How to Play Warframe for Beginners

Warframe is a game all about player choice. You get to choose your Warframe, your weapons, your style, and really most of your gameplay experience. There are just so many options that you have a lot of freedom when it comes to how you want to play. But all this freedom leaves many new players wondering: where the heck do I start? Fear not: this guide will tell you all about How to Play Warframe, especially when you’re just getting into the game.

How should I start playing Warframe?

Warframe is a game that spans the entire solar system and beyond, from Earth to the Void. As a new player, it’s in your best interests to unlock as much of this map as possible, which means working your way through all the mission nodes on your way to each planet’s junction. Each junction offers a straightforward boss fight, after which you will be allowed to progress to the next planet. Because each planet scales up in level, this is a great way to rank up your first Warframe and weapons and get familiarized with each mission type’s gameplay at a reasonable pace. Plus, with each planet you unlock, you’ll unlock more of Warframe’s story, and new missions, resources, and enemies to fight.

One mistake many newbies make is getting stuck on Earth—specifically, on the Plains of Eidolon. It’s a tempting trap: Cetus and the Plains of Eidolon promise an open world full of shiny new NPCs and items right on Earth and completionists may feel it more worthwhile to explore everything these locales have to offer before moving on to the next planet. Well, we’re here to tell you not to fall for the Plains’ siren song. For one thing, a lot of the bounties and other activities offered on the Plains are meant for higher-level frames and weapons, meaning you’ll be at a big disadvantage as a new player.

Secondly, even if you do manage to obtain new blueprints and items, chances are, you won’t be able to do anything with them. Many items you can find on the Plains aren’t meant to be used until much later in the game and others require resources not found on Earth. You’re much better off unlocking at least most of the other planets and then returning to the Plains of Eidolon once you have the means and motivation. So, keep your sights set on the stars, Tenno—at least for the first few hours.

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How do I get stronger in the game?

One of the most confusing parts of How to Play Warframe in those early hours is how to get stronger. Unlike many games, you and your items don’t automatically become more powerful when you level up. Instead, there are two main ways to get stronger in Warframe: rank up and mod the Warframes and weapons you have and/or acquire newer, stronger Warframes and weapons. As a new player, the former will probably be your best bet early on. Fortunately, the “ranking up” part is pretty easy. Your Warframe and weapons will automatically earn Affinity during a mission, particularly if you kill enemies with them. Earn enough Affinity and those items will automatically rank up. But here’s the catch: just because they rank up automatically doesn’t mean they’ll automatically get stronger. For that, you need to mod them.

To mod an item, find your ship’s Arsenal: just walk in a straight line down the central ramp and you should find it ready and waiting. Once you get close enough, you should see a prompt to activate your arsenal, which will bring you to a menu allowing you to select your Warframe, weapons, and companion. Hover over any of these items and you’ll see the option “Upgrade.” Click here and you’ll see a mod menu that allows you to drag and drop mods onto your Warframe/weapon, plus upgrade the mods themselves with a resource called “Endo.” Ranking up your Warframe or weapon will allow you to equip more mods at a time, making your Warframe/weapon stronger and more suited to your individual playstyle.

If you’ve fully ranked up and upgraded your starter Warframe and weapons and still want something more powerful, you can also look into acquiring new Warframes and weapons through trade or gameplay. You can obtain blueprints and components for crafting by defeating bosses, opening Void Relics, or trading with other players. Once you have all the necessary blueprints and components, you can craft the completed item in your Foundry and start slaying with your new Warframe or weapon. Be aware that you’ll need Platinum, the game’s premium currency, to buy slots for new weapons and Warframes, but this too can be obtained easily by trading with other players in the game. Or you can just buy Platinum directly from the Warframe store if you’re in a rush. Either way, you’ll have plenty of room to find the right Warframe, weapon, companion, archwing, etc., that suits you.

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What non-combat activities are available?

Though Warframe is technically a looter-shooter, there are also activities for players looking for a break from the relentless third-person action. Not only can these activities be a nice change of pace, but they can also net you unique resources and items that you can’t get anywhere else.

You can find these activities on the Plains of Eidolon on Earth and the Orb Vallis on Venus. On both planets, you can buy a spear and go fishing, buy a laser and go mining, or buy animal trackers and go out tranquilizing and capturing endangered species. Fishing and mining both allow you to gather resources that can be used in constructing new items, while tracking and catching animals gets you… adorable stuffed animals, of course! These “Floofs” can be used to decorate your ship, which, along with making your Warframes the most fashionable they can be, is the true endgame of Warframe.

Play Your Way

With so many options available, asking How to Play Warframe is bound to get you a variety of answers. Play for a few hours, and you’ll almost certainly find more ways to spend your time than we could ever fit in this guide. However, we hope we’ve given you an idea of where to start and how to make those first steps of your Warframe journey a more fun, less confusing experience.

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