Review: Ambassador (U30.5.3)

The Ambassador is an MR10 Rifle, introduced in U30.5 Sisters of Parvos. An Electric-based weapon, it has a conventional Full-Auto mode, as well as a slow but powerful charge-fire. It is a novel, if not especially strong, weapon.

Acquisition

The Ambassador's Blueprint and Components are only available from the four newly-added Corpus Railjack Survival nodes, as a potential Rotation C drop (every 20 minutes).

Stats

The Ambassador is a Status-leaning weapon. Its Full-Auto has a very good 26% Status Chance, though an excellent 2.8x Crit Multiplier also makes it Crit-viable. A fairly high Fire Rate of 13.33 allows it to stack up Status procs very quickly. Base Electric damage is not great, limiting elemental combos somewhat.

Oddly, shortly after release the Ambassador's Mag Capacity was increased to 96 from 88. Correspondingly, its Ammo Max also increased to 960 from 880. As a result, it sports a very respectable Reload Ratio of 2.77.

The Ambassador can switch to a slow-but-powerful Charge-Fire. This firing mode sports slightly increased Crit/Status Chances, and of course trades Fire Rate for an immense Base Damage. Additionally, it consumes a huge 48 ammo-per-shot, half of the base Mag Capacity.

Charge-Fire also sports an extremely powerful explosion on impact, with an explosive range of 6 metres. Like with other explosive attacks, Charge-Fire will not detonate on an enemy it can penetrate if given Punch-Through. It can also inflict self-stagger/knockdown if you are too close.

Changing between firing modes is not instant, instead taking the same as its Reload Time. As such, this firing mode change time is affected by Reload Speed mods. Both firing modes are hitscan.

Augments

None.

Builds

0-Forma Basic: 

The Ambassador is yet another weapon with no native polarities - an increasingly common trend recently unfortunately. As such, if all your mods are maxed, using Vigilante Armaments in place of Split Chamber is unfortunately necessary to fit all of the other essentials.

Viral is of course the all-round best dual-element to mod for with reasonable multipliers and an almost universally useful proc. Corrosive is notable for multiple reasons. As usual, it serves as a strong anti-armour damage type and proc, and is also by far the best damage type for use in the Cambion Drift. In the case of the Ambassador, it can also be formed just by adding a single Toxin mod, which will combine with the innate Electric. This can be particularly useful when levelling it up, saving a bit of mod space while still having a good damage type.

Magnetic is a very strong anti-Shield option, though the number of enemies with Shields actually worth worrying about is limited. Radiation has an underwhelming proc, but has an excellent multiplier against Alloy Armour.

Recommended Setups: Viral or Corrosive vs everything, Corrosive vs Infested, Magnetic vs Shields

1-Forma:

One added V polarity allows you to slot in Split Chamber, with a little extra capacity to spare.

If you have it, Critical Delay is also worth serious consideration in place of Point Strike. It offers a reasonable Crit Chance boost in exchange for a minor Fire Rate reduction. Without +Fire Rate mods, this usually results in an overall reduction in DPS, though of course damage-per-shot is increased.

In the case of the Ambassador, slowing down its Full-Auto could be considered a positive anyway as it eats through ammo quite quickly. Charge-Fire is made noticeably slower however.

Recommended Setups: see above.

4-Forma:

A couple more V polarities and you can get a proper build going. There are quite a few options for the seventh and eighth mod slots to consider.

Heavy Caliber is a solid damage boosting option. The accuracy penalty does not notably affect either of the Ambassador's firing modes, making it essentially a no-fuss positive. Vigilante Armaments is similarly no-fuss benefit to Multishot. A (Primed) Bane mod is also a strong multiplier, especially for builds with damage-over-time procs. Bladed Rounds and Argon Scope are conditional Crit boosting mods that can be nice as well. Proton Jet is another conditional mod that boost Crit and Status Chances.

A third Elemental mod is a decent option, offering some strong setups. Unfortunately, Viral + Heat is not possible due to the Ambassador's innate Electric. Corrosive + Heat is the next best, being extremely effective against Status-vulnerable armoured enemies and the Infested, Cambion Drift Infested in particular. Radiation + Toxin is a strong catch-all against the Corpus.

