Review: Acceltra Prime (U35.0.11)

The Acceltra Prime is an MR14 Full-Auto explosive Rifle. Gauss Prime's signature Primary, it excels at clearing through groups of enemies, and its major Status Chance increase also allows it to spread Status procs much more reliably. However, it is still curtailed by its very low Ammo Max, and can be awkward to use in close quarters due to its minimum arming distance.

Acquisition

Standard Prime weapon stuff, the Acceltra Prime components and blueprint can be found in various Void Relics.

Stats

The Acceltra Prime's base Stats are quite strong overall. 34%/3× Crit is exceptional and among the best in the game, while 18% Status Chance is very respectable especially with reasonably high Fire Rate. Its base Damage consists of all three Physical damage types, however it cannot make the most of them. Impact Damage is not particularly strong, and Impact procs are only really useful for easier Mercy kills. Puncture procs now increase direct-hit Crit Chance to the affected enemy, however a majority of the AcceltraP's damage is in its explosion, which does not benefit. Finally, while Slash procs are strong, Slash is the smallest component, making it the least likely to be inflicted.

A Fire Rate of 10 is quite high for an explosive weapon, depleting the 48 round magazine in 4.8 seconds. With a relatively short Reload Time of just 1.6 seconds though, this provides a very respectable Reload Ratio of 3.

As an explosive weapon, the AcceltraP is one of many such weapons burdened with low Ammo Max. Despite having a Mag Capacity of 48 rounds, it can only carry an additional 96. This is somewhat mitigated by a very respectable Ammo Pickup value, recovering 40 rounds per pickup.

The AcceltraP is one of relatively few weapons with a minimum arming distance. Rockets fired must travel at least 7m before they will explode. Hitting an object before this distance will cause the rocket to not detonate, thus denying over half of the rocket's potential damage. During the original Acceltra's release, still in the time of explosions causing self-damage, this was a useful feature to reduce the chance of killing oneself. The change of self-damage to self-stagger/knockdown makes it much less risky, and the minimum arming distance can make the AcceltraP more difficult to use in very close quarters.

An explosive radius of 5m is not especially large, however with a high Fire Rate of 10, allows you to easily fill a room with explosions. 50% Damage Fall-Off is significant but still effective against weaker enemies.

As appropriate for Gauss (Prime)'s signature Primary, the Acceltra (Prime) has +25% Reload Speed while Sprinting. This is increased to +50% in the hands of Gauss (Prime). While not game-changing by any means, any reduction to Reload Time is always nice.

Augments

None.

Builds

Basic 0-Forma:

The Acceltra Prime has single native v and - polarities, which is quite useful and allows you to easily fit in a basic build. This sample build has all the essentials - Damage, Multishot, Crit, and two Elements.

Critical Delay 0-Forma:

If you have it, Critical Delay is worth consideration over Point Strike. It offers higher Crit Chance, pushing the AcceltraP over 100% Crit Chance, at the cost of some Fire Rate. Your damage-per-shot is increased noticeably, but due to the Fire Rate penalty overall DPS reduces slightly. Personally, I find the Fire Rate penalty quite useful for keeping ammo consumption down.

Hunter Munitions 0-Forma:

If you have both 60/60 elemental mods for Viral (Toxin + Cold) as well as Critical Delay, you can even look to fit in a seventh mod. In this case, I've gone with Hunter Munitions as it is by far the best general-purpose option to highlight - but more on that in a moment.

For elemental choice, Viral is the standard general-purpose fare. Although its multipliers are not the best, its damage-increasing proc is near universal, save for a small select group of Viral-immune enemies. Many of these enemies are Cambion Drift Infested, against whom Corrosive is often the most effective. Corrosive is also a good general anti-armour element thanks to its armour-decreasing proc, and it is especially strong against Ferrite-armour.

Radiation on the other hand is very strong against Alloy-armour, however its proc is not as directly useful. Magnetic can be used to quickly deplete enemy Shields, however there are few enemies whose Shields are legitimately worth worrying about. Instead, building for pure Toxin is often more effective, as its damage bypasses most Shields entirely, striking directly at their often-weaker Health.

While Corrosive and Radiation are strong against their respective armour types, brute-force direct damage and partial armour reduction only go so far. At very high level content (e.g. Steel Path), damage even from these starts to drop off and become relatively less effective. This is where HM comes in. Specifically, HM allows the AcceltraP to reliably inflict Slash procs on just about anything. Slash procs deal armour-ignoring damage and are amped up by Viral procs, allowing them to scale significantly better into very high level content.

