Warframe: Why I won’t be keeping the Braton Prime
So, the Braton Prime is okay. But as I’ve been leveling it up I noticed that I wasn’t impressed. The early damage was impressive, no doubt, but as I went on I just wasn’t grabbed. It was a good gun, but I didn’t like it. If I were to put it on my Quick Equip Guide (Which I might do another one later). I’d rate it at Okay. It works, it works fine, but it just isn’t... notable.
And it doesn’t do anything I can’t already do.
I’m a big proponent of loadout niching. That is to say, every weapon you invest in should have a different purpose. And for me this is less specific numbers and more the combat role: Snipers vs Marksman Rifles vs Assault Rifles etc. I could go on about this in the context of various games but in this case we’re talking about one gun and why it does nothing I can’t already do.
The Braton Prime is an assault rifle that shoots things very well. That is what it does. So you’d think it fits into an assault rifle niche, a flexible option that’s a good default. BUT, I already have a flexible default rifle: The Argonak.
The Argonak has two really nice features: it highlights enemies (very good in low-visibility situations) and it can switch between semi- and full-auto firing modes. I like that, it’s neat. But if the Braton Prime does the same thing better it should take over there, right? Well, the base DPS is higher due to the higher fire rate and crit chance. But... if I really care about damage output for the Argonak I’m using it in semi-auto mode which is a skewed comparison. The fact that the Argonak can work in both modes means that it’s just the most flexible gun in my arsenal, and that’s very useful.
Okay, so, the Braton Prime isn’t going to win the generalist contest. But it puts out a lot of bullets fast, so it’s clearly a full-auto DPS machine. Except I already have the Soma Prime, which also puts out a lot of bullets fast. The base DPS of the Some Prime is lower than that of the Braton Prime, but testing showed that the Soma Prime scales better due to its higher critical chance. So the Braton Prime is not winning the full-auto DPS slot.
But that’s not too surprising. It’s not really made to pump out critical hits, while it has a 26% base status rate, which is pretty fair! Full-auto status monster is a viable option, right?
Except I already have the Supra, which has a higher base status chance, fires more rounds per second, and has a syndicate mod which gives it more status. The Braton is not going to out-status the Supra, it’s not going to happen.
(Actually, the full-auto mode of the Argonak also has a better status chance than the Braton, but since it’s not the dedicated role it’s not relevant to the niching discussion.)
So, that leaves the Braton Prime, a good weapon, in the lurch. I don’t need it as a mainline weapon. I don’t need it as full auto DPS. I don’t need it as a full auto status weapon. So... if I kept it, I’d never use it. It has no augment mods or exclusive mechanics to make it stand out.
That’s just Niching.
