Xaku or Protea?

[No' Name]

Hello all,

So as someone who plays this game on and off, everytime I come back, I usually check out the new Warframes, or one's I have not yet seen, which actually is quite a bit for me, and some of them look interesting, but I'm more of someone who leans towards Warframes that are utility based. My favorite being Nyx/Nyx Prime.

So upon returning, Xaku is the "New" Warframe which dropped with Heart of Deimos I believe? (Correct me if I'm wrong), and I'm not too sure where Protea actually came from.

I did a bit of research, seen some first impressions of both of the Warframes, however, they are 4 months old, and I'm not really too sure how much these frames have changed in that time period.

That being said, which one would be the better purchase? Protea? Or Xaku?

I've seen people say you need something like 3500 copernics, which is a brand new type of currency/resource to me, and just got enough to work on my Railjack, not too sure what Xaku's blueprints take either, probably some other currency I don't have.

Which Warframe would be more fun to use utility wise? They both seem to get skills that are "Turret Like", Xaku disarming, and using enemy weapons against them, and Protea using a turret, both which I've heard have a very short duration. I would be leaning more towards Protea, probably solely based on her one skill where she can set something that drops, health, energy, and ammo.

[Pakaku]

Protea can build dispensers that create energy orbs among other stuff, her sentry guns seem to scale up very well in damage, and she's exponentially more of a pain to farm for than Xaku (but her quest mission is intersting for the lore)

If you really insist on buying a Warframe, that would be my suggestion

[Wrong Way Up]

protea - turrets and 1 spam clear pretty much anything
self heal ammo and energy
lots of oversheild

xaku - void damamge which alot of enemys are netrual too so not that op really

just farm for them no point wasting plat on them

[Archwraith]

Protea has more utility compared to Xaku. With her 1 capable of boosting shield, 3 giving omni-ammo (which means heavy gun ammo as well), health, and energy, she suits your description more.

Protea's turret duration are short but they pack a lot of punch the more enemy they hit. They're meant to be spammed in this case. Alongside Zenurik and her 3, and arcane energize if you have it, energy will never be a problem.

Xaku on the other hand has a low range turret after he stole the weapons from its enemies. It deals void damage which is basically neutral to all armor type. Xaku is great for quick run and dealing with unarmored mobs such as infested in this case. Its 4th freezes the rest of its ability duration is something you must take advantage a lot.

Its 3rd ability need some time to get used to, but it's quite solid compared to the first time Xaku is introduced.

Protea needed some railjack material, but those are easy to farm just by joining someone else's railjack. Xaku on the other hand need a lot of material from Deimos. Some are rarer than the other too.

[Watermelons]

Quick question, you're willing to buy Warframes whole, but not use that same plat for the comparatively minuscule cost of slots? Just wondering from your other post, as you called that whole concept "disgusting" and whatnot. Anyways,

Protea hasn't changed very much since her release besides a bit of a buff to her 2nd and 4th ability functions. Her kit is rather nice, aside from the 4th, which can be found to be a gimmick not quite useful enough to ever really use. It is still a neat and usable ability though, dropping an anchor point, being able to spend as much energy and ammo as you can and then zipping back to that anchor spot regaining everything spent, as well as it being capable of saving you from death.
Her 1st is versatile for destroying enemies and supporting allies, simple as that. Her 2nd, the turret, isn't meant for long period of defense, but a quick burst of damage to cut down crowds ahead or repeated beatings on a tanky target. It is quite destructive against things that refuse to die. Her 3rd is a universally useful supply drop, as long as you build it for enough duration.

Xaku had some tweaking done after its release, but is a bit less flexible than Protea. It can buff it damage with the unique Void damage type, though it's downgraded as it doesn't exactly function like normal sources of Void damage in all scenarios, namely against Eidolons. The gun grab can be pretty powerful, though it's basically just a short range snap of enemy disarm + extra damage output. The 3rd ability suffers from the same clunkiness problem that all multi-abilities have from needing to swap between functions, though it offers decent crowd control/debuffing. And the 4th is an excellent way to open crates around you and a decent way to increase survivability.

Utility wise, I prefer Protea, she just feels more flexible, especially once you get the Helminth ability to infuse other abilities into Warframes and replace her gimmicky 4th with something that can synergize well. I have a set up to replace it with Vauban's Tesla grenades for even more balls rolling around the place, and another to replace it with the Helminth ability "Expedite Suffering" which fast forwards all toxic/slash procs on targets in front of you + adds bonus damage to it. That works very well with her 1st ability's slash function.

[No' Name]

Originally posted by Something Something Watermelons:

Quick question, you're willing to buy Warframes whole, but not use that same plat for the comparatively minuscule cost of slots? Just wondering from your other post, as you called that whole concept "disgusting" and whatnot. Anyways,

Protea hasn't changed very much since her release besides a bit of a buff to her 2nd and 4th ability functions. Her kit is rather nice, aside from the 4th, which can be found to be a gimmick not quite useful enough to ever really use. It is still a neat and usable ability though, dropping an anchor point, being able to spend as much energy and ammo as you can and then zipping back to that anchor spot regaining everything spent, as well as it being capable of saving you from death.
Her 1st is versatile for destroying enemies and supporting allies, simple as that. Her 2nd, the turret, isn't meant for long period of defense, but a quick burst of damage to cut down crowds ahead or repeated beatings on a tanky target. It is quite destructive against things that refuse to die. Her 3rd is a universally useful supply drop, as long as you build it for enough duration.

