Introduction

Hi! I'm Phoenix, and here is my absolutely unnecessary investment [Gara Prime] build. [Gara] is my favorite Warframe in the game, and as such, I decided to make a build that allows me to utilize every aspect of her kit well, but no ability is mainly prioritized, with the exception of her 2. If you're looking for something specialized, you're better off looking for something else. But for those seeking a versatile Warframe that can wield any weapons effectively and take on most challenges the game will throw at you, look no further. Adding a disclaimer beyond that disclaimer, this build is obviously incredibly expensive. This build will require at least 4 Forma (Mine is 6 because I was experimenting with a lot with different mod combos) and 4 rank 10 mods, 2 of those being Prime mods. However, this build will work perfectly fine with your rank 10 mods at rank 8, and I will provide alternatives to the more expensive mods for those players who may not have them. Final note, this will be a very long guide as I am going to be diving into each individual aspect of the build and why I chose it. That being said, grab some drinks, pull up your chair, and let's jump into the build!

Before we begin, a brief Overview of Gara's Abilities.

• 1-Shattered Lash
  Lash out at enemies with a sword of glass, travelling in a straight line and dealing Puncture damage on contact. Hold the (1) key/button to cast an arching lash, dealing Slash damage and hitting a much wider area of enemies.

• 2-Splinter Storm
  [Gara] will create a protective barrier of glass around her body, protecting her from damage and creating a field of damage around herself. This damage can be increased by shattering your Mass Vitrify with Shattered Lash. This ability can also be applied to teammates, companions, or other allies such as defense targets to provide them with damage resistance, and can also be applied to enemies to increase the damage you and your team deal to them.

• 3-Spectrorage
  [Gara] will cast a carousel of mirrors that surrounds enemies, and they will be forced to attack the mirrors, damaging themselves in the process. Often used with the Augment, Spectrosiphon, to gain Energy from enemies killed within the carousel.

• 3-Fire Walker*
  "[Gara]" will light the ground beneath her feat on fire, damaging enemies and applying heat status to them, and cleansing allies. While standing in the fire, "Gara" is immune to status effects, including knockdowns.

• 4-Mass Vitrify
  [Gara] will stop moving, become immune to all damage (Notably, including status effects), and begin casting a large glass shield outward from the point of activation that will solidify when the duration runs our or the 4 key is pressed again. This shield defends against enemy fire, but segments can be destroyed by enemies. Enemies caught within the shield will be slowed and receive more incoming damage. This shield can be destroyed by [Gara] to deal damage in a large area by casting her 1 at it, and if destroyed from outside it, it will increase the AOE damage provided by Splinter Storm relative to how much damage you did with your 1 on contact with the shield

*Fire Walker is a Helmith ability taken from [Nezha], and is used in place of Spectrorage in this build.

Main Mods

The main mods, as shown above, are meant to enhance [Gara]'s survivability far beyond her usual levels while also ensuring she has a healthy ability stat split to make each ability matter. Let's go stat by stat.

Duration

Duration is really important on most [Gara] builds for two reasons: Your 2, Splinter Storm, and this build's specific case, your 3, [Firewalker]. With over 200% duration, Splinter Storm's duration is just under 45 seconds, making managing it very trivial unless you're really not paying attention. This allows you to almost constantly have 90% damage reduction as well as the infinite scaling AOE damage that Gara is so infamous for. This also allows you to have over a minute of Fire Walker, and considering Fire Walker can be re-cast before its timer has run out, this allows for [Gara] to constantly be speeding around the map, cutting down any foe the game could hope to put you up against. This massive duration is achieved via [Primed Continuity] and [Narrow Minded].

Efficiency

Efficiency is an interesting stat on Gara because, depending on whether or not you have access to quick energy-gaining tools like Zenurik, Sahasa Kubrows, and Arcane Energize, efficiency becomes more/less important. Allow me to explain. Your energy economy is very important on [Gara] and will always be under stress because she is constantly casting her abilities to do damage, stun enemies and maintain her Splinter Storm stacks. This build can definitely be run without max efficiency, and I will have variations on this build later in the guide for those who do not feel they require this stat to be so high. However, for those who do not have access to things like Zenurik or Energize, or those who simply want the peace of mind, like myself (I don't actually have a max rank Energize on my account yet), max efficiency is very helpful because it drastically reduces the chance that you will run out of energy. For this, I have obviously chosen [Streamline] and [Fleeting Expertise], both at rank 4 , to achieve the efficiency cap of 175%.

Range

In regards to range, there are definitely [Gara] builds that spec for range so to wipe maps, but for this build, I wanted to have just enough range to make sure Mass Vitrify can be used to clear low level tilesets and stun large groups of enemies at high levels, but I do not [Sacrifice] other stats to have a higher range. To achieve my desired range, I use 3 relatively cheap mods, [Stretch], [Augur Reach], and [Cunning Drift] in the Exilus slot. [Augur Reach] also has synergy with the Aura mod of choice, [Brief Respite], which I will go into further detail about later.

Strength

Finally, Strength. Only one mod is dedicated to Strength, [Umbral Intensify]. The reason I do not go harder into Strength are the same reasons I do not focus on range, that being this build is not optimized for DPS with Mass Vitrify. For Splinter Storm to achieve its maximum of 90% damage reduction, at least 130% strength is required, meaning going below that is not an option if you want to optimize survivability like me. That being said, for this build to work, you only need regular [Intensify], but honestly, I wanted to add the extra investment for [Umbral Intensify] because I thought it would be fun to go all out, and again, I love this Warframe.

Survivability

For the last mod slot, I chose [Adaptation] to bolster my survivability greatly in combination with Splinter Storm. This is especially effective in the Steel Path, and is mostly unnecessary bulk on the regular Star Chart.

