Beginner Warframes
Starters
The 3 starters are all good, pick what looks most cool/fun to you. Don't worry, you can obtain all of them eventually.
- Volt: the most popular even among accomplished players. Oriented towards speed and electrical boosts.
Volt: details
- Runs fast & hits fast in melee (ability 2)
- has a bullet-proof shield that boosts crits and adds electric damage (ability 3)
- has a nuke + AoE electric control (ability 4, useful later with + mods)
- Excalibur: the emblematic frame of the game. Melee-oriented (sword). Ultimate ability hits hard.
Excalibur: details
- passive bonus with swords: 10% damage and 10% attack speed
- has a forward dash (ability 1)
- CC: ability 2 blinds enemies (and cameras!) and opens them to finishers, ability 3 does a bit of DPS
- ultimate (ability 4) with a spectral sword that sends energy blades at range.
- Mag: very complete. Caster-oriented, control and shield regeneration.
Mag: details
- passive: built-in loot vacuum very practical
- can pull enemies in packs for melee (ability 1)
- has lots of control (abilities 1, 2, 4)
- can recover shields (abilities 3, 4)
- can control areas with ability 2, which pulls enemies, intercepts and bounces all projectiles while dealing damage based on them
- Reduces enemy armor and shields (ability 3, or even 4 later on)
Early Frames
List of frames accessible early in the game and useful to all beginners. Dojo frames are not included as they require resources that are hard to obtain at the very beginning (Argon from Void, Nitain from Nightwave, etc.)
- Gara: Tanky, can nuke and defend areas (farm Earth, quest Saya's Vigil + bounties Cetus)
- Koumei: Tanky, crafts very easily, no Prime so investment in forma/others is "worth it" (farm Earth, Saya's Vigil)
- Rhino: VERY tanky, good damage bonus (farm Venus, Jackal)
- Hydroid: good weapon buff + OK tanking + improved corrosive to reduce enemy armor (farm Earth, Vay Hek)
- Kullervo: Tanky, big melee buff, no Prime so investment in forma/others is "worth it" (farm Experience Duviri, a bit harder to farm but excellent)
- Frost: Tanky or very tanky (augment mod), removes enemy armor, excellent for Defense (farm Ceres, Exta)
Farm Frames
Some frames have abilities that improve Resource drop rates. In a looter-shooter, being able to farm more quickly/efficiently is one of the priorities.
- Nekros: priority, useful solo and in group, simplest to obtain. "Meta" frame for boosting resource farming (farm Deimos, Magnacidium). Use the augment mod Despoil.
- Khora: 2nd priority, combines drop bonuses with Nekros but harder to obtain. The other "meta" frame for boosting resource farming (prefer a Duviri Circuit normal rotation or get the Prime). Use the augment mod Pilfering Strangledome
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others / optional
- Nova: bonus for group farming. Doesn't increase loot directly but can increase enemy movement speed, allowing to speed up farming in Survival / Defense: in addition to Nekros+Khora
- Hydroid: with augment Pilfering Swarm, little used: in competition with Khora's drop bonus which has a lower % BUT affects many more enemies at once, making it superior. Good as backup.
- Ivara: invisibility allows "pocket picking": technically compatible with Nekros+Khora, but too slow to be viable.
- Atlas: with augment Ore Gaze on ability 3, little used because incompatible with Khora+Nekros (petrified enemies are immune to the cage + bodies cannot be cut for Nekros). Requires a lot of power.