Loadouts: Steel Path Shooting Gallery Saryn (U32.3.7)

Shooting Gallery is Mesa's Helminth subsumable Ability, offering a short stun and small weapon buff. These effects are unexceptional on their own, however where it really shines is its Augment Muzzle Flash, which offers a free periodic Radial Blind just from achieving 6 kills/kill assists with Shooting Gallery active. On a Frame that excels at damaging and killing a wide range of enemies like Saryn, this is effectively a constant Radial Blind that renders all non-immune enemies within range completely helpless.

Overview

I almost always use Vazarin Focus School when doing Steel Path, as its on-demand healing and invulnerability are extremely valuable to survive against such enemies.

This loadout's playstyle is not much different from the usual Saryn playstyle. Spore (1) should always be active on enemies, and any buff Abilities (Augmented Spore, subsumed Shooting Gallery, Toxic Lash [3]) should also always be active. Miasma (4) if kept can be used for another short stun that greatly enhances and further spreads Spores. Molt (2) if kept is a useful emergency button for getting out of a pinch.

Notably, since Muzzle Flash stacks on kill assists and not only kills, Saryn can easily trigger it just by having Spores on enemies when they are killed by allies. As such, when played properly, Saryn will be almost constantly emitting Radial Blinds when Shooting Gallery is active, preventing any non-boss enemy within range from ever doing anything.

Saryn Build

This is the core Shooting Gallery Saryn build I use, with several options for customisation.

Main Mods

High Range is mandatory for Saryn. I consider +90% to be the absolute minimum for effective Spores (1), while +135% is preferable. It also increases Muzzle Flash's blind range, which is very helpful. High Strength offers strong buffs from Spore's Venom Dose Augment (+Corrosive Damage) and Toxic Lash (3) (+Toxin Damage and proc), as well as increasing Spore's damage ramp-up.

Increased Duration makes all buffs last longer, most notably reducing downtime from Shooting Gallery (pictured subsumed over 2) as it is the only one that cannot be recast while active. It is not strictly necessary, and could be switched out if recasting is not an issue.

Similarly, Umbral Vitality is there more for comfort than actual necessity. Saryn has above-average Armour for a non-Tank Frame, so can take a few hits to Health at low level Steel Path before having to really worry. If you are confident in your alternative survivability skills (e.g. using Shieldgating), UVitality can be removed without any real loss.

Shooting Gallery's Augment, Muzzle Flash, is the star of the show. So long as Saryn can get 6 kill/assists within 6 seconds (which is made even more lenient by +Duration mods), she will effectively permanently blind nearby enemies. Considering Saryn's Spores count as kill assists, this is effortless to achieve in any high-enemy-density mission, even with additional players competing for kills.

There are several solid options for the empty mod slot, and indeed the Primed Cont/UVitality slots too if you don't need them. Adaptability makes Saryn's facetanking abilities significantly better, however it does not suit the playstyle of this Augmented Shooting Gallery build. Played properly, you should be taking very few, if any, hits, making it extremely difficult to build up Adaptation effectively. Rolling Guard is a much better survivability option, offering on-demand Status cleanse and invulnerability. It offers more than enough time to reset your Shieldgate, refresh Shooting Gallery, and get out of the situation you find yourself in.

If survivability is not an issue, you can always just go for mods to further improve your Abilities. Stretch/Augur Reach for more Range makes Spore and Muzzle Flash significantly better, while more Strength cranks up Saryn's buffs and damage output. Streamline can be used to ease Blind Rage's negative Efficiency if you are struggling with Energy economy - though if Energy is a problem you are better off first switching Blind Rage down to Transient Fortitude.

Rage/Hunter Adrenaline can be used as an emergency Energy recovery option, though again since this build doesn't want to get hit, they only really work if things are going wrong. Finally, Primed Flow could be used for a much larger Energy reserve if you find yourself needing to expend lots of Energy within a short period.

