The newest open-world map in Warframe, the Orb Vallis, is the biggest one to date — with many unique challenges and regularly updated events bringing players back again and again. But with the overwhelming number of Warframes, weapons, and mods to customize your loadout, how do you even decide what to bring? Whether you’re entering the Orb Vallis for the first time, optimizing your Toroid farming, or just trying something new, here are some of the best Orb Vallis Warframe loadouts to take into the frozen wasteland. Let’s take a look!
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The Best Orb Vallis Warframes for New Players
Both Rhino and Gara are really great for general use in the Orb Vallis. They are easy to get early on in Warframe, and provide a nice level of sustain while you’re still figuring everything out.
How To Get Rhino and Gara: You can farm Rhino parts on the Fossa region of Venus. The associated boss of this area, Jackal, will drop the parts at random. Meanwhile, Gara blueprints are rewarded for various bounties on the Plains of Eidolon (the open-world map of Earth). There is a good chance you will have at least one of these Warframes by the time you unlock the Orb Vallis.
Build Tip: The set mods (Augur, Gladiator, and Vigilante) found on Cetus provide a good early game boost to any Warframe. There are more powerful mods that can boost damage and sustainability, but these mods are easy to farm. Players will likely acquire most of these sets while farming Gara blueprints.
The Best Orb Vallis Warframe for Mobility
Sometimes you just want to get from one place to another quickly, without worrying about launching an Archwing. Zephyr is the perfect frame for that. Her first ability, Tailwind, launches her from the ground into the air. Then she can dash again in any direction you’re looking at. Tailwind can be also used to ground pound enemies from above, or to scare your unsuspecting friends!
How to Get Zephyr: You purchase the base Zephyr blueprint from the Tenno Lab in a Clan Dojo. If you’re not already part of a clan, it’s best to join one that has the blueprint researched — rather than start your own from scratch. Zephyr Prime parts are found inside Void Relics, or purchased from other players with Platinum currency.
Build Tip: A Zephyr equipped with Power Duration mods can allow her to travel across the maps almost has quickly as an Itzal Archwing.
The Best Orb Vallis Warframe for Sustainability & Farming
Nekros is the frame to pick if you want to do some long-term farming. He can generate health and energy orbs from corpses while also increasing loot drops. His fourth ability, Shadows of the Dead, summons shadow clones to fight for you. This draws enemy fire, making Nekros surprisingly tanky for such a slim Warframe.
How to Get Nekros: Nekros is one of very few Warframes where the Prime version is often easier to get than the base model. Normal Nekros blueprints drop from the Lephantis boss fight on the Orokin Derelict — which requires farming for and crafting single-use access keys. Farming Void Relics for Nekros Prime is much more cost-effective in terms of time and resources.
However… Not all Prime Warframe blueprints are available at any given time. At the time of publishing this article, Nekros Prime Relics are “vaulted.” That means you can’t farm them in-game. They will presumably rotate back in sometime in the future, but in these cases it’s easiest to buy Nekros Prime blueprints from other players — or the base model on the market — with Platinum.
Build Tip: Use mods with Strength and Duration to boost your survivability. Efficiency and Range, meanwhile, will maximize loot drops.
The Best Orb Vallis Warframe for Bounties
Frost is a great Warframe for both objective protection and crowd control. He has high base stats, so he can keep himself alive as well. His third ability, Snow Globe, is his most useful and iconic by far. It creates a large, domed shield that blocks most incoming fire and slows enemies when they come in contact with it. Use it on stationary defense targets or around friends before you revive them.
How to Get Frost: You can farm Frost on the Exta region of Ceres from the Lieutenant Lech Kril and Captain Vor bosses. Frost Prime is found in Void Relics, as usual, but at the time of publishing these are also vaulted (much like Nekros Prime).
Build Tip: Ability range mods increase the radius of Snow Globe. Armor and Power mods increase the dome’s overall health.
The Best Orb Vallis Warframe for Damage
Mesa is one of the best Warframes for just dealing raw damage. Her second ability, Shooting Gallery, boosts the damage of the entire team (albeit not all at once). Her third ability, Shatter Shield, also reflects incoming damage — protecting her even while she’s separated from allies, while granting even more passive damage.
Finally, her ultimate ability is Peacemaker, and it’s easily one of the biggest damage-dealing skills in Warframe. It allows Mesa to summon two Exalted Weapons (i.e. two guns built into the Warframe itself). That makes her an optimal choice for most high-level play — assuming you can keep her energy topped off.
