Warframe Tier List 2025

Warframe Tier List 2025

Methodology

To simplify comparisons, Warframes have been divided into archetypes. Each frame serves as a unique tool, fulfilling specific roles. These archetypes include: Support, DPS, Tank, Crowd Control, and Farmer. Many frames have overlapping functionalities, making this breakdown essential for clear evaluation.

Archetype Descriptions:

  • Support: Frames that provide buffs, debuffs, or squad-wide bonuses to improve overall performance.
  • DPS: Damage-focused frames designed to maximize their offensive capabilities.
  • Tank: Frames equipped with survival tools to absorb or mitigate damage effectively.
  • Crowd Control: Frames that excel in controlling or incapacitating enemies.
  • Farmer: Frames specialized in improving resource acquisition by increasing drop rates or farming efficiency.

Rating System

Warframes are ranked based on their power level and utility:

  • S Tier: Completely broken—absolute top-tier performance.
  • A Tier: Excellent—extremely powerful and versatile.
  • B Tier: Great—strong picks with solid performance.
  • C Tier: Okay—situationally viable but lacking in overall impact.
  • D Tier: Playable but unimpressive—falls behind in most scenarios.
  • F Tier: Avoid—unusable in most contexts.

Warframes in the A–C range dominate most playstyles and are the ones you’ll commonly see in action. The + and – modifiers are included to differentiate power levels within each tier.

This tier list also includes commentary explaining the reasoning behind rankings. Change log to highlight what’s new or adjusted compared to previous years.

Support Frames

S (No entries for S Tier)

A+ Wisp

A Octavia, Jade

A- Citrine, Trinity, Protea

B+ Volt

B Harrow, Xaku

B- Caliban

C Rhino

C- Oberon

D Valkyr

Reasoning and Thoughts

Support frames offering powerful buffs and debuffs to bolster allies and weaken enemies. Armour strip is less useful these days. Here’s why each frame landed in their respective tiers:

  • Wisp: A quintessential support frame, Wisp stands tall in A+ due to her unmatched ability to boost health, heal over time, increase speed, fire rate, and grant a significant damage multiplier.
  • Octavia: A versatile pick with armor boosts, speed buffs, multishot, melee damage increases, and invisibility.
  • Jade: Newly added to A Tier, Jade brings a strong kit with health-percentage-based boosts, power strength increases, weapon damage bonuses, shields per second, reduced recharge delay, and a defense reduction that slows enemies.
  • Citrine: Her health regeneration and damage reduction remain highly reliable tools.
  • Trinity: Known for health and shield restoration paired with damage reduction. A solid runner-up, offering consistent health and energy support.
  • Protea: Promoted to A- Tier this year. Her shields, shield regeneration, and dispensary (which provides ammo, health, or energy) make her a valuable utility frame.

The top six frames (Wisp, Octavia, Jade, Citrine, Trinity, Protea) provide a robust mix of survivability and offense, establishing a strong upper echelon of support options.

  • Volt: Bonus speed and critical damage with added electric damage make Volt a great pick, though slightly less impactful than the top tiers.
  • Harrow: His buffs—bonus energy, critical chance, headshot damage, and immunity—are powerful but often dependent on his presence for the team to benefit.
  • Xaku: Demoted to B Tier, their defense reduction remains a strong effect, though it has limitations.
  • Caliban: Dropped to B- Tier due to inconsistencies. His damage reduction passive is decent, but his defense reduction can be blocked by objects, and his shield regeneration is lackluster.
  • Rhino: Roar offers a useful damage boost, but a weaker version is available via Helminth infusion.
  • Oberon: His healing is overshadowed by others on this list. While his armor bonus is good, it’s conditional and pales in comparison to stronger options. Status immunity remains his saving grace.
  • Valkyr: Warcry provides an attack speed increase, but it’s simply not enough to warrant a higher rank.

Change Log

  • Jade: Added to A Tier.
  • Protea: Moved up from B- Tier to A- Tier.
  • Xaku: Demoted from A Tier to B Tier.
  • Caliban: Demoted from B Tier to B- Tier.

DPS Frames

S (No entries for S Tier)

A+ Baruuk, Mesa, Saryn

A Ash, Octavia, Mag, Voruna, Sevagoth, Titania

A- Gara, Protea, Khora, Dageth, Jade, Hildryn, Garuda, Dante

B+ Grendel, Ember, Volt, Kullervo, Atlas, Cype, Hydroid

B Ivara, Larvos, Styanax, Qorvex, Nova

B- Gyre, Excalibur, Nyx, Yareli, Caliban

C Koumie

C- Equinox

D (No entries for D Tier)

Reasoning and Thoughts

DPS frames have changed due armour strip being less relate evolving thanks to changes in exalted weapons, including access to new mods, arcanes, and upcoming exalted weapons. These updates, combined with the removal of stat sticks, bring significant shifts to frame performance. Result plenty of frames moving up and down.