Recommended Setups: Viral + HM vs everything, Corrosive vs Ferrite-armour, Infested, Radiation vs Alloy-armour, Toxin vs unarmoured Corpus

General Purpose 2-Forma:

Two added Forma, probably V polarities, allows you to comfortably fit in an eighth mod. This sample build has Vigilante Armaments, which is a no-fuss, relatively weak damage increase. Heavy Caliber is a stronger option, with the penalty of reduced Accuracy being of little impact to an AoE weapon like the AcceltraP. However, both of these mods become obsolete with Galv mods and Arcanes in the picture.

If you are looking for a stronger straight damage boost, look instead at the (Primed) Bane mods. These Faction Damage mods are a separate damage multiplier to most other stats, retaining their full strength even with a more advanced build. In particular, they are also applied multiple times to damage-over-time procs like Slash. This is most useful against the Grineer and Corrupted, who have the highest proportion of heavily armoured enemies.

Alternatively, you could look to boost Crit. Bladed Rounds, Argon Scope, and Proton Jet are all conditional Crit-boosting options, and can be strong if you can manage their trigger conditions. Proton Jet also increases Status Chance.

(Primed) Firestorm is absolutely worth a mention for increasing explosive radius. Though it doesn't increase base Damage, the increased explosive range allows you to hit even more enemies with a given shot, greatly increasing efficiency against groups. Additionally, the increased explosive range stretches out the Damage Fall Off range as well, effectively dealing more damage to enemies at a given distance away from the epicentre.

Finally, you could consider a third elemental mod. There are several three-element combos that are quite potent.

Adding Cold or Heat alongside Corrosive can be a potent combo. Heat provides an additional armour-reduction effect, as well as a damage-over-time proc that can stack up very strongly. Cold gets bonus damage against Alloy-armour, and its proc both slows enemies and makes them take increased Crit Damage.

Radiation + Toxin is a fantastic Corpus catch-all. Many Corpus units have Shields, in exchange for below-average Health. Against anything unarmoured, Toxin will deal damage ignoring the Shields entirely, striking at their often-weak Health. Most armoured Corpus units use Alloy-armour, which is damaged super-effectively by Radiation.

Finally, the introduction of Radiated Reload allows builds to have a little bonus Radiation damage, without needing two elemental mods for it. This also allows otherwise impossible combos such as Corrosive + Radiation, which is notable for being super-effective against both main armour types.

There are a couple of options worth considering for the Exilus slot.

Vigilante Supplies, (Primed) Rifle Ammo Mutation, or Ammo Drum can be used to mitigate the low Ammo Max issue. Vigi Supplies is notable for its Crit-increasing set bonus, for a marginal damage increase.

Terminal Velocity for +Projectile Speed can be very useful outside of close quarters. It makes combat at longer ranges a little easier, and does not affect the minimum arming distance.

If self-stagger/knockdown is a problem, Cautious Shot can be used to minimise it. However, given said minimum arming distance, I find it to be almost a non-issue for the AcceltraP.

Recommended Setups: see above. Also consider: Corrosive + Cold/Heat vs Ferrite-armour, Infested, Radiation + Toxin vs Corpus, Corrosive + Radiation vs most armour

Galvanised Mods

Galv Chamber.

Being an explosive weapon with more than half of its Damage in its explosion, the AcceltraP does not benefit majorly from Galv Aptitude. Serration is an overall more useful Damage boost, or even forgo a +Damage mod entirely if you have a +Damage Arcane.

The AcceltraP has fantastic Crit, so Galv Scope can be a very strong option...if you can reliably stack it. Galv Scope relies on Headshots to trigger, and specifically direct Headshot kills to stack more Crit Chance. Being an explosive projectile weapon, the AcceltraP is not great at this. Its reliance on Hunter Munitions to defeat heavily armoured enemies makes this worse, as Slash proc kills cannot count as Headshot kills. As such, I wouldn't recommend using Galv Scope.

Arcane

There are a lot to consider nowadays.

+Damage options:

• Primary Merciless - the benchmark, stacks from any kill and increases Reload Speed, but decays quickly and requires lots of kills to max. Works very well on an AoE weapon like the AcceltraP.
• Primary Deadhead - Headshot-focused Arcane, increasing Headshot damage and reducing Recoil. As mentioned when discussing Galv Scope, the AcceltraP is not a very good Headshot weapon, so in the same vein, Pri Deadhead is not ideal.
• Primary Plated Rounds - maxes at roughly +230% Damage for the base AcceltraP magazine, which is much weaker than other options.

