Warframe Tier List [Strongest And Weakest Warframes Revealed]

Updated:

28 Apr 2024

In Warframe most players will often find themselves spending tens of hours farming for a frame that they just don’t really like or, just isn’t as strong as they thought. Then, Tenno might quit the game and leave the Star Chart in the hands of the evils left behind in the wake of the Orokin empire’s collapse. Now, I don’t know about you but I don’t really want to see millions of innocents murdered and enslaved so- here’s a complete Warframe tier list covering all 56 currently released Warframes to keep you Tenno informed and in the fight!

S Tier: These are the Lotus’ finest. Warframes that, once properly built, are able to clear any content in the game from the base Star Chart to the Steel Path with ease.

1. Hydroid / Hydroid Prime (S tier 98/100)

Good thing salt water won’t rust gold eh?

From the bottom of the barrel to the very top of the mast, the pirate themed Hydroid currently dominates the meta from his humble beginnings as an AFK puddle. Since his rework in late 2023 Hydroid has received many powerful updates to his kit.

Sporting reliable crowd control, fast mobility, status spreading and cleansing, loot multiplication, and even permanent AOE armor strip, It’s no wonder almost every Tenno is scrambling to get their hands on a piece of this pirate treasure.

Why is Hydroid so powerful?

Easy and reliable Corrosive or Viral (with Viral Tempest) status spreading and CC with Tempest Barrage (his 1).
Lots more loot per kill and even more CC with Tentacle Swarm (his 4) and its augment (Pilfering Swarm).
A permanent armor strip with Plunder (his 3) that also buffs his weapon with Corrosive damage.
Great mobility and status cleanse with Tidal surge (his 2).
Tentacle Swarm or Tempest Barrage can be subsumed out for more flexibility.

»See Hydroid in action:

2. Protea / Protea Prime (S tier 97/100)

Exemplary service, in spite of even time itself.

The great protector, the time traveling dame, the eternal bastion, Protea! Parvos Granum’s personal bodyguard returns to the side of the Tenno bringing her impressive arsenal with her.

From a set of hovering flame turrets to an ammo, health, and energy generator, Protea has the tools for any situation the Star Chart can throw at her. And even if the Tenno finds themselves in a pinch, worry not! Protea can also time travel, restoring her completely to a previous location that the Tenno sets in advance while leaving a devastating explosion in her wake.

What specifically does Protea bring to the table?

Great area denial, Slash procs and shield restoration (can even generate Overshield) with Grenade fan (her 1).
Even more area control and a little armor reduction through Heat procs with Blaze Artillery (her 2).
Insane team resource sustainability and energy generation with Dispensary (her 3).
Temporal Anchor (her 4) is a great get-out-of-jail free card and a fun but niche DPS tool.
Temporal Anchor also serves as a great subsume slot.

»See Protea in action:

3. Wisp / Wisp Prime (S Tier 96/100)

I didn’t know they gave her hooves honestly.

The eerily beautiful and elusive ghost, Wisp. Themed after Will-o-Wisps she is true to her name, invisibly dashing and teleporting around the battlefield, blinding her enemies and keeping her allies alive while also- somehow, being able to conjure a laser through a portal from the surface of the Sun!

Wisp is one of the most versatile and easy to use support Warframes in the game. She can keep pretty much anything alive with her motes, disorient enemies with her ethereal power and enemies can’t see her when she's in the air. Sporting ridiculous survivability and finding success in any mission you bring her on, wisp is definitely a ghost you would want to get haunted by!

So, what makes wisp a force to be reckoned with?

Her motes from Reservoir (her 1) provide team wide survivability, CC through Electric procs, and general speed buffs.
Wisps passive makes her invisible when in the air and not shooting her Weapon.
Breach surge (her 3) is a spammable radial blind, teleport (to her placed motes), AOE dps tool, and weapon crit multiplier all in one.
Will-o-Wisp (her 2) is a great mobility and survivability skill that allows Wisp to manipulate enemy aggro with the projected decoy, cast Breach Surge remotely from the decoy and herself, and teleport to the decoy and get 3 seconds of invulnerability.
Sol Gate (her 4) is only really useful at lower levels, subsume it out for buff or armor strip skills.

»See Wisp in action:

4. Volt / Volt Prime (S Tier 95/100)

As fast as lightning!

Volt, the Warframe that puts the speed in speedrunner. With the capability to harness electricity to increase his movement speed and zap whole rooms to crispy oblivion, Volt is the original fast frame, he has an incredibly versatile kit with mobility, defense, nuking and buffing capability. He is a classic fan-favorite that stands the test of time since his release in Warframes Beta.

Here’s why Tenno love Volt:

The go-to Warframe for Eidolon hunting / Speedrunning.
Electric Shield (his 3) is a one way directional shield multiplying weapon crits and damage fired through it.
Speed (his 2), being a super simple team wide speed buff in a fast paced horde shooter, is just really strong.
Discharge (his 4) is a really reliable Nuke, its only downside is the reliance on enemy density and the delay between damage ticks.
Shock (his 1), though great for hunting Eidolons, can be easily subsumed out in normal gameplay.

»See Volt in action:

5. Dante (S Tier 94/100)

Comfy chair! Wait… Where’s the chair?

Dante! The most recent edition to the Warframe roster definitely knows how to make an entrance! He is a fairly complicated but very strong caster-type Warframe with a heavy focus on and even ability casting order. Dante can pretty much do it all, with his abilities alone he has access to: a unique form of stacking Overguard generation, mass status spreading, nuking, summons, and even an Exalted weapon that you can either summon to use or to fire alongside your main weapon!