  • Baruuk, Mesa, Saryn (A+ Tier): Baruuk and Mesa dominate the charts with the highest damage output, while Saryn, the “Plague Queen,” keeps pace with her area-wide viral destruction. These three frames deliver some of the strongest damage at high levels.
  • Octavia, Mag, Voruna, Sevagoth, Ash, and Titania (A Tier):
    • Octavia excels with massive area damage-over-time effects but remains underutilized despite her strength.
    • The nuke frames—Mag, Voruna, and Sevagoth—shine with devastating AoE damage. Voruna’s augment combined with slam attacks makes her a status nuke, while Mag balances safety and lethality, and Sevagoth’s nuke build is effective, though slower.
    • Ash benefits from quality-of-life changes, improving his performance.
    • Titania remains consistent with her airborne potential.
  • Melee & Pistol Exalted Frames (A- Tier):
    • Gara and Khora retain their powerful melee exalted abilities.
    • Dante, Hildryn, and Jade all bring exceptional pistol-exalted damage, made better with new arcanes.
    • Garuda’s glass-cannon style thrives with slash focus, while Dageth combines steady impact with scalability.
  • Mid-Tier Performers (B+ and B Tiers):
    • Cype (exalted sniper) delivers massive damage but relies on precision weak-point hits.
    • Grendel‘s unique playstyle involves consuming enemies to deal AoE status damage.
    • Ember retains her fire-focused niche, while Volt capitalizes on electric AoE attacks.
    • Atlas shows potential as a melee exalted specialist, focusing on single-target damage.
    • Ivara and Larvos offer niche contributions—exalted damage and strong status focus, respectively.
    • Hydroid moves down the list due armour reduction being less useful. He still has AoE damage and just corrosvie damage less useful than it once was.
  • Struggling & Outdated Frames (B- to C- Tiers):
    • Excalibur and Caliban deal solid damage but suffer from outdated mechanics and object-blocking issues, respectively.
    • Gyre has decent damage as a weapon platform, while Nyx’s glow-up still struggles with AI randomness.
    • Yareli remains experimental, and Equinox requires significant setup time to deal consistent slash damage.
    • Koumie’s damage is unpredictable and random, limiting her reliability.

Change Log

  • Ash: Moved up from B+ to A Tier.
  • Atlas: Added to B+ Tier (previously in C- Tier).
  • Baruuk: Promoted from A- to A+ Tier.
  • Caliban: Added to B- Tier.
  • Cype: Added to B+ Tier.
  • Dante: Added to A- Tier.
  • Ember: Demoted from A to B+ Tier.
  • Equinox: Demoted from C to C- Tier.
  • Excalibur: Demoted from B+ to B- Tier.
  • Garuda: Added to A- Tier.
  • Grendel: Added to B+ Tier.
  • Hildryn: Added to A- Tier.
  • Hydroid Moved from A to B+
  • Ivara: Moved from B+ to B Tier.
  • Jade: Added to A- Tier.
  • Koumie: Added to C Tier.
  • Larvos: Added to B Tier.
  • Mag: Promoted from B to A Tier.
  • Nyx: Promoted from D to B- Tier.
  • Octavia: Moved from A+ to A Tier.
  • Sevagoth: Added to A Tier.
  • Styanax: Moved from B+ to B Tier.
  • Voruna: Added to A Tier.
  • Yareli: Demoted from C to B- Tier.

Crowd Control Frames

S (No entries for S Tier)

A+ Octavia

A Nova

A- Ivara

B+ Vauban, Frost

B Xaku

B- , Nyx

C Limbo

D Loki

F (No entries for F Tier)

Reasoning and Thoughts

Crowd control as a gameplay mechanic has seen reduced relevance due to the dominance of damage-based strategies—death has effectively become the new crowd control. Here’s a breakdown of the changes and thoughts behind the rankings:

  • Octavia (A+): Elevated to A+ Tier for her ability to dominate the battlefield with area-wide crowd control effects, while also being a powerhouse.
  • Nova (A): Promoted from A- Tier. Her ability to switch between slowing and speeding enemies makes her a versatile and potent choice.
  • Ivara (A-): Retains her place in A- Tier for her effective control capabilities.
  • Xaku (B+): A solid B+ pick, offering reliable defense reduction and enemy manipulation.
  • Vauban (B): Demoted to B Tier due to the waning effectiveness of pure crowd control frames compared to direct damage options.
  • Frost (B-): Moved up from C Tier. His abilities provide situational crowd control, particularly for defensive missions.
  • Nyx (B-): Moved up significantly from D Tier. While her AI-dependent abilities remain inconsistent, they are no longer the weakest of the crowd control options.
  • Limbo (C): Still a situationally useful frame, but his crowd control comes with a learning curve and divisive gameplay mechanics.
  • Loki (D): Ranked at the bottom due to his lack of meaningful crowd control compared to other options.

