Nekros
Nekros builds
Dead Company
Steel Path4 FormaAdvancedMedium confidenceSurvivalShards optional

Nekros — Dead Company

Steel Path build. Shield of Shadows. Your summons eat a portion of the damage you take. Health Conversion plus a corpse history.

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

Long Survival, people who want Nekros to not fold, summon enjoyers

Wrong drop or mechanic?

Why this build?

Steel Path for Long Survival, people who want Nekros to not fold, summon enjoyers

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

Play this in Survival
  • Shield of Shadows is why 4 is a tank button, not a DPS button.
  • Summon AI is still summon AI. They peel and wander. Recast.
  • Soul Survivor (Soul Punch revive augment) is a different support niche. This config is your own health bar.

Don’t use this for: solo level-cap

Stronger mods, Arcanes, real synergy

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

Bring: Whatever produced the corpses — Shadows copies recently killed enemies. Kill heavies before you press 4 if you want heavy Shadows. Killing a room of Butchers gets you Butcher friends.

Alternative if…

Instead: First CorpseInstead: First Corpse — Star ChartInstead: Health for Loot — Steel PathInstead: Health for Loot — 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 · 2 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: Health for Loot — Optimised

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

Health for Loot — Optimised

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. NextGet PhysiqueNightwave / Invasion
  2. After that4 FormaOne slot at a time. Rank 30 after each polarize.
  3. LaterAzure · Health / armorHelminth and shards are the last rungs. They are not the Starter.
  4. FinalDead CompanySteel Path · Advanced · 4 Forma

Upgrade from here

Health for Loot — Optimised

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

Open Health for Loot — Optimised

Farm the gap

  • Nekros augments — Despoil · Creeping Terrify · Shield of Shadows · Soul Survivor

Helminth & shards

What to put on the body

  • 2 Azure · Health / armor — The leftover damage after Shadows eat their share.Archon locked
  • 2 Crimson · Strength — More DR per Shadow and punchier summons.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 Physique

    One named gap. Nightwave / Invasion

  2. 60 minutes

    Physique, 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 Shield of Shadows because you keep dying on the pile.

Time to a playable copy
After Shield of Shadows and Health Conversion.
First mission to practice in
A long Survival. You want heavies in the kill feed before 4.

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

Army loop

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

  1. 1Kill a few heavies. Shadows of the Dead (4). An army of those heavies stands up.
  2. 2Despoil (3) as usual. Orbs feed Health Conversion. You get armor while the army tanks.
  3. 3Recast 4 when the Shadows thin. They are a duration army, not a one-cast pet.
  4. 4Terrify (2) if the living enemies ignore the army and shoot you anyway.

First mission — press these buttons

  1. 1

    Kill something worth copying

    4

    An Eximus, a heavy gunner. Then 4.

    You will know it worked when: Shadow copies of those heavies, not of a Butcher.

  2. 2

    Stay in the redirected DR

    Living Shadows eat hits for you. If they died, you are naked. Recast.

Common mistakes

  • One 4 per mission

    They expire. Recast like a buff.

When this feels easy

  1. 1Azure health shardsLeak-through still exists.

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●nekrosframe
  2. 2○Physiquemod
  3. 3○Power Driftmod
  4. 4○Shield of Shadowsaugment
  5. 5○Despoilaugment
  6. 6○Health Conversionmod
  7. 7○Blind Ragemod
  8. 8○Primed Continuitymod
  9. 9○Equilibriummod
  10. 10○Vitalitymod
  11. 11○Arcane Blessingarcane
  12. 12○Molt Reconstructarcane
  13. 13○Azure · Health / armorshard
  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 Blessing

    missing · Orphix / trade

    Health pool for Despoil and for the redirected hits that still leak through.

  • Molt Reconstruct

    missing · Zariman bounties

    Ability damage heals. Shadows swinging is ability-adjacent comfort.

Optional

Strength

~180% Shadow damage and Shield of Shadows DR

Duration

180%+ so the army lingers

Range

145% Desecrate still on

Shield of Shadows: each living Shadow eats a percentage of incoming damage. Recast 4 before they poof.

From the mods

Live power

Additive from max-rank Codex mods. Efficiency clamped 15–175%. Umbral set is +11% Strength per extra piece.

Strength
214%
Duration
155%
Range
100%
Efficiency
45%
Energy
base
Capacity
51 / 67

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

Nekros mods

  • AuraPhysiqueNightwave / invasion
  • ExilusPower DriftVaults / Lua
  • 1Shield of ShadowsDamage redirection to the army. The tank augment.Red Veil / Perrin Sequence · 25k
  • 2DespoilRed Veil / Perrin Sequence · 25k
  • 3Health ConversionThe Index / trade
  • 4Blind RageOrokin Vaults
  • 5Primed ContinuityBaro Ki'Teer
  • 6EquilibriumThe New Strange
  • 7VitalityDrops

Whatever produced the corpses

Shadows copies recently killed enemies. Kill heavies before you press 4 if you want heavy Shadows. Killing a room of Butchers gets you Butcher friends.

Arcanes

Arcane Blessing

Health pool for Despoil and for the redirected hits that still leak through.

Orphix

Molt Reconstruct

Ability damage heals. Shadows swinging is ability-adjacent comfort.

Zariman

Archon shards

  • 1Azure · Health / armorThe leftover damage after Shadows eat their share.2 · Netracells
  • 2Crimson · StrengthMore DR per Shadow and punchier summons.2 · EDA
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