Acquisition
Stats
The Gotva Prime has solid, well-rounded stats. It has very good Crit (23%/2.5×), and a high Status Chance (27%) backed up with an also high Fire Rate of 13.33. Innate Punch-Through of 0.5m is nice, though not enough to consistently pierce larger enemies.
The GotvaP's base Damage consists of pure Puncture. Puncture procs have recently been buffed (notably increasing Crit Chance against the affected enemy), however it is still not the best damage type.
With high Fire Rate of 13.33, great Mag Capacity of 84, and very reasonable Reload Time of 2 seconds, the GotvaP has a very respectable Reload Ratio of 3.15. An Ammo Max of 840 is very high, as is an Ammo Pickup of 80. Even with its high Fire Rate, the GotvaP can keep itself fairly well supplied in most missions.
The Gotva Prime has a unique Status-Crit combo, whose mechanics I was unclear of until reading the Warframe Wiki. Inflicting a Status proc gives the next shot a 15% chance to have a fixed 300% Crit Chance (forced red Crit if using default colours). Note that this remains until the next shot that hits, and is not lost upon missing. This is a nice, if relatively small, damage boost that encourages hybrid builds. It should be treated as a bonus, rather than a mechanic to specifically build for/around.
Augments
None.
Builds
0-Forma:
The Gotva Prime natively has two V and one - polarities, which are fantastic. They make fitting in builds significantly easier. This example build comfortably fits in the basics (Damage, Multishot, Crit, Elements) with room to spare.
If you have it, Critical Delay is always worth consideration over Point Strike. It offers a little more Crit Chance, at the cost of some Fire Rate. In the GotvaP's case, you could argue that the Fire Rate penalty is actually an upside, slowing down its otherwise quite fast ammo consumption rate.
For elemental setup, the usual suspects all appear. Viral is good general purpose, with a universally useful proc and surprisingly decent multipliers. Corrosive is far stronger against anything with Ferrite-armour (e.g. Heavy Gunners), as well as dealing the best direct damage against most heavy Infested units. Its armour-reducing proc also makes it effective against all other armour types. Radiation deals much more direct damage against Alloy-armour, but its proc is less useful. Pure Toxin is a great option against any unarmoured Corpus units, bypassing their Shields to strike directly at their often-weaker Health.
For the seventh slot, I've included Vigilante Armaments as a no-fuss positive. There are a lot of other options, which I'll cover below.
Recommended Setups: Viral vs everything, Corrosive vs Ferrite-armour, Infested, Radiation vs Alloy-armour, Toxin vs unarmoured Corpus
1-Forma:
With just one added Forma, probably a V polarity, you can look to fill the eighth mod slot as well, though your mod options become a bit tighter due to capacity. It may be worth another Forma or two to ensure you can fit in a wider range of different mods. The aforementioned Vigilante Armaments is a nice filler, but there are a number of other, more impactful, mods to consider.
Hunter Munitions is the obvious top mention. With no base Slash damage, the GotvaP cannot naturally inflict Slash procs, however its solid Crit Chance makes HM a perfect fit. A Viral + HM build is by far the best anti-armour build available to the GotvaP (and indeed most weapons), Viral-augmented Slash procs dealing massive armour-bypassing damage.
Other three-element combinations are also worth consideration against certain targets. Corrosive + Heat is strong combination, even stronger against the targets that Corrosive already performed well against (Ferrite-armour and Infested). Radiation + Toxin is a great catch-all against the Corpus. Toxin tears through unarmoured Corpus units quite quickly, and as most armoured Corpus units have Alloy-armour, Radiation is very effective against them.
Heavy Caliber offers more overall damage than Vigi Armaments, however at a significant Accuracy penalty. Both become obsolete once you gain access to Galv mods and Arcanes.
If you're after a straight damage increase, a (Primed) Bane is more effective, especially with damage-over-time procs getting the benefit multiple times over. The key downsides are of course having to max and switch the (Primed) Bane around per-faction for maximum effect, and that a number of enemies in the game do not have a corresponding Faction Damage mod yet (e.g. Sentients).
Bladed Rounds and Argon Scope are solid conditional Crit-boosting mods. They are decently strong if you can meet their trigger conditions comfortably. Proton Jet is a conditional +Crit/Status mod, while Hammer Shot is weaker but unconditionally boosts +Crit/Status. With the GotvaP's unique Status-super-Crit feature, the increased Status Chance is a little more notable.
As always, I am a big fan of adding Punch-Through to single-target weapons for greater effect. (Primed) Shred offers a solid amount of Punch-Through as well as some Fire Rate, ideal for offsetting Critical Delay. If you don't want the bonus Fire Rate, Vigilante Offense and Metal Auger are solid alternatives.
Recommended Setups: Viral + HM vs armoured enemies, Corrosive + Heat vs Ferrite-armour, Infested, Radiation + Toxin vs Corpus
Galvanised Mods
Galv Chamber.
