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.

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.

Companions cannot accompany the player in Archwing missions.

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

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 Trench Run Exterminate and Sabotage missions can yield weapon parts, while Interception missions can reward parts every 4 Rounds.

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.
 * 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.
 * As of Update 15.6.1, a bundle called the Itzal Raid Pack can be found in the Bundle section from the Market, replacing the Stealth Pack. It includes the Itzal Archwing, Fluctus Crossbow and the Centaur Blade and Guard, according to it's brief description. However, the "Includes:" of the bundle and picture representing the bundle shows Paris, Kunai and Glaive, and uses the picture of the Stealth Pack. It is unknown if this is a bug or not.

Trivia

 * The Archwing was alluded to in Mag Prime's Codex: Warframe Archive - Debrief Excerpt entry, 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-class Fomorian mentioned in Operation Cryotic Front.
 * The Archwing was first unveiled in Devstream 35 on August 8, 2014 at Gamescom 2014, and made its debut in Update 15.

Media
Archwing