Top 10 Best Warframe Zaw Builds That Wreck Hard

Updated:

08 Nov 2019

What are the best Warframe Zaws?

Zaws are modular melee weapons that set themselves apart from other melee weapons because they are built from 3 separate parts that affect its attributes. This allows players to build their melee weapon to cater to what they want, including damage, critical chance, status chance, and attack speed.

When a player first makes their Zaw, it is ungilded. Leveling an ungilded Zaw to rank 30 and gilding it will greatly increase the potential of the weapon. This includes increased stats, ability to add a polarity upon gilding, and slight visual changes.

The first part is the Strike, which determines what type of melee weapon it will be and the distribution of the damage type. It also affects the status and critical chance of the weapon itself, though to a lesser degree.

The second part is the Grip, which determines if the weapon will be one-handed or two-handed. This also affects what type of melee weapon the Zaw will be depending on the Strike it is paired with along with the attack speed and damage.

The last part is the Link, which affects the attack speed, the status chance, and critical chance of the Zaw. This will determine if the Zaw will be a critical based weapon or a status based one.

Building a Zaw can be a hectic process because of the sheer amounts of combinations there are. With that being said, here are 10 Zaw builds that can point you in the right direction.

10) Best Zaw for Single Target Damage

This is a rapier-type Zaw more focused on critical hits on single enemies. The Dehtat strike has Puncture as its primary damage type with Slash being a close second.

The Kwath grip is a one-handed grip that is fairly balanced between attack speed and damage.

Finally, the Vargeet II Jai link is used to give more critical chance while keeping the attack speed around average with decent amounts of damage.

Build:

Condition Overload
Primed Pressure Point
Blood Rush
Gladiator Might
Organ Shatter
Relentless Combination
Berserker (Primed Fury also works)
Drifting Contact (Body Count or Gladiator Rush can also be used)
Stance: Vulpine Mask (Its combos have built-in Slash procs)

What this Zaw is awesome for:

Building the combo counter extremely fast which will amplify weapon damage, critical damage, and critical chance even more.

Inflicting Slash procs on the enemy. Slash procs ignore armor and do damage directly to their health

9) Best Zaw for Slicing and Dicing like a Samurai

A nikana-type Zaw that is status-based and more oriented towards taking out single targets with stylish melee combos. The Sepfahn strike is used because it is the only strike that can be used to create nikana-type Zaws.

The Kwath grip gives the Zaw decent base damage while keeping its attack speed manageable with the combination of the other parts.

Since this is more geared towards status, the Ekwana II Jai link is used to give base status chance which can be increased even more to deal with tougher enemies.

Build:

Condition Overload
Primed Pressure Point
Berserker (Primed Fury also works)
Blood Rush
Virulent Scourge
Vicious Frost
Volcanic Edge
Drifting Contact
Stance: Decisive Judgment (Blind Justice or Tranquil Cleave also work, but I find Decisive Judgment to have the easiest combos to execute)

What this Zaw is awesome for:

Proccing a lot of status effects as the mods used will push its status chance to 100 percent. This allows it to proc status consistently for Condition Overload.
Taking down tougher enemies such as Heavy Gunners, Bombards, and Corpus Techs thanks to its high-status chance
Decent critical damage with the combination of Condition Overload and Blood Rush. Condition Overload will amplify the damage depending on the number of status effects on the enemy while Blood Rush will increase the chance for critical hits.
Can be built with different elemental damage types to better deal with certain enemies. Make sure to swap out the dual stat elemental mods accordingly.

8) Best Zaw for pummeling enemies into bloody submission

This is a staff-type Zaw that utilizes both Critical stats and Status to take down enemies. This consists of the Ooltha strike with its balanced damage distribution between Slash and Puncture.

The Seekalla is a two-handed grip which offers the most attack speed. This allows the weapon to hit pretty fast which thus allows more instances of landing more critical hits and status procs in a given time.

The Ekwana Jai link is used because of its fair balance of critical chance and status chance when used with the build below.

Build:

Primed Pressure Point
Primed Reach
Berserker (Primed Fury also works)
Condition Overload
Blood Rush
Virulent Scourge
Vicious Frost
Drifting Contact
Stance: Clashing Forest {Has quick forward sweeping combos)

What this Zaw is awesome for:

Fast melee combos with good mobility and area of effect thanks to Clashing Forest
Applying status effects fairly quickly with its high attack speed

7) Best Zaw for Finishers and True Scaling Damage

A small, yet very deadly dagger-type Zaw that can make short work of even the toughest enemies. This uses the Balla strike because it is the only one which can be used for dagger-type Zaws.

The Laka grip is used as it gives a fair balance between attack speed and damage. This grip provides enough damage to kill weaker enemies with relative ease while providing enough speed to quickly do finishers on the tougher ones.

The Vargeet II Jai link is used to give a base critical chance of 32 percent once the Zaw is gilded. This adds to the killing potential against weaker enemies that lack armor.

Build:

Covert Lethality
Primed Pressure Point
Primed Fury
Fever Strike (Use the Primed version if available)
Shocking Touch
Organ Shatter
Blood Rush
Drifting Contact
Stance: Stinging Thorn (One of its combos has a built-in finisher)

What this Zaw is awesome for:

Killing an enemy that is vulnerable to finishers regardless of level, HP, or armor thanks to Covert Lethality.
Any Warframe that can open enemies up to finishers as Covert Lethality will guarantee a one hit kill.
Forcing finishers thanks to the melee combo from Stinging Thorn.
Regenerating lost HP if you put the Exodia Might arcane on it.

