Warframe Beginner's Guide - How to Play & Tricks

Welcome, new Tenno, to the Warframe beginner guide. You have been dormant for centuries, but now you must answer the call and awaken. Lost and disoriented, with no memory of past adventures, being held at the gunpoint by unknown enemies, you’re tasked with bringing back the balance into the galaxy and revive the ancient legend of a warrior caste, forgotten like a dream.

If you’re a new player, you might be confused as to what is going on in the game story-wise and in terms of gameplay. Warframe has been out for more than a decade, growing and expanding its universe and content. This Warframe starting guide will be your guidebook to the game’s core systems. We’ll explain how the game works so that you will have a much easier time trying out different things and having fun. 

Here’s our rough plan for this guide - we’ll start by covering some of the lore and backstory, explaining where it all starts, who you play as, and what the meaning of the things that are constantly going on is. Then, we’ll proceed to give you a little tour of your personal ship that acts as the base of operations. After that, we’ll explain the gameplay, star chart, and missions so that you can easily choose which missions you want to do instead of getting lost by looking at the list of available activities. Finally, we’re going to finish up with some great tips for you, just some cool things you should know about Warframe that will make your experience playing it that much better.

But before we begin, we’d like to share with you something really important. Warframe is a looter shooter that thrives on one philosophy - farming. You’ll be farming resources and rare items that have a very low chance of dropping throughout your entire Warframe career. This doesn’t get any easier closer to the endgame. In fact, one could argue you’d be doing even more farming once you’ll have a list of things to chase down. A lot of content is going to be locked behind levels, but you can actually bypass that by quickly leveling up all of your gear to max level. That can be done very quickly if you choose to buy Warframe Powerleveling service at SkyCoach. With it, SkyCoach’s team of veteran Warframe players and professional gamers will level up your gear, increasing its mod capacity and basic stats. More importantly, this will allow you to gain access to higher-level content much faster. Consider placing an order today so you can enjoy the true power fantasy of Warframe.

 

Warframe Lore and Your Place in It

The story of Warframe isn’t told the same way as most other classic online games. The majority of the lore is hidden and must be researched by players when they play the game. This is why new players often have no idea who they are fighting and for what reasons. Therefore, for this initial part of our Warframe complete guide, we’ll start with the lore.

Over the last decade, the universe of Warframe has grown so much that it would be impossible to summarise everything without skipping any essential details. All you need to know at the start of the game is that you play as Tenno - a cast of warriors with powerful super-abilities who control a suit of armor called Warframes that grants them various abilities. Tenno, or more specifically their Warframes, including yours have been in cryosleep for centuries, but you are awakened by Lotus, someone who appears to be Tenno guide and caretaker. With her guidance, you are slowly beginning to restore to your former glory as you complete missions across the Solar system.

To summarise:

• Tenno - someone who has incredible abilities and controls Warframes. You have been awakened after a long time of being in cryosleep.
• Warframes - your set of armor or surrogate bodies that you control from a distance. For the most part of your gameplay, you’ll be controlling Warframes directly.
• Lotus - one of the major characters in the game. She guides you through your missions and provides valuable information about the state of the universe.
• Origin System - part of the galaxy where the game takes place. It features all of the planets and a few other locations where your missions will take place.

You don’t really have to know the rest to know how to start Warframe, but here’s a bit more of the game’s background. Even though the game takes place in our Solar System, it will be difficult to recognize. To make it easier for you, imagine our system millions or even billions of years into the future. The empire that reigns over the system is called Orokin. They’re the only force in the galaxy, and they have the wisdom, technology, and ambition to be the most fearsome civilization out there.