Other damage increasing options:

• Primary Frostbite - solid overall damage increase if you can inflict Cold procs reliably (e.g. Sentinel weapon or a Corrosive/Radiation + Cold build)
• Primary Blight - similarly decent overall damage increase if you can inflict Toxin procs reliably.

Non-damaging options:

• Fractalised Reset - the AcceltraP already has reasonably fast Reload Speed, especially when sprinting, making this Arcane unnecessary.
• Primary Exhilarate - can be a nice option to recover Energy reliably if you don't have other ways of recovering Energy and don't need the extra damage.
• Primary Obstruct - requires building for Magnetic which is suboptimal against the vast majority of enemies, and offers only a very short CC effect. Largely not worth building for and using.

Ultimately, I'd recommend picking between Pri Merciless, Frostbite, and Blight, leaning towards Merciless. Merciless is the standard go-to option, and is the on-paper strongest of the three. It can even allow you to remove Serration entirely for another mod. Frostbite and Blight are loadout-dependent, but their trigger condition not requiring outright kills can be beneficial.

My Build

Pretty standard Viral + HM build. My Riven replaces the usual Toxin mod.

Combat Use and Summary

Rapid-firing explosives, the Acceltra Prime naturally excels against large numbers of enemies. It spreads damage and Status procs in respectable explosive radius with each shot, and can tear through clumps of weaker enemies with ease. There are few weapons as good as or better than the AcceltraP at engaging lots of enemies.

The AcceltraP also deals high on-paper direct damage, thanks in part to its colossal Crit and high Fire Rate. Against Status-resistant/immune enemies, it deals very good damage in quite a short period of time. Being an explosive weapon however, over half of its damage does not benefit from the default 3× headshot multiplier, putting it at a distinct disadvantage to many single-target weapons. Additionally, being more than half explosive damage, the AcceltraP does not significantly benefit from the newly Crit-boosting Puncture proc.

The AcceltraP is least naturally effective against heavily armoured enemies. Though its raw Status output is quite good, its Slash bias is very low and only on its explosion, so it relies moreso on elemental procs. A Viral or Corrosive build with additional Heat or Cold can significantly increase the damage dealt to armoured enemies. Heat provides extra armour reduction and a stacking damage-over-time effect, while Cold increases Crit Damage dealt. For Alloy-armoured enemies, Radiation can instead be used for strong up-front damage, but less directly useful procs.

Hunter Munitions is, naturally, an ideal option for the AcceltraP. Its Crit Chance can be pushed above 100% using Critical Delay, maximising its chance to inflict Slash procs with HM. Proccing from very good damage output, the total Slash proc damage that a HM-equipped AcceltraP can output is quite impressive, particularly in a reasonable explosive radius. Individual Slash procs are not very strong, but the AcceltraP with HM can inflict a large number of them very quickly, and very reliably. Coupled with reliable Viral procs thanks to its solid natural Status output, and the AcceltraP can bleed through heavily armoured enemies quite quickly with focused bursts.

Ammo can be problematic for the AcceltraP. With high Fire Rate, it consumes ammo     quite quickly, and its default Ammo Max is just 96 rounds - only two reloads worth. This is somewhat mitigated by a high Ammo Pickup of 40 rounds per pickup. Nonetheless, the AcceltraP can run out of ammo very quickly if you are not careful and/or are unlucky with ammo drops. An Ammo Mutation/etc mod is strongly recommended.

The 7m arming distance greatly reduces the risk of self-inflicted stagger/knockdown, however it also drastically reduces damage output at point-blank range. It emphasises a basic degree of skill to use correctly, that cannot be circumvented with knockdown immunity like most explosive weapons. Realistically, if your target is within 7m range, you might as well use your Melee weapon instead.

Overall, the Acceltra Prime is a strong weapon. It clears through mobs of enemies with ease, and can be built to deal with heavier enemies quite effectively as well. Its key flaws are in usability, namely low Ammo Max and a minimum arming distance, but these are easily mitigated with more careful, deliberate use. If you are after a strong AoE Primary, the Acceltra Prime is a great option.

Scores

Vs Trash Mobs: 5/5 - Rapid-firing explosive rounds with respectable damage and explosive radius, the Acceltra Prime excels against large groups of weaker enemies.

