Grineer

"The Grineer, swallowing colonies whole, their clones flood the system from a hidden, toxic womb. The Twin Queens, the sisters, have sent their most beloved commanders on an urgent mission. To protect the twisted crusade they have begun. To transform the scattered colonies into an empire. To see that the Tenno, hidden and asleep, will never awaken."

- Lotus

The Grineer are the first enemies encountered by newly reawakened Tenno. The expansion of their militaristic, violent Empire across the Origin System through the raiding or conquest of peaceful colonies serves as the primary motivator of the Lotus' call to her slumbering warriors. They utilize technologically crude but undeniably effective weapons, and many Tenno have fallen because they underestimated the firepower of Grineer machines.

The Grineer are clones to a man, the products of ancient, half-remembered Orokin technology, and Grineer soldiers are produced in industrial quantities along with their weapons and equipment. They are all genetically defective to some degree, their genome both originally stunted by their creators to ensure obedience, and further damaged by the invasive cloning procedures used to birth each generation century after century. As a result, they have a life cycle that is limited to only a fraction of a normal lifespan, and are prone to a host of degenerative disorders such as decaying limbs and skin or reduced intelligence; they compensate for this by the widespread use of crude cybernetic prosthetics and augmentations, and indeed, it could be argued that the Grineer are better at fixing broken bodies than they are at creating ones that function to begin with.

Their nominal "homeworld" is a feral, overgrown, barely habitable Earth over which they hold only the weakest measure of control, as they strive to poison its hardy ecology and make it more suitable for themselves. Despite their efforts, some areas of the planet remain completely outside of their control, such as the Ostron safe haven and trading hub of Cetus or the secret Steel Meridian enclave known as Iron Wake.

They are people acting on an ultimate xenophobia, fueled by hereditary madness, and a burning hate of anything and anyone not like themselves. In the end, should they succeed, there will only be Grineer left alive in the Origin System.

In battle, the Grineer use heavy armor coupled with attrition and ambush tactics. While they are fairly weak individually, they are a potent threat in groups, able to lay down withering streams of fire at all ranges from behind cover. Specialist troops use more advanced weapons, and many are even issued comparatively advanced reactive armor and cybernetics to give them an edge.

The armor on an average Grineer deserves special mention because it makes them the faction with the highest resistance to damage (aside from the Tenno). Coupled with several elemental resistances and the fact that even the relatively common Elite Lancer is heavily armored makes them the most durable faction, with their Medium and Heavy units becoming absolute bullet sponges at higher levels. The Grineer also make notable use of rudimentary teleportation, either to transport small strike forces on daring missions even within hostile territory held by the rival Corpus, or on an individual level; their Flameblades utilize it to blink close to the enemy for a vicious melee attack, and Commanders employ an ability similar to the Switch Teleport of Loki to leave the victim confused and in the midst of the Grineer troops. Infamous Grineer officers who utilize teleportation are Tyl Regor, who blinks constantly to evade and confuse the player in his battle, and Captain Vor, who uses teleportation in battle to keep distance from the player (though the latter's abilities might originate from his Janus Key).

Weaponry


Fittingly for a military power like the Grineer, they have developed a wide variety of weapons and equipment used in their ceaseless conflicts with the Tenno, Corpus, and Infested. This ranges from simple pistols to heavier rifles, shotguns, and machine guns; to missile launchers, flamethrowers, melee weapons with superheated surfaces, hydraulically-assisted axes, hammers, and flail-like whips with hooked grinding blades.

Grineer weaponry are largely conventional or industrial in operation. Grineer aesthetics tend to employ a curved, rounded and heavily plated spot-weld look. This is indicative of the extensive use of tough, temperature, and shock-resistant Ferrite and Alloys used in Grineer construction and manufacturing. As opposed to weapons built by the Corpus, Grineer weaponry are not laboriously cast or machined for precision, but instead pressed from molds, quickly filed down, and assembled by the billions, designed with loose tolerances to streamline the process. Many Grineer weapons also lack full stocks, and instead rely on their wielder's augmented strength and heavy armor to absorb the recoil.

Grineer weaponry are generally not designed to be used against the Grineer, since they are simply too heavy or large for other races to utilize without the aid of something like a Warframe. They are also less effective against the Grineer since they are primarily engineered to deal damage for use against Corpus shield systems and  damage for use against the Infested.

Despite their manufacturing processes being centered around mass-production, Grineer engineers are fiendishly clever in incorporating unusual and unorthodox ideas and new technologies into their weaponry, even if such technology is something they are unfamiliar with. An example of this can be seen in Captain Vor's Seer; this is a long-ranged pistol with sniper optics that incorporates Orokin technology. Other examples include the Jat Kittag - a Grineer warhammer that incorporates a series of jet engines to allow a more destructive impact.

