Acolytes

Bad news, Tenno. The Stalker has found others as twisted as himself. He calls them his Acolytes and he's sent them after me! Shh! I have to be very quiet, they cloak! They could be hiding anywhere! Even listening to this!

—Alad V during Operation: Shadow Debt

The Acolytes are mysterious, twisted and sinister warriors that follow the Shadow Stalker, taking the appearance and abilities of different Warframes while bearing the distinctive helmet of their master. They were first introduced in the Operation: Shadow Debt event, and would make sporadic reappearances afterwards.

As of Update 29.5 (2020-11-19), Acolytes became a permanent addition to the game, making appearances in The Steel Path missions and dropping  Steel Essence.

Mechanics

Acolytes can only receive up to 4 stacks of any Status Effect with the exception of  Impact which can stack up to 6 times, and  Radiation only amplifies the damage the Acolyte receives from allied units and does not enable friendly fire unless those allies themselves are inflicted by the status.

The Steel Path

Acolytes typically spawn in any non-Archwing, non-Assassination, non-Ascension, and non-Duviri Steel Path missions once every 3-8 minutes on average. They are guaranteed to drop 2 Steel Essence, as well as one random Steel Path Arcane ( Primary Deadhead,  Primary Dexterity,  Primary Merciless,  Secondary Deadhead,  Secondary Dexterity, or  Secondary Merciless), upon defeat.

Damage Reduction

Acolytes possess Damage Reduction that scales based on several static metrics of the weapon and its mods. Firstly, Acolytes posses a 62.5% damage reduction on health and +50% bonus damage to their shields which apply before the below damage reduction is applied. These factors only apply once in status effect damage calculations. The damage reduction for a particular damage instance can be calculated as follows:

$\text{Tier Minimum}=1-\frac{1}{max(1, \text{Critical Tier})}$

$\text{DPS Reducer}=\frac{\text{Tier Minimum}}{\text{Modded Critical Multiplier} - \text{Tier Minimum}}+1$

$\text{DPS Multiplier}=\frac{(\text{Modded fire rate})\cdot(\text{Modded multishot})}{\text{DPS Reducer}}$

$\text{DPS Metric}=(\text{Tier 0 Damage})\cdot(\text{DPS Multiplier})$

${ \text{Damage Multiplier} = \begin{cases} 1,\; & \text{DPS Metric} \leq 3000 \\ 0.8 + \frac{600}{\text{DPS Metric}},\; & 3000 < \text{DPS Metric} \leq 7500 \\ 1.6/3 + \frac{2600}{\text{DPS Metric}},\; & 7500 < \text{DPS Metric} \leq 22500\\ \frac{14600}{\text{DPS Metric}},\; & 22500< \text{DPS Metric} \end{cases} }$

Tier 0 Damage is the theoretical non critical damage instance that would be seen in game if there were no static DPS limiter. Note that this factor includes the 62.5% damage reduction on health and +50% bonus damage to their shields.

As can be deduced from the above, output DPS is capped at 14600, however this limit can be bypassed with critical hits. Critical damage against acolytes have a modified critical scaling equation defined below.

$\text{Tier 1}=(\text{CM} - 1) \cdot 0.5 + 1$

$\text{Tier Increase}=\frac{\text{Tier 1}}{1+\frac{1}{CM-1}}$

$\text{Total Critical Multiplier}=\text{Tier 1} + (\text{Tier Increase}) \cdot (\text{Tier} - 1)$

"CM" is the weapon's modded critical multiplier.

Acolytes

• Angst
• Malice
• Mania
• Misery
• Torment
• Violence

Main article: Angst

Angst is one of Shadow Stalker's acolytes, first appearing in Operation: Shadow Debt. She takes the form of a  Valkyr Warframe with an Immortal Skin, wearing Stalker's helmet and the Vanquished Syandana. She battles with the  Hysteria claws.

As of Update 29.5 (2020-11-19), Angst can now spawn in The Steel Path missions.

Angst battles with the  Hysteria claws, which can stagger Tenno on hit. She can also let out a Sonic Scream much like Phorid, slowly draining the health of all Tenno in the map. She can also use Teleport similar to  Ash.

Main article: Malice

Malice is one of Shadow Stalker's acolytes, first introduced during Operation: Shadow Debt. He takes the form of  Frost with a Prime Skin, minus his signature shoulder armor, with Stalker's helmet and large chunks of machinery around his body.

As of Update 29.5 (2020-11-19), Malice can now spawn in The Steel Path missions.