Aura

The Aura of choice for [Gara Prime] is [Brief Respite]. For those who know how Shield Gating works, this should not come as a surprise, but for those who don't, allow me to explain it simply. Shield gating is a mechanic in Warframe wherein as long as you have shields, even one shield point, you will not take health damage when your shields are depleted, and you will be temporarily immune to all damage upon shield break. This effect is extended if your shields are full when they are removed. [Brief Respite], for those unaware, is a mod that grants shields when casting abilities by converting a percentage of Energy spent on the ability cast into shield points. When you consider how much [Gara] is casting her abilities, [Brief Respite] becomes the clear choice for an Aura, allowing you to further boost your tankiness to hilarious levels.

Arcane Enhancements

The two Arcanes of choice for [Gara] are, in my eyes, Energize and Aegis. Energize is an obvious choice and a staple on almost every Warframe in the game for those with the dedication or platinum required to have a full set. As for the second Arcane slot, although mostly to taste, I choose Arcane Aegis because it is yet another layer of bulk added on to Gara' already immense amount of it. The combination of Aegis, Brief Respite/Augur set bonus and Shield gating makes it near-on impossible for enemies to crack through her shields at any reasonable level. However, this is usually not necessary and, as mentioned earlier, the second Arcane slot is usually to the player.

Helminth Ability

My Helminth ability of choice, replacing Spectrorage is Fire Walker, [Nezha]'s 1. Although many people use other abilities or just don't replace her 3 altogether in favor of using her [Spectrosiphon] augment, which are all valid, I choose Fire Walker because my philosophy is that when your Warframe can effectively tackle all of the content in the game, the next step is to complete that content faster and more conveniently. Fire Walker is perfect for this, and checks all of my boxes. It speeds up [Gara] greatly, allowing her to traverse tilesets more quickly, it makes her immune to knockdowns*, and also fits perfectly with the stats this build wants. Not to mention, being able to proc heat on large groups of enemies is generally a useful ability to have, so keep that in mind.

*Note: A common misconception is that Fire Walker will make you immune to knockdowns simply by being active. This is false. You are only immune to knockdowns when you are standing in the fire paths generated by moving around with Fire Walker active.

Stat Stick

I personally do not use a stat stick for [Gara] because I enjoy using melee weapons for combat, and generally, any well built Melee Weapon, such as the [Glaive Prime] or the [Nikana Prime], will suffice for the purposes of stacking Splinter Storm. However, this is not to say that you yourself cannot use one and it will drastically improve your performance by allowing you to stack Splinter Storm much more quickly. Some popular stat sticks for [Gara] include the [Mire], the [Jaw Sword], and the [Fragor Prime]. Since a stat stick is not typically a part of my gameplay, and I dislike Rivens which are often required for these stat sticks to work well, I will not go into anymore detail here. I will, howeve, link LeyzarGaming's guide to a Gara stat stick if you seek more information on this subject.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Br9XlTgQZk

Mod Substitutions

Let's start with some substitutes for players who are on a budget.

• [Primed Continuity] can be replaced with regular [Continuity]. If this is the case, I would recommend switching out Augur Reach for Augur Message or Consitution, to make sure you stay over 200% duration.

• Umbral Intensify can be switched for regular Intensify.

• Adaptation can be switched for Vitality.

• [Umbral Intensify], [Primed Continuity], [Adaptation] and [Narrow Minded] can all be left at Rank 8 and this build will still work fine, and the Endo cost will be drastically reduced. As long as you don't drop below 200% Duration (See Earlier), you'll be good.

• Arcane Energize isn't exactly substitutable in this build, especially if you swap efficiency mods for other stats as mentioned in a moment, but if you don't have it, other things can work. I personally enjoy Consequence for the massive speed boost, but, like most/all Arcanes, it is to taste.

How about some substitutes for those looking to optimize their build further?

• For players who want to achieve high Splinter Storm stacks as quickly as possible, I would recommend dropping [Fleeting Expertise] and [Streamline] in favor of [Natural Talent] and Transient Fortitude.* This will give you not only much higher casting speeds, greatly increasing the speed of your 2-4-1 combo, you will also have a much higher Strength, allowing your Mass Vitrify and Shattered Lash to deal much more damage.

• If you don't care about range at all and want to achieve the maximum duration possible, I would recommend dropping [Fleeting Expertise] and [Augur Reach] and replacing them with [Augur Message] or [Constitution], whatever you prefer, and the spot left by [Fleeting Expertise] is to taste, although I would again recommend [Natural Talent] for the casting speed. With the duration negatives from Fleeting gone, and your range slot replaced with more duration, you can achieve just over one minute of Splinter Storm. I don't think this much time in Splinter Storm is ever necessary, but feel free to experiment with this variation if it suits your playstyle.

*Note that this substitution will require an additional Forma.

Weapons

Because of [Gara]'s "Jack of all Trades" Nature, she can platform a variety of the best weapons in the game to great success. Some of my personal favorites include:

• Cedo

• Kuva Bramma

• Kuva Nukor

• Glaive Prime

• [Nikana Prime]

Conclusion

To conclude this guide, [Gara Prime] is an exceptional Warframe, amongst the likes of [Mesa] and [Wisp] in my eyes, and one I would recommend highly to anyone unsure about what Warframe they want to bring to a given mission type, as she can excel at them all. She can defend objectives, moving or stationary with ease, do insanely high single target or AOE damage, and provide excellent team support. Not to mention, she looks awesome. She is absolutely worth investing in and I can't really praise her enough. That being said, thank you very much for making it this far and thank you for checking out my guide! I hope it is helpful to you in some way.