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When Kullervo was released in Warframe, the reception was quite lukewarm since he used to die too fast. Fast forward to today and after some thoughtful buffs, he is now quite possibly the best melee Warframe. If that wasn’t motivating enough, he’s also one of the first few top-tier Warframes that even newbies can consistently farm. To optimise him, however, a Kullervo build guide is in order.
Warframe Kullervo Build Guide | Mods, Arcanes, Archon Shards
The good news for beginner players and those who are fresh out of Duviri is that this Kullervo build doesn’t need Helminth to shine. Kullervo is one of the few Warframes with no “wasted” or non-synergistic Ability. There’s no need to replace anything in his kit.
With that said, this build isn’t exactly cheap, though there are affordable alternatives to some of its expensive components. You’ll have to start with a 3-4 Forma investment to get this build running.
In any case, here’s why it needs 3-4 Forma.
| Mod Name | Effect | Alternative |
| Steel Charge (Aura) | Squad receives +60% Melee Damage | None, you want Steel Charge as it’s a significant damage buff |
| Power Drift (Exilus) | +15% Ability Strength +30% Chance to Resist Knockdown | Cunning Drift for more Range |
| Umbral Intensify | +44% Ability Strength | Intensify if you want to save Forma |
| Primed Continuity | +55% Ability Duration | Continuity but you need to counterbalance Transient Fortitude |
| Primed Flow | +185% Energy Max | Regular Flow, Kullervo needs this as he can be Energy-hungry |
| Equilibrium | Health pickups give +110% Energy. Energy pickups give +110% Health. | Energy Nexus, or any Augur mod |
| Overextended | +75% Ability Range -50% Ability Strength | No alternative but you don’t need to max out its ranking |
| Transient Fortitude | +55% Ability Strength -27.5% Ability Duration | For even more Strength. Use Augur Secrets instead if you don’t want the negative Duration |
| Stretch | +45% Ability Range | Cheap mod, so no alternative is needed |
| Streamline | +30% Ability Efficiency | This one is optional, so feel free to replace it with an Augur mod. |
You can probably get by with just two Forma by using regular Intensify, especially if you want to reduce the grind. The idea is to boost up Kullervo’s Ability Range well past 200% so he can nuke entire rooms. That’s why Overextended is a must for this build.
Again, no need to subsume any Ability. You will have to rely on one key Arcane for your Operator, however.
Arcanes for the Kullervo Build
This is where the build gets expensive. This particular Kullervo build is Energy-hungry as you’ll constantly be spamming his 1st and 3rd Ability, or his 4th Ability occasionally. Otherwise, he might die.
Still, the following Arcanes, while expensive, are optional (but not having them will result in lower damage):
- Arcane Energize (alternative is Arcane Steadfast)
- Arcane Fury (relatively much cheaper than Arcane Energize)
The Energy Nexus mod as well as the Zenurik Energy pool are decent alternatives to Arcane Energize (though not as potent). Also, take note that you don’t exactly need Arcane Energize to be Rank 5, even a Rank 3 or 4 is enough.
The next Arcane is almost mandatory, by the way. You want this build to deal millions of damage, and this Operator Arcane makes it more than possible:
- Magus Aggress
We’ll explain later how these interactions work. But you’re going to need a melee weapon under the Heavy Blade category.
Archon Shards for the Kullervo Build
For Kullervo, you want the usual focus on Ability Strength. After all, his damage scales incredibly well with that stat.
With that in mind, you can try out different combinations depending on what colors you have.
- 5x (Tauforged) Crimson Archon Shards with Ability Strength
If you’re bothered by Kullervo’s casting speed, then try this setup instead at the cost of Ability Strength:
- 3x (Tauforged) Crimson Archon Shards with Ability Strength
- 2x (Tauforged) Amber Archon Shards with Casting Speed
You can also use several Violet Archon Shards with the Melee Critical Damage buff, but it’s a bit expensive or time-consuming, especially if you want them Tauforged.
Playstyle for the Warframe Kullervo Build
We’ve essentially turned Kullervo into a melee assassin spellcaster of sorts, which sounds cool and thankfully, it also plays cool.
The rotation isn’t too complex, but do keep in mind that the damage also relies a lot on your Heavy Blade of choice (so build that melee weapon properly, ideally for crit). Here’s how the build should operate and its optimal rotation; you need to perform them in quick succession:
- Activate Magus Aggress with transference and a melee attack as an Operator.
- As Kullervo, cast the 4th Ability to boost your melee combo counter.
- Immediately cast the 3rd Ability before the melee combo counter starts to decay.
- Immediately the 1st Ability on a target that’s cursed by the 3rd Ability.
- Don’t forget to cast the 2nd Ability after the first rotation, to stay tanky.
- Continuously repeat Step 1 (Magus Aggress), Step 3 (3rd Ability), and Step 4 (1st Ability) while the combo counter is active.
- Occasionally, you might need to cast the 4th Ability to renew a decayed combo counter.
- You might also have to re-cast the 2nd Ability if you ever run into a Nullifier or an Acolyte that cancels Warframe Abilities.
With this rotation, expect to deal millions of damage. The only weakness would be Nullifiers due to the melee range, but most Warframe builds are weak to those wretches anyway.
