Telos Boltor
Acquisition
Stats
As a projectile weapon, the TBoltor naturally suffers from travel time, which can be troublesome at longer ranges. On a killshot, the bolt that killed will ragdoll and carry the body onwards, in a pseudo-Punch-Through effect.
As a Telos weapon, the TBoltor also has an innate Truth Syndicate effect. Upon gaining sufficient affinity, it will deal radial Gas damage with guaranteed proc, as well as healing a small amount of Health and improving Parkour for a time.
Augments
None.
Builds
Viral + HM 0-Forma:
Single innate V and D polarities gives the Telos Boltor a few Forma-less options. This above example goes for a Viral + Hunter Munitions build, especially effective against heavily armoured, Status-vulnerable enemies. The TBoltor's high Crit Chance procs Hunter Munitions frequently, and the many Slash procs can easily bleed out heavy enemies, ignoring their armour. Viral is a very potent damage amplifier as well. The D polarity has very few matching mods,most notably (Primed) Cryo Rounds, making it often a wasted polarity for many weapons.
An alternative setup for more raw damage, at the cost of Slash procs, is to replace both Hunter Munitions and Vigilante Armaments with Split Chamber.
Corrosive 0-Forma:
If not using the D polarity, your mod capacity is a little more constrained. This is an example Corrosive build, sporting stronger multipliers against Ferrite armour and Deimos Infested in particular, while being a little less versatile. One of the 90% elementals can be switched for the corresponding 60/60 to upgrade Vigilante Armaments to Split Chamber.
Element-wise, as always, I find Viral to be the most versatile. It has some useful multipliers (against Grineer and Corpus Flesh), and its proc is useful against anything that isn't outright immune to it (notably, many heavy Deimos Infested are immune to Viral procs). Corrosive is the primary alternative, having its own strong multipliers (Ferrite armour and Fossilised), and its proc is stronger against armoured enemies (though useless against unarmoured).
Radiation is worth consideration against certain targets, primarily Alloy-armoured ones like most Corpus bosses. Pure Toxin is particularly strong against unarmoured Corpus units, as it bypasses their Shields entirely.
Recommended Setups: Viral vs everything, Viral + HM vs Grineer, Corrupted, Corrosive vs Ferrite armour, Infested, Radiation vs Alloy armour, Toxin vs unarmoured Corpus
Viral + HM 3-Forma:
Three added V polarities allows you to comfortably fit in a full Viral + HM build with Shred. The added Punch-Through is a great help against crowds, and I find the increased RoF quite nice as well. Replacing the D polarity with one of the new Vs opens up a lot of other elemental setups, but of course is wasteful if you intend to slot in Primed Cryo Rounds in the future.
Recommended Setups: see above.
- Polarity 4-Forma:
Replacing the D polarity with something more versatile like V or - opens up a lot more build options, particularly in terms of the 90% elementals. In this example build, it could be used for either a non-Cold 90% elemental mod, or Vigilante Armaments. There are of course a lot of other mod options for the slots taken by Vigilante Armaments and Shred.
Heavy Caliber is a strong option for increasing damage-per-shot, however its accuracy penalty can be troublesome at longer ranges. At close range, I find it largely a non-issue. Argon Scope and Bladed Rounds are conditional Crit-boosting options that are both decent. A third elemental mod is also a decent option, opening up combinations like Viral + Heat. If appropriate for the setup, Primed Cryo Rounds is a major boost over the default Cold mods. A Primed Bane for the appropriate Faction is a major damage boost, doubly so for damage-over-time procs like Slash and Toxin.
Viral + Heat is the most notable three-element combo, as its rework made Heat a top-tier Status proc. Armour reduction and stacking, refreshing damage-over-time are extremely strong, especially when augmented by Viral. Corrosive + Heat has strong multipliers against almost every Infested unit, and is also extremely effective against armoured enemies. Radiation + Toxin is a solid general-purpose anti-Corpus setup, while Viral + Electric is especially good against any unarmoured Corpus.
For the Exilus slots, there are two notably strong contenders. Terminal Velocity increases Projectile Flight Speed, which makes longer ranged engagements much easier. Vigilante Supplies provides a watered down Ammo Mutation effect, while also contributing to the Vigilante mod set bonus. A generic Ammo Mutation mod is still worth considering for longer missions if you don't have VSupplies.