Malice wields an  Opticor and a  Heat Dagger. Malice is capable of casting  Magnetize against enemy Tenno, forcing them to soak up fire from their teammates and making it near-impossible to avoid his Opticor blasts. In addition, Malice is capable of summoning Nemes drones (using the summoning animation of a Drahk Master).

Main article: Mania

Mania is one of Shadow Stalker's acolytes, first introduced during Operation: Shadow Debt. He takes the form of  Loki with an Immortal Skin, wearing Stalker's helmet and a Daedalus Shoulder Plate.

As of Update 29.5 (2020-11-19), Mania can now spawn in The Steel Path missions.

Mania battles with Scorn, a custom  Lacera, launching its grappling hook at unsuspecting Tenno. He can also stun Tenno using  Switch Teleport, and cast  Turbulence to shield himself from gunfire. His melee attacks are capable of  Lifting his targets, leaving them vulnerable as he slices away.

Main article: Misery

Misery is one of Shadow Stalker's acolytes. He takes the form of  Nekros with an Immortal Skin, wearing Stalker's helmet and  Oberon's loincloth, as well as modified Warframe Cosmetics including a Kyroptera Syandana and Daedalus Chest Plate codpiece.

Misery first appeared in Operation: Shadow Debt and, as of Update 29.5 (2020-11-19), now spawns in The Steel Path missions.

In battle, Misery wields an  Ether Reaper.

Main article: Torment

Torment is one of Shadow Stalker's Acolytes, first introduced during Operation: Shadow Debt. She takes the form of  Mesa with Stalker's helmet, a Naberus shoulder piece, and some of  Equinox's front tassels. She also uses an Eos chest plate for a codpiece, and the Eos spurs.

As of Update 29.5 (2020-11-19), Torment can now spawn in The Steel Path missions.

Instead of Mesa's abilities, Torment uses  Tempest Barrage and  Tidal Surge and wields the  Akvasto.

Main article: Violence

Violence is one of Shadow Stalker's acolytes, first introduced during Operation: Shadow Debt. He takes the form of  Limbo wearing Stalker's helmet and the pieces from the Hulta armor set.

As of Update 29.5 (2020-11-19), Violence can now spawn in The Steel Path missions.

Violence wields a  Destreza in his right hand, and a single  Venka claw on his left hand, which deals  Slash damage with an extremely high chance to proc. He can also cast  Frost's  Ice Wave and  Excalibur's  Slash Dash. Like the regular Slash Dash, Violence is invincible during the attack, regardless of what other effects are affecting him.

Violence also casts  Silence periodically. Silence prevents Tenno from casting abilities from within 20 meters of Violence for the duration.

Notes

• Because they are dropped as mystery items in the form of a Mod item, Arcanes dropped by Acolytes in Steel Path can be sucked up and permanently destroyed by Scavenger Drones.
• Acolyte spawns take the place of regular spawns and are not timed. This means you will see them spawn more frequently with more frequent enemy spawns and less often with slow spawns, stopping entirely if normal spawns stop for any reason.

Tips

• As of Update 36.0 (2024-06-18), Acolytes are neutral to every element.
• Due to their damage reduction, certain types of weapons are more effective than others:
  • Beam weapons such as the  Glaxion are notably weakest against them.
  • AOE (Area of Effect) projectiles such as the  Arca Plasmor ( Tenet Arca Plasmor) and detonated Thrown Melees perform very well against them.

Trivia

• The Acolytes' appearances are generally a Warframe with attachments either from other Warframes or Warframe Cosmetics such as armor pieces, Syandanas, or skins, and the Stalker's helmet in lieu of their default helmets;
  • Angst uses  Valkyr's body with her Immortal Skin and the Vanquished Syandana.
  • Malice uses  Frost Prime's body without his shoulder armor and wears bits of machinery on his arms.
  • Mania uses  Loki's body with his Immortal Skin as well as a Daedalus shoulder plate on his left arm.
  • Misery uses  Nekros' body with the Kyroptera Syandana,  Oberon's loincloth and a Daedalus chest plate as an impromptu codpiece.
  • Torment uses  Mesa's body with some of  Equinox's front tassels on her waist, a Naberus shoulder plate on her right arm and an Eos chest plate as an impromptu codpiece.
  • Violence uses  Limbo's body with Hulta shoulder plates.
• Though their origins are disputed, Alad V calling them "betrayers" implies they may be Tenno themselves.
  • However, Misery states, "Betrayers will die," as well as saying, "These children will not stop us," implying that he knows the Tenno's true nature. All of this pointing that the Acolytes are just as separated from the Tenno as the Stalker himself.
• When played backward, some intelligible speech can be heard in the audio taunts the Acolytes use. The messages contained are as follows:
  1. We are the Stalker's revenge.
  2. The end has come to take you, Tenno.
  3. You're just a puppet, Tenno.
  4. We fight for the Stalker. This is the end for you.
  5. You cannot kill what you cannot see.
  6. All you know is lost(?). You are nothing.
  7. We are Shadows. You are just a suit.
  8. You are nothing.
• Acolytes in Steel Path reuse dialogue from Operation: Shadow Debt which references Alad V, despite no longer having anything to do with him.

