Warframe is the definition of a power fantasy shooter. Players get to wield powerful Warframes that can annihilate entire armies of genetically mutated humans, machines, and infected lifeforms. As you carve a path through the game's various planets, you'll constantly be grinding to unlock new weapons, frames, and cosmetics.

Each Warframe comes with four unique abilities, quirks, and some even have detailed backstories. There are dozens to choose from, which can make it hard to tell which are the strongest. Every Warframe in this game is perfectly viable for 99% of content, but we'll be looking at ten Warframes today that shine above the rest.

Updated July 27th, 2021, by Charles Burgar: New content releases have placed more importance on Warframe's harder content. Steel Path and Arbitrations are now directly linked to buffing primary and secondary weapons, placing more emphasis on Warframes that have good damage, survivability, and some form of utility. We've updated this list to include some more powerful Warframes. For newer players, we've also added a section to each entry explaining how you obtain each of these Warframes.

10/10 Revenant: Reave And Tear

Warframe Revenant Controlling Thralls

If you're only interested in raw damage, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better Warframe than Revenant. This is one of the only Warframes that has scaling damage. His 3, Reave, deals a percentage of the enemy's health as damage. Anyone hit by Reave that is Enthralled, Revenant's first ability, takes five times as much damage. Both abilities become even better if you use a subsumed crowd control ability like Larva or Ensnare.

In essence, a Revenant with 250% Power Strength build can one-shot virtually every enemy in the game—excluding certain bosses and enemy types that are immune to Warframe powers. And with some of Warframe's best rewards being locked behind Steel Path and Arbitrations, having a Warframe that can one-shot enemies is a huge boon for returning veterans and newer players alike.

How Do You Get Revenant?

Revenant's components are obtained by completing high-level Plains of Eidolon bounties. His blueprint is obtained after completing the "Mask of the Revenant" quest.

9/10 Ivara: Stealth Perfected

Warframe Ivara Prime

Stealth is an underappreciated aspect of Warframe. Striking from the shadows is a satisfying and deadly way to complete missions by yourself. The community's favorite frog-looking Warframe, Ivara, is the best character for this playstyle.

Manipulating enemies from the shadows with unique arrows and the Artemis Bow, Ivara is a devastating character when played right. A single shot from her Artemis Bow can fire 14 arrows—28 if you're using Galvanized Chamber—that will easily pin a target to a nearby wall. Her unique arrows give Ivara more subtle options, ranging from generating cloak fields to firing ziplines. If stealth isn't your thing, certain augments can give Ivara a more explosive approach, letting her Artemis Blow turn enemies into dust. She even makes for a solid Eidolon Hunter if you use her Empowered Quiver augment.

How Do You Get Ivara?

Ivara's Components and blueprint are a rare drop from Spy Vaults. The level of the Spy mission determines which Ivara part can drop.

8/10 Nova: The Power Of Matter

Nova is unquestionably one of Warframe's most versatile casters. There aren't many Warframe's that can:

  1. Slow enemies to a crawl.
  2. Hasten enemies to speed up certain missions.
  3. Create portals to teleport across the map.
  4. Double the damage enemies take.
  5. Release projectiles that can deal up to 25,000 damage each.

Her ultimate, Molecular Prime, can be used to either slow enemies or hasten them—depending on your Power Strength. This can serve as either a nice survivability tool or a means of speeding up lengthy missions. Wormhole is a great ability for newer players traversing open world content. Antimatter Drop deals great damage for Star Chart content, and Null Star can even be modded to give 90% damage resistance. When you consider subsumed abilities on Nova—the most notable being Empower—she easily becomes one of the most reliable and versatile Warframes you can play.

How Do You Get Nova?

Nova's components are obtained from The Raptor boss fight on Europa. Her blueprint can be purchased from the Market for 35,000 Credits.

7/10 Rhino: The Tanky Beginner Frame

Warframe Rhino

New players will likely build Rhino first. With his easy-to-use kit, it's not hard to understand why. Rhino's sheer strength allows him to charge through enemies, envelop his skin with ferrite armor, inspire allies with a multiplicative damage buff, or stomp the ground so hard it warps gravity itself.

