TL;DR:

This guide serves to provide a detailed approach to the warframe. Optimization and creativity are the goal to every build; however, you are entitled to try anything you want. Enjoy it and have fun ;P

[Xaku], The Grafted

Max Slow? [Xaku] can stack range with a couple mods, but why not strength too? Duration is already covered pretty well with Molt Efficiency and [Primed Continuity]. I’m hitting the 4th ability often, and it’s honestly recommended if enemies are scaling faster and faster every 5 minutes. I’ve seen a LOT of builds hover around 200% power strength, and it makes sense on the surface for [Gaze], but going even higher on power strength will do wonderful things to your gameplay. I aim for 400% power strength on the 4th ability to FULLY SLOW ENEMIES — TO A STOP (Yes 100% slow actually works on [Xaku]’s The Vast Untime). If you don't prefer [Rolling Guard] on a build like this, substitute it out for [Augur Reach]. You will have 16 guns on [Xaku], but won't be able to status cleanse with [Rolling Guard]. It would be the same number of forma, but [Xaku] loses the Vazarin Polarity.

Archon Shards:

4 Crimson Tau Shard(s): Ability Strength +15% for +60% for 314% Strength on 1st 2nd and 3rd, 400% Strength on the 4th and 100% Slow (Stop) on enemies affected by The Vast Untime
1 Violet Tau Shard(s): Equilibrium Effect +30%

Alternatives to Building

[Xaku] Build by @TheDemonPrince

[Augur Reach] and 280% Range

Gaining a 16th gun is always a fun option when pushing the limits of the warframe. [Xaku]'s Grasp of [Lohk] scales with enemy level, so scaling the number of guns we gain from the ability is always nice. There may be some sacrifices made to survivability or power strength to get the 16th gun, but options are always there.

[Catalyzing Shields]

Running [Catalyzing Shields] on [Xaku] is a fantastic option when spamming abilities. Although this [Xaku] build utilizes the 4th ability a lot for both the slow and a decent shield gate timer, utilizing the other abilities with catalyzing shield will help with a more consistent shield gate. If you can find a way to mitigate status effects, consider catalyzing over [Rolling Guard] or even a strength mod. Lowering strength is not the end of the world, but you DO lose the 100% slow.

Abilities & Synergy:

Passive:

"25% Damage Reduction on AOE attacks and chance to avoid incoming weapon damage."
While the 4th ability is active, these bonuses go to 75%.

1st Ability — Xata’s Whisper:

"Wield Void damage for all attacks from equipped weapons when activated."
[Xata]’s Whisper is amazing, and even more so when paired with strong weapons that pack a punch with status effects. Personally, I subsume this out, but that’s preference. I’d recommend keeping this on if you’ve got a team or companion for major energy sustain ([Dethcube]? 👀)
Moddable by Duration and Strength

2nd Ability — Grasp of Lohk:

"Void Tendrils steal weapons from nearby enemies to use as your own floating, auto-targeting armament. Damage output increases based on enemy level. The number of weapons grabbed also determines the damage multiplier for The Lost: Deny's Void beam."
[Xaku] summons guns or steals weapons from enemy targets. When no weapons are around, [Xaku] will replicate from their own arsenal (visually) based on the number of nearby enemies, capped to 16 (280% range). We are at 15 (250%). The gun damage is affected by power strength and enemy level:
Damage = (Strength/2) x (Enemy Level)
Number of Guns = 6 x (Range/100%)
Total Damage = Number of Guns x Damage

Here’s the Math:

@314% Power Strength and 250% Range
Damage = (314/2) x (Level 9999)
Damage = 157 x 9999
Damage = 1,569,843 per shot

W/ Vast Untime Debuff (1.5x Void Damage)
Buffed Damage = 2,354,764.5 per shot

@250% Range
Number of Guns = 6 x (250%/100%)
Number of Guns = 15

Total Damage per [Lohk] Rotation
Total Damage = 15 x 1,569,843
Total Daamge = 23,547,645
Buffed Total Damage = 23,547,645 x 1.5
Buffed Total Damage = 35,321,467.5

^ This is DPS BTW, as the guns fire at 1 shot per second.

