Dante — Noctua DPS
Steel Path build. The tome becomes a red-crit monster. This is the peak you can run the day Steel Path unlocks — galvanized / arcanes, no Helminth.
Codex Checked · Compared against current game data for this update. · Update 43.5 · 5 Sept 2026 · PC · Current
Steel Path Star Chart, Circuit, first Archon. Helminth is the next card.
Wrong drop or mechanic?
Why this build?
Steel Path for Steel Path Star Chart, Circuit, first Archon. Helminth is the next card.
Health: Not yet — Helminth, Steel Path, or Archon Hunts still closed. Play the Starter.
- Noctua can equip every Tome mod at once — unique among tomes.
- Heat on the tome plus Topaz shards is the crit engine.
- Wordwarden copies inherit the same monster loadout.
Don’t use this for: Star Chart only · loadouts that need Helminth
Stronger mods, Arcanes, real synergy
You don’t need the shards to run the loop. They are a later ceiling, not a gate.
Alternative if…
- Star Chart only → The Starter
- This is too much Forma / cost → The Starter — Star Chart
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 0/17 · required — 0/17 named
- Forma 0/4 · required — 4 on the card. Codex does not track installed Forma.
- Helminth · optional — Not required
- Arcanes · recommended — 0/2 recommended
- Shards · optional — Optional unless the card says a breakpoint
Investment: 4 Forma · Reactor · 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.
Your next step
Next: Noctua DPS — Optimised
Unlock Helminth, Steel Path, or Archon Hunts before this upgrade is honest.
Noctua DPS — OptimisedPlan
Today → next → later
Inventory unknown — mark “I own this” on a few mods. Until then this is a plan, not a score of zero.
- NextGet Growing PowerThe Silver Grove quest
- After that3–4 FormaOne slot at a time. Rank 30 after each polarize.
- LaterTopaz · Secondary Crit ChanceHelminth and shards are the last rungs. They are not the Starter.
- FinalNoctua DPS — Steel PathSteel Path · Advanced · 3–4 Forma
Upgrade from here
Noctua DPS — Optimised
Locked behind Helminth, Steel Path, or Archon Hunts. Tick those on Progress first.
Open Noctua DPS — OptimisedFarm the gap
- Orokin Vault mods — Blind Rage · Transient Fortitude
- Cetus bounty mods — Augur Secrets · Augur Message · Hornet Strike
- Precision Intensify — The Fragmented — Effervo, Deimos
- Galvanized mods — Diffusion · Shot
- Archon mods — Archon Vitality · Archon Stretch
Helminth & shards
What to put on the body
- 1 Topaz · Secondary Crit Chance — On Heat-affected kills — this is the red-crit pushArchon 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
One Archon Hunt
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
You like the book. You want the book to be the reason things die, not verses. This is a weapon build that happens to be attached to a support frame.
- Time to a playable copy
- After Arbitrations (galvanized mods) and a few Topaz shards. The frame mods can copy Overguard God.
- First mission to practice in
- A Steel Path Exterminate or Alchemy where you can hold fire down a hallway.
4 button drills · 20 parts · tick the lists as you go
Before you start
0 of 3 done
Put it on the Warframe
0 of 3 done
Keep this up
Playstyle
Pocket card. Stick this on a second screen; the long version is the mission below.
- 1Cast Triumph (2 → 2 → 4) for survivability.
- 2Cast Wordwarden (2 → 3 → 4) — companion tomes copy your mods.
- 3Open Noctua (1) and fire. Encumber spreads statuses.
- 4Impetus stacks Strength and Efficiency as types land.
First mission — press these buttons
- 1
Buff, then draw
224, then 234, then 1Triumph so you do not die. Wordwarden so every ally’s gun also fires a copy of your monster tome. Then press 1 and hold the trigger. You are now a support turret.
You will know it worked when: Companion books hovering on allies. Encumber throwing status types you did not slot.
- 2
Let Impetus cook
As unique statuses land, Impetus stacks Strength and Efficiency on Dante. Do not holster the book every five seconds — the soup wants time on target.
You will know it worked when: Your Strength number climbing in the pause buff list. Casts getting cheaper.
- 3
Alt-fire is a nuke, not a panic button
The meter fills over time and on hits. Dump it into a packed doorway. Then go back to primary fire to refill.
You will know it worked when: A wide Radiation/Impact blast. Heads popping if Precision is on.
- 4
Scan everything
Kills with Noctua fill Codex scans. Fully scanned factions take +50% status chance from you and from Wordwarden copies. First time in a tileset, you are also doing homework.
You will know it worked when: The scanner tick on kill. Later, fatter status procs on that faction.
Common mistakes
Putting Encumber on Dante
It will not equip. Weapon arcanes go on Noctua.
Skipping Wordwarden
The copies inherit your mods. You are leaving three extra tomes in the cupboard.
No Heat, but Topaz shards socketed
The condition is Heat-affected kills. Put Heat on the book.
When this feels easy
- 1Two or more Topaz shards, Secondary Crit ChanceElite Temporal Archimedea. This is the red-crit push. Without them the build is still good; with them it is the reason you opened this page.
- 2Amalgam Barrel Diffusion is a luxuryDodge speed even while the book is holstered. Skip until the eight real slots are finished.
Parts checklist
0 of 20 owned. Tap How on anything you still need.