For a starter Warframe, Rhino is loaded with a great mix of damage, crowd control, and survivability. Reaching the later stages of Warframe's progression, Rhino fans can grab a few of his augments to make Rhino viable for Steel Path content. He might not pack as much damage as Chroma or be as mindlessly tanky as Inaros, yet Rhino's accessible blueprints and simple kit make him one of the best beginner Warframes in the game.

How Do You Get Rhino?

Rhino's components drop from The Jackal boss on Venus. His blueprint can be purchased from the Market for 35,000 Credits.

Why Not Recommend X Frame Instead?

Rhino has some serious competition in today's meta, with frames like Nezha and Inaros fulfilling a similar role. There are quite a few frames that are just as good, arguably better, than what Rhino brings to the table. We ultimately gave Rhino a spot due to how easy he is to farm, how well he scales into endgame content, and how easy Rhino is to play.

However, if you're a more experienced Warframe player that wants a strong alternative to Rhino, the Warframes listed below should be on your radar:

  • Wukong : Great for speedrunning missions, and his clone outputs some absurd damage when paired with an AoE weapon.
  • Inaros: If you care about survivability and nothing else, get Inaros. He has the highest health pool in the game that can reach up to 10,000 HP on his Prime variant.
  • Nezha: Has a similar kit to Rhino but is much faster and can fill a more supportive role on your team.
  • Nidus: In endurance missions, Nidus is nigh-invincible and outputs an absurd amount of damage. He also has better CC than Rhino.
  • Chroma: Best for boss fights like Eidolons and Profit Taker. He has a similar playstyle to Rhino minus any form of CC.

6/10 Gara: Frost With An Edge

Warframe Gara in Plains of Eidolon

Gara is a sharp Warframe, both in her aesthetic and devastating kit. Unlike Frost, Gara isn't a one-trick pony; her manipulation of glass allows Gara to double up as an excellent offensive and defensive Warframe.

Creating rings of glass as Gara makes for solid cover, but it can be doubled up as a damage boost with her second ability, Splinter Storm. Shattering enough Mass Vitrify rings with your first ability will cause Splinter Storm to increase its damage output, eliminating nearby enemies with a thousand cuts. When you also consider the defensive properties of her second and fourth abilities, it's easy to see why the Warframe community joking refers to Gara as "the unofficial Frost rework." If you're into the idea of using shards, barriers, and chunks of glass to decimate enemies, Gara is a perfect choice.

How Do You Get Gara?

Gara's components dr low to mid-level Plains of Eidolon bounties. Her blueprint is given upon completing the "Saya's Vigil" quest.

5/10 Wisp: Motes With The Most

Warframe Jovian Concord cover with Wisp and Fulmin.

Wisp needs little introduction. This elusive character is a terror in the hands of a good player, applying constant debuffs to enemies and game-changing boons to allies.

Her first ability, Motes, is Wisp's bread and butter. Allies that pluck these motes will gain increased health, health regeneration, fire rate, movement speed, reload speed, and stun nearby enemies. It's the holy trinity of buffs, and that's all from a single ability. Wisp also packs quite the punch with her third ability, causing affected targets to spawn wisps of energy that deal immense damage. She has tons of mobility, buffs, debuffs, and makes great use of the Helminth system. There simply isn't a better support Warframe you'll find.

How Do You Get Wisp?

Wisp's components and blueprint drop from The Ropalolyst boss fight on Jupiter.

4/10 Mesa: Intergalactic Gunslinger

Warframe Mesa

If you're into the whole Wild West thing, here's a top pick for you. Mesa stacks bullets to shred enemies like paper. Mesa is one of the best Warframes to play both in terms of design and damage. Nothing screams "gunslinger" more than using your dual Regulators to disintegrate an enemy's health bar.

Mesa's fourth ability, Peacemaker, unleashes the power of her arm-mounted revolvers. Using her thumbs as hammers, Mesa fires dozens of bullets into any target in her cone of vision with perfect accuracy. To make sure she doesn't die, Mesa also has a defensive shield that absorbs 95% of all damage you take. Not even melee enemies can damage her, as her second ability disrupts nearby targets. It's always high noon when Mesa is on the field.

How Do You Get Mesa?

