Operator



"...This is who you really are. A Tenno, more than human... but once a child like any other."

- The Lotus

The Operator (referred to as the Dreamer by the Worm Queen, Kiddo by The Man in The Wall, the Void Demon by Helminth, Star-Child by Vitruvian Ordis, and simply Devil by Ballas ) is the Tenno represented by the player, a young human whose powers are the source of their Warframe's abilities. Operators control the Warframes through a process known as Transference, which uses a device called the Somatic Link to aid in channeling and consequently transfer the Operator's consciousness and powers into their Warframes that they control as a surrogate body, even over long distances.

As a game mechanic, a player first gains control over their Operator at the conclusion of The Second Dream quest, and continues to gradually evolve as they obtain new abilities at the conclusion of The War Within, and their weapons and arcanes at The Quills. Their importance lies in improving their grasp of the Tenno's five great schools in the form of the Focus system.

Functions related to the Operator can be accessed in the Orbiter's Transference Room by interacting with the Somatic Link inside, or by accessing the Operator option under the player's Settings.

Focus

 * Main article: Focus

Focus refers to special abilities unlocked after The Second Dream quest, revolving around unlocking a Tenno's true powers guided by the principles of the Five Great Tenno Schools.

Operators gain power and utility by unlocking abilities through the Focus system, granting them active and passive buffs that enhance their combat power and survival abilities.

The Second Dream: Transcendence
On completing The Second Dream, players will be granted a Focus gauge which slowly charges for a full three minutes (180 seconds), after which if used performs the Transcendence ability (default: ). This temporarily disables their Warframe to summon the Operator in a spectral form for 10 seconds, firing a powerful Void Beam while also activating any Warframe passives related to the Focus tree. While Transcendence is active, both the Operator and Warframe are invulnerable to damage from all sources. Once Transcendence ends, the Operator disappears and control is returned to the Warframe. Unlike the Void Beam used during physical Transference, the Void Beam used during Transcendence cannot damage Sentients in spectral form.

The War Within: Transference
Completing The War Within will replace Transcendence with physical Transference, allowing the players to play as the Operator themselves during missions, complete with their own set of maneuvers - though limited to running, jumping, sliding and zip-line running. Unlike Transcendence, Transference has no charge up, and the player's unbound and primary focus passives will be instantly activated from the start of a mission. While Transference is active, the Warframe becomes invulnerable to damage from all sources; however if the Warframe is currently using a channeled ability, or an ability that has an active duration, it will still receive 10% damage from all sources. Using Transference while outside of the Warframe will not only dismiss the Operator but also teleport the Warframe to the Operator's last location.

Operators have a base health of 100 along with a base armor of 25. If the Operator loses all of their health during a fight or if their Warframe's health is reduced to 30 or lower, they will be forcefully returned to their Warframe's last location without it teleporting. The Warframe is also inflicted with a debuff named Transference Static, which depletes all their shields while taking 10% of their current health as damage. This debuff lasts for 45 seconds and additional Static will not refresh the timer, only stacking on top of it, up to 4 times.

Operators have a base energy of 100 (with an increasingly faster regeneration speed which refills completely in 6 seconds), which is independent of the Warframe, consumed by the Operator's abilities and indicated by the focus gauge. It can also be replenished by Energy Orbs or certain Warframe powers that restore Energy. Because all of their abilities deal damage, they are effective against all Sentient enemies as it nullifies any damage resistance built by the creatures. The powers available to the Operator are as follows:

Command: Primary Fire (default ) The Operator's default power, the Void Beam is a continuous energy beam fired from their right hand that extends up to 20 meters, which deals roughly 2,000 damage per second to the target with a 1-meter radius of its impact point, with a 1.5x multiplier on critical hits. Despite its sound the Void Beam is considered silent and will not alert enemies, however Void Mode will be deactivated while firing. Cost: 20 energy Command: Quick Melee (default ) The Void Blast is a cone-shaped area-of-effect attack which knockbacks all targets in 4-meter radius and deals 200  damage, the damage diminishes with range. Void Blast can also disarm Kuva Guardians of their Kesheg. Cost: 25 energy Command: Bullet Jump, i.e. Jump (default ) while in Void Mode (default ) Void Dash is a mobility power that launches the Operator towards the direction of aim for 12 meters, which will damage and knockback any targets in range. Each enemy hit with Void Dash will restore 10 Void energy to the Operator. It can be used to bypass Corpus laser barriers or Grineer sensor bars. Void Dash can also disarm Kuva Guardians of their Kesheg. Cost: 5 energy/second Command: Crouch (default ) Void Mode turns the Operator incorporeal and thus invisible to enemies and various sensors (but not Corpus laser barriers or Grineer sensor bars), while also protecting them from any incoming damage, including fall damage and Status Effects.
 * Void Beam
 * Void Blast
 * Void Dash
 * Void Mode

The Quills, Amps and Arcanes
After completing Saya's Vigil and The War Within, the Operator can initiate into a Syndicate called The Quills, who can grant the Operator various permanent upgrades. The Quills are located at the northeast most part of Cetus, through a stone door that can only be entered by the Operator using Transference to leave their Warframe behind.

