Overview: Protea is a gadget-obsessed frame, able to bring powerful damage and support powers to bear on the battlefield. Parts can be found in the Granum Void unlocked after completing The Deadlock Protocol quest in your codex.

Prime: Protea doesn’t have a prime version as yet, and will likely not do so for a few years.

Special: Protea empowers every fourth ability you cast with an additional 100% power strength. This is a nice passive that can be left to run by itself or used tactically to empower a specific ability – perhaps you need extra resources from Dispensary (3) or need to boost Blaze Artillery (2) against a specific foe.

You can change the order you cast in to make sure a specific ability gets the boost, or just enjoy the random power up! I like this one, it doesn’t pigeonhole you into a specific build and power strength is always great.

Pros: Protea is quick on her feet and capable of a fast dodge – useful, since her armour and health are nothing to write home about. In terms of powers, she has a versatile kit that’s easy to use, covering both damage and support skills.

Cons: Protea needs a little time to set up – her ability to lock down an area with damage effects, resource dispensers, turrets and temporal shenanigans suffers a bit when forced to move around. That said, it doesn’t take long to dig in. The other thing to keep in mind is the lack of raw health and armour – you will not be able to stand in the thick of things for long.

Powers: Be a fan of grenades with Grenade Fan (1) as you launch a handful of shrapnel grenades that deal slash damage over time! Holding the cast button will launch shield grenades instead, these attach to allies and constantly restore shields, or sacrifice themselves to grant you an invulnerability period as your shields fail. This is a very nice first ability – try scattering the shield versions near objectives for your allies to run over and pick up!

Blaze Artillery (2) deploys a short duration floating turret that bombards everything in a frontal cone with heat damage, increasing every time it lands a hit. You can have three of these turrets active at a time, but they only have a three second lifespan – mod them for duration (Continuity, Augur Message, etc) and they’ll be a) easier to use and b) able to rack up a much higher damage multiplier before expiring. These can deliver some amazing damage if placed well, mowing down entire waves of enemies in a matter of seconds.

Dispensary (3) deploys a floating pod that spawns health, energy and ammo for you and your squad. Nothing fancy here, but incredibly useful to have running when holding your ground since it will easily pay for itself. For extra utility, try using the Repair Dispensary augment exilus mod for the ability to revive robotic companions that are destroyed mid-mission. Note that a high power strength can grant extra drops, and that the energy and health orbs will work with Arcane Energise and Arcane Pulse. They can also be used to charge up Arcane Blessing, granting you a stacking health bonus until death or the mission ends.

Temporal Anchor (4) marks your position when you cast, grants you invulnerability for a few seconds and then stores a portion of all the damage you deal while active. When the ability expires (or you tap 4) you are cleansed of all status effects and have your energy, health, shield, ammo and position restored to what they were at the starting mark, while emitting a radial blast of the damage you stored. If you are downed while Temporal Anchor (4) is active, you will rewind instead, but lose out on the stored damage and restore only a small amount of health. This is a great tool if you know you are about to spend a lot of energy or take a lot of damage.

Opinion: Protea is a powerful frame – but if you stand in the middle of a prolonged fire-fight, you can expect to fall. Skirmish, deploy devices and make liberal use of Temporal Anchor (4) and you’ll cause carnage. Consider her for Survival, Interception and Defence missions. Keep in mind that all of Protea’s abilities get a lot out of bonus duration – so consider using mods like (Primed) Continuity, Constitution and Augur Message.