Defection is a game mode introduced in Update 19.12 (2017-03-02) for the The Pacifism Defect event. This game mode tasks players with escorting small squads of evacuees to an extraction point, while defending against the Infested.
Originally introduced under the name "Evacuation", this mission type was renamed as part of Update 21.0 (2017-06-29), and is now the source for Harrow Systems. All three Defection nodes are Dark Sectors.
Mechanics
Players start near a shuttle bay room, which the evacuees must reach in order to escape the ship. The mission begins once a player hacks the door leading out of the shuttle bay.
Evacuees will spawn 30 seconds after the mission officially begins, and every 40 seconds after the previous group is rescued, though this countdown can be set to zero instantly if one player activates a rush panel indicated by an orange icon. These Evacuees will then head towards the nearest Med Boosters, a structure that will heal nearby Evacuees with a green beam. Med Boosters will consume power as they heal evacuees, with more survivors resulting in faster energy drain. To keep the Med Boosters powered, players can acquire Power Cells dropped by Mutalist Osprey Carriers, which they can carry to a Med Booster to recharge its power by 20% (40% for solo play) per Power Cell. Players must issue a Move Out command on the evacuees to make them proceed to the shuttle bay for extraction.
After two groups of survivors have been evacuated, the player's extraction point will be opened up, and the second Med Booster will spawn in a different location of the map (B). After two more groups have been evacuated, a third Med Booster will spawn along with opening up more of the map (C). From this point on, points B and C will begin hosting a group of evacuees, with them both pathing to A's Med Booster, and then to their evac location.
Evacuees will slowly take damage over time from the Infested spores in the air. Downed evacuees will quickly bleed out, and will die unless revived by players. If 10 evacuees are killed, the Lotus will abort all further evacuation efforts; no more evacuees will spawn, any evacuees still alive on the map will not count toward the player's totals if they reach the shuttle, and the players will have five minutes to extract.
Grineer Manics will spawn periodically upon the second Med Booster being opened, and will attempt to attack the evacuees. Killing these Manics will make them drop Large Power Cells, identifiable by their white energy glow, which can instantly restore a Med Booster to 100%.
Every 7 squads rescued will cause enemy Red Veil Operatives or Fanatics to spawn. They are essentially the same units encountered during the Chains of Harrow Quest. They will primarily target the Evacuees during the mission and scale in level as the mission progresses (confirmation needed). This will occur regardless of player standing towards that Syndicate; killing them will not lower Standing towards them either.
Defection Missions
Template:DisplayMissiontype
Rewards
Besides the bonus amounts of materials, experience, and mods from the increase in enemies compared to normal missions, certain rewards can be awarded as the mission progresses. Mission rewards will vary depending on mission tier (based on starting enemy level, and listed in the above table), and mission rotation, based on the number of squads evacuated.
- Drop Rotation (rewards cycle every 8 squads):
- Rotation A: 2, 4 squads; 10, 12 squads; etc.
- Rotation B: 6 squads; 14 squads; etc.
- Rotation C: 8 squads; 16 squads; etc.
| A | B | C | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 x2000 Credit Cache |
13.92% |  Lith A6 |
10% |  Harrow Systems Blueprint |
15% |
| x2000 Credit Cache |
13.92% | Lith C11 |
10% |  Quickening |
15% |
| x2000 Credit Cache |
13.92% | Lith G10 |
10% | Lith A6 |
10% |
| x2000 Credit Cache |
13.92% | Lith G9 |
10% | Lith C11 |
10% |
 Endo x100 |
13.92% | Lith P8 |
10% | Lith G10 |
10% |
| Endo x100 |
13.92% | Lith R5 |
10% | Lith G9 |
10% |
| Endo x100 |
13.92% | Lith T10 |
10% | Lith P8 |
10% |
| Smite Corrupted |
2.58% | Bane of Corrupted |
8% | Lith R5 |
10% |
| Cleanse Corrupted |
8% | Lith T10 |
10% | ||
| Expel Corrupted |
8% | ||||
| Harrow Systems Blueprint |
6% | ||||
Drop tables outdated? Readers can update Module:DropTables/data and cross reference with official drop tables on https://www.warframe.com/droptables.
| A | B | C | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| x2500 Credit Cache |
16.24% |  Meso A5 |
10% | Harrow Systems Blueprint |
15% |
| x2500 Credit Cache |
16.24% | Meso B9 |
10% | Enduring Strike |
15% |
| x2500 Credit Cache |
16.24% | Meso G6 |
10% |  Neo A11 |
10% |
| Endo x150 |
16.24% | Meso H5 |
10% | Neo F3 |
10% |
| Endo x150 |
16.24% | Meso H6 |
10% | Neo K6 |
10% |
| Endo x150 |
16.24% | Meso M4 |
10% | Neo K7 |
10% |
| Expel Corrupted |
2.58% | Meso W3 |
10% | Neo S18 |
10% |
| Bane of Corrupted |
8% | Neo W1 |
10% | ||
| Cleanse Corrupted |
8% | Neo Z10 |
10% | ||
| Smite Corrupted |
8% | ||||
| Harrow Systems Blueprint |
6% | ||||
Drop tables outdated? Readers can update Module:DropTables/data and cross reference with official drop tables on https://www.warframe.com/droptables.