"MEMEEMEEMEMEME YoU dOn'T wAnT sTrEnGtH oN [Xaku] MEMEMEMEMEMEM." Shut up, bitch.

I don’t know how you can compete with that. Enemies that are fully armor stripped by The Lost, stopped by The Vast Untime, all taking 2.3M damage per shot from Grasp of [Lohk]… in an AOE radius, while you’re skipping around picking up loot and dancing at full energy.
Moddable by Duration, Range, and Strength

3rd Ability — The Lost:

"Cycle through a trio of lost Warframe powers. Accuse manifests a Void fissure to corrupt enemies into allies. [Gaze] grasps targets in Void tendrils that capture damage and inflict it when the target is released. Deny annihilates with a beam of Void energy, wiping Sentient resistances."
The Lost is a rotated ability that cycles through 3 actions:
ACCUSE: Use the power of the void to make enemies into allies. Accused enemies can be buffed by Nourish.
DENY: Combine the power of Grasp of [Lohk] and The Lost to “FIRE THE LASER!!!” At enemies. This ability fires all guns at the same time into one target, but this does NOT scale well into level cap. It’s more fun than anything.
[Gaze]: Crowd Control an enemy and use them as a post for radial defense strip. Utilize two enemies at a time with [Gaze] to remove shields from one and armor with the other — affected by ability strength (100% defense strip at 200% power strength).
Moddable by Duration, Range, and Strength

4th Ability — The Vast Untime:

"Temporarily shed the outer pieces of [Xaku] in a destructive blast, then [Stalk] the battlefield in a new, swifter skeletal form. Enemies damaged by the body shrapnel are rendered weaker to Void Damage. [Xaku]'s other active abilities' duration is frozen in time and resumes once The Vast Untime expires."
Our bread and butter of the build. This is what I built into on top of all other benefits from playing [Xaku]. With 404% power strength for the 4th ability, we can fully slow enemies, capped out at 100%… you know what means? Hitting the PAUSE button on all CC-vulnerable enemies.
In the Vast Untime mode, you now have a 75% chance to dodge enemy damage, further increasing your defensive capabilities.
Moddable by Duration, Range, and Strength

Helminth Subsume(s)

Nourish:

"Regenerate health as [Grendel] absorbs nourishment from enemies in his gut. While he digests, enemies that attack or are attacked by [Grendel] suffer Viral Damage and energy sources provide more energy. These buffs [Extend] to squad mates."
A great addition to the arsenal of weapons, applying viral statuses on enemies and buffing mind controlled targets affected by The Lost.
Moddable by Duration, Range, and Strength

Play Style:

Rotation(s):

How To Survive With [Xaku]:

[Xaku] combined dodge chance, shield gating, and crowd control to manipulate and navigate beyond even level 10,000 enemies. With 75% dodge chance while the 4th ability is active, [Xaku] is already a survivable frame. Combine that with [Brief Respite] for anytime we tap the 4th, we gain back 232.5 shields and can gate for 1.09s after activation, Along with the 100% slow on enemies without overguard. If 90% of the field is stopped dead, and the other 10% are taking void damage against their overguard, who 'gon stop me?

Ability Rotation:

• Preamble: Maintain both Nourish for sustain (and buffing turned allies) and Vast Untime for passive ability buffs and 75% AOE DR and 75% dodge chance.
• 1: Use Grasp of Lohk to yoink enemy firearms like you're the European Union.
• 2: Activate Gaze (From The Lost) to pause a target and radial armor/shield strip nearby enemies. You can activate 2 targets if youre dealing with enemies with both armor and shields.
• 3: Activate Accuse (From The Lost) to turn enemies caught within the cast area to join your side. Using Nourish AFTER this ability will give all those enemies viral procs on damaged, as well as viral damage on their weapons.
• 4: Activate Vast Untime to both pause any timers from the 2nd ability and the 3rd. This, and you'll make all enemies in 62.5m radius 50% more vulnerable to Void Damage (Grasp of Lohk), as well as slow them up to 100% (@400% power strength).
• 5: As Enemy level scales, you'll want to reset Grasp of [Lohk] to refresh the weapon damage to the new level. This is important as Enemy scaling is exponential as endurance runs go on.