Mesa's components drop from the Mutalist Alad V boss fight on Eris. You'll need to create Mutalist Alad V Assassinate Keys to start this mission. The blueprint for these keys is given upon completing the "Patient Zero" quest. Mesa's blueprint can be purchased from the Market for 30,000 Credits.

3/10 Protea: Turrets And Archguns Galore

Warframe Deadlock Protocol

It's difficult to talk about strong Warframes without mentioning Protea, a time-manipulating prodigy with an affinity for gadgets. Most agree that her fourth ability, Temporal Anchor, isn't the greatest, but that's OK; Helminth exists.

Protea becomes a devastating Warframe when you subsume Nidus' Larva ability, replacing her fourth ability with this devastating CC power. Deploy a Larva near a group of enemies, then summon three Blaze Artillery turrets. The turrets will scale their damage so quickly that they'll be able to one-shot Steel Path enemies after a brief period of continuous fire.

If that sounds boring, Protea can also generate an infinite amount of energy orbs and Archgun ammo for herself and nearby allies. Have you ever wanted to main the Mausolon or Grattler as your primary? Now you can. When you use her first ability as an added defense layer, it's hard to argue that Protea is anything below a top-tier Warframe.

How Do You Get Protea?

Protea's components drop from the Granum Void, a hidden game type found on the Corpus Ship tileset. This unique game mode and Protea's blueprint are both unlocked upon completing "The Deadlock Protocol" quest. The difficulty of the Granum Void determines which Protea part can drop.

2/10 Saryn: Poisonous Powerhouse

Warframe Saryn Prime

Saryn is nothing short of a poisonous powerhouse. This Warframe is an absolute hoot to play because it's all about keeping the poison damage spreading from enemy to enemy. When used correctly, Saryn can melt entire waves before they even leave their spawn.

Essentially, Saryn uses its first ability, Spores, to inflict Corrosive poison on the targeted foe. If they die with the poison still on them, it passes on in an area of effect. Saryn's Spore damage scales over time, allowing her to deal cataclysmic damage in Steel Path and long endurance missions.

Saryn also has a decoy and health regain ability, so she's got an excellent kit all around. Her usage in tough content and Sanctuary Onslaught solidifies her as the de facto queen of group DPS.

How Do You Get Saryn?

Saryn's components drop from the Kela De Thaym boss on Sedna. Fighting Kela requires that you have 15 Judgement Points—a score you increase by completing Arena missions on Sedna. Saryn's blueprint can be purchased from the Market for 25,000 Credits.

1/10 Octavia: Beats That Kill

Warframe Octavia

Octavia is the most overpowered Warframe in the game in terms of utility and scalability. Depending on who you ask, she's also the most boring character to play. That's the main reason no one plays her, but that doesn't excuse the fact that Octavia can single-handedly kill level 1,000+ enemies without moving an inch.

Mallet is the star of the show, creating a miniature stereo that blasts the beat of your music at foes. Oh yeah, Octavia plays music that kills people and buffs allies. This device will scale its damage based on how much damage it receives, conveniently forcing all enemies in range to shoot it. It doubles up as a CC and damage tool.

That alone makes her excellent, but what makes Octavia truly overpowered are her buffs. As Warframe's take on a bard class, Octavia blasts music with all of her abilities to help her allies. Her third ability, Metronome, gives everyone free invisibility just by crouching to the tune of your music. Firing to the beat gives you free multishot, and jumping to the music gives a movement speed boost. This ability single-handedly makes Octavia a powerhouse for all content.

Her ultimate gives everyone a massive damage boost, and her Resonator basically disables enemy AI while active. Should you dislike any of these abilities, Octavia can make great use of the Helminth system to further enhance her kit.

Did we mention that you create your own music? Octavia gives allies screens worth of buffs, is invisible 24/7, has infinite damage scaling, and does all of this by playing your music. If you can get accustomed to Octavia's rather boring playstyle, you won't find a stronger Warframe in the game currently.

How Do You Get Octavia?

Octavia's components each have a unique drop source:

  • Blueprint: Complete the "Octavia's Anthem" quest.
  • Neuroptics : Drops from Deimos Survival missions (Rotation C/every 20 minutes).
  • Chassis: Complete the puzzle in Lua's music room.
  • Systems: Open hidden caches found on Plato, Lua.

Next: Everything You Need To Know About Warframe In 2021