machine guns aren’t very accurate and have recoil. Only real reason to use this weapon over the others, is because you like machine guns or the look of Prisma Gorgon.
QUANTA VANDAL
BAZA
FULMIN
GLAXION VANDAL
KOHM
Damage can become comparable to the tigris prime yet have the advantage of being fully automatic! Amazing! Note that the kohm MUST have 100% status chance. 99.9% still isn’t even good enough. In order to reach 100% status, you must equip all 4 60/60 elemental mods and a riven with at least +60% status chance *OR* 3 60/60 elemental mods and a riven with at least +120% status chance. A fire rate mod is recommended to ease that annoying spool up time.
BOAR PRIME
This an automatic shotgun that becomes top tier with a good riven. All 4 60/60 elemental mods are needed to achieve 100% status chance. Status chance is not needed on the riven. If you do end up with status chance on riven, it will need at least +53.4% status chance and 3 60/60 elemental mods OR above +113.4% status chance and 2 60/60 elemental mods. What makes this unique from the other shotguns are its automatic fire (besides kohm but with no spool up time) and primary impact damage, good against shields/corpus. This shotgun will still be a beast against the other factions, however.
CORINTH
This shotgun’s both primary and secondary fire are great and will be even more so with a riven. To maximize primary fire‘s dps, try to stay as close to 100% critical chance as possible to consistently proc hunter munitions.
SOBEK
Insane 5 circle disposition on an incredibly unique weapon. Sobek achieves heavy hitter status no doubt. The shotgun’s riven needs at least +30.5 status chance and all 4 60/60 elemental mods to reach 100% status chance, or at least +90.4% status chance and 3 60/60 elemental mods. Make sure to achieve 100% status chance before multishot calculation. Because of this weapon’s scaling damage from the mod Acid Shells, it will likely become one of the top picks for those pushing hours into survivals.
ASTILLA
EXERGIS
LANKA
Really powerful!
VECTIS PRIME
RUBICO PRIME
VULKAR WRAITH
LENZ
DAIKYU
PARIS PRIME
NAGANTAKA
ZHUGE PRIME
SICARUS PRIME
An amazingly strong secondary with a strong disposition equals THE strongest secondary in the game.
AKMAGNUS
Becomes one of the strongest secondaries in the game!
MAGNUS
Out dps’ the akmagnus because of its superior disposition!
MARA DETRON
KULSTAR
AKSOMATI
Under normal conditions, the aksomati is a contender with akstiletto prime. However, it has lower accuracy and ammo efficiency, leaving akstiletto prime the clear winner for the best in slot for fully automatic pistols. Depending on how good the riven is, the aksomati can do INSANE amounts of damage and totally outclasses the akstiletto prime.
AKLEX PRIME
If I had these in real life, I’d want to take them to bed and spoon with them.
ARCA SCISCO
One of the strongest secondary weapons in the game.
PYRANA Prime
TWIN GRAKATAS
Gangsta!
AKJAGARA PRIME
One of the strongest weapons in the game with insane disposition.
GRAM PRIME
Insane 5 circle disposition on an already insanely powerful weapon. Outclasses the Galatine Prime effortlessly.
PARACESIS
SCOLIAC
The atterax replacer with huge range! A riven with max possible range buff of +218.8% should increase the scoliac’s range up to 19 meters! Amazing!
GUANDAO
A polearm with great range with a +range riven (cannot reach scoliac range)
TONBO
SILVA & AEGIS PRIME
OHMA
ARCA TITRON
FRAGGOR PRIME
ENDURA
REDEEMER PRIME
Keep in mind Redeemer Prime needs 100% status chance to be good. It needs a total of +258% from mods. Redeemer mods can roll anywhere between +71.1% to +143.3%. If the riven has at least +78%, you’ll only need to equip 3 of the 60/60 elemental mods to reach 100%. If the riven has +138% or more, you’ll only need to equip 2 of the 60/60 elemental mods.
WOLF SLEDGE
NINKONDI PRIME
IMPERATOR VANDAL
LARKSPUR
FLUCTUS
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