Unlocking the Power of Growing Power: A Warframe Mod Guide
Introduction
The vast and ever-evolving world of Warframe is built on a foundation of customization. Warframes themselves are only the beginning; it’s the mods that truly define a Warframe’s capabilities, allowing you to tailor your abilities and stats to suit your preferred playstyle. Among the countless mods available, one stands out as a cornerstone for many support-oriented builds: Growing Power. This aura mod has become synonymous with bolstering ability strength, transforming otherwise niche Warframes into powerhouses of healing, protection, and crowd control.
But what exactly is Growing Power, and why is it so highly regarded among Warframe players? In essence, Growing Power is an aura mod that grants a significant increase to ability strength for a short duration after inflicting a status effect on an enemy. This seemingly simple effect unlocks a wealth of potential, particularly for Warframes whose abilities scale strongly with ability strength. This article will delve into the intricacies of Growing Power, explaining its mechanics, exploring its optimal use cases, and demonstrating why it’s a must-have mod for Warframe players seeking to maximize their support capabilities.
Understanding Growing Power: The Core Mechanics
Growing Power is a rare aura mod that provides a substantial twenty-five percent boost to ability strength for six seconds each time a status effect is applied to an enemy. Its aura polarity is Madurai, which can present a slight challenge when building around, however its advantages often outweigh the difficulty. Its scarcity lies in its acquisition method: it is primarily obtained through Nightwave Cred Offerings. Previously it was rewarded from Invasions, so for older players it may be more readily available. While tradeable with other players, its value reflects its desirability, so new players should be prepared to dedicate a fair amount of time towards obtaining it.
The importance of Growing Power lies in how its ability strength boost can exponentially increase the potency of your Warframe’s abilities. Remember, ability strength affects the magnitude of many Warframe powers. While ability strength is desirable, it’s crucial to remember that the Growing Power mod’s ability strength is only activated upon inflicting a status effect. Just dealing damage to enemies isn’t enough to trigger its effect; you need to reliably apply status procs.
Also, it is essential to understand that Growing Power’s aura does not stack with multiple players using the same mod. Only the aura from one copy of Growing Power will be active for the squad. If multiple players are planning for increased ability strength, it’s often more efficient to consider other aura mods and stack different buffs.
Unveiling the Operational Dynamics of Growing Power
Understanding how Growing Power functions requires a firm grasp of status effect mechanics within Warframe. Status effects, or procs, are debilitating conditions inflicted on enemies through weapons and abilities. These effects can include, but are not limited to, elemental conditions like heat (causing damage over time), cold (slowing enemy movement), electricity (arcing damage and stunning), and toxin (bypassing shields and dealing damage directly to health). Each weapon has a base status chance, and mods can be used to significantly increase this probability. Growing Power hinges on reliably triggering these status effects to activate its ability strength bonus.
When a status effect is successfully applied, Growing Power kicks in, granting its twenty-five percent ability strength boost. Ability strength is crucial in scaling a multitude of Warframe abilities, and for a deep dive into this consider researching sources that detail how these are applied. It can enhance healing output, increase damage mitigation, expand the range of crowd control abilities, and amplify the potency of buffs. The duration of the Growing Power buff is six seconds, requiring you to continually inflict status effects to maintain its effectiveness.
To illustrate the power of Growing Power, consider Oberon. His Renewal ability provides a continuous heal over time. With Growing Power active, the healing rate of Renewal is significantly amplified, providing more survivability to Oberon and his allies. This creates a more resilient and supportive team presence.
Warframe Synergies: Optimizing Growing Power’s Potential
While Growing Power can be used on many Warframes, some benefit far more from it than others. These Warframes are typically those whose kits rely heavily on ability strength to maximize their effectiveness, such as support and crowd control units.
Oberon again stands out as a prime example. Growing Power dramatically increases the healing output of Renewal, making him a more potent healer and buffer. Trinity also greatly benefits, as her Blessing ability relies on ability strength to provide damage reduction. A higher ability strength translates to a more significant damage reduction for the team, greatly enhancing survivability. Hildryn, with her Haven ability, can provide significant team-wide shields. Buffing her ability strength with Growing Power greatly increases this buff, and gives a larger pool of shields for team mates.
Another powerful choice is Wisp, whose Haste Motes and Healing Motes scale directly with ability strength. Growing Power allows Wisp to provide even more speed and healing to her team. Octavia is another incredible choice, Growing Power adding more damage to her Mallet for damage buffs.
Vauban can benefit from increased range and duration of his crowd control abilities such as Vortex and Bastille. Harrow can also provide critical buffs to the team, so with the additional ability strength, the buffs are more effective.
Crafting the Perfect Build: Modding for Growing Power
To effectively utilize Growing Power, it is important to consider your weapon loadout. Weapons with a high status chance are essential for reliably triggering the mod’s effect. Shotguns with a naturally high status chance are excellent choices, as are weapons with innate elemental properties that guarantee status procs. Furthermore, certain mods can significantly increase a weapon’s status chance. Focusing on status chance is ideal, or if you are looking to apply bleed damage, mods such as Hemorrhage or Hunter Munitions are a good choice.
When modding your Warframe, you’ll need to balance ability strength with other important stats such as range, duration, and efficiency. Finding the right equilibrium is key to maximizing your Warframe’s overall effectiveness. For example, you might prioritize duration on a crowd control Warframe to extend the duration of their abilities, while a support Warframe might focus on efficiency to reduce energy consumption.
An example build for Oberon might include mods like Intensify, Augur Secrets, and Transient Fortitude to boost ability strength, while also incorporating mods like Continuity and Streamline to manage duration and efficiency. The exact mod configuration will depend on your specific playstyle and preferences.
Considering Alternatives: When Growing Power Isn’t the Answer
While Growing Power is a powerful tool, it’s not always the optimal choice. Other aura mods can provide different benefits, and the best choice depends on your team composition and objective. For example, Brief Respite provides shields on ability cast, and Corrosive Projection removes armor. Energy Siphon regenerates energy.
If your Warframe doesn’t rely heavily on ability strength, or if you’re already maximizing ability strength through other means, another aura mod might provide more utility.
The Balancing Act: Advantages and Disadvantages
Growing Power offers several distinct advantages. The ability strength boost is significant, providing a noticeable improvement to Warframe abilities. Its availability through Nightwave makes it relatively accessible to most players. The mod is also incredibly versatile, as it can be used on a wide range of Warframes.
However, Growing Power also has its limitations. It requires a reliable method of inflicting status effects, which may necessitate specific weapon choices or mod configurations. It doesn’t stack with other copies of Growing Power, so coordinating with your team is essential. The Madurai polarity can sometimes complicate modding builds, forcing you to make sacrifices in other areas. Finally, it’s not particularly useful for Warframes that primarily focus on damage output, as their abilities typically don’t scale as significantly with ability strength.
Conclusion: Harnessing the Power Within
Growing Power is a formidable aura mod that can significantly enhance the capabilities of Warframes that benefit from increased ability strength. Primarily a powerhouse for support Warframes, this mod can transform mediocre builds into amazing ones with a simple status proc. For Warframe players seeking to maximize their support capabilities, Growing Power is an indispensable tool.
Remember that Growing Power is not a one-size-fits-all solution. You should always experiment with different mod combinations and strategies to find what works best for your playstyle and your Warframe of choice. Every player should dedicate the time to learning the intricacies of the mod, and use this information to create the best build possible. Share your Growing Power builds with the Warframe community, as collaboration and knowledge-sharing are key to unlocking the full potential of this powerful mod. Happy modding, Tenno!