Mission

Missions are the main game component in Warframe. Each mission has a specific objective, although the objective can change during the mission. The playable area in missions are randomly generated using room chunks, and missions have a chance to include environmental hazards in the beginning of the mission.

Each mission is normally populated by one specific faction designated as the enemy, but it is possible for two different factions to appear in a mission (and are hostile between each other).

Completion of the objective and successful extraction nets the player bonus experience, credits, as well as the mission completion reward. It is not necessary to complete the mission to retain items obtained interim such as mods.

There are currently 10 types of mission in the game.

Alert
Alerts are temporary missions that "spawn" randomly next to any other mission that players have previously unlocked (though not necessarily completed), and can be of any mission type. If the type selected is assassination, the boss will have a chance to drop a blueprint, and the boss is a well known entity. (For example - Jackal when it comes to Corpus assasination alert missions). Alerts are temporary, they spawn linked to one of your available missions, and stay open until a given amount of time passes, or until the player completes the alert; this means that the more missions the playes have unlocked, the higher the chance that the next alert will spawn.

Alerts also give rewards, usually in the shape of more or less credits than usual(usually more), but sometimes they award special blueprints that the players can't obtain anywhere else. This can be recognized by having a "?" in the reward bar.

Assassination
In this type of mission, players are required to find and eliminate the target, usually a unique enemy boss, and then return to extraction. Essentially the boss fight mission of the planet, these are the most commonly farmed missions, because they provide a chance to obtain blueprints or rare resources.

Capture
In this type of mission, players are required to find the target (so far always in the form of a Corpus Crewman regardless of the opposing faction), then incapacitate, and capture said target before returning to extraction. Upon discovery of the target, it will begin to flee the room; while it is unconfirmed that the target can actually escape, it is not difficult to incapacitate him within a short time of discovery. It is also worth noting that the Crewman has comparatively much more health than its normal counterparts, however it does not stop to fight before running.

Unlike the hostage mission, there is no need to escort the quarry back to extraction. Instead, upon capture the target will let out an agonizing scream while slowly dissappearing, after which Lotus will state rather ironically that the target has already been escorted safely to extraction.

Deception
Players will spawn next to a datamass looking object that must be picked up to complete the objective. Players are required to escort the data carrier or carry the data themselves to the ship's navigation core (usually) and upload the datamass to the target before returning to extraction.

Like a normal datamass, upon equipping the carrier will be reduced to pistols and switching to a rifle or incapacitation will drop the datamass. Therefore, these types of missions can prove difficult or at least more time-consuming whe playing alone. A simple remedy would simply be to open up the game to Online, or to join a preexisting group.

This kind of mission has a chance of triggering the Timed Extraction event upon delivery of the datamass.

Defense
In this type of mission, players are required to defend an Orokin Cryopod. Players will start in a small room next to a larger one. On entering the larger room, waves of attackers will start entering the room. The objective is to keep the Orokin Cryopod, which is positioned in the middle of the large room, alive until waves of enemies are defeated.

As an anti-frustration feature, the Cryopod can regenerate its shields and health at a decent rate. However, at higher level difficulties, the sheer amount of tough enemies (especially on Infested missions) will easily overwhelm players, making it almost impossible to win without a team.

There is an alternate version of this mission type called a "mobile defense" mission, which occurs on a Grineer Asteroid Base. In the mobile defense mission, you will have to carry a datamass, similar to in Deception, to several computer terminals and upload it to them. Once uploaded at each terminal, players will have to defend the terminal until hacking is completed. Unlike normal Defense missions, these require players to defend for a set period of time instead of a set amount of waves. Players will also have to go through normal sized maps during the mission instead of having just one big room to fight in.

Exterminate
In this type of mission, players are simply required to kill all enemies in the area, and then make it to extraction (Corpus Security Cameras and Defense Turrets are not counted as targets when deducting from the to-kill total). There is a counter below the minimap showing the number of enemies left. Once the given number of enemies has been depleted, additional enemies will not spawn, thus allowing you and any party members a stress-free run to extraction.

Raid
In this type of mission, players are required to find an artifact, loot it, and return to extraction. This mission type is similar to Sabotage, the difference being Sabotage requires players to destroy a reactor core while Raid requires players to loot it.

Rescue
In this type of mission, players will be lead to a room with 12 prison cells, about half of which will be locked, and the rest hackable. The hostage is in one of the hackable cells. Once the hostage is free, the hostage will follow you while you head for extraction. The mission is failed if the hostage dies. Be careful, though, sometimes he tends to get stuck on short pathways, boxes etc. In this case, if the rescue pod is nearby, just enter it, and you will win anyway, without actually escorting the prisoner to the pod. (Just make sure he's not in harms way).

