Introduction
Prime items in Warframe are enhanced versions of their counterpart. A prime Warframe often has additional Polarity slots, and a prime weapon has increased stats or other advantages versus its counterparts. This guide will walk you though how to get prime Warframes and weapons.
It’s important to point out that all prime items are not available all of the time. Some of the prime warframes and weapons are vaulted. This means they can not currently be obtained in the game from relics that can be obtained from the star chart. However, the vaulted items are periodically unvaulted and you can get those items from the NPC Varzia. More on that below.
Void Relics
The primary method of obtaining prime Warframes and weapons is by cracking void relics (Cracking void relics can also reward you with Forma blueprints). A void relic is simply an item you will receive during certain missions.
Once you have a void relic, you can run a Void Fissure mission to use that relic. You can easily find a void fissure mission by going to your navigation console and looking at the top navigation bar and clicking on the void fissure option. This will show you a menu of all the currently available void fissure missions.
From here, you will select the mission you want to run that matches your void relic type. For example, if you have a Lith Relic you will select a mission that says “Lith Fissure.” Once you select the mission you can choose which relic you wish to use. At this menu you can click on a specific relic to see the possible rewards from that relic.
The rewards are listed in order of rarity. For example, you will have a higher chance to receive the bronze rewards below like the Bronco Prime Receiver, Afuris Prime Barrel, and Lex Prime Barrel from this relic. You will have a small chance to receive the gold reward, the Phantasma Prime Barrel. However, you can increase those odds at your void relic refinement station in your orbiter (more on that below).
Once you have decided on the relic you wish to use, you simply choose the “Equip for Mission” option to proceed with the mission.
How to Crack the Relic
Once inside the mission you will need to successfully complete it in order to receive your rewards from the relic. However, along with completing the mission you will also need to collect Reactant to crack the relic. Cracking the relic simply means you have obtained enough reactant to receive the reward from that relic. If you do not obtain enough reactant before you extract you will not receive the relic rewards.
In order to gather Reactant you will need to kill corrupted enemies. The corrupted enemies killed within a void fissure mission will drop reactant. Make sure you pick it up. The reactant dropped will display an icon that looks just like the void fissure icon.
Once you have collected 10 reactant the relic will crack. At this point you can safely extract from the mission. If you are playing solo and have collected 10 reactant and successfully extracted you will be rewarded with one of the relic rewards at random.
However, if you are playing in a group and members of your group also have a void relic active for the mission you will be able to choose their reward versus yours. Be aware that you have limited time to choose so make your decision quickly.
Farming relics in a group is ideal if you’re trying to farm for a specific part because this will increase your odds at getting that part. Just make sure everyone in the group is utilizing the appropriate relic for the part you’re trying to obtain.
Types of Void Relics
There are a few different types of void relics in the game. They are divided into 4 tiers. The higher tier the relic, the higher the value and difficulty. The tiers in ascending order are as follows:
| Order of Value | Icon |
|---|---|
| Lith |  |
| Meso |  |
| Neo |  |
| Axi |  |
There are several different types of relics within each tier. Each type of relic has its own rewards table that consists of Forma blueprints and prime components and blueprints. You can check the Warframe Wiki for a complete list of every type of void relic and their rewards.
Void Relic Refinement
In order to unlock the void relic refinement station in your orbiter you will need to complete the Mars Junction. This junction is located on Earth. Once you complete this junction you will be rewarded with the void relic segment.
You will need to make your way to your void relic refinement station and install the segment in order to activate the refinement station. The station is located beside your arsenal in your orbiter. Once activated you can then use this station. Using the station will allow you to view all the relics you currently own, as well as, click on those relics to see their associated rewards.
However, more importantly at this station you can use the “Refine Radiant” option to improve the quality of a relic. Higher quality relics have a better chance at rare items. This means the more you upgrade the relic the better chance you have at receiving a silver or gold tier item from that relic. In order to improve a void relic you will need to obtain void traces. Once you have enough you can use those to upgrade the relic.
