Loadouts: Profit-Taker Orb Saryn (U30.6.1)

It's been a while since my previous post about Profit-Taker, a time before the Helminth Segment existed, before I even had a good Exodia Contagion Melee. Much has changed since then, with significant impact on the PT meta.

Profit-Taker Fight

The fight itself has not changed, still consisting of four phases with three components - shield depletion, limb/body damage and pylon destruction. 

Profit-Taker has special Shields that will only take damage from a single damage type, displayed by a projector on her front end. After taking sufficient damage (roughly 20% of full Shields), or when hit by an Operator attack, the Shield will change damage types. The damage type cannot be changed by Operator attacks more than once every five seconds.

Note that PT's Shields still has odd hit detection with regards to explosive attacks. Such attacks will only register if they land near her "head" hitbox, which is actually towards her rear on the underside.

Once PT's Shields are down, you must use your Archgun to destroy each of her four limbs, and then damage her body. Barring bugs/exploits, this is limited to a quarter of her total health.

Once the first health gate is reached, PT will deploy four pylons, which need to be destroyed. These pylons deploy a bubble shield that protect them from most attacks, and conventionally need to be entered to destroy each pylon.

Destroying this first set of four pylons will render PT vulnerable to Archgun attacks again, so you will need to destroy her four limbs and then damage her body until it reaches the second health gate.

Once the second health gate is reached, PT's Shields regenerate and you will need to take them down again to render her limbs and body vulnerable - repeat as with the very first phase.

Upon reaching the third and final health gate, PT will deploy six pylons, which will need to be destroyed. Destroying these begins a five-minute timer and regenerates her Shields once more. You will need to deplete her Shields and destroy her limbs and body for the last time within this time limit.

Once finally defeated, Profit-Taker will enter an extended death animation, eventually dropping a pile of loot and completing the Bounty.

Note that throughout the fight, other Vallis enemies will spawn to attack you. Take note particularly of Terra Mankers and Reinforcement Beacons. Terra Mankers will drop Archgun ammo on death, which is quite useful. On the other hand, Reinforcement Beacons will call down more and stronger mobs if left unchecked, so make sure to destroy them as soon as you have an opportunity.

Rewards

The rewards also have not changed. On death, Profit-Taker drops a wide range of loot: 125,000 Credits, a number of higher-tier Debt Bonds, a Crisma Toroid, one mod from a wide drop table of mods, and chance for a PT Articula and potentially even the Bloodshed Sigil. Finally, the Bounty itself will also award something from its drop table, in the pictured above I received Ammo Chain.

Warframe

Saryn

What has changed is the viable equipment for the fight. In particular, the Helminth Segment offering (weakened) Eclipse from Mirage to every Warframe drastically widens the pool of viable equipment, as now everyone can have a massive (if inconsistent) weapon damage boost. Of note, Saryn's Toxic Lash adds Toxin damage that does not combine to all her weapons, as well as the Venom Dose Augment for Spores (1) adding Corrosive damage. Toxic Lash coupled with the right weapons gives Saryn the very rare ability to cover every damage type without having to rely on Archgun or Necramech for the Toxin coverage. Eclipse is subsumed over Miasma (4) as it is nearly useless with this build.

The mod setup is fairly standard for a self-buff build - high Strength and Duration with no regard for Range. Rage/Hunter Adrenaline is used to maintain Energy without relying on Zenurik or Energy Pads. Health, Adaptation, Aerodynamic and Arcane Guardian provide decent survivability, though the immense enemy damage output during the PT fight can overwhelm even this. Vigorous Swap is a great option, increasing Holster Speed as well as providing a temporary damage buff after switching weapons - something that happens constantly during the PT fight so will almost always be active.

Primed Sure Footed negates the plethora of stagger/knockdown attacks that Profit-Taker and Vallis enemies have, and is near-essential to tolerate the fight. If you do not have it, as it is a Login-reward only starting from 400 days (and only available thereafter at 200 day intervals), regular Sure Footed + Power Drift provides 90% chance to ignore stagger/knockdown. Alternatively, Handspring + Pain Threshold provides much faster recovery from stagger/knockdown.

Arcane Avenger is included primarily to make the Kuva Nukor more consistent, but otherwise offers a decent Crit boost for all weapons. Arcane Grace is a nice option for better survivability.

Chroma

Chroma still remains a great pick for anything besides absolute min-max speedruns thanks to his immense survivability and damage boost from Elemental Ward (2) and Vex Armour (3). Most importantly however, his Effigy (4) uniquely doubles all Credits picked up within a 10m radius of it, which works on PT's dropped Credits.

Chroma's build remains largely the same, high Strength and Duration for strongest, long-lasting buffs. Health and Adaptation for survivability, with Rage/Hunter Adrenaline to keep Energy up. A +Holster Speed mod like the Speed Holster Aura is very useful as you will be switching weapons frequently. Vigorous Swap is not as good on Chroma as his Vex Armour damage bonus provides the same additive stat, greatly reducing its value. Primed Sure Footed again for the stagger/knockdown immunity.

