Double Damage: Rhino VS Nova

There are only 2 choices when it comes to Consistent buffs, that's Rhino and Nova. Other options either can't provide enough of a boost (Equinox) or can't provide it consistently (Total Eclipse Mirage).

Most teams can't accommodate both these frames so here's a short post that might help you pick your team or frame (if you're deciding on which to pick up).

Here's a short summary of their differences based on buffing alone (Roar vs Molecular Prime).

	Nova	Rhino
Multiplier	Not Power Strength Dependent	Power Strength Dependent
Duration	Affects Debuff and Range (spread)	Affects Duration
Effect	Slowly Spreads from cast point Can be recast	Immediate to allies in range Cannot be recast
Other Effects	Explosions deal damage Debuff also slows up to 75% or Speed up enemies by 30%	n/a

Multiplier

In this post I'm not going to include the Roar Augment to keep things simple.

Both can deliver (potentially) double damage. Nova does it by default as any enemy that is affected by her debuff will receive double damage. Rhino Can potentially hit double damage and can even exceed it capping at 2.49 times.

So if you are a Vet with all the requisite mods (Blind Rage -BR, Transient Fortitude-TF, Intensify and Power Drift) Rhino is a sure pick. If you're starting out, you might have to focus on your collection first, building Duration before Power Strength.

If you're picking team mates, Nova will be a sure bet at 2x regardless of mods as long as she is at rank 30. Rhino is going to be a bit chancy unless you ask the player for their multiplier before inviting them.

Duration

In terms of Duration, Rhino can sacrifice this and still provide effective damage multiplication (as long as he keeps on using it) while Nova's debuff duration and range is dependent on duration mods.

At 50% duration Rhino will just have to recast more often, while Nova on top of having to recast will have her coverage affected as well.

This is one consideration you'll have to make when taking a Nova into a large map.

Effect

Nova's Molecular prime spreads out from the cast point while Rhino's affects all allies in range immediately.

Again this has to be considered based on how big the map is. Bigger maps will see slower coverage while Rhino can be effective regardless.

Another consideration is that Rhino's Roar cannot be recast. So if you miss cast your roar and miss the damage dealer for any reason, you will not be able to recast it until the duration runs out.

Other Effects

Molecular Prime, being an ultimate has other effects when you cast it. The debuff can either slow of hasten enemy movement depending on your Power Strength. Aside from this, enemies that are killed while debuffed by Molecular Prime will explode and deal damage to nearby units (affected by power range).

Rhino's roar doesn't have any additional effect.

Conclusion

There are a lot of things to consider when making choices for either team mates or for personal use but Mods will play a very important role in your choice. Also consider that not all the players in recruiting will have all the necessary mods maxed.

Assuming equal mod levels and that most of the mods were obtained...

Rhino will excel at providing raw damage output consistently regardless of map size and when in coordinated teams. Consider Rhino for missions that just require destruction (like exterminate or... Draco).

Nova will be able to provide double damage and crowd control (or speed for farming) that will become slightly less effective on bigger maps. Nova Can be very effective when farming (speed variant) or at control (slow Variant) for defense, Mobile Defense and Interception.

Which is your personal pick?

Thanks for reading.

[Builds] Super Nova [Novelty] [Specialist] [Heavy Control] [EV Dependent] [Damage: 60]

[Novelty]
This is basically a FUN build. Use at your own discretion. :)

[Specialist]
This build is focused on only one or Two abilities to achieve a specific goal

[Heavy Control]
This build is focused on controlling the battlefield to improve survive-ability.

[EV Dependent]
This build has no efficiency and works best in a team with an EV Trinity

[Damage: 60]
The damage dealt by this frame can deal with unbuffed normal enemies up to level 60

With a host of new Warframe and the queue of new Warframe to come, a lot of people seem to have forgotten this little powerhouse. Nova continues to be a staple because of her command of Time and Space, but not a lot of people use her for her sheer destructive potential.

I have a build that revolves around Molecular Prime (MP) that is especially good against Low to Mid level enemies.

The Build

Replaceable aspects: Primed Flow, Lightning Dash, Aura

The build stacks as much Duration, Power Strength and Range as possible to make MP chain reactions potent.

The low Efficiency means it will heavily depend on energy restores or an EV trinity.

Your chain reactions will be effective as long as enemies are within 16.9m and will die with 2704 Blast damage. This will easily clear low-mid level enemies. With higher level enemies, the doubled damage PLUS the explosion damage of possibly multiple nearby enemies will help whittle their HP. Couple this with the syndicate weapon/modded weapon of your choice and you have a very powerful destructive force.

Another advantage is that the MP will cover a huge distance and will slow enemies to cap allowing you to slaughter with impunity despite the low Health and Shields.

Alternatives

If you don't have the cores to max Blind Rage (BR), know that a Maxed Intensify with a Rank 2 Blind Rage will allow you to reach the 75% movement speed reduction cap. This will also reduce the cost of the skill significantly. This would also be nice for the LoR trial.

Replacing Primed Flow with Transient Fortitude will allow you to deal more damage, but will also confine you to 1 MP cast without any intervention from your EV trinity or energy restore. Your ability coverage will also decrease slightly given the loss of duration.

Lightning Dash can be replaced with any Exilus mod, but Handspring or Surefooted might be a good alternative since knockdowns at high levels could be fatal.

Notes

With the removal of Burst Damage frames like Saryn and Mesa, a lot of frames are starting to fill the niche. Let's not forget that Nova is one of the frames that can dish out a lot of punishment along with a good measure of crowd control.