Nidus, also known as the infested Warframe, first came to the game back in 2016. The release of this character in Warframe brought in another questline for players to take on. It also brought in new weapons and a new breed of pet.
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Nidus is one of the more interesting Warframes in the game, with multiple abilities that feed off one another. It can be a little difficult to get used to playing Nidus at first thanks to his interesting abilities, but many players have been able to figure out how to make good use of him. Follow these tips and tricks to maximize his potential.
For starters, players need to complete the Glast Gambit quest before they can obtain Nidus. Completing this quest will unlock Nidus' blueprint, but the parts are still needed to actually get the character. To get Nidus' parts, players will need to travel to Eris.
On Eris, players will need to complete the Infested Salvage mission. They will receive Nidus' neuroptics, Torso, and Frame as rewards for completing C rotations in the mission. Players can either leave after completing one C rotation, or stay and complete multiple. Each piece has a 14.29% drop chance. Of course, platers can also avoid all this if they're willing to spend 225 platinum in the marketplace.
Nidus has an interesting passive ability, which can keep him alive in situations that other Warframes would normally perish. First of all, remember that Nidus' abilities generate Mutation stacks. These stacks help with his abilities, but his abilities also consume his stacks.
Nidus' passive ability allows him to be brought back to life as long as he has 15 stacks of Mutation. Be sure to save up those Mutation stacks in tough fights.
Nidus' main ability is Virulence, which causes a wave of infestation to shoot out across the ground and damage enemies. Every 5 enemies hit by this ability generates 1 Mutation stack as described above. This ability also gives energy back to Nidus for hitting enemies.
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It is important to always make sure to hit as many enemies as possible with this ability. This will generate more stacks, and allow the player to get back as much energy as possible. The augment card for this ability gives Nidus a buff when hitting enemies that increase his primary weapon's critical hit chance.
Nidus' second ability, Larva, is meant to work with his first ability. This ability spawns a parasite that pulls surrounding enemies into it. The enemies get smashed into a large lump, crowding them together
Players should use this ability should often before Virulence, so that Nidus can hit as many enemies as possible and get more stacks. The augment for this ability allows Nidus to reactivate this ability to cause it to detonate and deal a large amount of AOE damage.
Parasitic Link is the first ability of Nidus' that doesn't cost energy. Instead, this ability costs 1 Mutation stack to activate.
Activating this ability will tether Nidus to the enemy he is pointing at. The tethered enemy will take a large portion of the damage that Nidus takes, making it a great ability to use for survival. The tethered enemy will also activate Virulence whenever Nidus does, and will shoot in the same direction as Nidus.
Nidus' other ability that consumes Mutation stacks instead of energy is Ravenous. This ability consumes 3 Mutation stacks in order to create a large infested area on the ground. This area is covered in maggots, which will attach themselves to enemies whenever they get close.
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Enemies that are hit by the maggots will generate Mutation stacks for Nidus. Players can also destroy the maggots by hitting an enemy with Virulence. Destroying a maggot causes an AOE burst that damages nearby enemies and heals allies.
Nidus is great at crowd control and aiding allies. He can take on the role of control during survival missions and infested missions, by keeping enemies grouped up and hammering them with attacks.
While he is great at taking on large groups of enemies, though, Nidus does not excel at singular enemy combat, defense missions, or stealth. This is because his abilities are meant to take on large groups rather than for one-on-one fights. Nidus can be used for defense missions and his Ravenous ability can cover the objective, but it is not as effective as other Warframes' abilities.
Nidus is best when built with a lot of ability range and strength. This is because he doesn't need to worry about energy as much as other Warframes. Only two of Nidus' abilities require energy, and one of them gives energy back for hitting enemies.
Increasing Nidus' ability strength will allow him to hit enemies harder and range will make sure they can hit more enemies. He can also benefit from a slight increase in ability duration, because his Larva ability will last longer.