10 Important Tips to Playing Warframe – A Guide to Victory

Image credit to Digital Extremes

The free-to-play shooter Warframe has been around for many years now. That being said, this incredible title is as strong as ever. Every day new, passionate players join the ranks of Warframe’s massive fandom. With that in mind, we have collected a series of top tips for avid, new players to enjoy.

1. Remember to Switch to Solo Before Doing Story Missions Alone

Once you make your way to Plains of Eidolon or Orb Vallis, the two open-world locations within the game, you may notice a significant difficulty increase. Luckily, there is a way to fix it.

In either of these locations, you will find a bevy of solo missions you can complete. As reported by Rocket Paper Shotgun, Warframe seemingly does not scale the difficulty of open-world missions depending on your server preferences.

To fix this issue, make your way to the menu screen aboard your ship. Click the globe icon next to your username and make sure it is set to “Solo” rather than “Public, Friends Only or Invite Only.” If the server preference is set to “Public,” be ready to experience a tougher challenge.

2. Here Are Some Top Starting Weapons and the Best Early Game Warframe

Becoming a skilled and effective Warframe player demands time and dedication. To that end, you are going to want to make the most of your build right from the start.

Best Warframe

Rhino is arguably the best early game warframe you can get your hands on. It is known for its tank features, rather than its mobility. However, the warframe will prove useful in nearly any situation.

In order to earn the Rhino warframe, you will first need to face the Jackal boss within the Fossa mission on the Venus planet. After defeating the boss, you will be able to pick up the blueprints for this stellar warframe.

A common build for the Rhino is dedicated to improving the warframe’s tanking abilities. If that is your wish, consider applying the Rush, Stretch, Intensify, Continuity, Streamline, Fast Deflection, Vitality and Steel Fiber mods.

Best Weapons

While having a powerful warframe is a great start, you will still need great weapons to accompany the power suit. For the early game, there are a few weapons that you should keep an eye out for.

For a primary weapon, you have some options. Popular weapon choices for the early game include the following.

MR4: Hek, Torid

MR8: Lenz, Zarr

MR7: Sobek, Baza

MR6: Rubico, Tonkor

For secondary weapons, consider the following.

MR4: Aklex, Hikou

MR7: Lex Prime, Prisma Angstrum

MR8: Pandero

3. How to Unlock Companions

Companions can give you a definitive edge in combat, so you are going to want to pick one up as soon as possible. Plus, these nifty sidekicks can be modified. The sooner you nab yourself a companion, the sooner you can start upgrading them.

There are four types of companions in Warframe, as illustrated below.

Companion	Description
Sentinel	These hovering companions are robotic, meaning they do not require maintenance. They are equipped with ranged weapons.
MOA	These terrain companions do not require maintenance and they are equipped with ranged weapons.
Kubrow	These terrain companions use melee attacks and require maintenance. However, they are also more durable than their MOA and Sentinel counterparts.
Kavat	These terrain companions use melee attacks and require maintenance. However, they are also more durable than their MOA and Sentinel counterparts.

How to Get Sentinels

If you want to grab yourself a sentinel, you are first going to need to find some blueprints. Or, you can complete Clan Dojo Research, Venus Junction (Earth) and The Business on Fortuna (Venus) missions for blueprint rewards.

How to Get MOAs

If you want an MOA, you are going to need to make your way to the Solaris United faction. Complete the Vox Solaris mission on Fortuna to access the faction. Lastly, speak with the Legs merchant at Solaris United for the blueprints you need.

How to Get Kubrows

In order to get a Kubrow of your own, you will have to breed one through the Howl of the Kubrow quest. First, grab the Incubator as Unda, Venus. Then, find a Kubrow egg at E Prime, Earth. Finish the Earth to Mars Junction in order to earn an Incubator Power Core. Lastly, protect your Kubrow in combat at Gaia, Earth.

How to Get Kavats

In order to nab a Kavat, you will need to breed one. Luckily there is no required quest that needs to be completed.