A +Fire Rate mod like Vile Acceleration is very beneficial for Charge-Fire, but makes Full-Auto even less ammo-efficient. If using such a mod, I would recommend switching Point Strike for Critical Delay. The -Fire Rate is minimal, and the additional Crit Chance is quite nice. (Primed) Shred is also very nice for Full-Auto, the added Punch-Through being quite helpful against crowds. However, it also messes with Charge-Fire, as its powerful shots will not detonate on enemies and objects that it can penetrate.

Despite being more Status-leaning than Crit, Hunter Munitions is a solid option. It allows the Ambassador to inflict Slash procs, which it of course cannot do naturally. Though its Crit Chance is not very high, Full-Auto's high Fire Rate allows it to trigger HM with reasonable regularity. Charge-Fire is much less consistent, but when it does work, the Slash procs it inflicts are massive. Hunter Munitions added alongside Viral is a very strong combination, dealing drastically increased armour-bypassing damage.

If you particularly enjoy using both firing modes, (Primed) Fast Hands will reduce mode change time significantly as well as Reload Time.

Unfortunately, (Primed) Firestorm does not appear to affect Charge-Fire's explosive radius, which would otherwise make it a solid option for such builds.

For the Exilus slot, an Ammo Mutation mod is the main option since both firing modes munch a lot of ammo. Cautious Shot could be useful for mitigating Charge-Fire's self-stagger/knockdown.

Recommended Setups: see above. Also consider: Viral + HM vs Armour, Corrosive + Heat vs Armour, Infested, Radiation + Toxin vs Corpus

Galvanised Builds and Arcane:

Galvanised Chamber is a strict upgrade over Split Chamber in the vast majority of cases.

Galvanised Scope is a massive Crit Chance increase that can be used alongside or even instead of Point Strike/Critical Delay if it suits your playstyle. Given that both firing modes have reasonable precision, the Ambassador is decent at landing headshots.

Galvanised Aptitude is a decent substitute for Heavy Caliber, however is much less valuable on the Ambassador than most weapons. Dealing pure Electric damage at base, the Ambassador can naturally only get two different procs on enemies, three if Hunter Munitions is added. Without HM, this is only just enough to roughly match Serration/Heavy Caliber, while the extra proc type from HM will increase it noticeably. This still pales in comparison to most other weapons, which are usually capable of at least four.

Galv Apt is much less valuable on Charge Fire, as its +Damage bonus does not apply to the AoE. Additionally, gaining maximum damage requires having several procs on enemies beforehand, which is more difficult with the very slow firing Charge Fire.

Both Merciless and Deadhead have value. The Ambassador is relatively precise but also kills groups of enemies quite quickly, so can stack up either one fairly well. Merciless' Reload Speed boost is very nice as it reduces the fairly long Reload Time and Mode Change Time. Deadhead obviously offers even more damage on headshots, but the Recoil reduction is insignificant.

With a high rank Arcane, you can potentially drop both Serration and Heavy Caliber for other mods, such as a Primed Bane.

My Builds

Default build is a standard Viral one. Fairly effective against ordinary enemies, but really struggles against high level armoured units. Primed Shred is in all of my builds as I favour Full-Auto, for being generally much easier to use.

This alternate build loses a fair bit of direct damage in order to inflict some Slash procs. It banks primarily on very high Fire Rate due to unimpressive Crit Chance. It scales better against heavily armoured enemies, but is still not great.

This final build is Corrosive + Heat, as already discussed for anti-Infested and anti-armour use.

Combat Use and Summary

The Ambassador's Full-Auto is quite fast firing, making it fairly effective against crowds of weaker enemies. It deals more than enough damage to kill weaker enemies, and can quickly work through large numbers of them. It is also decent against heavily armoured enemies. A Corrosive + Heat build will quickly stack up procs that greatly reduce their armour, thus massively increasing damage dealt to them. Additionally, Corrosive is especially effective against Ferrite armour.

By virtue of its unimpressive DPS, Full-Auto is less effective against unarmoured and especially Status-immune enemies. It relies heavily on procs to amplify its damage, so anything proc immune presents a major issue.

