Atlas: Nourish Landslide

Overview of Atlas

Atlas is a caster health tank who specializes in close combat with his exalted melee ability, Landslide. While he can’t nuke entire maps like some Warframes, his fists still pack enough punch to clear rooms effectively. Atlas isn’t invincible, but his high health and rubble mechanics allow him to take hits and keep going. Simply put, he’s not the best or the worst, but with some investment, you can polish this rock into a powerhouse. Landslide itself is dangerous enough to throw enemies off maps—sometimes hilariously so. Petrify freezes foes in place, and destroying them generates rubble that heals or adds bonus armor, bolstering his survivability. His other abilities, however, are less impressive. Tectonics creates a wall that adds little to his kit, and Rumblers summon stone allies with underwhelming damage.

Landslide can be built in two ways: focusing on raw single-target damage or spreading it across multiple foes. Both approaches are viable and serve different scenarios. Although his energy economy can occasionally fall short, there are solutions to mitigate this. With the Techrot Encore update, Atlas received a boost to Landslide’s base stats along with new mods and arcanes, giving him more flexibility in how he pulverizes enemies. He may not carry the flashiest arsenal, but with the burden of battle on his shoulders, Atlas proves that raw strength can still smash opponents into submission.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Atlas’s core strength lies in his melee prowess. As a Titan and brawler, his exalted melee ability, Landslide, delivers crushing blows capable of moving mountains—a true champion of the earth. While primarily focused on single-target damage, clever building can allow him to brawl effectively with groups. His flexibility as a frame means he has no strict niche, excelling at nothing specific but remaining viable across many scenarios. Thanks to his high health and armor, Atlas stands as one of the strongest health tanks in the game, shrugging off tick-based damage until much later levels.

However, his weaknesses are just as notable. Untargetable enemies can entirely block his damage, and while his tankiness is impressive, it doesn’t make him truly invincible compared to some other frames. His reliance on energy also poses challenges; when the well runs dry, the earth mover can no longer move the earth. Enemies immune to his attacks are another obstacle, so careful planning and strategy are key. Fortunately, with the right loadout and arsenal, these challenges can be addressed, allowing Atlas to overcome even the most stubborn foes.

How to build atlas?

How to Build Atlas

Building Atlas revolves entirely around Landslide, with two key builds: one tailored for the frame and the other for his melee weapon. It’s an investment, no doubt, but the payoff is worth it. Landslide is straightforward in terms of interactions, making it accessible to players without overwhelming complexity—a welcome bonus for those diving into his playstyle.

Focus your frame build on enhancing survivability and energy efficiency while boosting Landslide’s damage potential. For the melee build, prioritize mods that amplify Landslide’s raw damage or help spread the destruction across groups. With these setups, Atlas becomes an unstoppable force, smashing enemies with precision and brute strength.

Stats to Aim For

Range: Enhances Landslide’s attack range, allowing you to strike from farther away.
Power Strength: Increases Landslide’s overall damage output, making every punch count.
Survivability: As a health tank, Atlas thrives on high health and armor to endure damage effectively.

Mods I Use and Budget-Friendly Options

Below are the mods I recommend, along with some alternatives for players who are starting out or working with a limited collection.

Frame Build Mods

Aura: Steel Charge is the go-to choice, as this melee-focused aura synergizes perfectly with Atlas, increasing melee damage while providing extra capacity for other mods.
Range Mods: To increase Landslide’s reach, I use Cunning Drift in the Exilus slot, along with Archon Stretch, Auger Stretch, and Overextended. These mods collectively enhance Landslide’s range.
Umbral Set Mods: All three Umbral mods (Umbral Vitality, Umbral Fiber, and Umbral Intensify) are included for the extra survivability and strength. For a budget-friendly alternative, consider using an unranked Umbral Fiber, which reduces the Forma requirement but still provides the set bonus, albeit with less armor.
Adaptation: A great mod for damage resistance, ensuring Atlas can soak up more punishment in battle.
Primed Flow: Increases your maximum energy, giving you a larger energy pool to sustain Landslide usage.

Understanding Mod Synergies

The combination of Range mods and Adaptation with Umbral mods enhances both Landslide’s effectiveness and Atlas’s survivability. Range mods expand Landslide’s reach, while Adaptation and Umbral mods synergize to boost effective health by utilizing his high health and armor.

Replacements for Budget Builds

Aura Mod: If you’re missing Steel Charge, use any aura mod that fits your build and provides a benefit for your playstyle.
Umbral Set: Swap the Umbral mods for their regular counterparts. Alternatively, replace Umbral Fiber with another armor-boosting mod. To reduce Forma requirements, you can keep Umbral Fiber unranked and limit Umbral Vitality and Umbral Intensify to rank 8, which still grants set bonuses, though with slightly reduced stats.
Archon Stretch: Replace it with Stretch, unless you’re benefiting from the energy regeneration tied to electrical priming. If you’re missing other range mods, substitute with whatever alternatives you have available.
Primed Flow: Use Flow as a budget-friendly replacement to increase your energy pool.
Adaptation: Unfortunately, there’s no direct replacement for this mod. The best alternatives are mods that boost health or armor to maintain Atlas’s survivability.
Efficiency Mods: If energy management is an issue, add Streamline for better efficiency or combine it with Fleeting Expertise for a more robust solution.

Arcanes

Among the many great Arcanes, these two excel at enhancing health and power strength based on health:

Arcane Blessing: Increases maximum health as you collect health orbs.
Arcane Bellicose: Boosts power strength based on health, synergizing effectively with Arcane Blessing to maximize bonuses when paired.

