Manic

Dashing in for quick strikes before falling back to the shadows, the Grineer Manic is difficult to catch and deadly to ignore. Although only one Manic will spawn in a given Grineer mission, its speed and damage make it a devastating enemy to face.

Tactics

 * The Manic will only spawn if the level's alarm is raised, and will announce its presence with loud, howling laughter. As its description implies, the Manic is a fast-striking and elusive melee unit, capable of cloaking to close in on foes and having an ability to Stealth Kill unsuspecting players (the player must be facing away from the Manic to have this happen).
 * Manics are capable of cloaking for periods of time to close distance across open ground. They seem to move faster while cloaked. Manics will often cloak when being attacked to avoid death.


 * Manics suffer reduced effects from Warframe abilities.
 * Abilities such as Radial Blind that inflict a negative effect on other enemies will not affect the Manic.
 * An exception is Mesa's Shooting Gallery, which stuns for its full duration.
 * Abilities that can ragdoll, such as Tornado, will not have any affect on the Manic besides damaging it.
 * Pull is an exception: it will ragdoll the Manic, but similar to Stalker's reaction to the ability, it will recover while flying and lose the momentum from the ability.
 * Rhino Stomp is another: The Manic will be ragdolled and trapped in the time-slow for part of the ability's duration, but shortly after being hit will make a breaking-out motion and cease to be affected.
 * Manics can be damaged but cannot be killed by Warframe abilities (tested with Rhino Stomp, Rhino Charge, Tornado, Dive Bomb, and Shock). If the Manic does not have enough health to absorb the damage of the ability, it takes no damage from it. Note that the same is not true of weapons that can instantly kill it. This may be a bug.
 * Manics are affected by Aura mods that have a detrimental effect.
 * As of Hotfix 16.0.4, Manics can use Dispel even if the ability does not directly affect it (tested with Iron Skin, Hysteria, and Blessing). It seems, however that the Manic uses this ability less frequently than the Stalker.
 * Previously, it would not dispel such abilities but merely not be affected.
 * Manics can be stunned by parrying them or abilities like Teleport, although the former is very difficult to accomplish without the aid of mods like Parry. However, they cannot be Finished, and will instead take a high damage multiplier.


 * Manics can pounce the player onto the ground for heavy damage, leaving the player unable to move. This can occur if the player is facing away from the Manic when it tackles them or is staggered by knockback, with an imperfect chance to happen in either circumstance. There are reports of the player being able to kick the Manic off before it begins slashing; it is currently unclear what triggers this. If successful, the Manic will then slash at the player several times (needs reconfirmation as of Hotfix 16.0.4) or until the death of its victim or the Manic is killed or dislodged by the methods mentioned below.
 * The player cannot attack or use Warframe abilities when tackled. Other enemies will also continue to attack the player.
 * A companion is helpful, though not absolutely (?) necessary in solo missions, as Manics will cloak at low health to escape death regardless of how close the player is to dying (needs verification of how how the tackled will player damage it without a companion when running solo; Manics are not affected by fratricide). A companion/other players will not be attacked by the Manic if it is already on top of a player.
 * Manics can also tackle Kubrows but not Sentinels (but can kill the latter with jump attacks). Such an attack is near-fatal for the companion as the Manic's tackle attack deals high damage.
 * Teammates can use slam attacks and Warframe abilities to cause knockdown, which will dislodge the Manic from a teammate. Alternatively they can shoot at it until it cloaks. Despite technically being on the ground, Finishers cannot be performed on the Manic when it has tackled a player, possibly due to the risk of hitting the tackled Tenno.


 * A Manic's attacks can inflict an extremely deadly Slash Damage proc, which inflicts around 50 health damage per tick (more, if the Manic is high level). Any warframes without extensive health reserves can easily fall victim to this attack. Keeping Health Restores close at hand is recommended, and those running Rhino should keep Iron Skin active at all times when a Manic is around.
 * Manics can be knocked down by weapons with very high slam attack radius, such as the Jat Kittag, and most fist weapons. They will get up at an extremely fast rate, but they are susceptible to ground finishers while in this state. Unlike ragdoll effects inflicted by Warframe abilities, Manics cannot recover mid-flight from slam attacks.

Tips

 * Due to their erratic movement, it can be very difficult to defeat in large rooms. Lure them into corridors or side rooms for an easier fight; they cannot travel through doors without opening them, betraying their presence.


 * As Manics will only spawn after the level's alarm has been raised, completing a mission as stealthily as possible will prevent them from appearing.


 * Manics can be tagged using the Waypoint system. Though tricky, aiming directly at it and applying a Waypoint (default key "G", on PC) will mark the Manic with an "Enemy" Waypoint whenever it is not invisible. This can make it easier to track the Manic's movement.


 * Manics can easily be baited into making suicide attacks; if no other enemies are around, switch to your melee weapon and wait. The Manic will likely attempt to attack you from behind, so track them with your camera, then hit them with a Channel strike for massive damage right as they're about to make contact. Though risky, this is especially effective with very high damage weapons such as the Dakra Prime (with the Crimson Dervish stance) or Dragon Nikana.
 * Hotfix 16.0.4 nerfed the Manic in several ways, most notably removing its rapid health regeneration. While still a dangerous enemy to challenge, especially in the company of other Grineer, well-equipped Tenno should have little problem dispatching them with even standard melee strikes.
 * Due to the Manic's sporadic and rapid movement, it can be exceedingly difficult to scan for the Codex. Freezing it with Frost's Freeze ability, or otherwise hitting it with a Freeze Damage proc, slowing it down using Molecular Prime, or other abilities may the scanning process easier. Additionally, a Helios Sentinel can scan the Manic whilst the player defends against it.

Trivia

 * The Manic is the first of the winning fan entries from the Enemies Of The Tenno Contest to be implemented, designed by player Kadabura.
 * According to Kadabura's original concept artThe masks on the Manic's back belong to its fallen comrades.
 * Manic refers to wild, deranged behavior. It is derived from Maniac, which can refer to a mentally ill individual who exhibits violent behavior, both of which suit the behavior and look of the Manic well.

Media
Manischer Grineer