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Forged at the behest of the Worm Queen herself, this already powerful shotgun now has the additional ability to fire from all four barrels simultaneously.

The Kuva Hek is the Kuva variant of the Hek Hek shotgun, with boosts to its critical chance and falloff range, along with its damage, critical multiplier, and status chance surpassing the VaykorHek Vaykor Hek. It has the unique ability to fire all four barrels simultaneously via Alternate Fire.

Characteristics[]

  • This weapon deals primarily DmgPunctureSmall64 Puncture damage.
  • Innate multishot of 7 pellets.
  • Alternate Fire shoots four shots simultaneously.
    • Builds meant to utilize the alternate fire benefit significantly from reload modding, such as (Mod TT 20px Primed) Mod TT 20px Tactical Pump.
    • Alternate Fire consumes 4 rounds of ammunition, effectively resulting in a 1-round magazine that prevents the alt fire from being used in tandem with the primary fire and must reload after every shot.
  • Polarizing the weapon increases its max rank by 2, capping at rank 40 after 5 polarizations, granting the weapon additional mod capacity.
  • Comes with an additional bonus DmgImpactSmall64 Impact, DmgFireSmall64 Heat, DmgColdSmall64 Cold, DmgElectricitySmall64 Electricity, DmgToxinSmall64 Toxin, DmgMagneticSmall64 Magnetic, or DmgRadiationSmall64 Radiation damage, based on the Kuva Lich's progenitor Warframe, which increases the listed base damage of the weapon by 25%-60%.
  • Cannot use the Hek Hek-exclusive Mod TT 20px Scattered Justice mod.

Advantages over other Primary weapons (excluding modular weapons):

  • Very high overall status chance.
  • Tied with normal Hek Hek, VaykorHek Vaykor Hek, and Corinth Corinth for the second-narrowest pellet spread of all shotguns, behind Exergis Exergis.
  • Normal Attack (wiki attack index 1)
    • Very high total damage (609)
    • High average number of procs per shot (0.91)
    • Very high average number of crits per shot (1.61)
  • Alt-Fire (wiki attack index 2)
    • Very high total damage (2,436)
    • High average number of procs per shot (0.92)
    • Very high average number of crits per shot (6.44)

Disadvantages over other Primary weapons (excluding modular weapons):

  • Has linear damage falloff from 100% to 26.67% from 15m to 30m target distance (distances are affected by Projectile Speed).
  • High recoil.
  • Normal Attack (wiki attack index 1)
    • Very low active falloff slope (18.1m/%)
    • Very low maximum falloff distance (30.0 m)
    • Low magazine (4)
    • Low fire rate (2.170 attacks/sec)
    • Below average ammo max (120)
    • Low status chance (13.00%)
    • Low disposition (●●●○○ (0.90x))
  • Alt-Fire (wiki attack index 2)
    • Very low magazine (4)
    • Low fire rate (1.170 attacks/sec)
    • Below average ammo max (120)
    • Very low status chance (3.32%)
    • Low disposition (●●●○○ (0.90x))

Comparisons:

Comparisons:

Acquisition[]

Kuva Hek is obtained by vanquishing a Kuva Lich who generated with one equipped. After the Lich is vanquished it will be in the player's Foundry ready to claim.

While the weapon itself is not tradeable, a converted Kuva Lich generated with the weapon can be traded to another player. The trade is performed inside a Clan Dojo's Crimson Branch room, and the recipient must not have any active Lich. Once traded, the recipient must fight and vanquish the Lich to claim its weapon.

Notes[]

  • Alt fire cannot be used if there are less than 4 rounds in the magazine. Attempting to alt fire with less than 4 rounds will result in a reload instead.
    • The four-round burst consumption is consistent even if mods increasing magazine capacity such as Mod TT 20px Ammo Stock is equipped. It does allow the player to shoot extra rounds first before eventually using the alt-fire or, if Mod TT 20px Burdened Magazine is also equipped, two alt-fire bursts in sequence.
      • If magazine capacity is decreased below 4 rounds (such as with a riven) then the alt fire becomes unusable.
    • Alternatively, using Mod TT 20px Primed Ammo Stock grants four additional shots of the above two mods while only occupying one slot, resulting in an overall DPS increase by using the saved up slot for another damage-based mod.
    • If the player is under an ammo-efficiency effect (such as Void Fuel or Energized Munitions), alt fire can be used with fewer than 4 rounds in the magazine. A reload is triggered when attempting to fire when consumption exceeds current magazine capacity.
Main article: Lich System § Notes (edit)

Kuva/Tenet Notes[]

