Acquisition
The Perigale's blueprint and components are potential drops from the new Conjunction Survival gamemode on Lua, dropping in rotations A and B respectively.
If you are unlucky with drops however, they can also be purchased using Lua Thrax Plasm (that also drops from Conjunction Survival) from the Zariman.
Stats
The Perigale's stats are fairly strong, though not top-tier amongst Snipers. Its 28%/2.6x Crit is naturally very strong, and a Status Chance of 16% is very usable considering its shot output especially compared to other Snipers. Majority Puncture damage is not ideal, being a mediocre damage type and poor proc.
Like with most other Snipers, the Perigale has innate 1m Punch Through, which is greatly appreciated against tightly packed groups and thin objects. Additionally, it has the usual long-range sniper Damage Falloff at 300-600m, where standard hitscan weapons have a hard range limit of 300m.
A Fire Rate of 2 seems somewhat low at first, however it does not properly represent the Perigale's true rate-of-fire. The Perigale fires bursts of four rounds, so eats through its default magazine in just three trigger pulls. The "true" Fire Rate is closer to around 6 rounds-per-second. This can result in very frequent reloading, which is a problem considering its rather long 3 second Reload Time. The Perigale's Reload Ratio is an atrocious 0.67. An Ammo Max of 24 is also extremely low considering the Perigale's Mag Capacity and ammo consumption rate, potentially depleting all of your ammo in just 9 trigger pulls. Used properly however, these are not issues...
The Perigale has a unique Gale Force buff. This buff activates upon landing 4 headshots within a single burst (multishot counting as extra), or achieving a headshot kill. The latter condition was introduced later when it became apparent that the Perigale often killed enemies without landing enough headshots to trigger Gale Force. In its current state, it is extremely easy to trigger if you are competent at aiming at heads.
Gale Force is a 4-second long buff that causes the Perigale to consume no ammunition while active. It is refreshable by hitting its trigger conditions again. This buff is extremely strong, as it (temporarily) removes both the long Reload Time and low Ammo Max from the equation, allowing you to rapid fire bursts with abandon.
As with other Snipers, the Perigale has both Sniper Combo Count and Scope bonuses. Its low level 2x zoom will grant an extra +20% Crit Damage (+0.52x), and the higher level zoom is 4x with +40% Crit Damage (+1.04x). Like all other Snipers, landing more and more shots on enemies will build up its Sniper Combo Count, which applies an increasing damage multiplier as more shots are landed. Notably, its Sniper Combo Count will build up for each hit in the burst, not just each burst, so it builds up far faster than for any other Sniper. This in effect gives the Perigale a significant damage boost over its (already impressive) on-paper firepower, more so than even the other snipers can boast.
Being Voruna's signature Primary, when wielded by Voruna, the Perigale gets +24 Ammo Max (not affected by mods), for a base total of 48.
Augments
None.
Builds
Basic 0-Forma:
The Perigale has two very useful native V polarities, comfortably allowing a basic build to fit in without Forma. The core mods are all there - Damage, Multishot, Crit, and two elemental mods. This example has one 90% elemental and one 60/60, leaving space for a seventh mod like Vigi Armaments as pictured.
Vigi Armaments is a no-fuss, drawback-free, extra bit of Multishot. It is very nice earlier on, though becomes significantly less valuable once you get Galv Chamber.
For recommended elements, the usual suspects are all here. Viral is a convenient catch-all; while it is often not the most effective against a given target, its proc is the most universally useful, drastically increasing damage to enemy Health. Corrosive is strong against Ferrite-armoured enemies in particular and armour in general, as well as many of the heavy Infested units. It is also by far the best option against the Cambion Drift Infested, many of whom are immune to Viral procs.
Radiation is strong against Alloy-armour, which is notably used by most armoured Corpus units. Magnetic is the equivalent of Viral for Shields. While most enemies' Shields are not tough enough to worry about, there are a select few targets (e.g. Kyta Raknoid, Treasurer) against whom it is valuable. One of the reasons for this is that Toxin damage and procs bypass most Shields entirely, striking directly at their Health. This makes Toxin ideal against unarmoured shielded enemies, such as most Corpus.
