Grendel
Grendel builds
Open Bar
Optimised4 FormaEndgameMedium confidenceSteel PathShards optional

Grendel — Open Bar

Optimised build. Gourmand Feast costs armor instead of energy. Vacuum the tile, Nourish, digest. Armor from guts pays Gourmand back.

Codex Checked · Compared against current game data for this update. · Update 43.5 · 5 Sept 2026 · PC · Current

Dense tiles, Sanctuary Onslaught, people who want 1 to be the gun

Wrong drop or mechanic?

Don’t build this yet

First Course first

This loadout sits at Optimised. 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 Course

Why this build?

Optimised for Dense tiles, Sanctuary Onslaught, people who want 1 to be the gun

Health: Not yet — Helminth, Steel Path, or Archon Hunts still closed. Play the Starter.

Play this in Steel Path
  • Gourmand plus the armor passive is infinite 1. Range is the nuke radius.
  • Nourish stays. Viral and the energy multiplier still feed the rest of the kit and the squad.
  • This is louder than the ball in a packed tile and worse in a sniper hallway.

Don’t use this for: players without Helminth

Helminth, shards, and a finished configuration

You don’t need the shards to run the loop. They are a later ceiling, not a gate.

Bring: AoE primer optional — Feast wants clumps. A grouping helminth is greed — keep Nourish, group with the vacuum.

Alternative if…

Instead: First CourseInstead: First Course — Star ChartInstead: Meatball — Steel PathInstead: Meatball — 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 0/4 · 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 · 2 shards · 3 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: Meatball — Endgame

Unlock Helminth, Steel Path, or Archon Hunts before this upgrade is honest.

Meatball — Endgame

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.

  1. TodayPlay First CourseThe Starter is the loadout you can actually take into a mission tonight.
  2. NextGet Corrosive ProjectionOpen Nightwave
  3. After that4 FormaOne slot at a time. Rank 30 after each polarize.
  4. LaterAmber · Casting SpeedHelminth and shards are the last rungs. They are not the Starter.
  5. FinalOpen BarOptimised · Endgame · 4 Forma

Upgrade from here

Meatball — Endgame

Locked behind Helminth, Steel Path, or Archon Hunts. Tick those on Progress first.

Open Meatball — Endgame

Farm the gap

Helminth & shards

What to put on the body

  • 2 Amber · Casting Speed — Feast is a fire rate.Archon locked
  • 2 Crimson · Strength — Digest and Nourish.Archon locked

Tonight

What is actually up

30 minutes, one hour, or two — matched to this loadout, not a dump of the Origin System.

  1. 30 minutes

    Farm Corrosive Projection

    One named gap. Open Nightwave

  2. 60 minutes

    Corrosive Projection, then Forma

    Finish the missing named card, then spend a Forma if a polarity is still fighting you.

  3. 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.

Who this is for

Play this build from zero

You bought Gourmand and the tile is a buffet.

Time to a playable copy
After Gourmand and a Range stack.
First mission to practice in
Sanctuary Onslaught or a packed SP Survival.

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

Vacuum loop

Pocket card. Stick this on a second screen; the long version is the mission below.

  1. 1Nourish (2) first so the energy multiplier is on.
  2. 2Feast (1) every pack. Gourmand pays armor. Guts pay armor back. Repeat.
  3. 3If the gut is full, hold 1 to vomit bile-soaked leftovers, then vacuum again — or just digest.
  4. 4Pulverize is optional. You are a walking mouth.

First mission — press these buttons

  1. 1

    Nourish, then vacuum

    1

    1 is free-ish because it spends armor the swallows refund.

  2. 2

    Don't stand in a sniper lane

    Feast is a radius. Walk into people.

Common mistakes

  • Gourmand at 0 armor

    You cannot pay. Swallow a few on energy first, then Gourmand sings.

When this feels easy

  1. 1Casting speedFeast is fire rate.

Parts checklist

0 of 13 owned. Tap How on anything you still need.

Dependencies

16 dependencies

Frame → mods → unlocks. Tick Collection and Progress. This is a decision graph, not a wiki tree.

  1. 1●grendelframe
  2. 2○Corrosive Projectionmod
  3. 3○Cunning Driftmod
  4. 4○Gourmandaugment
  5. 5○Blind Ragemod
  6. 6○Overextendedmod
  7. 7○Stretchmod
  8. 8○Umbral Intensifymod
  9. 9○Primed Continuitymod
  10. 10○Equilibriummod
  11. 11○Arcane Batteryarcane
  12. 12○Molt Augmentedarcane
  13. 13○Amber · Casting Speedshard
  14. 14○Crimson · Strengthshard
  15. 15○Steel Pathunlock
  16. 16○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

Recommended

  • Arcane Battery

    missing · Duviri / trade

    Energy max from armor. You are an armor pile.

  • Molt Augmented

    missing · Unlock the Zariman

    Strength.

Optional

Watch it played

YouTube for this loadout

All videos
The kitTheKengineer · Oct 2023

Meatball is no longer a memeball! | Grendel Guide

Feast, Nourish, Pulverize after the rework. Keep Nourish.

Play in WatchYouTube

Strength

~250% digest / Nourish

Duration

130–155%

Range

200%+ Feast radius

Gourmand spends armor, not energy. Passive armor per victim is how you afford it. Range is the vacuum.

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
250%
Efficiency
45%
Energy
base
Capacity
51 / 67

1 Umbral piece

Open slots

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

Grendel mods

  • AuraCorrosive ProjectionNightwave
  • ExilusCunning DriftLua Halls
  • 1GourmandFeast costs armor instead of energy. The passive puts armor back.Steel Meridian / New Loka · 25k
  • 2Blind RageOrokin Vaults
  • 3OverextendedOrokin Vaults
  • 4StretchEnemy drops
  • 5Umbral IntensifyThe Sacrifice
  • 6Primed ContinuityBaro Ki'Teer
  • 7EquilibriumThe New Strange

AoE primer optional

Feast wants clumps. A grouping helminth is greed — keep Nourish, group with the vacuum.

Arcanes

Arcane Battery

Energy max from armor. You are an armor pile.

Duviri / trade

Molt Augmented

Strength.

Zariman

Archon shards

  • 1Amber · Casting SpeedFeast is a fire rate.2 · EDA
  • 2Crimson · StrengthDigest and Nourish.2 · Netracells
FarmAll builds
Lotus emblemWARFRAMEWarframeGodBuilds

Not affiliated with Digital Extremes Ltd.

No login required to use the Codex. Collection, bookmarks and tests stay in this browser. Connecting a public Warframe profile is optional and never takes a Warframe password.

Press ? for shortcuts. · Sitemap · Security · Privacy · Connector · XML · robots.txt