Galv Aptitude can be slightly awkward to use as the GotvaP deals only Puncture damage naturally. This can be increased with elemental mods (up to two more damage types) and Hunter Munitions (Slash procs) for three or four damage types, enough to justify the use of Galv Apt. Additionally, the extra Status Chance can be useful for maximising the GotvaP's special feature.
Galv Scope can be used to crank the GotvaP's Crit Chance significantly higher for a solid damage increase as well. It can work well either alongside or instead of Point Strike/Critical Delay, but is low enough that the Status-super-Crit will still be stronger. The main drawback of Galv Scope is its requirement for headshot direct damage kills, which can be problematic if running particularly a Hunter Munitions build. Slash procs cannot hit headshots, and thus kills due to Slash procs will never count as a headshot. Nonetheless, if you can tolerate the trigger conditions, Galv Scope can be a strong option.
Arcanes
+Damage options:
Standard Viral + Slash build.
- Primary Merciless is the default all-rounder option, with an easy stacking condition (on kill) and a nice secondary benefit (+Reload Speed).
- Primary Deadhead is also strong, stacking faster but having the same flaw as Galv Scope requiring direct damage headshot kills. Its -Recoil isn't much use on the GotvaP, but increased headshot damage is always appreciated.
- Primary Plated Rounds will give up to +302% Damage on the default GotvaP mag, slightly lower than the standard options. I don't like it in general as it only lasts for 10 seconds after every reload, and requires emptying the entire mag for maximum effect. I think the other two options are just better overall.
Other damage options:
- Primary Frostbite is a strong option if you have some way of quickly and reliably inflicting Cold procs (e.g. Sentinel weapon). You could consider modding the GotvaP for it if going for a Corrosive + Cold direct damage build, or if you have a source of Viral procs elsewhere (e.g. Ability Nourish, Panzer Vulpaphyla). With 4 or more unique procs, Pri Frostbite will offer more damage than Pri Merciless when Galv Apt is also installed, but with 3 or fewer unique procs Pri Merciless remains superior.
- Primary Blight is marginally stronger than Pri Frostbite, and again can be strong if you have sources of Toxin procs. Building for pure Toxin is generally more useful, as mentioned previously against the Corpus. Once again Pri Blight will beat Pri Merciless with 4 or more unique procs and Galv Apt installed, but will be weaker otherwise.
Non-damage options:
- Fractalised Reset isn't much good as the GotvaP already reloads in a reasonable time.
- Primary Exhilarate is useless because the GotvaP cannot inflict Impact procs at all.
- Primary Obstruct is niche at best, and more likely just useless. It requires building the GotvaP for Magnetic, which is only effective against a small subset of enemies, as well as wasting the Arcane slot on a non-damaging light-CC effect.
I'd recommend Pri Merciless/Deadhead by default, with consideration for Pri Frostbite/Blight if those specific circumstances fit you.
My Builds
Combat Use and Summary
With good Reload Ratio, high Fire Rate, and a little innate Punch Through, the Gotva Prime is fairly effective against large crowds. It can quickly and easily kill a large number of weaker enemies before needing to reload. Additional Punch Through can be helpful to increase its chances of hitting multiple enemies with each shot - its innate Punch Through of 0.5m can pierce smaller enemies, but not the larger ones.
With fairly high Crit, the GotvaP deals respectable though not exceptional Burst DPS. It is reasonably effective against single targets, but there are many much stronger Primaries and Rifles for single target direct damage.
Without Hunter Munitions, the GotvaP cannot inflict Slash procs as its base Damage is pure Puncture. While this offers decent direct damage against most armour types and a minor damage boost, its proc does not compare to the armour-reduction of Corrosive, Health damage increase of Viral, or armour-bypassing damage of Slash. With decently high Status Chance and Fire Rate though, the GotvaP can pull off a fairly effective Viral/Corrosive + Heat build. It will quickly max out Viral/Corrosive procs, and stack respectably strong Heat procs. However, there are again a number of weapons that can do this better.
With Hunter Munitions, the GotvaP can be more effective against heavily armoured targets, its high Crit Chance and chance for Status-super-Crit proccing HM very reliably. Though its base Damage and thus resultant individual Slash procs are not very strong, it inflicts a lot of them and the resultant damage stacks up very quickly. As mentioned previously, it maxes out Viral procs quite quickly which is ideal for such a build.
The Gotva Prime has good accuracy and almost no recoil, making it surprisingly effective at long range - certainly more so than most other Full-Auto Rifles.
Ammo is not the biggest issue, despite its high Fire Rate. With a Max Ammo of 840, it takes quite a lot of combat to deplete the GotvaP. Additionally, it recovers 80 rounds per pickup which is fairly generous, allowing it to keep topped up provided you have a reasonable kill rate.
