Archwing

The Archwing is a set of mechanical wings (presumably of Orokin design) used by a Tenno to fly and engage in combat in space, offering a potent mix of firepower and mobility to engage spaceborne enemies. Unlike Warframe's traditional land-bound gameplay, Archwing missions take place in space offering complete freedom of movement in three-dimensions.

Acquisition
An Archwing comprises three components, each of them are acquired through different means depending on the Archwing.

Players can acquire their first Archwing, the Odonata, by completing The Archwing quest available to all players from Mastery Rank 2 and above.

Components for the Elytron can be received as a mission reward on every 4th Round (Round 4, 8, 12, 16, etc.) from the Uranus Archwing Interception mission.

The third Archwing, Itzal, can be acquired through Dojo Research.

Access
The Archwing console is located in the Arsenal via the "Archwing" button located alongside the bottom Arsenal options.

Mechanics
Once a player has built and acquired an Archwing, they can participate in dedicated Archwing missions, of which there are two variants: Free Space, which puts players in open space with lots of room to explore and maneuver, and Trench Run, where players speed down through tight corridors towards a given mission objective.

Control of the Archwing is mostly similar to normal ground-based controls, though modified for three-dimensional movement. keys control the direction of movement in conjunction with the mouse. meanwhile causes the player to ascend (relative to the direction in which the camera is pointing), and causes them to descend. While crouching is unavailable due to the nature of Archwing combat, slide movement is possible while at speed. Unlike in ground combat, Archwings will retain momentum when the movement keys are released while moving even without sliding, with higher speeds allowing players to coast longer distances before stopping. Also, hitting objects during high speed sprinting will result in the Archwing taking damage, making collision avoidance an important part of gameplay.

Combat is mostly identical to traditional controls, however melee combat will cause the Warframe to automatically dash forward towards a nearby target; players can chain melee attacks from one target to another without requiring precision aiming at targets. Stances are unavailable, though blocking and channeling can be performed. Jump Attacks and Wall Attacks are also unavailable, with only Slide Attacks being available in the form of a swirling slash that deals higher damage.

Archwings have their own set of exclusive weapons - a Primary and a Melee weapon - and abilities, which replace the player's selected Warframe weapons and abilities. All Warframe stats and mods do not carry over to Archwing missions. The only exception are Aura mods, whose effects still work on Archwings. Passive Abilities also currently carry over in addition to Auras. This can be seen by running an Archwing mission with Mesa and unequipping her non-archwing melee weapon, which will start the Archwing with 50 extra health.

Companions cannot accompany the player in Archwing missions.

Mods
The Archwings and their weapons possess their own set of mods, usable only with the equipment in question. These mods can be obtained from enemies found in Archwing levels and as Archwing mission rewards.

Archwing=
 * -|Arch-Gun=
 * -|Arch-Melee=

With the exception of Aura mods, Warframe mods do not work while using the Archwing and have no effect on Archwing gameplay.

Part Locations
Certain Archwing missions can reward components for various Archwings and Archwing weapons upon completion. Corpus Exterminate and Sabotage missions can yield weapon parts, while Interception missions can reward parts every 4 Rounds.

Trivia

 * The Archwing was first unveiled in Devstream 35 on August 8, 2014 at Gamescom 2014, and made its debut in Update 15.
 * The Archwing was alluded to in Mag Prime's Codex Entry: Warframe Archive - Debrief Excerpt, where she used an Archwing to save the excerpt writer from death.
 * The preview also shows a black Fomorian ship in the background, confirmed to be the Balor Fomorian mentioned in Operation Cryotic Front.
 * Much of the assets used in Archwing gameplay are actually scaled-down proportionately compared to normal assets in ground-based missions. This results in the models for Mods, Resource pickups and orbs being as large as players.
 * Due to the sheer speeds that Archwings can travel, certain helmet attachments may disjoint themselves temporarily as they try to catch up with the players. Examples include the loose fabric of Mesa's blindfold and the "ponytail" of Ash's Locust Helmet.

Bugs

 * Using melee or speeding close to some large debris may result in one getting impaled and stuck in the mesh; take caution using melee attacks around objects to avoid this.
 * Similar to the bug above, it is possible to get stuck in debris where the player will either die or be stuck permanently.
 * The Codex shows all Archwing weapons being held using the normal underhanded grip for ground weapons, instead of the correct overhand grip used by Archwing weapons.
 * It is possible to use Archwing weapons in non-Archwing missions.
 * There have been various encounters with stretched and disjointed player models in Archwing missions.

Media
Archwing