Let's face it, there are quite a good number of missions in Warframe. So how does one go about playing each one and succeeding? Fret no longer my friends, I have created some short guides on how to beat these bad boys. Each section has a brief description of that particular mission. I explain a bit further in the Youtube videos that follow each summary. The link below each video is the actual Youtube link, in case you want to do something with it.
- Arena
- Assassination
- Capture
- Defection
- Defense
- Disruption
- ESO/SO
- Excavation
- Exterminate
- Free Roam
- Hijack
- Infested Salvage
- Interception
- Mobile Defense
- Rescue
- Rush and Pursuit
- Sabotage
- Spy
- Survival
- The Index
Arena
Arena missions consist of 4 nodes in the entire system. The Index is covered later on in this post, due to the fact it is played a little differently. When playing any of the regular arenas, keep in mind that you do not have access to your gear wheel. Finding where restore points are located will help you out tremendously. Do not stay stationary. The enemies will surround you and will kill you.Each time you enter a match, a random modifier gets applied. These modifiers can either be your friend or your demise, it all depends how much RNGesus loves you. To win, you gotta kill 25 executioners. Going solo or public is up to you, but I honestly feel like it goes way faster with others.
Assassination
Assassination missions are just that: assassinate the target. You will have to go through the map just like every other map in existence in the game. Killing enemies on the way to the target, however, is optional. When you get to the target, keep in mind WHO you are fighting. Each assassination target has a set rotation and type of abilities. For example, Lieutenant Lech Kril over on Mars is going to fight differently than Kela De Thaym on Sedna. The best advice I can give you is to learn the rotations and plan accordingly.There are curently 18 assassination missions, each with a drop table of items you can receive. Below is a list of each planet/space mass, then the target, what node they are found on, and what drops (weapon parts and warframe parts):
- -Mercury
- -Captain Vor - Tolstoj node
- -Cronus parts
- -Seer parts
- -Venus
- -Jackal - Fossa node
- -Rhino parts
- -Earth
- -Councilor Vay Hek - Oro node
- -Hydroid parts
- -Mars
- -Lieutenant Lech Kril - War node
- -Excalibur parts
- -Phobos
- -The Sergeant - Iliad node
- -Mag parts
- -Ceres
- -Captain Vor + Lieutenant Lech Kril - Exta node
- -Frost parts
- -Miter parts
- -Twin Gremlins parts
- -Jupiter
- -Alad V - Themisto node
- -Valkyr parts
- -Ropalolyst - The Ropalolyst node
- -Wisp parts
- -Europa
- -Raptors - Naamah node
- -Nova parts
- -Saturn
- -General Sargas Ruk - Tethys node
- -Ember parts
- -Uranus
- -Tyl Regor - Titania node
- -Equinox parts
- -Neptune
- -Hyena Pack - Psamathe node
- -Loki parts
- -Pluto
- -Ambulas - Hades node
- -Trinity parts
- -Eris
- -Jordas Golem - Jordas Golem node
- -Atlas parts
- -Mutalist Alad V - Mutalist Alad V node
- -Mesa parts
- -Sedna
- -Kela De Thaym - Merrow node
- -Saryn parts
- -Twin Kohmak parts
- -Orokin Derelict
- -Lephantis - Orokin Derelict node
- -Nekros parts
- -Invasion
- -Phorid - Phorid Manifestation
- -Nyx parts
Capture
Capture missions deal with finding a target on a map, incapacitate it, then vaporize them off to the extraction point. Just like assassination missions, you will have to go through the map (just like every other map) just to find the target. Killing enemies on the way to the target is still optional. It might be easier to clear the area before, during, or after the target is downed. I say this because sometimes when you are vaporizing it off to the extraction point, the enemies around you can still attack you. You will take damage. There have been a few times where I've been downed while trying to get the capture target vaporized. It's more of an annoyance than anything else. There are numerous warframes that can deal with this situation, or even using your operator (when invisible).Defection
Defection missions are like rescue missions, with smuggling added. You are basically smuggling out the defectors but everyone knows of your plan, including the enemies. Since the enemies know of your plan, they are trying to kill the defectors by poisoning the air and sending swarms of baddies to them. Some great warframe to take on these types of missions would be crowd control, make the defectors jump ahead on the map (speed doesn't work though), or heal the defectors.There are med boosters on the map, which get labeled as A, B, C, etc. The defectors start at one, then progress to the nearest one, so on and so forth, until they get to the extraction point. On the way to each of these med boosters, the defectors health decline. When they get to the next med booster, they stabilize and can get healed as long as power cells are being added to the med booster. Power cells are dropped by carriers and you can find them on the map by looking for small little yellow pill images. All you have to do is pick one up and get close to the med booster for it to charge it. If a defector goes down, you can revive them just like any other ally. If you don't, they will die and their death will be added to the tally of how many died in the mission. When too many die, you fail.