  • For weapons obtained from vanquishing the Kuva Lich or Sister:
    • The player does not have to meet the Mastery Rank displayed to obtain this weapon. It can simply be claimed from the foundry after the Lich/Sister carrying it has been vanquished.
    • The weapon will have a prefix of the name of the Lich/Sister it was acquired from (e.g. a Kuva Kohm might be called "Odizrigg Agekk Kuva Kohm").
  • Refraining from Mercy killing a lich candidate will remove their weapon from the pool of potential lich weapons until each has been refused, but only if the mission is completed. Weapons rejected from aborted missions will remain in the current cycle.
  • For weapons obtained from Ergo Glast's shop:
    • The player must meet the Mastery Rank displayed to obtain this weapon, as it is claimed from an NPC shop rather than the foundry.
  • The weapon's max rank caps at 40 after 5 polarizations (max rank increases by 2 per Forma added).
    • Additional polarizations can be added when the weapon reaches its new max rank at that polarization level.
    • Each additional rank also gives 100 Mastery Rank experience, giving 4,000 points in total at level 40.
    • Mod capacity scales with the additional ranks, and can reach a total of 80 at rank 40 with an Orokin Catalyst installed.
      • Without an Orokin Catalyst, the max is 40. Combined with the five polarized mod slots required to reach that point, an Orokin Catalyst might not be required for some beginner-friendly builds as they typically use less mod capacity.
      • After polarizing a weapon, any additional mod capacity above 30 (60 with an Orokin Catalyst) will not take effect until the weapon's rank reaches 31 and above.
        • Legendary Mastery Rank increases the minimum mod capacity for such weapons, without the weapon needing to be rank 31 and above. For example, Legendary 1 increases the minimum capacity to 31 (62 with an Orokin Catalyst).
  • Comes with an additional damage stat.
    • For Lich/Sister-obtained weapons this is dependent on the Warframe that summoned the Lich/Sister.
    • For Ergo Glast shop a random bonus stat will be offered for each weapon and changed every 4 days (96 hours).
    • This damage stat randomly ranges between 25%-60%. It can be upgraded up to its maximum value with Valence Fusion using another copy of the weapon.
    • This bonus stat is considered a base damage type and will be applied after all elemental mods for the purposes of elemental combinations.
  View detailed explanation about element merging  
  • Weapons with an innate primary element and a different primary element provided by the progenitor both behave as innate elements and combine with each other. They will also recombine with modded elements in the following order:
    • Mod slot 1 → Mod slot 2 → ... → Mod slot 8 → Innate DmgFireSmall64 Heat → Innate DmgColdSmall64 Cold → Innate DmgElectricitySmall64 Electricity → Innate DmgToxinSmall64 Toxin
HCET Priority Results from Modding an Element
Bonus Element + Modded Element Innate DmgFireSmall64 Heat
E.g. TenetSpirex Tenet Spirex
Innate DmgColdSmall64 Cold
E.g. TenetEnvoy Tenet Envoy
Innate DmgElectricitySmall64 Electricity
E.g. TenetAgendus Tenet Agendus
Innate DmgToxinSmall64 Toxin
Bonus DmgFireSmall64 Heat + Modded DmgColdSmall64 Cold DmgBlastSmall64 Blast DmgBlastSmall64 Blast DmgBlastSmall64 Blast + DmgElectricitySmall64 Electricity DmgBlastSmall64 Blast + DmgToxinSmall64 Toxin
Bonus DmgFireSmall64 Heat + Modded DmgElectricitySmall64 Electricity DmgRadiationSmall64 Radiation DmgRadiationSmall64 Radiation + DmgColdSmall64 Cold DmgRadiationSmall64 Radiation DmgRadiationSmall64 Radiation + DmgToxinSmall64 Toxin
Bonus DmgFireSmall64 Heat + Modded DmgToxinSmall64 Toxin DmgGasSmall64 Gas DmgGasSmall64 Gas + DmgColdSmall64 Cold DmgGasSmall64 Gas + DmgElectricitySmall64 Electricity DmgGasSmall64 Gas
Bonus DmgColdSmall64 Cold + Modded DmgFireSmall64 Heat DmgBlastSmall64 Blast DmgBlastSmall64 Blast DmgBlastSmall64 Blast + DmgElectricitySmall64 Electricity DmgBlastSmall64 Blast + DmgToxinSmall64 Toxin
Bonus DmgColdSmall64 Cold + Modded DmgElectricitySmall64 Electricity DmgRadiationSmall64 Radiation + DmgColdSmall64 Cold DmgMagneticSmall64 Magnetic DmgMagneticSmall64 Magnetic DmgMagneticSmall64 Magnetic + DmgToxinSmall64 Toxin
Bonus DmgColdSmall64 Cold + Modded DmgToxinSmall64 Toxin DmgGasSmall64 Gas + DmgColdSmall64 Cold DmgViralSmall64 Viral DmgViralSmall64 Viral + DmgElectricitySmall64 Electricity DmgViralSmall64 Viral
Bonus DmgElectricitySmall64 Electricity + Modded DmgFireSmall64 Heat DmgRadiationSmall64 Radiation DmgBlastSmall64 Blast + DmgElectricitySmall64 Electricity DmgRadiationSmall64 Radiation DmgRadiationSmall64 Radiation + DmgToxinSmall64 Toxin
Bonus DmgElectricitySmall64 Electricity + Modded DmgColdSmall64 Cold DmgBlastSmall64 Blast + DmgElectricitySmall64 Electricity DmgMagneticSmall64 Magnetic DmgMagneticSmall64 Magnetic DmgMagneticSmall64 Magnetic + DmgToxinSmall64 Toxin
Bonus DmgElectricitySmall64 Electricity + Modded DmgToxinSmall64 Toxin DmgGasSmall64 Gas + DmgElectricitySmall64 Electricity DmgViralSmall64 Viral + DmgElectricitySmall64 Electricity DmgCorrosiveSmall64 Corrosive DmgCorrosiveSmall64 Corrosive
Bonus DmgToxinSmall64 Toxin + Modded DmgFireSmall64 Heat DmgGasSmall64 Gas DmgBlastSmall64 Blast + DmgToxinSmall64 Toxin DmgRadiationSmall64 Radiation + DmgToxinSmall64 Toxin DmgGasSmall64 Gas
Bonus DmgToxinSmall64 Toxin + Modded DmgColdSmall64 Cold DmgBlastSmall64 Blast + DmgToxinSmall64 Toxin DmgViralSmall64 Viral DmgMagneticSmall64 Magnetic + DmgToxinSmall64 Toxin DmgViralSmall64 Viral
Bonus DmgToxinSmall64 Toxin + Modded DmgElectricitySmall64 Electricity DmgRadiationSmall64 Radiation + DmgToxinSmall64 Toxin DmgMagneticSmall64 Magnetic + DmgToxinSmall64 Toxin DmgCorrosiveSmall64 Corrosive DmgCorrosiveSmall64 Corrosive
Element Progenitor Warframe*
DmgImpactSmall64 Impact BaruukIcon272 BaruukGaussIcon272 GaussGrendelIcon272 GrendelRhinoIcon272 RhinoSevagothIcon272 SevagothWukongIcon272 WukongZephyrIcon272 Zephyr
DmgFireSmall64 Heat ChromaIcon272 ChromaEmberIcon272 EmberInarosIcon272 InarosKullervoIcon272 KullervoNezhaIcon272 NezhaProteaIcon272 ProteaVaubanIcon272 VaubanWispIcon272 Wisp
DmgColdSmall64 Cold FrostIcon272 FrostGaraIcon272 GaraHildrynIcon272 HildrynRevenantIcon272 RevenantStyanaxIcon272 StyanaxTitaniaIcon272 TitaniaTrinityIcon272 Trinity
DmgElectricitySmall64 Electricity BansheeIcon272 BansheeCalibanIcon CalibanExcaliburIcon272 ExcaliburGyreIcon272 GyreLimboIcon272 LimboNovaIcon272 NovaValkyrIcon272 ValkyrVoltIcon272 Volt
DmgToxinSmall64 Toxin AtlasIcon272 AtlasDagathIcon272 DagathIvaraIcon272 IvaraKhoraIcon272 KhoraNekrosIcon272 NekrosNidusIcon272 NidusOberonIcon272 OberonSarynIcon272 Saryn
DmgMagneticSmall64 Magnetic CitrineIcon272 CitrineHarrowIcon272 HarrowHydroidIcon272 HydroidLavosIcon272 LavosMagIcon272 MagMesaIcon272 MesaXakuIcon272 XakuYareliIcon272 Yareli
DmgRadiationSmall64 Radiation AshIcon272 AshEquinoxIcon272 EquinoxGarudaIcon272 GarudaLokiIcon272 LokiMirageIcon272 MirageNyxIcon272 NyxOctaviaIcon272 OctaviaQorvexIcon272 QorvexVorunaIcon272 Voruna

