Review: Fulmin (U25.1.1)

The Fulmin is an MR8 Assault Rifle with two distinct firing modes, released in U25. Its default Semi-Auto mode fires a large electric wave, similar to the Arca Plasmor. Its Full-Auto mode is more conventional, rapidly firing lightning bolts. With high crit and good versatility, the Fulmin is a solid and unique rifle.

Acquisition

The Fulmin blueprint is available directly from Market.

Stats

Though the Fulmin's two firing modes are quite different, their stat distributions are fairly similar. The default Semi-Auto is slow firing, but has quite high base Damage, backed up by very good Crit stats. Rather unusually, the Fulmin deals majority Electric damage, with a small physical component. It also has a reasonable Status Chance, though is largely let down by low RoF.

Also notable for the Semi-Auto mode is that it is innately Silent.

The Fulmin is battery-powered, with a self-recharging magazine, rather than having a conventional reload. It has a 1 second delay between firing and beginning to recharge, then restores 30 ammo-per-second. This gives it a maximum Reload Time of 3 seconds. The Semi-Auto firing mode consumes 10 ammo per shot, so the default Mag Capacity supplies for only 6 shots. With this in mind, its overall Reload Ratio is a very poor 0.92.

The Fulmin's Semi-Auto mode fires wide, short-lived projectiles that have innate body Punch Through of 3 metres, very much like the Arca Plasmor. It has a maximum range of 20 metres, with damage dropping off after 10 metres.

The faster firing Full-Auto has relatively similar stats, just with high RoF and lower base Damage. Its Crit Chance is slightly lower, in exchange for a slightly higher Crit Damage. Its Status Chance is also a fair bit lower, though this is counteracted by the much higher RoF.

As the Full-Auto mode only consumes one ammo per shot, despite its far higher RoF, it enjoys a much more respectable Reload Ratio of 2.14.

The Fulmin's Full-Auto behaves in a much more conventional manner, firing hitscan lightning bolts that have perfect accuracy.

Uniquely, the Fulmin's firing mode change is not instant, taking about a second. When used with Wisp, this is shortened. Switching from Semi-Auto to Full-Auto, the suppressor piece is removed and attached to the side of the weapon. Switching from Full-Auto to Semi-Auto, the suppressor is retrieved and attached to the front of the barrel.

Augments

None, it's a new weapon.

Builds

One Element 0-Forma:

With no native polarities, it can be difficult to fit a standard build into the Fulmin without Forma. Thankfully, the innate Electric damage allows you to form an elemental combo with just one elemental mod - the two main options being Corrosive or Radiation.

Note that the Sustained DPS for Semi-Auto mode appears to be calculated incorrectly, not taking into account that each shot consumes 10 ammo. Additionally, the Reload Time is incorrect, not taking into account the recharge delay, which makes total Reload Time 3 seconds at base. For the other builds below, I've simply screenshotted the Semi-Auto mode stats, as the Full-Auto stats follow essentially the same pattern.

Two Element 0-Forma:

If you do want to fit in two elemental mods, your best option is to switch Split Chamber for Vigilante Armaments to open up that space. It is much more versatile build-wise and slightly more powerful, but the reduced Multishot makes Semi-Auto much less consistent.

Ignoring Hunter Munitions, against armoured enemies, Corrosive is the best elemental combo. Despite its relatively low base Status Chance, majority base Electric damage allows the Fulmin's Full-Auto mode to inflict Corrosive procs with reasonable frequency. Unfortunately, due to its slow RoF, the Semi-Auto mode does not fare very well against armoured enemies. Similarly, Corrosive is the best option against Infested. Against armoured Corpus, who almost exclusively use Alloy Armour, Radiation is your best bet if you don't want to rely on armour stripping.

