Sudden difficulty spike (new player)

[Reccs]

So I'm a new player, playing casually with PUGs. I've been unlocking my planets and making some warframes (bought 2 wf slots with the starter plat). I've been doing fine until now (mastery rank 4), but now it feels like I've hit a brick wall.

I just got to Ceres and suddenly my weapons/abilities are doing nothing. I know they're dealing damage (can see the damage floaters), but they barely affect the enemy health bars. At the same time I see other players twoshotting the same enemies with their melee weapons.

I'm under the impression that most weapons are sidegrades, so I don't get where this massive disparity is coming from. For the record I've been using a Burston with just some mods I got my hands on till now. I thought better mods would help, and I'm assuming they drop from higher lvl planets, but there's no way I'll be able to farm those places.

So what gives? What am I missing? Should I craft some new weapons, or what?

[Ivara Ara]

Firstly Ceres is a high level planet having 30+ level enemies, meaning pure damage won't cut it most of the times. Using elemental damage combined with base damage mods like Serration and multishot mods. Most people going into Ceres will have most of the damage mods maxed out, meaning these enemies are a little threat.
And yes, you should more or less start thinking about getting new weapons, though you should try getting some elemental combos together and see the effect. Remember that each faction and enemy has different damage resistances and weaknesses.

[JinNJuice]

Ah, now this is where the game incentivizes either more organized cells (aka squads) or ranking up your mods with fusion cores for more power. It's not an apparent direction, but people would usually seek ways to become stronger, once they see downfalls. Some research on basic builds may help at this point. You can also ask for advice in the Region chat or maybe even some assistance in the Recruit chat.

One thing is for sure, though. If you haven't joined one already, you NEED a clan. There are things called clan techs that you cannot obtain anywhere else. You can find some very useful gear from clan tech research. Not to mention, clan members are more likely to help each other than completely random pubs.

[Reccs]

Originally posted by Ruben T:

Firstly Ceres is a high level planet having 30+ level enemies, meaning pure damage won't cut it most of the times. Using elemental damage combined with base damage mods like Serration and multishot mods. Most people going into Ceres will have most of the damage mods maxed out, meaning these enemies are a little threat.
And yes, you should more or less start thinking about getting new weapons, though you should try getting some elemental combos together and see the effect. Remember that each faction and enemy has different damage resistances and weaknesses.

What weapons would you recommend to build? And yeah, I've been trying to figure out my mods. So elemental damage mods are pretty much a must? Fully upgraded they seem to take a LOT of mod points. I've been creating some of those mod point doubling things (orokin something, "potatoes"?), but they seem hard to come by so I'd rather not waste them on weapons I'll be replacing quickly.

Originally posted by JinNJuice:

Ah, now this is where the game incentivizes either more organized cells (aka squads) or ranking up your mods with fusion cores for more power. It's not an apparent direction, but people would usually seek ways to become stronger, once they see downfalls. Some research on basic builds may help at this point. You can also ask for advice in the Region chat or maybe even some assistance in the Recruit chat.

One thing is for sure, though. If you haven't joined one already, you NEED a clan. There are things called clan techs that you cannot obtain anywhere else. You can find some very useful gear from clan tech research. Not to mention, clan members are more likely to help each other than completely random pubs.

Yeah, I figured the game was pushing me to discover how to make myself more effective. Hence this post.

Why are clans so important? I'm a totally casual player so I'd feel off joining some super active serious clan. Though I've been reading up and apparently you need a clan to trade, and even to create some of the warframes (Volt?).

There's just such a massive amount of clans out there, I really don't know which to hit up.

[Octavia]

From my understanding of the elemental system, you can get some pretty big bonuses for specializing versus a certain faction; you may want to check this[warframe.wikia.com] page for some more detailed answers. To show you how effective elemental damage can be, at least to my understanding, something like Viral damage is highly effective against most Grineer, and thus it does more damage than against Infested, who are resistant to it. As a result, bringing the correct elements offers higher multipliers, and thus more bonuses to being well prepared and a superior damage output.

I'm not sure about what weapons you can get, since I'm a newer player myself, but clans are rather helpful. You can get blueprints for weapons from them and you trade using one of their facilities(Or have someone from a clan invite you to use their Trading Post). I'm sure there are casual clans around, and if some hard-core clan wants to invite you, so long as they're friendly that shouldn't be a problem; as someone who's played hard-core in other games, running with casuals is generally an enjoyable experience as long as you're having fun and they have some knowledge about what they're doing.

