Review: Ignis Wraith (U28.2.0)

The Ignis Wraith is an MR9 Flamethrower Primary. With a large AoE, great Status Chance and solid Crit, it is a very strong all-round weapon, but an especially effective crowd clearer.

Acquisition

The Ignis Wraith has an unusual acquisition method. It can be purchased from Baro Ki'Teer, though cannot be traded when built. The Baro method is recommended only for Nintendo Switch players, as all other consoles have a better source. The top 10% of Clans in Operation: The Pacifism Defect gained Ignis Wraith research, and can readily replicate IgnisW blueprints, which are tradeable. This event ran on all platforms except the Switch, as Warframe was not on the Switch at that time (the Switch itself had only just launched).

As such, on all non-Switch platforms, you will likely be able to acquire an Ignis Wraith blueprint for free if you ask around.

Stats

The Ignis Wraith has a very solid stat spread, leaning towards Status. A base 29% Status Chance with pure base Heat damage and a Fire Rate of 8 make it an extremely strong Status weapon, with 17%/2.5x Crit giving it decent direct damage as well.

A Mag Capacity of 200 is enormous, supplemented by a fast Reload Time of just 1.7 seconds. As a beam weapon, the Ignis Wraith only consumes ammo at half its Fire Rate - just 4 ammo per second. This gives it an incredible 29.4 Reload Ratio - the best of any weapon besides the Panthera (Prime) using Secondary Fire.

Image from the Ignis Wraith Wiki page

The Ignis Wraith has an unusual beam structure. Its main beam, which has a base Range of 27 metres, has a small thickness of about 0.15 metres. At the end of its range, or on an object that the beam cannot penetrate, it produces a 3-metre radius explosion. As the beam has innate enemy/body Punch-Through, this gives it a large and very consistent AoE.

Augments

None.

Builds

0-Forma:

Unfortunately, the Ignis Wraith has no innate polarities. As such, it can be difficult to fit even a barebones build in if your mods are all max rank. This example build is well rounded and fairly effective, if a tad lacking for raw damage. As a beam weapon, Multishot is simply another damage multiplier rather than adding extra beams, so partial Multishot is not inconsistent and annoying like it is for most weapons.

As usual, but especially for a Heat-based weapon, Viral is my recommended general-purpose element. Viral + Heat is the current general-purpose meta setup for very good reason, it does major damage to anything that is vulnerable to Status procs, and does solid work against all armour types. Corrosive is also a strong anti-armour setup, particularly against Ferrite-armoured enemies. Radiation does good direct damage to Alloy-armoured enemies, but you may be better off with Viral/Corrosive + Heat for the Heat proc damage-over-time.

Unfortunately, the innate Heat makes it very difficult to get any other single element, notably pure Toxin against unarmoured Corpus.

Recommended Setups: Viral vs everything, Corrosive vs Infested, armour, Radiation vs Alloy armour

1-Forma:

One added V polarity allows switching Vigilante Armaments to Split Chamber, with a decent amount of capacity spare.

Recommended Setups: see above.

2-Forma:

Another added V polarity allows comfortable use of a seventh mod. I've slotted in Vile Acceleration here, as it is a major DPS and proc increase. Viral/Corrosive procs are maxed out very quickly, and Heat procs are rapidly stacked to very high levels for massive damage. Even with it installed, the IgnisW does not consume ammo that quickly.

An alternative to Vile Acceleration is (Primed) Shred. Though it offers a smaller Fire Rate boost (and thus lower DPS), the added Punch Through allows the IgnisW to shoot through walls and other objects. This is especially useful for destroying containers for medallion/cache/etc hunting.

Recommended Setups: see above.

4-Forma:

Two more V polarities allows use of Heavy Caliber alongside an eighth mod. The accuracy penalty from HC is largely a non-issue for the IgnisW, and can actually be viewed as a positive in some ways. It causes the beam to waver slightly, increasing its overall hitbox volume without significantly affecting damage output.

There are several other options for the slots occupied by Heavy Caliber and Vile Acceleration, though the two are easily the best overall options for the slots. Vigilante Armaments is a smaller, no-penalty damage boost. It has less benefit here than on most weapons since Multishot does not increase the number of beams fired. Bladed Rounds and Argon Scope are Crit-boosting options that are easy to trigger. A Primed Bane is a powerful option, as it is applied twice to Heat procs. Primed Cryo Rounds is a big boost to Cold damage, which can be powerful in suitable builds.

Hunter Munitions is an option primarily for use against extremely heavily-armoured enemies, against whom even stacked Viral/Corrosive + Heat procs are not sufficient. Against most enemies however, it is better replaced a more damaging mod.

A third elemental mod could be worth considering for various reasons. Thermite Rounds improves Heat bias while also increasing Status Chance, to stack up Heat procs even faster. A Radiation + Toxin setup is one of the few ways to get pure Toxin on the Ignis Wraith, and is fairly effective against most Corpus units.

Firestorm increases the size of the end-of-range explosion, but is not a big boost. Sinister Reach increases the range of the main beam, which can be helpful. Combustion Beam is fun at low levels and very useful for destroying containers, but is worthless at mid-to-high levels.

