Warframe really just puts you in the thick of it. The game’s tutorial drops you directly into a mission with no guns, no swords, and really no idea what’s going on. Of course, you quickly pick up some starting weapons and get to work (the way only a techno-organic space ninja can). But you’re going to want even more just as quickly. You’re going to want to know the best beginner weapons in Warframe.
Not to worry, though! We’ve got your back. This right here is our guide to the best primary, secondary, and melee weapons for Warframe beginners. Of course, the game is changing all the time. And one of the biggest things Warframe loves to add is even more tools of death and destruction. That’s why we intend to update this article whenever necessary (and change the date in the headline to match). So you’ll always know what’s the best weapon to grab right away. And so, beginners… Let’s begin!
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Primary Beginner Weapons in Warframe
Primary weapons are your bread and butter. They come in many shapes and sizes — like assault rifles, shotguns, and snipers — but generally have one thing in common. They’re how you’ll kill most of your enemies in Warframe.
Our beginner primary weapons, however, focus on a few different factors. They’re easy to use; you can craft or otherwise acquire them easily; each has a low Mastery Rank requirement. With this in mind, let’s take a look at several different options for most kinds of encounters!
- Boltor: Piercing assault rifle good against the Grineer (blueprint available for free at the Mercury Junction)
- Karak: Impact assault rifle good against Corpus (blueprint available on the standard Warframe market)
- Grakata: Fast-firing assault rifle good against Infested, thanks to its ability to generate area-of-effect status effects — particularly Gas attacks — very easily (blueprint available on the Warframe market)
- Kohm: Powerful, rapid-fire shotgun (blueprint available on the Warframe market — requires some slightly advanced crafting materials in the form of Argon and Cryotic)
- Hek: A slower, more traditional shotgun better at killing armored targets than the Kohm (blueprint available on the Warframe market)
Secondary Beginner Weapons in Warframe
Secondary Warframe weapons are exactly what they sound like. You tend to use them less than primary guns, but that doesn’t necessarily make them less effective. As an added bonus, you can still use secondary weapons while “downed” and waiting for allies to revive you.
- Lato: Standard, perfectly acceptable semiautomatic pistol (available as a starter weapon when you begin the game — blueprint is also available in the Warframe market if you picked the MK-1 Kunai)
- Atomos: Beam weapon that chains damage between nearby enemies (blueprint available on the Warframe market)
- Lex: Slow, powerful, and deadly accurate pistol that you can purchase outright — no crafting required
Melee Beginner Weapons in Warframe
Melee weapons allow you to do massive damage at close-range. Unlike primary and secondary weapons, they don’t require ammo, even if the melee weapon has a projectile component (e.g. Redeemer). These are also the only weapons in Warframe that can increase their mod capacity through the use of “stance mods.”
- Atterax: Spin-to-win whip (blueprint available on the Warframe market)
- Tipedo: Fast, bladed staff (blueprint available on the Warframe market)
- Galatine: Slow and hard-hitting heavy sword with great stance mods available as drops (blueprint available on the Warframe market)
And that’s all we have for now! We truly hope you enjoyed our Warframe beginner weapons guide. We’ll be sure to update it with more secondary, primary, and melee weapons as the game gets updated. In the meantime, though, we wish you the very best of luck getting into this daunting (but seriously rewarding) game!