Recommended Setups: see above. Also consider: Viral + Heat vs everything, Corrosive + Heat vs armour, Infested, Radiation + Toxin vs Corpus, Viral + Electric vs unarmoured Corpus
My Builds
Pretty standard Viral + HM build. Heavily armoured enemies are pretty much the only things that weren't quickly wiped away by the Telos Boltor's barrage, and prior to the Heart of Deimos and its Viral-proc-immune heavies, they were pretty much all highly vulnerable to Viral + Slash.
Combat Use and Summary
The Telos Boltor is fairly well rounded. Decent Mag Capacity and RoF for overall good Reload Ratio allows it to engage large numbers of enemies reasonably well. The pseudo-Punch-Through effect on kill is very helpful when it triggers, in lieu of full Punch-Through. The TBoltor deals quite good direct damage and will easily kill weaker enemies in a few or even a single shot. High Crit means the TBoltor also deals a good amount of direct damage to unarmoured or Status-immune enemies, especially with reliably headshots.
Without Hunter Munitions, TBoltor is least effective against heavily armoured enemies. Its Status Chance is not amazing, so it does not stack up Viral/Corrosive and Heat procs as quickly or reliably as many other weapons. A total lack of natural Slash procs is also unfortunate - which makes HM even more useful. Triggering off of the TBoltor's very high Crit Chance, HM regularly inflicts powerful Slash procs on enemies, rapidly bleeding out heavily armoured enemies.
As a projectile weapon, the TBoltor is naturally somewhat more difficult to use at longer ranges, suffering from both travel time and a small amount of drop. With a reasonably high base RoF, it is also not particularly ammo efficient, though its base spare 540 rounds will last a while. For long missions, at least one of Ammo Case/Mutation/etc would be helpful to ensure you remain topped up.
Though it is arguably one of the worse Syndicate effects, the Truth effect is still useful. Especially as a newer player with fewer sources of healing, the small health restoration is a nice top-up. Increased Bullet Jump Velocity is quite nice for mobility.
Overall, the Telos Boltor is a solid Crit-focused Full-Auto Rifle. It can handle most targets reasonably well, and is not especially weak in any one area. The Truth Syndicate effect is arguably one of the weakest Syndicate effects, but it is still a nice bonus to have most of the time. If you're after a decent general-purpose, Crit-leaning Rifle, the TBoltor is a worthy option to pursue.
Scores
Vs Trash Mobs: 4/5 - Decent Fire Rate and overall quite good Reload Ratio, combined with solid direct damage output allows the Telos Boltor to deal with groups quite handily. It can quite capably engage large numbers of enemies, with its pseudo-Punch-Through effect on kills being quite helpful in the absence of true Punch-Through.
Vs Unarmoured Heavies: 3.5/5 - High Crit for overall solid direct damage allows the TBoltor to deal quite good damage to anything unarmoured or Status-immune. It is especially potent when landing headshots consistently, thanks to its very high Crit Chance.
Vs Armoured Heavies without Hunter Munitions: 3/5 - Its Status Chance is decent but not amazing, and a total lack of base Slash damage is unfortunate. The TBoltor can make do with a Viral/Corrosive + Heat build, but it is not especially efficient.
Vs Armoured Heavies with Hunter Munitions: 4.5/5 - Hunter Munitions leverages the TBoltor's very high Crit Chance to inflict powerful Slash procs with frightening regularity, rapidly bleeding out heavily armoured enemies.
Boltor Prime
Acquisition
Stats
The Boltor Prime is Status-focused, with a very high Status Chance of 34%. 12%/2x Crit is only worth building for with a strong Crit Riven, alongside other equipment that greatly benefits Crit (e.g Volt's Shield [3], Harrow's Covenant [4]), or if you are very skilled at landing headshots. Majority Puncture and some Impact base Damages are not ideal, as neither is a particularly good damage type or proc.
A Mag Capacity of 60 is not particularly large by Warframe standards, and with Fire Rate of 10 and Reload Time of 2.4 seconds, gives a Reload Ratio of just 2.5. The BoltorP fires bolts with travel time and very slight projectile drop. Upon achieving a kill, the dead enemy is ragdolled and carried along by the killing shot, which will continue to travel on its path.