First, grab an Incubator from Unda, Venus. Next, buy a Kavat Incubator Upgrade Segment at the Market. Grab an Incubator Power Core by finishing the Earth to Mars Junction. Lastly, buy ten Kavat Genetic Cods at the Market.

4. Save Your Platinum

Once you have booted up the game, you will notice that you are granted a small sum of platinum for your new account. Platinum is a vital resource that influences almost every aspect of Warframe. Don’t go spending it right away. Hold onto it.

You can’t farm for more platinum in-game. If you want more of this resource, you will have to purchase it through a micro-transaction or you will have to trade other players for it.

The most common way to spend this vital resource is on expanding your maximum warframe and weapon slots. There will be other opportunities to spend platinum, but it is suggested that you save yours for these expansions. If you would rather spend some money on platinum, then consider waiting until one of the game’s sales. Sometimes platinum can be up to 75% off during a sale.

5. How to Get New Loot

A massive part of Warframe is constantly improving your gear. You will start the game with a choice between a few warframes, a few primary weapons and a few secondary weapons. That being said, you should be looking to replace each and every one of these items as soon as possible.

In order to get quality loot, you will have to craft it. One of the easiest ways to garner new gear is to purchase blueprints at the in-game market, but they can also be farmed by completing certain quests. Dual Aklato pistols and the powerful Braton are great first weapon picks. Once you have your blueprints, you will then have to go out into the world of Warframe and farm vital resources so that you can build your new gear.

Next, you can visit the Foundry to craft your new gear. Crafting weapons and warframe parts generally takes a solid 12 hours to complete. Meanwhile, crafting an entirely new warframe can take 72 hours. This process can be sped up by spending platinum.

To craft a warframe, you will need Neuroptics, Systems, Chassis and Blueprints. Most of these items can be farmed by defeating certain bosses and completing certain missions.

6. Find Yourself Some Orokin Reactors and Orokin Catalyst

Simply choosing a quality warframe and quality weapons is not enough. Mods are everything. Equipping mods to your gear is one of the best ways to improve your character. If you want to make the most out of this feature, however, you are going to want to get your hands on two items.

Orokin Reactor

This nifty items will double the mod capacity for warframes, archwings and companions. Consequently, you are going to want to get your hands on some as soon as possible.

You can pay 20 platinum for a single Orokin Reactor at the in-game market. Or, you can build them in the Foundry.

You can find blueprints for the item from Gift of the Lotus alerts, as Invasion battle pay, as a possible Daily Tribute, a Tactical Alert reward or as a reward for finishing a Sortie. A full breakdown of the crafting requirements can be seen down below, as provided by warframe.fandom.com.

Orokin Catalyst

Likewise, Orokin Catalysts are used to double the mod capacity of all weapons. To claim one, you can pay 20 platinum at the in-game market. Or, they can be crafted within the Foundry. Blueprints for these Catalysts can be found as a Sortie reward, Gift of the Lotus alerts, Invasion battle pay, Tactical Alert reward, Daily Tribute or from Stolen Dreams quests.

As provided by warframe.fandom.com, a detailed breakdown of the crafting requirements may be found below.

7. Understanding Forma

Forma is a resource that will play a larger role later in the game, but it is still important to understand this feature. Forma can be used for a number of things.

They can change the polarity of mods on warframes, archwings, weapons and companions. They can also add tiles to a Clan Dojo, allow you to rise in your Syndicate rankings or be used as a crafting requirement for certain weapons and other items.

You can pay 20 platinum for a single Forma or you can spend 35 platinum for three of them as part of a deal. That being said, they can also be acquired without breaking the bank.

Forma can be received as rewards for Sorties and Earth Sabotage missions. They can also be found in Orokin storage containers during Orokin Derelict, Void and Lua missions. The two containers within the music puzzle on Lua have a chance of dropping forma as well.

