Warframe is no stranger to change, adding major game-changing systemic systems and overhauling mechanics yearly. Like clockwork, Digital Extremes have released a unique system named Helminth Crysalis, and its impact on the game has been large, to say the least.
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In essence, players can transfer Warframe abilities to other frames by allowing Helminth to consume them. The ability you obtain is predetermined for balance, but Digital Extremes ensured that a wide selection of powerful, unique abilities are up for grabs. We'll be showcasing some of the strongest Helminth abilities today, ranging from armor strip methods to cataclysmic damage buffs for your weapons and Warframe abilities.
Updated February 26, 2023, by Charles Burgar: New Warframes and reworks have shifted the subsume meta in Warframe. Grendel's fantastic rework has made Nourish a powerhouse for all Warframe builds, something we had to include on this list. We've updated this list to include Grendel's Nourish ability and updated other sections with up-to-date information.
This list is in no particular order.
15 Resonator (Octavia)
Resonator, arguably Octavia's worst ability, is arguably the strongest subsumed ability in Warframe if players solely care about how much an ability brings to the table. This single ability can effectively disable enemy AI if used properly.
Casting Resonator will spawn a rollerball that will distract nearby targets, six meters at base range. However, grouping multiple targets together will cause the rollerball to distract targets up to 15 meters away. Enemies distracted lose all aggro and the will to fight, focusing solely on chasing this ball around. With the Conductor Augment, players can recast Resonator and have it stay at the target location for the rest of its duration. This makes it one of the strongest stationary crowd control abilities in the game, effectively disabling all enemy AI nearby. As long as you build for range, casting this ability makes you nigh-invincible in closed spaces. Just don't expect an engaging playstyle while using this ability.
14 Warcry (Valkyr)
Valkyr's Warcry ability is up for grabs with the Helminth system, increasing your Warframe's melee attack speed and armor. It is slightly weaker when applied through Helminth, yet that hardly matters when the attack speed increase can reach over 100% with some Ability Strength.
If the attack speed is so great, why isn't this higher on the list? Quite simply, there are better options for many Warframes. Damage buffs tend to be more valuable on melee Warframes, but anyone that loves using slow melee weapons or exalted melee weapons—notably Excalibur and Wukong—should consider using Warcry. Pair this ability with its augment, Eternal War, for a permanent attack speed increase.
13 Silence (Banshee)
Silence is an ability that stuns nearby targets, deafening them to your weapons. The stun happens right as an enemy enters the radius of the ability, so you'll want to be moderate with your Ability Range.
A quick stun ability that covers a large radius is solid on its own, but the main use for Silence is leveling. Since enemies aren't alerted to your weapons, you can easily gain a 500% Stealth Affinity Multiplier in Exterminate missions, allowing for absurdly fast weapon and Warframe leveling. If you just built a Warframe and need to level it to 30 quickly, throw Silence on, grab a Kuva Bramma, and clear the level as fast as you can. It doesn't get much faster than that.
12 Spectrorage (Gara)
Spectrorage is easily Gara's worst ability, creating a ring of mirrors that entrap targets and cause them to damage themselves. It isn't great on its own, but its augment could solve energy economy issues on a large variety of Warframes.
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The augment for Spectrorage is Spectrosiphon, causing targets that die inside of Spectrorage to have a 40% chance of dropping energy orbs. Considering that enemies both in and near the mirrors count towards this drop chance bonus, Spectrorage can single-handedly keep channeling Warframes such as Ember topped off on energy for a mission's duration. It's also a solid CC ability against swarms of targets in Steel Path levels and other difficult activities.
11 Breach Surge (Wisp)
For Warframes that have a damage buff already and want an additional damage multiplier, Wisp's Breach Surge is a great choice. Casting this ability will make nearby enemies take twice as much damage while giving them a chance to release Surge sparks, dealing Radiation damage based on the damage inflicted.
Ember, Saryn, and Garuda are just a few Warframes that can take advantage of this buff. Caster frames will want this ability above all else, as each tick of damage from your ability (Ember's Inferno, Garuda's Seeking Talons, etc.) can trigger Breach Surge.
10 Ensnare (Khora) & Larva (Nidus)
We're going to cheat and include two abilities in this entry: Khora's Ensnare and Nidus' Larva. They both are functionally the same, grouping targets toward your cast point. The differences are minor but worth mentioning:
- Ensnare: Has a larger base range than Larva; slain targets spread Ensnare to nearby foes.
- Larva: Groups targets into a tight ball, benefiting abilities and weapons with punchthrough.
Warframes that need some CC in their kit can't go wrong with either ability. Ensnare is great for Warframes like Revenant, while Larva is better suited for someone like Protea. We recommend getting both abilities and experimenting with both to find your favorite.
9 Dispensary (Protea)
Protea's Dispensary is arguably one of the best utility skills in Warframe. Its versatility is nearly unmatched due to its ability to heal, provide ammo, and solve Energy economy issues all in one package.
Dispensary spawns a device that will spawn a Health Orb, Energy Orb, or ammo once every three seconds. The device itself lasts for 12 seconds and can be extended with Ability Duration Mods. What's great about Dispensary is its utility. You can run this in Railjack to give your ship infinite Energy, or you can pair Dispensary with an Arch-Gun to give your heavy weapon infinite ammo. Nearly every Warframe can take advantage of this, making this one of the best subsumed abilities you can unlock.
8 Fire Blast (Ember)
Armor strip is key to beating the Steel Path and surviving in high-level endurance missions. Fortunately, Helminth gives you quite a few methods of stripping armor. One of our favorites is Ember's Fire Blast, a massive AoE blast that strips 75% armor off all targets hit.