Hunter Munitions 0-Forma:
Critical Delay is also worth a mention as an alternative to Point Strike, offering slightly more Crit Chance at the cost of some Fire Rate. It naturally works very well alongside HM, also improving overall damage consistency (and average damage-per-shot). The Fire Rate penalty can be troublesome, particularly as the Perigale benefits from Fire Rate more than most Snipers.
Recommended Setups: Viral (+ HM) vs everything, Corrosive vs Infested, Ferrite-armour, Radiation vs Alloy-armour, Toxin vs unarmoured Corpus, Magnetic vs strong Shields
General Purpose 2-Forma:
Heavy Caliber offers a larger overall damage increase than Vigi Armaments, however its Accuracy penalty can be rather troublesome, especially on the Perigale which highly values precision. It also loses most of its value with Arcanes and Galv Shot in the mix. If you want pure damage increase, a (Primed) Bane is a much better option that remains valuable in an endgame build, particularly as its +Faction Damage bonus applies multiple times to damage-over-time procs like Slash.
If you're after more Crit, Argon Scope/Bladed Rounds/Proton Jet are all conditional Crit-boosting options you could consider. If you don't want to deal with conditionals, Hammer Shot is an unconditional Crit/Status boost, however is overall much weaker than the conditional options.
A third elemental mod can be a good way to get more damage-per-shot, as well as offering a few extra-strong damage and proc combinations that two-element mod builds cannot match. Of note, adding Heat alongside Viral or Corrosive is a very strong option. Heat benefits from Viral procs to deal massively more damage from its procs, while also offering a degree of armour reduction. It is much stronger against unarmoured targets than Viral + HM.
Similarly, Heat benefits from Corrosive procs significantly reducing armour, while itself reducing armour even further for greater damage. The combo also deals super-effective damage to just about every Infested unit. Finally, Radiation + Toxin is a great catch-all that hits almost all Corpus units effectively in some way - Toxin easily cleans up the vast majority of Shielded, unarmoured units, while Radiation hits the vast majority of their armoured units effectively.
Thanks to Gale Force, +Fire Rate mods can be exceptionally strong on the Perigale. With (temporary) infinite ammo, +Fire Rate is a strict DPS increase with no drawbacks, notably also increasing the rate of Status procs inflicted, and also offsetting the penalty of Critical Delay. Vile Acceleration is the largest increase with a negligible Damage reduction, while (Primed) Shred can be used instead if you want additional Punch Through.
If you are not triggering Gale Force reliably, (Primed) Fast Hands can be a good way to mitigate the constant and very slow reloads. If this is an issue for you though, I'd recommend looking at a different weapon entirely.
For the Exilus slot, there are a few options. Vigi Supplies or (Primed) Sniper Ammo Mut can help mitigate ammo issues by using Secondary Ammo drops, with the former also marginally increasing DPS. Ammo Drum is an alternative option to mitigate ammo issues by increasing Ammo Max. Otherwise, Stabiliser can be used to almost eliminate any recoil, and make landing continuous headshots easier.
Recommended Setups: see above. Also consider: Viral + Heat vs everything, Corrosive + Heat vs Infested, Ferrite-armour, Radiation + Toxin vs Corpus
Galvanised Build and Arcane
Galv Chamber of course. It is especially notable as Multishot can count as extra hits towards triggering Gale Force, so with Galv Chamber fully stacked, Gale Force could potentially trigger off of just a single shot.
Galv Aptitude can be a strong alternative to Serration if you intend to be taking on extremely high level content. Especially with Hunter Munitions installed, the Perigale can quite easily inflict at least three unique procs on its targets, which is already enough to justify Galv Apt over Serration. However this level of extra damage is not really needed unless you are taking on enemies in the high-hundreds of levels and beyond.
Galv Scope synergises extremely well with the Perigale, which already wants to be aimed in and landing headshots/headshot kills. Galv Scope triggers and stacks from those same conditions, and offers a significant Crit Chance increase over even Critical Delay (+320% vs +200%).
For Arcane choice, Fractalised Reset could be considered if you struggle to land headshots and thus have to reload regularly. It will reduce the Reload Time to almost nothing, although this does not alleviate any potential ammo issues as the Perigale has very low Ammo Max. I'd recommend instead just practicing aiming for headshots, or using a different weapon entirely.
