Warframe Dragon keys explained: How to get, use, debuffs, and more

One of Warframe's biggest plus points as an MMORPG is the flexibility you can exercise on your modified builds. Not only can you play around with different equipment and frames for your own modified builds, this title also has an often-overlooked gear wheel you can fill up with all sorts of items. Bafflingly, not all of these are directly beneficial to your gameplay, such as Dragon Keys.

These keys are the only way to unlock Orokin Vaults in Deimos containing Corrupted Mods. As a tradeoff, they inflict debilitating debuffs for as long as you have them equipped. This guide will explain everything about the four Dragon Keys — including how to craft them, their debuffs, and ways to counteract said debuffs.

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All Warframe Dragon key debuffs

All Dragon Keys inflict a debuff unique to their type (Image via Digital Extremes)

Warframe offers four types of Dragon Keys, and each of them inflicts a specific debuff when you equip them. These are the items and their effects:

• The Bleeding Key removes 75% of base health. Frames without shields, such as Inaros, are unaffected.
• The Decaying Key removes 75% of your base maximum shields. This is not as big of a problem for frames that rely on high Shields or durability abilities.
• The extinguished Key deducts 75% of your outgoing damage with weapons.
• The Hobbled Key imposes a 75% slow on your Sprinting speed as well as Parkour velocity.

If you are trying to farm Corrupted Mods solo, you will have to equip all four of these keys. Certain Warframes, such as Wukong and Titania, are good at circumnavigating these debuffs thanks to their innate mobility and durability.

Decaying Keys were used to artificially lower maximum shields and abuse shield gating. However, since the Abyss of Dagath patch, the exploit used to do that no longer grants full shield gate duration.

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Warframe Dragon Keys crafting recipe

Dragon Keys require Void Traces to manufacture (Image via Digital Extremes)

Blueprints for Dragon Keys must be replicated from the Orokin Lab in your Clan Dojo. Once that is done, the blueprints will be reusable from your Foundry.

All four varieties of Dragon Key can be crafted from the Keys section of the Foundry. To craft one Dragon Key, you need:

• 500 Credits
• 250 Ferrites
• 10 Void Traces

Ferrites are a common resource found on many planets. Meanwhile, Void Traces are only obtainable by cracking open Relics from a Void Fissure. Endless Void Fissure missions are a great way to amass a lot of Void Traces by opening many Relics in a row.

Note that each Dragon Key is a single-use item. Once you spend one specific key to open a vault, it will be deducted from your inventory. It is, therefore, a good idea to batch-produce them en masse for later usage.

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How to equip Dragon Keys in Warframe

The Gear Wheel can be edited from the Arsenal (Image via Digital Extremes)

To equip your Dragon key:

• Go to your Arsenal
• Go to the Gear Wheel
• Select the third tab at the top
• Select Gear Wheel
• Select any empty slot, and place the desired Dragon Key(s).

Remember to manually un-equip them when you're not actively seeking Orokin Vaults.

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Check out our other Warframe guides:

Shield Gating || Warframe tier list || Baro Ki'teer Inventory