The Quills' Representative will provide the Operator their first Amp, Mote Amp, a specialized weapon to enhance their Void Beam while also creating a separate "ammo" gauge for them, allowing them to execute this ability without exhausting their other powers. It can be improved even further by gilding it and enhancing it with Virtuos Arcanes, both of which are provided by The Quills. Further Amps can also be constructed later by assembling different parts from the same syndicate.

The Operator's base health of 100 is also increased to 250 upon initiation, and other attributes such as armor or sprint can be enhanced with Magus Arcanes which can be acquired from The Quills as well. Additionally, the Operator will also able to perform a slide maneuver to help them dodge incoming attacks (default: while running), although they cannot slide while in Void Mode.

Umbra
During the penultimate of The Sacrifice, the Excalibur Umbra Warframe is rewarded. Unlike other Warframes, Umbra possesses sentience, allowing it to fight on its own in a similar manner to a Specter when not piloted by the Operator. However, Umbra can be harmed and takes full damage from any source, and will stop moving altogether if it loses all its health.

Character Creation
Players can customize the appearance of their Operator under the Customize Tenno button accessible at the bottom right of the Focus Menu screen, or through Customize Tenno under the Operator option under Settings.

There is no option to change the Operator's gender, but a male or female voice and body shape can be selected independently from each other through the "Face" and "Voice" options.

The following options are available for customization in the Customization menu:

