Hello!
As a mostly solo player I can say that specters are some of my best friends for completing more tricky missions. I experimented and researched specters a lot and I would like to share my observations, preferences, theories on Tenno Specters in exchange for some advice, observations, ideas etc... (especially because I want to find the best mele weapon for my Specter Loadout)
I will also try to update the post with any new information I find if and when I get the chance. Hopefully this will be useful.
Personally I am looking for a Crowd Control / utility focused loadout with a Tenno specter that can survive for a long time since I don't want to constantly replace or babysit it. In fact, I need it to babysit defense objectives, interception points and also have my back while I'm dealing with other missions.
Tenno Specters:
(Tenno Specters and their weapons don't use mods or energy, they cast abilities based on a cooldown system and most of them use only a part of their abilities, not all of them)
1) I mainly used a Nidus specter based on suggestions I saw online and personal testing. I can guarantee that it is very tanky, uses his 4th ability often enough to leave occasional healing areas which spawn infested maggots that distract enemies and also casts Parasitic Link which will increase your power strength. He will also cast his 1st ability although I wouldn't say it's very relevant, maybe for just some slight stagger.
He can go on extremely long endurance runs with no problems and maybe even outlive you. Form my observations he seems to be the best for my personal needs.
2) I also tested Trinity specters in the past and they are very good for supporting you with health and energy. However, they have their limits on survivability. They are very durable but after some long survival missions in steel path, the specters just kept dying at some point and that started my research on finding the best specter loadout for myself (the mission also got to a point where I would keep dying as Wukong in that mission although I just started using him and SP was just released). The specter is very good and will offer a lot of support but wasn't exactly the best match for my preferences.
3) I heard good things about Octavia specters although I never tried them myself. From the reports I could find her passive works and provides energy regen, she also uses her 1st ability with the roller which provides good CC, distracting enemies and she seems to be using all her abilities, thus offering you a lot of buffs. I am not sure how great is her survivability as I never used her but I have some doubts it's as great as I would wish (since specters have a tendency of crouching when you crouch based on my observations, perhaps you can make the specter crouch with you to receive the invisibility buff as well but there is a slight delay from what I remember and I'm not really inclined to teach my bodyguard how to dance while we're being shot at)
4) I also heard good things about Wisp specters but also a bunch of downsides. From what I learned, she uses the reservoirs at random so while they would be useful for buffs and you have some good chances to get one of each it seems a bit too unreliable for me. The reservoirs would be great for defense except for the fact that the specter uses Will-O-Wisp and teleports to the decoy location, having to return to the initial location if you told it to Hold Position (When I tell my specter to sit I want it to sit). From what I understood she uses Breach Surge and Sol Gate and while the radiation procs sound nice and the Sol Gate will barely tickle the enemies I am not that excited for these two abilities.
5) I heard about Protea Specters regarding utility since they use Dispensary but this is mostly all people say. While I understand the appeal of having a living Dispensary caster with you, that is too shallow for my liking. I have plenty of ways of getting energy, health and ammo is rarely an issue for me, depending on the weapons I use. From what I understand she also uses all her other abilities, leaving shrapnel mines, using turrets and what interests me the most: her 4th ability which lets her go back in time. I read on the wiki that she casts it at 75% health, however, I can't see anything about the cooldown. I am skeptical on how good she might be beyond the moving Dispensary function.
