The Duviri Paradox

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The Duviri Paradox has landed and there is a LOT to unpack from this.  Without further delay, let's get to it.

If you are new to Warframe in general, you're in luck!  You don't need to have any prerequisites in order to access this.  Just head to the Codex and get started.  Please note that if you are wanting to access some other features, such as the incarnon genesis stuff, you WILL need to have The Duviri Paradox and Angels of the Zariman completed while the Steel Path needs to be unlocked.  

For those who have spent a decent amount of time in this game, you might be finding some things a little different in the game mode.  Best way I can describe this: you're kind of starting over from the beginning but you have items in your arsenal.  If you've played other games that have a story+ mode, this is basically the same thing...sorta.

I won't go into any specifics for the story quest, but I will let you know that you should set aside some time to get it done.  It took me about an hour, but I'm sure others can fly through it since you're not making a guide about it.  Upon completion, you will be able to enter the Duviri Paradox just like any other mission - via navigation (or the Dormizone in this case).  From there, you will find that you can access 3 different types of mission modes: the Circuit, the Duviri Experience, and the Lone Story.  Let me break these down for you.

Get that quest done!

The Circuit is strictly for Warframes only (can pop into operator/drifter still).  There is a rotation for what Warframes are available per week, so be sure to check in.  As you can see, you are given a choice of 3 Warframe paths to focus on during the week.  If you are wanting to get your hands on some of the base Warframes, this is it.  Please note that not ALL Warframes can be attained this way (if  you want to see which ones you attain this way, check the link below).  I can attest that my 2nd Ash grind was atrocious and I wish this was out when I did that grind!  This is also a good way to earning credits and endo once you pass tier 11.  If you are more into the Steel Path choice, you're in luck.  For each week, instead of earning towards a base Warframe, you get to work towards an Incarnon Genesis of a weapon.  You get to pick 1 out of the 5 choices and following the steps we were introduced over in the Chrysalith via Cavalero.  There are currently 30 weapons available to upgrade with the Incarnon Genesis (base, prime, and wraith variants included!)

Doing the Circuit

The Spiral Story is exactly what you went through on the main story quest.  Think of this as the quickest way from start to finish.  You need to complete 6 stages in order to fight the Orowyrm.  If you're not enjoying the enemies that spawn, but want to explore, this option would probably be the best.  The enemies don't spawn unless they're related to the stage itself.  You have the entire map to explore and gather resources, but that is it.  If you want to do a little extra, the Duviri Experience is what you're looking for.

The Duviri Experience is more of an open world, but you get the spiral story missions that lead up to the Orowyrm fight.  Please note that you do NOT have to complete all 6 stages in order to exit WITHOUT keeping your loot.  As long as you completed a Decree, everything earned up to that will be kept.  As you wander around, you'll come across loads of short events/activities that can aid you in survival.  Each time you complete one of these events/activities, you get rewarded just as the spiral story.  Be sure to check out everything in case you're looking for things to do.  There are a ton of options from a chest to power orbs and even herding.  Just be warned that enemies DO spawn often and they WILL follow you for quite a distance.  The key to this, for me, was to find a few easier activities at the start.  What this does is allows you to get a higher health pool early on.  I've spent HOURS in a single instance, farming for things.  At some point, your Drifter gets pretty overpowered and it feels amazing.

Farming can yield nice options!

NOTE:  If you put yourself on Steel Path while looking at the Circuit, but decide to go into either The Duviri Experience or The Spiral Story, you WILL be dealing with Steel Path level enemies in the Undercroft.  I learned this the hard way (RIP my rewards).

Alright, so there are a lot of new terms introduced in the previous section and you might be a little confused.  I got you.  Below is kind of like a dictionary entry for what each thing is:

Spiral: An instance for the main story progression of both the Spiral Story and the Duviri Experience.  Each spiral contains 6 "stages" in which a simple task is needing to be completed, whether powering windmills or finding your way through a maze.  Upon the completion of each stage, you are awarded with a Decree. The Spiral Story only awards a total of 6 Decrees before the final fight.  The Duviri Experience awards 6+ Decrees, depending on how many side activities you decided to do.

