Caliban — Nourished Tau
Endgame build. Nourish over Sentient Wrath. Viral summons, energy, Gyre still groups.
Codex Checked · Compared against current game data for this update. · Update 43.5 · 5 Sept 2026 · PC · Current
Energy hungry Strike spam, people who find Wrath too slow on Defense
Wrong drop or mechanic?
Don’t build this yet
First Brood first
This loadout sits at Endgame. It wants Forma, Helminth, or shards you may not have. Play the Starter until those systems are open — then this page is the upgrade, not the homework.
Open First BroodWhy this build?
Endgame for Energy hungry Strike spam, people who find Wrath too slow on Defense
Health: Not yet — Helminth, Steel Path, or Archon Hunts still closed. Play the Starter.
- Wrath is good CC and a damage amp. It is also slow on Defense timers.
- Nourish is the 'please don't lift the wave' subsume.
- You still need 3 and 1. Don't Helminth those.
Don’t use this for: Capture / short missions · Exterminate speedruns · players without Helminth
Specialised investment for hard content
You don’t need the shards to run the loop. They are a later ceiling, not a gate.
Bring: Ortholysts — Same Mortar plan. Nourish Viral on everything they shoot.
Alternative if…
- You don’t have Helminth yet → First Brood
- Star Chart only → First Brood
- New account or low investment → First Brood
- This is too much Forma / cost → Razor Mortar — Optimised
My test
Did this still work for you?
Your note, in this browser. Separate from Codex verification — the stamp on the card is editorial, this is yours.
Readiness
Inventory unknown
Not checked — add your collection. You have not failed a test.
- Required mods 0/9 · required — 0/9 named
- Forma 0/5 · required — 5 on the card. Codex does not track installed Forma.
- Helminth 0/1 · required — Subsume Nourish (Grendel)
- Arcanes · recommended — 0/2 recommended
- Shards · optional — Optional unless the card says a breakpoint
Investment: 5 Forma · Reactor · Helminth (Nourish (Grendel)) · 1 shard · 4 specialised mods. Typical farm ~4–6 hours. Trade if a route is vaulted.
Codex Checked · Compared against current game data for this update. · Update 43.5 · 5 Sept 2026 · PC · Current
Medium confidence. A solid recommendation with more situational dependencies. Confidence is not verification. Verification is separate: Codex Checked against Update 43.5.
Plan
Today → next → later
Inventory unknown — mark “I own this” on a few mods. Until then this is a plan, not a score of zero.
- TodayPlay First BroodThe Starter is the loadout you can actually take into a mission tonight.
- NextGet Growing PowerThe Silver Grove quest
- After that5 FormaOne slot at a time. Rank 30 after each polarize.
- LaterCrimson · StrengthHelminth and shards are the last rungs. They are not the Starter.
- FinalNourished TauEndgame · Endgame · 5 Forma
Farm the gap
- Razor Mortar — Razor Mortar
Helminth & shards
What to put on the body
Nourish (Grendel) over Sentient Wrath (2)
Wrath's lift can stall Defense. Nourish gives Viral and energy. You lose the vulnerability amp.
Helminth is locked. Tick it on Progress before you subsume.
- 2 Crimson · Strength — Strip + NourishArchon locked
Tonight
What is actually up
30 minutes, one hour, or two — matched to this loadout, not a dump of the Origin System.
30 minutes
Farm Growing Power
One named gap. The Silver Grove quest
60 minutes
Growing Power, then Forma
Finish the missing named card, then spend a Forma if a polarity is still fighting you.
120 minutes
Subsume Nourish (Grendel)
If you are logging off after this, stop at the named component. Do not start a second Forma session tired.
- Farm Growing Power
The Silver Grove quest
Who this is for
Play this build from zero
Defense. Wrath is getting your squad yelled at.
- Time to a playable copy
- After Nourish over Wrath.
- First mission to practice in
- A Defense. Waves should not float.
2 button drills · 13 parts · tick the lists as you go
Before you start
0 of 3 done
Put it on the Warframe
0 of 4 done
Keep this up
Nourish loop
Pocket card. Stick this on a second screen; the long version is the mission below.
- 1Nourish (2).
- 2Ortholysts (3).
- 3Gyre (1) + Mortar.
- 4Strike (4) as the strip.