''These options mainly affect the oversuit models and colors, as well as some colors of the undersuit. Options that are left blank will expose the basic undersuit. By default, the Operator wears the Zariman Transference suit over the base undersuit'' The following features are only available on Gilded Amps:
 * HEAD options:
 * Face and Secondary Face - Customize the Tenno's head and face shape. Primary face defines which face-texture is being used, secondary face only influences geometry via face blend. Primary face also switches the Operator's general body shape to male or female depending on selected type of face. The secondary face is restricted to the gender selected in the first option. It can be left blank if desired.
 * Face Blend - This slider is used to determine how much of the chosen Face 1 and Face 2 appearances are visible, with the left side showing more of Face 1, and the right side showing more of Face 2. Face blending allows the player to create a completely different face from the default templates by combining two preexisting ones. Due to restrictions it is not possible to blend male and female faces.
 * Skin Color - Change the Tenno's skin color. This option uses its own unique color palette instead of the player's standard palettes.
 * Lip Color - Change the Tenno's lip color, as well as the corners of the eyes.
 * Accent Color - Change the color of the Tenno's accents, visible as a color shade beneath and around the eyes.
 * HAIR STYLE options:
 * Hair Style - Change the Tenno's hair style. If not used, the Tenno will revert to the default buzzcut hairstyle, and the option will read No Hair Style Selected.
 * Hair Color - Change the Tenno's hair color. This option will also change the color of the Tenno's eyebrows and eyelashes.
 * Hair Highlight - Change the secondary color of the Tenno's hair. It does not affect the color of eyebrows and eyelashes.
 * Hair Part - Modify the appearance of the Tenno's hair style, oriented either to the left or the right.
 * MARKINGS options:
 * Markings - Add visible Somatic Link implants to the Tenno's face, with different implant appearance styles available. If not used, the option will read No Marking Selected.
 * Primary Color - Change the markings' primary color.
 * Secondary Color - Change the markings' secondary color.
 * Metallic Color - Change the color of the metallic parts of the markings.
 * EYES options:
 * Inner Eye Color - Change the color of the Tenno's inner part of iris.
 * Outer Eye Color - Change the color of the Tenno's outer part of iris. The chosen color also affect the slim ring between the inner and outer eye colors, which may not blend perfectly with saturated colors.
 * Eye Glow - Change the color of the Tenno's eye glow, referring to the light coming from their eyes.
 * VOICE options:
 * Voice - Choose the Tenno's style of voice. There are currently 4 different options available: the Owl and Heron options are male voices, while the Falcon and Raven options are female voices. Clicking on the chosen voice option will play a sound preview of the chosen voice.
 * ACCESSORIES options:
 * Facial Accessories - Add ornamental accessories to the Tenno's face. If not used, the option will read No Accessories Selected.
 * Ear Accessories - Add ornamental accessories to the Tenno's ears. If not used, the option will read No Accessories Selected.
 * Eye Accessories - Add ornamental accessories to the Tenno's eyes. If not used, the option will read No Accessories Selected.
 * Primary Color - Change the accessory's primary color.
 * Secondary Color - Change the accessory's secondary color.
 * TRANSFERENCE SUIT options:
 * Hood - Add headgear to the Tenno's bodysuit. This will appear draped over the Tenno's shoulders and chest. If not used, the option will read No Hood Selected.
 * Hood Opened - This option determines whether the Operator's hood is opened, or closed to cover the entire head. The Operator's hood is opened by default, and clicking on the slider to turn it on closes the hood.
 * Lining Color - Change the color of the Transference suit's linings, mainly covering the inside of the player's hood.
 * Body Suit - Change the appearance of the Transference suit's torso and lower body. If not used, the option will read No Body Suit Selected.
 * Sleeves - Change the appearance of the Transference suit's arm sleeves. If not used, the option will read No Sleeves Selected.
 * Waistband - Change the appearance of the Transference suit's waistband. If not used, the option will read No Waistband Selected.
 * Leggings - Change the appearance of the Transference suit's legs. If not used, the option will read No Leggings Selected.
 * Primary Color - Change the Transference Suit's primary color, as well as the color of the undersuit's arms and legs parts.
 * Secondary Color - Change the Transference Suit's secondary color.
 * Tertiary Color - Change the Transference Suit's accent color, as well as color of the undersuit's fingernails.
 * Suit Energy - Change the Transference Suit's energy color, which also affects the color of the Operator's Focus and Void abilities, and the Operator's worn Sigil if any is equipped.
 * SIGIL options:
 * Sigil - Equips a selected Sigil.
 * Rotation - Change the rotation of the Sigil.
 * Width - Change the width of the Sigil.
 * Height - Change the height of the Sigil.
 * X Offset - Move the Sigil left to right to change the position to the designated location.
 * Y Offset - Move the Sigil up and down to change the position to the designated location.
 * Default Properties - Resets the Sigil's appearance to its default state.
 * Primary Color - Change the Sigil's primary color.
 * Animation Set: This option allows the Operator to change between different standing poses and idle animations. The five animations available correspond to each of the five Tenno Focus schools, and each one is made available if the player has unlocked the corresponding school.
 * AMP options: This option is only unlocked upon visiting the Quills for the first time on Cetus.
 * Equip Amp - Select the Amp the Operator can equip.
 * Focus Lens - This option allows players to install a Focus Lens on the Amp.
 * Primary Color - Change the Amp's primary color.
 * Secondary Color - Change the Amp's secondary color.
 * Tertiary Color - Change the Amp's tertiary color.
 * Accents - Change the Amps's accent color.
 * Energy Color - Change the Amp's energy color.

Cosmetics
The Operator can be customized with various cosmetic appearance options under the Transference Suit section. The headgear and torso options on these cosmetic items, including the default Zariman suit, can be improved with Magus Arcanes that grant enhancements to Operator survivability.

Armors
Despite their name, these Operator Armors are purely cosmetic. All of them can be bought through bundles on the Market. The Ceno and Vahd, Hazmat, Smelter, Outrider and Vent Rat armors can also be built from component blueprints sold by The Quills and Vox Solaris Syndicate Vendors.

Masks
Nakak in Cetus sells masks that the Operator can equip as headgear. Her wares and their prices cycle daily, but it is possible to find her selling masks resembling Excalibur, Mag, Volt, and Trinity, as well as a generic Grineer mask. After reaching the rank of Observer with The Quills, Nakak can be asked about "Mask?" and will offer a mask that doubles as the trigger for the Mask of the Revenant quest.

These masks can be recolored independently from the outfit worn on the Operator's body, and will take their colors from the "Markings" and "Facial Accessories" sections of the Operator's Features customization panel.

