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Sunday, 10 January 2021

Review: Cedo (U29.6.5)

 

The Cedo is a new, rather special MR8 Shotgun. Lavos' signature weapon, its Primary Fire gains bonus damage for each Status proc on the enemy, while its Alternate Fire inflicts a massive number of procs, including all basic Elemental procs. Using both firing modes appropriately massively increases the Cedo's overall capabilities, making it a novel and reasonably powerful weapon.

Acquisition


The Cedo blueprint and its components are currently exclusively available through the current Operation: Orphix Venom. They are all potential rotation rewards, but otherwise can be purchased from Father - 1500 Phasic Cells for the blueprint, and 1000 cells for each component. They are also all tradeable.

Stats

Initially, the Cedo's Primary Fire seems like a fairly standard Crit-focused Shotgun. 20%/2.4x Crit is very respectable, though 0.3% Status Chance is utterly awful - the worst of all Primary Shotguns. With that in mind, pure Puncture damage is perhaps the best of the three Physical damage types to have, as it is effective against both common armour types.
 
Damage Fall-Off ranges of 26-52 metres is quite long for a Shotgun, which combines well with its relatively tight pellet spread. The Cedo has a very large Mag Capacity for a Shotgun, at 40 rounds. With a Fire Rate of 3.83 and base Reload Time of just 2.2 seconds, it has a very good Reload Ratio of 4.75.
Notably, Primary Fire has a Condition Overload-like effect, gaining damage for each unique Status proc on the target. The Wiki suggests this value is +60% Base Damage per proc, half that of Melee's Condition Overload, which would stack additively with (Primed) Point Blank, Vicious Spread, and Blaze.
 
The Cedo's Alternate Fire launches an explosive glaive with a degree of homing ability. It notably consumes no ammo, which is perhaps appropriate considering it deals a pathetic amount of damage. Its Status Chance is fantastic, easily inflicting a plethora of Status procs in its 6 metre explosive radius. As such, it should be considered purely a support ability, either for Primary Fire or for a Condition Overload Melee.

This explosive glaive can bounce off of targets and surfaces a number of times (the Wiki suggests 11 times), exploding with each bounce. Note that you can only have one glaive out at any given time - press alt-fire while it is out will immediately recall it.
Uniquely, the glaives launched by Alternate Fire can also proc all of the basic Elementals (Cold, Electric, Heat and Toxin) even if not modded for them.
 
Finally, when used by Lavos, the Cedo has a small innate Shotgun Ammo Mutation effect.

Augments

None.

Builds

0-Forma Basic:

0-Forma Primed Mods:

Two innate V polarities helps the Cedo a great deal, giving sufficient space for a fairly solid Forma-less build. (Primed) Point Blank and Hell's Chamber provide the requisite Damage and Multishot, Blunderbuss and (Primed) Ravage improving Crit. The remaining space is used up by Elemental mods, to add in the all-important damage types and extra procs for Alternate Fire.

In any setup where Cold is used, Chilling Reload is a reasonable alternative to Frigid Blast. It offers the same +Elemental Damage as a 60/60 mod for 2 fewer capacity, while significantly improving Reload Speed. Furthermore, if you don't have the Primed mods, this offers more space to potentially use 90% elementals, which are generally easier to acquire than their 60/60 counterparts.
 

As always, the best overall combined element to mod on is Viral. Its proc is effective against almost every enemy, and it has some useful multipliers. Corrosive is also very strong against armoured enemies, especially Ferrite-armoured ones, as well as having good multipliers against the Infested. Traditionally, Heat is a great addition to these two, however for the Cedo it is somewhat less excellent. Primary Fire has next-to-no Status Chance, so cannot take advantage of stacking up its own Heat procs. Alternate Fire already natively inflicts Heat procs, but deals so little damage that the Heat procs it stacks up will deal minimal damage. In the case of Corrosive, it may be worth adding in some Cold, as it has useful multipliers against health types that Corrosive does not cover.
 
