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Warframe‘s Protea Prime is the newest Prime Warframe and she’s every bit as glorious as the original version (more so stylistically). She can be a complex character, however, since she’s often dubbed as the Warframe that can “do everything.” That’s not exactly a newbie-friendly mode of play. So do peruse our Warframe Protea Prime build guide to help you get started.
Warframe Protea Prime Build Guide | Mods, Arcanes, Archon Shards
Protea and Protea Prime can be built in several ways. But if you want the ultimate build that you can take to Steel Path, you’ll want to ensure that she’s self-sustaining. That means little to no reliance on weapons since Protea can also be a caster Warframe.
To that end, I recommend the following mod configuration for Protea Prime. You can also use this for regular Protea. You can complete this build for as little as two Forma though you’re going to want to invest more as it helps with general gameplay.
| Mod Name | Effect | Alternative |
| Growing Power (Aura) | On Status Effect with Weapon: Squad increases personal Ability Strength by 25% for 6s. | Power Drift for more Strength and fewer knockdowns. |
| Primed Sure Footed (Exilus) | +100% Chance to Resist Knockdown | Power Drift for more Strength and less knockdowns. |
| Blind Rage | +99% Ability Strength -55% Ability Efficiency | Umbral/Intensify but this will be significantly weaker. |
| Primed Continuity | +55% Ability Duration | Regular Continuity. |
| Narrow Minded | +99% Ability Duration -66% Ability Range | You can also opt to use Augur Message. |
| Archon Vitality | +100% Health Status Effects from abilities that deal Heat Damage will be applied twice. | You can also consider Temporal Erosion. |
| Rolling Guard | On Dodge: Become invulnerable for 3s and remove all Status Effects. 7s cooldown. | If you’re comfortable with survival, however, you can use Temporal Erosion instead. |
| Augur Reach | +30% Ability Range | Overextended is the more disruptive alternative. |
| Stretch | +45% Ability Range | Cheap mod, so no alternative is needed |
| Primed Flow | +185% Energy Max | Regular Flow is good enough. |
The build will result in a lower Energy Efficiency, but you can easily counteract that with the Dispensary Ability, which is Protea’s 3rd Ability. Moreover, adding more Strength typically results in a higher pickup drop chance, helping you sustain your casting.
Rolling Guard is there just in case encounters get too chaotic.
Arcanes for the Protea Prime Build
This is where the build’s expense comes in the full picture. Some Arcanes we’ll be using for the build cost a lot of Platinum. At the same time, they’re also build-defining.
Thankfully, you can purchase them in smaller segments. Some of them are also obtainable for free.
- Molt Efficiency – More Ability Duration helps you manage your Energy better. And with Protea’s Shield Satellites, this is an easy choice.
- Molt Augmented – Even more Ability Strength.
You could also include an Arcane Energize but it’s a bit expensive and not that necessary. I would replace Molt Efficiency if Arcane Energize is available.
Archon Shards (& Helminth Options) for the Protea Prime Build
Protea thankfully doesn’t need some odd, new Archon Shard colors. Just the Amber and Crimson ones would do.
- (Important) 2x Amber Archon Shard with Casting Speed – Two Tauforged Ambers will give a 75 percent increased Casting Speed. That should fix Protea’s casting animation. You’ll be casting a lot.
- 3x Crimson Archon Shard with Ability Strength – More Strength, more damage, and more pickups.
You can get these quite easily from Netracells, Archon missions, or even through Kahl.
As for the Helminth options, consider replacing Temporal Anchor (4th Ability) with the following Abilities from other Warframes:
- Roar (Rhino)
- Nourish (Grendel) (recommended)
- Coil Horizon (Gyre)
Playstyle for the Warframe Portea Prime Build
You’ll want to take full advantage of Protea’s innate Ability Strength buff. She has a passive ability where she will empower every fourth Ability case with +100% Ability Strength.
That means casting three Abilities first before casting your preferred Ability that will receive the +100% to Ability Strength.
The best candidate for this would be either Blaze Artillery or Temporal Barrage. However, if you choose to replace Temporal Barrage with a subsumed ability like Nourish, then Blaze Artillery should get the priority.
In any case, try out this step-by-step rotation for the Protea Prime build.
- Cast three abilities that aren’t Blaze Artillery or Temporal Barrage. They don’t have to be different abilities (you can, for example, cast Dispensary thrice).
- Cast Blaze Artillery after the first three Ability casts.
- Feel free to give the +100% Ability Strength buff to other Abilities. Dispensary increases the pickup drop chance while Grenade Fan adds more Shrapnel Vortex or shield restoration.
Whatever you do, just keep casting, and do take note that Toxin damage can go through shields, which is why Rolling Guard is a good backup.
Warframe is available on PC (Windows), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5,
