Citrine vs Protea
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.
- You'd rather build around Prismatic Gem than live in Protea's Dispensary loop.
- You value Citrine's orb-efficiency passive for longer ability spam on dense holds.
Pick Protea if…
- You're sold on Protea's fantasy (Protea knows all about protection) more than another Support / Healer option.
- You'd rather build around Dispensary than live in Citrine's Prismatic Gem loop.
- You're buying into Protea's passive — every caststh Power Cast is granted +a percentage Ability Strength.
Verdict
Both fill the Support / Healer lane. Lean Citrine for orb economy and Prismatic Gem; lean Protea for Dispensary and Dispensary. Mission Usefulness is a wash — decide on kit feel and passive, not the rating table.
At a Glance
Citrine
Stat
Protea
Support / Healer
Role
Support / Healer
NaramonAura
AnyMatch the priority to your main ability
Mod Priority
Match the priority to your main ability
Fractured Blast
Kit Opener
Grenade Fan
Mission Usefulness
Mission
Citrine
Protea
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.
Protea
- Dispensary carries mid-mission casts; Temporal Anchor 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.
- Dense spawns where Protea's cast cadence outpaces gun-only clears.
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.
Protea
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 Protea’s Strength-scaling abilities.
- DUR
- Extends channeled / timed effects — often comfort on Protea if the kit leans on buffs or zones.
- RNG
- Helps radius / targeting tools. Dump it if Protea 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 Protea 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 Protea craft.
- Dispensary into Temporal Anchor is the cast story you want to master — not a random subsume mashup.
- Your favorite clear starts on Grenade Fan and ends on Temporal Anchor — Protea is built for that arc.
- Citrine's Prismatic Gem loop asks for a different muscle memory than you want to practice.
- Aura on the aura slot matches the school you're already building weapons around.
- Potato + Forma budget this month has Protea's name on it.