Review: Tigris Prime (U28.0.7)

Last Updated: 28.0.7

The Tigris Prime is an MR13 shotgun that was released with Nekros and Galatine Primes, in the Silver Grove updates between U18 and U19. A predominantly Slash shotgun with very high base Damage, it can deal great damage-per-shot, but was significantly weakened in the U27.2 Warframe Revised update.

Acquisition

The Tigris Prime is a standard Prime shotgun, consisting of 3 parts + blueprint. It is currently vaulted, so cannot be obtained from relics that are currently available.

Stats

As immediately apparent, the Tigris Prime has very high base Damage, firing 8 pellets of majority Slash damage. This is supplemented by a solid, though not exceptional, Status Chance.

Unique to the Tigris family and the Zylok Secondary is the Duplex trigger. Pulling the trigger fires the first shot, with releasing the trigger firing the second. For the Tigris family, which has a default Mag Capacity of only 2 rounds, this dual shot is naturally followed by a reload. The Tigris Prime has a Reload Time of 1.8 seconds, which is not great when you are reloading constantly.

As a shotgun, the TigrisP also has fairly short damage fall-off, however with a surprisingly tight spread, it still does fairly respectable damage at longer ranges. It loses around half of its damage beyond close range.

Augments
None.

Builds

0-Forma Status:

Single innate V and - polarities allow the Status-focused Tigris Prime to fit in a solid build. This pictured build fits in with 1 spare capacity. I've elected for three of the 60/60 mods as they allow for the majority of really good elemental combos. They can be switched for two 90% elementals if you do not have the 60/60s, however I consider this a strict downgrade - you get the same damage with none of the increased Status Chance.


I put Seeking Fury on most Shotguns as is standard for my love of Punch-Through, however I feel it is especially beneficial on the TigrisP. Any amount of +Reload Speed is appreciated as it spends more time reloading than shooting, and the Punch-Through greatly improves the efficiency of each shot against multiple enemies.


As usual, Viral with optional Heat is my recommended overall combo for killing of single targets. Viral combines exceptionally well with the TigrisP's frequent Slash procs, dealing massive damage to armoured enemies, bypassing their damage reduction. Extra Heat is great for weakening armour and stacking up extra damage-over-time, but reduces the number of Viral and Slash procs you inflict.

Viral + Electric is a slightly odd combination with unique benefits. It has great multipliers against Corpus health types, and retains most of the benefit of the traditional pure Viral. The extra Electric also adds an AoE proc which, from the TigrisP's great base Damage, can deal surprisingly good damage to weaker, unarmoured enemies. Again, this comes with the downside of fewer Viral + Slash procs, reducing effectiveness against heavily armoured enemies. Electric also has very poor multipliers against non-Corpus enemies. Switching Viral to Gas maximises anti-crowd capabilities, however drastically reduces single target killing capability as Gas has really, really bad multipliers.

Corrosive + Heat has great multipliers against the Infested especially, but without Viral its Slash procs are less potent. Radiation + Toxin is a powerful alternative anti-Corpus setup, targeting their dominant armour type with Radiation, and targeting any unarmoured units with shield-bypassing Toxin.

Recommended Setups: Viral (+ Heat) vs everything, (Viral or Gas) + Electric vs groups, Corrosive + Heat vs Infested, Viral + Electric or Radiation + Toxin vs Corpus

Four-Shot 1-Forma:

One build I particularly like is this setup. Compared to most builds, it is significantly lacking in damage and Status output. In exchange, it packs four shots per mag, rather than just two. As a result, though it is less effective against singular heavies, it is much more capable when faced with larger numbers.

The threshold to hit is +75% Mag Capacity, as it will round up from 3.5 rounds to 4. Ammo Stock alone gives +60%, not quite enough to reach the threshold. A Rank 1 Burdened Magazine can make up the difference, and ranking it further does not offer any benefit.

With 2 capacity spare, there is the option of switching one of the 60/60 elemental mods for something like Vigilante Armaments or Blaze, which I'll discuss just below.

Recommended Setups: see above.

2-Forma:

Another added V polarity and you can comfortably fit in eight mods, depending on your exact setup. This pictured build uses Sweeping Serration to bias procs towards Slash. There are many other mods you could consider in your build, depending on your goal.

Blaze gives a solid damage boost and some added Heat, which is great for raw damage builds but not so much Status builds that want procs other than Heat. Shotgun Savvy adds a large amount of Status Chance without also adding an element, though this of course means such a build will have less direct damage. Vicious Spread is a simple damage boost, with the penalty of increased spread. Chilling Reload and Tactical Pump both significantly improve Reload Time, the former of which also adds some Cold damage. A Primed Cleanse mod is exceptionally powerful as it is twice applied to the TigrisP's brutal Slash procs.

For the Exilus slot, as standard for Shotguns, a prime contender is Fatal Acceleration. Though the TigrisP is hitscan, increased Projectile Flight Speed also increases the distances on its damage fall-off, which makes it a little more effective at medium range.

Recommended Setups: see above.

My Builds:

This first build goes for high Status Chance, with Viral + Heat. Blaze may not be the right choice as it shifts bias towards Heat and away from Slash.

This build focuses more on damage-per-shot, for taking down bosses and such.

This final buildis the four-shot build.

Combat Use and Summary

The Tigris Prime's high damage-per-shot naturally lends well to use against single high health enemies. It can quickly put down most enemies with minimal armour in a shot or two, which with its Duplex trigger can be very fast. Decent Status Chance and high Slash bias also allows the TigrisP to deal with heavily armoured enemies reasonably well. A number of powerful Slash procs augmented by Viral can eat through armoured enemies quite quickly, ignoring their heavy damage reduction.