*Note that the Primed or Umbra version of a Warframe share the same element

Tips[]

  • As with most weapons with the ability to unload an entire magazine in a single burst, the Kuva Hek's alt-fire synergizes well with MagIcon272 Mag's short-tap Magnetize130xWhite Magnetize bubble, as the quick torrent of shot can pulverize crowds of enemies caught in the bubble.
  • Mod TT 20px Primed Ammo Stock grants the Kuva Hek twice the magazine capacity, allowing for two quick successions of its alt-fire and increasing the already powerful shotgun's overall DPS.

Trivia[]

  • The Grineer text translates into MIS4TUNE (Misfortune).

Bugs[]

  • Manually reloading after the alt fire will use a soundless Braton reload animation.

Media[]

Kuva Hek Skins

Edit

Patch History[]

Update 32.0 (2022-09-07)

Ammo Changes

We understand the power fantasy of these weapons is very popular for some, so our first approach was to keep them powerful, but limit how often they can be used by making changes to ammo pick-up.

Ammo Pickup Overrides
The following weapons now have ammo pickup overrides, meaning they gain less from picking up ammo. This mostly applies to AoE weapons, in hopes that players will become more deliberate with their aim to make the most of their Ammo pools. The following lists the specific ammo pick up overrides per weapon category.

Primary Weapon Ammo Pick Up Overrides

15 Ammo per Pick Up:

  • Kuva Hek

Update 31.6 (2022-06-09)

  • Fixed the Kuva Hek not playing the proper reload animation when the last shot in the magazine is from its alt fire.

Update 30.5 (2021-07-06)

  • Introduced.

See Also[]

  • Hek Hek, the normal counterpart of this weapon.
  • VaykorHek Vaykor Hek, a syndicate variant of this weapon.
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