Defense
Defense missions are where you are tasked with defending a target. The target can either be stationary or it can move. Plan accordingly when you start these, because an operative defense is a bit more involved than a cryopod defense. Most defensive missions are great for leveling things, so don't be afraid to pop some specters to help out. As the mission goes on, the levels of the enemies increase. Use your best judgement when the option for extraction comes up. No point in continuing on when most of your revives are gone.Since you are defending something, it's best to keep an eye on the health status. If it gets destroyed, you fail the mission. Bringing a warframe that helps defend an area is a practical idea, such as Limbo, Vauban, Frost, Khora, Gara, etc.
Stuck enemies are the worst on these missions, so make sure you bring along a mod that can help you spot the stuck baddie. While you're at it, make sure you bring a companion that can help collect all of the loot that drops!
Disruption
In these missions, you are tasked with fighting against Amalgams in a similar fashion as mobile defense, only you need to find matching keys for the conduits and defeat the Demolyst before it reaches that conduit. The keys get dropped when you kill enemies, so get your murdering on. Once you find a key, take it to the corresponding conduit. This will activate either a buff or a debuff for your party. Try not to activate more than 1 conduit at a time since these things stack and they can hurt you big time.Letting a conduit get destroyed isn't a great idea. You won't fail the mission for allowing 1 or 2 get demolished, but if it was applying a debuff, it will last you for that entire round. Since this mission is an endless mission type, you do have that extraction option when the going gets tough. Luckily, you don't need the entire party to extract with you. Just head to the extraction point and wait for the 60 seconds to happen.
One last thing to mention is that you should bring a warframe with decent survivability, as well as a weapon that can take down a Demolyst fast. Depending on the buffs/debuffs that are going on, these suckers can run fast. If they reach that conduit, you lose it.
ESO / SO
Both onslaughts are great for leveling up items and farming for some specific parts (the Khora warframe and the Blazing Step ephemera). Object of the game: keep killing enemies. Don't stop. Just keep your murder-spree going. You need to have a reasonable amount of Efficiency in order to progress in the zones. When you don't, Cephalon Simaris kicks you out. There are Efficiency Stimulus that appear in all zones until zone 15. These help keep your Efficiency up.You don't have access to your gear wheel. It can get kind of hard at some points, but if you are playing with others, you should be okay. When you enter the conduit for the next zone, everything resets. What this means is GO CRAZY with your abilities and weapon unloading, because it all resets once the next zone hits. Also, before jumping headfirst into the conduit, see if others are following. Nothing sucks more than to get into the next zone, just to find out everyone else ditched ya.
One difference with SO and ESO is that ESO makes you play a bit more responsibly. You need to have a level 30 Warframe and you cannot ability spam. If you ability spam, Cephalon Simaris will disable that ability for a short duration of time. Kind of like a slap on the wrist with a "shame on you" deal.
Excavation
In excavation missions, you are tasked with finding a dig site, defending the drill that drops, and supplying power cells to keep it running. Power cells are dropped by Power Carriers, which are easy to spot since they have a power cell on their back. To fully power an excavator, you will need 4 or 5 power cells. If it runs out, you will get notified that it ran out of power and that you need to find another power cell. Sometimes it feels like these things don't spawn often enough, but eventually they will. Worse comes to worse, abort the mission (if you haven't gotten extraction available) or extract, then start again.Any defensive warframe would work in this mission type, mostly due to them being able to babysit the excavator while dealing out loads of damage. Just remember that as the mission progresses on, the enemies will scale. If you are running a void relic mission, focus on 2 extractors at a time and make sure everyone gets their 10 reactants. No point in running this mission if you don't get 4 choices of a reward! If you are completing these faster than the reactants are dropping, you can always not power an extractor until everyone has their 10.
When playing with others, try to move as a team when relocating. Sometimes the game likes to add a new dig site in between your previous dig site and the next target dig site. Getting close to that new dig site on your way to your teammates can trigger the excavator to land. If too many excavators die, the mission will fail.
Exterminate
In exterminate missions, you are tasked with removing the enemy in the area. In general, the higher tier you go, the more enemies you need to kill. Since this is a bit more of a casual mission type, there are 3 things you can do while committing annihilation.- -Scanning
- -gain Cephalon Simaris reputation (could even be a target he gave you)
- -plant scanning for the extracts used to create antitoxins (there is a quest later on where you can get some nice mods)
- -kavat farming (need 10 codes per kavat)
- -perform damage tests against any fully scanned enemy in the simulacrum
- -Looting
- -loot radar helps find all breakables and sculptures
- -opening lockers for more loot
- -if your furry companion has the locker opening mod, this is better.