A forma blueprint can be acquired as a reward for a Daily Tribute, from opening Void Relics, Orokin Derelict Defense Missions, Invasion missions, Rathuum missions and Conclave matches. A detailed breakdown of the Forma crafting requirements can be seen down below, as provided by warframe.fandom.com.

In order to use your Forma on a piece of equipment, that piece of gear will first have to be leveled to 30. After using the Forma, the piece of equipment will then be downgraded back to level zero. If being used on a warframe, the warframe’s skills will be reset and their ranks will be removed.

Consequently, using Forma on gear is a massive investment. Think twice before making the decision to apply a Forma to a piece of gear.

8. Understanding Sorties

Sorties are perhaps the most classicly MMO of all Warframe’s features. Sorties are provided in sets of three each day. In order to complete the next level of sortie mission, you must first complete the previous mission.

After completing all three missions, the player will be granted a wonderful reward. The reward will vary, but is almost always worthwhile. Check out a list of featured Sortie rewards and their prospective drop rates down below, as provided by warframe.fandom.com.

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Anasa Ayatan Sculpture – 28.00%*
Riven Mod – 27.90%†
4,000x Endo – 12.10%‡
6,000x Kuva – 12.00%‡
3-Day Booster – 9.81%^
Exilus Adapter – 2.50%
Forma – 2.50%
Orokin Catalyst Blueprint – 2.50%
Orokin Reactor Blueprint – 2.50%
Legendary Core – 0.18%

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In order to participate in a Sortie mission, you will first have to do a few things. For starters, only players with level 30 warframes are allowed to join. After reaching level 30, complete “The War Within” mission to unlock your Sortie daily quests.

It is also important to note, however, that you will be locked out of Sortie missions if you cap out your Riven mods. You will have to delete one of the mods or increase your mod capacity before joining a Sortie.

9. Here’s How to Get Some Important Resources

There are a lot of resources to keep up with in Warframe. That being said, there are some harder to find resources that you will find yourself needing time and time again. Check out how you can get your hands on some of these goods within the table down below.

Resource	Description
Void Traces	You will find these during Void Fissure missions in which you are collecting Reactant. This resource is used for Dragon Keys and Void Relic upgrades.
Tellurium	This resource is dropped by Archwing units that are in space or during the Grineer Sealab stages.
Argon Crystal	This resource can be collected from Void Sabotage and Survival Missions. It is important to note, however, that this resource will degrade over time once placed in your inventory.
Control Module	You will find these during Void Defense and Survival Missions, as well as the Psamathe Mission (Neptune) and the Naaman Mission (Europa).
Plastids	These can be picked up at Phobos, Saturn, Uranus Pluto and Eris.
Oxium	Various Corpus missions will provide these. If you kill an Oxium Osprey before it self-destructs, it will drop some.
Gallium	Can be farmed on Mars and Uranus. Boss fights are excellent sources on these planets.
Morphics	Mission on Mars may offer this resource. Boss fights on Mercury, Pluto and Mars are excellent sources.
Orokin Cell	Orokin Derelict Survival missions will offer these. All bosses have a chance of dropping this resource.
Nitain Extract	Reactor Sabotage missions will provide these.

10. How to Farm Credits Without Opening Your Wallet

If you want to earn more credits without breaking the bank, there are two basic strategies. The primary tactic you will want to take advantage of can be found on Neptune.

Neptune

The Index is a Corpus Arena mission found on Neptune. Nef Anyo hosts the event. By placing an initial investment, players can bet on their own performances. In order to win the wage, you will need to earn a certain number of points during the mission. Check out a breakdown of the system down below.

Wager	Return	Profit	Point Requirement
30,000	105,000	75,000	50
40,000	175,000	135,000	75
50,000	250,000	200,000	100

Pluto

Make your way to planet Pluto. Then, complete the excavation mission Hieracon. You can make 20,000 credits within five minutes through this strategy. Likewise, you can complete the Dark Sector defense mission Sechura for a similar profit.