Augments
None.
Builds
0-Forma:
For two-element combos, as with the Telos Boltor, I'd recommend Viral or Corrosive for most content. Viral is the most versatile, with an almost universally useful proc and some good multipliers. Corrosive has a very useful proc against armour, and some strong multipliers against very relevant threats. Toxin is quite potent on the BoltorP, as both its damage and proc bypass Shields, making it an ideal anti-Corpus setup. Radiation is very strong against Alloy armour, but it is less effective on a Status-focused weapon like the BoltorP.
For three-element combos, there are several strong options to consider. Viral + Heat, as is widely lauded, targets most of the toughest enemies in the game (notably armoured Grineer) and is generally quite effective against most targets. Corrosive + Heat focuses heavily on armour, and has very good multipliers against the Infested. Viral + Electric instead targets the health types of most unarmoured Corpus enemies, while Radiation + Toxin is a little more of a catch-all against the Corpus.
Recommended Setups: Viral (+ Heat) vs everything, Corrosive (+ Heat) vs armour, Infested, Toxin or (Viral + Electric) vs unarmoured Corpus, Radiation (+ Toxin) vs Corpus
1-Forma Crit:
As much as I like building for Crit, it is only barely worth doing on the Boltor Prime. 12%/2x Crit is not very good, and only really pays off if you land headshots consistently, where crits gain an additional 2x multiplier compared to non-crits. This example build has 5 capacity spare.
1-Forma Status:
As shown here, a more Status/element-focused build will end up with higher damage-per-second, not taking into account headshots. This build again has no spare capacity. Though the extra Forma lets you slot in another mod, it does not offer much more in terms of build versatility.
Recommended Setups: see above.
3-Forma Crit:
3-Forma Status:
Vigilante Armaments offers some extra no-fuss Multishot, which is always appreciated, especially on a Status-focused weapon like the Boltor Prime. Shred offers higher RoF and more importantly Punch-Through, which is very helpful against crowds. Heavy Caliber offers a large damage boost at the cost of accuracy, which is largely a non-issue at close-range, but can be troublesome beyond.
For the Exilus slot, again there are two main contenders. Terminal Velocity for increased Projectile Flight Speed can be very useful at longer ranges. Vigilante Supplies provides an Ammo Mutation effect, as well as effectively increasing Crit Chance, though this is of course less effective on the Status-leaning BoltorP. A regular Ammo Mutation mod is still worth considering for longer missions.
Recommended Setups: see above.
My Builds
Fairly ordinary Viral + Heat build. The - polarity used to house a Crit Riven, hence the Crit-focus of this build.
Combat Use and Summary
With a smaller Mag Capacity and somewhat lower damage output than the Telos, the BoltorP is less effective against large groups. It spends a lot more time reloading and takes (slightly) longer to kill enemies. The pseudo-Punch-Through effect on kills is helpful in lieu of true Punch-Through. Its lack of damage is also a notable downside when facing unarmoured and especially Status-immune enemies. The BoltorP falls behind much further when landing headshots against such enemies, as its Crit is much weaker.
Like with the Telos, the BoltorP is more difficult to use at longer range due to its projectile nature, especially with Heavy Caliber equipped. A slightly higher base RoF than the Telos also makes it a little less ammo efficient, though it shares the solid 540 spare ammo pool. Again, one of Ammo Mutation/Case/etc is worth equipping for longer missions.
Overall, the Boltor Prime is a decent though largely unexceptional Status-focused Full-Auto Rifle. It offers little that other Status Rifles do not match or exceed, and itself has flaws that several of its competitors do not possess. I would not recommend going too far out of your way to acquire it, nor would I recommend significant investment unless you really, really like it.
Scores
Vs Trash Mobs: 3/5 - Significantly smaller Mag Capacity for overall worse Reload Ratio, as well as lower direct damage, make the Boltor Prime noticeably less effective against groups than the Telos.
Vs Unarmoured Heavies: 2.5/5 - Much lower Crit and overall mediocre direct damage leaves the Boltor Prime somewhat behind against unarmoured and especially Status-immune enemies.