- -Stealth practice
Free Roam
Free Roam missions are pretty self explanatory. You can either roam around aimlessly, hunt the Eidolans, or complete bounties. Currently, there are only 2 places in the entire system that has free roam: Plains of Eidolan on Earth and Orb Vallis on Venus. Be aware that there are time cycles, such as Eidolan hunting (night) or fishing for specific fish (cold/warm cycles).One thing to keep in mind is the amount of revives you have. This is especially vital when doing boss hunts - you miss out on the loot! Utilizing the Itzal archwing has it's pros in free roam missions, mostly due to the #3 ability that pulls all the loot to you.
Hijack
You are tasked with running through a map to the destination target. These targets are either a moving vehicle aka Corpus missions or a hovering on-rails power core aka Grineer missions. This type of mission can be really frustrating to do when starting out, so bring a tanky warframe, or at least one that doesn't die when sneezed at.In order to power the hijacking, your shields will be sucked dry. The main go to warframe for this mission is Nidus, mostly due to the fact he doesn't have a shield and his health replenishes fast enough to not hurt. If you don't have Nidus, just bring something with a pretty decent shield capacity. If you don't have a great Raksa kubrow build (these companions can replenish your shields), a sentinel with a guardian mod will do. Just don't bring something that dies way too fast. If you get distracted and have to revive a companion, there is a chance that the hijack target will start going backwards.
Infested Salvage
This mission is like a high intensity survival mission. If you have a warframe that can survive some seriously hostile survival missions, it would probably succeed in this mission. I'm not joking on how intense this mission can get, especially if doing it solo or with not skilled players. If you are wanting to get Nidus parts, make sure you can last to round 4. That's when his parts drop.You have 3 data consoles in the map where you need to deposit antiserum charges. When you deposit a charge, there is a bubble shield that spawns around the console. This bubble dome will keep you protected from the corrosion for a certain amount of time. You can see the status of each data console by looking at their icons in the upper left corner. If one turns red, you need to deposit an antiserum charge or two, in order to get it back to blue. Remember, you want to get to 100% decryption or the round doesn't end.
Since there is corrosion going on outside the bubble domes, you will need to keep an eye on your armor health. When traveling bubble to bubble, you can always use your operator to avoid this. If you reach 25% or lower, there is a console that you can access. It can restore your armor. To use this, you will need an antiserum charge in hand. If you have an antiserum injector equipped on your gear wheel, that can be used as well.
Interception
These missions deal with intercepting the enemy communications at 4 different spots on a map, with first team to score 100 points win. You don't have to keep all 4 towers at once. As long as you reach 100 points before the enemies do, you win. It does take less time if you have all 4 towers, but it won't be the death of you if you lose a tower. To help keep a tower, you can pop a specter and leave it there for defense, or if you have a warframe that has a long duration ability you can pop it and leave. Even a combo of the 2 works. If you have a blinking tower icon, it means it is under attack. Respond to capture it back or to keep control of it.Mobile Defense
Mobile defense missions consists of you grabbing a data module, sticking it in enemy consoles, defending it for x amount of time, then grabbing the data module again and moving to the next enemy console. Believe it or not, this mission is extremely similar to Defense missions, so you can use a lot of the same tactics here. Just make sure that when you are travelling between consoles, someone in the party has the data module. A simple way to check is to look at the mini-map. If you see the image below, it is not being carried by anyone. One of the biggest culprits to dropping the data module is swapping weapons, so be mindful of what you are doing.Sometimes, the Lotus will change the type of mission from mobile defense to exterminate. This is not a but, just a thing that can happen.
Rescue
Rescue missions are those where you run through angry enemies to basically jailbreak an operative who screwed up and got\themselves caught. You don't need a speedy warframe to make this work, although it does make the mission go faster. Before running to the main console, check to see if there are any secret passages into the holding cell room. This saves you some time and headaches from enemies.Hacking consoles is not for everyone, so if you are one of those unlucky people, good news! You can bring a MOA that specializes in hacking consoles. If you are decent at hacking consoles, but get attacked by the enemies while doing your magic, a stealthy warframe can help. Just go invisible. If the timer starts to get close to running out, the hostage will bang on the door around the 15 second-til-failure hits. This will indicate where they are located.
