The Akbolto Prime is an MR13 dual Secondary, released alongside Mirage and Kogake Primes. With among the best Crit stats in the game and a decent Status Chance, it possesses impressive firepower. However, it is somewhat restrained by firing bolts with travel time, and being a Semi-Auto with a painfully high RoF.
Acquisition
Standard fare for a dual Prime Secondary with no single counterpart. Note that at the time of writing, the Akbolto Prime is currently Vaulted, and cannot be obtained from Relics that currently drop. It will semi-periodically become available alongside Mirage Prime.
Stats
Naturally, the Akbolto Prime is a Crit weapon, with the highest Crit Chance of all non-Kitgun Secondaries, and a great Crit Multiplier. Its Fire Rate is quite high for a Semi-Auto weapon, which is good for Status application but very poor for usability; clicking that fast is very difficult to sustain, and almost impossible to do while maintaining decent aim. A Status Chance of 14% is respectable but not amazing.
A solid Mag Capacity of 40 and a rather fast Reload Time of 1.3 seconds gives an excellent Reload Ratio of 4.40.
Notably, the Akbolto Prime fires arrow-like projectiles, which naturally have travel time. If a given projectile kills an enemy, it will continue on its path, dragging along the enemy's body and potentially damaging another enemy. This pseudo-Punch Through effect is especially useful against crowds of weak enemies.
A solid Mag Capacity of 40 and a rather fast Reload Time of 1.3 seconds gives an excellent Reload Ratio of 4.40.
Notably, the Akbolto Prime fires arrow-like projectiles, which naturally have travel time. If a given projectile kills an enemy, it will continue on its path, dragging along the enemy's body and potentially damaging another enemy. This pseudo-Punch Through effect is especially useful against crowds of weak enemies.
Augments
None.
Builds
Lethal Torrent 0-Forma:
The Akbolto Prime has an incredible 4 innate polarities: 3 V and 1 -. It is quite possible to get away with not Forma-ing it at all and still fit in a very good build. This example build makes great use of that, loading up on Crit and direct damage.
Punch-Through 0-Forma:
Element-wise, as always, my recommended catch-all is Viral, especially on the Akbolto Prime which does not have a particularly high Status Chance. Corrosive and Radiation are relevant against various enemies, particularly bosses. Pure Toxin is an alternative strong option against unarmoured Corpus enemies, bypassing their shields entirely.
Recommended Setups: Viral vs everything, Corrosive vs Infested, Radiation vs armoured Corpus, Toxin vs unarmoured Corpus
General Purpose 1-Forma:
The previously mentioned Augur Pact is a solid no-fuss damage boost. Magnum Force is more powerful, but its accuracy penalty can be troublesome. Hydraulic Crosshairs and Sharpened Bullets are conditional Crit-boosting options that are also decently powerful, with HC giving slightly more damage.
Finally, there is always the option of slotting in a third Elemental mod. In particular, Primed Heated Charge is a massive damage boost, and adds a very valuable (potential) Status proc. More generally, it enables multi-elemental combos of which there are several notable ones. Viral + Heat is a fantastic all-rounder combo, while Corrosive + Heat is great against Ferrite-armoured enemies and the Infested. Radiation + Toxin is a novel catch-all against Corpus, while Viral + Electric specifically targets their unarmoured units.
As with all projectile weapons, Lethal Momentum for +Projectile Speed is a great option for the Exilus slot. It makes combat, especially at longer ranges, much easier. An Ammo Mutation mod is worth considering if you find ammo efficiency to be a problem.
Recommended Setups: see above. Also consider: Viral + Heat vs everything, Corrosive + Heat vs Infested, Radiation + Toxin vs Corpus, Viral + Electric vs unarmoured Corpus
My Builds
My go-to build is a maximum Status Chance Viral + Punch Through one. It is at least decently effective against just about everything, and is great at cleaning up groups or weakening heavies.
This Corrosive + Heat build maximises direct damage, especially effective against the Infested.
This Viral + Heat build retains a higher Status Chance, to stack up brutal Viral + Heat procs. In exchange, the loss of Punch Through makes it much less consistent against crowds.
Combat Use and Summary
With the changes to Status, primarily the removal of 4x bias to Physical damage types, the AkboltoP is reasonably competent at inflicting useful procs. A Viral or Corrosive build, with optional Heat, is very capable of weakening heavily armoured enemies through Status procs. Its impressive direct damage is then readily capable of finishing them off.
As a projectile weapon, the Akbolto Prime is naturally subject to projectile travel time, which can make longer ranged combat more difficult. Slotting in Lethal Momentum can be a big help, but the downside still remains.
Overall, the Akbolto Prime is a powerful Secondary with a great spread of stats. It is capable of taking down almost any enemy in Warframe, and is not particularly weak against any given target. By far the biggest drawback, and the main decision point, is the high RoF Semi-Auto. If you can handle the inconvenient trigger type, the Akbolto Prime is a top notch Secondary absolutely worth investment. If not, then you may find its performance somewhat lacking.
Scores
Vs Trash Mobs: 3.5/5 - High direct damage allows the AkboltoP to kill most weaker enemies with few shots. Decent RoF and a very good Reload Ratio allow it to comfortably engage many targets consecutively. By far the biggest drawback here is its Semi-Auto trigger, requiring rapid clicking/a macro/binding to mouse wheel to make full use of its capabilities.
Vs Unarmoured Heavies: 4.5/5 - Quite high Burst DPS even by Secondary standards allows the AkboltoP to chew through heavy enemies with ease.