Pre-Update 29.5 (2020-11-19) Acolyte Appearance Durations

	First Sightings	Last Acolyte's Defeat	Total Duration
Operation: Shadow Debt	January 25, 2016 (PC) April 14, 2016 (Consoles)	February 6, 2016 (PC) April 22, 2016 (Consoles)	1 week, 4 days (PC) 1 week, 1 day (Consoles)
First Reappearance	July 29, 2016 (All Platforms)	~August 8, 2016 (All Platforms)[citation needed]	~1 week, 3 days (All Platforms)
Second Reappearance	February 10, 2017 (All Platforms)	February 16, 2017 (All Platforms)	6 days (All Platforms)
Third Reappearance	December 21, 2017 (All Platforms)	December 28, 2017 (All Platforms)	1 week (All Platforms)
Fourth Reappearance	August 7, 2018 (All Platforms)	August 14, 2018 (All Platforms)	1 week (All Platforms)
Fifth Reappearance	January 25, 2019 (All Platforms)	February 1, 2019 (PC) February 3, 2019 (PS4/XB1) February 9, 2019 (Switch)	1 week (PC) 1 week, 2 days (PS4/XB1) 2 weeks, 1 day (Switch)
Sixth Reappearance	February 7, 2020 (All Platforms)	February 14, 2020 (PC) February 18, 2020 (PS4) February 23, 2020 (XB1) March 20, 2020 (Switch)	1 week (PC) 1 week, 4 days (PS4) 2 weeks, 2 days (XB1) 6 weeks (Switch)

Pre-Update 29.5 (2020-11-19) Mod Drops

View Drop List▾▾

Angst	Pressurized Magazine 4.04%	Repeater Clip 22.22%	Spring-Loaded Chamber 22.22%	Body Count 51.52%
Mania	Nano-Applicator 4.04%	Embedded Catalyzer 22.22%	Weeping Wounds 22.22%	Catalyzer Link 51.52%
Torment	Argon Scope 4.04%	Blood Rush 22.22%	Laser Sight 22.22%	Hydraulic Crosshairs 51.52%
Violence	Maiming Strike 4.04%	Bladed Rounds 22.22%	Sharpened Bullets 22.22%	Shrapnel Shot 51.52%
Malice	Narrow Barrel 4.04%	Guided Ordnance 22.22%	Targeting Subsystem 22.22%	Focused Defense 51.52%
Misery	Drops all of the above mods.

Operation: Shadow Debt Mechanics

Operation: Shadow Debt Mechanics ▾▾

Acolyte Status on World State Window

Acolyte Location Revealed

Finding and defeating the Acolytes is a community effort. Once an Acolyte is defeated, another one will take its place.

Hunting the Acolytes

An Acolyte can randomly appear on the Star Chart, indicated in the World State Window, where players must then hunt down the Acolyte by finding which node on which planet it appears. Once the Acolyte has been found, its location is displayed in the World State Window for all players to see; like the Stalker, acolytes may appear in modified versions of the mission node, such as in Kuva Lich controlled nodes. Unlike other enemies, Acolytes cannot be killed in a single mission. Instead, players must engage the Acolyte in a mission and deal as much damage to it as they can. The damage received by the Acolyte accumulates as more players encounter and deal damage to it over several missions, with its total remaining health displayed on the World State Window. Only when its total health has been depleted will the Acolyte be eliminated. The Acolyte will stay in the node where it is found until it receives a certain amount of damage to its total health, after which it will disappear from the node to relocate to another node, thus requiring players to search for the Acolyte's location again. If the Acolyte switches to a different Node while the players are on a mission to kill it, the Acolyte will still spawn provided it hasn't spawned yet and the right tile is found.

Spawning

The Acolyte will only spawn in the mission if one player enters a room of the map randomly chosen at the start of the mission where the Acolyte is supposedly hidden. When a player enters this room, the screen will flicker with a violet hue similar to the warning signs for the Stalker, and the Acolyte will send messages to the player before spawning a few seconds later and engaging in battle. During such an encounter, the Acolyte will disappear after receiving enough damage, if the players go down, or a certain amount of time after the start of the encounter has passed. The Acolyte will only drop a mod from their drop table if they left from receiving enough damage. However, if they leave because too much time has passed or the player(s) are killed, there is no dropped reward.