Overall, the Gotva Prime is a solid Full-Auto Rifle. It is fairly effective against just about all targets, with a solid mix of Crit, Status, high Fire Rate and good Reload Ratio. Its unique Status-super-Crit mechanic offers slightly more damage than its on-paper stats suggest, particularly when built for high Status Chance.
However, the GotvaP is not exceptional in any particular area, and this is perhaps its biggest flaw. There are a ridiculous number of insane weapons in Warframe, so to stand out a weapon must be exceptionally strong, or have a uniquely useful gimmick worth taking at the expense of other benefits - the GotvaP is neither. While it is by no means bad, I think there are a number of other weapons that offer a lot more.
Scores
Vs Trash Mobs: 4/5 - With high Fire Rate, Mag Capacity, and overall good Reload Ratio, the Gotva Prime fares reasonably well against large groups. It can quickly kill weak enemies with a few rounds, and switches targets very comfortably. Its innate Punch Through is nice, but not enough to consistently pierce larger enemies.
Vs Unarmoured Heavies: 3.5/5 - The GotvaP has solid, but not exceptional, Burst DPS by Rifle standards. There are a lot of weapons that can dish out much more damage in a short time.
Vs Armoured Heavies without Forced Slash: 3.5/5 - With pure innate Puncture damage, the Gotva Prime has no ability to naturally inflict Slash procs, and it is not especially good at stacking Heat procs either. While its high Fire Rate and Status Chance allow it to pull off a respectable Viral/Corrosive + Heat, there are a plethora of weapons that can do such a build much better.
The MR15 Kuva Hind is also up there as far as generic Rifles are concerned. It is similar to (I'd argue better than) the Kuva Karak, retaining the same advantages of higher Status Chance, and more importantly more damage types including high Slash bias. As such, I once again consider the KHind overall more effective.
Finally, although the two are visually very similar, the MR10 Aeolak is functionally very different to the GotvaP. It fires much slower, with higher base Damage and a very diverse base Damage distribution. More importantly, the Aeolak has an explosive Alt Fire that the GotvaP does not have any equivalent of.
Vs Armoured Heavies with Forced Slash: 4/5 - Hunter Munitions allows the GotvaP to inflict Slash procs, offering by far its best anti-armour option. With high Fire Rate and Crit Chance, it is very reliable at stacking Slash procs, and will comfortably max out Viral procs to enhance them as well.
Vs Variants
None.
Competitors
The MR12 Gotva Prime is a pretty generic Full-Auto Rifle, so it faces very significant competition.
The MR13 Kuva Karak is an obvious candidate comparison, being one of the better generic Rifles. The GotvaP notably has higher Crit Multiplier, Fire Rate, and Mag Capacity. However, the KKarak has a higher Status Chance, and thanks to the Kuva Lich bonus, an overall higher base Damage (28.75 - 36.8). With a bonus of at least ~45%, the KKarak will come out on top in overall DPS with a typical build, not including the GotvaP's chance for super Crits.
More importantly, the KKarak deals far more damage types innately (Impact/Puncture/Slash plus Lich bonus), for a much higher Galv Aptitude damage bonus. Additionally, with some base Slash damage, it also inflicts a lot more Slash procs overall. As a result, though the two are fairly close on-paper, I find the KKarak to be much more effective in-practice.
There are many, many other Full-Auto and Full-Auto-like (notably Beam) weapons that the GotvaP must compete with, and I don't think it carves out a notable niche among them. Weapons like the Ignis Wraith and Vermisplicer Kitgun are far superior at clearing crowds, while the increasing number of Incarnon/Genesis weapons such as Phenmor and Burston Incarnon are stronger to an almost comical degree.
Rivens
As a new weapon, the Gotva Prime starts with a minimum 1/5 (0.5) Riven Disposition. Given its relative unexceptional-ness, I expect that to increase quite quickly, at least on-par with something like the Kuva Karak at 3/5 (1.05).
The usual suspects Damage/Multishot/Crit Chance/Crit Damage are always nice, with +Damage being the least valuable with Galv mods and Arcanes in the mix. +Elemental Damage can be useful to save a mod slot. +Faction Damage can be a strong multiplier of damage-over-time procs like Slash, most useful against the Grineer. +Fire Rate can be useful to offset the penalty of Crit Delay. +Punch Through is a great help against crowds.
-Impact/Slash have no effect and are thus pure benefit. -Faction Damage to the weaker Factions (mainly Infested, arguably Corpus) are manageable with good positives, and have no effect on other Factions. -Mag Capacity/Reload Speed can be tolerable in small amounts. -Ammo Max isn't a big issue as the GotvaP stores and recovers a lot of ammo. -Projectile Speed has no effect. +Recoil is good if you handle recoil well. -Zoom is ideal for close quarters.
No comments:
Post a Comment