Abilities are special skills that all Warframes (and Archwings) possess which are used to provide tactical advantages in battle by either affecting enemies directly or bolstering teammates in some manner. Every Warframe has a set of four unique Abilities that directly influence their gameplay and their role within a team. For example, 
Frost's Abilities are based around slowing down enemies and blocking damage, making him more suited to a defensive role. 
Nova, with her damage-oriented Ability set, is a good choice for offensive playstyles.
Abilities require Energy, which is spent every time an Ability is used. Warframes have only a limited Energy capacity, so Ability use must be carefully managed to prevent running out of Energy at critical moments. Energy costs vary between Abilities; in general the more advanced/powerful the Ability, the greater its Energy cost.
Controls
Edit
- Main article: Key Bindings
| Platform | 1st Ability | 2nd Ability | 3rd Ability | 4th Ability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PC | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| PS4 | R1 +  | R1 +  | R1 +  | R1 + 
|
| XB1 | RB +  | RB +  | RB +  | RB + 
|
| Switch | R Button + B | R Button + Y | R Button + A | R Button + X |
TypesEdit
Warframe Abilities are currently officially classified into four different types, according to their function: damage, buff & debuff, mobility, and perception. Certain Warframe Abilities can have two different classifications. For example, an Ability can be both a Buff/Debuff and a Damage type. Currently, the below the classification of powers is used to determine which Abilities are affected by certain enemies, such as Corpus Combas.
DamageEdit
- Main article: Abilities/Damage
The most common Ability type, Damage Abilities primarily deal direct damage to enemies. They also typically have a secondary effect, such as applying a Status.
Last updated: Update 27.1
Buff & DebuffEdit
- Main article: Abilities/Buff & Debuff
These Abilities are used to modify a unit's innate stats. Buff-type Abilities enhance a Warframe or their allies, while Debuff Abilities weaken or cripple enemies. Some Abilities can even perform both at the same time.
Last updated: Update 27.1
MobilityEdit
- Main article: Abilities/Mobility
Mobility Abilities enhance a Warframe's ability to travel between two points or allow them to reach normally inaccessible places.
| Warframe | Abilities |
|---|---|
 Ash |  Teleport
|
 Gauss |  Mach Rush
|
 Grendel |  Pulverize??
|
 Hildryn |  Aegis Storm??
|
 Hydroid |  Tidal Surge •  Undertow
|
 Inaros |  Sandstorm
|
 Loki |  Switch Teleport
|
 Mag |  Pull
|
 Nezha |  Blazing Chakram
|
| Nova |  Worm Hole
|
 Revenant |  Reave??
|
 Rhino |  Rhino Charge •  Rhino Stomp
|
 Titania |  Spellbind •  Lantern •  Razorwing
|
 Valkyr |  Rip Line •  Paralysis
|
 Vauban |  Minelayer •  Bastille
|
 Volt |  Speed
|
 Wisp |  Wil-O-Wisp??
|
 Wukong |  Cloud Walker??
|
 Zephyr |  Tail Wind
|
Last updated: Update 27.1
PerceptionEdit
- Main article: Abilities/Perception
Perception Abilities are used to confuse or distract enemies, making them engage false targets or prevent them from seeing the player entirely.
Last updated: Update 27.1
Ability ModsEdit
Warframes Abilities can be affected by five types of modification: Ability Duration, Ability Efficiency, Ability Range, Ability Strength, and Casting Speed. With the proper combination of mods and gear Abilities can obtain a maximized value (see Power Mods and Abilities).
Ability DurationEdit
- Main article: Ability Duration
These mods affect how long a Warframe Ability lasts.
Mods that affect Ability Duration positively:
Maximized at +206% with a negative effect of -66% Ability Range. Note that 
Continuity and Primed Continuity are mutually exclusive; the maximized value assumes the use of Primed Continuity.
Ability EfficiencyEdit
- Main article: Ability Efficiency
These mods affect how much a Warframe Ability costs to cast. Ability Efficiency has a hard cap of 75%. For example, an Ability which costs 100 Energy cannot be reduced below 25 Energy.
Mods that affect Ability Efficiency positively:
Maximized at +90% with a negative effect of -60% Ability Duration. The 75% hard cap mentioned above means it is inefficient to completely level Fleeting Expertise as well as Streamline in the same build, unless also utilizing a mod that decreases Ability Efficiency, such as Blind Rage, or minimizing the drain of channeled Abilities with as few mods as possible.
Ability RangeEdit
These mods affect the radius and targeting range of Warframe Abilities.
Mods that affect Ability Range positively:
Maximized at +180% with a negative effect of -60% Ability Strength.
Ability StrengthEdit
These mods and Arcanes affect the damage and the potency of Warframe Abilities (such as Banshee's 
Sonar and Energy restored by Trinity's 
Energy Vampire).
Mods & Arcanes that affect Ability Strength positively:
In the arsenal, Power Strength is maximized at +259% (equipping all Umbral mods) with a negative effect of -55% Ability Efficiency and -27.5% Ability Duration. Maximizing together with a maxed Fleeting Expertise on a Warframe that does not need much Duration is efficient since it will effectively triple the damage of Abilities and also make them 5% cheaper to cast (although it will use up 8 Warframe mod slots).
