We finally have new guns and gear to enjoy in Once Human, but are the new guns any good? One of those is the M416 Silent Anabasis, which is the topic of today’s build. We’re looking at the best M416 Frost Vortex build today, so get ready for some serious AOE damage.
Table of Contents
- Is the M416 Silent Anabasis Frost Vortex build good?
- How the Silent Anabasis works in combat
- Silent Anabasis Frost Vortex Loadout
- Silent Anabasis Frost Vortex Weapons and Mods
- Frost Vortex Gear set with Mods
- Best Deviation for Frost Vortex M416 build
- Best Cradle for M416 build
- Additional hints and tips to survive winter (and lava)
Is the M416 Silent Anabasis Frost Vortex build good?
The Silent Anabasis is a fantastic weapon for clearing our larger groups of enemies fast. Being a Frost Vortex weapon, you can look forward to dealing Status Damage to an area, but you’ll also have the chance to spawn Ice Crystals that, when shot, deal up to 400% PSI intensity damage.
This means Area of Effect (AoE) damage of 15k per crystal with uncalibrated gear (at least, that’s what I’m getting).
Combine this with an average of three crystals per mag, and you’re looking at some serious damage. It’s not quite as good as Shrapnel or Power Surge for single-target damage, but it’s the best AoE damage you can get in the game.
How the Silent Anabasis works in Combat
Your main source of damage with this build will be your Ice Crystals, which is determined by your Elemental Damage. Hitting an enemy trapped in a Frost Vortex will generate an Ice Crystal with a cooldown of 1.5 seconds.
Shooting these crystals then deals massive AoE damage. So this is your focus with this build; generating and popping those Ice Crystals.
Silent Anabasis Frost Vortex loadout
The new Blackstone armor set shows a lot of promise with the new elemental builds, however, getting them to work in neutral zones (such as Silos or boss fights) would be too much of a pain. During Chaosweaver fights, when the temperature can fluctuate wildly, the additional elemental damage would be great — if Chaosweavers weren’t immune to Elemental and Status damage.
For this reason, I’ve decided on the following loadout for more consistent damage wherever you go.
| Gear Slot | Item |
| Helmet | Shelterer Hood |
| Top | Shelterer Jacket |
| Bottoms | Shelterer Pants |
| Gloves | Snow Camo Gloves |
| Shoes | Renegade Shoes |
| Mask | Shelterer Mask |
You can create any combination of Shelterer and Renegade, as long as you have four Shelterer pieces, the Snow Camo Gloves, and one piece of Renegade. Optionally, if you run a Heavy Calibration on the weapon, one piece of Bastille may be more useful than Renegade.
Silent Anabasis Frost Vortex Weapons and Mods
Naturally, the gun you’ll want to use is the namesake of this post. The M416 can be unlocked at the Wish Machine blueprint shop for 8,000 Starchrom. You can also get it from rolling (make a wish) in Phase Four of The Way of Winter.
You’ll want to use either a Precision or Heavy calibration for this weapon, and I tend to lean towards Heavy. This will give you more bullets to proc Ice Crystals with, increasing your damage significantly.
As for the mod you’ll want to run, there’s only one choice here. The Vortex Multiplier.
This mod gives you an additional Frost Vortex (normally maxed at 2), so you can deal even more damage with even more Ice Crystals.
Finally, accessories are a personal choice. Choose what you feel most comfortable with. Accuracy reduces bullet spread, and stability reduces recoil. So if you’re comfortable handling horizontal recoil, spec into accuracy. Else, I like to make these balanced, aiming for 70+ Stability and Accuracy.
For your support weapon, I’ve chosen the DE.50 Wildfire. Paired with a Spreading Marks mod, this gun can quickly mark the whole room before you clear it all out with the M416.
Finally, the Frozen Northern Pike is your best Melee option, and when paired with the Frosty Blessing mod, can give you a welcome healing option.
Frost Vortex Gear set with Mods
Here’s the full gearset I’m using to deal over one million in damage during a single Deviation cycle with uncalibrated gear, and my Frost mods haven’t even been upgraded yet.
| Gear Slot | Mod | Mod Location |
| Helmet | Deviation Expert | Securement Silo 08 |
| Mask | Lingering Frost | Securement Silo EX1 |
| Top | Flame Resonance or Rejuvenating with Elemental Dmg | Securement Silo PSI / Securement Silo 08 |
| Bottoms | Precision Charge | Securement Silo PSI |
| Gloves | Elemental Overload | Securement Silo Delta |
| Shoes | Covered Advance or Slow and Steady with Elemental Dmg | Securement Silo Delta |
On all gear, you’ll want to prioritize Elemental Dmg and Status Dmg. However, if you can find the Suffix mods for your weapon and mask, you’ll prioritize Frost Vortex Trigger Chance and Frost Vortex Duration. This will greatly increase your damage output.
These mods only drop from High-Risk Public Crisis events and Chaosweaver World Bosses, however, so they can be a bit of a pain to find.
Best Deviation for Frost Vortex M416 build
We have the fun new Deviation called the Snowsprite, and we’re all tempted to use it. It looks so cool! However, the best Deviation for pure damage remains the Polar Jelly.
You can obtain the polar Jelly by fishing near Whalebone or by participating in the Cargo Scramble Public Crisis event.
Best Cradle for M416 build
Here’s the Cradle I’m currently using with this build:
- Anti Void
- Tactical Combo
- Status Enhancement
- Lone Walker or Side-by-Side
- Sustained Suppression
- Frost Sense
- Bounty Hunter
- Tough Build
The only thing I might consider changing is switching Tough Build for Steady Hand. However, Tough Build gives you a nice additional healing option if you (like me) haven’t managed to unlock the Frozen Northern Pike yet.
I just don’t like fishing in this game, what can I say?
Damage Testing the M416 Frost Vortex Build
Now the real question is, is the M416 actually capable of decent damage? Considering that I don’t have the Suffix mods we really need, and all my gear is uncalibrated, I still managed to dish out over 30k DPS and deal over a million damage in one Deviation cycle.
That’s some serious power, and when fully calibrated, I expect this build to be capable of somewhere in the 40-60k DPS range. While other builds like Shrapnel or Fast Gunner are capable of more, they don’t deal AoE damage, which this build does.
In the above screenshot, you’ll notice the dummies on either side of the target are taking stacks of damage as well. This brings us to the final point in this build guide.
When to use the Silent Anabasis Frost Vortex build
This build is best used when dealing with large amounts of additional enemies. Running Silos or clearing out densely populated enemy settlements will be a breeze with this weapon. Its single-point damage isn’t fantastic though, and builds like Fast Gunner or Shrapnel will offer far more damage in these fights.
So if you’re running Silo’s or completing the new LEA (hope you’re as excited as I am to see what that looks like), then use it. If you’re going up against bosses, I recommend a Shrapnel or Fast Gunner build.