Some more about Dante:

Dante gets an extra 50% status chance against fully scanned enemies with his passive. His passive also lets him scan enemies with Noctua’s primary fire (his 1)
Noctua (his 1 and the name of his Exalted Tome) provides great Slash or Radiation based damage as a stand-in for real weapons and has infinite ammo.
Light Verse (his 2) is a great source of healing and Overguard. Light Verse is also a main casting component of Final Verse (his 4)
Dark Verse (his 3) is amazing AOE Slash damage and is also a casting component for Final Verse.
Dante’s Final Verse is a strong and versatile multipurpose ability. Final Verse can only be cast after casting two of his other verses (Dark or Light Verse) and will change its function depending on the prior combination of cast verses. Final Verse’s different combinations and casting components are as follows: Triumph, two Light Verses: Increases Dante and allies’ health and provides Overguard, kills and assists will regenerate Overguard. Tragedy, two Dark Verses: Takes all status DOTs received by enemies within the ability radius, multiplies it, and re-inflicts it in a huge 360 degree blast. Wordwarden: one Dark Verse and one Light Verse: Summons copies of Noctua for Dante and each ally in range. The Noctua copies will synchronize their attacks with the weapon attacks of their assigned owner. Pageflight: one Light Verse and one Dark Verse: Summons three birds (Paragrimms) that deal Slash damage, buff Status damage, and inflict Status chance vulnerability to any enemy in their range.

»See Dante in action:

6. Citrine (S Tier 93/100)

Bet those crystals are really sharp, do not touch.

Citrine, The Crystal Bastion, another very versatile dps and support hybrid in the S tier. Citrine has access to team wide damage reduction, a placeable turret that can apply up to five different statuses, slash procs, and she can crystalize enemies then shoot them for guaranteed Red Crits. What a gem of a Warframe!

A little more on what makes Citrine shine:

Up to 90% team-wide damage reduction through Preserving shell (her 2).
Easy and reliable status spreading (of all four base elements) with Prismatic Gem (her 3).
Fractured blast (her 1) is fast CC and gives Citrine access to the coveted Slash procs (True Damage DoT).
Great CC, weak spot generation, and guaranteed Red Crits (when hitting the generated crystals) with Crystallize (her 4).

» See Citrine in action:

7. Gauss / Gauss Prime (S Tier 92/100)

The sonic and the boom.

Don’t blink! Or you’ll miss Gauss obliterating every room in the map at mach speed. Gauss is the speedster of Warframe, with every step he takes he charges his battery that fuels his destructive abilities, so keep him moving! With an incredibly mobile playstyle, easy access to damage and CC nukes, periods of invulnerability, blindingly fast dashes, and a multitude of buffs, The Saint of Altra is truly an unstoppable force.

Wanna know Gauss’ specs eh? Well this baby can-

Gauss’ electrokinetic battery passive is really fun and provides a really mobile play style fit for Warframe.
Thermal Sunder (his 3), is a really good hard CC and nuking / armor strip ability.
Gauss’ 4 Redline allows gauss to access 100% of his electrokinetic battery and buffs his Fire rate, Attack speed, Reload speed, Holster rate, and his other abilities for 30 seconds by default.
Kinetic plating (his 2) when paired with Redline and a fully charged battery can give Gauss 100% damage reduction.
Mach rush (his 1) is a great mobility tool with some damage, CC, and great battery charging capability.

»See Gauss in action:

8. Nekros / Nekros Prime (S Tier 91/100)

Imagine the grim reaper but he has a shotgun.

Nekros the necromancer themed Warframe steps in and reaps enemies’ souls along with all of their belongings. Nekros is a truly terrifying presence in the battlefield, literally, he has a skill that causes enemies in his immediate vicinity to run away in fear! He can also desecrate corpses for additional loot, punch souls straight out of their bodies, and reanimate corpses into his own personal shadow army! Death is not lonely for Nekros.

So, what makes Tenno drop dead for Nekros?

Nekros’ 4 Shadows of the Dead is a great aggro manipulation tool, the shadows do good DPS and have the ability (with Shield of Shadows equipped) to achieve up to 90% DR depending on the build.
Desecrate (Nekros’ 3) is a great healing, energy generation, and loot multiplication ability. With the right setup Nekros can double the loot you can get all on his own.
Terrify (his 2) without the augment is decent CC but causing enemies to run away can be annoying.
With the augment (Creeping terrify) the slow that Terrify puts on enemies and the 100% armor strip is really valuable.
Soul Punch (his 1) can execute enemies hit below 25% HP, however this ability slot is great for subsumes as the DPS it provides by default is kinda lackluster.

»See Nekros in action:

9. Khora / Khora Prime (S Tier 90/100)

Cute… cat?

Feral, very sharp, and very deadly, the huntress themed Khora rushes into the battlefield stringing enemies up in domes of chain and eviscerating them with her signature whip! Khora has insane control over the battlefield with solid grouping and CC skills, she's a DPS machine able to hit red crits in the millions with a single ability, and she multiplies loot! Khora is also an animal lover, being able to take her exclusive exalted companion Venari to missions along with any one other companion available to all Warframes.

A little more about Khora:

Whipclaw (her 1) is a AOE DPS machine, with the augment (Accumulating Whipclaw) equipped and the right Stat-Stick, Whipclaw can reach Red-Crits in the millions.
Whipclaw needs a very specifically modded class of Melee weapons called “Stat-Sticks' ' by the community, these weapons are very resource demanding to build correctly.
Khora’s 2 Ensnare is one of the most consistent Grouping and CC abilities in Warframe, enemies affected by Ensnare also take 200% damage from Whipclaw and Venari.
Strangledome (her 4) deploys 2 domes that lock onto enemies and hang them from chains, great area CC and with the augment (Pilfering Strangledome) equipped enemies CC’d by strangle dome have a 65% chance to drop more loot.
Venari (Khora’s 3 and the name of her Exalted Companion) allows the player to control Venari’s behavior. This ability serves better as a subsume slot as Venari doesn’t disappear even without access to the ability and Khora really needs energy generation in her kit.

»See Khora in action:

10. Zephyr / Zephyr Prime (S Tier 90/100)

The swift tempest.