One of the guides I've been following, this one[forums.warframe.com], recommends something like a Latron Prime as a solid weapon. If farming Platinum via mods and such isn't an option, then perhaps a Latron might help, but otherwise I can't offer any weapon advice; ranking up your damage mods is of the utmost importance, though, and making sure that you have the best elemental combinations you can manage for the faction you're fighting should also help.

[Ivara Ara]

Clans are a big deal because they have some very high powered gear hidden behind their research. Gear which with enough time and formaing will help you a bunch!
On top of that it gives you a community of your own, communtiy which can help you, give you pointers when needed.

And in terms of weapons i would suggest you get yourself a Boltor, Prime would be the best.
But because of your low rank you are very limited in terms of weapons.
For your rank in terms of Primaries i would suggest: Dera(Clan weapon), Hek which is a very good shotgun, Paris Prime, Quanta(Clan weapon, very powerful one), Tiberon is also a good weapon and then Torid. Just a few of many good weapons out there.
Secondary wise the Atomos would do you quite well, though getting some good elemental damage mods and pure damage mods will make this one shine even further.
http://warframe.wikia.com/wiki/Mastery_Rank
Looking at the bottom there you will see the weapons unlocked at each rank up to 8, reading the comments and looking up builds on for example Warframe Builder will help you. Though most builds are built up by max mods..

[Aerisana]

"You dont need more guns you just need to shoot more bullets"
and the appropriate elemental dmg modifiers never hurt.

http://warframe.wikia.com/wiki/Damage

[Ivara Ara]

Originally posted by Chaos Stalker:

"You dont need more guns you just need to shoot more bullets"
and the appropriate elemental dmg modifiers never hurt.

http://warframe.wikia.com/wiki/Damage

More like you need bigger and more damaging bullets...but sure.

[Randal Tyree Manderson]

Weapons aren't really side-grades IMO.. In end-game content weapons almost always out DPS warframes (except maybe a maxed out Mesa), that's why most end-game content is better off done with Warframes who have good CC abillities.

[Ryconn]

Originally posted by JinNJuice:

Ah, Not to mention, clan members are more likely to help each other than completely random pubs.

You are clearly not the european division of my clan they are competely useless and inert. I feel sorry for my clan head but then again don't know him. I have nevrr met him and vice versa

To the OP's questions and such yeah you need new guns mate and maybe new frames nova is a great caster and makes here way into the end game personal favorite of mine in terms of weapons it has been so long since I low MR I couldn't tell you what to get there(maybe the latron and or the boltor the boltor first though) . late game though I recomend getting the soma and the boltor prime

[PhellAsleep]

You need more high ranked mods. Mods are what dictate progression within this game. The difference between base stats of different weapons and warframes is actually quite minute. It is when you start loading them with mods that the true traits of the weapons and frames start to emerge.

For example, imagine how much "better" a Soma Prime is compared to a Braton, without any crit chance or severity mods. Those mods make or break what is one of the top tier choices for engame gear.

But to really advise on your performance, we'd need to see your loadout, to get a better idea of what you're working with.

[Reccs]

Originally posted by PhellAsleep:

You need more high ranked mods. Mods are what dictate progression within this game. The difference between base stats of different weapons and warframes is actually quite minute. It is when you start loading them with mods that the true traits of the weapons and frames start to emerge.

For example, imagine how much "better" a Soma Prime is compared to a Braton, without any crit chance or severity mods. Those mods make or break what is one of the top tier choices for engame gear.

But to really advise on your performance, we'd need to see your loadout, to get a better idea of what you're working with.

Well, I'm really limited in my loadout. Low MR, plus I haven't spent any plat on weapon slots (unlocked 2 WF slots from the starting 50 plat). My mods are (I assume) a collection of the most common ones out there. I never actively farmed, I just did missions/alerts/invasions as they popped up, trying to unlock planets.

My warframes are Loki, Mag, Ember, (all 30) and I'm in the process of making Nyx right now for my 4th slot. I didn't check if these were any good, I just got what sounded cool based on the description (and what I could get at this level).