Radiation deals very good direct damage against Alloy-armoured enemies, however its proc is much less useful. Against unarmoured Corpus, pure Toxin damage is very effective, bypassing their Shields entirely. Of course, this does not help increase Primary Fire's damage as Alternate Fire can already innately proc Toxin. You could consider adding in Magnetic to help whittle down Shields, or Radiation for anti-armour, but this of course means less space for the Toxin damage itself.

Recommended Setups: Viral (+ Heat) or Corrosive + Cold vs everything, Corrosive + Heat vs Infested, Radiation (+ Toxin/Cold) vs Alloy armour, Toxin (+ Magnetic or Radiation) vs unarmoured Corpus

1-Forma:


One added V polarity offers more options for the seventh mod slot. These two pictured builds show arguably the two best options. Blaze in the upper build offers a large damage boost while also adding some Heat damage. However, the Cedo is perhaps the worst Shotgun to add Blaze on. Primary Fire has essentially no Status Chance, and Alternate Fire can innately proc Heat, so the additional Heat damage is much less useful than it normally would be. The +Damage is also much less impactful as it stacks additively with Primary Fire's Status proc bonus damage, so overall actually has minimal impact.
 
Hunter Munitions on the other hand is very useful for the Cedo. It allows Primary Fire to inflict Slash procs, which is by far the Cedo's best anti-armour setup, since Alternate Fire cannot stack up strong Heat procs quickly. Though Alternate Fire does not benefit from HM, it is nonetheless necessary to build up procs, particularly Viral, for maximum damage output.
 
Recommended Setups: see above. Also consider: Viral + HM vs Grineer, Corrupted

2-Forma:

Another added V polarity gives you more space to play around with, notably enough space for an eighth mod. There are a bunch of solid options besides the aforementioned Blaze and Hunter Munitions.

Vigilante Armaments is a solid, no-fuss Multishot boost that also increases the Vigilante mod set bonus. Laser Sight is a conditional +Crit Chance mod that actually offers more +Crit Chance than Blunderbuss. It is effective alongside or even instead of Blunderbuss. Shrapnel Shot is its +Crit Damage counterpart, but is not as good as Primed Ravage so is less useful. Motus Setup is a conditional mod that increases both Crit and Status Chances. Seeking Fury offers additional Punch Through to allow Primary Fire to reliably penetrate most enemies and objects, with a small +Reload Speed buff.
 
As a Full-Auto weapon, the Cedo can benefit from Shotgun Spazz's (or Repeater Clip's) +Fire Rate. Its Reload Ratio remains decent, with greatly increased Burst DPS and anti-crowd capabilities. This does of course significantly reduce ammo efficiency. A (Primed) Cleanse mod is a decent damage multiplier against the appropriate faction, especially when paired with Hunter Munitions. With that in mind, you will get the most benefit out of (Primed) Cleanse Corrupted or Grineer, since they have the most armoured enemies to use Hunter Munitions against.

Surprisingly, Breach Loader is not the absolute worst use of a mod slot on the Cedo. As Primary Fire deals pure Puncture damage and has essentially no Status Chance to speak of, Breach Loader actually offers a significant damage boost. Alternate Fire is unaffected, though deals minimal damage anyway. Granted, it is probably still better to go with actual elements or something else mentioned above, but I felt it was worth mentioning as possibly the only non-terrible use of Breach Loader.
 
For the Exilus slot, there are two main options. Shotgun Ammo Mutation/Vigilante Supplies largely solve any ammo issues you may have, with the latter also contributing to the Vigilante mod set bonus. Fatal Acceleration increases the Cedo's Damage Fall-Off ranges, as well as increasing its glaive travel speed.

Recommended Setups: see above.

My Builds

Very standard builds. Viral + Hunter Munitions has less up-front damage, but scales far better against heavily armoured enemies. The Viral + Blaze setup will kill lower level and unarmoured enemies much more quickly, though the benefit from Blaze is much less than for most Shotguns due to the Condition Overload-like damage bonus.
I've added in Seeking Fury mainly for the extra Punch Through. Innate 0.8 metres is nice, but not enough to reliably pass through the largest of enemies (e.g. Infested Boilers). The small Reload Speed buff is nice but not major.