Flying from room to room and harnessing the power of the wind to decimate her foes, it's Zephyr the cyclone! Zephyr is a crazy strong Warframe that’s also really easy to use, she has the ability to hover above her enemies, can parkour better than most other frames allowing her better utilization of Warframes 3d movement, literally deflect bullets and missiles with the wind circling around her, and she can summon fierce tornadoes that group enemies then fire at the tornadoes themselves to redirect 100% of the damage at each of the enemies trapped within them individually.

Want to get to know Zephyr a little more?

Tail Wind (her 1) is a great mobility tool allowing Zephyr to dash up, around the air, and Hover. Great to avoid Melee units and traps.
Zephyr’s 3 Turbulence creates a shield of wind around Zephyr that reliably redirects projectiles like missiles and completely avoids hitscan bullets. This is one of the best survivability tools in the game.
Airburst (her 2) is a fast grouping or dispersion ability depending how it’s cast.
Tornadoes (her 4) is another great CC ability that can lock down and Nuke entire rooms with weapon damage applied to the Tornadoes.

»See Zephyr in action:

11. Saryn / Saryn Prime (S tier 89/100)

Sweet sword! Not that she really needs one though…

Have you ever wanted to just sit back and let a virus you yourself created with your body wipe out the population of an entire planet? Well Saryn, the snake themed master of all plagues and viruses is the Warframe for you! She can attach damaging corrosive spores on an enemy that can spread to others when shot, she can shed her skin and leave it behind to manipulate enemy aggro, apply toxic damage to her weapons, and explode in a cloud of sickening viral miasma. One of the most capable nuking frames since way back in the days of Warframe Beta is just as strong today.

Why is Saryn so powerful?

Saryn is one of the best weapon buffers in the game with two elemental buffs from Toxic Lash (her 3) and Spores (her 1 equipped with the augment Venom Dose).
Molt (her 2) is great for its speed buff that can rival even Volt, Status cleansing and aggro manipulation.
Spores is a very easy to use DPS tool that can spread insane amounts of Corrosive damage as long as you can keep enemies infected.
Miasma (her 4) is a great Viral status spread, CC tool, and Nuke that can go through walls and does quadruple damage to enemies affected by Spores.

»See Saryn in action:

12. Garuda / Garuda Prime (S Tier 89/100)

Disclaimer: Those wings are decorative and not functional.

The sanguine sorceress Garuda bleeds her enemies dry and uses their own blood to bolster her abilities and paint whole maps red! Garuda can manipulate blood to spread slash procs, make a directional shield that absorbs all damage and redirect it in a massive Nuke, heal herself and her teammates while using her own health pool to generate Energy to fuel her devastating abilities.

Here’s some points on Garuda’s power:

Garuda’s passive gives her up to a 100% damage increase to her weapons and abilities as long as she keeps killing and gives her a pair of moddable Claws that she can use instead of Melee weapons.
Dread Mirror (her 1) creates a directional blood shield that hovers around Garuda, gives her complete knockdown resistance, and absorbs all damage done to it.
Dread Mirror executes the enemy it’s created from if hit below 40% health. Garuda can also take all the damage Dread Mirror takes, multiply it, and launch it in a devastating Nuke.
Blood Altar (her 2) completely immobilizes up to 3 enemies and creates zones that constantly heal Garuda and her allies around them. This can be paired with Bloodletting (her 3) that sacrifices Garuda’s health to create Energy for infinite Energy generation.
Seeking Talons (her 4) releases seeking blood projectiles that apply Slash to enemies dealing reliable AOE true damage. Garuda is also completely invincible during the cast animations of her 1 and 4.

»See Garuda in action:

13. Revenant / Revenant Prime (S Tier, 86/100)

Fun fact: One of the game devs wore claws like that to the 2023 Game Awards. Pretty cool.

The unkillable specter Revenant! Revenant is probably the hardest to kill Warframe in the game currently, capable of enthralling enemies, leeching shields and health, obliterating enemies with laser beams and shrugging off literally any instance of damage received with a single, easily re-castable ability. A lot of Tenno even think Revenant makes Warframe so easy that it makes the game boring, this is why Revenant along with the next frame are at the bottom of S Tier.

Why is Revenant so OP?

Mesmer Skin (his 2) gives Revenant charges that block any instance of damage he receives, making him invulnerable for 1 second, and stunning the enemy for up to five seconds. Mesmer Skin can be refreshed at any charge level with a short cast animation.
Mesmer Skin literally makes Revenant unkillable in most content as long as he has the energy to cast it.
Enthrall (his 1) mind controls an enemy, whenever the enemy attacks its allies it also mind controls them up to 6 times for 7 max thralls at a time. Great for taking control of dangerous targets and to take heat off Revenant himself.
Reave is a great assassination tool being able to do percent max health damage to enemies, it also leeches shields and health for Revenant if he finds himself in a pinch.
Danse Macabre (his 4) is a great DPS ability in lower levels however it prevents recasting of Mesmer Skin and access to his weapons. Great subsume slot for late game.

»See Revenant in action:

14. Octavia / Octavia Prime (S tier 86/100)

Sweet dance moves!

“This is Octavia, the melodic, the maestro. If music be the food of death… play on Tenno” a quote from Lotus herself. Octavia is a Warframe with an infamously strong kit to the point of being over-tuned, she has access to aggro manipulation, level scaling damage, and 5 buffs including straight up invisibility. Like Revenant, many Tenno often say Octavia is too good for doing too little, this is both a testament to her power and also the only reason she is at the bottom of S Tier.

Why is Octavia so strong?

