Warframe Quickstart Guide
Get used to moving, shooting, moving while shooting:
Though cover is useful, Warframe isn't primarily a cover-based shooter. In fact, even folks that prefer sniper rifles or bows (which are functionally similar, though not identical to sniper rifles) tend to move around quite a bit. The game is hardly requires twitch mastery, but knowing when to be spry and mobile is always helpful (which is often).
Sliding (pressing crouch while sprinting) is also incredibly useful while sliding, your stamina bar gets a chance to refresh a bit, allowing you to continue moving at a fast pace for longer.
Don't be a jerk, stay with your team:
...that said, there are hardly a more annoying group of individuals on this planet than those who try to rush through a mission, leaving teammates behind. Despite the fact these folk almost always overestimate their own abilities and find themselves overwhelmed, there's a good reason for sticking with your squad.
Warframe has a shared experience system, where killing an enemy allows all nearby allies to receive experience (called Affinity in-game). If you kill an enemy too far from others, they get nothing. Remember this in defense missions, where playing in the outfield is useful if you kill enemies in or close to their spawn room, people on the other side of the map get zilch.
That said, also don't stray behind too much, but don't be afraid to stay in a room a little longer to loot what you need. Resources are helpful.
Don't worry about not being useful (revives, another target, additional DPS):
Firstly, if you're playing with the clan, chances are we don't care if we have to revive you 100 times per match. We primarily play for fun and camaraderie, and losing on on the 15th wave of a defense mission simply isn't that big a deal.
Regardless of who you're playing with, always remember that any additional DPS is useful, as is being another target for the bad guys. Most importantly, however, they will get die occasionally as well, and need reviving.
In addition...
Mark things, dang it:
Press the 'G' key to set a personal waypoint. Most players public squad or otherwise nearly always mark a mod drop or blueprint, and, on occasion, rare resources when they're noticed. This is the unspoken rule that almost everyone adheres to if you find or pick up a mod, mark it. If you come across blue energy lines from a pickup and not the mod itself, mark it: that means you have, but someone else on the squad hasn't.
On poop:
- Blocking is poop (at the moment). Don't use it. Unless you want to dance in an elevator.
- The user interface is poop, learn creative swear words for occasional glitches, for why there are no saved load outs, and for why you can't view melee stats in the equip screen. They will all be fixed in time, surely.
- Descriptions are poop. A 100% critical chance mod doesn't mean you have 100% chance to critically hit: it's a modifier (for weapons that have an innate 2.5% critical chance, a 100% critical chance mod bumps it up to 5%. Yes, 5%.). Focus Energy and Rending Strike currently have incorrect descriptions. Yes, I too would like to see my damage output with all my mods stacked upon one another, but life is unfair.
- Weapons are almost always poop without Orokin Catalysts. These installations affectionately referred to potatoes by the devs and community double the mod points available for usage on a weapon. A level 5 weapon will have 5 mod points for usage without a Catalyst. With, it has 10. Most weapons may be poop at low level/without a catalyst: most sing with one. You can get them from alert missions (check out the
warframe alerts twitter) or login rewards. You can also buy them, but...
On Platinum:
Platinum is Warframe's premium currency.
You're better off saving it for inventory slots for weapons or warframes, or the occasional Orokin Catalyst or Reactor.
Yes, it's true: buying a Warframe with platinum is easier and they come with an Orokin Reactor pre-installed. This may be an option if you're REALLY averse to farming for resources or blueprints, but if you're running with people you like, it's actually fun and exciting to get a rare drop.
Final Thoughts:
- Mastery level up is achieved through leveling up weapons and warframes (100 for each weapon level, 200 for warframe).
- If you kill a boss or two, there's a chance you'll run into the entity known as Stalker. He has abilities and weapons similar to Tenno Warframes and may kill you easily. If he's on you, stay alive, dodge and stay mobile. If he's on one of your squadmates (announcing his presence with lights flickering and accompanying panic in the chat box), hit him fast and hard. He sometimes drops blueprints for his (awesome) weapons.
- Certain weapon types are strong or weak against certain enemies, as are damage types. Generally, it's fire vs. the Infested, electricity vs. Corpus and armor piercing vs. the Grineer. The infested also have larger, brutish types called Ancients who are strong against fire, but weak against armor piercing. You would never know this unless...
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Check the wiki. Seriously, an inexplicable amount of information (weapon base critical chance, melee weapon type and damage, etc) is left out of the game. Go there for everything.