Behavior

All Acolytes, similar to the Stalker, will perform  Mag's  Pull on a single target to counteract any Tenno who attempts to avoid their wrath by standing on top of raised objects. They can also teleport any Tenno who tries to flee into another room. Lastly, as a fail-safe, they can teleport directly to a room in which a Tenno hides in instantaneously should they get too far away (as they have been known to spawn across the map by accident), staggering any Tenno they happen to reappear on top of. This fail-safe teleport is different from  Loki's  Switch Teleport (used by Mania) and  Ash's  Teleport (used by Angst) as it can only be performed if the Acolyte is in a room with no Tenno present, but is also instant with no animation delay or particle effects.

Patch History

Update 35.1 (2024-02-20)

• Fixed only 3 Acolytes spawning in total during Steel Path Alchemy missions.
  • They will now continue to spawn in intervals as they usually do in endless mission types.

Update 32.3 (2023-02-15)

• Fixed Acolyte spawns stopping indefinitely in the Steel Path if a Host Migration happens at the same moment one spawns or while one is alive.

Update 32.2 (2022-11-30)

• Fixed Acolytes not despawning after a player jumps into water volume and dies.

Hotfix 31.5.4 (2022-05-02)

• Fixed Acolytes spawning in Zariman bounties after completing a Steel Path Zariman mission beforehand.

Update 30.9 (2021-11-11)

• Fixed certain scenarios where Acolytes would spawn in Steel Path when you’re AFK.
• Fixed disarming an Acolyte with the Halikar or Halikar Wraith replacing your secondary weapon with a Rank 0 version of the Acolyte’s weapon.

Hotfix 30.5.5 (2021-07-29)

Steel Path Change + Exploit Fixes:

For non-endless missions, most notably Sabotage, a max of 3 Acolytes will spawn and their levels will incrementally increase with every new Acolyte spawn.

• This change addresses and fixes the AFK Acolyte spawning exploit within Steel Path Sabotage missions.
• Fixed the Steel Essence 5 minute despawn timer not functioning after you’ve moved a certain distance away.

Update 30.5 (2021-07-06)

• Acolytes will now spawn more frequently during Steel Path missions, resulting in more Steel Essence being dropped overall!
• Acolytes will now be teleported to a safe location if pulled into water. This fixes Itzal’s Cosmic Crush pulling Acolytes into water volumes where they instantly died.
• Fixed Acolyte spawns becoming extremely slow or stopping altogether in specific Steel Path mission types - most commonly reproduced in Disruption or Survival.
• Acolytes will now drop 1 of 6 New Arcanes on death!

Update 30.0 (2021-04-13)

• Acolytes will no longer spawn underwater in Submersible Steel Path missions due to the water killing them instantly. They haven’t learned to swim yet.

Hotfix 29.10.5 (2021-03-24)

• Fixed Acolytes not spawning in Uranus Steel Path missions.

Hotfix 29.5.4 (2020-11-25)

• Acolytes have been given the fancy “boss Health bar” treatment!

Update 29.5 (2020-11-19)

THE STEEL PATH: ACOLYTES JOIN THE BATTLE & MORE!

• As you play in any Steel Path mission, Acolytes will spawn and attack - defeating the Acolyte grants a guaranteed drop of 2 Steel Essence. Beware! If you get downed by an Acolyte, they'll escape and you won’t receive any Steel Essence!
  • The Steel Path Acolytes now have received the same Status Effect eligibility treatment that Liches received in Update 27.3 earlier this year. This means we have slightly increased their health (scaled by squad size) as the Status Effect eligibility makes them easier to kill.
  • Reduced the Melee attack damage on both Misery and Malice to avoid the more reported 1HKOs.
• In essence (ha), there is virtually no RNG with Steel Essence anymore. Acolytes will always appear in regular missions (Endlessly in Endless missions.). The time at which they choose to appear may be a bit random, but if you kill mobs, they will come!
  • Please note, Acolytes won't spawn in Archwing missions on the Steel Path.

Update 29.0 (2020-08-25)

• Acolyte Mods have been redistributed into Entrati Bounties as we are sunsetting the rerunning of that event, however, it won't be the last you see of Acolytes overall. Stay tuned for more!

Hotfix 18.4.1 (2016-01-25)

• Introduced.

See Also

• Stalker
• Shadow Stalker