Arcane Avenger is practically mandatory if using the Kuva Nukor, to ensure that it can Crit reliably. Arcane Grace offers passive healing which is greatly appreciated in the brutal PT fight, and synergises very well with Chroma's abilities. Arcane Nullifier is an option to negate PT's Magnetic proc attack.

Volt

Volt's Electric Shield (3) offers a number of unique capabilities, making him the current World Record holder for PT speedruns. It adds Electric damage to attacks made through it, which like Saryn can allow you to cover all damage types. It also increases Crit Damage, which is a big buff for practically every attack you will be making against PT. Finally, Electric Shield's buffs still apply to Necramechs shooting through it, who are unaffected by most abilities. I discuss why this is important down in the Necramech section.

Volt's Speed (2) is also helpful, for general mobility as well as speeding up Melee attacks.

Eclipse is of course typically subsumed over Discharge (4), which is useless with typical PT builds (high Strength, Duration, low Range).

I am not particularly familiar with Volt in PT besides watching speedrunners use him to great effect, so it is quite possible that I am missing something else about him that makes him great for this fight.

Others

Now that Eclipse is subsumable onto any Frame, many other Frames are adaptable to the Profit-Taker fight. Even without it, there are a number of Frames who provide other useful utility. Tough Frames such as Hildryn can subsume Eclipse for the enormous damage boost, while being able to take more of a hit than most, and still have other useful abilities like Hildryn's Pillage. Frames with good supportive abilities such as Wisp, Trinity and Oberon offer additional utility outside of just being an Eclipse carrier, for themselves as well as the whole squad.

For Frames already with strong weapon buffs (e.g. Chroma, Mirage), there are several other Helminth options worth consideration. Titania's Spellbind provides duration-based immunity to all Status procs, including staggers and knockdowns. Hideous Resistance provides the same immunity but is use based rather than duration based. Protea's Dispensary offers periodic Health and Energy orbs, as well as universal ammo that can be used to mitigate Archgun cooldowns, though the latter can also be done by simply hunting down Terra Mankers. Oberon's Smite can be Augmented with Smite Infusion for an extra chunk of Radiation damage.

Weapons

As with previously, you want to cover as many damage types as possible with your weapons for the most efficient runs. If using Chroma, you can drop the +Base Damage mods for something else, like +Corpus Damage or more +Crit Damage.

Primary

The Zenith remains king here for its infinite Punch-Through in Semi-Auto mode, allowing it to immediately destroy pylons shooting directly through any terrain. Semi-Auto also deals respectable direct damage for taking down the appropriate phases of PT's Shields.

The Opticor Vandal is a viable alternative, as through a method I do not entirely understand (presumably a mix of Punch-Through and AoE), it can also destroy pylons just by shooting at them from outside their bubble shield. However, it cannot pierce terrain like the Zenith can, so is a slightly inferior option.

I strongly recommend Tactical Reload in the Exilus slot if you can spare it. Since you switch weapons frequently in the PT fight, these reload-while-holstered mods will frequently be active, topping up your weapons in between Shield damage types.

If you do not have either of these weapons, I recommend defaulting to a high Crit, high Burst DPS weapon such as a Sniper. Something like the Rubico Prime can easily take down the appropriate PT Shield phases when modded correctly. Weapons with innate combined elements like the Kuva/Tenet weapons with a Radiation or Magnetic bonus are greatly appreciated for the extra damage type coverage.

For the new Arcane slot, I'd recommend Primary Dexterity. In an optimal Profit-Taker run, you do not intend to be killing many, if any other enemies, so the other Arcanes will not have a chance to stack up. Even if not stacked, Dexterity at least provides increased Holster Speed. This works especially well for me as I usually use my Melee as a mob clearer.

Secondary

For some time, the Kuva Nukor with a Magnetic bonus was the best Secondary for the job, with its (at the time) unique ability to have base Radiation + Magnetic damages. Its main weaknesses were limited range of 29 metres (which can now be improved by Ruinous Extension in the Exilus), and its inconsistency of Critting (which can be mitigated by Arcane Avenger or an Adarza Kavat).

The newly-introduced Tenet Detron with a Magnetic bonus is a great alternative, providing the same combination of base Radiation + Magnetic, while being much more consistent without relying on Arcange Avenger, as well as having an overall higher Burst DPS. It is also not hard limited in range, though as a Shotgun suffers from Damage Fall-Off.

Again, I recommend Eject Magazine in the Exilus if you can spare it, as the reload-while-holstered effect nearly eliminates the need to reload normally. In the case of Shotguns like the Tenet Detron, Lethal Momentum is a strong alternative for improving effective range.

