If you somehow missed that Operation: Belly of the Beast is back in Warframe at the moment, what with the alerts popping up repeatedly… I don’t know what to tell you. The event is here, and while you’ll get the best rewards if you take part in the Steel Path version of the central mission, the alerts make sure that even players who haven’t gone through Jade Shadows can get all of the good stuff from this particular event. And there is really good stuff in this event.
Now, you may be a veteran of the game who has gone through everything multiple times and have zero need for anything, but you may also be a veteran who hasn’t really looked at what’s on offer and aren’t really thinking about it at all. Maybe you’ve just assumed you don’t want anything from it. So today I want to talk about the things that players should be working to get and the priorities of same.
Ceti Lacera blueprint: Blade-and-whip weapons are really cool, and the game has a few of them, but the Ceti Lacera is easily one of the best of the bunch, except most of the time you can’t get it. This is only available during events, and since it is a very good weapon you want to buy this. Remember, even if you don’t plan to use it much, it lets you level it up toward your mastery rank. But you should use it. Because it’s fun.
Arcane Avenger to max: There are a lot of Arcanes in the game, and many of them are situationally useful or just kinda janky, but Arcane Avenger is a really, really good Arcane that adds a chunk of critical chance whenever you take damage. This can be from things like Combat Discipline, but honestly you can just get it triggered by letting something hit your shields, which will happen a lot anyway.
The other reason this is well worth it is that normally Arcane Avenger is a pain to get, which means that you can pick it up far more easily than you would otherwise be able to. Since you otherwise need the copies to crop up in the Circuit or via killing Eidolons, being able to just purchase them means you should try hard to get a fully upgraded copy of this Arcane.
Arcane Energize to max: This one I feel is kind of up in the air in terms of value, but some of that is just because most of the builds I run use other Arcanes. But if you’re running a more support-focused frame, it’s incredibly valuable and it lets your entire team get way more energy out of every single orb, turning you into a passive battery for everyone. It’s especially useful if you tend to run around with people that run energy-hungry builds, and while most players who seriously build will have some solutions to energy management… like, 150 extra energy is still nothing to sneeze at!
Worth noting that this is specifically a clan reward. If you don’t have a clan, you will not be able to pick this up. It’s also very expensive, so keep that in mind if you’re going on a purchase spree. Still, it does nicely mean that you will never really run out of things to spend your motes on, right?
Unique cosmetics: I put this one here and you could argue that it’s higher on your priority list, in which case… put it higher! There’s a unique scythe skin, some unique Ephemera, a chest sigil, emblems, and so forth. How valuable each of these is to you is going to depend on the person. If these don’t matter a whole lot to you, then you should prioritize more practical rewards first, but I still think these are more valuable than the things I list after.
Basmu blueprint:Â To be clear here, the Basmu is just as inaccessible as the Ceti Lacera outside of events. So why do I put it this low? Well… the Ceti Lacera is a really good weapon, and if you want a blade-and-whip melee weapon there’s nothing else like it. The Basmu is… just sort of all right. It’s nice to have, of course, because it’s another set of points toward a Mastery rank. That is important and helpful, you can’t overlook that. But while the other weapon might have a place in your lineup, the Basmu probably won’t.
Unless, of course, you play with the Basmu and immediately love it and the way it serves as a healing battery, in which case that’s awesome. Seriously, it’s not bad, just not nearly as good as other weapons. I wouldn’t get it over Arcane Avenger obviously, but more weaponry is always good!
Arcane Acceleration/Arcane Velocity to the max: These are either somewhat mediocre arcanes or incredibly powerful ones depending on your builds. For example, if you play a lot of Mesa, Arcane Velocity is insanely powerful (yes, it absolutely applies to her Regulators). If you have a strong secondary with high crit chance, it can be hugely powerful. Ditto a strong primary and Arcane Acceleration. They’re good Arcanes for certain builds, so if your particular kit can make full use of them, buy these up as full sets.
Stance Forma blueprint: The changes made to how these work make them somewhat useful in particular cases, but not hugely useful unless you really need multiple different stances… mostly because these are blueprints. In order to build one of them, you need to use a Forma anyway, so rather than just changing the polarity on an existing stance slot, you expend the same number of Forma (and other resources) to get a universal slot. It’s not a bad idea to buy one of these just in case it winds up being needed later as they can be tricky to get, but unless you have a very particular need for one, it’s low on the priority list.
Other Arcanes: My point here is not that these Arcanes are bad – though some are – but more that they have a much more narrow set of use cases. For example, Arcane Fury is a really good potential Arcane for Valkyr if you’re keeping her in a permanent Hysteria state, and that has some value… but it’s hardly a central part of what makes Valkyr good in that state, and there are plenty of alternative builds that work really well and don’t use Arcane Fury. However, these Arcanes are all hard to target specifically otherwise, so if you have some use for them, consider working to get a fully upgraded one.
Don’t forget Vestigial Motes: If you haven’t done Jade Shadows, of course, you won’t be gathering any of these, but if you have done it this is also a great chance to farm for Jade, her weapons, and the Arcanes associated with her. I would generally advise being stingy with your Vestigial Motes because you will probably be running the mission a lot and can thus wind up with a pretty good chance of getting these blueprints and Arcanes from mission clears, but don’t overlook that reward table either!
Pick a ‘Frame, any ‘Frame! The Warframe galaxy is in danger, Tenno, and Space Mom needs help to combat it. Are you in the right Warframe of Mind to join in? The MOP writers have enlisted, suiting up in their favorite ‘Frames to fight the good fight, blasting the Grineer and Infected into smithereens.