For the Exilus slot, the only notable options are Vigilante Supplies, for the Vigilante mod set bonus, and Hush for reduced detection. The IgnisW has no recoil and does not have much trouble with ammo efficiency.

Recommended Setups: see above. Also consider: Radiation + Toxin vs Corpus

My Builds

First two builds are very standard, Viral is the go-to all-rounder, with Corrosive for a pure armour-reduction role. I favour Primed Shred instead of Vile Accleration for the extra object Punch-Through - being able to shoot through walls and other objects is a great convenience.

This final build trades off damage output for improved container-destroying ability. Increased range is always helpful, and the explosions from Combustion Beam are strong enough to destroy most containers in a decent radius. It is much weaker than the other two builds, so is best used at lower levels.

Combat Use and Summary

With innate enemy/body Punch Through and a small explosion at the end of the beam, the Ignis Wraith excels against groups. It can effortlessly eat through large numbers of enemies, with its insane Reload Ratio giving practically no downtime. With its very high Status Chance and pure base Heat damage, it is also quite effective against heavily armoured enemies. It can rapidly max out Viral or Corrosive procs, and stack up many Heat procs

The IgnisW is least effective against unarmoured and especially Status-immune enemies. It deals relatively low direct-damage by Primary standards, and relies heavily on AoE and Status procs for its power.

Hunter Munitions is worth a mention against super-heavily armoured enemies, primarily those found in Railjack and Steel Path missions. These units heavily resist even the powerful Viral + Heat combo, while the Slash procs from HM ignore their absurd armour values entirely. Against most enemies however, HM is better replaced by a more general damage mod.


The Ignis Wraith's ammo consumption rate is actually quite slow as it is a beam weapon, at only 4 rounds/second at base. This makes it quite ammo efficient even with +Fire Rate mods, and as already mentioned contributes to its absurd Reload Ratio. Its limited Range of 27 metres (30 metres if you include the end-of-range explosion) is largely a non-issue in regular Warframe missions, where you can easily close into range in a split second.


The Ignis Wraith is a very good overall Primary, and an especially good crowd clearer. It can do great damage to hordes of enemies, and handles surprisingly well against tougher single enemies. Its generous hitboxes make it ideal if you have trouble with precise aiming. I also find it to be a great weapon for destroying containers, ideal for Sculpture/Cache/etc hunts. I highly, highly recommend getting your hands on one.

Scores

Vs Trash Mobs: 5/5 - A large AoE with innate enemy/body Punch-Through allows the Ignis Wraith to clear out massive groups of enemies effortlessly. An insanely good Reload Ratio doesn't hurt either.
Vs Unarmoured Heavies: 3/5 - Relatively low direct damage makes the IgnisW unexceptional against unarmoured, and especially Status-immune, enemies. Stacked Viral/Magnetic and Heat procs do help a lot, but still pale in comparison to harder-hitting weapons.
Vs Armoured Heavies without Hunter Munitions: 4.5/5 - Very high Status Chance with pure base Heat damage allows the Ignis Wraith to handle armoured enemies quite well. Viral or Corrosive is easily stacked up to maximum, greatly increasing the damage taken by such enemies.
Vs Armoured Heavies with Hunter Munitions: 4.5/5 - HM is of particular use against enemies with insane amounts of armour. Its Slash procs, though not especially frequent, are very effective against these units who otherwise have immense damage reduction. Against regular enemies however, it is not very efficient.

Vs Variants

The MR9 Ignis Wraith is a strict upgrade over the MR5 Ignis. It has superior Crit, Mag Capacity, Reload Time, Status Chance, Range and base Damage. In fairness, the regular Ignis is a very strong weapon at just MR5.

Competitors

Few other beam Primaries can compare to the Ignis Wraith's crowd-clearing abilities, with the only notable one being the Amprex. The two are rather different, the IgnisW being Heat-based, Status-leaning with body Punch Through, and the Amprex being Electric-based, Crit-focused with a chaining mechanic. Both are great crowd-clearers, and very strong weapons in their own right.

Rivens

The Ignis Wraith has an almost-minimum 1/5 (0.55) Riven Disposition, with the base Ignis only slightly higher at (0.6). Considering the Ignis Wraith is an incredibly popular and very effective weapon, I think this is a reasonable spot for it. Unfortunately, this does mean that you need a particularly good roll to even consider using a Riven.

+Damage/Multishot/Crit Chance/Crit Damage are all great, obviously. +Elemental Damage can be a decent source of extra damage, or shifting around elemental biases. +Fire Rate is a great way to get more damage and procs as well, with the IgnisW's low base RoF making ammo consumption largely a non-issue. +Punch Through allows the IgnisW beam to pass through solid objects like doors and walls, as well as enemies, which can be a nice convenience. It is much less useful than on regular weapons however.

-Faction Damage to a weaker faction (Infested is ideal) is usually manageable, especially if the other Riven stats are good. -Mag Capacity/Reload Speed have minimal detriment. -Ammo Max is a non-issue. -Projectile Speed has no effect. +Recoil has no effect either. -Zoom is perfect as the IgnisW is a close-range weapon only.