Cetus Standing Guide: "The People acknowledge your generosity, Tenno!"

An all-inclusive (at the time of writing) guide to how best to get your standing with the Ostron, how much standing you'll need in total for everything, and how to not go insane doing it

Introduction

Greetings Tenno! Cetus has been out now for a long while, and it's no secret that there's quite a lot to get your hands on. In here, I hope to introduce you to the most effective way of acquiring standing and how to go about getting everything from these merchants possible.

I'll be going through the standing levels, the merchants, the methods of acquiring standing, and how much you'll need to get everything from every merchant. After this guide, you should have a perfect idea of what you want, where to get it, and how to get it.

EDIT: Guide should now be updated for the most recent version of the game (As of 05/11/2021), please comment if I've missed something!

Merchants - No Standing Required

The most important part of Cetus is the vendors themselves, and there's a fair few to keep track of. Below is a list of all the merchants and wares available to you from the very beginning of your journey into Cetus.

• Nakak

Hard to miss and very cheerful, Nakak is the only other vendor in Cetus who sells wares to you for no standing cost. However, Nakak also only sells cosmetic items, and the Fosphor flare blueprints, which are only useful for multiplayer. In total, she sells seven items, five at a time, rotating every 24 hours, like Teasonai. All of the things she sells are for varying amounts of Cetus-specific resources as well, with no standing required. She also sells the "Mask of the Lost One", which starts the Revenant quest but is also a fully-useable cosmetic

You can find Nakak's wares Here[warframe.fandom.com]

Merchants - Standing Required

• Hok

Hok is responsible for Zaw weapons, which are modular melee weapons made of one strike, one grip and one link. Any combination of the three can be used together, and this creates a wide variety of different Zaws that you can make. Hok also sells Zaw Arcanes, which are special enhancements to Zaws that give them special abilities. Hok sells no cosmetics whatsoever, and as such, is only useful if you want a Zaw, otherwise he can be safely ignored.

Hok's Wares can be found Here[warframe.fandom.com]

• Old Man Sumbaat

Old Man Sumbaat is the guy you go to for all your mining needs. Mining takes the form of a small minigame, where you click on flashing nodes and then release when the bar reaches a white box. Sumbaat sells everything you need to go mining, to refine your gems and ore into useable materials, and also a wide variety of other cosmetic items for standing. As such, he's an excellent first port-of-call when it comes to aqcuiring your Nosam Cutter, and bears revisiting in order to make use of gems and ores you get from the plains.

Side Note: If you've gone to Fortuna, getting the mining tool from Smokefinger is advised instead, as it has all the functionality of the best Cetus mining tool, and is also the best Valis mining tool.

Sumbaat's Wares can be found Here[warframe.fandom.com]

• Fisher Hai-Luk

Finally, we come to Fisher Hai-Luk, the most useful vendor for the purposes of this guide. Hai-Luk sells everything to do with fishing - Lures, Spears, Dye, Bait and Trophies. Fishing is simple - throw the right spear at a fish, and you catch it. That easy. Fishing is the absolute best way to get standing in Cetus, as we'll go into shortly - and as such, this should be a regular store for you to visit.

Hai-Luk's wares can be found Here[warframe.fandom.com]

• Master Teasonai

Very easy to forget, as he's completely ignored by the story of Cetus itself and by everyone in it (and for good reason), Master Teasonai only sells five items total, and only three items at a time. Out of those items, two are cosmetic palletes for your Kubrow, one for your Kavat, and a caged Kuaka and Condroc which are Orbiter decorations. He has never sold more than five items, never more than three at once, and his inventory has not been changed since his first iteration. He is, in fact, the least varied of all the Cetus merchants. His wares cost an ever-changing amount of resources, all plains-exclusive, and his inventory changes every 24 hours.

You can find a preview of his goods Here[warframe.fandom.com]

EDIT: Now that conservation is available on the Plains, Master Teasonai now sells all the hunting supplies for conservation on the Plains. My numbers and reccomended suggestions are still accurate, so I won't be changing those, however Master Teasonai is now significantly more useful and for many players, is the best way to gain standing. Glad they did something with him!