Once upon a time, the colony ship "Zariman Ten Zero" that carried several citizens and their children had a malfunction and had been lost in the middle of a void jump. Basically, this ship vanished and got stuck inside the sub-dimensional space known as the Void. A few days later, the ship reemerged and was found stranded yet untouched. The only surviving members of the crew were the children. It was discovered that the Void somehow changed them and harnessed extremely powerful powers that they could not control. Long story short, Orokin tried to harvest whatever power these children had, but after many trials and failures, the best thing they could do was make Warframes and fuse these kids with those “bodies” to send them to war. That’s how children became Tenno, the elite Orokin military force. BLOG20

Centuries later, the Orokin Empire came undone; it has been destroyed and now the Origin System is torn by the confrontation of those who outlived the empire. These factions are:

Grineer - are the clones in multiple generations of clones of humans. These creatures only distantly resemble original humans. They have twisted bodies that is often fused with various machinery. This is a very militaristic faction that seeks to gain control over the Origin system (solar system) by brute force. Regular foot soldiers are treated as cannon fodder because they are so easily replaceable.

Corpus - is the faction or, rather a mega-corporation that pursues profit so vigorously, it became their ideology and religion. They’re super technologically advanced faction that heavily relies on robotis and drones.

Infested - a disease, a virus that turns everyone without prejudice - Grineer, Corpus, Orokin, Tenno, and everything else into mindless puppets. It was created by Orokin to help them in the war, but it quickly got out of control and turned on its creators.

These are the main, albeit not the only factions that you will be fighting against in the game. Now, let’s actually get to the juciest part of the Warframe gaming guide and talk about the gameplay.

Warframe Gameplay Overview Part #1: Liset and Orbiter

This still could be too much information to muster all at once, but once you start playing, it’ll get much easier. If you want to know how to start playing Warframe as a beginner, all you have to do is launch the game and it will very naturally take you on your first quest, called the Awakening. We’re not going to go into too much detail about the quest itself; it's very self-explanatory, and it's best that you experience it on your own. At the end of this short journey, you’ll end up finding your personal ship called Liset. This is the landing craft that will take you to Orbiter. This is where you’ll spend most of the rest of your game.

Orbiter is the Orokin-era vessel that will be your home and base of operations. It allows you to travel throughout the stars, using Liset as a landing craft. It comes with an on-board AI called Ordis, whose sole purpose is to assist you (Ordis will call you Operator) in your journey. The ship has multiple rooms and functionalities, often referred to as segments. They are sort of the menu that you use to access various game features:

• Navigation Panel - this thing consists of two things:
  
  • Star Chart - where you can review and choose any destinations and start missions
  • World State Window - a system of alerts that lists currently available activities. This exists for faster access to the time-limited activities, which can also be found at the Star Chart.
• Communications - a panel that consists of 4 elements:
  
  • Codex - an in-game encyclopedia that contains information about everything you see in the game, from the quests to the creatures, weapons, factions, etc.
  • Syndicates - a panel that shows your standing with all 6 in-game cabals. Later on in the game, you’ll be able to pledge allegiance to one of them and complete their unique questions to claim syndicate-exclusive rewards.
  • Conclave - a panel that lets you access PvP game modes.
  • Market - an in-game store where you can buy any in-game items, from warframe blueprints to cosmetic bundles. You can spend either credits or Platinum to buy stuff.

• Radio Scanner - primarily used as the device by which you can access seasonal quests from the Nora Night, called the Nightwave. These episodic quests tell various stories that expand the lore of the game even further.
• Arsenal - allows you to change equipment like Warframes, weapons, Archwings, companions, etc.
• Mods - this segment contains collected mods that you can use to modify all of your gear. There are other functions related to mods, which we will explain later on.
• Foundry - your crafting station. This is where you can create weapons and warframes, as well as other equipment by spending required amount of resources on a schematic.
• Incubator - a segment where you can raise four-legged companions Kubrow, Kavatt and their variations.
  Void Relic - contains a collection of void relics that you choose for your Void Fissure missions. We’ll explain how they work later on.
• Arcane - this segment contains Arcanes, which are kind of like Mods but different.

Besides the segments, your Orbiter has rooms with various purposes. We’re going to list them all in this Warframe noob guide but only explain a few of them. Some of these rooms can be considered story spoilers, so we’ll only name them. You’ll have to discover what they do on your own.

