Nukor – the Grineer microwave sidearm. It’s a strange weapon – its Damage output starts at 30% and ramps up over 0.6 seconds as you fire continuously, which then decays after you stop firing. It also has a huge Critical Damage multiplier, but virtually no Critical Damage Chance. It’s just STRANGE. But at the same time, it’s fun. Go figure. I guess that’s because it has innate Radiation Damage – and we all love Radiation. Or maybe it’s because, for some reason, it inflates the body parts it damages, leading to a player-created big-head mode? Yeah, it’s probably that.
How to Acquire
The Nukor is a Clantech weapon with a Mastery lock at MR4. Once you’ve hit this level, you can buy it from the Chem lab for 15,000 credits. As per most Chem lab weapons, it requires Detonite Injectors and a forma. So there is some investment involved (Invasions for Detonite Injectors, and… forma for forma).
-
Credits 30,000 -
Detonite Injectors 2 -
Morphics 2 -
Salvage 5,500 -
Forma 1
Stats
The Nukor starts out… terribly, I have to admit. It has a low base Damage of only 22 Radiation, so it REALLY needs mods to get it to a usable state. However, it mods well. Get some Corrosive on there to make it a Grineer killer, and keep in mind that anything that will increase Damage is your friend – Magnum Force is recommended if you have it, as it’s a short-range weapon anyway, so you’re unlikely to miss. Still – it has a very high Riven disposition, so you might be lucky to get some amazing stats – I’ve seen some mind-blowing builds.
Crit or Status?
The Nukor has the potential to be a Crit beast, but with a 3% base Crit Chance, it’s not worth building towards. I’d recommend pairing the Nukor with something that can passively boost its Crit Chance and build this bad boy for Status Chance (I mean, it does have a 29% base Stat Chance, after all). That said, you really need to boost the overall Damage as much as possible, so I’d personally steer away from trying to hit 100% Status and mix between Status mods and flat Elemental. But as with all things Warframe, the choice is up to you!
At first glance, the Nukor isn’t all that impressive. And if you don’t build it right, it will continue to fail to impress. However, with the right build (and even better – with the right Riven mod), the Nukor is a beast that can keep you company for a good long stretch.
Greg
The Nukor has always been a favorite of mine because of the way it “feels” when firing – so fun to use. I learned a few new things about it now and am looking forward to revisiting modding it. Thanks for these weapon articles and keep them coming!
No problem, will do!