Naturally, the TigrisP is by far weakest against groups. Without modded Punch-Through, it struggles to effectively hit multiple enemies, and its tiny mag and constant reloading is very troublesome.


As expected for a Shotgun, the Tigris Prime has damage fall-off and significant pellet spread, which greatly reduces its firepower at longer range. When aimed, its pellet spread is surprisingly tight, allowing it to be reasonably effective at range by Shotgun standards.


Overall, the Tigris Prime is a powerful close range single-target weapon. It deals great damage in a very short period of time, and can inflict a good number of Status procs. It handles poorly against large numbers of enemies, especially if they are not close together.

The changes in U27.2 massively weakened the Tigris Prime. Previously, with four 60/60 mods, it would reach 100% Status Chance, inflicting a proc with every pellet - the majority being Slash. With the same mod setup, it now has a mere 38.42% Status Chance per pellet. The TigrisP has retained its very high damage-per-shot, and still remains a solid Slash status weapon, however it is nowhere near the heights it used to reach, and there are many more-well-rounded weapons currently available.

Scores
Vs Trash Mobs: 1/5 - Long reload with a tiny mag, the Tigris Prime has to rely mainly on pellet spread and any modded Punch Through to deal with groups.
Vs Unarmoured Heavies: 4.5/5 - Packs a lot of damage-per-shot even without Crit, and will do major damage to an unarmoured single target.
Vs Armoured Heavies: 4/5 - Very high base Damage and a tendency to inflict several Slash and Viral procs on enemies allows the TigrisP to do quite well against heavily armoured enemies. However, it is nowhere near as good as it used to be at this role.

Vs Variants

The MR13 Tigris Prime is a majority upgrade over the MR7 Tigris. The Prime actually deals lower damage-per-pellet, as well as having a significantly lower Status Chance, however these are both compensated by its much higher pellet count. With 8 pellets vs the regular Tigris' 5 pellets, the Prime deals higher damage-per-shot, and will on average inflict as many, if not more, Status procs.

Since the U27.2 update that reworked Shotgun Status, the gap between the Prime and the MR12 Sancti Tigris has become much less clear cut. Again, the Prime has lower damage-per-pellet and Status Chance, compensated by its higher pellet count. The Prime's damage fall-off also starts slightly later, and is less extreme.

The difference in Crit is interesting, being barely in the Sancti's favour with Blunderbuss + Primed Ravage. More importantly, it can make better use of Hunter Munitions if you want to focus on Slash procs, though I'm not a fan of Crit builds on either Tigris.

Between the faster reload and the syndicate proc, the Sancti is better suited to tackling larger numbers of enemies, while the Prime handles single targets better with its higher total damage. With Status Chance no longer being a major distinction between the two, I personally find the Sancti to be a little better overall.

Competitors

Besides the Sancti Tigris as I discussed just above, the Tigris Prime also faces stiff competition from the Exergis. Due to its low base pellet count, it is one of the only Shotguns that did not have its Status Chance significantly reduced. As a result, it is much more consistent at inflicting Status procs. Additionally, the Exergis has even higher base Damage, and a small amount of innate Punch-Through. However, its main weakness is its Mag Capacity of just a single shot, followed by a 1.6 second Reload Time.

This is where the Tigris Prime is significantly better, with a pair of shots before a slightly longer reload. This gives it much better handling against multiple targets. Additionally, the TigrisP inflicts Slash procs much more consistently, with a far more dominant Slash bias.

To be honest, I don't like either weapon. Especially since U27.2, which massively gimped enemy health scaling, high level enemies are nowhere near as tough as they used to be, and there are far more solid, viable weapons as a result. The Tigris Prime and Exergis are both powerful single-target weapons in a game primarily about horde killing.

Rivens

The Tigris Prime currently has a 2/5 (0.7) Riven Disposition. Given its massive fall from grace, I would not be surprised to see that Disposition continue to rise over time.

As standard, +Damage/Multishot are fantastic stats to have. +Slash is a great help for Slash-focused Status builds. +Crit Chance/Damage are helpful for a Crit build, though I don't personally recommend it. +Elemental damage can be useful to save a slot or fit in combos you wouldn't normally be able to. +Status Chance is very powerful. Though it doesn't add any direct damage, the additional Status procs inflicted are invaluable for dealing with armoured enemies. +Mag Capacity can be a great help towards a four-shot build. At least +15% (which is guaranteed at the current Disposition) alongside Ammo Stock will grant a four-shot mag. +Projectile Speed increases damage fall-off distances, which can be nice for mid-range combat. +Reload Speed is very helpful since the TigrisP is constantly reloading. -Recoil can be helpful for lining up consecutive shots more quickly, but only if you do not compensate for recoil well. +Punch Through is very helpful against tight groups.

-Puncture/Impact are both great, reducing already negligible damage types, and shifting bias towards much more useful procs. -Crit Chance/Damage are manageable in a non-Crit build, with the former being much better. -Faction Damage to Infested or Corpus can be manageable, though do note that your procs will be significantly weakened against them. -Fire Rate is not a big deal as much of the TigrisP's actual RoF comes from its Duplex trigger, which is unaffected. If you are sticking to a two-shot build, -Mag Capacity of up to -24.9% has no effect. -Ammo Max is very manageable as it is quite an ammo-efficient weapon. +Recoil is a good negative if you compensate for recoil well, or do not make rapid follow-up shots often.