Xaku had some tweaking done after its release, but is a bit less flexible than Protea. It can buff it damage with the unique Void damage type, though it's downgraded as it doesn't exactly function like normal sources of Void damage in all scenarios, namely against Eidolons. The gun grab can be pretty powerful, though it's basically just a short range snap of enemy disarm + extra damage output. The 3rd ability suffers from the same clunkiness problem that all multi-abilities have from needing to swap between functions, though it offers decent crowd control/debuffing. And the 4th is an excellent way to open crates around you and a decent way to increase survivability.

Utility wise, I prefer Protea, she just feels more flexible, especially once you get the Helminth ability to infuse other abilities into Warframes and replace her gimmicky 4th with something that can synergize well. I have a set up to replace it with Vauban's Tesla grenades for even more balls rolling around the place, and another to replace it with the Helminth ability "Expedite Suffering" which fast forwards all toxic/slash procs on targets in front of you + adds bonus damage to it. That works very well with her 1st ability's slash function.

In my other post, I was simply talking about how scummy the mechanic is charging for Warframe slots is, and in practice, it really is. You're charging people money, to buy more slots, OR, telling them to get rid of one of their Warframes, to make room for another one. It doesn't matter how "Cheap" it is money wise, it's a sleezey practice, that's really all there is to it. You don't have to agree, this is just my opinion.

I also stated in the other post, I really don't mind coming back once in a while, and dropping $50 on the game, it's really not a problem at all.

Anyways, thanks to everyone for your thoughts, I figured Protea would be the one to go with.

[peppermint hollows]

Originally posted by Humor:

In my other post, I was simply talking about how scummy the mechanic is charging for Warframe slots is, and in practice, it really is. You're charging people money, to buy more slots, OR, telling them to get rid of one of their Warframes, to make room for another one. It doesn't matter how "Cheap" it is money wise, it's a sleezey practice, that's really all there is to it. You don't have to agree, this is just my opinion.

I also stated in the other post, I really don't mind coming back once in a while, and dropping $50 on the game, it's really not a problem at all.

Anyways, thanks to everyone for your thoughts, I figured Protea would be the one to go with.

You consider it a sleezy practice but you're still willing to give the devs your money, and on top of that, the money you spend on a single warframe could buy you...let's see. Either of these frames will run you 325 plat a pop, and slots are 20 plat so...you could get 16 warframe slots with that plat. 16. Or you could just buy a single warframe and keep whining about the fact that you need more slots and have to sell your other warframes.

It makes zero sense.

[No' Name]

Originally posted by peppermint holloween:

Originally posted by Humor:

In my other post, I was simply talking about how scummy the mechanic is charging for Warframe slots is, and in practice, it really is. You're charging people money, to buy more slots, OR, telling them to get rid of one of their Warframes, to make room for another one. It doesn't matter how "Cheap" it is money wise, it's a sleezey practice, that's really all there is to it. You don't have to agree, this is just my opinion.

I also stated in the other post, I really don't mind coming back once in a while, and dropping $50 on the game, it's really not a problem at all.

Anyways, thanks to everyone for your thoughts, I figured Protea would be the one to go with.

You consider it a sleezy practice but you're still willing to give the devs your money, and on top of that, the money you spend on a single warframe could buy you...let's see. Either of these frames will run you 325 plat a pop, and slots are 20 plat so...you could get 16 warframe slots with that plat. 16. Or you could just buy a single warframe and keep whining about the fact that you need more slots and have to sell your other warframes.

It makes zero sense.

It's quite obvious you just don't understand, and will never understand. There is no point in trying to further explain this to you.

Take your trolling to the next person who you disagree with, or thread you can't quite wrap your head around.

[Henry of Skalitz]

Originally posted by Humor:

[
In my other post, I was simply talking about how scummy the mechanic is charging for Warframe slots is, and in practice, it really is. You're charging people money, to buy more slots, OR, telling them to get rid of one of their Warframes, to make room for another one. It doesn't matter how "Cheap" it is money wise, it's a sleezey practice, that's really all there is to it. You don't have to agree, this is just my opinion.

I also stated in the other post, I really don't mind coming back once in a while, and dropping $50 on the game, it's really not a problem at all.

Anyways, thanks to everyone for your thoughts, I figured Protea would be the one to go with.

They aren't charging people for money as you can get the platinum currency for free. End of topic.

[wavel54]

Originally posted by Humor:

Originally posted by peppermint holloween:

You consider it a sleezy practice but you're still willing to give the devs your money, and on top of that, the money you spend on a single warframe could buy you...let's see. Either of these frames will run you 325 plat a pop, and slots are 20 plat so...you could get 16 warframe slots with that plat. 16. Or you could just buy a single warframe and keep whining about the fact that you need more slots and have to sell your other warframes.