Charge-Fire is usable against tightly packed groups of enemies thanks to its explosive radius, though the Charge Time gives it quite a noticeable delay. As such, I find it more useful for heavier targets, against whom its much higher damage-per-shot is useful. It is more effective than Full-Auto against unarmoured and especially Status-immune enemies, though of course still prefers Status-vulnerable enemies.

Hunter Munitions is a decent option for both firing modes to be more effective against heavily armoured enemies. Compared to a Corrosive + Heat build, it comes into its own at very high levels, where enemy armour scaling blunts even that combination quite strongly. Slash procs bypass armour entirely, so scale much more effectively. Neither of the Ambassador's firing modes have particularly good Crit Chance however, so it can be somewhat inconsistent - especially the slow-firing Charge-Fire.

 

The time required for mode changing is a notable disadvantage. Very few other weapons have significant mode switching time, the only other example I can think of being the Fulmin (which is a lot faster). In Warframe's incredibly fast-paced combat, the base mode change time of 2.6 seconds (equal to Reload Time) is an age, and almost never worth doing on-the-fly.

Ammo economy is a concern, especially with any +Fire Rate mods. Full-Auto already consumes ammo relatively quickly, while Charge-Fire consumes a whopping 48 rounds per shot. At least one of Ammo Case/Mutation/etc is strongly recommended for anything longer than a short mission, especially if you use Charge-Fire.

Recoil is not a big deal for either firing mode. Full-Auto has quite low recoil even with increased Fire Rate, while Charge-Fire is too slow for recoil to have any impact.

Overall, the Ambassador is an entertaining and cool looking weapon, but ultimately nothing notable in today's Warframe. It is a solid but not exceptional Full-Auto Rifle, with a solid but not exceptional explosive Charge-Fire. The mode change time between the two is a significant detractor that many of its competitors do not have to deal with. Pure Electric base damage is also limiting on elemental build choices, notably preventing the great all-rounder Viral + Heat.

If you're a player who enjoys multi-mode weapons, the Ambassador may be your type of weapon. However, you may quickly find it outclassed by other new weapons, or even older weapons you already own.

Scores

Vs Trash Mobs: 4/5 - A large Mag Capacity and high Fire Rate make the Ambassador's Full-Auto quite effective against large numbers of enemies. Charge-Fire can kill tightly packed groups of enemies thanks to its explosive radius, but is slow-firing.

Vs Unarmoured Heavies: 4/5 - Full-Auto does not have very high Burst DPS. Charge-Fire fares much better by virtue of its far higher base Damage, though the firing mode change is not fast, and is still inconsistent due to moderate Crit Chance.

Vs Armoured Heavies without Forced Slash: 3/5 - Corrosive + Heat is the Ambassador's most effective anti-armour setup. Full-Auto quickly maxes out Corrosive procs for maximum armour reduction, and the stacking Heat procs are useful as well. The innate Electric biases procs towards Corrosive which is unfortunate, and Full-Auto is rather lacking in direct damage to quickly kill off weakened heavies. Charge-Fire can do so but the long mode-change time is a killer.

Vs Armoured Heavies with Forced Slash: 4/5 - Hunter Munitions is helpful against very high level armoured enemies. Despite a relatively low base Crit Chance, Full-Auto can use it semi-reliably thanks to high Fire Rate. Charge-Fire is very inconsistent with it, but any Slash procs it does inflict will do major damage.

Vs Variants

None.

Competitors

While the Ambassador has two distinct firing modes, in recent times Warframe has introduced quite a few such weapons, along with a great number of very strong weapons.

Looking just at Full-Auto is not very promising.

The MR10 Amprex, for instance, is a very strong competitor. The Ambassador inflicts more procs on single targets, however thanks to its much higher Crit Chance, the Amprex deals better damage. This Crit Chance makes also makes Hunter Munitions much more effective on the Amprex. Additionally, its chaining mechanic makes the Amprex far, far superior against crowds.

The MR13 Kuva Karak is another Full-Auto Rifle that is very capable. With the Kuva Lich Bonus, it deals a lot more damage, and also has some Slash damage so can natively inflict Slash procs regularly.