1. Helminth Infirmary
2. Personal Quarters - quite simply a space for reflection and customization. This is a big room that contains several features that can be used for self-expression:
   
   • Vignettes - place unique decorative miniatures that represent the flora of visited planets
   • Aquariums - can be used to store the fish that you caught through the Fishing mini-game.
   • Warframe Display - a pedestal where you can place your favorite Warframe as a miniature.
   • Stencils - wallpapers for the personal quarters.
   • Somachord - a jukebox where you can play an in-game soundtrack.
3. Railjack transport

The upper deck of the Orbiter is actually your Liset attached to it. This part of the ship contains the Navigation Panel, Communications, and Radio Scanner. If you take the stairs down, you’ll see the main part of the Orbiter ship, which contains all of the rest segments along with all the rooms. BLOG20

You slowly restore the ship’s functionality by installing and powering up its segments. The first two that you install are the Navigation segment and Arsenal. As you progress through the game, you’ll find and install the rest of the segments that we listed, unlocking rooms as you go.

 

Warframe Gameplay Overview Part #2: Game Modes

This is the section where you’ll actually learn how to play Warframe by learning what kind of missions the game has. As of right now, there are lots of new ways to play the game. You have several really big maps with open-world esque type of gameplay, you have your Railjack missions, raids, etc. But the core experience of Warframe has never changed.

Missions are the primary playable activity in the game. They can be played solo or in a squad of up to 4 players. You will be tasked with completing mission objectives. Once all objectives are completed, you will need to proceed to the extraction point. The map of each mission is randomly generated from a set of tiles that represent rooms and corridors that connect them. So, even though the same mission on the planet takes place in the same setting, the map changes the layout each time you play it. There are 20 types of missions in the game, according to Codex:

The first 15 mission types that we covered in this Warframe beginners guide 2024 represent your standard and original Warframe experience. These missions are found on the start chart. Just click on Earth to see the list of mission nodes and complete them one by one. Alternatively, you can review the list of alerts and join any one of them for a chance to get one of the predetermined rewards. You don’t have to complete all missions on all planets, but doing it will unlock unique rewards, namely the ability to switch to the Steel Path difficulty. In the Steel Path difficulty, you can complete the star chart missions again, but this time, all enemies will be level 100 or higher. 

Warframe Gameplay Overview Part #3: Arsenal and Modding

As we’ve established in earlier parts of our Warframe for starters article, the Arsenal is used to equip, mod, and customize Warframes, weapons, Companions, and more to prepare for your next mission. It consists of 4 parts:

• Tenno Loadout
• Companion Loadout
• Gear
• Vehicles

Each category allows you to select a range of equipment for your mission. You don’t have to bring the full loadout each mission, but you can certainly do that. You can also create and save multiple loadouts and switch between them in your Arsenal. Now, we’ll briefly go over each of the Arsenal categories.

Tenno Loadout

This is where you select your main gear. The upgrade option allows you to equip Mods, which increases your equipment’s power.

1. Warframes - select the warframe you want to use
2. Primary weapon - select any primary weapon you want to use
3. Secondary weapon -select any secondary weapon you want to use
4. Melee weapon - select any melee weapon you want to use
5. Focus - select the school of power for your Tenno
6. Parazon - change the special blade used by Warframes for hacking, Mercy kills against weakened enemies, and the Adversaries System.

Multiple configuration tabs are available, allowing you to save various Mod combinations.

Companion Loadout

Allows you to manage your companions. If your Companions can carry weapons, you can also change them here.

Gear

This category is where you can add additional consumable items to your loadout. You have 12 individual slots that you can access by holding down the Gear key. These items may include:

1. Codex Scanners
2. Team Bonus consumables
3. Dragon Keys
4. Specters
5. ..etc.

You can give hotkeys to each of the slots for quick access to the most important consumables.

