Prime Unvaulting: Saryn + Valkyr (2019)

The latest Prime Unvaulting has been announced, and it will consist of Saryn and Valkyr Primes. It will open on September 3rd, 2019.

Saryn Prime comes with Spira and Nikana Primes. Saryn is a toxin/plague-themed Warframe, focusing on wide-reaching damage dealing. With both semi-infinite scaling damage and a plethora of Status procs, she is quite capable of obliterating entire maps worth of enemies.

Spore (1) infects an enemy with a Corrosive-damaging Spore, which also inflicts Corrosive procs. These Spores can be spread to more enemies by being hit, or killing the host. Additionally, over time, the damage-per-tick dealt by Spores increases. Molt (2) leaves behind a decoy that draws enemy fire, also giving Saryn a short speed boost and cleansing her of all Status procs. Toxic Lash (3) adds Toxin damage to all weapons, doubled for Melee. It also adds guaranteed Toxin procs, and will automatically spread the Spores on any enemy hit. Miasma (4) deals Viral damage with guaranteed proc to all enemies within range, with damage being quadrupled on enemies infected by Spore. Enemies are also stunned for a moment upon casting.

Saryn's Augments have received a few buffs over the years, so are generally all actually somewhat decent. Venom Dose (1) adds a significant amount of Corrosive damage to her weapons and the weapons of nearby allies. Regenerative Molt (2) heals Saryn over time after casting Molt, provided the Molt remains alive. Contagion Cloud (3) leaves behind Toxin clouds on kills while Toxic Lash is active.

Saryn Prime has increased Armour, Max Energy and Sprint Speed over base Saryn, all of which are quite useful. Overall, Saryn is a powerful Warframe capable of crippling and killing massive groups of enemies, while also having above-average survivability. She has been my favourite Warframe for a long time, and is currently a top pick in any mission that requires killing lots of regular enemies.

Spira Prime is a Crit-focused throwing Secondary. It is very powerful by thrown Secondary standards, with quite high damage-per-shot, but relatively low RoF. Compared to conventional Secondaries, the Spira Prime is nothing special, but if you're after one that is innately silent, it is definitely worth a look.

Nikana Prime is a Nikana Melee with solid Crit and Status Chance. Combined with its majority Slash damage, it is overall fairly powerful, and quite capable of killing most enemies without much trouble. Notably, the Nikana Prime still compares reasonably favourably to a good Zaw Nikana, thanks to its very high base stats.


Valkyr comes with Cernos and Venka Primes. Valkyr is a berserker-themed Warframe, with quite good survivability and powerful close range abilities.

Rip Line (1) can be used to either pull Valkyr to a targeted location quickly, or pull an ally or enemy to her location. Warcry (2) increases the Melee Attack Speed and Armour of Valkyr and all nearby allies, while also slowing all nearby enemies. Paralysis (3) spends 33% of Valkyr's shields to deal a little damage to nearby enemies, opening them up for Finishers. Hysteria (4) activates Valkyr's Exalted Talons, which have very high base Damage and great Crit Chance. It also makes her invulnerable while active, and has an innate lifesteal effect. Any damage dealt to Valkyr while invulnerable will be saved, and will be dealt to Valkyr upon exiting Hysteria if there are any enemies still alive nearby. Hysteria's energy drain increases over time.

Valkyr's Augments are all useful to some extent. Swing Line (1) causes successive Rip Line casts, while airborne, to cost no energy. Eternal War (2) extends Warcry's duration with each Melee kill. Prolonged Paralysis (3) pulls affected enemies towards Valkyr, and significantly increases the stun duration. Hysterical Assault (4) allows Valkyr to pounce at enemies from range with Hysteria active.

Valkyr Prime has increased Armour and Max Energy over base Valkyr, which are both fairly useful. Overall, Valkyr is a very potent Melee Warframe, with several solid abilities that emphasise close range combat. She is also quite survivable, with very high Armour and access to invulnerability and lifesteal.

Cernos Prime is an unusual Bow, firing three arrows at base in a spread. It has very good Crit and solid Status Chance, making it surprisingly effective against clusters of enemies by Bow standards. The Cernos Prime pales in comparison to a typical Primary for overall use, but is quite unique as Bows go, and can be rather fun to use.

Venka Prime is a Claw Melee, with high Crit, reasonable Status Chance, and majority Slash damage. It is easily the best Claw Melee currently in game, which isn't saying much considering there are only three (Venka [Prime] and Ripkas). It is quite powerful with its high stats and decent choice of powerful Stances, however suffers from terribly short Range.


My personal recommended order of acquisition priority would be:

1. Saryn/Valkyr Prime
2. Weapons to personal preference - they're pretty much all decent.