First mission — press these buttons
- 1
Nourish
22. Viral and energy.
- 2
Same Mortar loop without the lift
Gyre, Strike, brood.
Common mistakes
Helminthing 3 'because Nourish is enough'
Then you are not a summoner.
When this feels easy
- 1Don't drop MortarNourish replaced Wrath, not the augment.
Parts checklist
0 of 13 owned. Tap How on anything you still need.
Dependencies
17 dependencies
Frame → mods → unlocks. Tick Collection and Progress. This is a decision graph, not a wiki tree.
- 1●calibanframe
- 2○Growing Powermod
- 3○Cunning Driftmod
- 4○Razor Mortaraugment
- 5○Blind Ragemod
- 6○Umbral Intensifymod
- 7○Overextendedmod
- 8○Primed Continuitymod
- 9○Primed Flowmod
- 10○Equilibriummod
- 11○Arcane Camisadoarcane
- 12○Arcane Energizearcane
- 13○Crimson · Strengthshard
- 14○Nourishhelminth
- 15○Helminth · Nourish (Grendel)unlock
- 16○Steel Pathunlock
- 17○Archon Hunts (shards optional)unlock
Depends on
What this loadout needs
Required is a gate. Recommended is a ceiling. Optional is a later farm — don’t stall the card for it.
Required
Growing Powermissing · The Silver Grove quest
Cunning Driftmissing · Lua Halls of Ascension
- Razor Mortar
missing · Caliban's syndicate / The Hex · 25,000
Blind Ragemissing · Run Orokin Vaults
Umbral Intensifymissing · Finish The Sacrifice
Overextendedmissing · Orokin Vaults
Primed Continuitymissing · Wait for Baro Ki'Teer
Primed Flowmissing · Baro Ki'Teer
- Equilibrium
missing · The New Strange / drops
- Nourish
missing · Helminth
Wrath's lift can stall Defense. Nourish gives Viral and energy. You lose the vulnerability amp.
Recommended
Optional
Helminth
Subsume Nourish (Grendel) over Sentient Wrath (2)
Wrath's lift can stall Defense. Nourish gives Viral and energy. You lose the vulnerability amp.
Strength
~200%
Duration
155% Nourish + Progeny
Range
175%
Keep Razor Mortar. Keep 200% for strip.
From the mods
Live power
Additive from max-rank Codex mods. Efficiency clamped 15–175%. Umbral set is +11% Strength per extra piece.
- Strength
- 183%
- Duration
- 155%
- Range
- 205%
- Efficiency
- 45%
- Energy
- +275%
- Capacity
- 53 / 67
1 Umbral piece
Weapon HUD
Arsenal numbers
Base × damage mods × crit expectation × fire rate × multishot. No faction, no quantization. Galvanized kill stacks are a slider, not assumed.
- Damage
- 35
- Crit
- 12% × 2.00
- Status
- 26%
- Fire rate
- 9.58
- Multishot
- 1.00
- Avg hit
- 39
- Arsenal DPS
- 376
Toggle common mods
Caliban mods
- AuraGrowing PowerSilver Grove
- ExilusCunning DriftLua
- 1Razor MortarCaliban augment
- 2Blind RageVaults
- 3Umbral IntensifyThe Sacrifice
- 4OverextendedVaults
- 5Primed ContinuityBaro
- 6Primed FlowBaro
- 7EquilibriumThe New Strange
| Slot | Mod | Source | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aura | Growing Power | Silver Grove | |
| Exilus | Cunning Drift | Lua | |
| 1 | Razor Mortar | Caliban augment | |
| 2 | Blind Rage | Vaults | |
| 3 | Umbral Intensify | The Sacrifice | |
| 4 | Overextended | Vaults | |
| 5 | Primed Continuity | Baro | |
| 6 | Primed Flow | Baro | |
| 7 | Equilibrium | The New Strange |
Ortholysts
Same Mortar plan. Nourish Viral on everything they shoot.
Arcanes
Arcane Camisado
Summon damage
1999
Arcane Energize
With Nourish, silly
Eidolon
Archon shards
- 1
Crimson · StrengthStrip + Nourish2 · Netracells
| # | Shard | Qty | Source | How |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crimson · Strength Strip + Nourish | 2 | Netracells |