Game mode(s):

[Xaku] thrives in scaling game mode…
All Base Game Modes: Exterminate, Defense, Survival, Capture, etc.
Disruptions: Pull weapons from enemies as they scale makes [Xaku] a great candidate for level cap disruptions. You may find help from utilizing weapons like the [Vasto Prime] incarnon to better dispatch Demolishers.
Void Cascade: Cascade scales fast… and I mean Very Fast. [Xaku] is by far one the greatest defensive Warframe in the game. Throwing [Xaku] on exo protection duty is an amazing choice… and especially so when paired with [Octavia]. Completely optional to run with a team, as [Xaku] can solo level cap without much effort.

Here’s the Octavia Build

Arsenal:

Primary Weapon(s):

TBA

Secondary Weapon(s):

TBA

Melee Weapon(s):

TBA

Companion(s):

Farming Companion(s):

Chesa Kubrow -- I used this companion as the main farming beast. As [Nekros] Lite, you can double drops from enemies as you’re plowing and pooling loot from survivals.
Chesa Kubrow Build

Smeeta Kavat -- The [Smeeta Kavat] may not have the double drops anymore, but it still rolls a bonus that applies a better chance for rare items to spawn. That being said, the Smeeta can also improve crit chance, raise affinity gain, energy refund, instant reload, and improved shields. Just when we thought the Smeeta was outdated from the retriever mod conversion, they left us a rarity drop bonus for the [Charm].
Smeeta Kavat Build

Effective Companion(s):

Huras Kubrow -- Where everyone uses the invisibility dog, you can too with the [Huras Kubrow]. This beast makes you invisible when near enemies, but this is not required to be effective.
Huras Kubrow Build

Mecha Hound --Literally the best primer companion in the game. Forget [Diriga], [Nautilus], and [Helios] (sorry), and throw this bad boy on when you finally kill your first Tenet Sister of Parvos.
Hec Hound Build
Dorma Hound Build
Bhaira Hound Build

Diriga -- Primer Side Piece, the [Diriga] can utilize its precepts to prime enemies so hard, you’d forgotten that enemies had defenses.
Diriga Build

Helios Prime -- [Banshee] Lite, my personal favorite companion. The [Helios] scans enemies into your codex, and after fully scanned, [Helios] will expose weak spots for you to poke at.
Helios Prime Build

Nautilus Prime -- Everyone’s Favorite [Vacuum], the [Nautilus] can suck and blow enemies away by utilizing its precepts and status stacking for easy AOE kills.
Nautilus Prime Build

Dethcube Prime -- An extremely underrated companion. The [Dethcube] can kill everything, seriously… while showering you with all types of orbs. I love the [Dethcube] for Warframes that don’t have easy sustain, so feel free to use [Dethcube] if you don’t want to use Nourish.
Dethcube Prime Build

Focus School(s):

Madurai:

I use this ALL THE TIME, but that doesn’t mean this is the only thing you can use. Madurai is the strongest operator school if you’ve already got a way to armor strip. We can utilize a fully built Madurai school to give ourselves + 40% power strength when needed and faster casting speed bonuses when slinging with the operator. Additionally, the operator can utilize the…
1 — Void Strike: use all remaining operator energy to transfer to operator Amp damage.
2 — Contamination Wave: make enemies 50% more vulnerable to operator damage.

Amp(s):

Below is a guide I made to help you understand which amp is right for you. Categories are separated by effectiveness in different content.

HP’s Overall Rating: 11/10

Cons: As every mod must fight for its place on the build, a status cleanse from [Rolling Guard] takes away from the 16th gun.

Misc:

If you like my style of builds, feel free to look through my Build List

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