Review: Zhuge Prime (U25.4.3)

The Zhuge Prime is an MR14 Full-Auto crossbow, released in U25.3 alongside Wukong and Ninkondi Primes. With several unique features over the base Zhuge, and overall strong base stats, it is a powerful, though at times frustrating, crossbow.

Acquisition

Like all other Prime weapons, the Zhuge's components and main blueprint are available in a variety of Void Relics. As it has just been released, it will be readily available for a while, and will not be Vaulted until Wukong Prime does.

Stats

The Zhuge Prime has quite a strong set of base stats. It has good Crit, very high Status Chance and good Slash bias. Its Fire Rate is the highest of all Crossbows barring the Nagantaka's secondary fire. Its Mag Capacity is also the highest among Crossbows, for an overall Reload Ratio of 1.82.

Uniquely, when reloading from empty, the Zhuge Prime gains +100% Reload Speed. This is quite useful given its base Reload Time is quite long.

The Zhuge Prime uses explosive bolts, which detonate a second after impact, damaging anything within 3 metres. Direct impact from the bolts deals half of the Zhuge Prime's total damage, with the explosion dealing the other half. Each damage type is also equally split between the two, and the explosion has the same Crit stats and Status Chance as the direct bolt impact. These are all very, very good things, as it essentially doubles the number of Status procs inflicted, while also offering major crowd-killing abilities.

There is however one massive downside - the explosions deal self damage. This makes the Zhuge Prime much more dangerous to use especially in close quarters.

Finally, as a Bow, the Zhuge Prime suffers from both projectile travel time and projectile drop. This makes long range engagements much more difficult.

Augments

None.

Builds

Corrosive 0-Forma:

With three native V polarities, the Zhuge Prime can fit in a solid build without any Forma, which is a nice change from the other weapons I've reviewed recently. This pictured build is a Corrosive one, leaning towards Status. There is space to use both 90% elementals rather than 60/60s. Vigilante Armaments is just an all-round solid additional mod for a no-fuss damage boost.

Hunter Munitions 0-Forma:

Alternatively, a Viral + Hunter Munitions build also fits nicely instead.

The Zhuge Prime makes a very good Viral + Slash Status weapon. It has very high base Status Chance, good Slash bias, and its explosions double its Slash proccing ability. Thanks to its solid Crit, Hunter Munitions enhances this ability even further. The Zhuge Prime can also pull off quite an effective Corrosive Status build too. Again, it is helped significantly by its explosions proccing just as much Status as direct-impact from its bolts. Both these Viral + Slash and Corrosive builds are highly effective against armoured enemies.

Against Infested, as always, Corrosive is the best overall option. Blast does reasonable damage too, and can keep Infested at bay with its proc. Viral with its proc is decent as well, but fares worse against Eximus enemies. Against unarmoured Corpus, there are several options. Viral does the best direct damage against organics once Shields are depleted. Some added Electric does major damage to Robotics if you can fit it. Toxin bypasses Shields entirely, particularly effective against enemies with a lot of Shields but minimal Health. As a capable Status weapon, the Zhuge Prime can also make very good use of Gas. Its proc inflicts a super Toxin proc to all enemies within range, making it exceptionally effective against groups.

Recommended Setups: Corrosive or Viral + HM vs Grineer, Corrupted, armoured Corpus, Corrosive vs Infested, Viral or (Viral + Electric) or Toxin or Gas vs unarmoured Corpus

Fire Rate 1-Forma:

One added polarity (V works well for just about any build, while - is also good in some builds) allows you to fit in an eighth mod provided you have the 60/60 mods. This example build slots in Speed Trigger for some +Fire Rate. As I've mentioned previously, I don't like using Full-Auto weapons that fire too slowly, and the Zhuge Prime definitely falls in that category. As it is a Bow, it gains a double bonus from +Fire Rate (and conversely double malus from -Fire Rate). I've personally felt that +90% (+180% for Bows) Fire Rate from Vile Acceleration is a tad too fast for the Zhuge Prime, hence sticking to Speed Trigger.

Damage 1-Forma:

An alternative, with a little mod shuffling, is the use of Heavy Caliber for sheer damage-per-shot. There are several other good options for the two spare slots besides the already mentioned Vigilante Armaments, Heavy Caliber and Hunter Munitions.

As a weapon with good Crit, the Zhuge Prime can of course make good use of Bladed Rounds and Argon Scope. An additional elemental mod can also be useful, either for boosting a damage type's bias or adding another element. I personally find +Mag Capacity (Magazine Warp) or +Reload Speed ([Primed] Fast Hands]) to make the Zhuge Prime a lot more comfortable to use.

Recommended Setups: see above.

My Builds

My go-to build is a Viral + Hunter Munitions one, dealing significant damage to most targets, and powerful Slash procs to anything with heavy armour.

I really like a Gas build against Corpus, as the Zhuge Prime has enough Status Chance to make good use of it. I would probably switch Bladed Rounds to Malignant Force, for even higher Status Chance and Gas bias.

Corrosive is mainly for use against Infested.

Combat Use and Summary

The Zhuge Prime is quite a versatile weapon, with quite good damage output and Status abilities. Its explosive bolts make it one of the best Bows for use against groups, second only to the even-more-powerful Lenz. It fares quite favourably to many other primaries as well, though the delayed nature of the explosions does hinder it. With good Crit and solid overall DPS, the Zhuge Prime also fares quite well against high-health enemies.

