Review: Akbronco Prime (U31.3.1)

The Akbronco Prime is one of the oldest Primes in the game, introduced all the way back in U12.4. A pair of Secondary Shotguns, it can inflict a decent number of Status procs at very close range. New mods have breathed new life into it, however overall it is largely outclassed by other new Secondary Shotguns.

Acquisition

The Akbronco Prime is one of the non-vaultable weapons, and (barring any mistakes from DE) will always be available from certain Void Relics. Note that crafting it requires two single Bronco Primes, which are also non-vaultable.

Stats

The Akbronco Prime is clearly a Status weapon. 12.9% Status Chance is very solid with 7 base pellet count. Majority Impact base Damage unfortunately isn't too useful as it is a poor damage type and mediocre proc. Its Crit is very poor, at just 6%/2x - not worth building for.

Due to moderate Fire Rate, a slow Reload Time and a small Mag Capacity of just 8 rounds, its Reload Ratio is quite poor at 0.80.

Its Damage Fall-off is quite harsh, starting at just 9m, reducing to just 25% damage at 18m range. Coupled with its very wide pellet spread, the AkbroncoP is clearly a close-range-only weapon. Additionally, its per-shot Recoil is quite high.

Augments

The Akbronco Prime has exclusive access to one Augment, Damzav-Vati. This mod adds 240% Viral damage, which does not combine with any other elemental mods.

Needless to say, this mod is incredible. 240% Viral damage is a lot of elemental damage, and the pre-combined Viral does not combine with any other added elements. This allows you to create a wide variety of otherwise-impossible combos with extra elemental mods, such as Viral + Corrosive.

Damzav-Vati is sold by Father in the Necralisk on Deimos. You must be at least Rank 4 (Friend) with the Entrati to buy it.

Builds

Basic 0-Forma:

Two native V polarities are appreciated, as they make fitting a basic build much easier. As a Status weapon, the AkbroncoP only really needs the standard Damage/Multishot mods, then a bunch of elementals.

As soon as you have access to it, Damzav-Vati is an auto-include. However because it is only available from Father in the Necralisk at a high Rank, you will likely not acquire it until much later.

Three elemental mods can be easily fitted, allowing several decent elemental combos. Before you acquire Damzav-Vati, the following are some decent options.

Viral + Heat is the traditional catch-all, effective against most Status-vulnerable targets. Corrosive + Heat is stronger against Ferrite-armoured enemies, as well as having much better direct damage against most Infested units. This is especially the case for the Infested on the Cambion Drift, many of whom are immune to Viral procs. Radiation + Toxin provides a nice catch-all against the Corpus, striking their most common Armour type super-effectively, while also dealing Shield-bypassing Toxin damage to quickly kill most unarmoured units. Alternatively, Magnetic + Toxin/Heat can be used if you are particularly worried about Shields, though there are few enemies against whom it is actually worth using.

If you still have space and do not have Damzav-Vati yet, there are some mod options to consider for the seventh mod slot. This example build shows my preferred one, Quickdraw for reduced Reload Time. Many more options are discussed below.

Recommended Setups: Viral + Heat vs everything, Corrosive + Heat vs Ferrite-armour, Infested, Radiation + Toxin vs Corpus, Magnetic + Toxin/Heat vs Shields

1-Forma:

An added polarity and more 60/60 mods gives you plenty of space to look at eighth mods as well. Damzav-Vati should be installed as soon as you get it. This allows a number of otherwise-impossible and very strong elemental combos.

Adding Viral alongside Corrosive + Heat provides an incredibly strong anti-armour combo. It drastically reduces Armour, while also inflicting stacking damage-over-time with Heat. This combo also works extremely well against the Infested. Viral + Toxin is a brutal combo that shreds most unarmoured Corpus. Adding Radiation alongside it effectively targets most Corpus Armour types, while Magnetic can be used instead if Shields remain a problem

Magnum Force is a strong damage increase, however its Accuracy penalty is a big issue, reducing effective range even further. It is also not worth using when you upgrade to Galvanised mods and start installing Arcanes. Augur Pact is weaker and has no Accuracy penalty, and also becomes obsolete. A Primed Expel mod is a strong damage boost that is not made obsolete, especially for damage-over-time procs like Heat.

Alongside (Primed) Quickdraw, (Primed) Slip Magazine can be worth consideration. Increasing Mag Capacity is another way of improving the AkbroncoP's Reload Ratio, and making it overall better to use.