Standing - Worst to Best ways

There are a few ways to get standing for the Ostron, and i'll list them all here for you with pro's and cons. Be advised that while the numbers are objective, my opinion is subjective

• Bounty

Bounties as a source of resources can be quite useful. Breath of the Eidolon, Revenant and Gara parts, and certain mods are all exclusive to Cetus Bounties. Standing, however, is not worth it. The standing itself is low in amount, and requires constant activity and repeatedly going back to the plains to do. As such, i consider it the worst source of standing on this list

• Mining

As mentioned before, Mining is a simple minigame which rewards you with ore and gems - the latter of which can also be turned in for standing in their raw state. Blue nodes are gem nodes, and mining these can get you a nice amount of standing. This method is better than bounties, as you can mine a lot of gems in one go and turn them in as and when you need to for standing, but in terms of value - it's not very good. The best gems, Nyth and Sentrium, are highly valued for crafting, and are only worth 400 standing each. With mining, quantity often surpasses quality, and so it's a nice way to stock up on standing if you want to while away some time on the plains.

• Hunts

Animal Hunts provide a very respectable amount of standing, making the best choice for a lot of people. Personally, however, I prefer the fishing due to it's consistency and the fact that I personally find it much easier. Both hunting and fishing are both equally viable, though raw data suggests hunting is a bit ahead.

• Fishing

Fishing is one of the best way to get and store standing on the Plains. Fish very quickly exceed the value of gems in terms of pure numbers, and can be caught fairly quickly and in large numbers to boot. Even with the restrictions on time of day and bait, Fishing is extremely fast when it comes to capping out standing. Without bait, both Tralok and Mortus Lungfish (found in the ocean at day, and in ponds respectively) are worth 100-200 standing each, and are very plentiful. With bait, however, those numbers start to skyrocket. Murkray are worth 500-1000 standing each and can be caught any time of day in the ocean, with their bait being easy to make, though they do require Hotspots. A hotspot is a rippling patch of water that is moving and visually different from the rest, not too hard to spot but important if you want the rare fish. I'll be going into more detail about bait in a moment, but for the time being, just note that Fishing = easy, fast standing.

Fishing - Bait Progression, Advice, and Breakdown

Fishing in Cetus requires bait to get the higher tier of fish. These rarer fish will not spawn without it, and as such, you're going to need to make it. Here, i'll list all the bait, what you need to make it, and whether or not it's worth it.

• Luminous Dye

This is a must for any fisher. This simpyl illuminates all the nearby fish, making them far more visible and much easier to track and catch. While you can fish without Luminous Dye, it's so much easier to fish with it. If you have the Oxylus sentinel with "Scan Aquatic Life" installed, you can ignore dye as that sentinel will apply it automatically, but otherwise - grab this bait ASAP!

• Pharoma

THIS IS A TRAP Pharoma does nothing, wastes space in your inventory, and is more expensive than Luminous dye WHICH IT DOESN'T EVEN COPY THE EFFECT OF. Don't bother with this, it serves no purpose because it doesn't do what it's supposed to do, and even if it did - minimising the movement of fish is pointless by the time you reach a high enough level of standing to get this, as you'll be used to fishing by then. This costs 7.5k standing at Rank 3 with the Ostron.

• Peppered Bait

Don't buy this. It's completely useless. Outside of getting daytime fish to spawn at night, which is NOT useful as all the best fish are found at night, and day fish are ludicrously common, this bait attracts NO special fish - meaning everything that likes this bait spawns naturally anyways. Don't even waste time buying the bait.

• Twilight Bait

If you were unsure about my opinion regarding peppered bait, then just look at this one. Not only does it do what peppered bait does, it also attracts TWO species of unique ocean fish for capture, and works both at night and in the daytime. Much, much more useful. This bait is needed to capture Karakina and Sharrac from the Ocean, which are needed to craft the Norg Bait later on down the line. For standing however, it's not very useful. I don't advise making more than one batch to get the Sharrac and Karakina for the Norg bait. Note that you will need to go fishing to get the oil and meat for the bait, but there's plenty of fish to do that with - personally, i suggest Goopola, as they're very common day and night, and provide a nice amount of resources. Mapricio and Nistlepod are found from plants on the plains, Mapricio looks like a small tree, and Nistlepod looks a bit like a cactus. Rank 1 with the Ostron is needed to buy this.

• Murkray Bait

This bait is used to find Murkray, which are found in the ocean. in hotspots, at any time of day. These are the fourth best fish for standing, and are very useful for all bait going forward. As such, they should be prioritised for both standing and for bait crafting. Murkray are needed to make Cuthol bait, and to make Murkray bait you'll need Goopola and Tralok - both of which are common, though Tralok only spawn in the daytime. Rank 2 with the Ostron is needed for this.

• Norg Bait

The Norg is only found in Gara Toht lake at night, in hotspots, with it's bait out. Norg are as valuable as Murkray for standing, but you'll need to get them to make Glappid bait. I don't advise hunting them for very long as Murkray are just as good and easier to acquire, but make sure to get a few Norg brains for later. Rank 3 with the Ostron is needed for this.