Change Log

  • Nova: Promoted from A- to A Tier.
  • Octavia: Promoted from A- to A+ Tier.
  • Vauban: Demoted from B+ to B Tier.
  • Frost: Promoted from C to B- Tier.
  • Nyx: Promoted from F to B- Tier.

Tank Frames

S (No entries for S Tier)

A+ Revenant

A Nezha, Zephyr

A- Gauss, Grendel, Wukong, Hildryn, Nyx, Dageth

B+ Trinity, Volt, Nova

B Nidus, Rhino, Frost, Inaros

B- Harrow, Baruuk, Frost, Atlas, Loki, Voruna, Nekros, Qorvex, Xaku, Valkyr, Mirage

C Lavos, Ivara

C- Chroma, Oberon

D (No entries for D Tier)

Reasoning and Thoughts

Tank frames are critical for survival in high-pressure scenarios, with rankings depending heavily on their tools to mitigate or absorb damage effectively.

  • Revenant (A+): Retains his position as the best tank in the game, thanks to his immunity to damage.
  • Nezha and Zephyr (A):
    • Nezha: Excels with status immunity and a secondary health pool for damage reduction.
    • Zephyr: Specialises in avoiding projectiles, making her highly survivable.
  • Dageth, Gauss, Grendel, Hildryn, Nyx, Wukong (A-):
    • Dageth: Gains the ability to escape death for 10 seconds, albeit without control over when it triggers.
    • Gauss: Approaches the top tier with excellent damage reduction.
    • Grendel and Wukong: Health-based tanks with immunity abilities for diverse applications.
    • Hildryn: Strong shield gate with reliable regeneration.
    • Nyx: Improved with her rework, adding more utility to her tanking capabilities.
  • Nova, Trinity, Volt (B+):
    • Volt: Uses shield gating and projectile blocking effectively.
    • Trinity: Provides damage reduction and full health and shield restoration.
    • Nova: Combines tank utility with crowd control capabilities.
  • Frost, Inaros, Nidus, Rhino (B):
    • Frost and Rhino: Offer solid defensive utility, with Frost leaning on crowd control and Rhino as a weapon platform.
    • Nidus and Inaros: Classic health tanks, with Inaros relying heavily on armour values.
  • Atlas, Baruuk, Frost, Harrow, Loki, Mirage, Nekros, Qorvex, Valkyr, Voruna, Xaku (B-):
    • Mirage: Provides damage reduction but lacks sufficient health or armour stats.
    • Qorvex: Brings status immunity but is limited in versatility.
    • Hekros: Shadows offer your damage reduction and tank damage for you.
    • Valkyr: A pure health and armour tank with temporary full immunity.
    • Baruuk: Offers similar immunity to Zephyr but cannot attack during its use.
    • Xaku: Has the ablity to dodge attacks.
  • Lavos, Ivara (C):
    • Lavos: A health tank but lacks effective scaling or utility in high-level missions.
    • Ivara: Relies on invisibility for survivability rather than direct tanking.
  • Chroma, Oberon (C-):
    • Both frames feel outdated, relying on basic health and armour mechanics without meaningful utility.

Change Log

  • Zephyr: Demoted from A+ to A Tier.
  • Nezha: Demoted from A+ to A Tier.
  • Hildryn: Demoted from A to A- Tier.
  • Grendel: Demoted from A to A- Tier.
  • Harrow: Promoted from B to B+ Tier.
  • Trinity: Promoted from B- to B+ Tier.
  • Frost: Promoted from F to B Tier.
  • Loki: Promoted from C to B- Tier.
  • Ivara: Demoted from B+ to C Tier.

Farmer Frames

S Titania

A+ Hydroid

A Khora, Nekros

A- Volt, Wukong

B Xaku, Atlas

C Limbo

D (No entries for D Tier)

F (No entries for F Tier)

Reasoning and Thoughts

Farmer frames excel at speeding up resource acquisition or improving the efficiency of missions. Here’s an analysis of the rankings:

  • Titania (S): Newly promoted to S Tier, Titania has proven to be one of the best speed runners. When combined with Helminth abilities, she clears rooms quickly and with ease.
  • Khora and Nekros (A):
    • Khora, though slightly demoted, remains a farming powerhouse with Pilfering Strangledome.
    • Nekros maintains his role as a consistent farming frame through Desecrate, which enhances loot drops from enemies.
  • Volt and Wukong (A-):
    • Volt brings versatility with his speed and AoE potential, though his farming efficiency has been slightly reduced.
    • Hydroid (A-): Elevated to A- Tier from F Tier, Hydroid reclaims his place as a top-tier farming frame due to his rework. Augment that increase his loot drop.
    • Wukong cloud walker allows him to speed run missions similar to Volt.
  • Xaku and Atlas (B): Both sit solidly in this tier, offering moderate farming capabilities but lacking the efficiency of higher-tier options. Xaku opens boxes, Atlas has a loot augment.
  • Limbo (C): Now outperformed by Xaku, Limbo’s farming capabilities have declined, relegating him to the C Tier.