Other Options:

Arcane Fury: Grants bonus melee damage on critical hits, making it ideal for Landslide builds.
Arcane Avenger: Boosts critical chance when taking damage, enhancing crit-focused Landslide setups—though immunity during Landslide can limit its effectiveness.
Arcane Reaper: Offers armor and a useful 24 health/second regen, adding survivability.
Arcane Energize: A classic pick for addressing energy management concerns.

Why Don’t You Use Augments?

Ore Gaze is quite good if you need to farm resources. Simply replace Umbral Fiber with it, as losing some armor won’t significantly impact your survivability, especially in this setup. Rubble Heap, on the other hand, is energy-intensive and relies on maintaining rubble, which can be challenging. With this build one-shotting enemies, the extra armor becomes limited and only useful in small ranges.

Path of Statues has proven to be inconsistent in practice, making it less reliable as an augment. Meanwhile, Rumblers are underwhelming—not particularly useful in their current state. They would benefit greatly if their damage scaled with Landslide, but as things stand, they don’t justify inclusion in this build.

How to Build Landslide

There are two distinct approaches to building Landslide, each shaping the mods and arcanes you’ll rely on: one focuses on devastating single-target damage, while the other emphasizes status-based AoE for clearing groups.

Single-Target Damage Build: This build prioritizes raw power, delivering massive damage with each punch. Arcane Melee Exposure is a helpful addition here, though not essential. If big, satisfying numbers are your goal, this is the clear choice.
Status-Based AoE Build: Ideal for handling groups, this build leverages electric status effects to spread damage across multiple enemies. Arcane Melee Influence is absolutely required for this approach, as it enables the AoE functionality. Without it, this build isn’t worth considering.

Choose your build based on the content you plan to tackle. Landslide offers incredible flexibility and can achieve powerful results with the right investment. Personally, I’ll admit I’m a fan of the single-target build—there’s just something fun about big, silly numbers!

Gas Build Overview

This build utilizes Condition Overload paired with Weeping Wounds to capitalize on status effects for scaling damage. The inclusion of Dirga as a status primer makes this setup even more effective by ensuring enemies are loaded with multiple status effects for Condition Overload—more details on Dirga’s role will come later.

Core Mods:

Blood Rush: Increases critical chance as your combo multiplier grows, synergizing beautifully with Landslide’s combo-heavy playstyle.
Galvanized Steel: Provides additional damage boosts when multiple status effects are applied, further amplifying gas-based damage.
Primed Reach: Extends your melee range, making Landslide hits more efficient in both single-target and AoE scenarios.
Organ Shatter: Adds a multiplier to critical damage, perfect for scaling high-damage output.
Volcanic Edge + Primed Fever Strike: Creates the gas effect by combining heat and toxin damage, forming the cornerstone of this build.

If Condition Overload isn’t part of your plan, swap it out for Pressure Point, which offers solid base damage and works as a reliable fallback.

Why This Build?

The simple reason is that there’s no alternative that makes Atlas work as effectively. Landslide is the core of his kit, and this build is all about maximizing its potential for those big, satisfying damage numbers. Nourish is the Helminth ability of choice, as it improves Atlas’s energy economy while also providing a viral status bonus. The result? Bigger numbers, better efficiency, and unmatched punch power—which, in the end, is all that matters for this setup.

Helminth Options

Another solid choice for the Helminth ability is Roar, which provides a general damage buff. Given the high range you’re building into, abilities that can group enemies together also make perfect sense for synergy with Landslide.

While Wrathful Advance might seem appealing for boosting melee power, its reliance on low duration makes it impractical in this setup. With energy economy already being a concern, it’s better to stick to abilities that enhance efficiency and complement the build rather than add further strain.

Archon Shards

At this level of overkill, there’s really only one standout option: Violet Shards for the bonus critical damage. They provide the best synergy with Landslide’s power, ensuring each punch hits even harder. For a budget-friendly alternative, you can opt for Crimson Shards to boost power strength, but critical damage remains the superior choice for maximizing impact.

For my setup, I’ve gone with five Violet Shards to fully enhance critical damage, along with one Amber Shard to improve casting speed. The flexibility of Archon Shards means you can customize them to suit your needs, but keep in mind that more power strength is generally weaker compared to investing in critical damage.

Other Things to Consider

Using Dirga equipped with Burst Laser Prime is a great option for applying status procs, which further enhances Condition Overload setups. To maximize its utility, consider equipping an unranked copy of Auger Seeker alongside Auger Pact. This combination helps ensure that as many status effects as possible are applied to your targets, amplifying Landslide’s damage potential.

Another useful addition is Tenacious Bond, as it’s relatively easy to gain the bonus it provides. When combined with the rest of your setup, these additions ensure a smoother experience and even more destructive power.

Closing Thoughts

Atlas’s strength lies entirely in Landslide—it’s his focal point and the key to his effectiveness. The build above makes him shine as a brawler frame, leaning into Landslide to deliver those hilarious, big damage numbers and send foes flying. While his playstyle has its limits, as Atlas isn’t the most versatile or dominant frame, he remains rewarding to play. Not every scenario works perfectly for him, but that’s part of the fun.

What I love about Atlas is how flawed he is—this rock may be imperfect, but it’s incredibly entertaining to use. Watching numbers climb and throwing foes around makes his gameplay uniquely satisfying. He may require some effort to get the best out of him, but the payoff is always worth it. Even with limited investment, Atlas shows promise and proves he can still smash his way through challenges.

During my own experience, I didn’t use the best build, yet Atlas showed potential and delivered enjoyment. If you’re ready to embrace this flawed Titan, rocking his fists and smashing his way into the earth, Atlas is sure to leave an impression.