Warframe tier list: All frames ranked in 2024

With Dante’s release, Warframe has an impressive roster of 56 frames. This is, of course, without counting their Prime and Umbra counterparts. You can think of these frames as the class system in Digital Extremes’ space ninja looter.

For many players starting out in Warframe, it’s overwhelming to decide which frames you want to build and max out first. While almost all frames are capable of taking you through the base Star Chart content, different frames fulfill different niches, especially when you build them for specific purposes in the lategame.

How we rank frames in Warframe

As someone who first started playing Warframe in 2014 when it was just a corridor shooter, I’ve seen frames come in and out of the meta with every major update and every new mission type introduced. For every Saryn or Mesa that’s stood the test of time, there’s frames like Loki and Nyx that have fallen out of favor.

That said, Warframe’s diverse roster ensures there is always a frame for everyone, especially if you tune them to fit your needs. Warframe offers tremendous customization options for each frame, firstly through mods, Arcanes, and Archon shards, and secondly through Helminth-subsumed abilities. This makes almost every Warframe viable in one way or another. Even frames from the lower tiers can be viable in certain mission types and effectively move up a tier or two depending how much you invest into them.

For the sake of simplicity, our tier list ranks frames based on their baseline power and flexibility in tackling various missions, ranging from Arbitrations and starter Steel Path missions to lategame activities like Netracells and Eidolon hunts.

Here’s our tier list for all Warframes as of Patch 35.5.10.

Warframe tier list for all frames

S-tier

Warframe’s S-tier frames have overpowered kits effective in a multitude of mission types. They are the easiest to get up and running for endgame content.

Saryn

Since her launch, there’s been no better frame than Saryn for decimating a screen full of enemies with abilities. And there’s no shortage of enemies in any of Warframe’s missions. Naturally, Saryn reigns supreme and hogs the top spot in any Warframe ranking.

Wisp

Wisp is one of the most well-rounded frames in Warframe’s massive roster. Her Mote buffs are always handy, even more so in the endgame. Coupled with Breach Surge and her passive, which grants invisibility while airborne, Wisp can clear out rooms full of mobs all while buffing her allies and herself.

Gauss

Gauss’ base kit is so good, he’s one of the few frames that doesn’t significantly benefit from Helminth-subsumed abilities. All four of his abilities feed off each other, and there’s never a dull moment when playing as Gauss, as you zoom across open worlds or through enclosed corridors. 

Octavia

Octavia is the epitome of fun gameplay. She scales incredibly well against higher-level enemies courtesy of her Mallet ability. She is a jack of all trades and a maestro of destruction. You might get finger fatigue because of all the repeated keypresses, though, especially on long missions.

Dante

Dante is the latest frame in the roster, added as part of the Dante Unbound update. He’s already a top favorite despite the awful grind needed to build him. His kit offers survivability and AoE bleed nukes, both of which scale well to tackle even higher Steel Path content. Also, mixing and matching his light and dark verses to create powerful combos is a great little gameplay loop in itself.

A-tier

Frames in Warframe’s A-tier aren’t as overpowered as the ones in S-tier, though they can be more than capable of tackling the hardest content the game has to offer. With the right mods, subsumed abilities, and other min/maxing, they can easily match the S-tier frames.

Protea

Protea has shield-gating, ammo and energy sustenance, and scaling burst damage built into her base kit. While her fourth ability, Temporal Anchor, may be a hit or miss, you can subsume Nourish or Roar in its place depending on the direction you want to take her.

Volt

Volt is the go-to damage dealer in Eidolon hunts. The weapon platform build utilizes all the damage multipliers Volt has access to, including the Shock Trooper augment. You can also go in another direction and build Volt with the Capacitance augment for damage, control, and survivability in Steel Path missions.

Revenant

If you want to breeze through tough missions without the fear of dying, Revenant is one of the most viable frames. His Mesmer Skin ability makes him a foolproof tank and trivializes challenging content where you’d otherwise need shield-gating or other mechanics to just survive.

Kullervo

Kullervo fits the melee Warframe archetype down to a tee. The Duviri-themed frame can decimate a room of enemies with Wrathful Advance and sustain a high melee combo counter without ever swinging a melee weapon.

Citrine

Citrine is a great blend of DPS, support, tank, and crowd control. While she isn’t the best in any particular category, her well-rounded kit makes her fit for almost all mission types in Warframe.

Mesa

The ol’ reliable gunslinger is an A-tier frame solely due to her ease of execution. You can take her to any mission where you need to kill mobs, turn off your brain, and essentially aimbot your way through.

B-tier

• Dagath
• Gara
• Xaku
• Ash
• Mirage
• Wukong
• Nova
• Mag
• Garuda
• Nidus
• Baruuk
• Titania
• Nezha
• Rhino
• Harrow
• Nekros
• Gyre
• Styanax
• Zephyr

B-tier frames are average and don’t particularly excel in any specific niche. Their kits are well-rounded, though, and they can carry their own weight given the right build.

Nekros is a slight exception to the rule, as he’s a staple for resource-farming squads, although you don’t really need to run him unless you’re on a loot-hunting spree.

Gara, Rhino, Nezha, and Wukong all fit the mold of tanky damage-dealers who get the job done without much investment. Frames like Mirage and Gyre excel as weapon platforms, while Nidus and Baruuk make solo survival rather trivial.

C-tier

• Lavos
• Equinox
• Ivara
• Vauban
• Voruna
• Hildryn
• Zephyr
• Qorvex
• Inaros
• Sevagoth
• Hydroid

C-tier frames are a couple of buffs away from being on par with frames in the above tiers. They’re perfectly capable of running Star Chart missions and even starter Steel Path content with the right builds. But keep in mind that these frames all have counterparts in the above tiers that simply perform better in their respective niches.

For example, Inaros, even after his rework in the Dante Unbound update, falls short of Revenant when it comes to tankiness. Lavos, on the other hand, has a clunky gameplay loop that’s fun in its own right, but his abilities don’t deal satisfactory damage.

D-tier

• Frost
• Grendel
• Trinity
• Loki
• Banshee
• Limbo
• Ember
• Chroma
• Excalibur
• Atlas
• Oberon
• Valkyr

The D-tier frames need major buffs to put them back in the meta. Frames like Loki, Ember, Oberon, Chroma, and Frost have kits that haven’t kept up with the power creep of the more contemporary frames. They seem like relics of the past decade.

E-tier

The lowest tier houses three frames that need reworks to make them worth their acquisition cost. While all three—Caliban, Nyx, and Yareli—are conceptually decent Warframes, they all suffer from similar pitfalls.

Caliban has obnoxiously long casting animations on his abilities that already suffer from a lack of synergy with each other. The same is true for Yareli, whose second and third abilities leave much to be desired. Nyx, on the other hand, deals way too little damage, has mediocre armor strip, and relies solely on her crowd-controlling niche which is no longer as valued in Warframe.

This isn’t a be-all and end-all list. As mentioned earlier, Warframe’s diverse roster has something for everybody. If your goal is to have fun (after all, it’s a PvE game), you can pick any frame and make an endgame-ready build with it.

This tier list was prepared on Warframe version 35.5.10.