Newcomers to Warframe will feel awesome zooming around battlefields in their powerful battle armor. This sci-fi action RPG moves away from gunfights, instead, Warframes allow users to dart around while slashing swords, shooting guns, and unleashing waves of psychic energy. Essentially, Warframe lets players become armored space ninjas. However, newcomers who embark on Warframe's more challenging solo and multiplayer missions might feel overwhelmed when facing multiple enemies and other skilled players.
Players need to juggle fast-paced combat with other mobility options such as double jumps, climbing and sliding on surfaces, or even having separate ground and air-based attacks. It's not uncommon for newcomers to commit mistakes that often cost them the match. However, what are these setbacks and how can players avoid them?
10 Don't Spend All Platinum
Players who don't plan on spending real-world money in Warframe should avoid spending their Platinum at all costs. In the game, Platinum serves as the premium currency that almost always gives various benefits. Thanks to Platinum, players can speed up crafting time or purchase various exclusive palettes, various gear and weapons, actual Warframes, and special sets.
However, unless a player wants to spend Platinum to acquire exclusive perks, they should actively avoid spending the free currency they acquire. Instead of spending it, players should consider actively finding materials for their crafting needs. Almost everything that can be bought with Platinum can be bought in-game, even Warframes. Not only does this encourage people to work harder for their desired gear and Warframe, but it also enhances their mastery over the game.
9 Don't Forget About The Market
Some people who play Warframe might insist on solely playing to acquire crafting materials for their gear. While this is totally possible, this process will eat up plenty of time and effort. Instead, players should always consider consulting the Market for other optional purchases.
For instance, the Market easily provides a lot of Warframe blueprints, as well as schematics for weapons and other gear. Purchasing these with Credits (the in-game currency) easily shreds off around a third of the process, as players will now actively know which items they have to farm for.
8 Don't Forget To Go Public
Due to the rather difficult nature of some Warframe missions, players often have to learn how to maximize their Warframes and gear to level the playing field. Thankfully, Warframe also gives an easier solution: teaming up. Unlike other MMOs, Warframe has instanced levels, allowing players to gather in the same areas provided they're Public. When set to Public, any player who goes into a Mission that another Public player is doing will be sent to that instance.
Moreover, given how certain Warframes and gear have location-specific materials, it's very likely for high-level players to stumble upon a low-level player's mission. This system encourages multiplayer and cooperation amongst players, and newcomers should maximize this opportunity.
7 Don't Neglect The Story
Unlike other MMOs that send players to a massive world with no concrete "path" aside from Leveling Up, Warframe actually has a single-player story. Players might want to zoom past that and find ways to level up the fastest, however, they should focus on finishing the existing story. The currently available objectives can be checked from the Navigation Panel, allowing players to know where they're headed next.
It is important to remember that Warframe doesn't give its story in one full blast, as most story chapters are interspersed in between completing planetary Junctions. All this might seem tedious, but progressing further into the story also unlocks a lot of in-game features (e.g., Companions, the Operator) that players need to get to the endgame faster.
6 Don't Skip Mastery Missions
As players progress through Warframe's main story, it's likely for them to rank up their Warframes and gear at hand. Doing this accumulates Mastery Points which, if filled, makes a Tenno eligible for a Mastery Rank Up. These Rank Up Missions require the Tenno to do various tasks, from fighting with a certain arsenal to using specific abilities. Aside from the bragging rights of having a high Mastery Rank, a high-Ranked Tenno does have its Perks.
For instance, attaining a new Rank allows a Tenno to wield stronger and more complex types of weapons and Warframes. In turn, players shouldn't skip the opportunity to get promoted whenever they get the opportunity.
5 Don't Stick To A Planet With A Difficult Mission
People who have been doing a couple of planetary missions will likely stumble upon a tricky task every so often. This might include stealth-sensitive Spy Missions, timing-heavy Archwing Pursuit missions, or extremely specific ones like the Vox Solaris mission from Venus. At first glance, some gamers might simply drop the game out of sheer frustration. However, in these cases, perhaps the best course of action is to skip the level entirely.
Remember, most planets have mission nodes that intersect off each other. If a player simply wants to reach a planet's Junction, they can try taking easier paths instead of sticking to a hard mission. Sometimes, players actually need to progress through a story to acquire better gear or better training to ace those difficult levels.
4 Don't Forget To Complete A Planet's Nodes
While finding easier alternative paths is important, players should never neglect a planet entirely either. Resource Drones can capture resources from a planet to give players on a regular basis, however, that is only possible once all the nodes in that specific planet are complete. As such, players who do skip some nodes of a planet to get to a Junction should get back to those nodes after gaining some Ranks.
Granted, not all planets provide useful resources. However, having a passive source of basic resources allows players to devote more time to gathering specific items for their craftables, or even focus on the endgame.
3 Don't Stick To One Warframe
After spending so much time on their first Warframe, players might be hesitant to use a new one when it is acquired. Alternatively, players who get to experience the sheer power of tanky Rhino might be tempted to use this Warframe for a majority of their missions. However, this is not the way to go. In Warframe, players cannot have just one "main" Warframe. As a lot of Warframes specialize in certain roles, players should treat them as extremely specific classes.
For instance, the Rhino serves as a great means to finish out most story missions as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Limbo is always a great Warframe with efficient CC – technically a mage. Likewise, Trinity is easily a great introduction to party healing in the endgame.
2 Don't Forget Specific Mods
In Warframe, it could be argued that Mods matter more than Warframes themselves. Thanks to Mods, almost any piece of equipment can have enhanced qualities, be it melee weapons, primary and secondary firearms, Companions, Archwings, or even Warframes themselves. And while players can mix and match Mods depending on their build, they may want to pay attention to certain Mods.
Thief's Wit serves as a great way to mark lootable items in the minimap, while Enemy Radar does the same with enemies. Perhaps most useful is the Intruder Mod, which can make hacking much easier. Players can spend their time honing their skills while relying on these Mods to improve their efficiency.
1 Don't Neglect Minigames
At first glance, Warframe seems like the typical fast-paced hack-and-slash title with looting elements. However, Warframe's crafting system doesn't just give loot and crafting materials via enemy drops and boxes. Rather, players also need to put in the effort to acquire certain items through other means. For example, players can only get certain crafting materials by fishing or mining them in various locations.
Warframe has dedicated "minigames" to obtain these special materials. For instance, players need to buy special fishing rods to catch various fish they can trade for materials. Likewise, they need to get a special laser to use when obtaining minerals from various rocks.