Octavia’s passive Mandachord lets Tenno customize and play music from the speakers on her body, her first three abilities play different sections of the whole song and apply their effects to the beat. Compose wisely.
Mallet (her 1) Taunts enemies for CC and does damage on beat to Mandachord’s percussion (damage scales with enemy damage done to the Mallet itself).
Amp (her 4) gives any ally and Octavia herself a damage buff and doubles the damage and range of her Mallet.
Metronome (her 3) radiates pulses from Octavia's feet on beat with Mandachord’s melody. Actions performed by Octavia and allies in range provide the following buffs: Jumping on beat: Movement speed buff. Crouching on beat: Invisibility. Shooting on beat: Multishot buff. Melee on beat: Melee damage buff
Resonator (her 2) also Taunts enemies, does damage on beat with Mandachord’s bass and can pick up Octavias Mallet to herd enemies as Resonator moves around. Great subsume slot as Mallet is better at taunting and best kept in range of Amp.

»See Octavia in action:

A Tier: Not as universally strong as the Warframes in S but, in the hands of the right Tenno, these Warframes can still dominate the battlefield with ease.

15. Harrow / Harrow prime (A Tier 85/100)

Looks like he really likes that staff.

The dark and devoted, priest-themed Harrow steps onto the field preaching salvation, redemption, and vengeance. Harrow is a weapon and CC focused support frame, he can throw out a wave of sanctified energy that chains enemies, sacrifice his shield to buff weapons, sacrifice his energy to then regenerate his and his team's energy with headshots and even make his whole team temporarily Invulnerable while buffing their Critical Chance.

Despite being a support Warframe Harrow actually suffers quite a bit in teams due to needing kills to fuel his abilities. With the amount of Nuking most frames can easily achieve and the fact that Harrow actually has no damaging skills by default, a lot of the kills he needs get stolen. This is actually the only reason he isn’t in the S tier.

A few more of Harrow’s virtues:

The wave from Condemn (his 1) CCs enemies in a easily headshottable pose and restores Harrow’s shields for each enemy hit (Condemn can also produce Overshield).
Penance (his 2) gives team wide reload speed, fire rate, and healing in exchange for Harrow’s shield.
Thurible (his 3) provides really consistent energy generation on kill for his whole team (bonus to headshot kills) but has a really long and expensive cast time.
Harrow’s 4 Covenant is a very reliable Invulnerability now! Panic button. It also buffs his whole team’s Crit Chance scaling with damage absorbed during its Invulnerability period.
All of Harrow’s abilities actually work perfectly together so I don’t actually recommend subsuming anything out!

»See Harrow in Action:

16. Xaku (A Tier 85/100)

Is it just me or is there something wrong with those… Trees?

Greater than the sum of their parts, Xaku the broken Warframe! Xaku is actually the first non-binary Warframe and they were also primarily designed by the Community. Xaku is an incredibly agile DPS warframe that has unique access to Void damage (usually reserved for the Operators themselves). They have access to void damage buffs, can steal enemies weapons to use them as turrets, mind control, great CC, armor strip, and Xaku can passively dodge enemy attacks.

What makes Xaku strong?

Xata’s whisper (their 1) gives Xaku’s weapons Void damage (1 extra, faction damage scaling, hit per damage instance).
Grasp of Lohk (their 2) steals enemies’ guns and uses them as Void damage turrets that hover around Xaku. This ability is great for disarming and DPS.
Xaku’s 3rd ability The Lost is a three-in-one ability that can do the following: Accuse: Casts a Void fissure that stuns enemies Gaze: Freezes up to two targets creating a defense stripping aura around them. Deny: Unleashes a ray of Void energy that does 4000 Void damage and can completely freeze Sentient faction enemies.
The Vast Untime (their 4) blows up Xaku’s armor and any enemy around them leaving only Xaku as a skeleton. The Vast Untime also buffs movement speed, freezes the duration of his other abilities until The Vast Untime runs out, and gives Xaku a 75% Dodge chance.
Xaku has a passive 25% Dodge chance that is always active.

»See Xaku in action:

17. Styanax (A Tier 84/100)

A spear that’s also a crossbow? Man that’s cool.

The Hoplite themed Styanax will never back down from a fight! Styanax is a strong DPS support Warframe that always makes sure his teammates are in top shape while doing all the work himself anyway. He has strong grouping and DPS abilities, great energy generation, a Taunt, full armor strip, and can summon a whole army of himself to chuck explosive javelins at his enemies. With Styanax on the field Tenno won’t have to worry about how many enemies they have to fight, only where they are.

A little more about Styanax:

Axios Javelin (his 1) is a decent grouping ability. This slot is better served for subsumes though. I recommend Nourish from Grendel.
Tharros Strike (his 2) is one of the best armor stripping abilities in the game. Tharros strike can also heal Styanax for every enemy hit.
Styanax’s 3 Rally Point Taunts enemies onto styanax, passively regenerates team energy and restores team shields on kill.
Final Stand (his 4) sees Styanax and an army of specters leaping into the air to toss a torrent of Axios Javelins (they don’t group but do explode) at enemies.
Final Stand’s augment Intrepid stand grants Overguard to the whole team for every enemy hit with the ability.

»See Styanax in action:

18. Inaros / Inaros Prime (A Tier 84/100)

May his passing cleanse the world.

Inaros definitely got one heck of a glow-up with his rework that shipped alongside the Dante Unbound update. Inaros is now a proper health-tank with access to multiple prolonged periods of invulnerability, self-healing, status immunity, actually good crowd control and status spreading, and the occasional summons.

More of Inaros’ strengths:

Desiccation (his 1) is reliable and fast CC with a bonus of slight self-healing. Decent subsume slot.
Sandstorm (his 2) is great CC and slash DPS. Inaros is invulnerable for the entire duration of the ability and heals for each enemy affected. Sandstorm also has an augment called Elemental Sandstorm that increases Sandstorm range by 50% and enables it to inflict the Statuses equipped on your melee weapon.
Scarab Shell (his 3) provides Inaros great survivability through armor buffs and Status immunity.
Scarab Swarm (his 4) can be decent CC and Corrosive DOT, not to mention it can also summon Swarm Kavats when it kills however, it’s better served as a subsume slot.