Hemorrhage is an option I initially considered when the mod was released, as the AkbroncoP is an Impact-focused Status weapon. In my testing however, I found it to be largely inferior to a more conventional all-element build. The AkbroncoP's Fire Rate is too high to get full benefit from Hemorrhage, and the Impact procs were often drowned out by elements, which were installed to maximise Status Chance. Even when Hemorrhage did inflict Slash procs, they were usually too infrequent and too weak to make a major difference. In my experience, just going for more Heat was usually the better damage-over-time proc option. That said, I do not have Saxum Spittle which may change Hemorrhage's viability on the AkbroncoP.

There are a few good options to consider for the Exilus slot. An Ammo Mutation mod eliminates any ammo concerns. Steady Hands greatly reduces Recoil, which makes rapid-fire more effective and easier to use. Lethal Momentum increases Damage Fall-off ranges, which slightly improves longer ranged combat, but does not fix the wide pellet spread. On the other hand, Targeting Subsystem tightens up pellet spread somewhat, but does not alter Damage Fall-off.

Recommended Setups: Viral + Corrosive + Heat vs armour, Infested, Viral + Toxin + Radiation/Magnetic vs Corpus

Galvanised Build and Arcane

Galv Diffusion as usual.

Galv Shot is naturally a great option. The AkbroncoP is Status-focused, and can inflict up to 6 different Status procs quite easily. Galv Apt effortlessly outclasses Hornet Strike, and completely nulls the value of any other +Damage mods.

Galv Crosshairs on the other hand is a poor option. The AkbroncoP's Crit is far too low to be worth building for.

Between Merciless and Deadhead, I'd personally favour Merciless. In particular, its +30% Reload Speed is greatly beneficial on the AkbroncoP. Additionally, the AkbroncoP does not land precise headshots especially well, so the +Headshot Damage of Deadhead is somewhat less useful. However, Deadhead's -Recoil is also appreciated.

My Builds

My build pretty much exactly as the examples above. Viral + Corrosive + Heat is very strong against any non-shielded target. Primed Quickdraw is my chosen flex slot mod, as the Reload Time is painfully slow. I like Targeting Subsytem in the Exilus, as it improves combat beyond point-blank range and keeps pellet spread reasonably in check.

Combat Use and Summary

With great close-range Status capabilities, the Akbronco Prime fares best against heavily armoured enemies. Damzav-Vati's Viral, coupled with modded-on Corrosive + Heat, massively increase the damage taken by armoured enemies. The AkbroncoP can rapidly stack them up for full effect, with the added bonus of Heat also dealing very strong damage-over-time.

It can also fare surprisingly well against unarmoured heavy enemies, provided they are Status-vulnerable. With so many potential unique Status procs (up to 6), the AkbroncoP can deal a surprising amount of direct damage to enemies, even if the procs themselves are not all that useful.

With very poor Reload Ratio and minimal anti-crowd capability, the AkbroncoP is weakest against large groups. While it can easily kill weak enemies close up, and its wide spread can help do some minor, inconsistent AoE damage, it spends far too much time reloading and cannot kill many enemies with each shot. Added Punch-Through is a great help.

As mentioned previously, the AkbroncoP has both harsh Damage Fall-off and very wide pellet spread, making it terrible beyond close range. Additionally, it has quite heavy Recoil so can make rapid-fire quite difficult to use effectively.

Overall, the Akbronco Prime is a solid close-range Status Secondary. Its unique access to Damzav-Vati offers many very rare elemental combos that give it a leg-up compared to its competitors. High Fire Rate and Status Chance allow it to inflict a great number of status procs, while it also deals surprisingly decent direct damage.

However, it also faces competition from some incredibly strong peers, as discussed below. They can output a similar number of Status procs with greater direct damage and other superior attributes. Ultimately, its unique Viral mod becomes the AkbroncoP's only notable advantage, and it is matched or outclassed in just about every other respect.

Scores

Vs Trash Mobs: 2/5 - Poor Reload Ratio with no innate AoE outside of pellet spread, the Akbronco Prime is not great against crowds. It can comfortably kill weaker enemies at close range, but spends a painful amount of time reloading.

Vs Unarmoured Heavies: 4/5 - The AkbroncoP deals surprisingly high Burst DPS at point-blank range, though cannot quite compare with its Crit-leaning competitors as they benefit even more from headshots.

Vs Armoured Heavies without Forced Slash: 5/5 - Damzav-Vati allows you to equip Viral + Corrosive + Heat, which is an extremely powerful anti-armour combo that is impossible for most weapons. The AkbroncoP stacks all of the elements effortlessly, drastically increasing damage dealt to armoured enemies.

Vs Armoured Heavies with Forced Slash: NA/5 - While it is an Impact-leaning Status weapon, the AkbroncoP does not inflict enough Impact procs with high enough damage for Hemorrhage to be notably effective. Adding Heat instead is usually much better. Admittedly, I do not own Saxum Spittle which may make a Hemorrhage build more viable.

