Since Baro's brought around the Mod Booster (which doubles the drop chance of Arcanes) and lots of people might want to be farming the Zariman Arcanes from Void Cascade this weekend, it seems like a great opportunity to share my guide (Google doc):

https://docs.google.com/...

My counter-take to yours = I find shield gating builds incredibly fun and love using/playing them. They bring together everything that is best about the game, combining the movement system and soft/hard crowd control into a speedy "can't touch this" playstyle

My otherwise hot take, is that in the current modern state of the game, the ever-enduring advice to newbies of "Get Rhino and Hek" is extremely boring, outdated, and unhelpful

A group of heroes did some testing to reproduce bugs:

"1 - Do not collect Decrees on the Jackal Stage when the fight has started. 42 out of 100 Jackal Assassin circuit runs were killed just by someone is running around collecting decrees while other team mates were fighting the Jackal. If you need Decrees ONLY the HOST should collect them

2 - Focus and co-ordinate one limb at a time 21 runs out of 100 Jackal Assassination missions were bugged out when multiple limbs were attacked at the same time. Further testing may be needed. This means 1) DO NOT BRING AOE WEAPONS.

3 - Kill MOBS before engaging the Jackal after the first phase.Engaging the jackal before killing the mobs seems to bug out the fight at Phase 2. Further testing required.

4 - Only the HOST should Parazon finish the Jackal AT ALL the phases.32 runs out of 100. If someone else who parazons the Jackal besides the HOST can cause the fight to bug out ."

From https://www.reddit.com/...

Safe to say it is pretty janky at the moment. It's only bugged out once for me out of about 6 or 7 fights, but the above shows it's super easy to bug and I've been extremely lucky. I'll be doing Circuit solo until the host-client issues are resolved because I am not about that 1-3 rounds then dip whenever Assassination comes up life

The Iron Skin is definitely a part of it, but it's also because the advice is too narrow/specific and makes a huge assumption about the interests or ability of the newbie. Of all the new players I've helped in the game, either real life friends/family who I convinced to play, or newbies I met organically while playing, absolutely none of them enjoy playing Rhino and very few of them enjoy shotguns. If I had been insistent that they must get this one frame and weapon because it was their "best" choice, they probably would've stopped playing

I think it's much better to ask people what their preferred playstyles are, and point them towards a few suitable options so they can decide for themselves. And it's very important now to make new players aware of the Circuit, so they can keep an eye on the 3 cycling frames and grab something they like the look of that may be locked quite a bit further back in the starchart otherwise

You've been a bit unfair in your short assessment of Phahd - it automatically homes on nearby enemies and each shot will bounce multiple times so the damage per shot ends up very high (either spread across multiple enemies or repeatedly hitting one enemy when trapped in a void bubble). In your preview video you can see it even trapping itself and bouncing multiple times on the Teralyst on the non-VS shield. I don't think I've ever seen it miss. The automatic homing does mean it sometimes targets an enemy that is closer rather than the one you're purposely aiming at, though

Quatz and Amprex could be cool. Increasing Amprex usage could upset a few people using it as a stat stick for the high Riven dispo, but lots of people are moving towards Ceramic Dagger for their needs (which has had its interaction with pseudo-exalteds survive multiple updates so far, Xoris was changed very quickly). Plus Amprex's own Incarnon evolutions could make it even better of a stat stick at the sacrifice of slightly reduced dispo

Quatz is a cool little pistol, and its gimmick of changing to burst when ADS is interesting. Would be interesting to see how that could be incorporated into an Incarnon, giving it some dual evolutions that are different depending on auto/burst. It needs an overall stat buff to stand up in SP, which an adapter could give

But if we do get any more adapters in the future, please no more Heat on Incarnon forms. I want more variety. Vastly increased IPS damage and status chance could actually be interesting, since increased Impact could weigh you towards Internal Bleeding/Hemorrhage builds that you couldn't pull off without the adapter, increased Puncture can guarantee better crit chance break points, and increased Slash can drop Hunter Munitions from a build