»See Inaros in action:

19. Kullervo (A Tier 83/100)

Yes, those blades are constantly impaling him, enemies too though!

The rebel, the exile, the vengeful, Kullervo! He returns from his imprisonment to help rid the Tenno rid the Star Chart of the various enemies that would threaten its peace. Kullervo is a melee-focused DPS Warframe that can teleport behind enemies, control blades that fly out from his body to attack enemies, share damage instances between enemies, and summon a storm of deadly daggers! If you are a Tenno that prefers up-close and personal combat Kullervo is for you!

Want to know what Kullervo can do?

Wrathful Advance (his 1) is a two stage ability that lets Kullervo either teleport behind enemies striking with them with a heavy melee attack or teleport a fixed distance away from his position.
After every Wrathful Advance teleport Kullervo gains extra final melee Crit Chance for 10 seconds by default.
Recompense (his 2) provides great survivability generating both healing and overguard for Kullervo.
Collective Curse (his 3) is a great DPS tool that links enemies with each other and shares damage done between all of them.
Storm of Ukko (his 4) is another great DPS and area denial Tool. Storm of Ukko also generates melee Combo for Kullervo with each enemy hit.

»See Kullervo in action:

20. Mesa / Mesa Prime (A Tier 83/100)

Yep, bladed pistols.

Ever wanted to really feel what it’s like to use Aimbot without actually stooping so low as to actually use Aimbot? Good news! The gunslinger themed Mesa has an Aimbot ability that is actually somehow balanced for the game! Mesa is a ranged DPS focused Warframe that can buff weapon damage, jam enemies’ guns, reflect incoming bullet damage, and, as said above, completely lock in and place all her focus into her twin Exalted pistols (the ones strapped to her forearms in the picture) and automatically aim and fire at any enemy within her field of view.

Some more on Mesa’s strengths:

Ballistic Battery (her 1) is a two stage ability, in stage one it stores the damage caused by her guns, in stage two once the ability is activated again Ballistic Battery buffs her next shot (just one) with all the damage stored. Very powercrept ability with niche uses, great subsume slot.
Shooting Gallery (her 2) Gives a single ally a damage buffing aura that shifts between teammates, this ability can also CC enemies by jamming their guns.
Shatter Shield (her 3) can provide up to 95% damage reduction to bullets and projectiles reflecting them back at enemies for its whole duration. Susceptible to melee and explosion AOE.
Peacemaker (her 4) sees Mesa drawing her moddable Exalted pistols the Regulators (also Regulator Prime, these are separate to her normal secondary) to automatically hit enemies that are within her field of view (displayed on the HUD). Mesa is immobile during this ability without the augment Mesa’s Waltz equipped.
Mesa is a great DPS frame but suffers with her energy economy due to Peacemaker’s constant drain while active, build her accordingly.

»See Mesa in action:

21. Nova / Nova Prime (A Tier 83/100)

This is a beautiful skin for Nova lovingly made by a Warframe community member!

The molecular master Nova manipulates antimatter to obliterate her enemies at the molecular level! Nova is a CC focused Warframe with some Nuking and mobility skills. She can use antimatter particles to protect herself and Nuke entire rooms, Nova can also make one-way portals through space-time and unleash a wave of volatile antimatter particles that can slow down or speed up enemies. Nova is a great option if you ever need to speed up or slow down missions.

Wanna get to know Nova a little more?

Null Star (her 1) can provide Nova up to 90% damage reduction with little stars orbiting her that seek out and damage nearby enemies. Damage reduction depends on the number of active stars.
Antimatter Drop (her 2) is a little clunky but very powerful Nuking ability that scales to the weapon damage Nova or her allies deal to the drop before it detonates.
Nova’s 3 Wormhole is a great team mobility tool that even works on certain objectives. Wormhole creates a one-way portal that instantly teleports the user to a set destination.
Molecular Prime (her 4) is a unique ability that can slow down or speed up enemies hit by the antimatter wave (depending on ability strength). Damage dealt to affected enemies is doubled and causes an explosion.

»See Nova in action:

22. Rhino / Rhino Prime (A Tier: 82/100)

The immovable object and the unstoppable force!

Rhino! Hailed as one of the simplest and easiest to use Warframes is also one of the strongest in the game. Rhino can charge straight through packs of enemies, harden his skin at will, buff his whole team's damage, and stomp with such force that it leaves enemies suspended helplessly in air! Many Tenno even hail Rhino’s whole kit as being Meta-Proof so rest assured, nothing will stop this stubbornly stalwart Warframe!

Some of Rhino’s strong points:

Rhino Charge (his 1) is a decent mobility and CC tool, with its augment Ironclad Charge equipped every enemy hit increases his armor rating by 50% for 10 seconds.
Iron Skin (his 2) gives Rhino Overguard that scales with his power strength and armor value at the time of casting. With the right setup this Overguard value can reach up into the millions!
Iron Skin also has a period of Invulnerability wherein all damage absorbed is added to the Overguard.
Roar (his 3) is a team wide faction damage buff (multiplicative scaling instead of additive) to all damage dealt by him and his allies including ability damage.
Rhino Stomp (his 4) is one of the best CC skills in the game that completely immobilizes enemies and can even affect Eximus units.

»See Rhino in action:

23. Mag / Mag Prime (A Tier 82/100)

That helmet reminds me a lot of HAL 9000.

Mag, another classic Warframe from all the way back in the Betareceived a rework back in 2016 and multiple buffs through the years to keep her in top shape. Mag is a heavily CC focused shield tank that specializes in fighting shielded or armored enemies. Mag can pull enemies to her and into each other, drain enemy shields to restore her own, absorb enemy projectiles to fire them back, and lift enemies up into the air and crush them with magnetic force.

So, what makes Mag strong?