Vehicles

The Vehicles section is for customizing different means of transportation, such as:

• Archwing - a device that lets your warframe fly outside of Liset during special Archwing missions.
  
  • Archwing Primary weapon
  • Archwing Melee weapon
  • Archwing Heavy weapon
• K-Drive - a hoverboard used for faster traversal on openworld-style maps.
• Necramech - spoilers here, no details for you!!

Warframe Mods Explained

A Tenno improves their Arsenal with special upgrades called Mods. There are hundreds of Mods that can be found and combined to enhance your weapons and augment your Warframe. It is up to you to decide how you will combine these Mods to suit your fighting style.

Mods are collected in many ways - most can be found as loot dropped by specific enemies. A mod looks like a collectible card and has a few elements that CCG players could be familiar with. BLOG20

• Name - can be used to find more information about the Mod in the Codex
• Drain - this is the capacity cost for equipping a Mod
• Polarity - you will see some Mod Slots in the upgrade screen that will often be attuned to a specific Polarity. Matching Mods to Slot Polarities significantly reduces the drain (usually making them 50% cheaper), while Mods that do not match will increase the drain.
• Fusion - you can increase the level of a Mod through Fusion. This will increase both its effectiveness and drain.
• Item - determines the type of item this Mod can be installed in. It may refer to a broad range of weapon types or a specific weapon.
• Upgrade - describes the effect this Mod has on your item. Statistical benefits will rise if you apply Fusion to the Mod.
• Rarity - identified by the color of the frame of the Mod. Golden Mods are the rarest kind, Silver Mods are uncommon and Bronze Mods are the most common variety.

Based on all of that, you can put any mods you have into your gear to increase the weapon’s or warframe’s effectiveness. On top of that, there are Orokin Catalysts and Reactors that can increase the Mod capacity of weapons and Warframes, respectively.

Forma (one of the most sought-after items in the game) allow you to modify the polarity of a Mod slot in your item. This way you can optimize your Mod configuration for even greater power.

Warframe Gameplay Overview Part #4: Game Progression

Playing only the missions from the Star Chart and alerts means robbing yourself of the most exciting content in the game. The main reason you want to be farming these regular missions is so that you can get access to Quests.

These are sets of interlinked missions that provide more lore and represent the main drive for the narrative of the game. These more custom and scripted missions are the best the game can offer. Even better, missions reward you with Warframes and weapons upon completion! There are different types of Quests.

All you have to do to activate a quest is go to the Codex station in the Orbiter, select the Quests tab, then find the desired quest and press “Begin Quest.” However, some quests have hidden activation requirements and don’t even appear in the Codex until they are completed. Furthermore, you can only have one active quest at a time. There are two types of quests in general - main and side ones.

Side Quests are optional questlines that are there for those who want to unlock some new warframes or learn more about the lore of the game. Some of these quests unlock additional game features.

You can tackle all quests in any order you want as long as they are available to you. Also, some quests can be replayed, which can be useful if you’re hunting down exclusive Codex scans or if you just want to remind yourself what a quest was about.

Complete the quests, level up your gear, and with time, you’ll reach high Mastery Ranks. Then, you can officially consider yourself enjoying the endgame. But what does Warframe endgame entail? Since this is a sandbox-style MMO, every player has their own goals to reach, but usually, it all comes down to a few common denominators:

• Mastery Rank Grind: Some players chase the highest possible Mastery Rank (MR) by collecting and leveling everything. This gives you bragging rights and access to higher-tier equipment.
• Steel Path: This mode cranks up the difficulty on the star chart, offering a challenge for veterans with powerful builds. It's not exactly an "end," though, as enemies just get tankier.
• Fashion Frame: For many, the true endgame is creating the most stylish Warframe possible. It's all about collecting cosmetics and customizing your appearance.
• Challenge Activities: Some players enjoy perfecting their builds and tackling difficult activities like Eidolon Hunts or the Profit-Taker Orb. These offer unique rewards and a chance to test your skills.
• Helping New Players: Veterans often find satisfaction in guiding new Tenno through the early stages. Sharing knowledge and building the community is another way to find purpose.