Despite the best efforts of the Lotus, the Grineer have recently developed primitive microwave and plasma-aided projectile weapons, as well as a rifle that fires guided projectiles. These weapons are reserved for the elite of the elites among the Grineer, such as the fearsome Nightwatch corps.

Grineer Corps
The Grineer military forces are divided into specialized corps depending on their field of operations and combat tasks. As a rule, they tend to be camouflaged for the environment they expect to be fighting in.

Space Marines
The bulk of Grineer forces which are tasked with guarding Grineer mining and production facilities as well as manning their galleons. Basic in both armor and armaments, they are nonetheless among the most adaptable of the corps.

Frontier
Grineer units specialized in the guerrilla combat of Earth's vast overgrown forest and jungle areas.

Drekar
Grineer marine units stationed at their deep sea laboratories on Earth and Uranus.

Arid
Grineer units specialized in desert warfare such as at their colonies on Mars. Their combat gear has been adapted to the dusty environments with the addition of air filtration systems and sand catching fabrics.

Tusk
Grineer units adapted to the combat on wide open steppes such as the Plains of Eidolon on Earth as well as night time engagements. Generally equipped with longer-ranged weapons than the other corps.

Nightwatch
A Grineer special operations crew tasked with elite assignments throughout the solar system. Rarely seen but well equipped, they use modified equipment to enhance their effectiveness.

Kuva
The Grineer royal guard corps stationed at the Kuva Fortress tasked with protecting their Twin Queens. The only time they are assigned to other locations is during Kuva collection. Their equipment tends to favour stopping power over rate of fire.

Enemies
Grineer have a dual classification system. Primarily, they are classified by their armor class - Light, Medium, and Heavy - which describe their base armor and their shared damage multipliers. Secondarily, they are classified by their role or engagement style. Light units primarily utilize melee weaponry and rush their attackers. Medium units use rifles and shotguns and tend to find good cover and engage at all ranges. Heavy units are normally outfitted with non-standard weapons (ex: Gorgon, Ogris etc.) and typically have various roles in combat based on their loadout.

Light
Light Grineer units mainly consist of melee units with decent damage and low durability. Some have special abilities. Butcher=


 * -|Flameblade=


 * -|Guardsman=


 * -|Powerfist=


 * -|Scorpion=


 * -|Shield Lancer=

Medium
Medium troops make up the bulk of the Grineer army. They are not particularly dangerous when alone, but in groups they can pose a serious threat. Ballista=


 * -|Elite Lancer=


 * -|Eviscerator=


 * -|Hellion=


 * -|Lancer=


 * -|Scorch=


 * -|Seeker=


 * -|Trooper=

Heavy
These units are the strongest and toughest of the Grineer. Apart from the Grineer Commander, these units don't take advantage of cover. Most Heavy Grineer cannot seem to retaliate while under attack, showing a vulnerability to status effects; therefore it is possible to dispatch lone Heavy units easily with sustained firepower. Heavy units typically have significant base Health and armor. Bailiff=


 * -|Bombard=


 * -|Commander=


 * -|Drahk Master=


 * -|Heavy Gunner=


 * -|Hyekka Master=

The Hyekka Master is a Grineer unit who can summon Hyekka, vicious quadruped cats that will attack their master's enemies.


 * -|Manic=


 * -|Napalm=


 * -|Nox=

Utility
The utility enemies of the Grineer are dangerous in their own right, such as the Roller, one of the most infamously annoying enemies in the game.
 * -|Arc Trap=


 * -|Drahk=


 * -|Hyekka=

The Hyekka is a quadruped cat-like animal bred by the Grineer for use in combat. It appears to be a hairless version of the Feral Kavat, with a stubbier snout and a stouter appearance. In addition, it only has one tail, opposed to the many feathered tails that the feral kavats usually adorn on their rears.


 * -|Latcher=


 * -|Manic Bombard=


 * -|Power Carrier=


 * -|Regulator=


 * -|Roller=


 * -|Sensor Bar=


 * -|Spark=


 * -|Target=


 * -|Warden=

Ghouls
Ghouls are hastily-bred clones grown in diapause bags dropped in from space and buried in the ground. These deformed monstrosities may be lacking in typical qualities like intelligence, sanity or longevity, but their sheer numbers, ferociousness and deadly weapons more than make up for it. With paralytic blood, ghouls remain a threat even after they have died.