Pull (her 1) literally just pulls enemies to her. It’s a quick and easy grouping tool but serves better as a subsume slot.
Magnetize (her 2) is a two stage ability that can either immobilize a single enemy, projecting a magnetic field around them that attracts nearby enemies and all projectiles fired into the field or create a magnetic field around Mag that absorbs all projectile damage then reflects it back at enemies. Great CC and DPS tool.
Polarize (her 3) is a great AOE armor/shield strip that can also restore team shields.
Crush (her 4) is a fast CC and even Nuking tool. Crush has an augment called Fracturing Crush that also makes the ability armor strip.

»See Mag in action:

24. Wukong / Wukong Prime (A Tier 82/100)

One of the few Warframes that come with a tail!

Wukong! The fun loving and ridiculously strong Monkey King makes his appearance in Warframe. Wukong is a very flexible and very mobile generalist as he excels at almost anything, including Spy missions!

He can transform into a cloud while healing himself, strike a pose and convert any damage received into armor, summon his Exalted Iron staff to wreak havoc, defy death three times, and just straight up clone himself. Wukong is hailed as one of the best starter warframes for new Tenno due to his ease of use and survivability.

A peek at the Monkey King’s strengths:

Wukong’s passive lets him defy death three times per mission, restoring his health to 50%, making him invulnerable for two seconds, and giving him one of 5 buffs randomly. These are the buffs: Primal Forces: 300% elemental damage for 60 seconds. Heavenly Cloak: Invisibility for 30 seconds (Wukong can still attack). Cosmic Armour: Invulnerable for 30 seconds. Monkey Luck: Enemies drop extra loot for 60 seconds Sly Alchemy: Quadruples the effect of energy and health orbs for 60 seconds.
Cloud Walker (his 2) is a very good mobility tool (it’s literally just invulnerable flight) that also heals wukong and cleanses any status effects on him.
Primal Fury (his 4) summons Wukong’s Exalted moddable melee the Iron Staff that primarily deals impact damage. It’s not as good as it used to be so his 4 is a popular subsume slot.
Celestial Twin (his 1) summons an AI copy of Wukong that uses his equipped weapons and fights alongside him. The copy has infinite duration and only disappears when it dies. One of the best abilities in the game.
Defy (his 3) is a great invulnerability panic button that also redirects damage and buffs Wukongs armor (his clone also strikes the pose).

»See Wukong in action:

25. Yareli (A Tier 81/100)

That skateboard is alive by the way.

The skater themed Warframe Yareli slides in with her trusty Merulina to keep the peace and have some fun! Yareli is a DPS warframe with unique mobility and good CC options. Yareli can ride around on her Companion and vehicle Merulina in any mission, snare enemies, cut them in half with water, and drag enemies into riptides on land!

Want to know more about Yareli?

Merulina (her 2 and the name of the… skateboard?) summons a living creature Yareli rides on. Merulina takes some of the damage for Yareli and while riding Yareli is immune to knockdowns. Only secondary weapons can be used while riding Merulina though, and all her other default abilities can still be cast.
Sea Snares (her 1) fires 3 seeking water orbs that damage and CC enemies.
Aquablades (her 3) summons three water blades that orbit Yareli and damage nearby enemies with Slash.
Aquablades can serve as a good subsume slot if you don’t want to have to run into enemies.
Riptide (her 4) is a very good grouping and DPS ability. Enemies affected by Riptide also take increased damage.

»See Yareli in action:

26. Titania / Titania Prime (A Tier 81/100)

Careful! They’re called Razorflies for a reason.

The pixie themed Warframe Titania! Fun fact: Titania is the fastest Warframe in the game so, along with Volt up in the S Tier she is a coveted speedrunner. In fact, Titania can be so fast in a mission that running into walls and waiting for the automatic doors to open becomes a bit of a problem for Tenno using her.

That being said, Titania is a mobility focused DPS Warframe with a focus on the use of her two Exalted weapons Dex Pixia the twin pistols and Diwata the sword. She has abilities that can jam enemy weapons while disabling them and providing team status immunity, create buffing auras around immobilized enemies, create swarms or Razorflies, and transform into a pixie that can fly around at mind-boggling speed.

A little more about Titania:

Spellbind (her 1) is a great source of CC immunity and fast acting CC.
Tribute (her 2) is a 4 in 1 ability that immobilizes a single enemy and casts a buffing / debuffing aura around them for the duration of the ability. Here are the effects of each aura: Thorns: Grants 50% damage reduction to allies that also reflects 50% of that damage back to enemies. Dust: Debuffs enemy accuracy by 50%. Full Moon: Buffs Companion and Razorfly damage by 75% and their health and armor by 50%. Entangle: Slows enemies by 25%.
Lantern (her 3) lifts and completely stuns up to 4 enemies, summons damaging Razorflies around them, Taunts their allies into approaching, and eventually makes the CC’d enemy explode in a blast of Heat damage. Great for priority CC and area denial.
Razorwing (her 4) transforms Titania into a pixie gaining, flight (Archwing controls), 50% dodge chance, a 10 meter Vacuum radius, and increased speed. During Razorwing, instead of her normal arsenal, Titania uses her two moddable Exalted weapons Dex Pixia and Diwata. Razorwing has an augment called Razorwing Blitz that applies a stacking movespeed and fire rate buffs everytime Titania uses an ability in Razorwing (stacks up to 4x).
Titania needs very high resource investment to get going (Forma and Catalysts/Reactors specifically) as she has two Exalted weapons in addition to Titania herself.

»See Titania in action:

27. Nidus / Nidus Prime (A Tier 80/100)

That cape on the left is a cosmetic included in Nidus’ Prime access themed around Nidus himself.

Nidus is the infested themed Warframe, harnessing a unique strain of the deadly planet-destroying scourge he excels at area denial DPS, CC and survivability. Nidus has the ability to stack mutations that buff his skills, send out waves of damaging tendrils,defy death through mutation, and infest whole areas turning sections of the map into a fortress of warped flesh and death.

