Warframe Best Focus Schools [Best And Worst Schools Revealed]

Updated:

24 Sep 2022

Only a couple of months ago, we got a rework of Warframe’s Focus Schools which enhanced (mostly) the experience players had with their Tenno.

Of course, a rework of a system like Focus Schools is sure to shake things up. Schools that people never used to pick now see use. In fact, pretty much every School is now viable as long as you know how to use them.

Now that we’ve had some time to try out the changes and let them settle in, the new hierarchy has gotten clearer. Here’s my own personal list of what I think the current hierarchy is and why. Let me know what yours is in the comments!

Plus, the upcoming Veilbreaker update is going to reduce the time lag when switching between Operator and Warframe to virtually zero. So, using your Tenno is going to be even more convenient. A perfect time to learn which Focus Schools are best.

5. Naramon

For those who like going up close and personal

The Naramon School’s Ways focus on mobility for your operator and the effectiveness of your melee weapons.

The reason that I put this school in last place is that its purpose is a little too niche. Unless you have a very melee-heavy playstyle, Naramon wouldn’t be the best choice for you. However, if you do focus on melee a lot, Naramon’s Ways will boost your effectiveness by a lot.

So yeah, not necessarily bad, just too specific.

What the Naramon School excels at:

Zoomin’

A couple of Naramon’s Ways increase your Operator’s mobility by pumping up your movement speed and Void Sling distance. Two of them are Way-Bound too so you’ll be able to make use of them even if Naramon’s not your main School.

These will allow you to close into enemies quicker and dish out the pain more smoothly.

Melee deadliness

Most of Naramon’s Ways focus on maximizing your melee weapon’s Combo Counter and increasing your melee weapon’s damage by Lifting and through Finishers. If you’re a fan of Warframe’s melee combat system, pick Naramon to be the best enemy bonker you can be,

Best Naramon Ways:

Way-Bound Passives (Mind Step & Far Sling):

When maxed, Mind Step increases Operator movement speed by 30% and Far Sling increases your Void Sling distance by 30%. Really useful for quickly getting out of sticky situations, or getting your enemies into one.

Also, if you don’t know what Way-Bound Passives are, they are Ways that will apply no matter what Focus School you use when Unbound. They can only be unbound when maxed and it will cost 750,000 Focus points on that specific School plus a Brilliant Eidolon Shard.

Power Spike:

This Way prevents your Combo Counter from immediately disintegrating to zero. Instead, when Power Spike is maxed, the counter will only go down by five every few seconds when the combo timer runs out.

Sling Stun & Killer’s Rush:

These two abilities improve your melee finishers. When maxed. Sling Stun makes enemies vulnerable to finishers by Void Slinging into them. It also increases your finisher’s damage by 15%. Killer’s Rush allows you to perform finishers from Operator mode while also increasing your finisher’s critical chance by 20%.

Naramon Details

4. Vazarin

Performance Enhancing School

The School for healers and support players, Vazarin’s Ways concentrate on making both you and your allies harder to kill.

Mend your wounds and prevent you and your friends from receiving lethal damage. Everybody loves the team medic. Are you loved? No? Go for Vazarin and you will be! Sarcasm aside, having a Vazarin user in the squad really does take a lot of pressure off of the other players.

What the Vazarin School excels at:

Healing:

Most of Naramon’s Ways are meant to heal both you and your allies. It’s often a thankless job, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Tanking:

Some of Naramon’s Ways simply prevent your squad from taking damage altogether by creating barriers or giving a squadmate temporary invulnerability.

Best Vazarin Ways:

Way-Bound Passives (Enduring Tides & Rejuvenating Tides):

When maxed, Enduring Tides gives your Operator an additional 200% health and armor. Rejuvenating Tides gives your Operator health regeneration (both while in and out of transference). This makes your Operator way harder to kill and makes them feel less like a glass cannon and more like a ferrite Archgun.

Guardian Shell:

Guardian Shell is basically Rhino’s Iron Skin (2nd ability) but it applies to your allies too. Yes, it is as good as it sounds.

Protective Sling:

When maxed, this Way will make allies immune to damage for 5 seconds when you Void Sling through them. During this time, 60% of their health will also be restored. It costs 10 energy but that’s barely a minor inconvenience.

Vazarin Details

3. Unairu

Sometimes you have to tell the world “No, you move”

The first Focus School on the list that isn’t completely focused on a niche, the Unairu School is equally as competent in defense as it is in offense. With Ways that make you harder to kill and Ways that strip away enemy armor and shields while buffing your own damage output.

Unairu is a good pick for general missions because of the versatility of its abilities. It’ll always be a good pick for any situation, I’ll say that much.

What the Unairu School excels at:

Survivability:

Half of Unairu’s Ways focus on keeping your Operator and Warframe up and kicking with abilities that allow you to keep fighting even when downed, remove the negative buff when your Operator “dies”, and just make you tougher in general.

Reducing enemy survivability:

The other half is designed to weaken your enemies and make you stronger. Even the tankiest of enemies will be pushovers when these Ways are properly used.

