'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Melee weapons make up a lion's share of the diverse arsenal in Warframe. What they lack in range and precision, they make up for in brute force and ease of gameplay. Melee weapons uniquely gain combo as you hit enemies. As you continue to chain strikes without pause, the increasing combo counter applies bonus damage to your slashes.
While melee weapons' unbeatable scaling was used to dominate Warframe in the past, this is no longer the case since the Blood Rush and the Weeping Wounds mods were nerfed. Despite the developer crackdown on the melee meta, however, a few weapons of this type continue to be viable as ever.
Warframe's 5 best melee weapons of all time, ranked
5) Plague Kripath
Introduced during the Operation: Plague Star event in Warframe, the Plague Kripath is an infested Strike module that can be built into any Zaw setup of your choosing. A couple of things place it above and beyond regular Zaw Strikes: its innate Viral damage and its high critical chance.
A base Viral damage means you can build your Plague Kripath Zaw with Corrosive and Heat damage on top. This will give you enough scaling against the Grineer to rival the Slash-Viral meta.
An even bigger reason for this, however, is the Exodia Contagion Arcanes that can be placed only in Zaws. It essentially gives your Zaw a strong projectile attack that is capable of huge damage potential if you pump in the correct stats. In light of that, the fact that the Plague Kripath grants the highest possible base critical chance is also much more important.
Since it is not available outside of Warframe's Nights of Nabreus event nowadays, you can use the Stepfahn Zaw as a close competitor to the Plague Kripath. It loses out on the base Viral damage, but the Nikana stance more than makes up for it.
4) Nikana Prime
The Nikanas are considered one of the best subclasses among Warframe melee weapons. Their stances offer swift momentum, a series of slashes that can cover your flanks as well as take down certain areal targets, and forced slash procs in heavy attacks.
Considering these advantages, it is no wonder that the Nikana Prime has dominated the scene ever since its introduction with the Saryn Prime Access pack. The Primed variant to the regular Nikana, the eponymous first weapon of its subclass, was the first melee item to champion the viability of status-critical hybrid builds.
The Nikana Prime boasts both high-status chance and a 90% Slash weightage in its base damage stats. As such, it remains the best premium display of how well a status-critical build can scale.
Just with the two combo-scaling mods, Blood Rush and Weeping Wounds, you can reach over 100% status chance and critical chance. This will melt level cap Steel Path armored targets with consistent slash procs.
3) Innodem
The Incarnon Genesis system successfully boosts the viability of numerous melee weapons. While they can often be harnessed into level cap viability with Riven mods, none of them can rival the Innodem, the first-ever Incarnon melee.
The Innodem is the perfect case study in Incarnon Evolution, a system that allows you to customize your through a custom set of perk trees, called Evolution Stages. The perks allow you to modify the stats on your weapon akin to the Zaws, but you can also commit to a different perk build at any time.
With the right build in Warframe, the Innodem combines the remarkably fast attack speed of daggers with high base stats and unparalleled range. Whether built for combo-chaining light-attack spam or heavy-attack affinity, the Innodem can essentially turn into a 10-meter nuke in front of you even in Steel Path.
2) Stropha
Since the introduction of the Redeemer in Update 14, gunblades have been one of the most popular categories of melee weaponry in Warframe. It is hard to beat the convenience of a spammable ranged weapon that also benefits from the combo scaling of a melee weapon.
Consequently, the Redeemer Prime was one of the most prized weapons in Warframe - until that is, it got dethroned by the Stropha. Acquired from the Granum Void, this Corpus gunblade packs the biggest punch at the cost of reduced range.
The gimmick that gives the Stropha a true edge over the Redeemer Prime is its infinite body punch-through. Coupled with its high critical chance, heavy attacks have respectable corridor-clearing powers.
Outside of running daily alerts and regular missions, the Stropha also finds a niche usage in Isolation Vaults due to its rare capability of shooting Necramch limbs.
1) Glaive Prime
No weapon has been able to topple the reputation of a Glaive Prime in the endgame. This weapon subclass was part of the iconic equipment held by Warframe's single-player predecessor, Dark Sector. Its continued dominance as the most powerful melee weapon seems to be the developers' tribute to Hayden Tenno.
At a cursory glance, the Glaive Prime's stats may not seem as impressive as the Kronen Prime or the Argo & Vel. The ace up its sleeve is not these base stats, but the gimmick built into all glaives in Warframe. Holding the melee button throws the Glaive Prime further away than its default melee moveset, where it can be made to explode by pressing the heavy attack button.
While the explosion itself deals blast-type damage in a large area, it also force-procs a status type upon detonation on all enemies caught within its range. For the Glaive Prime, this status type is Slash, bypassing all enemy armor and making the weapon endgame-viable. Against shielded enemy types like the Corpus, however, you are better off using the Cerata.
Check out other guides on this game from Sportskeeda:
All Warframes tier list ||Warframe Incarnon weapons tier list || Kuva weapons tier list || All Warframe Twitch drops this week || Best stat-stick weapons in Warframe || Tenet weapons tier list || Latest Baro Ki'teer Inventory || All Warframe Promo Codes || Best weapons in Warframe for each Mastery Rank
