Review: Veldt (U24.1.3)

The Veldt is an MR8 Semi-Auto rifle, released in U22.18. Its most notable feature is its toggle-able zoom, with two zoom levels akin to the sniper rifles. That an adjustable zoom is the most notable part of a weapon says a lot about it - the Veldt is a very mediocre rifle.

Acquisition

The Veldt must be researched at a Dojo's Tenno Lab to acquire the blueprint.

Stats

Equal Crit and Status Chances of 22% each are fairly good, though for a slow firing rifle, only 22% base Crit Chance is frustratingly low. The Veldt's above average Crit Damage of 2.2x is good, as is its Magazine Capcaity and Reload Time. A fairly low RoF gives it a very good Reload Ratio of 3.94. The Veldt also has 48% Slash damage, which combines well with its rather high Status Chance.

Augments

None.

Builds

0-Forma:

With only a native - polarity, the Veldt can only fit a basic build without Forma. This pictured build is a pretty standard crit + Viral build. Thanks to its fairly high Slash bias, even with just one 60/60 mod, the Veldt can inflict Slash procs quite frequently and consistently. As such, my experience with the Veldt is that Viral is a perfect complement, for its half-health proc. A Viral build is quite effective against most targets, even armoured enemies thanks to Slash procs. Against armoured Corpus robots, Radiation is far more effective, while Corrosive is a better choice against Infested due to their heavies.

Recommended Setups: Viral vs Grineer, Corrupted, unarmoured Corpus, Radiation vs armoured Corpus, Corrosive vs Infested

General Purpose 2-Forma:

Two added V polarities offer a fair bit more space to play with, offering options like adding in Shred, Vigilante Armaments, or switching the 60/60 for another 90%. With a fairly low RoF and no Punch Through or AoE, I find that the Veldt struggles quite badly against groups. Though it does decent damage, it struggles to kill multiple enemies quickly and efficiently. (Primed) Shred helps immensely with this. Vigilante Armaments or a 90% of course offer more raw damage.

Recommended Setups: see above.

General Purpose 4-Forma:

Two more V polarities allow you to utilise all eight mod slots reasonably well. This above build slots in Hunter Munitions for the extra Slash procs, ideal against armoured enemies.

This alternate build uses Vigilante Armaments instead for more raw damage, with Corrosive as the elemental combo instead. There are several other options for the Shred and HM/VA slots naturally, for instance Argon Scope and Bladed Rounds, or another elemental.

Recommended Setups: Viral + HM vs Grineer, Corrupted, Viral or Viral + Electric vs unarmoured Corpus, Radiation or Radiation + Toxin/Cold vs armoured Corpus, Corrosive or Corrosive + Heat vs Infested

Primed Cryo Rounds 6-Forma:

Another added V, but notably an added D, polarities allow the use of Primed Cryo Rounds, which is a substantil +Cold damage boost. It pairs perfectly with any Viral builds, but inhibits any builds not using a D polarity mod.

The extra V polarity compensates for this, still allowing a 2x 90% elemental build to fit in.

My Build

This is as far as I got before getting bored, a fairly standard Viral build.

Combat Use and Summary

The Veldt is a precision rifle with reasonable damage and a large magazine, but fairly low RoF. Especially without Punch Through, it struggles with handling large groups of enemies efficiently due to its low RoF. It also lags behind many primaries, including a number within a similar MR bracket, for raw DPS. While the Veldt is significantly more effective against single targets than groups, it still compares poorly to a lot of competitors. This puts it behind as well against unarmoured high health enemies.

Where the Veldt stands out a little is against heavily armoured enemies. With solid Status Chance and reasonably high Slash bias, it procs Slash with reasonable frequency, even without Hunter Munitions help. Though not the most powerful weapon, this does give the Veldt a consistent and reliable way to significantly damage armoured enemies.

The Veldt has two zoom modes, a low zoom (left) akin to shotguns, and a standard higher zoom (right) like most rifles. Like snipers, it toggles between the two with the secondary fire button, but unlike snipers, gains no zoom-in bonuses or combo counter. With minimal recoil and good accuracy, it is quite easy to put precise follow-up shots on targets, even at longer range.

Overall the Veldt is quite mediocre. It's not massively flawed in any one area, and can take on most of the content in the game with a good build and some skill. However, there is no one aspect where the Veldt performs notably well, and especially now that Hunter Munitions exists, it is largely outclassed in most respects by many other weapons. Additionally, as I've said multiple times before, the Veldt is a precision rifle in a game where precision rifles are not really appropriate. The majority of Warframe's combat is against hordes of enemies, against whom the Veldt is weakest against. There are multiple precision weapons better than the Veldt is essentially every respect, for instance all sniper rifles are far superior for damage-per-shot, while something like the (MR14) Tiberon Prime is a much better overall weapon. Unless you're someone who really enjoys precision rifles, I'd only suggest the Veldt for obtaining another 3000 Mastery points.

Scores

Vs Trash Mobs: 2.5/5 - Very good Reload Ratio and reasonable damage-per-shot, but its low RoF holds it back quite a bit here.
Vs Unarmoured Heavies: 3/5 - Unimpressive Burst DPS leaves the Veldt quite far behind a lot of other rifles.
Vs Armoured Heavies without Hunter Munitions: 3/5 - Good Status Chance and reasonably high Slash bias allow the Veldt to proc a decent amount of Slash, which help significantly against armoured enemies. Its mediocre DPS still holds it back here though.
Vs Armoured Heavies with Hunter Munitions: 3.5/5 - Hunter Munitions does significantly increase Slash procs, but again mediocre DPS prevents the Veldt from being a truly effective weapon. A lot of other primaries tear through enemies faster, especially with Hunter Muntions.

Vs Variants

None.

Competitors

There aren't many regular Semi-Auto rifles - Grinlok, Latron family and Veldt. The Veldt is the most well-rounded of the lot, but is lacking in raw firepower compared to the Latron Prime, and many other rifles. Notably, there are weapons like the Argonak, Sybaris Prime and Tiberon Prime, which are all solid precision rifles, but also have a lot more to offer. Sybaris and Tiberon Primes are notably far more powerful, while still being good weapons overall. Not to mention sniper rifles, which aren't as effective against crowds, but pack an absurd amount of damage-per-shot.

Rivens

Riven seen on trade chat.

The Veldt has a higher end 3/5 (1.1) Riven Disposition, having received a minor increase in U24 (1 -> 1.1). Honestly, I think it could do with a further Disposition increase, given its mediocre performance and apparent unpopularity.

Damage/Multishot/Crit Chance/Crit Damage are of course go-to stats, personally I'd lean towards MS+CC for better consistency and status. +Punch Through can be a great help against groups if you don't run Shred, likewise I find +Fire Rate to be helpful as well. An appropriate element can help to save a slot. +Slash can help to increase the ratio of Slash procs naturally inflicted.

-Max Ammo is perfect for the ammo efficient Veldt, and -Zoom can also be useful for close quarters combat. -Impact/Puncture are both useful for boosting the Slash bias of the weapon. -Projectile Flight Speed has no effect.