Primary Frostbite is a new Primary Arcane that can be worth using if you are already using Galv Apt. It will offer a larger overall damage boost than the standard +Damage Arcanes in such a build, and especially so alongside Galv Scope. However, it is only worth using if you have other equipment that readily inflicts Cold procs, such as abilities like Gauss' Thermal Sunder or a Cold-equipped Sentinel weapon like the Helstrum or Verglas. The Perigale itself is not very good for this as its Status output does not remotely compare to any good Status weapon, and Cold is not usually a good damage type to have on it.
Primary Deadhead again synergises with the Perigale's design intent of regularly landing headshots, stacking very quickly from headshot kills and even further increasing the Headshot damage multiplier. The Recoil reduction can be helpful as well for landing consecutive headshots.
Otherwise, Merciless is still not a bad choice, stacking on any kill and slightly reducing the very long Reload Time. In this case however, I'd strongly recommend using Deadhead instead as it suits the Perigale much, much better.
As always, it should be noted that the headshot kill conditions do not trigger from kills due to certain damage-over-time procs like Slash. This is less of an issue with the Perigale than most other weapons because of its colossal direct damage output and higher-than-average (for a Sniper) shot output.
My Builds
Combat Use and Summary
With usable Status Chance and much higher shot output than the typical Sniper, the Perigale is also surprisingly effective against heavily armoured enemies even without Hunter Munitions. It can reliably inflict a few Viral/Corrosive procs if modded for it, as well as Heat again if modded for it. The combination of procs significantly increases the damage taken by any Status-vulnerable armoured enemies, which at lower- and mid- levels can allow the Perigale to still brute force straight through them with direct damage. This of course drops off harder as you increase in levels, particularly on Steel Path, but the typical player will likely never reach that point.
With Hunter Munitions installed, even the most heavily armoured enemies become a joke. High Crit Chance and 4-shot bursts near guarantees at least a few Slash procs. If an enemy survives the initial burst, they will not live the massive armour-bypassing damage ticks of the Slash procs they now suffer from, especially if augmented by Viral procs as well.
As expected for a Sniper, the Perigale is least effective against large groups of enemies. It deals more than enough damage to kill most enemies of course, and its innate 1m Punch Through is helpful. However its relatively low shot output and Fire Rate compared to conventional weapons means it is still quite inefficient against groups. This category is where Gale Force shines the most, as its infinite ammo effect allows the Perigale to forgo any requirement for trigger discipline and ammo conservation, rapid-firing as if it were a fast-firing Semi-Auto. Though still slow firing by normal weapon standards, its sustained fire is far superior to any other Sniper.
The Perigale's unique interaction with the Sniper Combo Count, building it far faster than the ordinary Sniper, gives it a significant advantage in damage buildup. Where ordinary Snipers will take some time and reloading to get past 2.5x, I've had the Perigale reach 3.5x and more almost effortlessly. This is a significant boon that often pushes its DPS above that of other, otherwise superior, Snipers, albeit at the potential cost of extra ammo.
Gale Force is a ridiculously strong buff and is extremely easy to trigger if you have any aiming skill. Landing 4 headshots may sound difficult, but becomes much easier with Multishot in the mix. Getting headshot kills is very easy given how powerful the Perigale is. The result is a Sniper that retains the immense firepower typical of its class, but also gets to temporarily ignore most of its biggest downsides, being low Ammo Max, high ammo consumption, and slow and constant reloading.
Overall, the Perigale is an unusual but extremely rewarding Sniper Rifle. It is best described as a Primary version of the (also extremely powerful) Knell (Prime). It deals very good Burst DPS even before accounting for its special features and interactions, with surprisingly usable Status output as well. It can mitigate most of its main flaws and crank up its Sustained DPS to an insane degree with Gale Force, which is both easy to trigger and extremely impactful. Used properly, this buff puts it well ahead of just about every other Sniper in Warframe for usability and Sustained DPS. However, it is still nowhere near as convenient in most content as a more "normal" Full-Auto or AoE weapon.
If you enjoy weapons that require and reward skilful use, I can't recommend the Perigale highly enough. When landing headshots reliably, the Perigale is one of the most powerful Primaries in the game, effortlessly shredding clumps of even high level Steel Path enemies.