Change Log

  • Titania: Promoted from A+ to S Tier.
  • Hydroid: Promoted from F to A- Tier.
  • Khora: Demoted from A+ to A Tier.
  • Volt: Demoted from A to A- Tier.
  • Atlas: Promoted from D to B Tier.

Frames in Need of Attention: Reworks and Quality-of-Life Changes

As Warframe continues to update, several lower-ranked frames require attention to remain competitive. Below is a list of the longest-ranked frames. Also going to add some metions that need a look at.

C Tier: Rhino

  • Current Issues: Rhino’s a good begineers frame, Iron skin struggles at higher levels. His Roar remains a useful team buff, but damage increase is something everybody has access to. Helminth allows you to infuse roar on everybody.  Best frame on this list,
  • Suggested Changes: Iron skin overguard being able to recast and scale even higher. Everybody else having access roar, you need something else. Adding synergies between abilities could also diversify his playstyle. Which right now is a weapons platform.

C- Tier: Oberon

  • Current Issues: Oberon problems are conditional armour, armour strip and poor energy economy. Status immunity only by standing on certain spot feels clunky. Weak healing and scaling just adds to his woes.
  • Suggested Changes: Strengthening his base healing, decoup status imunity, armour strip would make him more viable. Minor tweaks to energy efficiency could also help streamline his kit.

D Tier: Valkyr

  • Current Issues: Valkyr’s kit relies heavily on Warcry, offering little beyond an attack-speed increase. Her status as a health-and-armor-based tank feels outdated in today’s meta.
  • Suggested Changes: A rework to introduce more versatile abilities or additional synergy between her existing tools would rejuvenate her gameplay.

C Tier: Koumie

  • Current Issues: Koumie’s damage output is random and unpredictable, limiting her reliability in both high-level missions and team play.
  • Suggested Changes: Introducing more consistent mechanics or scaling could make her a more reliable pick for damage and utility. Gambling system needs to be worth using.

C- Tier: Equinox

  • Current Issues: Equinox requires heavy setup to deal slash damage, which limits her efficiency in faster-paced missions. Her utility often pales in comparison to other frames. Night and day both need adjusting, night being weak form at the moment.
  • Suggested Changes: Reducing the time needed to build up her damage potential and improving her flow could help her remain relevant. Night needs serious changes or switching system needs to be looked at.

C Tier: Limbo

  • Current Issues: Limbo’s Rift mechanic is divisive—certain enemies can bypass it, and it often frustrates teammates in squad play. As a crowd-control frame, he lacks reliable damage.
  • Suggested Changes: A redesign of the Rift mechanic to make it more engaging and team-friendly is crucial. Adding damage synergy would also improve his viability.

D Tier: Loki

  • Current Issues: Loki’s invisibility-based gameplay feels outdated, with little else to offer. His crowd-control abilities are outshone by other frames.
  • Suggested Changes: A full rework to modernize his abilities and introduce meaningful synergy or damage potential would help him return to relevance.

C Tier: Lavos and Ivara

  • Lavos: Relies heavily on health-based tanking but lacks tools for effective scaling or utility in high-level missions. Good primer frame but needs bit of help.
  • Suggested Changes: Adjusting his survivability mechanics or improving his synergy with ability combos would strengthen his role.
  • Ivara: Primarily focused on invisibility, Ivara struggles with dealing consistent damage and maintaining relevance outside niche use cases.
  • Suggested Changes: Decreasing the downsides on invisibility. Enhancing her offensive capabilities or introducing secondary utility functions could boost her flexibility.

C- Tier: Chroma

  • Current Issues: Chroma relies on Elemental Ward and Vex Armor while Spectral Scream and Effigy remain underutilized. With damage bonuses more common, his niche as a damage buffer feels diminished.
  • Suggested Changes: Merging Elemental Ward and Vex Armor into a cohesive ability and balancing elemental bonuses (to make all elements viable) would modernize his kit.

Quality-of-Life Success Stories

Several previously underperforming frames have seen improvement thanks to reworks and augments:

  • Nyx: A successful rework elevated her utility and made her abilities more impactful.
  • Voruna: Augments have made him more playable and enjoyable.
  • Yareli: Despite criticism, she now has viable builds and greater flexibility.
  • Gyre: Similar to Yareli, augments have improved her usability and damage output.

This leaves frames like Loki and Valkyr, from last year’s list, as some of the least viable, needing more significant overhauls.