Modding in Warframe

First off, I am still a novice Warframe player. This three minute video is a great, fun and pretty accurate watch on the learning curve in Warframe. (and for the record, I am at day 40!)

Jeromai rightly points out in my comment section (last post) that most Mod guides are for “end game” and he is having some struggles at certain level ranges and asked for help. I am not struggling at those level ranges so feel like this information might be handy dandy for newer players. Just be forewarned this setup works for my playstyle and may not be the most efficient means, but it has been very effective for me. First I’ll explain what modding is.

Throughout the game you get “card” drops of abilities, stances, skills, auras and the like. Here is my base loadout for my Frost frame to explain some of the basics.

Each Warframe has 10 mod slots – eight basic, one Aura (top left), and one Exilus (top right). The Aura slot can only hold auras (effects that impact the entire group) and the Exilus has to be unlocked with a drop / craftable item and also requires a specific mod type to fill. The rest are only limited by the Polarity (symbol – more on that soon) and capacity of the Warframe. A base Warframe gets 1 mod point per level, up to level 30. You can use an Orokin Reactor (called “potatoeing” by the community) and double the available mod slots to up to 60 capacity. You can also add capacity through your Aura Mod (which adds to capacity, instead of deducts like most – see I have 70 above and a 10 in my Aura slot). The last way to manipulate your capacity is though Polarity – if you match a mod polarity symbol to a polarity slot symbol it takes up half the amount of capacity (see my Streamline mod with a cost of 5 in green – normally 10). The polarity works in reverse too – if you put in a wrong polarity mod it costs double. You can change or add polarities to every slot with a Forma (quest reward or crafting item) but doing so resets the level of the entire Warframe to zero having to be leveled up again. Still, if you do that to every slot you will have an incredibly powerful Warframe in the end. I haven’t bothered yet as I have been unable to max out my cards in the slots I have, as you see I have 15 remaining capacity on this frame. I’ll be able to use those as I improve the Mods.

Duplicate mods can be ‘dissolved’ into Endo to increase power in other mods

Mods have different costs (number), rarity (color), polarity (symbol beside number) and level (glowing dots at bottom). You upgrade them via Endo, a drop in game. Taking a card from 1 to 2 might cost 20, and 2 to 3 might cost 40 (it depends on the rarity of the card) but getting something from 7 or 8 to 8 or 9 costs thousands. It is hard to get them really powerful quickly, but it is really fun when you do. The Gold mods are ‘Rare’, Blue “uncommon” and Red are Common, I don’t have any Legendary Mods yet but I do have a Riven mod – which is very rare and has random properties, (sometimes negative ones with really powerful effects). I am not high enough level to use it yet, however.  There are 835 base mods in the game. That is a ridiculous amount of customization. There are some mods just for Warframes and just for weapons, and specific to specific types. What is wonderful about this system is that since you can only have one Warframe, and one of each weapon equipped, you can share mods in the same same category. Once you have a high level mod every single Warframe you have can use it. This makes those valuable cards feel more valuable. Finally – you can dissolve extra mods into Endo to make your other mods more powerful. I always keep 2 of each on hand – It’s handy if you have a pet / sentinel that can also use that mod but also if you are leveling a lower level Warframe. My level 10 energy mod won’t fit into a level 1 Warframe.

Any questions? Clear as mud? Good.

Onto my build-out. The purpose for me is to be able to solo. I like grouping and do it in specific instances (boss farming, intercept missions, archwing missions, relic farming/opening) but otherwise I like to take my time. This means I need to be able to survive the tough missions on my own. The first thing I always start with is the right Warframe. Warframes have shields (that recharge when not taking damage), health (that depletes only after shields are gone, and does not regenerate without mods or skills), and armor – which limits the damage to health once shields are down. I have two Warframes with 60 mod capacity – My Frost Prime and my Rhino. The extra 30 capacity is a big difference. They also each have a defensive special ability. This is critical to have when running solo. All of the mods I have chosen are to protect myself and enhance my special abilities. Here are my go to mods currently. They are pretty self explanatory.

(click on any to open it in gallery format)

Flow and Streamline affect how often you can use your abilities. Stretch is my Aura, which gives +12% health (multiplicative) to everyone in my party, including myself. So you see with all of the mods either adding layers of protection or helping me to increase how often I can use my abilities (especially my protection abilities) I can survive any fight, or at least run away fast enough to recharge and regroup.

I use far differing mods on my weapons but here is my standard three I use on my Primary Weapon

(click on any to open it in gallery format)

Doing more damage (Serration) faster (Speed Trigger) gets the bad guys out of the way faster. Cyro rounds is one of many elemental effects but has the added bonus of slowing enemies. Every weapon has a “Status effect” chance (The Vectis is 30% as an example) so there is a 30% chance you can slow your enemy, reducing the damage and actions they do to you. The Cold damage portion is always applied regardless of status effect change. I have tons of other mods for different weapons depending on what I am using but those are my three standard.

There are far more interesting mods out there but these simple ones that I focus on most people will have, and it covers the basics. Live longer, kill faster, and protect yourself with abilities more often and to greater effect. All of those things allow for safer gameplay. I do have some Warframes that focus on damage and I am getting to the point where I want to try some ‘glass cannon’ builds – and just try to kill everything faster than it can hurt me. That is what is great about this system – the customization is incredible and endless, and even if you have two of the same Warframes in the same group – they could both be completely different in their strengths and weaknesses. This can really shine in group play, at least, potentially in an organized form. My next goal in the game is to find a Clan to better explore purposeful grouping.

Hope this little guide helped, and as always, open to discussion and suggestions!

5 comments / Add your comment below

  1. The status/element mods are really per planet, since the 3 factions have varying resists to them. Cold, for example, is strong on Corpus but weak on Infested. For “regular missions” I don’t see this as a big deal. On “infinite” missions, or even boss missions, this gets painful, quickly. Then it gets even more complex if you add another element, like Heat to create the Blast effect – for knockdown.

    I like to add ammo capacity to my rifles. There’s a pet that you can get (Sentinel Carrier) that can transform one ammo type to the one you need, as an alternative.

    It’s a neat system but it’s very easy to get lost in the details and options. Much more depth than at first glance.

  2. Excellent. What I really needed was that listing of go-to mods. I think I only own Vitality and Redirection, which makes modding quite difficult when nothing else in my hoarded junk makes sense to fit into the warframe for benefit. Add to that not knowing the names of said beneficial mods that can be easily earn/found for a newbie amidst the 835 mods in the game and well…

    Now at least I can google each to figure out where to get them from.

    1. The MOST important thing to get is a Sentinel (from questing) and max out the Vacuum mod for it. That is the autoloot mod. It loots all items within 40′ for you. You can do quick runs around a room and pick up everything that has been dropped very easily. Since the entire game is predicated on drops, its a very powerful mod.

    1. Best part about that video is it’s pretty honest. In Warframe you start out pretty lost and very useless compared to people who have played for years, but you still may find yourself along side them. Then you hit a groove and next thing you know you are bullet-jumping shot-gliding a headshot kill to a boss. Yes, that is supposed to be confusing =)

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