Decree: A special upgrade that you are granted upon the completion of a stage or activity.  Each time you enter Duviri, these change.  When you complete the final fight and speak to Acrithis, you might notice that there are upgrades for better Decrees.  Basically, this gives you a higher ranked Decree when presented as a choice.  Once you leave the Duviri Paradox, the previous Decrees you chose are gone, aka they do not save and continue for your next visit.  These are amazing when doing the Circuit in the long haul.  Along with each Decree earned, you gain at least 3 Drifter intrinsics.

Undercroft: This is where you can utilize your Warframe in combat.  Remember when you entered Teshin's cave and had the choice of what Warframe to use?  Yeah, this is the part where you use it.  Depending on what you chose as your Duviri activity, you might be staying here the whole time (the Circuit) or you might be visiting a few times here and there.

Intrinsics: Drifter finally gets some attention with this.  If you're familiar with the Railjack and those intrinsics, this has a very familiar feel.  Investing into the various intrinsics will help make your visits to Duviri more....bearable.  I'm not saying it's a bad gamemode but I will say that investing in these will make your gameplay WAY better.  Every mode in Duviri offers the reward of points to spend in intrinsics.  You can access this via Teshin's cave before going into Duviri or via the Dormizone.

Accessing intrinsics in Teshin's cave

Kaithe: Your amazing flying horse mount.  If you're into customization, yes, you can customize it to your hearts desire.  Invest in enough intrinsics and you can summon Kaithe in other lands! 

Out for a stroll on Kaithe

Incarnon Genesis: You have 30 weapons that get a chance to experience the Incarnon treatment.  That's right, a badass version of the normal weapon.  If you're familiar with Cavalero over at the Chrysalith, you know what kind of work goes into one of these.  

Incarnon Genesis weekly choice

You might be wondering what other things came with this release and as of right now, I've experienced 3 other things.  I'll outline them below.

Maw Feeding: Since there are no bodies of water deep enough for fishing (technically this is an open world), you need to find a disk and interact with it.  When you do, you'll be transported into a Maw and get to swim around and chomp at other fish.  Pretty fun activity and there isn't a limit from how many times you can do it at the same disk.  There is, however, only 1 time for a Decree to be received.  Yes, you get a chance to keep the fish.

Feeding the Maw aka fishing

Shawzin: You get to play a few tunes at each Shawzin site you come across.  Successful plays reward a Decree.  I'm not very well versed in the Shawzin stuff but after a few tries, you'll figure it out.  My issue mostly was utilizing the arrow keys for various chords.

One of many Shawzins

Komi: Want to test your brain power against Teshin's friend?  You can find several locations throughout the open world where a game of Komi can be played.  Be warned, the AI is pretty good!

One of many Komi game tables

Conservation: You might have noticed some wandering creatures in the area.  If you're lucky, Koral will talk to you about the corrupted wildlife nearby.  You will notice something familiar on it's face, like a radar beam seen in Kahl's missions.  If you get spotted by this, you'll trigger the animal to attack.  If so, 3 orbs appear around the front of the beast.  Hit each 1 a total of 1 or 2 times and then rush to the creature to heal.  Once healed, it will lead you to a chest (sometimes a white marker appears nearby).  

No tranq gun required!

Owl Statues/Archarbor Puzzle: During your ventures, you might have noticed some owl looking creatures on top of a pillar of some sorts.  This is a puzzle.  They vary on what kind of puzzle-solving skills are needed.   I'll be making a guide soley for the Archarbor Puzzle in itself because that sucker gets technical.

Owl statue and puzzle

Cosmetics and things are generally a part of each update that comes out.  The Duviri Paradox isn't exempt from this, so here are the new cosmetics:

  • Baruuk Doan
  • Wisp Somnium
  • Drifter suits
  • Drifter hair
  • Visage inks for Drifter

Along with all of that and the Incarnon Genesis items, we are introduced to 4 new melee weapons for the Drifter and Warframe.  In order to unlock these, you'll either going to farm the hell out of the Orowyrm or spend platinum.  For the Orowyrm farm, all you need to do is run it 5 times per weapon unlock (takes a currency called Pathos Clamps).  This unlocks the finished product for the Drifter and gives you access to the blueprint to build in your foundry.  If you want to just spend the 250 platinum per weapon unlock, it gives you the finished product for both the Drifter and the Warframe.  Either way, new toys!

New weapons!

References:

https://warframe.fandom.com/wiki/Duviri
https://warframe.fandom.com/wiki/The_Circuit#The_Steel_Path_Circuit