All of Nidus’ abilities synergize very well together, most Tenno don’t even subsume any abilities out and use Nidus as is out of the box. Despite this however Nidus is not a flexible Warframe with being designed to stay rooted to one spot and spam maybe two abilities. Don’t get me wrong though Nidus is strong, very strong, just not at everything.

Some symptoms of Nidus’ infestation:

Nidus’ passive grants him a unique resource called Mutation Stacks, these buff his abilities and are required to cast his 3 and 4. With at least 15 Mutation Stacks, nidus can also defy death making for great survivability.
Virulence (his 1) is a very spammable DPS and energy generation tool. Enemies hit also grant Mutation stacks.
Larva (his 2) is one of the fastest grouping tools in the game. Synergizes very well with Virulence. Enemies killed inside Larva have a 50% chance to generate Mutation stacks.
Parasitic Link (his 3) links Nidus to either an enemy or ally. For allies both the host and Nidus get weapon damage and power strength buffed by 25%, for enemies the host is immobilized and takes 50% of the damage Nidus would take while linked.
Ravenous (his 4) generates an infested area around Nidus that gives team-wide health regen and spawns exploding Maggots. Ravenous consumes Mutation stacks and also generates them with Maggot explosions.

»See Nidus in action:

28. Nezha / Nezha Prime (A Tier 79/100)

The bane of region chat.

“This is Nezha, the protector, the quick. Feel the heat, Tenno. Nezha is a burning thing, and he makes a fiery ring.” A quote from Lotus on Nezha. Nezha is a mobility and survivability focused Warframe that can boost his movement speed, teleport, project a damage absorbing halo, and impale enemies on spears. He is very versatile and great for newer Tenno.

Some more about Nezha:

Nezha’s 1 Firewalker is a movement speed buff that leaves a fiery trail where he walks. Decent CC with Heat procs and good for getting around the map.
Blazing Chakram (his 2) is a great DPS tool and team support through healing (it’s also a teleport).
Warding Halo (his 3) is a great personal survivability tool. It gives Nezha 90% DR limited by the abilities health and good CC for enemies that get too close.
Divine Spears (his 4) impales enemies on spears. This is a really good CC ability that can also Nuke lower level missions.
Overall Nezha is very mobile with decent survivability but I feel he doesn't do much for his team aside from the occasional healing. Best subsume one of his abilities for a damage buff.

»See Nezha in action:

29. Voruna (A tier 78/100)

That’s a lot of wolf heads!

Voruna the beast themed Warframe harnesses the power of her fallen Wolf pack to savage her foes! Voruna is a capable Status spreading Nuke frame. She can swap between the essence of her fallen pack at will, go invisible, spread literally every status effect in the game, and go completely feral and start leaping from enemy to enemy for guaranteed AOE Slash procs.

30. Dagath (A Tier 77/100)

Anyone else notice she doesn't have a face? No? Just me?

Dagath, one of the newer Warframes, is a heavily DPS focused caster capable of reliably spreading Viral damage, doubling damage instances, buffing weapon Critical Damage, and Nuking whole waves of enemies with a wave of spectral cavalry.

A little more on Dagaths strengths:

Wyrd Scythes (her 1) allows Dagath really fast Viral Status spreading and DPS. This is also a reliable CC tool with its slow.
Doom (her 2) also deals Viral damage to enemies in a cone and repeats any damage instances done to enemies in Doom’s radius after a short delay.
Grave Spirit (her 3) buffs weapon critical damage and prevents one instance of death subsequently putting the ability on a cooldown.
Rakhali’s Cavalry (her 4) is a directional Viral damage Nuke that does multiple instances of damage and can armor strip.
Dagath is a very ability heavy Warframe able to put out insane levels of damage but she needs energy. Keep this in mind when building her.

»See Dagath in action:

31 A. Sevagoth (A Tier 76/100)

Sevagoth in his base form.

So, Sevagoth is technically two separate Warframes with him being able to split his “Shadow” from his body gaining a completely new set of abilities (the two forms are even modded separately). For this reason I will be splitting the 31st place in two parts: 31 A: Sevagoth in his base form and 31 B: Sevagoth in his shadow form.

That being said, base Sevagoth is a DPS focused caster that uses constant ability rotation to destroy his enemies. This Sevagoth also has access to one of the most powerful CC abilities in the game so I will be ranking him above Sevagoth’s Shadow.

Sevagoth’s base form strengths:

Reap (base form 1) is a great Radiation damage ability. With the Radiation Status effect it can also serve as decent CC.
Sow (base form 2) synergizes with Reap. Whenever enemies affected by Sow are hit with Reap this deals True damage in a radius around the enemy.
Gloom (base form 3) is one of the best CC abilities in the game as it can achieve a 95% radial AOE slow with the right builds.
Exalted Shadow (base form 4) allows Sevagoth (Once the Shadows Death Well is filled to 75% by the base forms other abilities) to separate his Shadow from his main body transitioning into a brand new ability set.
When Sevagoth’s base form dies he temporarily enters a version of Shadow form called Tombstone instead of the base bleedout while only having access to Consume. Getting 5 kills while in Tombstone will revive Sevagoth.

31 B. Sevagoth’s Shadow (A Tier 75/100)

Sevagoth in his Shadow form.

Sevagoth’s Shadow is a close range DPS Warframe that is only able to attack with their moddable exalted claws. This form has access to decent grouping abilities, good self-sustain, and damage multiplication.

Sevagoth’s Shadow form strengths:

Embrace (Shadow form 1) is a decently fast grouping ability suited for getting enemies in melee range.
Consume (Shadow form 2) dashes through enemies while damaging them with radiation. This ability is great for mobility and survivability as it can also heal the Shadow.
Death’s Harvest (Shadow form 3) is a radial damage multiplier that's great at keeping that melee kill momentum.
Reunite (Shadow form 4) binds the Shadow to Sevagoth’s main body once again.
If Sevagoth’s Shadow dies while active the Tenno regains control of the main body.