Vs Armoured Heavies without Hunter Munitions: 4/5 - Very high Status Chance allows the BoltorP to pull off a Viral/Corrosive + Heat build quite effectively against heavily armoured enemies. Viral/Corrosive can be maxed very quickly, allowing the ever-increasing Heat procs to deal impressive damage to the weakened enemy.
Vs Armoured Heavies with Hunter Munitions: NA/5 - Crit Chance is too low to make good use of Hunter Munitions.
Vs Variants
The MR12 Telos Boltor and MR13 Boltor Prime are very similar stylistically, leaning in very different stat directions. The Prime is Status-focused with mediocre Crit, with a significantly higher base Damage. The Telos is Crit-focused with decent Status Chance, with a much larger Mag Capacity. Personally, I find the Telos Boltor to be overall more effective, especially with better ability to use Hunter Munitions. It deals more direct damage, has a much better Reload Ratio, and still has enough Status Chance to still inflict a good number of procs. Hunter Munitions allows it to stack up powerful Slash procs, something the Prime cannot do anywhere near as well. The Prime's main advantage is the ability to stack up (non-Slash) Status procs much more quickly.
The base MR2 Boltor is not worth considering in this discussion.
Competitors
There are a number of other strong Full-Auto Primaries that fill similar roles to the Boltor variants.
The Telos Boltor is Crit-focused, so competes with weapons like the Baza Prime, Prisma Gorgon, a Crit-biased Rattleguts, and the Prisma Grakata. A maximum-Crit Rattleguts will win out for pure DPS, however also has the worst Status capabilities of the lot. Improving its Status to be comparable reduces its direct damage output to well below that of the others.
The Baza Prime and Prisma Gorgon are neck-and-neck for direct damage, with the Prisma Gorgon having the worst Reload Ratio and very heavy recoil, while the Baza Prime has damage fall-off beyond close ranges. The Prisma Grakata is by far the best Status weapon of the lot, but also has heavy recoil and by far the worst ammo efficiency. The Telos Boltor falls behind these weapons in Status and direct damage output due to its lower RoF, however it is much more ammo-efficient and sports its innate Truth Syndicate effect which is a unique advantage. Each of the weapons is strong in its own right, and suit different preferences.
The Status-focused Boltor Prime has much stiffer competition, going up against weapons like the Kuva Karak, Kuva Hind (Full-Auto), and Supra Vandal. The former two in particular have comparable Status capabilities, with superior Crit, better Reload Ratio, more useful base Damage split, and of course the extremely versatile and effective Kuva Lich damage bonus. The Supra Vandal has slightly better Crit, much better Reload Ratio, and access to the Entropy Burst Augment which is quite useful in its own right. Personally, I'd consider all three of these Rifles (among many others) to be superior to the Boltor Prime.
Rivens
The Telos Boltor and Boltor Prime both have an above average 4/5 (1.15) Riven Disposition. I personally think that the Prime should have a higher Disposition than the Telos, as despite its higher Mastery Rank, I find it to be the weaker weapon overall. Regardless, an above-average Dispo is appropriate as neither is a standout in its category, nor are they particularly popular.
Naturally, +Damage/Multishot are both great for both variants. +Crit Chance/Damage is really good for the Telos, and can be good if you are pursuing a Crit build on the Prime. +Elemental Damage can help to add more damage or save a mod slot. +Faction Damage is a great damage multiplier alongside Slash/Heat/Toxin procs, being notably useful against the Grineer. +Mag Capacity/Reload Speed can be helpful particularly for the Prime. +Projectile Speed is beneficial for both models at longer ranges. +Punch-Through is a great help against groups, even with the pseudo-Punch-Through effect on kills.
-Impact/Slash are both ideal negatives, with insignificant (or no) impact on damage output. -Puncture does reduce damage output noticeably, but also greatly increases the ratio of elemental procs, which are much more powerful. -Faction Damage to a weaker faction (mainly Infested) can be quite manageable. -Fire Rate can be readily counterbalanced by a +Fire Rate mod like (Primed) Shred, and can be manageable in a small amount. -Ammo Max can be manageable alongside one of Ammo Case/Mutation/etc. +Recoil can be manageable if you handle Recoil well. -Zoom is ideal for close quarters.
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