Citrine vs Nekros
Same Support / Healer fantasy — which support kit fits your squad and mission rota?
TL;DR — Quick Pick
Pick Citrine if…
- You're sold on Citrine's fantasy (Gaze upon the Crystal Bastion) more than another Support / Healer option.
- This slot should feel like Fractured Blast, Preserving Shell, and Crystallize, not a reskin of Nekros's Soul Punch, Terrify, and Shadows Of The Dead.
- You value Citrine's orb-efficiency passive for longer ability spam on dense holds.
Pick Nekros if…
- You want the squad gap filled by Nekros's vibe — There is a reaper whose name is Nekros.
- Citrine's pitch (“Gaze upon the Crystal Bastion”) isn't what you're missing — Desecrate is.
- You're buying into Nekros's passive — restore some Health with every enemy death within a radius.
Verdict
Both fill the Support / Healer lane. Lean Citrine for orb economy and Prismatic Gem; lean Nekros for Desecrate and Desecrate. Mission Usefulness is a wash — decide on kit feel and passive, not the rating table.
At a Glance
Citrine
Stat
Nekros
Support / Healer
Role
Support / Healer
NaramonAura
None
Match the priority to your main ability
Mod Priority
Match the priority to your main ability
Fractured Blast
Kit Opener
Soul Punch
Mission Usefulness
Mission
Citrine
Nekros
Steel Path Survival / Defense / Disruption
Mobile Defense / Excavation
Exterminate / Capture Speed Runs
Spy / Rescue / Nightmare
Open World / Bounties
Long-Range Gunplay / Eidolon-Style Content
When Each Shines
Citrine
- Prismatic Gem carries mid-mission casts; Crystallize is the density payoff.
- Long holds where energy comfort matters — Citrine's loop stays online without babysitting orbs.
- Missions that reward committing to Citrine's full ability loop instead of dabbling.
Nekros
- Desecrate carries mid-mission casts; Shadows Of The Dead is the density payoff.
- Mod focus stays on match the priority to your main ability so the cast loop doesn't fall over mid-rota.
- Missions that reward committing to Nekros's full ability loop instead of dabbling.
Mod Scaling Focus
Citrine
Match the priority to your main ability — Strength or Duration first for most kits, then Efficiency, then Range.
- STR
- Raises damage and effect potency across Citrine’s Strength-scaling abilities.
- DUR
- Extends channeled / timed effects — often comfort on Citrine if the kit leans on buffs or zones.
- RNG
- Helps radius / targeting tools. Dump it if Citrine is mostly self-buff or exalted weapons.
- EFF
- Keeps ability uptime comfortable, especially on longer Steel Path missions.
Nekros
Match the priority to your main ability — Strength or Duration first for most kits, then Efficiency, then Range.
- STR
- Raises damage and effect potency across Nekros’s Strength-scaling abilities.
- DUR
- Extends channeled / timed effects — often comfort on Nekros if the kit leans on buffs or zones.
- RNG
- Helps radius / targeting tools. Dump it if Nekros is mostly self-buff or exalted weapons.
- EFF
- Keeps ability uptime comfortable, especially on longer Steel Path missions.
Who Should You Pull?
- Energy / health orb rooms are common in your rota and Citrine gets more mileage out of every pickup.
- You'd rather specialize hard into orb economy than stay generic in the Support lane.
- Skipping Nekros frees a craft slot — you'd rather finish Citrine properly.
- Open-world and bounty pacing still feel good on Citrine, not only endless survival tiles.
- Inventory space / foundry queue: Citrine jumps the line over another Nekros craft.
- Desecrate into Shadows Of The Dead is the cast story you want to master — not a random subsume mashup.
- Squad comps where someone has to own tile clear alone — Nekros is the frame you trust for that job.
- Citrine can stay on the shelf; Nekros is the one you'll actually Forma twice.
- Even after Helminth, Terrify and later abilities are still the reason Nekros earned potato.
- Your endgame loadout screen should show Nekros before it shows another same-role experiment.