6) Best Zaw for Hammer Time

A large, two-handed hammer-type Zaw that is able to demolish enemies with ease. The Rabvee strike is used because it is the only one available for making hammer-type Zaws.

The Seekalla grip is used because it gives the most base attack speed out of all the other two-handed grips. This balances out the low attack speed of the Rabvee.

The Ekwana Jai II link is used to give the Zaw a great base attack speed of 1.10. This also helps cover for the low attack speed of the Rabvee while giving it a decent base critical chance and status chance.

Build:

Primed Pressure Point
Primed Reach
Primed Fury (Berserker may also be used instead)
Blood Rush
Condition Overload
Virulent Scourge
Voltaic Strike
Drifting Contact
Stance: Crushing Ruin

What this Zaw is awesome for:

Decent crowd control with the combos from Crushing Ruin
Hybrid builds that utilize both a mix of critical hit mods like Blood Rush and status mods like Condition Overload.

5) Best Zaw for Heavy Bladed action

Despite its appearance resembling more of a scythe, it functions more like a two-handed greatsword. The Dokrahm strike is used as it’s the only one that can be made into a heavy blade Zaw.

The Seekalla grip is used to offset the slow attack speed that the Dokrahm has.

Finally, the Ekwana II Ruhang is used to give a high base status chance and decent damage while keeping the attack speed manageable at a base 1.02.

Build:

Primed Pressure Point
Primed Reach
Primed Fury
Condition Overload
Vicious Frost
Virulent Scourge
Blood Rush
Drifting Contact
Stance: Tempo Royale (Use Cleaving Whirlwind if you don’t have this stance)

What this Zaw is awesome for:

Mobile and fun melee combos that can do high damage and crowd control
Frequent slash procs with Viral that can make short work of tougher enemies

4) Best Zaw for Poking and Stabbing enemies

The Mewan strike is used as it is one of the higher damage strikes that can be made into a polearm. This provides decent base damage for the Zaw.

The Jayap grip is used to counterbalance the slower attack speed of the Mewan without sacrificing too much damage.

The Vargeet Jai II link is used to increase the base critical chance of the Zaw without unbalancing damage or attack speed.

Build:

Primed Pressure Point
Primed Reach
Berserker (or Primed Fury)
Blood Rush
Organ Shatter
Fever Strike (Use the Primed version if available)
Shocking Touch
Drifting Contact (Use Body Count or Gladiator Rush if you don’t have this mod)
Stance: Twirling Spire (Use this if you have Exodia Hunt)

What this Zaw is awesome for:

Knocking enemies down with frequent ground slams from Twirling Spire.
Exodia Hunt arcane users because the slam attacks have a chance to pull enemies towards you, opening them for finishers.

3) Best Zaw for Slash damage

A Zaw with high base damage and lower attack speed. The Cyath strike is used because it has very high Slash damage.

The Shtung grip is used for its high increase to base damage.

The Ekwana II Jai link is used because it gives a very high base status chance for the Zaw which will allow it to use Slash procs

Build:

Primed Pressure Point
Primed Reach
Berserker (or Primed Fury)
Blood Rush
Maiming Strike
Weeping Wounds
Organ Shatter
Drifting Contact
Stance: Anything that matches the polarity of the stance slot as this build utilizes slide attacks.

What this Zaw is awesome for:

Bleeding out enemies with high damaging Slash procs.
Red critical damage numbers thanks to the combination of Blood Rush and Maiming Strike.
Inflicting Slash procs with the help of Weeping Wounds and high-status chance.
Combating enemies with high armor and shields because Slash procs will damage their HP directly.

2) Best Zaw for Status

This uses Zaw parts that are exclusive to Operation: Plague Star. The Plague Keewar strike provides the highest status chance out of all of the strikes and comes with innate Viral damage.

The Plague Bokwin grip is only obtainable from the Plague Star. This provides a good balance of attack speed and damage when used with the Plague Keewar.

The Ekwana II Jai link is used to take advantage of the Plague Keewars high-status chance. This puts the Zaws base status chance to 36 percent once gilded.

Build:

Primed Pressure Point
Primed Reach
Primed Fury (or Berserker)
Condition Overload
Blood Rush
Voltaic Strike
Virulent Scourge
Drifting Contact
Stance: Clashing Forest

What this Zaw is awesome for:

Applying many status effects with its high-status chance.
Condition Overload builds as the innate Viral will contribute to the damage increase of the Zaw.

1) Best Zaw for Hybrid Builds

The Plague Kripath strike is one of the most popular Zaw parts in the game and for good reason. It has above average critical stats with innate Viral damage. Unfortunately, it is also an exclusive part from Operation: Plague Star.

The Plague Bokwin grip compliments the Kripath very well by giving enough damage while keeping the base attack speed average.

The Ekwana II Jai link keeps the status chance of the Zaw very high. This pairs well with the Plague Kripath’s above average critical stats, making it well-rounded and versatile.

Build:

Primed Pressure Point
Primed Reach
Primed Fury (or Berserker)
Blood Rush
Condition Overload
Voltaic Strike
Virulent Scourge
Drifting Contact
Stance: Bleeding Willow

What this Zaw is awesome for:

Hybrid builds utilizing both Blood Rush and Condition Overload. The above average critical stats of the strike makes Blood Rush more potent.
Dealing with enemy HP and armor with Corrosive and innate Viral status effects.
Innate Viral means that Condition Overload’s damage potential is even greater.