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Before the Veilbreaker update, armor strip was either 100% or bust due to its multiplicative nature. But thanks to additive armor strip changes, Fire Blast only requires two casts to fully strip a target's armor. Considering this ability has a base radius of 25m and no enemy cap, it's safe to say that Fire Blast is an S-tier ability for Warframes that don't have Energy issues. For Warframes that don't spec for Ability Efficiency, you'll need to rely on Arcane Energize, Zenurik, or multiple Corrosive Projection auras to get the most out of Fire Blast.
7 Damage Buffs (Rhino, Mirage, Xaku)
So long as damage abilities are available through Helminth, they're going to be S-tier options that most players will gravitate toward. There are three notable damage buffs available through Helminth: Rhino's Roar, Mirage's Eclipse, and Xata's Whisper from Xaku. Here's what they do:
- Roar: Provides 30% more damage, scaling similarly to a faction bane mod. Roar affects weapons and abilities.
- Eclipse: Provides 150% more damage, multiplied by your total damage. Eclipse only affects weapons.
- Xata's Whisper: Your weapons inflict a second instance of Void damage, dealing 26% of your total damage. Xata's Whisper only affects weapons.
Roar is favored by most players for its faction damage bonus, something most players don't build for. This gives a multiplicative damage bonus for most builds, drastically improving your damage output. It's also the only subsumable damage buff that affects Warframe abilities. Nearly every Warframe can benefit from this ability.
Eclipse is favored by players who farm endgame bosses, notably Eidolons. This ability can provide far more damage than Rhino's Roar in the right circ*mstances, yet those circ*mstances are somewhat rare. Eclipse's damage buff is affected by your environmental lighting, so you're required to tweak your graphical settings to maximize this damage increase. If you're in darkness, Eclipse will instead provide damage resistance. It's a far more inconsistent damage buff than the other options, yet its power is far greater than any other buff available through the Helminth system.
Xata's Whisper is a buildcrafter's dream. This ability grants another instance of damage for your weapons and allows them to inflict Void status, creating a magnetic field around the target that gives your weapons major aim assist. Since this ability counts as another damage instance, you can stack it with on-hit mods, double dip its damage through faction bane effects, and further scale status chance mods like Condition Overload. If you're willing to build around it, Xata's Whisper is a powerhouse against all factions, especially Sentients.
6 Condemn (Harrow)
Condemn got a massive buff with The New War update, allowing Ability Range to augment the width of this ability. Simply put, Condemn is now the best ability for shield gating that you can use. This ability projects a wave of chains in front of your Warframe, causing targets to become stunned while exposing their heads. Each enemy chained will also give you shields, granting overshields if your shields are full.
The real power of Condemn comes from its absurd range. Building for 200% Range or more will let Condemn chain entire rooms worth of enemies while instantly giving you a full overshield. If you want to use shield gating and Rolling Guard to stay alive, Condemn is arguably the best ability you can use.
5 Gloom (Sevagoth)
Sevagoth's Gloom provides survivability and crowd control in one neat package. Activating this ability will create a growing aura around your Warframe. Enemies within the aura are slowed significantly, and any allies within the aura gain life steal. It's a powerful ability that can make Warframes like Inaros or Nidus even tankier.
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Gloom is also a great pick for AoE damage frames, notable ones being Ember, Saryn, and Equinox. If you can build for enough Ability Strength, Gloom will make your Warframe nigh-invincible while slowing targets by up to 95%.
4 Nourish (Grendel)
Grendel's fantastic rework inadvertently made Nourish one of Warframe's best Helminth abilities. This single ability buffs yourself and allies with Viral damage, increases the Energy you receive from all sources, and causes you to release a Viral explosion whenever you receive damage. Since Viral is one of Warframe's strongest damage types, it's clear why the Warframe community has started using Nourish on most endgame builds.
While the subsumed version of Nourish is missing the instant heal Grendel receives, the bonus Viral damage is the real star of the show. Every Warframe can get easy access to Viral procs while Nourish is active, greatly improving your damage output against virtually every enemy in the game. It's a fantastic pick for virtually all builds, both for Star Chart and Steel Path content.
3 Pillage (Hildryn)
Everything you'd want out of a Helminth ability is present in Hildyn's Pillage. This ability creates a wave of energy that tags every enemy it touches, stripping a portion of their armor and shields. Ending the ability will return the wave to your location, siphoning the stripped defenses as overshields. The wave also cleanses status effects on allies.
You need an absurd 400% Ability Strength to fully strip a target's armor, but the changes to armor stripping in the Veilbreaker update made Pillage substantially better at this. Two casts with 200% Strength are enough to fully strip a target's defenses. Are you playing a Warframe that builds for Ability Strength? Spec for 334% Strength and use Corrosive Projection to inflict a full armor strip with each cast, granting yourself maximum overshields in the process. It serves as a way to refresh shield gating, cleanse status effects, and rip enemy defenses all in one button.
2 Tharros Strike (Styanax)
Tharros Strike is a powerhouse of an ability. Casting this ability will knock back any target in front of you, stripping 50% of their armor while healing you. Speccing for Ability Strength will give you a full armor strip in a generous frontal cone, and the knockback is capable of pushing back Disruptors in Disruption game modes. Simply put, Tharros Strike is a phenomenal ability for Steel Path builds or anyone pushing for lengthy Disruption runs.
1 Terrify (Nekros)
Terrify went from F-tier to S-tier in a single update. Nekros' Terrify scares a set number of enemies within 15 meters, stripping 60% of their armor and forcing them to flee. Ability Strength scales both the armor strip and the enemies affected. With a moderate investment into Ability Strength, you're looking at solid range, full armor strip that affects quite a few targets, and the ability to slow targets with its augment mod. If you're pushing Steel Path content and need a good armor strip ability, look no further than Terrify.
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