| A | B | C | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| x3000 Credit Cache |
24.35% | Neo A11 |
10% | Harrow Systems Blueprint |
15% |
| x3000 Credit Cache |
24.35% | Neo F3 |
10% | Life Strike |
15% |
| x3000 Credit Cache |
24.35% | Neo K6 |
10% |  Axi A17 |
10% |
| Endo x250 |
24.35% | Neo K7 |
10% | Axi A18 |
10% |
| Expel Corrupted |
2.58% | Neo S18 |
10% | Axi B7 |
10% |
| Neo W1 |
10% | Axi D5 |
10% | ||
| Neo Z10 |
10% | Axi G11 |
10% | ||
| Bane of Corrupted |
8% | Axi L6 |
10% | ||
| Cleanse Corrupted |
8% | Axi P6 |
10% | ||
| Smite Corrupted |
8% | ||||
| Harrow Systems Blueprint |
6% | ||||
Drop tables outdated? Readers can update Module:DropTables/data and cross reference with official drop tables on https://www.warframe.com/droptables.
Tips
- Trinity's Blessing affects defectors, essentially making her a mobile healing beacon and is a massive advantage in any defection missions. A maximum efficiency and energy capacity build can make for a large breathing room in later stages of a defection run.
- Likewise, Trinity's Well Of Life can be used in to create a temporary healing beacon. Given the mob density common in infested tilesets, a resourceful Trinity can create healing beacons along the defectors' path.
- Loki's Switch Teleport effects individual defectors and can be utilized to cover ground very quickly given a clear line of sight. Loki can also save defectors who are stuck in their path due to the environment. The augment
Safeguard Switch seems to protect from damage but not the health drain.
- Loki's Decoy can be used to distract the infested from defectors provided it is within their vicinity. This can prove useful in a mid-tier scaled stretch of a defection run to provide a few seconds worth of relief should things go south.
- Loki's Radial Disarm Radiation procs can create some breathing room if need be, though it is risky. Use with caution when surrounded by infested because they may still target the defectors if they are close enough.
- Nova's Worm Hole can be used to speed up groups of defectors massively but is tricky to use. In some cases, defectors may get stuck but can usually be freed again with additional portals. Also note that certain rooms have 'checkpoints' which defectors will go to even when teleported past them.
- Slow Nova can be quite useful for keeping the Infested off of the defectors.
- Mirage's Eclipse with the Total Eclipse augment can help defectors' survival on longer defection runs. An extended duration and range build is recommended to ensure a whole cluster of defectors gets the bonus per individual cast.
- Destroying containers can drop additional powercells as well, including Large ones.
- Oberon's Renewal can give the defectors very high health regeneration allowing them to out-heal most of the health drain they experience. This can also allow them to out-heal other damage sources such as toxin clouds, etc.
- Oberon's Hallowed Ground can be a good way of spreading Script error: The function "Proc" does not exist. procs. This disables auras from Ancient Healers, Ancient Disruptors, and Toxic Ancients while also diluting the aggro of enemies which in turn reduces the effective threat level of the defectors.
- Equinox's Mend & Maim is a powerful damage dealer and crowd control against Infested, while also providing great amounts of healing for whole clusters of survivors. Coupled with Pacify & Provoke's damage reduction potential, extremely useful on melee enemies, she can allow for the survivors to outlive even Syndicate attacks.
- Zephyr's Jet Stream augment, Volt's Speed and Nova's Escape Velocity augment are not capable of increasing the survivor's movement speed.
- Stims are currently the only way to affect the movement speed of survivors. However their high build cost, underwhelming effect, and 30 second duration make them questionable for use.
- Khora 's Venari can be used to heal defectors and will follow them until they reach the evacuation area regardless of the distance between Khora and Venari, allowing you to leave the defectors and go rush the consoles.
- Strangledome is an excellent way of dealing with the incoming infested.
- Khora's movement speed boost passive is useful for traversing to and from the objectives.
Notes
- When running solo, there is only one squad that consists of 3 evacuees that need to be evacuated throughout the mission regardless of its rotation and amount of med boosters available.
Trivia
- The Shuttle Bay room used as the evacuation point is the same room used on Capture missions as the target's escape room.
- Defectors who are allowed to bleed out for too long die, causing a special Infested Charger to spawn from a pod from their body. These special chargers have their own codex entry that requires 3 scans.
- If revived and allowed to reach the bleed out stage again, defectors will instantly die and turn into said Charger upon death.
Media
