The so-called “broken” Warframe, Xaku, will be the 44th new class to grace the free-to-play robot battler. The creation was finally shown in earnest during TennoCon 2020: the online-only celebration of all things Warframe, which is normally held in London, Ontario. The show’s art panel has a history of debuting new frames. And despite being relegated to Twitch, this year’s was no different. We finally got a look at “the broken Warframe” players requested and Digital Extremes has teased for months!
Even with some screenshots and a snippet of video, little is know about Xaku. We have only DE’s description to go off. Though it’s a pretty strong pitch. Xaku is a “broken Warframe,” selected from a number of suggestions made by the Warframe community.
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Player eaterofstorms offered the concept on March 6, 2020. “It’s obviously not put together correctly and it’s pretty much the epitome of making a bug a feature,” they posited. And the developers actually listened. What that means is still unclear. It will likely remain so until we get a full trailer for the hero, or it’s released in the game. But we can see some busted elements in its own design.
Xaku sports an symmetrical outline, with parts of its skeleton clearly visible through an incomplete chassis. Hoses full of white… energy (ooze?) pump through it. And their idle animation causes chunks of the frame to fly off haphazardly. Even their face appears to be removable at will. Xaku also appears to be the first non-binary Warframe in the game. All other classes are referred to as “he” or “she,” but Xaku is gender-neutral, according to a press release by DE.
Xaku Abilities: Warframe Guide
“Xaku wields the power of the Void, assembled into a trio of different Warframe visuals and functions,” goes the developer description. That explains the asymmetry! It also hints at multiform powers — similar to Equinox — which technically grant the class more than four abilities. You can see brief descriptions of them all below.
Passive: Xaku has an innate 25 percent chance to dodge enemy projectiles. Don’t expect that to work on things like explosions, beam weapons, or melee attacks, however.
Xata’s Whisper: This is a simple skill that adds bonus damage to weapons fire, powered by the Void, leaning into the whole Void theme Xaku has going on.
Grasp of Lohk: This is a very unique power that seems to lean into the living glitch motif. With Grasp of Lohk, you literally pull enemy weapons away from them, transforming them into floating turrets that follow Xaku and fire automatically.
The Lost: Here we have three moves in one. Each has a unique, completely different use.
- Accuse – This ability “corrupts” nearby enemies, forcing them to fight for you for a limited time. Nyx is feeling less and less useful every day…
- Gaze – Stuns a single enemy. They become a living beacon of defense reduction in a circular radius. Enemies that enter the radius have their armor and shields reduced!
- Deny – A damaging laser shockwave. It crowd controls enemies by stunning them and resets Sentient damage resistance (similar to Operator abilities). This is a very unique skill, as it’s the first Warframe ability to affect Sentients this way. Digital Extremes actually insisted Xaku wouldn’t do this pre-release, but appears to have changed its tune.
The Vast Untime: This is Xaku’s ultimate skill. It looks and works a bit like Chroma’s Effigy — in that Xaku “sheds their skin” and reveals a faster, slimmer form beneath their armor. In this mode, however, Xaku gains extreme damage evasion. Nearby enemies are also slowed and weakened.
How to Unlock Xaku: Warframe Guide
It’s no big surprise: Xaku is tied to Entrati bounties. Those who have hunted for Gara or Garuda should know the rundown by now. Simply go to Deimos, start the associated quests, and you’ll eventually gain access to the Xaku blueprint. After which blueprints for specific parts (Xaku Neuroptics, Xaku Systems, and the Xaku Chassis) are obtainable as random rewards from bounties on the new open world.
You can start the quest, simply called Heart of Deimos, from the codex on your Orbiter. It should even show you the Xaku blueprint as your reward ahead of time! Starting the mission will direct you to the Cambion Drift locale on Deimos.
If you buy Xaku with Platinum, you will receive a Riven mod in addition to the Xaku blueprint when completing the quest.
Xaku Farm in Warframe
This one is simple, if a bit tedious. You simply need to run bounties for the Entrati family in the Cambion Drift open-world zone. If that sounds complicated… It’s not. You just need to check with the bounty giver, Mother, for missions and rewards.
All of the components are “uncommon” rewards, too, rather than “rare.” So it shouldn’t be too much of a grind. Though they don’t seem tied to the new endless bounties system. All things considered your Xaku farm is going to be one of the easier endeavors with the game.
And there you have it! This has been our guide to Xaku in Warframe — including tips, how to farm them, and where to unlock this broken beast. Be sure to check out the rest of Fanbyte for more Warframe news, guides, features, and more. Good luck in the meantime, Tenno!
