The Dual Personality of the Vinquibus

Update 41: The Old Peace has introduced a brand new weapon category to the Tenno arsenal: the Bayonet. The debut weapon for this class is the Vinquibus. Unlike previous hybrid weapons like Gunblades: the Vinquibus is a true double-threat that occupies both the Primary and Melee weapon slots simultaneously. This design choice allows players to mod the rifle and the blade sections independently: effectively giving you two weapons for the price of one.

The gameplay loop of the Vinquibus relies on a specific “give and take” synergy.

  • Rifle Mode: Landing kills with the rifle provides a stacking damage bonus to your next few melee attacks.
  • Melee Mode: Tearing through enemies with the blade generates “Free Ammo” for the rifle: bypassing the need for ammo pickups.

This creates a rhythmic combat style where you soften up a horde with bullets and then dive in with the bayonet to replenish your magazines. While it sounds powerful: the weapon comes with a strict trade-off: an extremely small 8-round magazine that forces you into the melee rotation frequently.

Community Analysis: Concept vs. Execution

The reaction on Reddit and the official Warframe forums has been polarized. On one hand: veteran players praise the Vinquibus as a “conceptual masterpiece.” Many have pointed out that it feels like what Gunblades were originally meant to be before technical limitations got in the way. The separate modding systems allow for specialized builds: such as using the rifle as a high-critical “stat stick” to buff the melee’s raw damage.

However: many players in the “Uriel & New Weapons” feedback forum have labeled the weapon “sluggish” or even “trash tier” for high-level play.

  • The Single-Target Struggle: Critics argue that in a game dominated by “horde shooters”: a slow-firing: single-target rifle with a long reload is a liability.
  • Slot Consumption: Some users are frustrated that the Vinquibus takes up both slots: preventing them from carrying a reliable area-of-effect (AoE) secondary like the Kuva Bramma to clear groups.
  • The Passive Fix: Fans of the weapon have defended it by highlighting its passive: which increases the magazine from 8 to 24 bullets if you land enough melee kills. They claim the weapon is balanced around a high skill floor that rewards accurate shooting and aggressive melee.

Meta Shifts and Hybrid Stances

The Vinquibus also introduced a new melee stance specifically for bayonets. This stance focuses on forward-momentum stabs and buttstock strikes: making it feel more like a polearm than a traditional sword. Patch 41 also shadow-buffed melee stagger: which makes the bayonet’s short-range thrusts more effective at interrupting heavy units like Eximus Grineer.

Despite the complaints about its fire rate: the Vinquibus is proving to be a top-tier choice for players running the new Uriel Warframe. Since Uriel’s demons can group enemies together: the Vinquibus can pierce through multiple targets: quickly stacking the damage buffs required to make the weapon viable in the Steel Path. Whether this is a niche experiment or the start of a new weapon era depends on if Digital Extremes buffs the base reload speed in upcoming hotfixes.