[Top 5] Warframe Best Archguns That Are Excellent (Latest Patch: Angels of Zariman)

Hildryn with her Larkspur Archgun and Excalibur at her back

Updated:

11 May 2022

Out of all of Warframe’s colorful array of weapons, there is no other type of weapon more show-offy and eye-catching than the Arch-Gun. There’s nothing like bringing in these big guns to flex on your foes.

They were initially meant to be solely used in space through Archwings but have since been integrated into the open-world environments.

Note: Your Arch-Gun needs to have a Gravimag installed and you must have an Arch-Gun Deployer to use Arch-Guns in open-world environments.

Here are five of the best Arch-Guns you can get in the game and why. Note that this list mostly focuses on the weapons’ capabilities while in Archwing mode. Some of these weapons may act differently or have different stats when used on the ground (Atmospheric Mode).

5. Cortege

Toasty!

Space is a vacuum, no oxygen, no nothing. So how does this space flamethrower make any sense? Nevertheless, it works. It works well.

The Cortege’s primary fire is a beam of flames that’ll quickly burn down ships and infested creatures should you choose to use it on the ground. It doesn’t eat up a lot of ammo so you can let it rip for as long as you want.

Once you get 5 kills with the primary fire (get it? fire), your alternate-fire gauge gets filled up, allowing you to use it. The alternate fire launches three grenades that deal Area of Effect (AOE) damage on impact or upon remote detonation by pressing alternate fire again. This firing mode leaves flaming puddles that damage enemies that pass through them.

What Cortege excels at:

Inflicting constant status damage:

The Cortege’s primary fire has the second-highest status chance among Arch-Guns (40%) and the alternate fire’s status chance isn’t half bad (16.7%). Equipped with the right elemental mods, this weapon can melt any enemy with ease.

AOE/Crowd control:

Both the beam and grenade firing modes are excellent at hitting multiple enemies at the same time. The flaming puddles that the grenades leave behind make it even trickier for enemies to move about.

How to get Cortege:

Once you’ve attained Rank 2 - Clearance: Modus, with the Necraloid syndicate, Cortege’s component blueprints become available in their wares for 4,000 standing each. The main blueprint, however, requires Rank 3 - Clearance: Odima, and sells for 8,000 standing.

Getting the Cortege

Cortege Details

4. Fluctus

To quote another overpowered space guy: Rip and Tear

Another crowd control weapon makes it onto the list, so sue me. The Fluctus doesn’t release never-ending streams of fire or blow up groups of enemies with grenades though. Instead, it shoots wide waves of energy that slice through enemies.

“How is a projectile weapon viable for crowd control?” you may ask, the Fluctus’ main highlight is that it has infinite punch through. This means that the energy waves won’t be stopped by bodies, walls, or anything else, line up your shots to maximize efficiency.

The shots do have falloff damage though, this means they deal less damage at a distance than up close. That’s something to keep in mind.

What Fluctus excels at:

Crowd control:

This weapon works wonders in Archwing missions like Defense, Mobile Defense, and any other mission where the enemies come to you instead of vice versa. You’ll notice enemies tend to line or stack up in these missions, allowing you to take them out in one shot.

Ignoring armor:

The Fluctus deals primarily slash damage, this damage ignores all armor so it’s a favored damage type in the game.

Attacking but not getting attacked back at:

Because it has infinite punch through, you can literally just hide behind barriers or walls while firing at enemies (as long as you know where they are) and you’d be protected from any return fire.

How to get Fluctus:

Fluctus’s main blueprint is researched and bought in your dojo’s Tenno Lab. Its component blueprints can either be traded among players or bought off from certain syndicates at their respective rank 3.

The syndicates are as follows: Cephalon Suda for the Barrel

Steel Meridian for the Stock

Red Veil for the Limbs

Warframe Syndicate Guide

Fluctus Details

3. Imperator Vandal

Rain down bullets with this rapid-fire Archgun

All the developers had to do was create an improved version of the first Arch-Gun you get. They didn’t have to make it one of the best in the game, but lo and behold, I’m not complaining.

