

Part of the appeal is that you don’t need to spend any Forma on it to make it a huge source of damage. Redeemer Prime is Warframe’s ultimate Gunblade.

This weapon works extremely well with a Condition Overload build propped up by three Dual Status mods to bring the status chance to 100 percent, and a Sacrificial Steel mod to bring the critical chance up to nearly 50 percent. It will also gain 100% Toxin damage, making it very easy to strip away any armor if you mod for Corrosive damage. Lots of Slash damage, the highest status chance of all Polearms, and a passive bonus that increases attack speed when you inflict status procs on an enemy. Lesion is the second Polearm on the list but deserves to be here for its ridiculous damage output. A Berzerker mod will give you plenty of attack speed, Blood Rush to keep the critical hits flowing, and then mod in whatever damage types you like with a Condition Overload on top. Combine it with range mods to cut down large numbers of enemies. Combined with the Blind Justice stance, it becomes an absolute whirlwind of death.

Huge Slash damage, critical chance, and critical multiplier values combine to make this a monster. Nikana Prime is the king of the Nikana weapons. It is also a fantastic candidate for a bleed build, modding for more slash damage, base damage, and status chance, but you should still work in some mods that increase the critical chance and critical damage to take advantage of Slash procs. Leaning heavily into a critical build, and getting as much range as you can, will turn this into an absolute monster. In short, if you want to use claw weapons, then it has to be the Venka Prime. They also have the highest status chance of any claw weapons. Venka Prime gives you the highest base damage from all claw weapons, combined with very high Slash damage, great critical chance, critical multiplier, and attack speed stats. Stacking mods like Organ Shatter, True Steel, and Primed Pressure Point will give a solid base of critical damage, with Blood Rush and Body Count complimenting it perfectly. You can lean into status or critical hits, or a hybrid build of both. With a critical chance of 24 percent, a status chance of 36 percent, and a critical multiplier of 2.2x, the build options for this are varied. You will need to be Mastery Rank 12 to use it, but taking this for a spin will make you understand the insane power it can unleash. The below list will point you towards some very strong options in the game right now, but you should always remember to experiment with weapons, builds, and tactics. Warframe’s inventive community is always finding a new combination of weapons and mods to turn your Tenno into a murder machine, and there is always something new to discover. With hundreds of melee weapons to choose from, Warframe can feel a little overwhelming at times.