While it appears that the hostage has a pistol, he will never actually shoot and will instead take cover when possible. Enemies also tend to not attack the hostage intentionally. He also has a decent personal shield and health, so it is unlikely that the hostage will be put in any genuine danger.

Sabotage
In this type of mission, players are required to find the reactor room, and destroy the reactor core. To destroy the reactor core, players will need to expose the reactor fuel rods, then proceed to destroy each of the cylinders. When the reactor core has been destroyed, the players then are to return to extraction.

If the mission takes place on a Grineer Asteroid Base, an alternate version of the mission will occur in which players will instead be tasked with finding and destroying a number of Drilling Machines scattered around the map.

The missions that require the destruction of the reactor core have a chance of triggering the Timed Extraction event upon completion via the overhead message " Ship Integrity Compromised", while the missions requiring destruction of the Grineer Drilling Machines will not usually trigger a timed extraction.

Spy
In this type of missions, players are required to locate and hack up to 4 terminals. Once a terminal is hacked, a data mass will be raised on the platform next to it. Pick it up and proceed to the next terminal. Datamass stack (one player can carry all 4 data masses). While carrying a datamass, the carrier will switch to pistol. Switching to rifle drops the data mass. Players can still use melee while carrying the datamass though.

Lockdown
Sometimes enemies will activate "lockdown". This closes most doors, and players have to hack a control console to open them back up. However, this does not lock elevators. Depending on the situation, a lockdown can actually be beneficial for the player by locking out additional enemies and locking in of him/herself with a fixed number of enemies in the room, or put the player in serious trouble by the locking in of him/herself with said fixed number of enemies.

Note that enemies have to run to a control console themselves to activate lockdown. Killing them before they reach the console can prevent a lockdown.

Key Search
Sometimes when you encounter a locked door, players will have to search for a keypass before they can proceed; the keypass itself takes the form of a datamass and is picked up in much the same way. However, the rifle can still be used freely after aquisition. Once the keypass is obtained, the locked door can be opened and the mission continued.

Timed Extraction
Certain mission types can trigger a timed extraction upon completion. When you reach your goal, a timer will activate. If players do not reach the extraction point before the timer runs out, they will fail the mission. This is most problematic if an additional objective is triggered, especially a  rescue mission.

Additional Objective
Sometimes when players reach their primary goal (or even before the primary objective is completed), they will be informed that there is another objective. This can be any of the main objectives, even duplicated ones. For instance, the players have destroyed the reactor core, but instead of being given the extraction location, they are given the location of a hostage, and is required to rescue them before they can be extracted. This can coincide with the timed extraction event, making for a hectic run.

Bonus Objectives
In addition to the main objective of the mission selected, each player will also be assigned a random bonus objective to optionally complete. If the player successfully completes the bonus objective, extra experience will be rewarded to that player. Here is a list (incomplete) of the known bonus objectives:
 * Hacker: Hack 1 console.
 * Head Hunter: Get 10 headshots.
 * Killer: Get 30 kills.
 * Looter: Collet 4 energy orbs.
 * Pistol Master: Get 20 kills with your pistol.
 * Power: Use your first ability 5 times.
 * Rifleman: Get 30 Rifle kills.
 * Speed Kill: Get 3 Kills in 10 seconds.
 * Stealth: Get 10 Kills on unalerted enemies.
 * Swordsman: Get 10 Melee kills.
 * Treasure Hunter: Find 1 artifact module.
 * Uber: Use your Warframe ability once.

Environmental Hazards
Missions have a random chance of starting with an environmental hazard (excluding the atmosphere vent), which can increase the difficulty of the mission.

Self-Destruct
In this hazard, patches of fire are scattered across the map. Standing on the fire for longer than one second will damage the player. Enemies will be alert from the very start of the mission, even if the player has not been spotted yet. Some lootable corpses will also be scattered around the map. Note that the Self-Destruct hazard is different from the Timed Extraction event. There is no timer.

Cryogenic Leakage
In this hazard, the maximum amount of shields will be lowered by 50% for the duration of the mission. Patches of ice are scattered across the map for aesthetic effect. It is unconfirmed whether the shield decrease affects both the players and enemy units.

Atmosphere Vent
Unlike the previous two hazards, this one occurs when a breakable window has been broken, either by bullets or an explosion. The occurence of an atmosphere vent can be identified by the screen going blurry, sound getting a lot softer and silent, and both the player's and enemy units' shields start draining, or their health if their shield is already depleted. Breakable windows are identified as Reinforced Glass when pointed at and has a HP bar. In order to stop an atmosphere vent, you have to hack a nearby console to raise shields up over the broken window.

Note that not all windows are breakable, and that an atmosphere vent can sometimes be strategically triggered to lockdown a horde of enemies in what is literally a death chamber, as the event often locks down the room where the window was, though it is extremely inefficient.