Ghoul Auger=


 * -|Ghoul Devourer=


 * -|Ghoul Expired=


 * -|Ghoul Rictus=

Archwing
These are troops which are deployed in the Archwing game mode. Dreg=


 * -|Lancer Dreg=


 * -|Temporal Dreg=


 * -|Ogma=


 * -|Dargyn=


 * -|Hellion Dargyn=


 * -|Shield Dargyn=


 * -|Shield-Hellion Dargyn=

Submersibles
These troops appear in the Submersible Archwing portions of the Grineer Sealab tileset. Draga=


 * -|Darek Draga=


 * -|Shock Draga=


 * -|Sikula=

Bosses
Bosses are officers within the Grineer faction. Capt. Vor=


 * -|Councilor Vay Hek=


 * -|Gen. Sargas Ruk=


 * -|Grustrag Three=


 * -|Kela De Thaym=


 * -|Lt. Lech Kril=


 * -|Sprag=


 * -|Tyl Regor=


 * -|Ven'kra Tel=

Defenses
Various defenses are utilized by the Grineer, ranging from pre-spawned turrets or inflatable, deployable cover. Blunt=


 * -|Rampart=

Trivia

 * Before was implemented, the Grineer troops used to speak fluent English, which was then changed to the Grineer language in order to retain the lore of the Grineer aggressively disliking anything not Grineer.
 * One of the more infamous voice lines from pre-Update 10 Grineer was "Combat formation Bravo!". It was jokingly explained by a DE staff member that a key requirement of Formation Bravo is to never mention anyone's mother. Other joking fan interpretations of Formation Bravo refer to the "enemy tower" bug, where enemies would spawn on each other's heads.
 * Other popular lines from pre-Update 10 were "Stay close to the walls." and "Hey, leave my mother out of this."
 * So far, the Grineer are the only voiced faction to have a strong direct aggression against the Tenno, speaking their name during their attacks in their language.
 * They also have been heard saying Waframe, as in Warframe, when spotting one themselves.
 * The same applies to many phrases the Grineer use, such as yelling "attaf!" instead of "attack!" and "ket clem!" instead of "get them!" (The Grineer word "clem" has been created into a fictional fan character whose name is the word itself. DE has stated in a Devstream that he is the Medallion Merchant for the Steel Meridian in their syndicate room as well.) Clem was later added to the game as a full character.
 * In essence, Grineer still speak English, but since Update 10, it has been adjusted to account for their decaying flesh and how that might affect their speech, essentially giving them a speech impediment.
 * In a Devstream, DE has stated that the Grineer are British. However, this might only be a joke regarding their language and their loyalty to the Twin Queens. They also share similarities to the Lasrian troops from Dark Sector.
 * When playing an Invasion mission, while the player has sided with the Grineer, they still will cry out quotes like Tenno Scum, because although the AI is allied with the player the voice choices still do not alter. The same goes with Shadow Grineer, shouting at other Grineer the same anti-Tenno aggressive lines.
 * The Corpus nicknamed the Grineer as the "dogs", not because of their degraded appearances but to their aspect of extreme servitude towards their leaders (and possibly creators), the Twin Queens. This was mentioned by Alad V during The Gradivus Dilemma.
 * Their name "Grineer" seems to be a portmanteau of the words "Genetically"  and "Re-engineer" which makes sense given the lore behind them.
 * The name "Grineer" may also be derived from the title of a folkloric monster known as Seigneur du grenier, a French version of the Bogeyman myth.
 * In, the female Grineer received an audio overhaul. Speaking in a deeper and more aggressive tone, with long pauses and slurs, adding viability to their genetic deterioration.
 * Despite the Grineer being a xenophobic race, in the trailer for Vor's Prize, which was shown at the end of Devstream 32, Captain Vor and the Twin Queens are heard speaking in English. Sargas Ruk and a number of other notable Grineer speak the language as well.
 * As evidenced by Grineer Lancer's Synthesis imprint, the Grineer existed in the same time period as the Orokin. This is further confirmed by the Arid Eviscerator's imprint, which also confirms the Orokin created the Grineer for slave labor.
 * The Operator will also mention that "the Grineer used to be builders."
 * According to the Landing Craft's Scanner, the Grineer use Solar Rails, possibly in a sort of ongoing partnership with the Corpus (who are known to be the faction controlling the transport network) or a faction of them; while the Rail Control dispatcher's voice sounds closer to Corpus, he always closes his communications with "Glory To The Queens". They also control mining colonies by attacking them and killing anyone that opposes them (e.g. Rebels).