INTRODUCTION
Nidus is the infested Warframe that dropped in the 19.5 update. In addition to having no shields, Nidus also has a secondary resource that he uses to power his abilities called mutation, indicated in the lower right corner of the screen. Every five enemies damaged with his abilities give him one stack of mutation, while his third and fourth ability also spend stacks when used. His abilities make him a great solo frame that scales well into the late game the following Nidus build can also make him very useful in all team compositions.
So let’s jump right into the build and a bit about how to play Nidus most effectively.
THE BUILDS
Medium range/low duration/high strength
High range/high duration
Extreme range/extreme duration
As you can see, the builds mostly focus on three stats – range, duration and strength. With that being said, his second ability – larva which pull enemies in is usable in all three builds. Different mods just change at which range do you want enemies to be pulled and how long do you want them to remain crowd contolled around the casting point. Once larva is used, you can either easily dispatch bundled enemies of use virulence on them to build your stacks. You’ll cap stacks fairly fast in endless missions due to the number of enemies you’ll be drawing in with each larva dropped. Once that happens you can start dropping ravenous ability for some extra healing when standing on the infested ground as well as extra damage to enemies in the form of maggots. Larva should be dropped over ravenous area to maximize damage while you continue dealing damage and regaining your stacks with virulence.
Other mods in this Nidus build focus on increasing his survivability and ensure he has the energy to keep casting his abilities. Also, make sure you have either the hunter adrenaline as shown in the build or rage which will convert all damage Nidus receives convert into much-needed energy. Aura mod is less important here but I went with growing power since I was using high-status weapons which gave me a nice additional boost to power strength. You can also run with something like stand united for additional armor or steel charge for more melee damage which I found useful when farming endo in the arena on Sedna. Keep in mind that due to polarities, the builds could require additional forma if you go with something else.
Disclaimer: The build shown here might be out of date due to fairly frequent Warframe updates which rework certain aspects of Warframe abilities or mods used