Saryn has always been my go-to frame for clearing large numbers of enemies, particularly high-density missions like Defence and Sanctuary Onslaught. I thought it worth sharing my setup for clearing these missions, effective up to roughly level 100 (non-Steel Path).
Overview
The star of the show is of course Saryn, with most other bits of equipment being easily replaceable.
I default to Zenurik Focus school to ensure Energy is always available. This is particularly useful in (Elite) Sanctuary Onslaught, where your Energy is reset ever zone. However, it is far from necessary if you have a good Saryn build.
Spore (1) is the core of Saryn's kit. When initially cast, it infects a single enemy with Spores that deal a little Corrosive damage with high proc chance. If the enemy is killed by another source of damage or if a Spore is directly damaged, the Spore will spread to all other enemies in range. However, an enemy who does to Spore damage will not spread their Spores.
Spore damage increases over time and with the number of enemies infected (to a limit). When used and built for effectively, Spores can quickly spread to tear through entire tiles of enemies, dealing constantly-increasing Corrosive damage and procs.
Molt (2) is effectively a panic-button ability. It leaves behind a decoy that draws enemy fire, clears you of all Status procs, and gives a short speed boost. It is quite useful for getting out of a bad situation.
Toxic Lash (3) applies a solid damage buff to all of Saryn's weapons. It gives them all extra Toxin damage which notably does not combine with other elemental damage types and mods, as well as inflicting guaranteed Toxin procs on hit. Additionally, any enemy infected by Spores who is hit with a Toxic Lash-buffed weapon will spread Spores to other nearby enemies.
Miasma (4) deals Viral damage and proc in a radius around Saryn, as well as stunning them for a short time. Notably, Miasma deals quadruple damage to any enemy infected with Spores, and any Spore-infected enemy who dies while affected by Miasma will spread their Spores, regardless of which damage source killed them. Miasma is a very useful tool both for quickly clearing out a group of enemies, and for ensuring that Spores continue to spread rather than risking them expire and begin losing damage.
Saryn's gameplay loop is fairly simple. Cast Spore on an enemy, cast Toxic Lash, and start hitting infected enemies to spread Spores around. Recast Toxic Lash as necessary when it expires, and recast Spore on an enemy if it extinguishes all of its hosts and begins decaying. Cast Miasma to quickly kill off a group of enemies, or to try and keep Spores spreading if the current hosts are out-of-sight for you to hit with weapons. Cast Molt if you ever need to get out of a bad spot.
Saryn Build
When building Saryn to clear maps, the number one priority stat is Range. Range directly increases Spore (1) spread range, and therefore how quickly Saryn can infect all enemies on the map. Since Spore's damage ramps up naturally, high Strength is not necessary to kill enemies at these levels. In fact, too high Strength and damage can make Spores kill enemies too quickly, inhibiting their spread. Range also increases Miasma's (4) range, allowing it to weaken enemies and help spread Spores in a wider area.
On the flipside, too low Strength is not ideal either as it slows Spore's damage ramp-up rate. For this level of content, I find 125%-175% Strength to be the best balance of [strong enough to kill enemies relatively quickly] and [weak enough to give time for Spores to spread reliably].
Duration is nice to have but not strictly necessary. It notably increases the damage duration of Miasma, as well as the duration of Toxic Lash (3).
Molt (2) is the best slot to subsume if you are so inclined. As mentioned previously, it is primarily useful as a get-out-of-jail button, which is much less important in lower level content.
Note that survivability with this build is relatively poor. The only extra Health is from an Azure Archon Shard, and Arcane Guardian offers only a chance of extra Armour. Shieldgating is possible thanks to Augur Reach, but not effective unless your reaction times are far better than mine. This build however has been optimised for clearing lower level content (up to ~level 100 non-Steel Path), particularly for helping friends level equipment in (Elite) Sanctuary Onslaught. At those levels of content, survivability is largely unnecessary as enemies often die too quickly to pose a threat.
Arcane Energise is used to ensure Energy is not an issue, however when used correctly, Saryn rarely needs to cast Abilities anyway, so it is not of high importance. It can easily be switched out, for instance for Molt Vigor/Augmented for more Strength, or Arcane Blessing for survivability.
Weapons
Saryn likes using AoE weapons to assist in spreading Spores.
I take the Bubonico in this Loadout as my Primary, though it very rarely gets used and should really be replaced with something else. Though its Alt Fire has good explosive radius, Status Chance, and even base Viral damage, the explosion does not pass through walls like many others do, and it cannot equip (Primed) Firestorm. These are notable disadvantages in the Spore-spreading role.
My preferred AoE Secondary for this Loadout is a Sporelacer Secondary. It has reasonable explosive range, and is significantly stronger than most other explosive Secondaries. Additionally, with Pax Charge, ammo is a non-issue and with my playstyle, it ensures the Sporelacer is always fully supplied.
Companion
NOTE: This build was snap-shotted prior to the Companion rework in U34. I'm currently experimenting with the new Bond mods and such.
Instead, I've built it for spreading Status types I don't normally build for, and for tagging as many enemies as possible for assists. With the Melee mod Condition Overload and the ranged weapon Galv mods that benefit from unique procs, spreading uncommon Status types can be valuable for damage even if they did not have any other effect.
To this end, I've built it for Gas, taking advantage of the Verglas' innate Cold. Gas is a damage type I don't normally build for, and its proc also deals AoE damage, which counts towards assists for Energy Generator. Cold is also a type I don't build for normally, and its proc slowing enemies and increasing Crit Damage is beneficial against tough targets.
The Vigilante mods have been slotted to apply the Vigilante mod set bonus to my Primary.
Alternatives
As mentioned previously, any decent AoE weapon combines very well with Saryn to ensure Spore spreading, and she only really needs help killing off tough enemies like Eximus units.
The Shotgun Sobek has a uniquely powerful interaction with Saryn with its Acid Shells Augment, as Toxic Lash adds its Toxin damage and proc to Acid Shells explosions. This interaction is effective well into Steel Path even, though it is total overkill for the type of content I've discussed here so I'll save that for another post.
In a similar vein, the Secondary Detron family and the Melee Jat Kittag can exploit this same interaction with their Thermagnetic Shells and Vulcan Blitz Augments respectively.
While much weaker in damage output, the Helstrum is arguably as-good-as, if not even better than, the Verglas for certain roles. In particular, as an explosive Sentinel weapon, the Helstrum easily tags many enemies with its minimal damage, greatly increasing the number of assists it can achieve to trigger Energy Generator. Additionally, with innate Blast damage, it can inflict an additional unique proc on enemies compared to the Verglas.
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