Warframe Tier List April 2024: All Frames Ranked (Update 35.5)

With the release of Dante in the latest Warframe update, there are now 56 unique frames in the game. Warframes, or "frames" in short, are the eponymous war machines of metal and sinew that form the basis of the "class" system in this game. Unlike classes in proper MMORPGs, Warframes are limited to a set of skills unique to them, notwithstanding the occasional overlap in their broader goals.

The developers' goal with the metagame balance is to make every Warframe viable in at least one way. However, as the game abounds with dozens of frames and their Primed variants, this balance goal becomes more and more elusive. No Warframe is created equal; some still require reworks and buffs to be on par with the meta.

The following tier list attempts to reflect the state of all the available Warframes in terms of their viability and flexibility in various niches. Before you proceed, remember that having fun is important. Unless your goals with Warframe are purely competitive and tied to leaderboards, do not let tier lists deter you from your personal preferences

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's opinions.

All 56 Warframes, ranked and arranged in tiers (April 2024)

1) Loot-tier

Nekros is one of the most popular frames due to his loot-duplication ability (Image via Digital Extremes)

There is no definitive activity that can be crowned the sole point of Warframe's end-game. Nevertheless, the broad strokes of the gameplay loop emphasize one particular element: grinding.

If obtaining drops and resources is the key to winning at Warframe, then frames that speed up this process should be in their own league.

There are a few different frames that can technically increase your loot from a drop source, but these three tower above the rest:

Nekros (and Nekros Prime)
Khora (and Khora Prime)
Hydroid (and Hydroid Prime)

All three of these frames increase enemy loot drop chance, but they achieve this task with different flairs.

Khora has a high DPS ceiling built into her kit thanks to the pseudo-exalted Whipclaw, but it forces you to camp in one place. On the other hand, Nekros and Hydroid can be flexible with more mobile playstyles and possess the ability to fully armor strip opponents.

2) S-tier

Protea is arguably the best all-rounder frame right now (Image via Reddit u/KorvoZ)

Warframes in this tier are the apex predators of the meta in terms of power and viability in different setups. These are the foremost frames or Primes you should prioritize collecting if you feel like expanding your repertoire.

Had the focus of this game not been PvE content, everything in this tier would come under the nerf hammer. Looking at the power-creep curve of the last few patches, it is safe to assume that any time and Forma you sink into these Warframes will pay dividends for a long time.

Protea - Sheild Satellites is one of the best instant shield restores in the game for the squad. If you toss in a group-up tool, Blaze Artillery can clear Steel Path hordes in the blink of an eye.
Saryn (and Saryn Prime) - Arguably, it is the only frame that has been consistently worthy of S-tier since its release. It has one of the best-scaling area DPS skills with spores and becomes among the most versatile gun-buffing frames with its Augment.
Wisp (and Wisp Prime) - The most popular support frame, providing squad-wide buffs to fire rate and raw health pool. Also has a deceptively helpful crowd-blinding tool with Breach Surge.
Revenant (and Revenant Prime) - The best tank in the game by a mile that trivializes enemy damage scaling. Can solo otherwise difficult end-game content like Arbitration, Archon Hunts or Netracells.
Mesa (and Mesa Prime) - One of the easiest Warframes to pick up and coast through the entire game by aim-botting all enemy targets on your screen. If built right, Mesa can also be quite durable, thanks to Shatter Shield.

3) A-tier

Gauss is one of the best frames for daily activities like Sorties (Image via Digital Extremes)

Frames in this tier have a lot of strong suits, and they can even be the best in particular niches. Being merely a few buffs shy of becoming S-tier frames in some cases, these Warframes can become staples in your arsenal once you master them.

Ash (and Ash Prime)
Baruuk (and Baruuk Prime)
Citrine
Dante
Garuda (and Garuda Prime)
Gara (and Gara Prime)
Gauss (and Gauss Prime)
Kullervo
Mag (and Mag Prime)
Nova (and Nova Prime)
Octavia (and Octavia Prime)
Rhino (and Rhino Prime)
Volt (and Volt Prime)
Voruna
Wukong (and Wukong Prime)
Xaku
Zephyr (and Zephyr Prime)

4) B-tier

Frames like Gyre excel at damage but are severely lacking in other aspects (Image via Digital Extremes)

Frames placed in this tier can be above average, but they often require a lot of work to achieve things higher-tier frames can do easier. While their skillset may sometimes have interesting synergies, these frames have been superseded by better replacements.

They can circumstantially become A-tier, but only with the right combination of augment mods, arcanes, and Helminth abilities.

Atlas (and Atlas Prime)
Banshee (and Banshee Prime)
Chroma (and Chroma Prime) - Almost exclusively used in Profit Taker runs.
Dagath
Equinox (and Equinox Prime)
Excalibur (and Excalibur Umbra)
Grendel (and Grendel Prime)
Gyre
Harrow (and Harrow Prime)
Hildryn (and Hildryn Prime)
Inaros (and Inaros Prime)
Ivara (and Ivara Prime)
Lavos - Very useful for Railjack, but requires a lot of complex skill execution to play otherwise.
Mirage (and Mirage Prime)
Nezha (and Nezha Prime)
Nyx (and Nyx Prime)
Qorvex
Styanax (can be a tier higher with the Intrepid Stand augment mod)
Stalker - Only occasionally available in The Circuit if you take the Rank 10 perk in Opportunity Intrinsics.
Titania (and Titania Prime)
Trinity (and Trinity Prime)
Vauban (and Vauban Prime)
Sevagoth

5) C-tier

Nidus once used to be a top-tier frame but gradually got replaced by other alternatives (Image via Digital Extremes)

Unlike many weapons in this game, Warframes generally cannot be written off as "Mastery Fodder." However, frames in this tier come close to that tag, having outgrown their usefulness in the meta. Whether due to an outdated skillset or lack of meaningful impact, these frames are in dire need of reworks.

Ember (and Ember Prime)
Frost (and Frost Prime)
Limbo (and Limbo Prime)
Loki (and Loki Prime)
Nidus (and Nidus Prime)
Oberon (and Oberon Prime)
Valkyr (and Valkyr Prime)
Yareli

6) D-tier

Caliban is in dire need of buffs (Image via Digital Extremes)

After the Hydroid rework in the Abyss of Dagath update, Inaros was the only D-tier Warframe left on this tier list. This is no longer the case in patch 35.5, which introduced a decent Inaros rework that makes him way more useful.

Judging by player sentiments, Caliban and Loki are the current punching bags for the Warframe community. Between these two, Loki got some quality-of-life updates and a brand-new Augment mod in the Dante Unbound update, which makes him good enough to be at least C-tier.

This leaves Caliban as the sole D-tier frame. Unlike pre-Dante Unbound Inaros, Caliban's toolkit is decent on paper. But in practice, Caliban is not good enough to justify the Narmer Isoplasts and Anomaly Shard grind.

Razor Gyre and Sentient Wrath are underwhelming abilities that achieve very little in Steel Path missions littered with Eximus units.
Fusion Strike is a permanent armor/shield strip without any hard enemy limit, but even so, Helminth-subsumable armor strip options far outpace it.
Lethal Progeny is the only 'good' ability simply for the shield-gate refresh it provides - but one good ability is hardly enough for good placement in a Warframe tier list.

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