Against unarmoured Corpus, a Viral + Electric build is by far the best. The Fulmin doesn't have the Status Chance for a good Gas status build. Additionally, its base Electric damage means that Toxin is very difficult to add - adding just Toxin will automatically combine to Corrosive. You need to add two additional elemental mods, one of which is Electric and neither of which is Toxin (e.g. Heat + Electric for Radiation), after which adding a Toxin mod will finally add Toxin.

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

Hunter Munitions 2-Forma:

Two added V polarities allows you to comfortably fit in Split Chamber as well as a seventh mod. You have a bit more flexibility if you have access to all of the elemental 60/60s, to open up a bit more space for that seventh mod. At this point, it is worth giving Hunter Munitions a shot. It triggers fairly frequently off of the Fulmin's high Crit Chance, and in particular, gives Semi-Auto a solid way to threaten armoured enemies. I find it a little too inconsistent for my liking, but it is fairly powerful, and works well in both firing modes. If Hunter Munitions is not to your liking, Vigilante Armaments is another solid mod that will fit in the same space. Other options for the last two slots are discussed just below.

Recommended Setups: see above. Also consider: Viral + HM vs Grineer, Corrupted

General Purpose 4-Forma:

Two more V polarities and you can comfortably use all eight mod slots. I've slotted in Shred here because I always do, however especially with the Fulmin, there are many other solid options. Semi-Auto does not need extra Punch Through as it already has innate body Punch Through, and increased RoF is not particularly beneficial with so few shots in the magazine. Besides the aforementioned Hunter Munitions and Vigilante Armaments, there are several other mods worth considering.

As standard for a Crit rifle, both Bladed Rounds and Argon Scope can be worth using if you can trigger them reliably. Heavy Caliber is worth a mention for the Fulmin. I don't normally like to recommend it due to the accuracy loss, but in this case it has little effect. Semi-Auto cares little for accuracy, while Full-Auto is largely unaffected. Unfortunately, (Primed) Fast Hands does not solve the Reload Time issue. Though it shortens the Recharge Delay, it has no effect on the Recharge Rate, which is set at 30 ammo-per-second.

Recommended Setups: see above.

My Builds:

As mentioned previously, I prefer the Fulmin built for Corrosive damage against armoured (and most other) enemies. Despite its unimpressive base Status Chance, majority Electric base damage allows it to proc Corrosive surprisingly frequently in Full-Auto mode. Semi-Auto mode is just a solid, high-damage shot great against crowds and other lightly/unarmoured enemies.

Against unarmoured Corpus, I favour a Viral + Electric build.

Combat Use and Summary

With two distinct firing modes, the Fulmin fares quite well against all manner of enemies. The Semi-Auto's large projectiles are highly effective against clusters of enemies, passing through and damaging each one of them. However, its high ammo consumption coupled with horribly poor Reload Ratio means that you spend a lot of time waiting for the magazine to reload. This is somewhat helped by being able to interrupt recharging to fire, but still just prolongs the reloading sequence. Full-Auto can handle multiple enemies fairly efficiently as well, thanks to its good RoF.

Against enemies with a lot of health, again Semi-Auto is your best bet. Thanks to its high Crit and base Damage, it deals quite high Burst DPS for a rifle. Against heavily armoured enemies, you have two main options. The standard Viral + HM build for crit weapons is very applicable here, and both firing modes can make very good use of it. Alternatively, as mentioned several times now, a Corrosive status build can be surprisingly effective on Full-Auto thanks to its majority base Electric damage. I consider the Viral + HM build to be a little more versatile as it works well in both Semi- and Full-Auto.


The Fulmin's Semi-Auto mode, by virtue of limited range and damage fall-off, is only effective in close quarters. Full-Auto, with perfect accuracy, is effective at all ranges. The non-instant mode-switching is frustratingly slow in Warframe's fast paced combat, though it is more palatable with Wisp.

