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Passive
The Infestation dwelling within 
Nidus mutates rapidly when used against his foes, fueling his abilities and yielding various symbiotic benefits. Nidus possesses various passive mechanics highlighted in the tabs below:
Mutation gauge at 100 stacks.
Mutation Stacks are a resource unique to Nidus, indicated by the Mutation counter and gauge displayed in the lower-right on the HUD, above the ability icons.
- The gauge is divided into 5 sections which represent the number of hits dealt to enemies via Nidus' abilities, while the counter at the center of the gauge keeps track of the number of Mutation stacks up to a maximum of 100.
- When generating Mutation, the sections light up clockwise. Once all 5 sections have lit up, the gauge completes a cycle and the sections become unlit again, while the counter increases by 1 Mutation stack. The following abilities generate 1/5th of a Mutation stack:
- Each enemy hit with
Virulence. - Each enemy hit by Ravenous' maggot explosion.
- Each enemy killed from any source while held by Larva at a 50% chance.
- Abilities are not required to deal damage to enemies, only ability contact is needed to increase Mutation stacks.
- When gaining or losing large numbers of stacks, the gauge only changes one at a time, making it difficult to estimate the actual count.
- This can be bypassed by briefly switching to the Operator, as this will instantly refresh to the current amount of stacks.
- Each enemy hit with
- Mutation stacks are stored until used by the player. Stacks will not disappear in the event of a host migration.
- Ability-nullifying enemies such as Nullifier Crewman will drain 1 Mutation stack every 2 seconds, ramping up the drain rate the longer Nidus remains in their radius.
- Each Mutation stack causes the gauge to gradually appear more infested, and upon reaching maximum stacks the counter is hidden and the gauge is overlapped by Virulence's ability icon colored in red and black.
- When generating Mutation, the sections light up clockwise. Once all 5 sections have lit up, the gauge completes a cycle and the sections become unlit again, while the counter increases by 1 Mutation stack. The following abilities generate 1/5th of a Mutation stack:
- The amount of Mutation stacks stored benefits Nidus' abilities:
- Increases the damage of Virulence and Ravenous' maggot explosion.
- Parasitic Link costs 1 stack to activate instead of using energy.
- Ravenous costs 3 stacks to activate instead of using energy.
- Nidus' appearance changes as more stacks are collected:
- With the base skin:
- At 3 stacks, tendrils will protrude from his neck and upper spine, while the carapace around his ribs will open.
- At 5 and 7 stacks respectively, the carapace around his thighs and arms will open to reveal more infested flesh and tendrils beneath.
- At 10 stacks, certain sections of his currently-equipped helmet will open up.
- With the base helmet, the sides of his head extend outward to form a pair of horns, also exposing many more tendrils.
- With the Nidus Prion Helmet, the "mouth" and the ligature open up, revealing Void-like energy underneath.
- With the Nidus Myxini Helmet, the helmet opens up down the middle to reveal a monstrous mouth-like face.
- With the Nidus Phryke Skin:
- At 3 stacks, he gains protective armor on his thighs, and his shoulder pads are covered in a cage-like armor with a protruding spike on the top.
- At 5 stacks, a large curved blade appears on each of the shoulder pad spikes.
- At 7 stacks, his forearms are lined with a curved blade that extends two large spikes.
- At 10 stacks, his face becomes covered with a crown-like visor.
- With
Nidus Prime:
- At 3 stacks, black tendrils form on the left side of his face, as well as his entire left arm.
- At 5 stacks, the tendrils extend to cover his chest and back.
- At 7 stacks, the right side of his fleshy body becomes covered in a black mass as the golden metallic spikes on his right arm protrude outward, while tendrils form on his lower body.
- At 10 stacks, the tendrils extend to cover his entire face and thighs.
- When stacks fall below the required triggers, Nidus' appearance will revert to the appropriate stage.
