With the introduction of the Kuva Sobek, part of the Warframe meta has a new wrinkle for you to consider. If you like to build weapons that dominate the late game, then it does have a place there, but it can get outworked by the true heavy hitters.
To put it simply, the Kuva Sobek is a superb weapon but will get outdone by the top-tier Incarnon, Kuva, and Tenet weapons. Truthfully, there are much better options than the Kuva Sobek for almost every circumstance. If you’re really intent on getting your first Kuva weapons, though, I[ suggest the Nukor, Brauma, Hek, and Ogris over this.
Best Kuva Sobek build
If you’re a big shotgun fan and just want a great Kuva Sobek, the first thing to do is switch out your Warframe while you start the process of getting it. You want to go with a Progenitor that will give you your choice of element. Heat is a great option, so pick the appropriate Warframe and then get stuck into the Kuva Lich-making process until you’re lucky and the Kuva Sobek pops up. The good news is that the heat Progenitors include some popular picks like Wisp, Nezha, and Protea.
Below is a pretty late-game build for the Kuva Sobek that will add a bunch of damage to the weapon and nicely carry you into Steel Path.
| Mod | Effect (fully ranked) | Why to use |
|---|---|---|
| Exilus Slot – Vigilante Supplies (Trade for Counterbalance if you wish) | Converts Secondary ammo pickups to 30 percent of ammo pickup. There is a five-percent chance to enhance critical hits from Primary Weapons due to a set bonus. | It’s nice just to have the extra ammo and builds into Vigilante mods that you are running on your Sentinel/Pet. |
| Galvanized Savvy | Added Status Chance. On Kill: Added Direct Damage per Status Type affecting the target for 20 seconds. Stacks up to 2x. | Ramps up the Status chance, inflicting more elemental effects on targets. |
| Galvanized Hell | Added Multishot. On Kill: Additional Multishot for 20 seconds. Stacks up to 4x. | Multishot will increase the pellets per shot, dealing more damage and applying more potential Status effects. |
| Hunter Munitions | +30 percent chance to apply Slash on Critical. The set bonus increases pet damage to enemies affected by Slash. | We want the Slash procs, but the overall Slash damage of the weapon is a little low, so we can’t rely on getting them the traditional way. We will be building in some solid Crit Chance, just not via mods. |
| Primed Ravage | +110 Critical Damage | As I said, the Criticals will be there, just not from weapon mods. |
| Atomic Fallout | +60 percent Radiation, +40 percent Magazine capacity | An amazing way to get additional damage onto your weapon in the form of Radiation. Radiation is very useful in the late game against enemies like the Murmur. |
| Critical Deceleration | +200 percent Critical Chance, – 20 percent Fire Rate | A nice critical chance increase, but the Arcane choices will really push us over the edge. |
| Toxic Barrage | +60 percent Toxin and +60 Status Chance | Combines with the below mod for Viral. |
| Shell Shock | +60 percent Electric and +60 Status Chance | Combines with the above mod for Viral. |
Frankly, there are no real surprises in the above build, and it’s a pretty standard late-game shotgun build for me at this point. There are some changes you can make to this build, depending on circumstances. The Clip Delegation mod is likely to get a slot for me from the Nightwave Rewards as soon as I can get my hands on it. This will increase Status Chance and Multishot by up to 225 percent at max stacks. This will provide plenty of wiggle room to drop some 60/60 mods and bring in even more damage.
Arcanes
The shotgun Arcanes are up to you based on what you have available. If possible, Primary Frostbite is amazing as you can prime Cold procs from your Sentinel and take advantage of the three-percent Critical Damage and 2.25 percent Multishot per stack. The max stacks are 40, so the improvement to damage output is substantial. If not, Primary Merciless is also a great option thanks to the fact it stacks with kills, the most basic thing you’re trying to achieve with the weapon and the easiest to take advantage of. If you’re happy with your ability to land headshots, Primary Deadhead is the way to go.
On your Warframe, you want to run Arcane Avenger to push your Critical Chance to the required over 100 percent level to really take advantage of the build. This is pretty essential, and Arcane Avenger is becoming more and more important in late-game builds. If you don’t have this yet, you’ll need to engage the Eidolon Hydrolyst to get your hands on it or trade from other players for enough of them to stack. The other Arcane slot on your Warframe is down to user choice.
And that’s it. This is a solid and malleable Kuva Sobek build that will carry you into harder content and give you a good option for single-target damage in the more difficult challenges that Warframe can send your way.