6) I heard about Styanax specters and how they can provide a bit of CC with their 1st ability, they use Theros Shield which reduces enemy defenses, they use their 3rd ability which taunts enemies and gives you a buff which will restore your shields and energy and the 4th ability deals a lot of damage but it's rarely used. While I understand he has quite a bit of survivability, the healing from Theros Shield is flat and eventually the specter will die after enough abuse. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB2P3X5sceg)
7) I am curious about Citrine specters as I heard they use all their abilities and can be very good tanky supports, they can't pick up healing orbs but their passive works and offers healing to the entire team. The first ability is rarely used from what I heard but it can be useful for health and energy generation. I read that they use their 2nd ability quite often, thus offering damage reduction to you and other players but not objectives or companions. I heard she uses her 3rd ability, creating a crystal which provides a buff for status chance and duration and can also afflict enemies with heat, electric, toxin and cold procs which could be useful. I'm not sure how useful her 4th ability would be as I heard it doesn't last very long and it's rarely used but it can stun enemies for a bit and buffs attacks against them. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3szemk7YqM )
8) I am curious about Sevagoth as I understand the specter uses all its abilities, including Gloom which would increase his survivability and mine. However, it is important to notice that most channeled abilities will work for a time and then enter in cooldown. I haven't seen anything about it mentioned for Sevagoth specters yet I suspect this might be the case until I get the chance to test one. Sevagoth is quite fragile in general so being able to use Gloom would provide nice CC and survivability yet I am unsure this might be enough to help the specter survive for a very long time.
9) I am also curious about any Xaku specters since they use all abilities. The Vast Untime could provide nice survivability yet the frame in general is normally very fragile. The specter uses The Lost according to the wiki but only Gaze and Deny. The ability to steal weapons and use them against the enemies also sounds nice. I will require testing to see if it is any good. Sounds like an interesting idea but I am unsure of how great it will be (perhaps not as good as I imagine.
10) Lastly, I am curious about Nyx specters as I understood they use their abilities quite well. I hears she casts psychic bolts, reducing enemy defenses, she Mind Controls enemies, thus adding to your personal army and even casts Chaos and occasionally her 4th ability which giver he invulnerability. If all of this is true then she would be great for CC but I am not sure about survivability.
Weapons:
It is important to notice that while Tenno Specters used to have infinite ammo now they have their own ammo pool which needs to be replenished either by the specter or by us picking up ammo. Again, the weapons are unmoded and I personally love weapons with fun gimmicks which can be used by the specters as well. Specters can't use alt-fire or heavy attacks. Initially specters used only the primary weapons unless downed or disarmed but since the ammo reserves can get depleted now they will switch to secondaries once the primary weapon runs out of ammo. They use melee weapons once the enemies get close enough and have a tendency of parrying quite often from what I noticed. Specters are also very accurate with bows, charging them completely and they often aim for headshots. It is also important to notice that the Lich/ Sister weapons used by specters won't have the elemental bonus from their progenitor.
Primary Weapons:
1) Proboscis Cernos is a very common suggestion from what I noticed and I can guarantee that it is very good as I used it myself on my specters. Each shot releases a bunch of tentacles which grab enemies, pull them together and then explode, dealing viral damage and with a nice status chance to boot. Unfortunately, due to the ammo update, Proboscis Cernos will be used with its base ammo of 6 arrows before switching to the secondary unless the specter's ammo pool gets replenished. This is a huge nerf to the bow but I would like to try and see if it can still be used properly on specters while combined with a good secondary, an ammo source like Protea's Dispensary or enough of a kill rate to get enough ammo for you and the specter.
2) Nataruk is a weapon which I'm currently testing on my new specter loadout since it's a bow with infinite ammo. From what I noticed the bow is very strong, dealing a lot of damage and charging the bow completely yet I am not sure how well it works against crowds compared with Proboscis Cernos or other Area Of Effect weapons. Good to keep in mind for the infinite ammo and high damage.
3) Fulmin is another weapon with regenerative ammo which could be used. The specter will keep it in the primary, sniper mode and after running out of ammo it will switch to the secondary for a bit and then use the primary again. Since the weapon is single target I am again a bit reluctant to use it instead of another AOE which could CC the enemies but it is worth mentioning and keeping in mind.
4) Shedu would be another good option with regenerative ammo and the AOE shots can proc electric status effects which can stun enemies + the AOE shockwave which the weapon runs out of ammo could be useful as well. I tested it for a while and I would say that it is quite nice although it deals very little damage and the electric procs are not guaranteed.