Vs Armoured Heavies: 4/5 - The recent changes to Status, particularly the removal of 4x physical bias, has been a big help to the Akbolto Prime. It is quite capable of stacking up Viral/Corrosive/Heat procs on armoured enemies, dealing heavy direct damage to easily clean up the now-weakened enemies.
Vs Variants
The MR11 Telos Akbolto offers a more interesting and slightly less clear-cut comparison. The Telos actually has even lower Crit than the regular Akbolto, trading it for exceptional Status Chance. It also innately has the Truth syndicate effect, occasionally dealing 1000 radial Gas damage, recovering some Health, and temporarily giving increased Parkour speed.
Compared to the Prime, the Telos retains its significant Status Chance and base Damage advantage, however naturally is even further behind in Crit. It also has a smaller Mag Capacity and much slower Reload Time, which are both big factors in Sustained DPS.
I personally much prefer the Prime. For me, the higher RoF of the Telos does not work well with its Semi-Auto, drastically limiting its actual damage output compared to its on-paper DPS. Though the Prime has the same issue, its base RoF is lower, so suffers relatively less in terms of actual damage output. Additionally, the Mag Capacity and Reload Time differences are quite significant. The Prime's massive Crit is an enormous factor in its higher damage output, and I find its Status Chance to be high enough against the tougher enemies.
Compared to the Prime, the Telos retains its significant Status Chance and base Damage advantage, however naturally is even further behind in Crit. It also has a smaller Mag Capacity and much slower Reload Time, which are both big factors in Sustained DPS.
I personally much prefer the Prime. For me, the higher RoF of the Telos does not work well with its Semi-Auto, drastically limiting its actual damage output compared to its on-paper DPS. Though the Prime has the same issue, its base RoF is lower, so suffers relatively less in terms of actual damage output. Additionally, the Mag Capacity and Reload Time differences are quite significant. The Prime's massive Crit is an enormous factor in its higher damage output, and I find its Status Chance to be high enough against the tougher enemies.
Competitors
There are many other Semi-Auto Secondaries worth looking at, though they largely fill different niches to the Akbolto Prime. Weapons like the Arca Scisco, Lato Vandal (and Prime if you're lucky enough to have it), (Ak)Lex Prime, (Ak)Magnus, Vaykor Marelok, and (Ak)Vasto Prime are all examples of solid Semi-Auto Secondaries. These weapons all trade a lower and more manageable RoF for higher damage-per-shot.
Pure stat-wise, the Full-Auto Hystrix is actually somewhat comparable to the Akbolto Prime. At just MR7 however, it is significantly weaker overall, besides its unique feature of forced basic element procs. The Akstiletto Prime is an example of a Full-Auto Secondary with almost the same RoF, trading direct damage for superior Status capabilities - despite its significantly lower firepower, I find the AkstilettoP to be far more user-friendly.
The most similar feeling weapon to the AkboltoP, besides its siblings of course, is probably the Akjagara Prime. Firing quick two-round bursts, it handles almost exactly like a Semi-Auto, with the obvious caveat of higher RoF/ammo consumption. As its trigger pulls are only required for every second round however, I find the AkjgaraP easier to handle than the AkboltoP - with an effective base RoF of 5 double rounds per second, it is easier to reach and maintain its peak output. The AkjagaraP has lower Crit stats in exchange for excellent Status capabilities.
Pure stat-wise, the Full-Auto Hystrix is actually somewhat comparable to the Akbolto Prime. At just MR7 however, it is significantly weaker overall, besides its unique feature of forced basic element procs. The Akstiletto Prime is an example of a Full-Auto Secondary with almost the same RoF, trading direct damage for superior Status capabilities - despite its significantly lower firepower, I find the AkstilettoP to be far more user-friendly.
The most similar feeling weapon to the AkboltoP, besides its siblings of course, is probably the Akjagara Prime. Firing quick two-round bursts, it handles almost exactly like a Semi-Auto, with the obvious caveat of higher RoF/ammo consumption. As its trigger pulls are only required for every second round however, I find the AkjgaraP easier to handle than the AkboltoP - with an effective base RoF of 5 double rounds per second, it is easier to reach and maintain its peak output. The AkjagaraP has lower Crit stats in exchange for excellent Status capabilities.
Rivens
The Akbolto Prime has a slightly below average Disposition of 3/5 (0.95), which I consider to be relatively fair. It is a powerful though not exceptional weapon, and being a fast-firing Semi-Auto is also quite detrimental to realising its full potential.
Naturally +Damage/Multishot/Crit Chance/Crit Damage are all top stats to have. +Elemental damage can be a powerful damage bonus or save a mod slot for something else. +Projectile Speed is quite helpful especially beyond close range, though can be covered by the Exilus slot. +Punch Through is a great help against crowds, even with the pseudo-PT effect on kills.
-Impact/Slash both have minimal effect on overall damage output, as they are such small components. -Puncture costs more damage, but heavily biases Status procs towards elements, which can be very effective. -Faction Damage is not an issue against any other faction, and can be manageable against the weaker ones. As an already fast-firing Semi-Auto weapon, I find -Fire Rate to be not terrible on the Akbolto Prime, especially alongside Lethal Torrent which can easily cancel it out. -Ammo Max is quite manageable, especially with one of Ammo Case/Mutation/etc. I would consider -Reload Speed to be relatively manageable, as base 1.3 seconds is quite fast. +Recoil is great if you manage recoil well. -Zoom is great for close quarters.
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