Health Calculation
Operator Health can be increased with and with Vazarin Focus school's Enduring Tides. The formula to calculate operator health is:

Example: With a maxed, if combined with the Vazarin Focus school's rank 3 or rank 4 Enduring Tides ability +150% bonus we get:

$(250 + 200) (1 + 1.5)$

Tips

 * The Operator can be used as a complementary stealth kit for Warframes without stealth capabilities, as Void Mode allows them to remain undetected from enemy vision, Laser Barriers, Sensor Bars and other security apparatuses.
 * Additionally, all of the Operator's Void powers are silent, making them ideal for performing stealthy actions.
 * Note that your Warframe will still draw aggro if seen.
 * However, passing through Grineer and Corpus energy defenses like Sensor Bars and Laser Barriers in Spy Data Vaults will still activate the Vault's alarms.
 * Under Void Mode, it is possible to capture a target, hack a console, and revive an ally, while remaining invulnerable from all sources of damage including auras and Status Effects.
 * The Operator experiences reduced gravity while Void Mode is active and can be used to negate any fall damage they experience.
 * Void Beam can destroy Magnetic anomalies in Reactor Sabotage missions, though destroying it will emit damage in a large radius, potentially dealing damage to the Operator.
 * Void Dash can be chained in quick succession allowing the Operator to traverse a significant vertical distance.
 * With Mind Sprint upgrade from Naramon focus school and Void Flow upgrade from Zenurik focus school, the Operator can Void Dash 8 times in a row(if no actives are equipped that would drain extra energy per second), traveling a significant distance with each dash. This makes the Operator a powerful mobility tool for traversing large open spaces.
 * The Operator counts as a separate entity from the Warframe for the purposes of mechanics like pressure plates. This can be used for various situations requiring a player to hold two different locations at once, such as the Collaboration Test on the Orokin Moon.
 * While the Operator can capture Interception points, their inactive Warframe will not.
 * The damage resistance gained by a Warframe during Transference can be used to survive damage that would otherwise be fatal, such as Toxin status effects.
 * Void Blast can be used to temporarily incapacitate shielded enemies such as Shield Lancers or knock enemies off Ramparts from the front, with the range in which you can do so increased by Unairu's Basilisk Gaze.
 * The Operator's Shwaak Prism Amp part can be used to quickly dispel Arctic Eximus Unit Ice Bubbles, enemy shields, or even Nullifier Crewman weak spots if you can aim it well thanks to the Shwaak's high innate damage.
 * The Operator's brief second period of invulnerability can be used to body block otherwise fatal Bombard rocket damage if timed correctly.

Trivia

 * In Digital Extremes's script of The War Within, they refer their own Operator used for story purposes as Mara.
 * The term Operator was first used by Ordis to refer to the Tenno during the events of the Vor's Prize quest, which was first introduced in.
 * The Transference ability appears to extend beyond controlling Warframes, as during The War Within it is once used to possess an Orokin creature known as the Ravenous Maw.
 * Before, the Operator was capable of using Ground Finishers on downed enemies with their fists by using Quick Melee (default ) while standing over and aiming at the target. This action requires significant amounts of Void energy to perform however, otherwise the Operator will simply use Void Blast instead.

Bugs

 * Removing parts of the Zariman Suit may sometimes not update correctly after changing color options on the Operator.
 * A bug may happen on Grineer Sealab tilesets where the Warframe will float in the air.
 * In some situations, switching between the Operator and the Warframe may be erratic position-wise, including recalling older position and glitching the player out of the map. This occurs most often when attempting to switch forms while inside an extraction zone or falling into out-of-bounds pits.
 * There is a rendering bug in the Orbiter that that allows players to see inside the Warframe when walking through it as the Operator.
 * Placing a Warframe within the interaction proximity of consoles interferes with using them by the Operator (the action prompt may not show up at some positions) until the Warframe is relocated.
 * Switching to Operator and back or using void dash counts towards the "Exercising Power" Challenge Reward (Use your first ability 5 times).
 * In a high-latency match, it is possible to switch to the Operator just before their Warframe is downed, effectively allowing the player to revive their own Warframe.
 * If a player experiences an out-of-bounds glitch with their Warframe while in Operator form during a mission and is killed afterwards, the player will be stuck in Operator form after reviving. In this state, the Operator cannot be killed despite retaining the ability to receive incoming damage.
 * While Void Beam will activate the effect counters of conditional Rifle mods like when their conditions are met, the mod's effects will not actually apply to the Void Beam, conferring no benefit.
 * When switching to the operator in The Jordas Precept after killing the Juggernaut Behemoth and before the cutscene, the player will be sucked into space without their Warframe. The player will not be able to move until they switch back to their Warframe, and will then be stuck inside the infested corpus ship for the remainder of the mission.
 * When in void mode, the physical hitbox of the Cryopod does not apply, making it possible to walk through. When walking in and leaving the void mode, the Operator is stuck inside the Cryopod. Entering the void mode again makes it possible to walk out again.
 * During The War Within quest, beginning Return To The Mountain Pass: Earth as Operator instead of the Warframe will cause the game to break. This bug will persist, even if the player attempts to restart the game. It cannot be fixed unless the player reinstalls the game.