»See Sevagoth in action:

B Tier: These are Warframes that are primarily superseded by the frames in S and A Tier However, they are still very capable and worth picking up down the line.

32. Gyre (B Tier 74/100)

Gyre is a Warframe with really fun mechanics, weapon buffs and AOE capability. If most of her power wasn’t locked behind an augment she would be in A tier.

33. Grendel / Grendel Prime (B Tier 74/100)

A very mobile tank that can provide reliable armor strips and very strong team energy generation. Grendel suffers a bit in teams as more often than not his meals get stolen from him and is unable to cast half his kit.

34. Gara / Gara Prime (B Tier 73/100)

Being hyper specialized for the more Static missions, Gara struggles in most other mission types that aren’t defense oriented. However she is touted as the best defensive Warframe in the game for very good reason.

35. Baruuk / Baruuk Prime (B Tier 73/100)

Baruuk has quite possibly the strongest Exalted melee in the game with Serene Storm. However, his whole kit is entirely focused around enabling this ability and this results in Baruuk struggling too much in missions with low enemy density.

36. Mirage / Mirage Prime (B Tier 72/100)

Great weapons platform type frame but I feel her main damage buff Eclipse is inconsistent. Her Nuking is still very strong though, but not as impressive as Warframes in the higher tiers.

37. Equinox / Equinox Prime (B Tier 71/100)

Good CC and DPS support but I feel that the damage scaling just doesn’t go high enough.

38. Hildryn / Hildryn Prime (B Tier 71/100)

Hildryn is an amazing shield tank with great shield and armor stripping capability. It’s just that two out of four of her abilities are very underwhelming compared to Haven and Pillage and you can only subsume one slot at a time.

39. Qorvex (70/100)

The second most recently released warframe… is pretty good! The only things holding him back in my opinion is an awkward grouping ability and no actual built-in damage reduction as a health tank.

40. Excalibur / Excalibur Umbra / Excalibur Prime (69/100)

Warframes poster boy and the de-facto best starting warframe. Super simple and easy kit great for learning the game but not too strong.

41. Lavos (68/100)

Super versatile nuker with being able to choose ability elements and also a decent health tank with great mobility. His cooldown mechanic is a bit awkward though and holds him back from his potential in higher tiers.

42. Ash / Ash Prime (67/100)

Superb assassination frame with invisibility and teleportation. His DPS abilities though are a bit too single target or clear too slowly to work with in a Horde shooter like Warframe.

43. Banshee / Banshee Prime (67/100)

Another strong assassination frame. Again though, her absurd damage is a bit wasted on single targets.

44. Oberon / Oberon Prime (66/100)

Overall a strong CC focused tanky healer, his scaling just isn’t up to par in the current Meta.

45. Atlas / Atlas Prime (65/100)

Atlas wields a powerful Pseudo-Exalted ability rivaling only Khora’s Whipclaw in strength. Sadly the only things keeping him in B Tier are his three other, incredibly outdated and powercrept, abilities.

46. Ivara / Ivara Prime (64/100)

Very effective stealth frame with a strong Exalted weapon. Her play style is a bit slow though and like Hildryn two out of four of her abilities are mediocre at best compared to Prowl and Artemis Bow.

47. Loki / Loki Prime (63/100)

Loki has access to unhindered and long duration Invisibility, this makes him very hard to kill. However, his three other abilities are very outdated and not fit for the current meta in Warframe.

48. Frost / Frost Prime (62/100)

Like Atlas, Frost is a very one note Warframe with only one of his abilities being effective enough to keep him from going in C tier.

C Tier: These are the Warframes that are either outclassed, too specialized, or vary so much depending on the Tenno behind them that the Warframe becomes difficult to rank.

49. Vauban / Vauban Prime (61/100)

A very crowd control heavy frame with little else to offer. Still sees niche use when Tenno really need a lot of CC in missions.

50. Valkyr / Valkyr Prime (61/100)

Like other frames in the lower tiers Valkyr suffers from only having one strong and scalable ability. Said ability however, completely locks Valkyr out of using her arsenal for an extended period of time.

51. Trinity / Trinity Prime (61/100)

Still a very dependable support Warframe in niche use cases like Eidolon hunting. She is however severely outclassed by other support Warframes in the S and A Tiers.

52. Limbo / Limbo Prime (60/100)

One of the most complex Warframes in the game, Limbo requires very in-depth knowledge of his kit to be used effectively. With this in mind Limbo can actually place higher or lower in this tier list depending on the Tenno using him (possible D or A Tier).

53. Chroma / Chroma Prime (59/100)

Chroma is a lackluster tank and weapons platform that fails to deliver in both gameplay and theme. Vex Armor and the double credit drops from Effigy are the only things keeping Chroma from D Tier.

54. Ember / Ember Prime (58/100)

Ember is a very energy intensive caster with contradicting ability mechanics and meager damage. Too much for too little, her decent performance in low level missions is the only thing keeping her in C Tier.

D Tier: The forgotten, the powercrept, the bottom of the barrel. Sadly these Warframes have fallen to the way-side and only see use by a few very dedicated Tenno.

55. Caliban (56/100)

Bad mod synergy, enemy capped AOE skills and bad AI on his summons.

56. Nyx / Nyx Prime (54/100)

Her entire gimmick is outclassed by the Radiation status effect available to all other Warframes through weapon modding.

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Mark D.

As a passionate gamer since childhood and lover of all things Sci-Fi, Mark bravely scours the outer reaches of any galaxy to bring back the best gaming stories possible.

Gamer Since:

2009

Favorite Genre:

RPG

Currently Playing:

Helldivers 2, Kenshi, and Roboquest

Top 3 Favorite Games:

Mass Effect 2, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Deus Ex: Human Revolution