Prime Unvaulting: Ash and Vauban Primes (2019)

With so many Primes in the game now, DE are stepping up the frequency of Unvaultings. This time around it's Ash and Vauban's turn to become available once more. This Unvaulting is currently available.

Ash Prime comes with Vectis and Carrier Primes. Ash is a ninja/assassin themed Warframe, with more offensively-oriented abilities than Loki, the traditional stealth Frame. With several solid abilities, Ash can be quite fun and much more capable without relying on weapons as much.

Ash's Shuriken (1) throws two auto-aiming shurikens, dealing some Slash damage with guaranteed proc. Smoke Screen (2) cloaks Ash for a short time, as well as staggering nearby enemies upon casting. Teleport (3) teleports Ash to the target. If the target was an enemy, they are opened up for a melee finisher. Bladestorm (4) is a two-stage ability. In the first stage, Ash marks enemies to be attacked by passing over them with the reticle, up to 3 times per enemy. When triggered again, it spawns two "Shadow Clones" who attack the marked enemies by performing finishers on them, dealing high True damage with guaranteed Slash proc.

Ash has access to several good Augments. Seeking Shuriken (1) causes Shurikun to temporarily reduce the armour of its victims. Smoke Shadow (2) cloaks nearby allies on cast. Fatal Teleport (3) triggers an automatic melee finisher on cast, dealing additional damage. If the finisher kills the enemy, half of the energy cost is refunded. Rising Storm (4) increases melee combo buildup from Blade Storm, as well as increasing melee combo duration.

Ash Prime has increased Shields, Armour and Sprint Speed compared to regular Ash, the Armour and Sprint Speed boosts being more notable. Overall, Ash is a more offensively minded stealth Warframe, who can deal solid damage while also staying hidden.

Vectis Prime is a powerful MR14 Sniper Rifle, dealing very high damage-per-shot. It has a two-shot magazine with a very fast Reload Time, so operates somewhat like a bolt-action rifle compared to the other, more conventional Snipers (e.g. Rubico [Prime]). With great all-round base stats and good use of Hunter Munitions, the Vectis Prime is capable of handling just about any given enemy in the game.

Carrier Prime is, as of writing, the toughest Sentinel currently available in the game. It also has access to two very good Precepts, Ammo Case and Looter. Ammo Case increases Max Ammo for all weapons, and provides an innate Ammo Mutation effect as well, which is extremely useful for many weapons. Looter is a nice convenience mod, regularly destroying nearby containers.
Additionally, Carrier Prime comes with one of the more powerful Sentinel weapons, the Sweeper Prime Shotgun. With a great combination of toughness, good Precepts and a decent weapon, it's no surprise that the Carrier Prime is one of the most popular Sentinels.


Vauban Prime comes with Akstiletto and Fragor Primes. Vauban is a device/trap-themed Warframe, with all of his abilities being deployed from thrown balls. With one of the best CC abilities in the game, coupled with a number of other useful deployables, the newly reworked Vauban is quite a good CC Frame with a lot of other utility.

Tesla Nervos (1) deploys a small roller that latches onto an enemy, shocking and stunning it and nearby enemies. Minelayer (2) has four deployables. Tether Coil latches onto 2 nearby enemies, ragdolling them and pulling them in. Flechette Orb fires nails in all directions, dealing Puncture damage that notably scales with enemy level. Vector Pad accelerates both allies and enemies in the direction it points. Overdrive latches on to a nearby ally, giving them a damage multiplier. Photon Strike (3) calls in an orbital strike at the targeted location, dealing damage that also scales with enemy level. Bastille (4) suspends a number of enemies caught in its radius, rendering them helpless and vulnerable, as well as slowly stripping their armour. When the button is held down, or upon expiring, all deployed Bastilles collapse into Vortices, sucking all nearby enemies in and ragdolling them.

Vauban's Augments are quite varied. Tesla Bank (1) causes the Tesla Nervos rollers to absorb any damage dealt to their host, releasing it upon their death as an Electric damage AoE. With Photon Repeater (3), striking at least 5 enemies with a single Photon Strike will make the next one cost no energy. Repelling Bastille (4) causes enemies to be pushed out of Bastille once its maximum enemy capacity has been reached. When in Vortex mode, throwing a Vortex into a pre-existing one will increase its duration, notably being able to exceed its standard duration.

Vauban Prime has increased Shields and Armour compared to regular Vauban, neither of which is a significant boost. Overall, Vauban is a somewhat versatile Warframe, though his strength is clearly in CC, thanks to his excellent Bastille/Vortex (4). His other abilities have been made a lot more useful with his rework however, and he is reasonably well rounded.

Akstiletto Prime is an MR10 dual Secondary, that has long been the standard to which Full-Auto Secondaries are compared. With usable Crit, great Status Chance, a fast Reload and minimal Recoil, it is very well rounded and capable Secondary. It has been relatively powercreeped in recent times, but still remains a very solid option.

Fragor Prime is an MR12 Hammer with insane Crit, but relatively slow Attack Speed. Notably, it also has a starting Combo Count of 30, enough for an immediate 2x. The recent Melee overhaul in U26 also made most melee weapons much smoother to use. The Fragor Prime is one of the better hammers, especially for heavy attacks or finishers, and should serve well if you enjoy Hammers.


To be honest, I don't use Ash or Vauban all that much, so it's difficult for me to discuss in-depth how good they are. From my relatively limited experience, I've found both to have enjoyable niches, and of course they may not be available again for a while.

If pressed for time and resources, I'd personally recommend prioritising the Unvaulted Prime items in the following order:

1. Ash/Vauban Prime
2. Carrier Prime - notably offers more Mastery than any other item, thanks to its included weapon.
3. Vectis/Fragor Prime - both are powerful and have a distinct niche in their class.
4. Akstiletto Prime - the least notable item in this Prime Unvaulting, as it has been quite heavily powercrept recently.