At the very, very least, I would like his 4 to just hold enemies still and rooted to the ground, rather than flailing them around. It's as annoying as swinging enemies in a Khora dome, and there's no easy solution like the Khora actually using her whip. We're away from the aoe Bramma/Zarr spam meta now, we're in the precise headshot Incarnon meta :^)

I feel like his 1, 2, 3 all need some sort of extensive rework and possibly larger changes. Undertow is a cool idea but just... lacking in any oomph. Tempest Barrage's cast time is too long. Tidal Surge just lacks oomph again. Any stronger and interesting synergy between the abilities would be better than what he's currently got

Just been able to see this in-game and it's a huge improvement, it went by so much quicker!

The extra Eximus at the end aren't too noticeable compared to the usual spawns, in my experience. Though there are some extra enemies per round, the 3 rounds go by much faster than the previous 5

I really enjoyed release Railjack, despite the bugs. I miss a lot of how it was during its first iteration - the more frequent and more dangerous hazards, the way the forge worked, a stronger sense of teamwork, etc. But the NPC crew we have now is great, and the individual Plexus allowing people to bring some personal preference when they end up as client on the host's RJ is welcome. It always felt like we got 25% of the game mode and were just waiting for... more. Then Corpus RJ came out and was a bit underwhelming. The Volatile mode is great, and boarding the ship for a one and done mission like an Exterminate or Spy is fine, but the Defence and Survival feel pretty meh and like a missed opportunity for meatier actually-Railjack endless missions

Liches were fun for the first two or three, then got old very fast. I'm grateful for the QOL updates they've had over time

When my interest in the game was petering out a bit because I had plateaued, Steel Path came out and completely re-invigorated me. It just felt like having somewhere where all the time spent grinding for strong builds mattered, and I was finally able to hop in somewhere where enemies were a match for me off the bat. We've power crept further over time with weapon arcanes, Galvanized mods, easier amour stripping etc, so base SP isn't quite the challenge it once was, but we've gotten faster scaling content to make up for it. Each update to it over time has just made it better. The Acolytes are great - I love it when Violence comes in and fucks everyone's shit up. The release of SP fissures let me actually enjoy cracking relics again

The Zariman was just all round amazing for me. Story and lore wise it was exciting to finally get access to it, and the tileset is beautiful. The new game modes are amazing and I was super excited to get the blend of Operator and Warframe gameplay - again the feeling that the time I'd spent gearing up my Operator was rewarded. The focus rework and the new Eximus also really freshened things up. Overall the Zariman has definitely been my most favoured update and I'm not sure what could top it. A whole new starchart in Tau maybe?

I've loved Duviri and got no complaints, other than some of the bugs and instability, which is generally expected with every update. I haven't been able to put in the time I want in exploring Duviri itself and getting all the collectibles, but the SP Circuit has been amazing and great fun - easy to hop on and do for an hour or so and then hop off. Again it's the pattern where I feel rewarded for all the time I've spent building up a full and forma'd arsenal

I realised I hadn't posted this here previously, and I want to make sure copies of all resources are here to help the community grow (and stay independent)

Trinity gets to boast a fun little niche as a Boss Unit killer, with the % health damage in her kit. High Strength (300+), very low Duration, with a Viral primer. Prime your target with 10 Viral stacks, cast Energy Vampire on them, and watch them explode. The main places where you'd utilise this are against Demolishers in Disruption, and Thrax in Void Cascade, though you can also pair it with the Marked for Death Helminth subsume to turn it into an area nuke. Due to the % health damage it doesn't fall off as levels go up. It's very silly and very fun. Not super practical, as with such low Duration only your 2 and 4 remain viable in her base kit, and you're limited on what you can subsume, but grouping abilities are generally fine with low Duration so remain a good subsume (and the crowd control from pulling and displacing enemies can be vital to helping you survive in Void Cascade. In Disruption you generally run Vazarin so you're fine, Void Cascade encourages Madurai)