- With the base skin:
Abilities
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 1  40
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Virulence Rupture the ground with a damaging fungal growth that steals energy from each enemy it strikes. For every five enemies hit, the Infestation mutates, multiplying its destructive force. Introduced in Update 19.5 (2016-12-22) |
 Strength:150 / 160 / 175 / 200 ( Puncture damage)
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 Duration:N/A
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 Range:10 / 11 / 13 / 16 m
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Misc:
4 m (fungal growth width) |
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 2 25
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Larva Spawn an Infested pod that erupts with tendrils, latches onto nearby enemies and pulls them in. Introduced in Update 19.5 (2016-12-22) |
Strength:N/A
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| Duration:4 / 5 / 6 / 7 s
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| Range:8 / 9 / 10 / 12 m (grab radius) 5.33 / 6 / 6.67 / 8 m (grab radius for subsumed version) | |||
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Misc:
50 % (Mutation stack chance) | |||
| Subsumable to Helminth |
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 3 |
Parasitic Link Bind to a target with a parasitic link. For allies, both the host and Nidus gain increased Ability Strength. Linked enemies take the damage inflicted on Nidus. Introduced in Update 19.5 (2016-12-22) |
Strength:10% / 15% / 20% / 25% (strength bonus) 10% / 15% / 20% / 25% (damage bonus) 20% / 30% / 40% / 50% (damage redirection) |
| Duration:30 / 35 / 45 / 60 s
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| Range:24 / 28 / 34 / 40 m (ally link) 10 / 13 / 16 / 20 m (enemy link) |
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 4 |
Ravenous Gluttonous maggots swarm nearby enemies, feasting until they burst with Infestation. The maggots benefit from Mutation and each enemy consumed adds to the Mutation stack. Introduced in Update 19.5 (2016-12-22) |
Strength:100 / 110 / 125 / 150 (explosion  Blast damage)10 / 13 / 16 / 20 (health regen per second) |
| Duration:25 / 30 / 35 / 40 s
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| Range:4 m (explosion radius)
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Misc:
8 m (ability diameter) |
| Strength Mods
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Duration Mods
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Range Mods
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| Attributes • Helminth • Augments • Compare All • Cosmetics | ||
794 comments
Hello, guess my name.
I am immortal, can give CC, can group enemies, can regen, can buff allies STR and HP, have built-in PSF & status immunity, and can regen health on myself and allies, I have good crowd control.
Despite all this, i am USELESS in almost every single mission (exception is : playing solo in survival missions).
Nidus?
How to fix Nidus:
1) Make his 3 a toggle, if it's on, you will automatically link to an ally or enemy nearby, this would allow you to move around the map without having to recast it all the time
2) Make his 4 scale with range, so you don't have to stand in a tiny area to get the health regen
3) Make his stacks have no limit, or at least raise the limit, at least 300 with no augment, more with augment
1) Actual clown idea. Mod for range or stop pretending you're playing Gauss/Volt and snapping your cables by running away from your links.
2) I agree. It would make it better for some tiles.
3) Actual clown idea. 100x-300x ability strength is enough for full SP star chart. If you think you need more then you need to play another frame.
The problem with Nidus is that he's really only got one game plan that isn't even compatible with most mission types.
It goes:
1: Start endless SP mission, either Defense or Survival
2: Group up a bunch of enemies with Larva and slam into them with Virulence over and over again to generate stacks
3: Pick a favourite spot
4: Link to an enemy
5: Cast Ravenous
6: Proceed to spam out Larva and Virulence, recast Link and Ravenous when they run out.
Nidus' entire kit basically forces him to hunker down in some corner and just murder everyone who comes at him. You wanna stay on Ravenous at all times for the extra health regen and you wanna be linked at all times for damage redirection and status immunity and both Ravenous and Link targets are stationary.
Also, he's basically useless outside of Steel Path because Mutation Stacks don't generate quick enough if you don't have extreme enemy density.