With high Status Chance and Crit Chance, as well as Slash bias, the Zhuge Prime also fares quite well against heavily armoured enemies. It can pull of either a Viral + Slash build, augmented further with Hunter Munitions, or a Corrosive armour strip build, very effectively. Its explosions double the effectiveness of a Corrosive build, since both direct impact and explosion can proc Corrosive.


The Zhuge Prime's delayed explosions are by far the worst aspect of it. Firstly, it unnecessarily delays the Zhuge Prime's full damage output for a second, which in Warframe's incredibly fast-paced combat is a significant disadvantage. It also poses an even bigger threat to its user than most self-damage weapons.

As I'm not really one for videos, here's a link to one of Quiette Shy/Quite Shallow's videos (language warning if you are sensitive to such) which is useful for demonstrating the problem with the delay. Not only do you have to beware of any enemy that charges towards you, but you also have to be very careful if you are moving quickly towards a target or location. Often it is necessary to stall your momentum (backflipping is useful for this) to avoid potentially killing yourself.

While the Lenz is also an explosive bow with a delayed explosion, its clearly marked explosive radius and far lower RoF greatly reduce its threat, and improve survivability.


Overall, the Zhuge Prime is a powerful Crossbow that is highly effective against many targets, but is also dangerous to the user. Its delayed explosions reduce its initial damage output, which can be troublesome. With a bit of practice, its self-threat is reduced, but as demonstrated in Shy's video, the delayed explosion poses far more of a threat than usual explosive weapons. If you enjoy AoE weapons with self-damage, or want a Bow that is quite effective against groups (and most targets for that matter), the Zhuge Prime is definitely worth a look. Just be aware that it handles differently to other self-damaging weapons.

Scores

Vs Trash Mobs: 4/5 - The delayed explosion on impact gives the Zhuge Prime far superior anti-crowd abilities than any bow not named Lenz, and is quite competitive even by overall Primary standards. The explosion being delayed, and its self-damage, both limit its potential.
Vs Unarmoured Heavies: 4/5 - With solid Crit and fairly high base Damage, the Zhuge Prime fares quite well against enemies with a lot of health.
Vs Armoured Heavies without Hunter Munitions: 4/5 - With very high Status Chance, and both direct-impact and explosion being capable of inflicting Status procs, the Zhuge Prime has good options against armoured enemies. It can run either a Corrosive armour strip build, or a Viral + Slash build.
Vs Armoured Heavies with Hunter Munitions: 4.5/5 - The Zhuge Prime's Crit stats are quite solid, and between direct impact and its delayed explosions, it can inflict a lot of Slash procs, both naturally and from HM.

Vs Variants

The Zhuge Prime has a number of improvements over the MR10 Zhuge, though loses out in a few stats. The Prime has superior Crit Chance, RoF, Mag Capacity and Slash bias, making it a more balanced and versatile weapon. Not shown in the stats screen, it also has its explosive AoE, and faster Reload from empty. The base Zhuge however has a slightly faster base Reload Time, and slightly higher Status Chance and overall base Damage.

Besides the issues of delayed damage, and self-damage on explosions, the Zhuge Prime is largely a better weapon, being more versatile and overall more powerful.

Competitors

No other bow really compares well to the Zhuge Prime. The only other bows with explosive AoE are the Mutalist Cernos (which is a Status-focused bow) and Lenz (which is a nuclear launncher). The closest you'll get is installing Thunderbolt on to another crossbow, and it won't be remotely as powerful since Thunderbolt doesn't scale with mods.

Looking more generally into Primaries, there are a few other fast-firing weapons with AoE-on-impact. The two that come to mind are the Needler Javlok and Scourge. The Javlok is also a hybrid-capable weapon, with solid Crit and Status Chance. It has much higher base Damage, though lower Fire Rate and a far smaller Mag Capacity. The Scourge is weaker and slower, though notably deals pure base Corrosive damage, one of only 3 weapons to have base Corrosive damage. Neither of these weapons deals self-damage though, where the Zhuge Prime does.

Of the (relatively few) fast-firing primaries with a small AoE, the Zhuge Prime is probably the most overall powerful, though I don't have enough experience with the various such weapons to say so conclusively.

Rivens 

The Zhuge family has retained a fairly high 4/5 (1.25) Riven Disposition, which is odd given the Prime was only just released. I think it would be quite fair to drop the Disposition down, to around 3/5 (~1), potentially a bit lower.

As usual, Damage/Multishot/Crit Chance/Crit Damage are all fantastic stats to have. +Slash can be useful for a Slash Status build. +Elemental Damage of a suitable element can save a mod slot, or increase the bias of a particular damage type. +Fire Rate can make the Zhuge (Prime) handle better and give it a much higher DPS, though beware of the doubled bonus as it is classed as a Bow. I like +Mag Capacity, especially for the base Zhuge, as it makes them more comfortable to use for me. +Flight Speed can be quite helpful for longer ranged combat. +Reload Speed likewise can make the Zhuge (Prime) more comfortable to use, as both have quite slow Reloads. +Punch Through is great for the Zhuge, but not Zhuge Prime. It greatly improves the Zhuge's anti-crowd abilities, however prevents the Zhuge Prime's bolts from exploding, halving its damage output.

-Impact has minimal impact on either Zhuge's damage output, and boosts the other Riven stats as well as other damage type bias. -Puncture is also great for the Zhuge Prime, though greatly reduces the Zhuge's base Damage. -Faction Damage to a faction you're not concerned about is quite useful. -Ammo Max is quite tolerable, as both Zhuges are fairly ammo-efficient, and use very common Rifle ammo. +Recoil has relatively little effect on the Zhuge Prime, though the Zhuge kicks much more heavily. -Zoom is ideal if you engage primarily in close quarters combat.