• Cuthol Bait

The Cuthol is found in ponds (not the big lake, and not the ocean), in hotspots, at night. Cuthol are used to make Glappid bait, and are otherwise equivalent to Murkray, much like the Norg. Grab a few for your Glappid Bait, but otherwise pay them no heed. Rank 4 with the Ostron is needed for this.

• Glappid Bait

Finally, we get to the legendary Glappid. At night, in ocean hotspots with Glappid bait, you can find this amazing fish. Worth 1.2k for a SMALL Glappid, this is the single reason why fishing is so good for standing in Cetus. One fishing trip can net you enough Glappid for an entire WEEK'S worth of standing, and they're not difficult to fish. A fitting reward for the final tier of bait. Rank 5 with the Ostron is needed for this.

Ranking Up - Recommended ways to get Standing and resources

Like all factions in Warframe, the Ostron require you to "sacrifice" resources and standing to rank up and give you access to more wares. I'll quickly go through what you'll need for each rank, and how I advise you get there.

• OFFWORLDER - RANK 1

Requires:
10k Credits
5k Standing
25 Iradite
25 Nistlepod
25 Grokdrul

Recommended:
For this, just do bounties and incursions on the plains. Get used to moving around and where evrerything is, grab the resources you'll need from the plains and then rank up. I suggest getting the Lanzo fishing spear while you're at neutral, as well as the Nosam cutter (if you don't have the Solaris one). which will cost an additional 500 standing each.

• VISITOR - RANK 2

Requires:
25k Credits
10 Tear Azurite
40 Pyrol
60 Fish Scales
22k Standing + 1k standing (for Tear Azurite blueprint)

Recommended:
Use your Lanzo spear and go to town on fish in the Ocean. Use Twilight bait to grab the Karakina and Sharrak you'll need for later, as well as getting the needed Trahlok and Goopola for later bait. Once that's done, fish in ponds for Mortus Lungfish - they're the steadiest source of standing before you reach rank 2. (Keep a few for bait though). Pyrol is a common mining alloy, from the red veins, and Azurite is common from the Blue veins, then you'll need to refine it at your foundry to get Tear Azurite. Also, grab the Tulok fishing spear.

• TRUSTED - RANK 3

Requires:
50k Credits
5 Maprico
1 Cetus Wisp
44k Standing.

Recommended:
Maprico is easy to find, it's from the little bushes/trees on the plains. A Cetus Wisp is a bit trickier, but there are far better guides than I can make to find one of those buggers. As for the standing at this tier onwards, once you hit rank 2 focus solely on Murkray. Grab as many as you can, as often as you can. You'll be using Murkray to get all your standing between now and until you hit rank 5, so get to fishing!

• SURAH - RANK 4

Requires:
100k credits
10 Maprico
40 Fersteel Alloy
5 Murkray Liver
70k Standing

Recommended:
Now you're rank 3, get the final fishing spear - the Peram. Grab the Fersteel Alloy blueprint, and go back to catching Murkray. Make sure to "cut" a few to get Liver, and then it's a simple rank up to Surah.

• KIN - RANK 5

Requires:
200k Credits
1 Nyth
1 Sentrium
1 Cuthol Tendrils
1 Norg Brain
99k Standing

Recommended:
Once you rank up, get the best Nosam Cutter - the advanced one (Or skip this if you have the Solaris one). Mine blue veins for Nyth and Sentrium, then keep those to one side. Fish up your Norg and Cuthol as mentioned before, and remember to save them for cutting up, not standing. Now, and you probably guessed it, it's back to Murkray for you! I hope you like their... wierd faces

Ranking Up: Numbers

• RANK 0 - RANK 1

Standing Needed: 5K
Standing Advised: 6K - Lanzo spear and Nosam cutter (if solaris is unowned)
Recommended: Bounties and Incursions

• RANK 1 - RANK 2

Standing Needed: 23k - Tear Azurite Blueprint is needed to rank up
Standing Advised: 27k - Tulok Spear and Twilight Bait
Recommended:
Fish up Mortus Lungfish
230 small, 206 medium or 115 large for minimum (any combination works)
270 small, 214 medium or 130 large for advised (any combination works)

• RANK 2 - RANK 3

Standing Needed: 44k
Standing Advised: 49k - Murkray Bait
Recommended:
Fish up Murkray
50 small, 40 medium or 25 large Mortus for the recommended amount of Murkray bait (any combination works)
88 Small, 68 medium or 44 large Murkray for remaining standing (any combination works)