The Imperator Vandal gets a boosted fire rate, making it the fastest firing Arch-Gun in the space West (I hate myself for saying that). Some other direct improvements from the base Imperator are its critical chance, critical multiplier, and reload time.

What Imperator Vandal excels at:

Rapid-fire:

Having the highest fire rate and highest magazine size of all the Arch-Guns allows the Imperator Vandal to pump your enemies full of lead before they even get a chance to do anything.

Damaging shields and armor:

The Imperator Vandal deals Impact and Puncture damage, these damage types are best used against shielded and armored enemies.

Delivering criticals and status effects:

A critical chance of 28% is really high and a status chance of 12% is fair. This weapon isn’t the king at either of these but the fact that this gun spits out bullets like nothing else means that you’ll still be raining down crits and procs on the baddies.

How to get Imperator Vandal:

Once exclusive to the Operation: Eyes of Blight event, the Imperator Vandal is now accessible through playing and beating Fomorian Sabotage. The main blueprint and components can also be traded between players.

Getting the Imperator Vandal

Imperator Vandal Details

2. Kuva Grattler

Big guns should cause big explosions! View Exhibit A ^^^

Send your enemies flying home to their space mommas with this Arch-Gun. The Kuva Grattler fires devastating explosive shells with a huge area of effect, dispatching waves of enemies in seconds.

Ironically, despite being a direct upgrade, the Kuva Grattler actually has a lower base damage than the regular Grattler. But before you scroll on down to the number 1 spot, the improved critical chance, critical multiplier, status chance, and bonus damage from the spawned Lich, more than makes up for that.

As with all Kuva Weapons, the Kuva Grattler’s max rank increases every time you apply a forma, capping at rank 40. It will also have bonus damage, the type of damage would depend on the Warframe used to spawn your Kuva Lich.

What Kuva Grattler excels at:

Being versatile with modding:

Having an increased maximum rank also means that this weapon has a higher mod slot capacity than most other weapons. Not only that, but the Kuva Grattler also comes with additional polarities compared to the regular Grattler so you can have a lot of legroom when modding.

Holding the line:

Whether holding off waves of infested at choke points or preventing hordes of grineer from reaching a point you’re trying to defend, this weapon can fend off almost anything you throw at it.

Spray-and-praying:

You don’t have to be on the defense to enjoy this gun. Despite this gun having good accuracy, you’ll find yourself simply aiming in the general direction of the enemy and pulling the trigger. Isn’t that what giant space guns of death are all about?

How to get Kuva Grattler:

You can get this Arch-Gun by vanquishing a Kuva Lich that was generated with one. Liches spawn with a random Kuva weapon though so it may take a while to get one to spawn with a Kuva Grattler.

Kuva Lich Guide

Kuva Grattler Details

1. Mausolon

To think, the greatest heavy gun in the game is a freebie

This is the undisputed king of Arch-Guns. The Mausolon not only deals massive damage, but it’s also not that hard to acquire (especially in the latest update: Angels of Zariman where players are gifted free blueprints for the Voidrig Nechramech, get yours now!)

The primary fire shoots explosive rounds that produce a small but useful area of effect.

Similar to the Cortege, the Mausolon’s alternate firing mode can only be used once you’ve tallied up 5 kills with your primary fire. The alternate fire is a laser that explodes on contact. Exploding lasers… what more can you ask for?

What Mausolon excels at:

Crits, crits and crits:

The Mausolon’s alternate fire has the second-highest critical chance among Arch-Guns (50%). It also has the second-highest critical damage multiplier of all Arch-Guns (3.5x). The primary fire also has good numbers on it (crit chance: 30%, crit multiplier: 2.2X). Those make this weapon a critical-dealing beast.

Procs, procs and procs:

The alternate fire is tied with Larkspur, Arquabex, and Morgha for the highest status chance among Arch-Guns (50%). Its primary fire has a status chance of 26% which is nothing to scoff at. Inflict whatever effects you want with these.

Rapid-fire:

Though slower than the Imperator Vandal, the primary fire still boasts a fire rate of 8.33 shots per second. It’s also tied with the Imperator Vandal on having the largest magazines among Arch-Guns so fire away guilt-free Tenno!