A Warframe Index Guide with Answers

Ask any Warframe player about the best way to get credits and you’ll be inundated by the same answer over and over again. The Index.  But what is the Index, how do you win, and how do you make bank with it? Our Warframe Index Guide will answer these questions and more for all you Tenno looking to get rich or die trying.

What is the Index?

The Index is a battle arena that can be found on Neptune in which your squad will face off against a team of four Corpus-sponsored combatants. But there’s more to this mission than just killing Corpus. Whenever a combatant is killed in the Index, they drop Index Points, glowing green gems that can be picked up by walking over them. Each point you carry adds a stacking Financial Stress debuff to your Tenno, reducing your health and shields and draining your energy. These points can then be deposited by walking into your team’s vaults, adding to both your team’s score and the time left in the match. Reaching the Point Target first will grant your team the victory while running out of time or allowing the enemy team to reach the Point Target will result in a loss.

So what makes the Index so profitable? Well, before the match even starts, you’ll get to choose an investment level: low, medium, or high. This means you wager either 30,000, 40,000, or 50,000 credits, for a chance of winning 105,000, 175,000, or 250,000 credits upon your victory. Lose the match, though, and you’ll lose your wager. Though there is some level of risk involved, a skilled Tenno can rake in tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of credits per round. No wonder the Index is many players’ favorite way to get their hands on some quick cash.

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Which investment level should I choose?

Your investment level affects more than just your wager and payout. Higher investment levels are also more challenging, with stronger, more resilient enemies, and greater debuffs from Financial Stress. This doesn’t mean you should avoid the High investment level option entirely. However, it does mean that you should save it for when you’re playing with teammates you can coordinate with, rather than those you meet through random matchmaking. Though you still might manage to pull off some victories in the latter case, you’ll probably make more credits over time at the Low and Medium investment levels than you would be fighting an uphill battle for each victory at the High level.

That said, if you’re willing to coordinate with your teammates and bring the right loadout, you can definitely make a killing at the High investment level. Just make sure you have enough credits that losing 50,000 if things go south won’t sting so bad.

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Which Warframes and weapons are most effective in the Index?

Because you’ll lose health and shields for every Index Point you carry, the best Warframes are those who can take a hit or those who can kill enemies before they even get in striking distance. The most reliable Warframe for this purpose is Rhino. Rhino’s Iron Skin prevents him from taking damage to health or shields, almost totally negating the weakening effects of Financial Stress. Mesa and Ash can also be viable options, as their abilities allow them to quickly kill enemies before they become a threat.

As for weapons, you’ll want something that deals a lot of damage in relatively few shots. The best primary weapons for this are the Tigris Prime and the Opticor. As for melee, you’ll want something that has high Slash damage to inflict the Bleed status effect. Some examples are the Galatine Prime, Prisma Dual Cleavers, or the Nikana Prime. With this loadout, you’ll be able to shred even the toughest of the Index’s enemies.

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What strategy should I use in the Index?

If you enter the Index without any experience (or without reading this Warframe Index Guide), you might make the mistake of assuming that the best strategy is to bring points to the vault as soon as you get them. After all, if carrying Index Points applies debuffs, then you should minimize your time carrying them, right? Wrong. There are actually a number of reasons why you should try to accumulate multiple Index Points before cashing them in.

For one, cashing in Index Points in groups of five or higher actually nets you bonus points. Cashing in at least five points will grant you a bonus of two points, cashing in ten will get you four, cashing in 15 will get you an extra eight, and cashing in 20 or more points will get you ten extra. That means that ideally, you should wait until you’ve accumulated 20 or more points before cashing in, or at least as many as you can stand with the Financial Stress. In addition, for each point you cash in, the stronger enemies will become. This means that cashing in points one-by-one or even two-by-two will lead to more time spent fighting gradually harder enemies. However, if you can gather huge bundles of points while both teams are still at zero, you’ll spend most of your time killing enemies at their weakest.

However, be aware that there are situations where an immediate cash-in may be necessary. Not only are you playing on limited time, but if the enemy team scores a point, you’ll actually lose seconds on the timer. The only way to get more time is to cash in your points; you’ll get ten extra seconds for every point you turn in, so if that timer’s almost at zero, you better make a dash for your team’s vault. Even if it costs you a few bonus points, it’s still better than losing your money to the timer.

Investing in the Index

Whether you’re shopping for weapon blueprints, redecorating your dojo, or splurging at Baro Ki’teer’s, you’re going to need a lot of credits in Warframe. With its high potential for profit, the Index is the shopaholic Tenno’s best friend, not to mention a fun way to spend a few missions. We hope our Warframe Index Guide has given you the tips and strategies you need to invest wisely, manage Financial Stress, and of course, make bank in Warframe’s most lucrative arena.

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