In-game, without any additional Warframe ability buffs or effects, Power Strength is maximized at +399% (equipping all Umbral mods, Energy Conversion, 
Pax Bolt, and if all players in a squad equip Power Donation). With the Arbitration bonus, Power Strength is maximized at +699% (equipping all of the above mods/Arcanes).
The theoretical max Power Strength for any Warframe (except Volt and Frost because of their Arcane Helmets and 
Nidus because of his passive) will be +~1,070.57% taking into account +80% Power Strength from 
Equinox's Peaceful Provocation and 2.235x Power Strength mulitplier from Nidus' 
Parasitic Link when Arbitration bonus gives +300% Power Strength to Nidus.
- To achieve this, Equinox must first cast Pacify & Provoke then Nidus' cast Parasitic Link on any Warframe.
- Volt's theoretical max Power Strength will be +~1,092.92% if under the above effects with Arcane Volt Storm Helmet equipped.
- Frost's (with Arcane Frost Squall Helmet equipped) and Nidus' theoretical max Power Strength will be +1,104.09% if under the above effects.
Last updated: Hotfix 25.7.8
Casting SpeedEdit
These mods affect the casting speed of Warframe Abilities (such as 
Nekros' 
Shadows Of The Dead or Mag's 
Crush).
The calculation for casting time is (Base Time) ÷ (1 + Speed Bonus).
Mods that affect Ability Casting Speed positively:
Maximized at +65% casting speed to cast the ability at 60.61% of its base cast time.
Ability RankingEdit
Since Update 15.0, Warframe Abilities unlock and rank up with affinity. Maximum Rank for Abilities is Rank 3.
| Warframe / Archwing Rank | Ability and Rank | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Ability | 2 Ability | 3 Ability | 4 Ability | ||
| Unranked | Unranked | Locked | Locked | Locked | |
| 3 | Unranked | Unranked | Locked | Locked | |
| 5 | Unranked | Unranked | Unranked | Locked | |
| 7 | Rank 1 | Unranked | Unranked | Locked | |
| 10 | Rank 1 | Unranked | Unranked | Unranked | |
| 12 | Rank 1 | Rank 1 | Unranked | Unranked | |
| 14 | Rank 2 | Rank 1 | Unranked | Unranked | |
| 16 | Rank 2 | Rank 1 | Rank 1 | Unranked | |
| 18 | Rank 3 | Rank 1 | Rank 1 | Unranked | |
| 20 | Rank 3 | Rank 1 | Rank 1 | Rank 1 | |
| 22 | Rank 3 | Rank 2 | Rank 1 | Rank 1 | |
| 24 | Rank 3 | Rank 2 | Rank 2 | Rank 1 | |
| 25 | Rank 3 | Rank 2 | Rank 2 | Rank 2 | |
| 27 | Rank 3 | Rank 3 | Rank 2 | Rank 2 | |
| 28 | Rank 3 | Rank 3 | Rank 3 | Rank 2 | |
| 30 | Rank 3 | Rank 3 | Rank 3 | Rank 3 | |
NotesEdit
- The majority of Warframe abilities with duration or changes to the user/enemies will be canceled if the player falls into a pit (e.g. Shadows Of The Dead, Invisibility, and Iron Skin).
Patch HistoryEdit
- Added numerous Warframe Ability Augment stats to the Ability Screen. We debuted this with Wukong’s rework, and you will now be able to directly see the Stat changes associated with Augments on the Abilities!
- Fixed the Warframe Ability screen breaking if a given Warframe didn't have any Ability hints.
- Fixed the width of the Passive button textbox on the Warframe selection screen being too small for some languages, resulting in text wrapping awkwardly.
- Fixed missing Warframe Ability Tips section when playing Warframe in Korean and Russian.
- Warframe “In Air” Ability Changes
Right now, there are certain powers that just cannot be cast in the air. Some of those powers are easy to address, and we simply remove the restriction. A full breakdown can be found here in the Developer Workshop: https://forums.warframe.com/topic/1079249-dev-workshop-cannot-cast-in-the-air-friend-or-foe/
- Removed "cast on ground" requirements for the following Warframe abilities:
- Trinity Well of Life
- Trinity Energy Vampire
- Trinity Link
- Frost Avalanche
- Atlas Tectonics
- Mag Crush
- Chroma Effigy
- Loki Radial Disarm
- Additionally, the following abilities require ground to activate, but can now be cast in the air and will do a melee-esque slam to the ground:
- Rhino Stomp
- Banshee Sound Quake
- Oberon Hallowed Ground
- Khora Strangledome
- Nidus Virulence
- Harrow Condemn
- Updated several ability stat descriptors to make them clearer:
- Standardized format across all Warframe ability descriptions.
- E.g. Range (Meters) # to Range #
- E.g. “Health over Time #” to “Health / Sec #”
- Added units of measurement to the abilities where appropriate - M (meters), S (seconds), % (percentage), X (multiplier), etc.
- Converted decimals to whole numbers (e.g. Equinox’s Rest & Rage Wakeup Health Threshold has been changed from 0.5 to 50% for max rank).
- Changed “Range” to “Radius” for several Warframe abilities.
- Standardized format across all Warframe ability descriptions.