If you do not have either of these weapons, then like with the Primaries I would suggest defaulting to high Crit/high Burst DPS weapons. Again, any weapon with innate combined elements is appreciated for the extra coverage. I have used a max Crit Tombfinger Kitgun to great effect in the past, notably dealing innate Radiation damage.

Like with Primaries, I'd recommend slotting the Dexterity Arcane if you have it, mainly for its Holster Speed increase.

Melee

A max-Crit Zaw with Exodia Contagion is the best Melee for the job, and it isn't close. The Exodia Contagion projectile deals massive amounts of Impact, Puncture, Slash and Blast, as well as Viral on its explosions, on top of whatever you add with mods. The recommended Strike is the one you have the best Riven for, otherwise Dokhram and Plague Kripath are the two best. Link should be one of the Vargeet IIs to maximise Crit. I use maximum Damage/minimum Attack Speed parts and then compensate with Primed Fury, but I'm not sure if that's better than going maximum Attack Speed and just slotting another Damage mod.

As mentioned previously, to have the Viral explosion hit PT's Shields correctly, you need to land the projectile somewhere around her rear/underside. I'm not very good at it personally, and much better PT speedrunners can demonstrate this quite well.

Since this Melee is intended purely for Exodia Contagion throwing and not regular attacks, it is modded to deal immense up-front Crit and Elemental damage, with no consideration for combo. Primed Fury is included to speed up the otherwise slow air attack swing for an earlier projectile throw. Primed Smite Corpus and Gladiator Might are great replacements to the Riven and Primed Fury.

If you do not have an appropriate Exodia Contagion Zaw, your next-best bet is probably a Gunblade like the Redeemer Prime or Stropha. I have used the Redeemer Prime to decent effect in the past, easily capable of punching through its associated Shield phases with a single heavy attack. However, nothing remotely compares to the very wide damage type coverage as well as sheer damage output that Exodia Contagion deals.

Archgun

There are several viable Archguns for the Profit-Taker fight. The Mausolon and Imperator Vandal are two I am comfortable with, both being able to quickly eat through PT's limb and health phases as well as being very forgiving, though the ImperatorV eats through ammo very quickly. The Velocitus and Corvas are strong options capable of one-shotting the limbs and body with appropriate modding and setup, though I find them a tad too slow and unresponsive for my taste (granted, the fastest PT speedruns use these latter two).

The build is a very standard Crit + Elements. Since PT is Alloy-armoured, Radiation is the obvious go-to damage-type. You could consider including a single element that is not covered by your other weapons as well, though be aware that the Archgun deployment cooldown may mess with your timings.

There are a few notable disadvantages to using an Archgun on-foot. Firstly, the deployment time is significant and unskippable without bugs/exploits, and also locks you in-place which is very annoying. Secondly, the ammo-based cooldown can be very troublesome in a fight that mandates constant weapon switching. The former can be mitigated with a Necramech (below), though this has its own drawbacks. The latter can be addressed again with a number of options, including a Necramech, hunting down the Terra Mankers who are guaranteed to drop Archgun ammo, using/subsuming Protea's Dispensary, or installing Ammo Chain to increase max ammo and thus reduce cooldowns.

Necramech

The introduction of the Necramech has added an extra facet to the fight as well. Necramechs are very tough and are immune to Status procs, staggers and knockdowns. Most importantly, they wield an Archgun and can be Transferenced to/from much faster than calling down an Archgun with your Warframe. On top of this, they have unlimited spare ammo and no Archgun cooldown period.

The main disadvantage to using a Necramech for the Archgun phases is that it cannot benefit from the vast majority of weapon buffing abilities, such as Roar and Vex Armour. However, it can benefit from shooting through Volt's Electric Shield, allowing a proper Archgun build to blitz through PT's limbs and body. This is one of the reasons Volt holds the current speedrun record.

I don't think the mods and choice of Necramech matter much outside of Health/Armour/Shields to make sure it will survive the fight. Its main purpose is being an Archgun carrier, and if you are doing PT efficiently, the Necramech will not be taking much damage anyway. I don't have significant experience with Necramechs in the PT fight though, so I may be missing something.

Companion

The obvious choice is the Smeeta Kavat, for its Charm Precept. One of Charm's six potential effects is to double all Affinity and Credit/Resource drops received for a period of time, which includes almost everything that Profit-Taker drops on-death. Though very rare and unreliable, Charm's effects can also be stacked for even more benefit, though there is a very small risk of a temporary trade ban if you receive too much loot - I've been hit by this one before.

If you are running the Kuva Nukor without Arcane Avenger, an Adarza Kavat is worth considering for its Cat's Eye Precept, which periodically increases weapon Crit Chance.

Hidden mod is Panzer Devolution

Finally, a Vulpaphyla is a good fall-back choice if neither of these matters to you, or if Companion survivability is a problem. I use a Panzer Vulpaphyla, whose Viral Quills, coupled with Hunter Recovery, provide surprisingly solid healing to my healing-less Saryn. Martyr Symbiosis is also a nice emergency heal/revive.