You can also use the search bar within the void relic refinement station to search for a specific Warframe or weapon. Doing so will bring up all the relics you have that contain parts for that item.
Void Traces
Void traces are primarily obtained by collecting reactant during the void fissure missions. The reactant drops from the corrupted enemies within that mission. You will receive anywhere from 6 to 30 void traces once you have collected 10 reactant. It’s important to point out that you do not have to have a void relic equipped in order to obtain void traces.
Void traces do have an upper limit of how many you can stockpile, so be aware of your cap. You can view how many you own and what your cap is at the void relic refinement station. You can increase that cap by increasing your mastery rank. If you reach your cap, any excess void traces earned will be lost.
You can also obtain void traces when players select your void relic reward when you’re in a group. For every player that selects your reward (excluding yourself) you will receive 5 void traces. This means you can get up to 15 traces in a mission if all 3 other players in your group select your reward.
Where to Farm Void Relics
Void relics can be obtained from various mission types. Completing any Void mission guarantees one void relic or Aya (more on Aya below). Below are the suggested farming locations to obtain each type of void relic.
Lith
| Planet | Node | Mission Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Void | Hepit | Capture | 10-15 |
| Deimos | Hyf | Defense | 15-20 |
| Mars | Olympus | Disruption | 15-20 |
| Void | Ani | Survival | 20-25 |
Meso
| Planet | Node | Mission Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Void | Ukko | Capture | 30-35 |
| Jupiter | Io | Defense | 15-20 |
| Mars | Olympus | Disruption | 15-20 |
| Void | Ani | Survival | 20-25 |
Neo
| Planet | Node | Mission Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Void | Ukko | Capture | 30-35 |
| Void | Marduk | Sabotage | 40-45 |
| Uranus | Ur | Disruption | 30-35 |
| Void | Mot | Survival | 40-45 |
Axi
| Planet | Node | Mission Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Void | Marduk | Sabotage | 40-45 |
| Eris | Xini | Interception | 30-40 |
| Lua | Apollo | Disruption | 35-40 |
| Void | Mot | Survival | 40-45 |
Duplicate Parts & Ducats
During your time farming Prime parts you will definitely acquire several duplicates. Make sure you hang onto these. Prime parts can be exchanged for a currency called Ducats. In order to get the Ducats you can travel to any relay and find the Ducat Kiosks.
Interacting with the kiosk will allow you to see all of the prime parts you currently own. You can hover over each item to see how many Ducats you will receive for that item. Make sure you don’t sell any item you don’t want to have to farm again because once you sell it for Ducats, it’s gone and converted to the Ducat currency.
The Ducat currency is important because it’s the only currency that can be used to trade with Baro Ki’Teer. This is a special vendor that only makes an appearance in the game every 2 weeks. Once he visits a relay he will remain there for 48 hours with an offering of items that changes every time he visits.
You can utilize your Ducats to trade with him to obtain cosmetics, Primed mods, weapons, and much more.
Varzia and Prime Resurgence
Another method of obtaining Prime parts is by visiting a vendor named Varzia in Maroo’s Bazaar. You can easily get to Varzia by choosing the Visit Varzia option when interacting with your void relic refinement station on your orbiter. Varzia accepts 2 different types of currencies in exchange for her wares:
- Aya – A currency that can be farmed in game.
- Regal Aya – Premium currency (purchased with real money)
Aya can be farmed from Void missions and by completing Bounties. You can view the complete drop table here. The most notable thing you can purchase with Aya are the vaulted void relics.
There are certain prime Warframes and weapons that are placed into the vault. You can see which ones are vaulted and which ones are currently farmable by using this table. These vaulted items are rotated periodically. You can see the next offering of vaulted Warframes by visiting Varzia. The void relics that you can purchase with Aya contain parts of the vaulted items. These work just like normal void relics, but the only way to obtain them is by purchasing them with Aya from the vendor Varzia.
Alternatively you can purchase Regal Aya with real money then you can simply purchase the prime Warframes and weapons without having to farm the components and craft them in your foundry.
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