Warframe: The Best Noctua Build Guide

Noctua is one of the most unique weapons in Warframe right now because only one Warframe can use it. It’s exclusive as an Exalted Weapon to the 56th Warframe, Dante but since it can accommodate mods (and special Tome Mods, multiple ones nonetheless), you can customize its build. You will want to, of course; Dante is an Energy-hungry Warframe and he synergizes well with the Noctua. A Noctua build guide should help in turning Dante more overpowered than he is.

Warframe Noctua Build Mods & Forma

The Noctua is a peculiar weapon as it’s one of the two Secondary items in the game (in a roster of hundreds) that’s able to use the Tome Mods. These special utility mods often sacrifice damage to add more conveniences to your Warframe.

Noctua is even more special since it can accommodate all the Tome Mods whereas the other Secondary weapon, Grimoire, can only have one Invocation and one Canticle Tome Mod. That means you can go all out with Noctua but that’s not something we recommend.

This is what we recommend to help Dante become powerful especially if you don’t have Arcane Energize for him.

Mod	Effect	Alternative(s)
Vome Invocation	Alternate Fire increases Ability Strength by 4% for 20s for each enemy hit. Stacks up to 15 times.	None. It’s almost mandatory for armor stripping.
Xata Invocation	Alternate Fire grants 1 Energy Regen/s for 20s for each enemy hit. Stacks up to 10 times.	None. It’s mandatory if you have no Arcane Energize. Even then, you might still want it alongside that Arcane.
Ris Invocation	Alternate Fire increases Ability Duration by 4% for 20s for each enemy hit. Stacks up to 15 times.	None, although it’s optional. Replace with Frostbite if you’re going for Viral damage.
Netra Invocation	Alternate Fire increases Ability Efficiency by 4% for 20s for each enemy hit. Stacks up to 15 times.	None. This will help Dante spam his Abilities more often.
Jahu Canticle	Killing enemies reduces the Armor and Shields of other enemies within Affinity Range by 5%.	None. It’s almost mandatory for armor-stripping.
Anemic Agility	+90% Fire Rate -15% Damage	Lethal Torrent or Gunslinger.
Scorch	+60% Heat +60% Status Chance	Replace with Pistol Pestilence if you’re going for Viral damage.
Primed Fulmination	Improves the Blast Radius of weapons with Radial Attacks. +44% Blast Radius	Replace with Frostbite if you’re going for Viral damage but still want to keep Ris Invocation.

To fit all that, you’re going to need 3-4 Forma, Primed Fulmination is quite heavy on the drain. You can replace it with something else, like a Viral setup especially since it’s a rare and expensive mod.

Explanation for Mod Choices

In any case, this Warframe Noctua build prioritizes utility over damage. After all, Dante is already capable of killing hordes of high-level Steel Path enemies even without a weapon.

Scorch and Heat damage are there because they also stack up and can remove 50 percent armor, which works well with Jahu Canticle. You can then detonate the Heat status buildup using Dante’s 4th Ability.

If you have no other source of Viral procs (such as Panzer Vulpaphyla), then you’ll want to replace Scorch/Heat damage with the Viral damage combo so that Dante’s Slash procs will be more powerful.

Meanwhile, Anemic Agility is there because the Noctua, like the Grimoire, is a slow weapon. You’ll ideally want it to fire off its Alternate Fire as fast as it can. Everything else works to help Dante deal more damage and get more Strength, Efficiency, and Energy.

Warframe Noctua Build Playstyle

You’re going to have to exercise a bit of restraint in using this weapon, especially if you’re used to just shooting everything in sight.

First off, you are not going to use the regular fire mode as that will consume a lot of Energy. You only want the Alternate Fire for this weapon build. We want to trigger all the Invocation Tome Mods (with the Alternate Fire) and tag the enemy using the weapon to also trigger the Jahu Canticle armor strip.

Thus, you will also want to fire off that Alternate Fire to hit as many enemies as possible. You don’t have to kill them with the shot for the Tome Mods to activate. As for charging up the Alternate Fire, it’s easy; any kill counts towards the charge, and Dante kills enemies fast.

To sum it up, here’s a step-by-step process on how to use this Noctua build:

1. Charge up the Alternate Fire by killing enemies with Dante’s 3rd or 4th Ability.
2. Once the Alternate Fire is charged, find a big pack of enemies (around 15-20).
3. Shoot the Alternate Fire on a pack or line of enemies. You should aim to hit as many as 15 of them for the full effect of the Invocation Tome Mods.
4. Repeat Steps 1, 2, and 3. Charge up the Alternate Fire as fast as you can. You have 20 seconds before the Invocation Tome Mod buffs expire.
5. If you manage to fire off the Alternate Shot again and hit an enemy, the timer for the Invocation Tome Mod buffs will reset to 20. It doesn’t need to hit 15 enemies this time.
6. However, if the 20-second buff timer expires, you’ll need to find another 15 enemies to shoot.

It’s fine if you don’t hit 15 enemies as long as you hit an enemy with the Alternate Fire. Each enemy hit with the Alternate Fire gives a 4% Invocation Tome Mod buff. More if better, of course, but take what you can and practice.