Charge-Fire on its own is not spectacular either. Its base Damage is quite impressive, however its Crit is quite low compared to other similar weapons, and its ammo consumption is quite extreme. The unexceptional Crit Chance makes the slow Charge-Fire quite inconsistent, and this can be very frustrating with such a low Fire Rate..

For instance, the Opticor Vandal has lower base Damage, but makes up for it with superior Crit Chance, faster Charge Time, and far better ammo economy. The Battacor's Alternate Fire requires kills to be enabled, but deals immensely more damage when it is ready thanks to fantastic Crit.

Finally, there are a surprising number of other Rifles with a similar combination of firing modes. Below is just a selection of some of the similar weapons.

The first example is the MR10 Stahlta. The Ambassador's Full-Auto is much faster firing and inflicts far more Status procs, while the Stahlta's is a little more balanced. Similarly, while the Ambassador's Charge-Fire is a lot faster, the Stahlta's is massively more powerful and explodes more consistently in a wider radius. Additionally, while the Ambassador needs to switch firing modes, the Stahlta's Alternate-Fire can be fired at any time provided it has enough ammo. Notably, both of them use half of the default mag for their Charge-Fires. While their Full-Autos are quite different and each have advantages, I consider the Stahlta's Alternate Fire to be overall superior.

The MR14 Tenora Prime has a Full-Auto mode that is largely superior over the Ambassador's, trading slightly Status capability for much higher damage output and Reload Ratio. Their Alternate-Fires are both Charge-Fire, but otherwise are fairly different. The TenoraP's is slightly faster, only consumes 10 ammo and does not require a mode change, but its damage is much lower than the Ambassador's, and it also doesn't have an explosive radius. I consider the Tenora Prime to be an overall much better weapon, particularly its Full-Auto.

Finally, the newly released MR15 Tenet Tetra is also a fairly tight competitor. Similar to the Stahlta, it trades a lower Full-Auto Fire Rate for much higher damage-per-shot, as well as overall superior Crit. The Tenet Tetra's alternate firing mode is also a little different. It is an instantaneous mode switch, however will forcibly reload if the mag is not full. This is because the Tenet Tetra consumes the entire mag for its Alternate-Fire, which quite literally launches the mag as an explosive. It has relatively low projectile speed compared to these other weapons which are either much faster or hitscan. However, the Tenet Tetra's Alternate-Fire packs a powerful explosive punch, dealing a great deal of damage in a wide radius. It also currently has no Damage Fall-Off which most explosive weapons do, though I expect this is a bug and will be corrected in the future. I consider the Tenet Tetra to be a largely superior weapon, due to its greater damage output versatility.

All in all, even when considering both firing modes together in a single weapon, the Ambassador faces very tough competition. There are a surprising number of other Primaries that can challenge both of its firing modes very effectively.

Rivens

Unusual for a new weapon, the Ambassador starts with a moderate 3/5 (1) Riven Disposition. I would not be surprised to see it increase further. It is fairly fun, but does not compare favourably to the plethora of other strong Primaries available in Warframe.

+Damage/Multishot/Crit Chance/Crit Damage are the usual top stats to have. With the introduction of Galvanised Mods and weapon Arcanes, +Damage has become far weaker and less desirable than it used to be. +Elemental Damage can be useful to save a mod slot. +Faction Damage can be a strong multiplier of damage-over-time procs, most useful against the heavily armoured Grineer. +Reload Speed can be a nice quality-of-life boost, notably also speeding up mode changes. +Punch-Through makes Full-Auto even more efficient against groups, however will prevent Charge-Fire from exploding on enemies that it can penetrate.

-Faction Damage to a weaker faction (ie Corpus or Infested) can be manageable. -Fire Rate can help to conserve ammo, though of course comes at the cost of slower Charge-Fire, and lower DPS. -Mag Capacity is not a big deal for Full-Auto, but is very troublesome for Charge-Fire whose ammo consumption has been very finely tuned to be exactly half of the base Mag Capacity. -Ammo Max can be manageable if you have at least one of Ammo Case/Mutation/etc. -Projectile Speed has no effect. I find both firing modes to have negligible recoil, so would consider +Recoil ideal. -Zoom is ideal for close-quarters.