The Fulmin's battery magazine is both a blessing and a curse. Since it has an infinite ammo pool, it is ideal for taking into extended duration missions (e.g. long Survivals), or in Assassinations that have limited ammo drops (e.g. Lephantis). Additionally, the recharge can be interrupted at any time to fire with a partial magazine, and the magazine will continue to refill even while holstered. The biggest weakness of a battery magazine is that its maximum Reload Time cannot currently be significantly improved. +Reload Speed mods only affect the Recharge Delay, not the Recharge Rate. This is particularly frustrating for Semi-Auto, which consumes 10 ammo-per-shot. Additionally, increasing Mag Capacity also increases total Reload Time.


Overall, the Fulmin is a solid and fun rifle. Its two distinct firing modes give it a lot of versatility, and make it unique among Assault Rifles. High Crit allows it to deal quite good direct damage, with Hunter Munitions being a strong option for Slash procs. If you're looking for a Rifle that is different to the rest, but will still handle the majority of game content comfortably, I'd say the Fulmin is definitely worth a shot.

Scores

Vs Trash Mobs: 4/5 - Both firing modes are decently effective against groups. Semi-Auto's large projectiles can rapidly clear corridors and rows of enemies, but is held back by its awful Reload Ratio. Full-Auto is more conventional, capable of quickly engaging multiple different targets, with a better Reload Ratio.
Vs Unarmoured Heavies: 4.5/5 - Semi-Auto in particular has fairly high Burst DPS for a rifle, making it quite effective against enemies with a lot of health.
Vs Armoured Heavies without Hunter Munitions: 3.5/5 - Despite its low base Status Chance, Full-Auto's majority Electric base damage and decent RoF allow it to proc Corrosive quite frequently, to deplete enemy armour. Semi-Auto deals more than enough damage to finish enemies off once their armour is minimised.
Vs Armoured Heavies with Hunter Munitions: 4/5 - Hunter Munitions allows both firing modes to proc Slash, which in particular is a big benefit for Semi-Auto. With high Crit, both firing modes can proc Slash with decent frequency, though the slow-firing Semi-Auto can be a little inconsistent at times.

Vs Variants

None.

Competitors

As the Fulmin's two firing modes are quite distinct, it has no direct competitors.

The Full-Auto mode has a number of competitors, as it is fairly conventional. The Baza is probably the closest directly comparable weapon, with better overall Crit and higher RoF, but lower Base Damage. It ends up with slightly higher Burst DPS, but lower Sustained DPS than the Fulmin in Full-Auto. The Baza is innately Silent, but also suffers from damage fall-off. In general, I consider the Fulmin to be better overall. Looking more generally at other crit-capable Full-Auto rifles however, there are many other options: Prisma Grakata, Prisma Gorgon, Soma Prime, Tenora, to name a few. The Fulmin's Semi-Auto mode is its main distinction.

The only two other weapons like the Fulmin's Semi-Auto are the Arca Plasmor and a Catchmoon Kitgun. It is more powerful than the Arca Plasmor, but pales in comparison to a crit-built Catchmoon. The Arca Plasmor has a much larger projectile.

Rivens

As a new weapon, the Fulmin has a neutral 3/5 (1) Riven Disposition. I consider this fairly reasonable as it has significant strengths, but also notable weaknesses.

As usual, Damage/Multishot/Crit Chance/Crit Damage are all great stats to have. +Elemental Damage of an element you want can be helpful for elemental bias or saving mod slots. +Flight Speed increases the speed and thus range and damage fall-off of Semi-Auto, which can be quite useful. +Punch Through can be useful mainly for Full-Auto to handle crowds more efficiently.

-Impact/Puncture/Slash are all great negatives to have. With Impact/Puncture, it reduces the base Damage of one of your firing modes by a little, which is fairly insignificant. -Slash has no effect on either firing mode, so is perfect. -Faction Damage to a faction you're not concerned about can be good. -Ammo Max has no effect, so is also perfect. -Reload SPeed affects only the recharge delay, so is not as bad as for other weapons - but I still wouldn't recommend it personally. +Recoil can be quite manageable. -Zoom is great as the Fulmin is much better in close quarters.