This is a buffing build designed for [Baruuk]'s [Serene Storm] that serves two very specific purposes:
1. Cranking your hit counter to the maximum combo multiplier as fast as possible.
2. Keeping that combo multiplier active for as long as possible when used with the "Power Spike" operator ability from the Naramon school.

Don't worry about the low damage values. This is not a build designed to kill enemies quickly. Here's why:

Even though the attack speed and slash procs are sufficient to kill enemies on Steel Path if you focus enemies hard enough, the goal with this build is instead to take advantage of [Venka Prime]'s properties to rapidly stack your combo count. As the combo multiplier climbs, the combination of Weeping Wounds, Relentless Combination, and Venka's sky-high slash values relative to other damage types cause your hit counter to climb exponentially. In Steel Path survival, a player can reliably use a small group of enemies to go from zero hits to the maximum combo multiplier in less than 5 seconds, allowing for a rapid switch into [Serene Storm].

With the gladiator mods equipped and a combo duration of 23 seconds (and up to 38 seconds if you have maxed out Dexterity arcanes on your guns), Baruuk can stay in the glorious one-shot kill zone with Serene Storm for several minutes continuously, even on high-level Steel Path content. In my own tests, I've consistently managed to get [Baruuk] to full restraint reduction, maximum combo duration, and deleting enemies with [Desert Wind] inside of 30 seconds on the mission timer. With careful management of [Baruuk]'s restraint gauge, a player can stay in that mode for a long time.

Note: The exact same mod config works for any melee weapon with reasonable [Reach], attack speed, and slash damage relative to other physical damage types. I use [Venka Prime] for its passive, which is a 13x combo multiplier (240 hits) and the highest of any melee weapon in Warframe. If you don't have or don't want to use [Venka Prime], I also recommend [Guandao Prime], [Orthos Prime], Lesion, Cassowar, and Kronen Prime as strong alternative options.

Change notes for Update 30.5: Sisters of Parvos:

• Helios's Deconstructor can no longer equip melee set mods.
• "[Berserker Fury]" now triggers on melee kills instead of on critical hits.

The above changes have the effect of both reducing the top end attack speed of [Venka Prime] and breaking the old Gladiator mod synergy that guaranteed several continuous minutes of huge red criticals with [Baruuk]'s [Desert Wind]. I have chosen to mitigate both of these issues somewhat by dropping Berserker and [Drifting Contact] and replacing them with [Gladiator Vice] and [Gladiator Rush]. The net effect is a 4 second reduction in combo duration (27 seconds to 23 seconds) and a small reduction in beginning status chance (roughly 10%). In practice, you'll still reliably max your combo counter out in under 5 seconds, long before [Baruuk] can reduce his restraint gauge to zero at mission start.