Gauss

Tank / Defense

Take charge with the Saint of Altra. Gauss is fast, deals high damage, and has strong survivability. Movement charges his powerful battery, so never stop moving.

Role: Tank / Defense
Aura: Naramon
Polarities: MaduraiVazarin
Mastery: 0
Introduced: Update 25.7 (2019-08-29)

Stats

Type: Warframe
Category: Warframes
Mastery: 0
Health: 270
Shield: 455
Armor: 185
Energy: 175
Sprint Speed: 1.4
Build Cost: 25,000 Credits
Build Time: 72h 0m
Rush: 50 Platinum

Warframe dossier

Verified 2026-07-22

Playstyle

Take charge with the Saint of Altra. Built around Mach Rush, Kinetic Plating, Thermal Sunder.

Passive

Moving generates an electrical current that fills Gauss' battery. Shields recharge up to a percentage faster while the Recharge Delay is up to a delay% shorter, based on the battery level.

When to Pick

You want a tank / defense toolkit and Gauss’s fantasy matches the mission.
Your squad is missing what Gauss brings — especially Mach Rush.
You already own the mods / archon shards that make Gauss’s scaling comfortable on Steel Path.

Kit Overview

Mach Rush (Ability 1): Burst into a hyper-sprint bowling over enemies and charging the battery.
Kinetic Plating (Ability 2): Generate armor plating that converts a portion of absorbed Kinetic Damage (Physical, Heat, Cold, and Blast) into Energy.
Thermal Sunder (Ability 3): Siphon kinetic energy from the area, charging the battery and inflicting Cold Status on nearby enemies.
Redline (Ability 4): Push Gauss' battery beyond the redline, supercharging his Abilities and setting Fire Rate, Attack Speed, Reload Speed, and Casting Speed into overdrive.

Abilities & Augments

1
Mach Rush →
Energy 25
Burst into a hyper-sprint bowling over enemies and charging the battery. Crashing into solid objects generates a powerful shockwave. Hold to rush continuously.
Augment
Mach CrashOpen augment →
2
Kinetic Plating →
Energy 25
Generate armor plating that converts a portion of absorbed Kinetic Damage (Physical, Heat, Cold, and Blast) into Energy. Also protects Gauss from being staggered or knocked down. Damage Resistance is relative to the battery level.
No augment
3
Thermal Sunder →
Energy 25
Siphon kinetic energy from the area, charging the battery and inflicting Cold Status on nearby enemies. Hold reverses the process, draining the battery and inflicting Heat Status on nearby enemies.
Augment
Thermal TransferOpen augment →
4
Redline →
Energy 25
Push Gauss' battery beyond the redline, supercharging his Abilities and setting Fire Rate, Attack Speed, Reload Speed, and Casting Speed into overdrive. When past the redline, bolts of arcing electricity dance periodically from Gauss, exploding en masse when the ability is deactivated.
No augment

Ability Priority

1
Kinetic Plating
Generate armor plating that converts a portion of absorbed Kinetic Damage (Physical, Heat, Cold, and Blast) into Energy.
2
Mach Rush
Burst into a hyper-sprint bowling over enemies and charging the battery.
3
Thermal Sunder
Siphon kinetic energy from the area, charging the battery and inflicting Cold Status on nearby enemies.
4
Redline
Push Gauss' battery beyond the redline, supercharging his Abilities and setting Fire Rate, Attack Speed, Reload Speed, and Casting Speed into overdrive.

Helminth / Subsume

Mach Rush is often the Helminth sacrifice if your build never needs Ability 1 and you’d rather import a strip, buff, or survival tool.
Keep Kinetic Plating and later abilities when they define Gauss’s identity.
Never subsume the ability that enables the rest of the kit’s energy or survival loop.

Mod Scaling

Strength: Raises damage and effect potency across Gauss’s Strength-scaling abilities.
Duration: Extends channeled / timed effects — often comfort on Gauss if the kit leans on buffs or zones.
Range: Helps radius / targeting tools. Dump it if Gauss is mostly self-buff or exalted weapons.
Efficiency: Keeps ability uptime comfortable, especially on longer Steel Path missions.

Priority

Match the priority to your main ability — Strength or Duration first for most kits, then Efficiency, then Range.

Mission Usefulness

Mission / Context	Rating	Why
Steel Path Survival / Defense / Disruption	Excellent	Gauss stays online in long Steel Path runs thanks to Mach Rush, not just raw weapon DPS. Burst into a hyper-sprint bowling over enemies and charging the battery. Take charge with the Saint of Altra.
Mobile Defense / Excavation	Excellent	On Mobile Defense, Gauss’s Mach Rush means fewer downed cryopods and less babysitting. Burst into a hyper-sprint bowling over enemies and charging the battery. Take charge with the Saint of Altra.
Exterminate / Capture Speed Runs	Excellent	Capture markers and Exterminate tallies fall fast when Gauss chains Mach Rush across the tile. Burst into a hyper-sprint bowling over enemies and charging the battery. Take charge with the Saint of Altra.
Spy / Rescue / Nightmare	Weak	Loud kit. Leave Spy / Rescue to invis or silence frames; Mach Rush doesn’t make Gauss quiet. Burst into a hyper-sprint bowling over enemies and charging the battery.
Open World / Bounties	Strong	Strong on packed bounty camps; Gauss still leans on Operator / Archwing for the empty travel stretches while Mach Rush handles fights. Burst into a hyper-sprint bowling over enemies and charging the battery. Take charge with the Saint of Altra.
Long-Range Gunplay / Eidolon-Style Content	Weak	Gauss wants pack clear or finishers, not pure long-range; Mach Rush won’t save an Eidolon-style loadout. Burst into a hyper-sprint bowling over enemies and charging the battery. Take charge with the Saint of Altra.