Aura

I have the Aura Growing Power in the above image, however I've since switched to Brief Respite for Shieldgating. Again, since this build aims to be generally perma-stunning enemies, it doesn't expect to actually get hit very often, making Shieldgating an ideal survivability method even with my laziness. Brief Respite works best if you have kept Molt, as its instant cast will also instantly reset your Shieldgate, while all of Saryn's other Abilities (including subsumed Shooting Gallery) have an unavoidable cast time.

Subsume Slot

I consider either Molt (2) or Miasma (4) as the potential subsume slots. Spore is Saryn's signature Ability and should never be removed, while Toxic Lash adds a great deal of Toxin weapon damage and synergises with Spore exceptionally well. As mentioned previously, Molt is a useful emergency button in a pinch due to its status cleanse, enemy distraction, and speed boost. It is also notable for any Shieldgating builds due to its instant cast. Miasma is most useful for spreading both Viral procs and Spores, as its own damage is not significant against high level Steel Path enemies.

Arcanes

There are several decent choices for the Arcane slots.

For health-based survivability, any of Guardian, Grace, Blessing, and Tanker (if you use Archguns) are useful. Arcane Aegis is much more effective with a Shieldgating build, potentially granting essentially invincibility for 12 seconds once active.

Energize is of course always worth consideration if you are having trouble keeping Energy up.

If you don't need those above Arcanes, Molt Augmented can be a nice option for some extra Strength. Any of the weapon-buffing Arcanes (e.g. Avenger, Pistoleer) are also worth consideration at this point.

Weapons

Primary - Bubonico

The Primary I use with this setup is a Cold-equipped Bubonico. With just one elemental mod and Saryn's Augmented Abilities, its Primary Fire deals a colossal amount of Viral, Corrosive, and Toxin damage with bonus Slash and Toxin procs. I've taken it into the mid-hundreds of levels in Steel Path, and it still comfortably one- or two-shots just about any enemy.

Alt-Fire, though lacking in damage, is notable for its impressive Status proc spreading, as well as its ability to help spread Spores thanks to Toxic Lash.

Secondary - Laetum

The Secondary I use is a Crit-built Laetum using the Overwhelming Attrition Evolution, though I've been considering switching it to a Devouring Attrition build instead. I keep it as backup to the Bubonico, using it for any super-tough enemies that can somehow survive that. It's usually not necessary though, the Bubonico with this Saryn setup kills everything with ease, even Acolytes.

Melee - Praedos

For the Melee slot, I use a Praedos mainly for the mobility buffs from the Drifting Grace and Evolved Ascension Evolutions. It is otherwise built for quick attack mashing, using Healing Return, Sovereign Outcast's many multihits, and Saryn's proc spreading, to heal for hundreds of Health per button press. It is probably the weakest weapon in this loadout, yet still comfortably kills Steel Path enemies with Combo built up. 

Notably, between Sovereign Outcast's multihits and hitting Saryn's Spores building up Combo, the Praedos can reach a maximum 12× Combo almost instantly.

Companion

For this loadout, I use a Smeeta Kavat for the small chance of increasing loot pickups, which notably works on Steel Essence dropped by Acolytes, and Riven Slivers dropped by Eximi.

I strongly recommend not using a Panzer Vulpaphyla with Saryn, as its Viral Quills spores will contest with Saryn's own Spores. If you want an immortal Companion, use one of the other Vulp species instead. Notably, Vulps can also equip the Martyr Symbiosis Precept, offering an emergency auto-revive if you would otherwise get downed. It even works with Tek Assault, for an overall 60% chance of auto-reviving you with no drawback.

Alternatives

Augmented Shooting Gallery works well on any Frame with Abilities that can spread damage around readily. Saryn is of course my showcased example, but others like Ember, Garuda, Khora, and Xaku to name just a few can do the same thing just as effectively. It is most effective on Frames that already build for high Range and reasonable Duration.

The weapons are all to personal preference. While Saryn generally prefers AoE weapons for ease of Spore spreading, she can work with just about anything.

The Companion is also to preference, though again I would recommend not using a Panzer Vulp.