Dependencies
23 dependencies
Frame → mods → unlocks. Tick Collection and Progress. This is a decision graph, not a wiki tree.
- 1●danteframe
- 2○Growing Powermod
- 3○Power Driftmod
- 4○Blind Ragemod
- 5○Transient Fortitudemod
- 6○Augur Secretsmod
- 7○Precision Intensifymod
- 8○Primed Continuitymod
- 9○Stretchmod
- 10○Primed Flowmod
- 11○Galvanized Diffusionmod
- 12○Galvanized Shotmod
- 13○Hornet Strikemod
- 14○Lethal Torrentmod
- 15○Primed Heated Chargemod
- 16○Frostbitemod
- 17○Joltmod
- 18○Pistol Pestilencemod
- 19○Secondary Encumberarcane
- 20○Arcane Impetusarcane
- 21○Topaz · Secondary Crit Chanceshard
- 22○Steel Pathunlock
- 23○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
Power Driftmissing · Unlock Lua
Blind Ragemissing · Run Orokin Vaults
Transient Fortitudemissing · Same vaults as Blind Rage
Augur Secretsmissing · Go to Cetus
Precision Intensifymissing · Buy it
Primed Continuitymissing · Wait for Baro Ki'Teer
Primed Flowmissing · Baro Ki'Teer
Recommended
Secondary Encumbermissing · Buy it
Rapidly procs extra status types — feeds Impetus Rank 0 is legal. Rank 3 is the Steel Path version.
Arcane Impetusmissing · Buy it
+6% Strength and +3% Efficiency per status type, up to +78% / +39% Rank 0 is legal. Rank 3 is the Steel Path version.
Optional
Topaz · Secondary Crit Chancemissing · Elite Temporal Archimedea
On Heat-affected kills — this is the red-crit push
Strength
High — feeds Arcane Impetus
Duration
Primed Continuity
Range
Archon Stretch for energy on Electricity
Secondary Encumber + Arcane Impetus is the engine. Topaz shards push red crits.
From the mods
Live power
Additive from max-rank Codex mods. Efficiency clamped 15–175%. Umbral set is +11% Strength per extra piece.
- Strength
- 383%
- Duration
- 128%
- Range
- 145%
- Efficiency
- 45%
- Energy
- +275%
- Capacity
- 50 / 67
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
- 112
- Crit
- 12% × 2.00
- Status
- 94%
- Fire rate
- 15.33
- Multishot
- 3.00
- Avg hit
- 125
- Arsenal DPS
- 5768
Toggle common mods
Dante mods
- AuraGrowing PowerSilver Grove
- ExilusPower DriftLua Halls of Ascension
- 1Blind RageOrokin Vaults
- 2Transient FortitudeOrokin Vaults
- 3Augur SecretsCetus bounties
- 4Precision IntensifyFragmented / trade
- 5Primed ContinuityBaro Ki'Teer
- 6StretchEnergy regen from Electricity (Pageflight)Kahl / Archon Hunts
- 7Primed FlowBaro Ki'Teer
| Slot | Mod | Source | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aura | Growing Power | Silver Grove | |
| Exilus | Power Drift | Lua Halls of Ascension | |
| 1 | Blind Rage | Orokin Vaults | |
| 2 | Transient Fortitude | Orokin Vaults | |
| 3 | Augur Secrets | Cetus bounties | |
| 4 | Precision Intensify | Fragmented / trade | |
| 5 | Primed Continuity | Baro Ki'Teer | |
| 6 | Stretch Energy regen from Electricity (Pageflight) | Kahl / Archon Hunts | |
| 7 | Primed Flow | Baro Ki'Teer |
Weapon mods
- 1Galvanized DiffusionMultishotArbitration
- 2Galvanized ShotStatus damage scalingArbitration
- 3Hornet StrikeBase damageCetus / Spy
- 4Lethal TorrentFire rate + multishotNightmare
- 5Primed Heated ChargeHeatBaro
- 6FrostbiteCold + status chanceSpy Rot C
- 7JoltElectricity + status chanceBaro / trade
- 8Pistol PestilenceToxin + status chanceVor
| Slot | Mod | Source | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Galvanized Diffusion Multishot | Arbitration | |
| 2 | Galvanized Shot Status damage scaling | Arbitration | |
| 3 | Hornet Strike Base damage | Cetus / Spy | |
| 4 | Lethal Torrent Fire rate + multishot | Nightmare | |
| 5 | Primed Heated Charge Heat | Baro | |
| 6 | Frostbite Cold + status chance | Spy Rot C | |
| 7 | Jolt Electricity + status chance | Baro / trade | |
| 8 | Pistol Pestilence Toxin + status chance | Vor |
Arcanes
Secondary Encumber
Rapidly procs extra status types — feeds Impetus Rank 0 is legal. Rank 3 is the Steel Path version.
Market / events
Arcane Impetus
+6% Strength and +3% Efficiency per status type, up to +78% / +39% Rank 0 is legal. Rank 3 is the Steel Path version.
Market / events
Archon shards
- 1Topaz · Secondary Crit ChanceOn Heat-affected kills — this is the red-crit push1 · Elite Temporal Archimedea
| # | Shard | Qty | Source | How |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Topaz · Secondary Crit Chance On Heat-affected kills — this is the red-crit push | 1 | Elite Temporal Archimedea |