Primary weapons are Burston and Strun.
Secondary is Magnus.
Melee: Galatine, Magistar, Heat Sword, Scindo
For mods I have a whole bunch of "bronze" mods. Too many to list, but they seem rather basic.

Actually, what's up with the "colour" of the mods? Most of them are "bronze" (brownish-red, I call it bronze), but I have a few which are gold-coloured. A few of them also say "damaged" (I suppose these are weaker than not-damaged ones?). It's not entirely intuitive and I'm not sure what's going on.

I've mainly been using Loki, going invis + Galatine/Magistar with maxed (bronze) Reach mod + damage increase + elemental things. With the Magistar I also run crit chance + crit damage mods. With Mag/Ember I usually just try to spam my abilities (Ember ult is downright crazy) and I seem to do OK mostly. I usually put shield/HP mods on my frames because I suck and keep dying a lot.

Generally I have trouble soloing anything beyond lvl 15-20 or so, so farming Prime parts in the Void seems difficult. Actually, about the Void: how do I get more Void keys? Just random drops and mission/alert rewards? I've been able to do some solo T1 captures in the Void with the Loki, but I had no luck with Ember or Mag.

[Ivara Ara]

Originally posted by Reccs:

Originally posted by PhellAsleep:

You need more high ranked mods. Mods are what dictate progression within this game. The difference between base stats of different weapons and warframes is actually quite minute. It is when you start loading them with mods that the true traits of the weapons and frames start to emerge.

For example, imagine how much "better" a Soma Prime is compared to a Braton, without any crit chance or severity mods. Those mods make or break what is one of the top tier choices for engame gear.

But to really advise on your performance, we'd need to see your loadout, to get a better idea of what you're working with.

how do I get more Void keys? Just random drops and mission/alert rewards? I've been able to do some solo T1 captures in the Void with the Loki, but I had no luck with Ember or Mag.

For T2-T3 Lua on Earth is great, the dark sector does give out T1 most of the times there. But E-Gate Venus is your best bet. That is where i normally farm my keys :)

[Drago]

Most straight damage warframes fall off at or a little after enemy level 20. That said, some warframes can still be quite effective. You said you have Loki, his abilities are great against enemies of pretty much all levels. Trinity and Nova are two others who scale better than most. Weapon wise, before considering Catalysts and Forma, look for weapons that have built in polarity slots especially 'V' or '-' polarity. These polarities should let you fit on your higher level mods without as much investment.

Later weapons to shoot for are Prime weapons mainly, but if that is not an option, the Tonkor, regular Soma, or weapons with syndicate mods might be good choices. The Hek Shotgun for instance can do some very high damage to Grineer enemies with its shotgun mods and Steel Meridian multishot mod. Syndicate weapons make great secondaries as well and could potentially be easy to get from friends. Melee wise, the Galatine is a great non-prime heavy weapon and the Magistar is a solid option as well. Basically, just find a weapon type you like using and when you are sure you want to keep it, install a catalsyt. Most melee weapons won't need a forma as long as you have their stance as well.

When taking on high level missions like Ceres, Pluto, and Eris, or higher tier void missions, just try to focus on getting your damage mods like Serration and survivability mods like Vitality and Redirection maxed out and then work on ability stat mods. You will often find that a warframe that well equipped can still take on the higher life and damage enemies, it just takes a slower approach sometimes.

[Blackcompany]

At mastery rank 4, get a Marelok. Either using Platinum from the market or from a Clan. You wont need another secondary the rest of the game, if you mod it properly. And it frankly does more damage than a lot of primaries.

Speaking of mods...you need Mods. Serration for rifles; hornet strike for secondaries. SPlit Chamber, Hell's Chamber, Lethal Torrent and Barrel Diffusion are must haves for weapons.

Put it this way: I have all of those mods, many of them maxed. I have a Rank 30 Mesa, Rhino and Mag. I STILL struggle on Ceres. Mightily.

Back off a bit. Run some excavations and survival missions. Research mods and weapons, as well as elemental damage.

You will get there. Settle in; its going to be a long road from here on in. Enjoy the game play; dont play just for progression.

[Carnasid]

I would suggest heading over to Warframe Builder on Google and just browsing builds for various weapons if for no other reason than to see what mods are used, after that, head to the warframe wiki and find out what drops those mods where.