You could. But you are focusing on thinking that Warframes outpower one another and weapons outpower one another. While some Warframes are a bit on the lackluster side right now like Oberon, Volt (getting reworked), Hydroid and few others, there are a lot of ones that can acheive high damaging numbers. It's all about the mods. Remember, mods is Warframe take on RPGs and character/weapon building. The mods define what you're Warframe/weapon will be. Like look at my Inaros build. Intensify makes my power strength go up which gives me more damage for Desiccation, Sandstorm, Devour, and gives me more healing when I use Scarab Swarm. Stretch makes these powers ranges go even further than before. Rage lets me get energy when my health goes down. Since Inaros is health only, I get a near endless supply of energy. Vitality increases my health and steel fiber increases my armor so I take less damage from attacks. When my Inaros started, I was basically healing so little and dying a bit fast due to low health. Stack mods on and it's a whole different ball game.

Trust me, I was like that when I first started Warframe. I use to just buy weapons and frames and didn't really care for Mods. But I came to realize that Mods are one of the most important aspects of the game. It defines what you are.

Here I'm gonna list some helpful sites to help you out.

http://warframe-builder.com/

This site helps with deciding what build you want for your Warframe/weapon and how much points it'll take up. It's such a great site as it shows all mods avaibable for your weapon/warframe and the polarities. It even lets you view other people builds to get an idea. I started using this site much more since I got Inaros and Soma Prime.

http://warframe.wikia.com/wiki/WARFRAME_Wiki

Pretty much the site I go to every time I start up Warframe. The Wiki has such an expansive amount of information for about everything Warframe. It lists where mod drops are, weapon stats and drop parts, Warframe powers (in-depth if I say so myself), rewards list from missions such as Excavation and Defense and much much more. Really helpful.

https://warframe.market/

Simply the best site for trading and knowing trade prices. What you should do with Plat if not buying anything else is trading for mods/prime items that are in the Vault. Only if you want but I recommend it as I buy mods that are really rare/only dropped in Event to help with my builds. I also buy reactors and catalysts.

And about that..The main frames and weapons you use? Yeah, install Orokin reactors and catalysts on them. It's pretty much a must for any build you're working with. I have one on every frame I own beside Nyx since I'm gonna get her Prime variant and put one on there. You're main weapons should also have one installed. It helps dude.

Hopefully, this little guide helps. Check the sites out. They are good.

Edit: FROST PRIME DONE BUILDING. YES.