Rush and Pursuit
Rush and Pursuit missions are kind of the same concept, just vary a little. You don't really need a fast archwing, although it does help. As of right now, the Itzal is pretty well known for the speed, so head over to the dojo and grab one for yourself. Ideally, you want to hit fast and hard in both missions. This means bring your heaviest damage dealing weapon of doom.
The current Rush mission is over at Kepler on Phobos. To do this mission, all you gotta do is head towards the target icon on your map. Once you reach it, keep your eyes open for little drones. You need to kill them in order to prevent shields on the transports you are to destroy. As long as you destroy 1 transport, you succeed the mission.
The current Pursuit mission is over at Pandora on Saturn. To do this mission, you need to shoot out the engines first. By doing so, it buys you some time to attack and hopefully destroy the shield generators. You need to be fast and hit hard, or else the engines repair themselves and you gotta shoot them out again. Doing this 3 times will fail the mission.
Sabotage
Sabotage missions are missions that deal with you finding the target, destroying it by some means, then running like hell while acting like you had nothing to do with it - towards extraction. Not all sabotage missions are the same, so be aware of what has to be done or else you might be confused as to why the mission hasn't progressed.Hive sabotage missions deal with locating 5 tumor nodes and destroying them. Keep in mind that these are generally in the nearby vicinity, just not in the same room.
Orokin sabotage missions consist of you jumping through a portal, defeating a mini boss or two, grabbing a data module to plunk into the console so you can exit the same portal.
Sometimes the mission will have 3 caches to locate, giving the possibility of rewarding nitain extracts or even a part for the Xiphos ship. Just equip a loot detector and get to searching.
Some sabotage missions allow you to insert a spare antitoxin. In doing so, you are given an additional drop of something, which could be a forma blueprint. Let the antitoxin get to 100% before moving on.
Spy
The concept of a spy mission is to find 3 data vaults, extract the information, and get the hell out of dodge. Honestly, these missions are a hit or miss when it comes to working out perfectly. Playing solo or with friends would probably yield better results overall than playing with randoms due to the fact not everyone is proficient at hacking consoles. It isn't bad overall if all but 1 fail, unless it is a sortie. If 1 fails in a sortie, mission failed. Bringing a MOA that can hack consoles is a good idea, but keep in mind that sometimes the pathfinding of the MOAs isn't the greatest. They can sometimes get stuck and not follow you into the madness. If you are playing public, don't enter an occupied room. Sometimes you can trigger the alarm and the person inside might fail. Also, if you can't do the room, notify your team. Practice makes perfect in the end, so get to practicing!Survival
You are tasked with staying alive at any of these nodes while the enemies are trying to kill you via shutting off life support systems. Luckily, the Lotus provides life support capsules every 90 seconds that restore 30% of your life support back. Killing enemies and opening containers also yield a chance to getting a small life support module which gives you 5% life support back.Since this is a never-ending mission mode, every 5 minutes survived gives you a reward. Don't extract early if you are near a 5 minute increment. If push comes to shove, head towards the extraction point and bunker down til that 5 minute increment hits.
Dark sector versions of these provide extra bonuses. They rotate around so check on the node to see what it offers. This is a great way to get resources, level up, and credit farm. Be sure to equip a companion with loot detector (or yourself) and a mod that helps gather all the dropped loot!
The Index
The Index is an arena node located on Neptune, but differs from other arena nodes. This is definitely the go-to place for credits. Initially, you need to make a wager, but luckily it is a pay once, play for as long as you can rotation wise. Ideally, making it 3 rounds is pretty well worth the reward. The lowest investment is the easiest to accomplish 3 rounds, but the difficulty increases as you progress.When you kill an enemy, they drop a green point. You will want to pick that up. Ideally, you want to have a lot of points before depositing, because the more you have the more additional points you get. My ideal base deposit is 10, but no more than 20. At 10, you gain an additional 4 points and the efficiency is at 40%. You gain nothing past 20 points for deposit and the efficiency is lower. Efficiency is the financial stress that is mentioned when starting out The Index round. This thing reduces your max health and shields, while draining your energy. The higher the level invested in, the more financial stress you undergo.
Remember that each point you deposit gives you 10 seconds more on the clock, so if push comes to shove, deposit what you got. It isn't a good feeling, but it is worse when you run out of time and you lose the investment. When playing with others, depending on others to deposit doesn't always work out like it should. Especially when players horde points *cough* rhino players *cough*.
One last note is to remember that you do not have access to your gear wheel, so you gotta be able to take damage and dish it out as well. There are map pickups found throughout, so you can always replenish your energy, ammo, and health. You fight Corpus enemies no matter what, so build accordingly. Luckily, we can save multiple loadouts for things!