At the same time, if you lose your stacks in SP in any way, you're screwed. If you run into something that can munch through your healthbar too quickly and that you cannot yourself kill quickly, like the Oni from the Shrine defense gamemode, and that eats through your mutation stacks and immortalities until you actually die, there's no way for you to recover. Once things have picked up, you're taking damage way too quickly to get your stacks back since that basically involves standing still and stomping the ground repeatedly.
Stomp Ground
Gain Stacks
If there's one thing I want changed about Nidus it's why do his abilities have seemingly random lockouts?
If he's got a 1 cast traveling it becomes locked out until it finishes, so it's literally better to spam it into a wall so it travels less.
Man of Cancer
I've got two nidus frames and all i want to say how dead Nidus is unless you use him for obscure grinding
Nidus is nearly unkillable when built correctly.
Every frame is nearly unkillable when built correctly
does anyone know if Hunter Adrenaline and Rage still work?? or is that rewording they got curtains for them
Work
Both still work. Combine with Quick Thinking, Umbra Mods, and 5 Blue Archon Shards (+5 HP/s), and if possible... Arcane Grace, and Arcane Guardian. He'll be nearly unkillable.
Really din't knew what i was doing wrong before Parasitic vitality came to save my dumb ass from dying all the time, i just couldn't make nidus (before the augment) tanky without needing the damage reduction from parasitic link
Still haven't figured out to this day
His playstyle is quite niche, the best way to play him is to abuse his passive, but that pretty much locks him to endless missions and keeping maximum mutation stacks. Parasitic vitality is a great augment and makes for funny health numbers tho
At levelcap I literally ran him with the augment mod for his 4 to generate more than 15 mutation stacks in the 5 second window after dying, before dying again.
It did effectively make me completely invincible even with no defense investment.. but also made me do no damage because too busy casting 1 to shoot guns.
So what happens if you link to a mind controlled target? will it count as an ally or is it still considered an enemy?
Tested it, you cant link to it at all :/ i hate Parasitic Link
Buggy appearance. Every time you end a mission or look at your profile your nidus will switch to his full form and switch back immediately and when you aim he will look up.
Prime
My Nidus got injected with the virus but it is my Loki who got the cyst, I don't have the Helminth Segment, so Loki can't get there
No idea if this actually works but you can theoretically get a 4 and a half minute duration on Parasitic Link with all the duration mods and 5 Tauforged Crimson shards. Not sure why you'd want to but someone out there definitely does want to because funny numbers
Up until this moment, I never knew nidus had a prime, or that nidus even existed
I blame infested salvage.
Yup, that's among the most painful grinds imo
With Parasitic Vitality and Abundant Mutation + some strength from either mods, arcanes or Grimoire he can build full tank and survive lvl cap more easily without losing stacks.
Parasitic vitality + Abundant Mutation adds another 5x+ to ehp for my super tank build.
You could add Eclipse for even more max ehp+dmg or just Gloom.
For lvl cap I recommend Gloom for full auto heals (linked enemies in Gloom range auto-heal you when you take dmg).
Was able to face tank 9999 before without losing stacks, but now it is much, much more comfortable.
(Using all possible, conditional dmg reduction mods like Aviator, Adaptation, Arcane Double Back, 2x Boreal set mods, etc. and 5x Tau armor shards + Unairu)
So the new augment is interesting. Takes the place of normal vitality mods but much stronger with a caveat. Takes time and investment, but significantly improves nidus' durability in long missions.
Tested with his passive augment and around 270 power strength: Reached an hp level of 21k health.
It's also fun messing around with an Inaros teammate, giving them hp thus giving Scarabs more damage
I subsumed Tharros Strike over Ravenous so he has some kind of defense strip. Otherwise he isn't doing much in late game Grineer or Corrupted.
Just use Unairu for grineer. He has a gathering skill anyway
So, do maggots from ult apply corosive if using archon continuity?
The maggots only deal toxin damage, and not apply the toxin proc, so it does not.
Are there any downsides to linking to an ally?
Yes, you don't have the damage reduction
He looks so much cooler in prime form