It makes zero sense.

It's quite obvious you just don't understand, and will never understand. There is no point in trying to further explain this to you.

Take your trolling to the next person who you disagree with, or thread you can't quite wrap your head around.

I actually understand you completely. Needing to buy space in a game inventory is a ridiculous concept no matter what game. It's not about the cost of the thing, it's about the principle that it is being charged for.

Xaku is very fun imo and has a great style. They were updated to be far better than launch, his 4 freezes the ability timers so with a little energy management he can run around for tonnes of time, and convert mass areas of enemies to allies, and a bunch of other cool stuff. Quite squishy though. Protea is powerful, and probably more useful in higher level content. The energy dispenser makes her self sufficient, alongside her time travelling ability. But Xaku's 1 has a very useful proc (void damage status) that can be very useful for projectile based weaponry to ensure all projectiles hit, some multiple times.

[peppermint hollows]

Originally posted by Humor:

Originally posted by peppermint holloween:

You consider it a sleezy practice but you're still willing to give the devs your money, and on top of that, the money you spend on a single warframe could buy you...let's see. Either of these frames will run you 325 plat a pop, and slots are 20 plat so...you could get 16 warframe slots with that plat. 16. Or you could just buy a single warframe and keep whining about the fact that you need more slots and have to sell your other warframes.

It makes zero sense.

It's quite obvious you just don't understand, and will never understand. There is no point in trying to further explain this to you.

Take your trolling to the next person who you disagree with, or thread you can't quite wrap your head around.

Pointing out that it's a bit odd to spend money on a company that you think uses sleezy business practices isn't trolling lol, but alright.

[peppermint hollows]

Originally posted by wavel54:

I actually understand you completely. Needing to buy space in a game inventory is a ridiculous concept no matter what game. It's not about the cost of the thing, it's about the principle that it is being charged for.

That part on its own would be a valid complaint, and while I disagree with it, at least it makes sense on its own. But if you disagree with the business practice, then it wouldn't make sense for you to then give the company your money anyway, especially for an in-game item that is 16 times the price of said slot. It's not that I don't understand, it's that it doesn't make any sense.

[Lachanche]

actually it does make sense. i like the game, i have money, i am willing to spend money on the game.

at the same time there are parts of this game i don't like, one thing in particular is the practice of having to buy slots. charging extra money for something that is quality of life just because they can.

[peppermint hollows]

Originally posted by Lachanche:

actually it does make sense. i like the game, i have money, i am willing to spend money on the game.

at the same time there are parts of this game i don't like, one thing in particular is the practice of having to buy slots. charging extra money for something that is quality of life just because they can.

When you're buying the individual warframes instead of slots though, you just end up telling them that you're willing to pay for warframes, and I don't know that it's necessarily indicative to them that you aren't willing to pay for slots, it simply shows them that you'll still give them money, and for something far more expensive at that. And I don't know about you but I'm finding the newest warframes to constantly be locked behind massive slogs that are boring or long, or both. I have to wonder if they do this on purpose to make people buy the warframes directly for plat.

[Lachanche]

i think the main difference is feeling forced to pay.

when it comes to warframes you can make a decision: you can put some time into the game and farm for them or you can put some money into the game and buy them, either way it's up to you.

when it comes to things like slot you don't really have a choice, you either get the slot with plat or you play without the slot.

this feeling of "i don't have a choice" is what i dislike and what i assume most people dislike, it's the game trying to push us players into spending money.

[peppermint hollows]

Originally posted by Lachanche:

i think the main difference is feeling forced to pay.

when it comes to warframes you can make a decision: you can put some time into the game and farm for them or you can put some money into the game and buy them, either way it's up to you.

when it comes to things like slot you don't really have a choice, you either get the slot with plat or you play without the slot.

this feeling of "i don't have a choice" is what i dislike and what i assume most people dislike, it's the game trying to push us players into spending money.

Well, while the game doesn't tell you it explicitly, as I mentioned in OP's other thread, you can acquire plat rather easily from other players by trading for it. And with trading 20 plat is genuinely a drop in the bucket.

Now, it can be said, the game doesn't make trading very easy or streamlined - with only the trade chat existing in-game, most people turn to warframe.market for trading especially with the lack of an auction house or similar function. But it's still possible, and with a little bit of time spent you can get enough for more than a few slots. If this wasn't the case, I would agree, it's probably one of the more egregious ways to monetise a game and I probably wouldn't play as much as I have to begin with. But making the premium currency tradeable makes it a lot less of an issue and I think most people would agree with that. There's plenty of other things I could complain about the game and even about the monetisation, but slots are the last on the list for me.

Either way, though, I think if you genuinely disagree with a business practice at the end of the day giving the company your money tells them to keep on doing those practices, so I really don't see any reason why you would want to give them your money if the monetisation of character slots disgusts you so much.