Combat Use and Summary

Primary Fire is the main damage dealer of the Cedo. Without Status proc bonuses, it still deals more than enough damage to kill weaker enemies. With a small amount of innate Punch Through, high Fire Rate (for a Shotgun) and great Reload Ratio, it is reasonably effective against large numbers of enemies. Against heavier enemies, the Cedo relies heavily on the Status proc bonus damage to compete with other Shotguns. Without it, it's raw damage output is mediocre, and with such a low base Status Chance, it relies entirely on Alternate Fire for procs.
 
Against heavily armoured enemies, again Primary Fire is not much good on its own, at least without Hunter Munitions. It has essentially no Status Chance to speak of, so struggles to even inflict any Viral/Corrosive/Heat procs. A few hits from Alternate Fire helps significantly, not only for boosting Primary Fire's damage, but also to weaken the enemy. Hunter Munitions significantly improves the Cedo against heavily armoured enemies, as it cannot inflict meaningful Slash procs naturally. With Primary Fire's solid Crit, it can use it to inflict a fair number of Slash procs, which are greatly enhanced not only by the Status proc damage bonus, but stacked Viral procs.
Alternate Fire deals minimal damage. Its main purpose is to inflict a heap of Status procs onanything in or near its path, which it does exceptionally well. A single shot can stack up in excess of 5 unique procs on a given enemy, often with multiple stacks of each. Against groups in tight spaces, it is even more effective, with each of its many explosions hitting the same enemies again and again and again. However, because of its abysmally low base Damage, it is not capable of stacking up particularly high damage procs. It is capable of killing extremely weak enemies like Butchers and Chargers, but struggles against anything heavier.


The Cedo despises going up against Status-immune enemies like most Sentients. Its main selling point is tied to Alternate Fire's ability to prime enemies with a plethora of Status procs. Being unable to do so not only renders that firing mode useless, but also greatly limits Primary Fire's damage output. 
 
Naturally as a Shotgun, the Cedo is less effective at longer ranges. It suffers from both Damage Fall-Off as well as significant pellet spread, though in both cases it is much better than many other pellet Shotguns. Given the relative rarity of Shotgun ammo, ammo efficiency may be a concern for longer missions. As such, consider equipping one of Ammo Case/Mutation/etc, or using Lavos.


Overall, the Cedo combines both a fairly conventional Crit Shotgun and an unusual Status-focused explosive Alternate Fire into a single, surprisingly powerful weapon. Primary Fire can deal good direct damage, with reasonable ability to use Hunter Munitions for additional Slash procs. Alternate Fire inflicts an enormous number of procs on any affected enemies, both greatly weakening them and significantly increasing the damage dealt by Primary Fire. It can also clear out tightly packed group of weak enemies. Alternatively it is also a great complement for a Condition Overload Melee, or appropriately Lavos himself.

Where the Cedo suffers most is its reliance on both firing modes working. Without procs, Primary Fire falls well behind most other Crit Shotguns for damage output. On the other hand, though Alternate Fire's AoE is massive, thanks to its bouncing as well as explosions, it deals very little damage, and is only really capable of killing weak enemies. Notably, even against Status-vulnerable enemies, it cannot stack up large (non-Slash) procs as it deals relatively low damage. Used appropriately, the Cedo is quite capable of killing most enemies, however I'm personally not a fan. I find it a little bit too combo-reliant, and prefer more conventionally powerful weapons.