Vs Variants

The MR10 Akbronco Prime is a vast improvement over the MR2 regular Akbronco. It sports increased base Damage, Damage Falloff, and drastically improved Mag Capacity and Status Chance. In exchange it has a lower Fire Rate, but with such small Mag Capacity, the regular Akbronco cannot make the most of it anyway.

Finally, the Prime can equip the extremely strong Damzav-Vati, where the Regular cannot.

The MR10 Akbronco Prime is also a majority upgrade over the MR4 single Bronco Prime, with slightly higher Fire Rate and double Mag Capacity, in exchange for slightly longer Reload Time.

The Ak is clearly the superior for overall killing power partly thanks to its exclusive Augment Damzav-Vati. The single retains a niche with its own unique Augment Dizzying Rounds, making it an excellent Secondary for setting up Finishers.

Competitors

There are several other very strong, Status-capable Secondary Shotguns. While the AkbroncoP retains a unique niche with its exclusive Viral-adding mod, its competitors are also very strong all-round.

One of them is the MR13 Kuva Brakk. The AkbroncoP retains a major base Damage advantage even with maximum Lich bonus included (ends up as 350 vs 208), as well as slightly higher Status Chance per-pellet. Additionally, its minimum damage at long range is 25%, where the KBrakk deals just 4%. From there however, it's all downhill.

The KBrakk's drastically higher Crit Chance makes it very much Crit-viable, giving it far superior direct damage potential. It has a higher Fire Rate, larger Mag Capacity, and far shorter Reload Time for superior Reload Ratio. The slight loss in Status Chance is easily made up for in extra Multishot, for slightly superior total Status output. The KBrakk even has a small amount of innate Punch-Through, which is a nice bonus.

The other most notable one is the MR16 Tenet Detron. This time, the AkbroncoP has a higher Fire Rate and Mag Capacity, as well as superior overall Status output and more proc types. However, the TDetron's base Damage pulls ahead with at least 35% Sister bonus, and again its superior Crit Chance gives it overall better direct damage potential. Its Reload Time is much shorter for still superior Reload Ratio. Finally, the TDetron is far more effective beyond close range. Its pellet spread is much tighter, and its Damage Fall-off is further away and it drops to a minimum damage of 55% - among the best of any Shotgun.

Purely by virtue of Damzav-Vati, the AkbroncoP is the best of the three against heavily armoured enemies, at least at typical Warframe content levels. Its ability to run a Viral + Corrosive + Heat build makes it the best at weakening and killing heavy armour. However, the KBrakk and TDetron are both far more versatile, with superior Crit for better and more consistent direct Damage, as well as much better quality-of-life. If not for Damzav-Vati, the AkbroncoP would have essentially no niche and it would be strictly outclassed.

Rivens

The Akbronco Prime currently has a rather high 4/5 (1.3) Riven Disposition. Considering is relative unimpressiveness and unpopularity even with Damzav-Vati, this is not all that surprising.

+Damage/Multishot are obvious good positives, though the former is much less valuable with Galv mods and Arcanes in the mix. +Slash could be useful if you're trying to eke out more Slash procs, though I suspect it won't be too effective unless you have a -Impact negative. +Elemental Damage can be useful to save a mod slot or add more damage. +Faction Damage is a strong multiplier of damage-over-time procs like Heat, most useful against the Grineer as they are by far the toughest.

+Mag Capacity/Reload Speed are fantastic quality-of-life stats that greatly improve Reload Ratio and overall usability.  +Projectile Speed greatly increases Damage Fall-off ranges, though does not solve the pellet spread issue. -Recoil can be very useful to make rapid-fire more controllable. +Punch-Through is a great help against crowds.

All of -Impact/Puncture/Slash have value, though also come with their own detriments. Impact is a poor damage type and proc, but is also the majority component of base Damage, so reducing it has the greatest impact on damage output. Puncture is a poor damage type and proc, and is only a small component of base Damage, so is probably the best negative to have. Slash offers an amazing proc, but again is only a small component of base Damage. Keep in mind that eliminating any of the three entirely will reduce Galv Shot's maximum damage multiplier.

-Crit Chance/Damage are of course non-issues with such poor Crit. -Faction Damage to the weaker factions (Corpus and Infested) are generally manageable, and of course have no effect on other enemies. -Fire Rate in smaller amounts is largely a non-issue, as alongside Lethal Torrent, Fire Rate is already quite high for a Semi-Auto. -Ammo Max is a non-issue alongside Secondary Merciless. -Zoom is ideal as the AkbroncoP is only effective in close quarters anyway.