Protea — First Gadgets
Starter build. Hold Grenade Fan for Shield Satellites. Drop Blaze Artillery. Drop Dispensary. You are a turret engineer.
Codex Checked · Compared against current game data for this update. · Update 43.5 · 5 Sept 2026 · PC · Current
Star Chart, first Protea, learning tap vs hold on 1
Wrong drop or mechanic?
Why this build?
Starter for Star Chart, first Protea, learning tap vs hold on 1
Health: Inventory unknown — Mark what you own. Until then this is a recommendation, not a test you failed.
- Hold 1 is why Protea lives. Tap 1 is a slash toy. Learn the hold.
- Artillery is the DPS. It faces where you look. Aim the door, not the ceiling.
- Dispensary is the best deployable battery in the game. Keep it on her.
Don’t use this for: Steel Path endurance · level-cap content · solo level-cap
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 — Artillery is the damage. Your rifle chips. Dispensary feeds ammo so you never think about it.
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 Gadgets — Star Chart
The next rung on this frame is unlocked. Mark I run this, then step up.
First Gadgets — 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 Brief RespiteThe Index / 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 GadgetsStarter · Starter · 0–2 Forma
Upgrade from here
First Gadgets — Star Chart
Hold Grenade Fan for Shield Satellites. Drop Blaze Artillery. Drop Dispensary. You are a turret engineer. Primed Continuity and Primed Flow are the first real upgrade — not Blind Rage.
Open First Gadgets — Star ChartHelminth & shards
What to put on the body
- 1 Amber · Casting Speed — Turrets and drones on tempo.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 Brief Respite
One named gap. The Index / Nightwave
60 minutes
Brief Respite, 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 Brief Respite
The Index / Nightwave
Who this is for
Play this build from zero
You just left Granum Void and keep tapping 1 by accident.
- Time to a playable copy
- Same day. Intensify, Continuity, Redirection. Practice the hold in Simulacrum.
- First mission to practice in
- A Corpus Exterminate. Hold 1, drop a turret at a door, drop a pad.
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
Gadget loop
Pocket card. Stick this on a second screen; the long version is the mission below.
- 1HOLD Grenade Fan (1). Shield Satellites orbit you and allies. When shields break, a Satellite extends the gate.
- 2Blaze Artillery (2) facing the door. It ramps damage each hit. Recast when it dies — Duration is short on purpose.
- 3Dispensary (3) around a corner. Health orb, energy orb, ammo. Walk over them.
- 4Temporal Anchor (4) is a rewind. Starter can ignore it except as a panic undo.
First mission — press these buttons
- 1
Hold 1 until drones pop out
1They orbit you. Shields overcharge.
You will know it worked when: Little satellites, not a slash swirl.
- 2
Look at a doorway, press 2
2A turret deploys facing that way. It ticks faster and harder as it hits.
- 3
Dispensary around a corner
33. Walk over the orbs. Ammo, energy, health.
Common mistakes
Tapping 1 in a panic
You threw shrapnel. Hold next time. The swirl is not the gate.
When this feels easy
- 1Watch the 4th-cast glowPassive. Try to land Artillery on the boosted cast.
- 2Temporal ArtilleryNext config. The backpack turret.
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●proteaframe
- 2○Brief Respitemod
- 3○Power Driftmod
- 4○Intensifymod
- 5○Continuitymod
- 6○Stretchmod
- 7○Streamlinemod
- 8○Flowmod
- 9○Redirectionmod
- 10○Vitalitymod
- 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
- Brief Respite
missing · The Index / Nightwave
Casting gates shields. Satellites already help — this is extra.
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
Vitalitymissing · Jackal
Recommended
Optional
Watch it played
YouTube for this loadout
The PERFECT Warframe got EVEN BETTER in 2026!
Blaze Artillery, Dispensary, Temporal Anchor. Beginner plus three Steel Path configs.
This BROKEN Protea Build Destroys Steel Path Without Forma
Budget Blaze Artillery that still deletes Steel Path.
Strength
~145%
Duration
155% (Artillery lifetime and Dispensary)
Range
145%
Hold 1 is shield drones. Tap 1 is a slash vortex. New players hold 1. Passive: every 4th cast gets bonus Strength.
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
- 42 / 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
- 35
- Crit
- 12% × 2.00
- Status
- 26%
- Fire rate
- 9.58
- Multishot
- 1.00
- Avg hit
- 39
- Arsenal DPS
- 376
Toggle common mods
Protea mods
- AuraBrief RespiteCasting gates shields. Satellites already help — this is extra.The Index / Nightwave
- ExilusPower DriftOrokin Vaults / Lua
- 1IntensifyMercury / Venus
- 2ContinuityEnemy drops
- 3StretchEnemy drops
- 4StreamlineEnemy drops
- 5FlowEnemy drops
- 6RedirectionSatellites overcharge shields. Give them a pool.Enemy drops
- 7VitalityEarth / drops
| Slot | Mod | Source | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aura | Brief Respite Casting gates shields. Satellites already help — this is extra. | The Index / 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 | Redirection Satellites overcharge shields. Give them a pool. | Enemy drops | |
| 7 | Vitality | Earth / drops |
Any gun
Artillery is the damage. Your rifle chips. Dispensary feeds ammo so you never think about it.
Arcanes
Arcane Energize
Optional. Dispensary is the energy plan.
Eidolon / trade
Archon shards
- 1
Amber · Casting SpeedTurrets and drones on tempo.1 · Archon Hunt
| # | Shard | Qty | Source | How |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amber · Casting Speed Turrets and drones on tempo. | 1 | Archon Hunt |