5) Hema would be an interesting option with regenerative ammo which I haven't seen mentioned. In theory it should drain HP from the specter to recharge and since the specters usually go for headshots it should allow it to heal itself due to the weapon's gimmick. I haven't tried it yet. Please let me know what do you think of if you tried it.
Secondary Weapons:
1) I am currently building a specter with Epitaph. In theory I think the specter should use the AOE shots, allowing for great CC possibilities but as I haven't used it yet or heard of it as a suggestion this is just a theory so far. The Epitaph uncharged shots create explosions which inflict Blast status effect (reducing enemy accuracy) and guaranteed Cold procs (thus slowing down enemies that get hit). If the specter fully charges the weapon then I'm not sure I would be interested in the high critical chance and non-AOE shots since it wouldn't be so great for CC.
2) Plinx (and Tenet Plinx) would be good for the regenerative ammo. It's a shame that specters don't use alt-fire since Tenet Plinx can create a vortex, thus allowing it some CC capacity.
3) Tenet Cycron could also be useful for its regenerative ammo and ability to hit multiple enemies, like a Nukor but with infinite ammo.
4) Until now I used Spira Prime just for decorative purpose but once the ammo changes hit, the specter will switch to the secondary after finishing the primary ammo and I can confirm that it's not a great secondary for the specter.
Melee Weapons:
Specters normally use mele only when enemies are close enough to get hit so the lower the melee range, the lower the chances of getting used. I noticed that specters also have a tendency of blocking shots with their melee weapons which could be useful for weapons that benefit from blocks.
1) Pathocyst is one of the melee weapons I used the most for my specters as each hit has a chance of spawning a magot which can distract enemies. It has some very low range and I would say it's not the best option just as a weapon to be used by the specter since specters don't know how to use glaives but the potential CC plus the fact that it's an infested weapon, thus matching my Nidus specter attracted me but now I am trying to see if I can find something new/ better.
2) Tenet Livia is a pick I would like to explore. I don't have the weapon and I never tried it but since specters have a tendency of blocking quite often and Tenet Livia increases its blocking radius with each block, I thought that it could be useful if the blocking can also protect a defense objective behind the specter. I am unsure if this would work and if the blocking would protect the defense objective but it is an interesting idea I recently had.
3) Silva & Aegis (Prime) could be another interesting choice as it has synergy with the blocking mechanic, getting more power with each attack blocked until it gets to hit an enemy. Having a nice status chance and the ability to proc heat is also a nice bonus. I would like to test it or to hear your opinions on it.
4) Redeemer (Prime) and other gunblades is an option I heard about and seems quite intriguing as they shoot enemies and CC them, knocking them down and inflicting status effects. Redeemer Prime can inflict Blast status effects so that could be useful for a bit of CC if needed.
5) War is a weapon that I used for quite a long time simply because it is pretty cool. I am not sure if there are other bonuses although I heard that Heavy blades are quite good for specters but I am unable to tell if there is anything special about them.
6) Hirudo could also be fun since it heals the user whenever they land a critical hit and the weapon itself has a nice base crit chance, thus having the potential to provide some healing/ survivability for the specter.
This is most of the information I could gather that seems relevant. Hopefully this can help newer players or maybe even older players that haven't experimented or researched specters too much. Please let me know what do you think, if you have any suggestions and especially if you can suggest any good melee weapons for specters.
Now if you'll excuse me, it's 4AM , I need to sleep and dream of maybe getting the title of archimedian for all the work I put into this study XD
Some of my other sources of information are:
https://warframe.fandom.com/wiki/Specter_(Tenno))
https://www.reddit.com/r/Warframe/comments/pthdh2/current_best_specter_loadout/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Warframe/comments/tqzg74/what_specters_are_the_most_useful/
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