Talk:Polarization/@comment-50.132.117.241-20130620200731/@comment-11291703-20130628123002

To better answer your question, yes, the devs have thought out the polarities pretty well. The outer slots of which you speak (4x    ) are unique to Warframe ability mods (spells). You'll notice no other mods in the game have that   . This may seem great at first, until you realize that some abilities just aren't worth keeping around. For example, Excalibur's Radial Javelin is a nice skill, but the damage does not make up for the energy required to cast the spell when 2 Slash Dashes will get the job done for overall less energy. I usually skip it for something else. Well in order to use that slot,  I must pay the Mod Capacity penalty for mis-matching polarities since no mods, other than the 4  primary abilities, utilize the   polarity.

They've also chosen which polarities are on the mods themselves to better suit certain class-types and play-styles. For example, Banshee has no defensive mod polarities   and is one of the most frail Warframes in the game. But she has power-based polarities ( 2x  )  for casting more, stronger spells. Conversly Rhino has 2x    for packing on more Defensive mods, but will have to pay more for damage/utility() or  ability/elemental-type mods. This seems like a way to somewhat balance the classes and really get down to a role/playstyle for each individual Frame and weapon.