The Actual Speedster Warframe – Does He Threaten Other Speedsters?

I don’t normally talk about Warframes that haven’t been released yet because I like to play them before I judge them. That’s not the case with Gauss, the speedster Warframe. While his best friend Grendel, the oni Warframe who is set to be released at the same time as Gauss, seems pretty cute and not at all deadly, a lot of people have been wondering whether Gauss will be stepping on the toes of existing Warframes, most notably speedster Warframes like Volt, Nezha and Zephyr.

The question is, will he be a straight upgrade? Will he leave other Warframes in the dust?

It is a somewhat valid question. After all, aspects of some of the more recent Warframes have been insanely strong. For example, Wisp outshines buffs from both Chroma and Volt with literally just one ability, her dainty little seeds being far stronger, lasting far longer and being much easier to reapply. Khora and her Strangle Dome completely invalidates Vauban and his Bastille, but then again, Frost and Snow Globe technically already did that. So will Gauss do the same thing?

No. Probably not.

At least, not to all of them.

Thing is, Gauss’s speed abilities kinda imply going in straight lines. Watching Gauss’s Devstream, it’s quite clear that Gauss can’t turn very well. In fact, his first ability is much more like a ground version of Zephyr’s Tailwind except for the fact that Gauss can run on water. His second ability is a very niche version of Iron Skin that mainly protects from Slash, Cold and Heat (Cold is not that common a damage type), his third ability makes no real sense making circles of cold and heat and his fourth ability is an all-round buff to his other abilities.

Gauss though seems to keep all that power to himself. If you want a speed buff for you and your team mates, then Volt or, uh Wisp are probably the way to go.

More importantly though, Volt has the ability to, you know, turn on a dime. Which is pretty useful in the many, many tiny corridors that most Warframe maps have. Sure, Gauss will be able to slam into walls and things to cause explosions and knock down and knock away enemies, but frankly that’s just going to ruin your momentum. Heck, even Zephyr isn’t going to be that sad, because Zephyr at least flies (which makes traversing the Plains and the Orb Vallis easier) and has an ability that allows her to swat away pretty much any projectile, which is probably handier than Gauss’s blocking of a handful of damage types.

The true casualty though is Loki, who will finally lose his throne as “Warframe with the highest default sprint speed”. Loki has held onto this title for years, and he will finally be relinquishing it to Gauss, a Warframe designed to run.

But really, if it is true speed you want, then you probably want to invest in a frame who can teleport, like Loki, Ash or Nova… Or Wisp. Because teleporting is a lot faster than running.

Dag nabbit, Wisp seems to do bloody everything, doesn’t she?

On the plus side, Gauss and Grendel don’t seem ready yet, so they won’t be around for a while. So Loki can hold onto his throne for a bit longer…