It is very quick! Circuit is pretty quick too but Cascade still beats it. I know that with the decrees people have been sort of "accidentally" stumbling up to level cap in Circuit and caught by surprise by the high levels, but Cascade is definitely not a mission to accidentally reach level cap in hahahaha

Still a good guide - although you were probably trying to keep it as brief as possible I think it'll be even better if it does go into more depth to highlight differences between general play and Eidolons. The preview vid against Teralyst does a great job of showing why Raplak, Klamora, and Propa are typically chosen for tridolons with their clean and quick performance compared the others, but there's different things to consider in general play, with aoe situations vs single target situations, and different arcanes (like Melt and Logisitics), and pulling off Last Gasp, etc. Atm it is pretty much an Eidolon Amp guide, rather than an overall Amp guide

I'd recommend Zephyr to everyone I come across, but I am very biased there hahahaha!

Hounds have always had some useful abilities, like Repo Audit, Synergized Prospectus, and even Null Audit, while being able to equip the robotic mod Guardian, and they're now buffed by the new Bond mods like Manifold letting them use the abilities more frequently. Without perma-death it's great being able to take them into higher level stuff and benefit from their CC and utility - they do very nice aoe status priming for any situations where that's a benefit

I've found Sentinels most useful in terms of companion up-time, as they have the shortest base recovery of 25 secs with Primed Regen equipped, before the assistance of Bond mods, with a guaranteed 10 seconds of invulnerability when they recover. Plus since they naturally follow you around over your shoulder, any efforts you take to avoid enemies and damage naturally applies to them and benefits them too (simple parkour to reduce enemy accuracy, using cover from gunfire, Vazarin dashing the frame also catches the Sentinel, Zephyr's Turbulence covers the Sentinel with enough range, etc). The other companions still get the benefit of manual revives, but the situations where you're too busy to manually revive still apply the same as before the update so it's not always a positive you can make use of

In very high level stuff all non-Sentinel companions still tend to spend more time on the floor recovering than up and active, so carefully choosing Bond mods that give you the most realistic and practical ways to quickly revive them becomes more important

I've been having a lot of fun with Dual Toxocyst Incarnon on Zephyr specifically. Her augment Airburst Rounds provides base damage, so it frees up the gun Arcane slot away from Merciless/Dexterity/Deadhead. So in the Arcane slot I put Cascadia Overcharge for extra crit chance while Overshields are active. Her 3 generally protects the Overshields and guarantees she can maintain them. She also gets another crit chance boost from her passive whenever her feet aren't on the ground, and being up in the air aim gliding above enemies gives easy access to headshots, plus the grouping from her 2 helps the Dual Toxo's richochet. Just feels all round great, very fun to play

I've found the Miter Incarnon most fun out of all the new gun adapters. A lot of them, especially the auto rifles, are very much just "press alt fire to add more damage". I'm not complaining because running around with a buffed Braton is super fun, but it's not exactly anything super special

Phenmor feels the most satisfying to use. I think the animation change to archgun when you go into its Incarnon mode just makes the transition more stark and rewarding. I have a soft spot for Laetum too considering how much I've used it for specific things

I've always loved Sancti Magistar so I'm very happy with the adapter for it. It just gives the weapon a buff so it can keep up with the times. The extra Bleeds on Impact procs is very welcome

Ash can also run high strength with his Fatal Teleport augment, with a weapon with good finisher damage (like a hammer or dagger). Run over, press 3, bop! Can even skip the armour stripping step

The Miter Incarnon form isn't super exciting, it's basically just a buff to the bouncing glaives of the standard form, but the adapter buffs the weapon so much it goes from being pretty shit to very strong. It's like Cedo's alt fire on steroids