Scores
Vs Trash Mobs: 2.5/5 - If landing headshots to trigger Gale Force reliably, the Perigale is surprisingly effective against groups of enemies for its type. With innate Punch Through, no need to reload, and higher than usual Fire Rate for a Sniper, the Perigale can work through clumps of enemies surprisingly quickly. It doesn't come close to a conventional Full-Auto or AoE weapon of course, but it's far more than most other Snipers can achieve.
Vs Unarmoured Heavies: 5/5 - With colossal Burst DPS, the Perigale naturally excels at putting down heavy enemies who are unarmoured or Status-resistant/immune.
Vs Armoured Heavies without Forced Slash: 4/5 - With much higher shot output than the average Sniper, the Perigale can stack up Status procs surprisingly consistently, though nowhere near the level of a typical Status weapon. A couple of Viral/Corrosive + Heat procs go a long way towards weakening armoured foes, at which point the Perigale's raw DPS can brute-force through them quite effectively.
Vs Armoured Heavies with Forced Slash: 5/5 - Hunter Munitions can be added to turn the Perigale into a Slash proc machine. High Crit Chance combined with huge damage-per-shot results in reliable, massive Slash procs that effortlessly tear through even the toughest of armoured Steel Path enemies.
Vs Variants
None.
Competitors
Being the only Burst-Fire Sniper, the Perigale doesn't really compare directly to the other Snipers in Warframe. It has a much higher effective Fire Rate than any other Sniper except the unzoomed Komorex, which is Status-focused so not a good comparison.
As such, I consider the Perigale significantly better against anything that requires more than a few shots, most notably large groups of enemies. On the other hand, the RubicoP will be much more efficient for single or few shots, especially against targets that have a hard-to-hit head, or no head hitbox at all.
Rivens
Like all new weapons, the Perigale starts with a minimum 1/5 Riven Disposition. Under normal circumstances, I would expect its Disposition to rise at least a little. It requires skill and precision to use effectively, and is lacking in AoE. While undoubtedly very powerful, it does not fit the usual criteria that most of the popular and low-disposition weapons abide by. However, I've also heard suggestions that it may be the new meta Sniper for Eidolons, in which case it will be abnormally popular and its Disposition will thus likely remain at rock bottom.
+Damage/Multishot/Crit Chance/Crit Damage are the standard decent stats, with +Damage being the weakest of the lot once Arcanes and Galv mods are incorporated. +Elemental Damage can offer some extra damage, shift damage biases, or save a mod slot. +Faction Damage can be useful if you are doing endurance runs, due to its interaction with damage-over-time procs. It is most relevant against the Grineer, who are by far the toughest of the base factions.
If you are competent at landing headshots, +Fire Rate is a strict DPS increase since the ammo consumption becomes a non-issue. +Mag Capacity/Reload Speed/Ammo Max can be nice quality-of-life if you are not good at landing headshots, but if you need those stats I'd probably recommend looking at a different weapon. +Punch Through is helpful particularly for larger groups and objects, though not as necessary due to the Perigale's innate Punch Through.
-Impact/Puncture are good negatives. Impact is a small component of the Perigale's base damage, and a poor damage type and proc all round, so its reduction is of minimal loss. Puncture is a much larger portion of base Damage, and it is slightly better than Impact as a damage type due to its multipliers against Ferrite- and Alloy-armour. That said, its proc is also rather lacking and it does not compare to the current meta damage types, so again its reduction is not a huge deal. In both cases, the reduction of Impact/Puncture increases the biases and thus proc chance of other, more valuable, Status procs. -Slash is the least beneficial of the three physical types, as its proc is by far the strongest of the three and very useful to have. However, it is still only a moderate component of base Damage, and its proc can still be inflicted using Hunter Munitions.
-Faction Damage to a weaker Faction (mainly Infested, arguably Corpus) can be mitigated by good positives, and of course has no effect on other Factions. -Mag Capacity/Reload Speed/Ammo Max can be manageable negatives if you consistently land headshots to trigger Gale Force. -Projectile Speed will reduce the Damage Falloff ranges, though you are unlikely to notice such a change anywhere except the Open Worlds. +Recoil is tolerable if you handle recoil well. -Zoom is ideal for close range.
No comments:
Post a Comment