Ultimately, the endgame in Warframe is what you make it. It's about setting your own goals and enjoying the journey!

Warframe Tips for New Players

Let’s finish things up with some Warframe tips for new players. Warframe is a huge game with lots of systems. The way the game scales up by adding new complex systems on top of the old ones makes it difficult to keep track of everything. However, as a new player, you don’t need to concern yourself with any of that. It’s really important to play the game at your own pace and follow these Warframe tips:

1. Focus on Mods, Not Mastery: Don't just chase Mastery Rank by collecting everything. Mods are what truly power up your Warframe and weapons. Learn how they work and prioritize acquiring and upgrading them.
2. Slots First: Spend your starting Platinum on Warframe and weapon slots. This will give you more variety and allow you to experiment with different builds.
3. Wiki is Your Friend: Warframe has a deep well of mechanics. The Warframe Wiki is an amazing resource for info on everything from quests to specific items - use it often!
4. Join the Community: Plenty of helpful Tenno exist online and in-game. Don't be afraid to ask questions in chat or join a clan for guidance and camaraderie.
5. Nightwave Creds Wisely: Nightwave offers special rewards. Spend your Nightwave Creds on things like Aura mods, Orokin Catalysts, and Reactors (to supercharge equipment), and Nitain Extract (a rare resource).
6. Early Planets, Later Open Worlds: Follow the suggested mission path through the star chart. Open worlds like Earth (Plains of Eidolon) are great but focus on the core planets first.
7. Experiment with Movement: Warframe's movement system is fluid and opens up combat options. Practice bullet jumping, wall dashing, and aim gliding to become a master Tenno.
8. Don't Buy Everything with Platinum: Almost everything in Warframe can be acquired through in-game farming. Use Platinum wisely for slots and cosmetics if desired.
9. Build a Balanced Arsenal: While some weapons shine, having a variety of Warframes and weapons with different damage types is key to tackling various missions.
10. Environmental Awareness: Be mindful of your surroundings! Many objects in the environment can be used to your advantage. Explode explosive barrels to clear out groups, use coolant canisters to freeze enemies, or launch yourself into the air with jump pads for a tactical advantage.

This is the kind of game where you don’t actually need any Warframe tips for beginners at all. One of the best things you can do is join a clan. Not only will it make it easier for you to play with other players, but also joining a clan unlocks access to a lot of content, including Dojo, unique research projects, Dry Lock and much more! The Dojo is like the guild house, which you can build and expand with your friends to include agility courses, meditation rooms, gardens, trading posts and other cool things. Don’t sleep on this feature and play with other Tenno!

Conclusion

Warframe is one of the most successful free-to-play games. It has a massive community and a unique setting that makes it stand out among the competition. It’s got over a decade of content updates, and you can really get lost in it.

Our Warframe new player guide has covered every aspect of the game that a new player should know. You’ll begin with the Awakening quest that serves as a tutorial for the game, and once you’re inside the ship, you can start any mission or quest you want. You know how to use the Arsenal, how mods work and what else the game has to offer. Now its time to leave the mark, Tenno!

F.A.Q.

What is the best Warframe to start off with?

The best Warframe to start the game with is Excalibur. He has the most diverse set of abilities that will be easy to use for new players.

How to start with Warframe?

Just play through the Awakening quest, will should start automatically as you launch the game. This is the tutorial where you’ll learn the basic controls.

How can I play Warframe?

Warframe is a free to play game, you can install it on your platform and launch it. There’s no character creation, you’ll be dropped into action right away!

Can you play Warframe solo?

You absolutely can! Warframe can be played solo, and for some players, this is the preferred way of experiencing the game.

How do you reach the max Mastery Rank in Warframe?

Mastery Ranks are granted for leveling up your equipment, which includes everything from warframes and weapons to companions and additional equipment. You must pass a test to progress to the next Mastery Rank.