Warframe: Tonnkatt build guide

Tonnkatt is the latest Tonfa-type melee weapon in Warframe, sporting a Heat-generating passive on combo increment. At the time of writing, it is only obtainable from the newly introduced Galleon of Ghouls event. However, the developers have reassured that it will appear in future event inventories, likely including Nights of Nabreus.

In this guide, we go over the stats of Tonkkatt, its unique trait, and how best to leverage it through a build in Warframe.

Warframe Tonkkatt stats and Unique Trait

Tonkkatt stats (Image via Sportskeeda || Digital Extremes)

Tonkkatt is a by-the-mile Tonfa and does not boast the best stats in this subcategory of melee weapons. However, it has a Unique Trait: Increasing Combo Multiplier grants +4% Heat damage for 15 seconds. This stacks up to 30 times.

In a regular case, this means you would have to get a 12x combo and then lose the 12x combo with a Heavy before repeating the process until you get the fully stacked bonus. There are two ways you can accelerate it:

Generating a combo through Rauta and then heavy-attacking. This is the same thing, essentially, but through a method that does not require grouping up enemies.
Generating a combo through stacking up Initial Combo, and then spamming Heavy Attack. As Heavy Attack resets the combo, the Initial Combo kicking in again counts as combo generation. With the Tonkkatt build shown below, you can do this several times to get the full stack.

As for the actual stats, other than the passive, Tonkkatt is a Slash-heavy Tonfa with serviceable status and critical potential:

Attack Speed: 1.08
Base Range: 2.5m
Critical Chance: 23%
Critical Multiplier: 2.1x
Status Chance: 21%
Base Damage: 165 (132 Slash, 33 Puncture)
Heavy Attack: 330x2
Heavy Slam: 495

Best endgame Tonkkatt build in Warframe

It's the usual Melee Influence affair (Image via Digital Extremes || YouTube/TacticalPotato)

Tonnkatt is quite awkward with how its Unique Trait functions, mainly due to its 15-second expiry timer. Thankfully, with our build, we rely on spamming the Heavy and don't need to worry about keeping up the Heat damage.

What, then, is the best Tonkkatt build in Warframe? The answer is the boring but dependable Electricity + Influence setup. The Heat buff is non-combining, so you can safely put on an Electricity mod, get some hybrid scaling, and then spam Heavy attack to slash your way through enemy hordes.

The performance here is not mind-blowing; using a Kronen Prime with the same setup would produce far superior results. Note that Tonkkatt's Heat damage buff does not transfer over to the Heat DoT proc, which is currently a bug in Warframe.

Warframe Tonkkatt mod setup (4-Forma)

Mod	Slot / Forma	Description
Melee Influence	Arcane	The centerpiece of the build, this gives us far better mobbing capacity than a regular melee-swinging setup could
Sovereign Outcast	Aura Slot, No Forma	Gemini Cross is better, strictly speaking. But Sovereign Outcast is also good enough that it's not worth sinking a Forma here.
Dispatch Overdrive	Exilus Slot, No Forma	Optional, grants some movement speed to make melee gameplay easier. You can also use a Tennokai mod here. Discipline's Merit is recommended.
Primed Reach	V Forma (Madurai)	Makes the range 5.5m, which is a great quality-of-life feature.
Berserker Fury	No Forma	Our source of Attack Speed, quite easy to proc. If you can sink another Forma, Primed Fury also works.
Voltaic Strike	No Forma	Focus Energy can also be used for better Heavy efficiency
Galvanized Steel	V Forma (Madurai)	Our main source of Initial Combo and Heavy efficiency, enabling us to spam the heavy to stack the Unique passive
Condition Overload	V Forma (Madurai)	A high amount of base damage if you run a Status Primer. If you don't run a primer, use Amalgam Organ Shatter instead.
Weeping Wounds	No Forma	Scaling status chance, which is essential for this build to function
Blood Rush	V Forma (Madurai)	Stacks the critical chance up to 121.8%, which is orange crit roughly once every five swings.
Primed Smite mod of a chosen faction	Base Madurai Slot, No Forma Needed	A great source of multiplicative Faction damage if you're pushing high levels in Steel Path. Otherwise, you can just use Primed Pressure Point here.

Best Warframe to use with Tonkkatt

Generally speaking, any good Warframe that benefits from a melee weapon synergizes here. Here are a few good options:

Kullervo: Makes the Tonkkatt a lethal red-crit dispenser.
Gauss: High-octane melee gameplay, higher attack speed, and the occasional bumping into walls.
Saryn: Toxic Lash is never something to overlook, most importantly in a Melee Influence build.

How to get Tonkkatt in Warframe

As mentioned, Tonkkatt is currently obtainable via the Galleon of Ghouls event. If you've missed the first weekend, the blueprint is not obtainable till its reprisal in another event. However, its parts can be farmed by grinding the May 16 to May 19, 2025, weekend alerts:

Tonkkatt Blade (2x needed to craft)
Tonkkatt Handle (2x needed to craft)

Tonkkatt is not currently tradeable (neither blueprint nor components). However, you can get these as future seasonal events or exclusive tactical alerts.

Check out our other guides on the game:

About the author

Sambit Pal is an esports Journalist on Gaming and MMO at Sportskeeda. He has Master's degree in English Literature. In his spare time, he is an amateur sleuth trying to trace the Riven Mafia in Warframe, and a recovering Bethesda modding addict. He also secretly enjoys action Roguelites, a severe lack of gitting gud notwithstanding.

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Edited by Sambit Pal