In Warframe, Warframes are suits of armor that come with a unique array of skills and abilities. You start the game with one Warframe, but there are a few methods of obtaining new ones, which you'll want to do to handle the challenges the game will throw at you.
How to get new Warframes in Warframe
The most common method that players use the most for obtaining new Warframes is by constructing them at the Foundry. Players will have to obtain the blueprints to their desired Warframe and then acquire three pieces to craft.
You can acquire these pieces in one of three ways: Standard Missions, Clan Dojo research, and Void missions.
How to get Warframes through missions
Standard missions, such as Assassination missions, will show the rewards available for players, usually including the Neuroptics, Chassis, and Systems pieces for crafting a Warframe upon completion. Several Quests also give these pieces as well, usually alongside the blueprint. Quests can be accessed via the Codex feature in-game.
How to get Warframes through the Clan Dojo
Clan Dojo research can also reward players with pieces as long as the right labs are built. Clans are useful for developing all manner of things as many of the items obtainable in Dojos are otherwise only available through the purchase of Platinum. As the name implies, Clan Dojos typically require other people to be lucrative, so this is only for those looking to play with the like-minded. If you don't have people to play with, you can always join a Clan in-game, which will very likely have access to the Warframes you're looking to obtain.
You additionally can obtain Warframes through trading from other players. This is done through the Clan Dojo and works like you'd expect trading to work. Both parties must agree to the terms before confirming. Most items can be traded in Warframe but note that only items that are not yet built are tradable. Very rarely can you trade a finished product.
How to get Warframes through Void Missions
Prime variants of most Warframe can be obtained in a similar to how you'd obtain them doing Standard Missions. Prime Warframes are the frame's true potential unleashed as they come with improved stats and better general polarity options for mods. They also sport a slick golden visage that represents their superiority over their standard counterparts. Prime Warframe component blueprints are obtained through running Void missions and are rewards for the completion of said missions.
Whether you are building the standard or Prime variant of a Warframe, all three components of a Warframe must be individually crafted in the Foundry before the Blueprint can be used to make the actual Warframe. Each component requires separate resources that must be gathered before the crafting process can commence.
Once the crafting of a component has started, you must wait several hours for the process to complete before it can be used in crafting the Warframe of your choice. This extended period can be bypassed by using Platinum, Warframe's premium currency.
How to Purchase Warframes in Warframe
Platinum is a limited resource that can be obtained with real money or farmed. It is a premium resource with several possible interactions with Warframe's in-game shop. One such interaction is the ability to purchase completed Warframes from it.
When purchasing a Warframe in the Market with Platinum, the entire Warframe can be obtained already constructed. The Warframe will already be upgraded with an Orokin Reactor to double the Warframe's mod capacity. Additionally, you won't have to worry about insufficient Warframe slots, as purchasing a Warframe comes with a free slot as well that would normally cost 20 Platinum.
Buying a Warframe through Prime Access
Typically, only standard Warframes can be purchased from the in-game shop. However, a specific Prime Warframe can be directly purchased using real money during Prime Access events. These events are a limited time (usually a couple of months) and directly correlate to the newest available Prime Warframe added to the game.
Prime Access is always available, but the Prime Warframe you can purchase from it eventually changes to a new one over time. Once this happens, the previous Prime Warframe, which was the feature of the event, will no longer be directly purchasable. Prime Access Warframes are amongst the loot pools of Void missions, though, so they can still be farmed so long as they have not been vaulted (removed from the loot pool).
Buying a Warframe through Prime Resurgence
In the event a Prime Warframe is vaulted, it can no longer be obtained normally in-game. However, Prime Resurgence is a secondary event to Prime Access that typically features two Prime vaulted Warframes, allowing you to purchase them directly for a limited time. This event is solely for players who want to obtain old Prime Warframes.
Like Prime Access, it is a recurring event that has stock changes every few months to a different set of vaulted Warframes. Also, like Prime Access, these can only be purchased using real money and not with Platnium.
For more information regarding the combat in Warframe, check out All Warframe Damage Types, Explained on Pro Game Guides!
Adam Aguilar has been playing a variety of genres since childhood but gravitates towards story driven RPGs like the Final Fantasy series or horror games like the Resident Evil and Silent Hill series. He enjoys analyzing themes found within video games and has been writing about them for over 5 years now. As a Contributing Writer for PGG, Adam has been known to cover anything from Phasmophobia to Genshin Impact!