• RANK 3 - RANK 4

Standing Needed: 70k
Standing Advised: 85k - Peram spear and Norg bait
Recommended:
Fish up Murkray
140 small, 108 medium, 70 large neeeded for minumum (any combination works)
170 small, 131 medium, 85 large needed for advised (any combination works)

• RANK 4 - RANK 5

Standing Needed: 136.5k - Norg and Cuthol bait needed to rank up, as well as Advanced Nosam cutter (if solaris is unowned)
Standing Advised: 109k-136.5k depending on owned gear
Recommended:
Fish up Murkray
218 small, 168 medium or 109 large needed for minimum (any combination works)
273 small, 210 medium or 137 large needed for maximum (any combination works)

• FINAL FISH TOTAL FOR RANK UP STANDING

280 small, 246 medium or 140 large Mortus Lungfish AND 448 small, 344 medium or 223 large Murkray for absolute minimum standing requirement (any combination of same fish works)
320 small, 282 medium or 155 large Mortus Lungfish AND 516 small, 398 medium or 259 large Murkray for absolute maximum standing advised (any combination of same fish works)

Vendor Standing - Everything has a cost

Now, you're finally rank 5 with Cetus! Congrats! Now that you're here, we can move onto the final stage of your fishing adventure - Glappid. Get the Glappid bait for 12.5k from Fisher Hai-Luk, craft some bait and settle in for some more fishing.

I'm going to list each of the 3 standing vendors and the total amounts you'll need for everything, broken down into categories. This doesn't include anything that you need to rank up with, but it does include the optionals mentioned before

• MASTER TEASONAI

Lures: 6.5k
Glyph: 75k

Total: 81.5k Standing
Value in terms of Glappid:
68 small, 55 medium or 41 large Glappid (any combination works)

• OLD MAN SUUMBAAT

Alloy and Gem blueprints: 91k
Capture Scenes: 130k
Orbiter Decorations: 800k
Glyph: 75k

Total: 1096k, or, 1,096,000 standing

Value in terms of Glappid:
914 small, 731 medium or 540 large Glappid (any combination works)

• FISHER HAI-LUK

Unobtained Fishing Spears: 2k
Trophies: 87.5k
Glyph: 25k

Total: 114.5k
Total without suggested earlier purchases: 116.5k

Value in terms of Glappid:
103 small, 82 medium or 62 large Glappid (any combination works)
102 small, 81 medium or 61 large Glappid minus suggested earlier purchases (any combination works)

• HOK

Hok is much harder to calculate due to the fact that a Zaw is custom made according to your personal preferences. I will instead list the value of all the strikes of the Zaw but nothing else, due to the fact that, again, it's personal preference. Instead, i'll link you to Hok's wares[warframe.fandom.com] so you can see for yourself.

Zaw Strikes: 9k
Zaw Arcanes: 750k
Armour Cosmetics: 125k

Total: 884k

Value in terms of Glappid:
738 small, 590 medium or 443 large Glappid (Any combination works)

Conclusion

That just about covers everything! I'm sorry i couldn't go into more detail regarding Zaws, but they're not really practical to calculate when it comes to raw numbers. In case you need reference for the value of fish mentioned in this guide, i'll put them here:

LUNGFISH:
100 - SMALL
125 - MEDIUM
200 - LARGE

MURKRAY:
500 - SMALL
650 - MEDIUM
1000 - LARGE

GLAPPID:
1200 - SMALL
1500 - MEDIUM
2000 - LARGE

That being said, I hope this came in useful for you! If you have any questions or want help, please let me know in the comments or in a message. On Warframe, I'm Enkazadas. Good luck, and happy fishing!

[Enkazadas the Cosmic Traveller]

Guide should now be updated! Sorry for the delay

[TFKO]

@Modern Mayhem Open hunts are still easier

[Enkazadas the Cosmic Traveller]

Ahh yes of course, thank you. I'll be sure to amend the guide accordingly

[Byeforever]

Also all the baits are purchased with standing now rather than crafted from blueprints. The only blueprints Hai-Luk sells now are trophy displays.

[Byeforever]

A correction for the side note on Old Man Sumbaat, Smokefinger sells the better drill, the sunpoint plasma drill, not the Business.

[Enkazadas the Cosmic Traveller]

At the moment, I haven't had much time to look at Cetus Animals, but i'll be happy to give it a look when i next play warframe. Personally, i still think fishing is the most efficient based on preliminary data, but i'll update the guide once i'm certain :)

[TFKO]

Yeah, open animal hunts are the best way.. at night it's even easier to find them.

[Modern Mayhem]

How about now that you can do animal conservation? Thats how I get all my standing.