Grendel — First Course
Starter build. Feast a pack. Nourish. You are now Viral, healing, and printing energy. Do not vomit yet. Do not subsume Nourish. Ever.
Codex Checked · Compared against current game data for this update. · Update 43.5 · 5 Sept 2026 · PC · Current
Star Chart, first Grendel, learning guts
Wrong drop or mechanic?
Why this build?
Starter for Star Chart, first Grendel, learning guts
Health: Inventory unknown — Mark what you own. Until then this is a recommendation, not a test you failed.
- Nourish is the best Helminth in the game, which is why you keep it on Grendel. Feeding it to Helminth is how you make a worse Rhino.
- Feast is the engine. Empty guts mean Nourish is a weaker buff and the armor passive is asleep.
- You are a health tank. Shields are a joke. Vitality is not optional.
Don’t use this for: Steel Path endurance · level-cap content · solo level-cap · players without Helminth
0 Forma, basic mods, no Helminth or shards required
You don’t need the shards to run the loop. They are a later ceiling, not a gate.
Bring: Any gun — Nourish puts Viral on it. A decent primary is enough. The ball is later.
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 0/2 · required — 2 on the card. Codex does not track installed Forma.
- Helminth · optional — Not required
- Arcanes · recommended — 0/1 recommended
- Shards · optional — Optional unless the card says a breakpoint
Investment: 2 Forma · Reactor · 1 shard. Typical farm ~1–2 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
High confidence. How strongly the Codex recommends this for its stated purpose — not a test log. Verification is separate: Codex Checked against Update 43.5.
Your next step
Open First Course — Star Chart
The next rung on this frame is unlocked. Mark I run this, then step up.
First Course — Star ChartPlan
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 Steel ChargeInvasion / Nightwave
- After that0–2 FormaOne slot at a time. Rank 30 after each polarize.
- LaterAmber · Casting SpeedHelminth and shards are the last rungs. They are not the Starter.
- FinalFirst CourseStarter · Starter · 0–2 Forma
Upgrade from here
First Course — Star Chart
Feast a pack. Nourish. You are now Viral, healing, and printing energy. Do not vomit yet. Do not subsume Nourish. Ever. Primed Continuity and Primed Flow are the first real upgrade — not Blind Rage.
Open First Course — Star ChartHelminth & shards
What to put on the body
- 1 Amber · Casting Speed — Feast then Nourish should be one motion.Archon 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 Steel Charge
One named gap. Invasion / Nightwave
60 minutes
Steel Charge, 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 Steel Charge
Invasion / Nightwave
Who this is for
Play this build from zero
You survived the locator missions (or bought him) and the gut meter is new.
- Time to a playable copy
- Same day. Intensify, Stretch, Continuity, Vitality.
- First mission to practice in
- A low Infested Exterminate. You want clumps to swallow, not a sniper hallway.
3 button drills · 11 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
Snack loop
Pocket card. Stick this on a second screen; the long version is the mission below.
- 1Walk into a pack. Feast (1). They vanish into the gut. You got armor.
- 2Nourish (2). Health regen, Viral on your attacks, energy orbs and energy sources hit harder. The squad gets it too.
- 3Shoot. Viral is on the gun. Energy is not a problem.
- 4Pulverize (3) and Regurgitate (4) wait until you mean them. Starter lives on 1 and 2.
First mission — press these buttons
- 1
Walk into a pack and press 1
1They disappear. The gut ticks. You got armor.
You will know it worked when: Bodies vanishing. An armor buff.
- 2
Press 2
2Nourish. You heal. Guns pick up Viral. Energy orbs hit harder.
- 3
Shoot. Recast 2 before it dies
That is the whole starter. Ball comes later.
Common mistakes
Feasting a Nullifier from the front
The bubble still exists. Shoot it, then eat.
When this feels easy
- 1Do not subsume 2Not now, not at endgame. Next configs all keep it.
- 2Gourmand or CatapultPick a lane.
Parts checklist
0 of 11 owned. Tap How on anything you still need.
Dependencies
13 dependencies
Frame → mods → unlocks. Tick Collection and Progress. This is a decision graph, not a wiki tree.
- 1●grendelframe
- 2○Steel Chargemod
- 3○Power Driftmod
- 4○Intensifymod
- 5○Continuitymod
- 6○Stretchmod
- 7○Streamlinemod
- 8○Flowmod
- 9○Vitalitymod
- 10○Steel Fibermod
- 11○Arcane Energizearcane
- 12○Amber · Casting Speedshard
- 13○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
- Steel Charge
missing · Invasion / Nightwave
Power Driftmissing · Unlock Lua
Intensifymissing · Fight Lieutenant Lech Kril
Continuitymissing · Run low-level Defense or Survival
Stretchmissing · Enemy drops
Streamlinemissing · Enemy drops and early missions
Flowmissing · Enemy drops
Recommended
Optional
Watch it played
YouTube for this loadout
Meatball is no longer a memeball! | Grendel Guide
Feast, Nourish, Pulverize after the rework. Keep Nourish.
Strength
~145%
Duration
155% Nourish uptime
Range
145% Feast radius
Range is how many bodies you vacuum. Duration is Nourish. Strength is Nourish Viral and energy multiplier. Passive armor per gut victim.
From the mods
Live power
Additive from max-rank Codex mods. Efficiency clamped 15–175%. Umbral set is +11% Strength per extra piece.
- Strength
- 145%
- Duration
- 130%
- Range
- 145%
- Efficiency
- 130%
- Energy
- +150%
- Capacity
- 43 / 69
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
- AuraSteel ChargeInvasion / Nightwave
- ExilusPower DriftOrokin Vaults / Lua
- 1IntensifyMercury / Venus
- 2ContinuityEnemy drops
- 3StretchEnemy drops
- 4StreamlineEnemy drops
- 5FlowEnemy drops
- 6VitalityHe has a huge health bar. Feed it.Earth / drops
- 7Steel FiberPassive adds more armor per snack. Start with a base.Enemy drops
| Slot | Mod | Source | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aura | Steel Charge | Invasion / Nightwave | |
| Exilus | Power Drift | Orokin Vaults / Lua | |
| 1 | Intensify | Mercury / Venus | |
| 2 | Continuity | Enemy drops | |
| 3 | Stretch | Enemy drops | |
| 4 | Streamline | Enemy drops | |
| 5 | Flow | Enemy drops | |
| 6 | Vitality He has a huge health bar. Feed it. | Earth / drops | |
| 7 | Steel Fiber Passive adds more armor per snack. Start with a base. | Enemy drops |
Any gun
Nourish puts Viral on it. A decent primary is enough. The ball is later.
Arcanes
Arcane Energize
You will not need this once Nourish is up. Skip.
Eidolon hunts / trade
Archon shards
- 1
Amber · Casting SpeedFeast then Nourish should be one motion.1 · Archon Hunt
| # | Shard | Qty | Source | How |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amber · Casting Speed Feast then Nourish should be one motion. | 1 | Archon Hunt |