Vs Unarmoured Heavies: 4.5/5 - With extremely high Crit, the AcceltraP deals excellent direct damage to most enemies. It can punch through most unarmoured or Status-resistant/immune targets quite quickly. Its relative lack of benefit from headshots is a notable downside compared to non-explosive weapons.

Vs Armoured Heavies without Forced Slash: 4/5 - With respectably high Status Chance and Fire Rate, the AcceltraP can stack up Status procs on enemies quite quickly. Its non-ideal base Damage composition leaves it largely reliant on elemental Status procs for effect, primarily Viral/Corrosive + Heat setups.

Vs Armoured Heavies with Forced Slash: 4.5/5 - Massive Crit makes Hunter Munitions an ideal choice on the AcceltraP, constantly inflicting decently strong Slash procs on any enemy caught in range. This pairs perfectly with a Viral build for maximum damage.

Vs Variants

The MR14 Acceltra Prime is a significant improvement over the MR8 Acceltra. I find the most impactful ones to be the increased explosive radius, and the tripled Status Chance.

Competitors

In spite of the huge number of weapons in Warframe, the specific niche of fast-firing explosive AoE Primary is actually fairly limited. Most other explosive AoE weapons are much slower firing, while the other fast firing AoE weapons usually have smaller explosive radius, or are AoE/chain beam weapons which behave very differently.

The MR14 Astilla Prime is a Full-Auto explosive Shotgun that is relatively fast firing. Notably, it has far higher Slash bias and Status Chance, so inflicts natural Slash procs much more reliably. However, the AcceltraP has much higher Crit and overall direct DPS, as well as a far larger explosion. Additionally, Hunter Munitions drastically reduces the advantage of natural Slash procs.

The MR11 Basmu is one of the only weapons an AoE and comparable Fire Rate to the AcceltraP. Like the AstillaP, it has a significant Status Chance advantage, and it has infinite ammo thanks to being a battery weapon, however it is quite severely deficient in just about every other aspect.

A Primary Sporelacer can be built into a relatively fast-firing, AoE weapon. As a Kitgun, its Crit/Status spread can be adjusted with different Loaders, however the AcceltraP will always have better Crit. As in this example Tremor-Bashrack build, the AcceltraP's Crit/Status spread is always going to be better, as is its explosive radius. As such, I don't think a Primary Sporelacer really offers much over the AcceltraP.

Finally, the MR14 Zhuge Prime is an explosive crossbow, with excellent Status Chance and very good Crit. Like with the AstillaP, the ZhugeP is much more adept at naturally inflicting Slash procs (and once again, HM helps to level this field), but the AcceltraP is a lot stronger in direct damage. I also find the ZhugeP's quality-of-life to be much worse, with a far slower Reload Time, and its delayed explosion is nothing but an annoyance.

Overall, the Acceltra Prime doesn't face a whole lot of competition in its specific fast-firing explosive niche. However, there is a plethora of other AoE weapons that are also very strong.

Rivens

As standard for a new weapon, the Acceltra Prime's disposition starts at minimum 1/5 (0.5).  The base Acceltra's is already a very low 1/5 (0.6), so I don't expect the AcceltraP's to rise at all.

The usual good stats are always good, +Damage/Multishot/Crit Chance/Crit Damage, with the former two being less valuable once you get access to Arcanes and Galv mods. +Elemental Damage can be useful to save a mod slot. +Faction Damage can be particularly strong for damage-over-time procs like Slash, most useful against the Grineer. +Fire Rate can offset the penalty of Critical Delay, although you may not want the increased ammo consumption in the first place. +Ammo Max can be very helpful quality-of-life. +Projectile Speed is useful outside of close quarters.

-Impact/Puncture/Slash are all manageable. Neither Impact nor Puncture are especially strong damage types or procs for the AcceltraP, and their reduction does not affect damage from Elemental mods or Status procs. Slash is the most useful for its proc, however it is the smallest component of the AcceltraP's base Damage already, so has the smallest effect. -Faction Damage can be manageable for the weaker factions (mainly Infested, arguably Corpus).

-Fire Rate can be useful to conserve ammo, although it is probably too much if you are also running Critical Delay. -Mag Capacity is not ideal, but is far from the worst option in small amounts. -Ammo Max is worse for the AcceltraP than most weapons, but can also be manageable notably with the Exilus slot and/or the Carrier Sentinel with Ammo Case. -Reload Speed can be mitigated by the AcceltraP's special ability. +Recoil has minimal effect. -Zoom is ideal for close quarters, and the AcceltraP is not very good at longer ranges anyway.