Best Pathocyst Builds In Warframe

The Pathocyst is one of Warframe’s most bizarre and fun-to-use Infested melee weapons. It’s a Glaive that doesn’t just deal damage—it spawns homing Infested maggots every time you land a hit with a heavy throw. These little bugs rush enemies and explode, adding passive AoE damage while you focus on slicing through targets. With the Technocyst Coda variant, the Pathocyst gets a major stat boost, making it totally viable for Steel Path and other endgame content. In this guide, we’ll break down how to get your hands on it and how to build it for maximum viral damage, maggot mayhem, and Glaive chaos.

How To Get The Pathocyst In Warframe

To get your hands on the Pathocyst, you’ll need to take down the Zealoid Prelate on Exequias, Deimos. Each time you defeat this boss, there’s a chance you’ll receive one of the weapon’s blueprints—either for its handle, blades, or the main blueprint itself. Once you’ve collected all the parts, you can craft the base version in your Foundry. If you’re aiming for the upgraded Coda Pathocyst, you’ll need to complete “The Hex” quest to unlock the Hollvania hub. From there, defeat Technocyte Coda enemies to farm Live Heartcells, which can be traded to Eleanor in the hub. The Coda version appears in Rotation B of her shop, so if it’s not there, check back after a few days. To build the standard Pathocyst, you’ll need 2 Pathocyst Blades, 1 Handle, 5 Neurodes, and 30,000 Credits. Crafting takes 24 hours.

Pathocyst Stats And Features Explained

The Pathocyst is a unique Infested Glaive that brings more to the table than just raw damage. With every melee swing or thrown attack, it spawns maggots that attach to enemies, briefly stunning them and providing some light crowd control—similar to Nidus’ ultimate ability. While these maggots don’t deal much damage, they help you control tight groups of enemies and open them up for easier follow-ups. Stat-wise, both the standard and Coda versions have solid base damage, strong status chance, and decent crit potential. The Coda Pathocyst edges out with slightly better stats across the board, including higher Slash and Viral damage, improved crit chance, and better status output. The only downside? Both variants swing slowly, so you’ll want to toss in an attack speed mod if you plan to use it in close quarters. While it doesn’t rival the Glaive Prime for pure numbers, the Pathocyst is still a powerful pick—especially for those building around heavy attacks or Viral damage procs.

Best Pathocyst Builds

In this guide, we’re focusing on a heavy attack build for the Pathocyst, built to take full advantage of its high status chance and crit potential. The core of this setup revolves around stacking powerful Galvanized mods and using the Melee Influence Arcane to spread status effects like crazy, letting you melt groups of enemies with a single swing. The build is especially deadly when you combine Viral and Slash procs for massive damage over time. If you’re planning to invest in this weapon, we strongly recommend using the Coda Pathocyst version—it has slightly better stats that really shine with this kind of setup. This build is perfect for Steel Path content or any high-end missions where you want a strong, status-heavy melee option with a bit of flair thanks to the maggot-spawning gimmick.

Endgame Build

This setup is all about maximizing the Coda Pathocyst’s heavy attack potential and using status effects to dominate large groups. Melee Influence is at the heart of this build, spreading status procs within a 19-meter radius when you trigger Electricity—which we easily get through Focus Energy. To complement that, we pair Vicious Frost and Volcanic Edge to create Blast damage, which synergizes perfectly with the spreading effect and adds AoE crowd control.

For scaling damage, Galvanized Elementalist cranks up the output of your status-based hits, while Galvanized Reflex boosts your initial combo and caps your heavy attack efficiency. Primed Pressure Point adds a solid boost to base damage, and we top it off with Sacrificial Steel and Amalgam Organ Shatter to buff up the crit stats, making every swing or throw pack a serious punch.

If you’re having trouble landing consistent Electric procs to trigger Melee Influence, consider swapping out Galvanized Reflex for Weeping Wounds to crank your status chance even higher. With this build, the Coda Pathocyst becomes a brutal, AoE-heavy glaive that excels in both clearing trash mobs and chunking tougher enemies—especially in Steel Path content.

Conclusion

The Pathocyst is a unique and powerful Infested glaive that shines in both crowd control and high burst damage when built right. Whether you’re using the base version or the upgraded Coda Pathocyst, this weapon can easily handle endgame content with its strong status effects, heavy attack potential, and built-in maggot swarm for added utility. With the right mods and a focus on status or crit-heavy builds, the Pathocyst becomes a deadly addition to any Warframe arsenal—especially for players who enjoy glaive playstyles with a touch of Infested chaos.