Best Unairu Ways:

Way-Bound Passives (Last Gasp & Vengeance):

When maxed, Last Gasp allows you to enter Operator mode when your Warframe is down. You will be given a Revive Meter that is gradually going down. You can fill this meter by killing enemies, each enemy will replenish the meter by 33%. Once filled, your Warframe will be automatically revived, allowing you to pick yourself back up without the help of an ally.

Vengeance increases your Operator’s Damage by 100% during Last Gasp, gaining 25% more every second. This makes killing enemies and filling your Revive Meter easier and quicker.

Poise:

Poise makes your Operator and Warframe immune to slow, stagger, and knockdown effects for 40 seconds when you switch between them. Incredibly useful in the current AOE meta and can act as a replacement in case you don’t have the Primed Sure Footed mod.

Admittedly though, with the upcoming nerfs to AOE in Veilbreaker, we’ll have to wait and see how this ability holds up.

Unairu Wisp:

When maxed, this ability will spawn Unairu Wisps that boost your or your ally’s Operator damage by 100% for 40 seconds. They spawn when you hit an enemy with Caustic Strike (another Unairu ability). This ability is really useful in Eidolon Hunts or to make your Last Gasp even more effective.

Unairu Details

2. Madurai

Get a major in Eidolon Hunting!

Schools often advocate against violence and the Madurai School is the exception that proves the rule. Currently, the best school for offense, Madurai’s Ways are all about overcoming your opponents through brute force and efficiency.

With abilities that give you weapon damage, weapon efficiency, and ability strength buffs, this is the go-to School if there’s a specific enemy or mission where you feel like your current damage output just isn’t enough.

What the Madurai School excels at:

Eidolon Hunting:

If you like going Eidolon Hunting, Madurai is considered by most players to be the ideal School for the job. Madurai’s many abilities that boost your Operator’s Amp damage are a huge help for dispatching the nocturnal monstrosities.

General mass slaying:

Whenever it feels like you want more zeroes in your damage tics, try giving this School and its damage buffs a shot.

Best Madurai Ways:

Way-Bound Passives (Inner Gaze & Eternal Gaze:

When maxed, Inner Gaze gives your Amps a 40% larger energy pool. Eternal Gaze increases your Amp’s energy regeneration rate. This allows your Amps to fire more often and spend less time vulnerable while recharging.

Power Transfer, Phoenix Talons, Contamination Wave, & Void Strike:

All 4 of these abilities buff your damage in one way or another. Use them in combination with one another to raise your damage sky-high.

Power Transfer increases Amp Critical Damage when switching to Operator.

Phoenix Talons is just a straight-out passive buff to Amp and Warframe weapon damage.

Contamination Wave makes enemies more vulnerable and receive bigger damage from your Operator.

Void Strike increases the damage you deal based on how much energy you have upon using it.

Madurai Details

1. Zenurik

Gatorade School

I know I said that the rework would change the hierarchy of the Focus Schools, but I guess some things just never change. The best and most useful Focus School is still widely considered to be Zenurik.

This School focuses on giving energy. As you’ve probably already noticed, energy is an incredibly useful resource and you constantly find yourself needing more of it for your Warframe, Operator, Archwing, and Necramech abilities.

If I had to nitpick anything bad about it, it’s that it encourages Warframe gameplay rather than Operator gameplay. The way Zenurik works is: you switch to Operator, quickly cast the ability you want, and go back to your Warframe to take advantage of the ability you just cast. You almost always spend just a couple of seconds as the Operator with this school.

But… it’s just too good to pass up so meh.

What the Zenurik School excels at:

Refilling energy:

Many of Zenurik’s Ways are meant to give you a steady flow of energy and allow you to use as many abilities as you please.

Incapacitating enemies:

The few abilities Zenurik has that aren’t focused on energy are meant to either slow down or weaken enemies and make them defenseless against follow-up attacks from your Warframe.

Best Zenurik Ways:

Way-Bound Passives (Void Siphon & Void Flood):

When maxed, Void Siphon speeds up your Operator’s energy regeneration by 90% while Void Flow raises your Operator’s overall energy pool by 90%. These two will allow you to cast your Operator’s abilities quicker and more often. They’re Way-Bound too so they’re one of the best abilities to get first because they’re a huge benefit to any Focus School.

Inner Might:

Inner Might allows your Warframe to cast an ability without using any energy. It has a 1-minute cooldown at best (when maxed) but it’s still an incredible ability that’s gotten me out of a pinch more times than I can count.

Energy Pulse, Wellspring, & Hardened Wellspring:

Energy Pulse increases the amount of energy you get from pickups by 50% when maxed.

Wellspring creates a zone that refills your and your allies’ energy when entering it. It will grant you a buff that will allow you to regenerate energy for a while even when going out of the zone.

Hardened Wellspring makes the former ability even better by making the zone larger and it gives you another buff that increases your ability strength by 20% when in the zone.

Use these three abilities to constantly grant you and your allies a source of energy for other abilities.