How to Get Mesa: The first Mesa blueprint is awarded for completing the Patient Zero quest. Just check your terminal for it! Her individual parts come from the Mutalist Alad V boss fight on Eris… Which is easily one of the worst grinds in Warframe. Luckily, Mesa Prime now exists and Void Relic farming is a much easier. Mesa Prime blueprints aren’t even locked in the vault right now!
Build Tip: Mesa needs a minimum of 120 percent Strength to be most effective. Also focus on Duration and Efficiency for maximum damage.
The Best Orb Vallis Weapons for New Players
Players should consider a variety of weapon types and ranges when looking to suit up on the Orb Vallis. However, with hundreds of weapon combinations to choose from, it’s a daunting decision to make. Chances are that each weapon category will have something you enjoy. The following selections should offer a little something for everyone. These recommendations take both overall performance on the Orb Vallis and ease of access into account.
The Best Single Target Weapon for the Orb Vallis
The Vectis Prime is a sniper rifle that boasts some of the best damage of its kind. That makes it great for taking out both bosses and drop ships. But that doesn’t mean you need to sit on a hill, waiting for the perfect shot! The Vectis Prime also has high reload speed and a low drop-off rate. These complement faster handling and more movement while you run around Warframe-style.
How to Get Vectis Prime: Find its parts in Void Relics, of course! Just know that it’s only usable by players with Mastery Rank (MR) 14 and up. The base Vectis has reduced stats, but is available at MR 2. You can even purchase the blueprint with credits from the marketplace.
The Most Fun Weapon for the Orb Vallis
There is only one weapon in Warframe that combines explosive AOE, the slowdown effect of Cold damage, and the unique properties of a bow. That would be the Lenz. The open-world gives you plenty of space to step back and fire, but the Lenz is also great for bounties and crowd control. Watch out, though. The splash damage on every Lenz shot might cause you to knock yourself out. Make sure you’re with friends who don’t mind picking you back up!
How to Get the Lenz: The Lenz blueprint is available for purchase in the Energy Lab of any Clan Dojo. You can use it at MR 8.
Personal Tip: Use with Zephyr while floating in the air for wild AOE damage.
The Best Close-Range Weapon for the Orb Vallis
You may not think a shotgun would be useful in an open area. But in Warframe, this weapon type is your best choice for any activity in Orb Vallis. The Arca Plasmor is a very efficient, semiautomatic shotgun that packs a lot of punch. It has an innate Radiation damage and status chance, too. That’s great for destroying robots and other armored units you might encounter. It also has a wide damage spread, making it extremely easy to use — so much so that the Arca Plasmor is often derided as “too easy” by hardcore players. But sometimes you just want to delete entire groups of enemies with a portable microwave.
How to Get Arca Plasmor: The Arca Plasmor blueprint is available in the Clan Dojo Energy Lab. You can start using it at MR 10.
The Best Secondary Weapon for the Orb Vallis
Always bring a secondary weapon that makes up for whatever your primary lacks. For example, if you bring a low rate of fire weapon like a sniper rifle, or a shotgun like the Arca Plasmor, you might consider a secondary with a high rate of fire. The Akstiletto Prime is a set of dual pistols with a high rate of fire and reload speed. That makes it ideal for shredding Nullifier bubbles — those pesky domes that block Warframe powers, which you’ll encounter frequently in the Orb Vallis.
How to Get the Akstiletto Prime: Akstiletto Prime parts can appear in Void Relics. Sadly, they are currently vaulted, so you might have to snag the pieces from other players. The weapon is usable at MR 10 if you do. Meanwhile, the base model Akstiletto blueprint is in the Clan Dojo Tenno Lab.
The Best Melee Weapon for the Orb Vallis
You aren’t going to rely on melee weapons much in the open-world. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t useful in tight situations, though! The Orb Vallis in particular has many indoor areas you need to wade through for certain bounties.
Although it will largely come down to personal preference, melee weapons with longer range are naturally more useful in the Orb Vallis. The Cerata is a glaive weapon that deals Toxic damage, making it another great choice for shielded enemies (since it bypasses shields altogether). It can also be thrown with a charge attack — giving you that much-needed range — and dual-wielded with a single-hand secondary weapon. That further increases your ranged options and makes it just plain fun to use. That high crit chance doesn’t hurt, either!
How to Get Cerata: The Cerata blueprint is available in any Clan Dojo Bio Lab. It becomes usable at the low, low Mastery Rank of 3.
And there you have it! Thanks for checking out our Orb Vallis loadouts guide for Warframe. We hope it sets you on the right path and gives you a jump start to conquering the frozen wastes. Until next time, happy hunting, Tenno!