Scores

Vs Trash Mobs: 4/5 - Though Alternate Fire bounces and is explosive, the damage it deals is very low, enough only for weak enemies. Primary Fire is not bad against them, with its fairly high (for a Shotgun) Fire Rate and some innate Punch Through, but it lags well behind faster firing and proper AoE weapons.
Vs Unarmoured Heavies: 4/5 - With Primary Fire's high Crit as well as its Condition Overload-like bonus, the Cedo can deal very good direct damage. Granted, its damage output is nowhere near as impressive if the enemy is Status-immune.
Vs Armoured Heavies without Hunter Munitions: 4/5 - Primary Fire having abysmal Status Chance means that it relies entirely on Alternate Fire for procs. This it does very well, having an insanely high Status Chance, often inflicting multiple Viral/Corrosive + Heat procs at once. It can of course also inflict Heat procs without being modded for it. This total reliance on Alternate Fire for Status procs however can be quite limiting, as it struggles to build up powerful Heat procs.
Vs Armoured Heavies with Hunter Munitions: 4.5/5 - The Primary Fire damage boost from procs also applies to Slash procs applied with Hunter Munitions. With its solid Crit, it is capable of reliably inflicting powerful Slash procs on its victims.

Vs Variants

None.

Competitors

The Cedo's Alternate Fire is completely unique, with its innate ability to inflict every basic Elemental proc regardless of mods, on top of normal procs. This makes it arguably the best weapon in the game for maximising damage from Condition Overload (competing primarily with the Kuva Nukor). When it comes to actual kill power however, it is severely lacking due to a pathetically low base Damage.

Ignoring its Condition Overload-effect, Primary Fire is very conventional, with a Crit-focus. As such, it competes with the likes of the Bubonico (Primary Fire), Vaykor Hek, and Corinth Prime. Without its bonus from Status procs, it falls far behind any for DPS. With similar builds, around 4-5 procs will put the Cedo on-par with the Corinth Prime, though it needs somewhere in the region of 7-9 to match the Vaykor Hek and Bubonico, depending on the exact mod setup. Of course, against any Status-immune enemies like Sentients, this is an insurmountable disadvantage. In the Cedo's unambiguous favour (except against the Bubonico) are its much larger Mag Capacity and higher Fire Rate, making it much more effective against groups.

The Bubonico is a big problem. Its Primary Fire DPS is almost unmatchable for the Cedo's Primary Fire, even with maximum procs from its explosive glaive. The Bubonico's Alternate Fire deals good explosive damage where the Cedo's does not, while also inflicting innate Viral procs. As such, the Bubonico is far more efficient against groups, while still retaining comparable or superior raw DPS against heavier targets, as well as strong enough Status capabilities to melt through heavily armoured enemies. All that said, the Bubonico is locked to MR13, while the Cedo is down at only MR8.

Rivens

As standard for a new weapon, the Cedo starts with a minimum 1/5 (0.5) Riven Disposition. I would expect this to rise up. Though its peak performance level is fairly high, a number of other weapons can reach or exceed that level without too much trouble.

As usual, +Multishot/Crit Chance/Crit Damage are ideal. +Damage is not as good because it has severely diminishing alongside the bonus damage per Status proc. +Puncture is an ok damage boost as it is the entirety of Primary Fire's base Damage, but it is usually not as good as more Elemental damage. Speaking of, +Elemental Damage can be useful to save a mod slot or shift around biases. +Faction Damage can be a great multiplier against a particular faction, particularly with Slash procs from Hunter Munitions. +Projectile Speed increases the (fairly lenient) Damage Fall-Off ranges even further. +Punch Through can help Primary Fire to penetrate larger obstacles enemies more reliably, which is helpful against tightly clustered groups.

-Impact is perfect as it has no effect whatsoever. -Puncture greatly reduces Primary Fire's base Damage since it deals pure Puncture, but this does not affect the damage from any Elemental mods. -Slash has no effect on Primary Fire, but does reduce Alternate Fire's pure Slash direct hit damage. This is perhaps also acceptable as Alt Fire does miniscule damage anyway. -Faction Damage to a weaker faction can be manageable (Infested is ideal). -Mag Capacity or -Reload Speed can be quite manageable as the Cedo's Reload Ratio is great. -Ammo Max is a non-issue with one of Ammo Case/Mutation/etc. +Recoil is negligible if you handle recoil well.

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