Dragon Key

Dragon Key
Untradeable
Information
Introduced	Update 10.3 (2013-10-09)

Dragon Keys are craftable Keys that enable access to Orokin Vaults located in the Orokin Derelict tileset on Deimos. A random key is required for each vault.

Stated as being very powerful, they also have negative side effects while they are equipped.

Acquisition

Blueprints may be obtained through the Clan Dojo's Orokin Lab research (use the "Solar Rail" console, which is near the hologram).

Manufacturing Requirements
500	250	10			Time: 1 m
					Rush: 1 Platinum 1
Market Price: N/A			Blueprints Price:  500
Orokin Lab Research • 3,000
100	100	1			Time: 1 hr
					Prereq: N/A
x1   x3   x10   x30   x100

Variants

Bleeding Key: -75% Health	Decaying Key: -75% Shield	Extinguished Key: -75% Damage	Hobbled Key: -50% Speed
Symbols shown left of shield/health bar during missions

Usage

Once a Dragon Key is used to open the vault, it will immediately be removed from your inventory. If you were only carrying one of that type of key, the debuff from the Dragon Key will be removed, as it is no longer equipped.

Picking up the Orokin artifact will add another Dragon Key penalty to both the player's Warframe and the Operator, even if it is the same one. Dragon Key penalties can be stacked on one Warframe, so for example, a player could have the effects of two Hobbled Keys which will reduce the speed of Warframe to 25% of what it normally would be.

Bugs

• The Orokin artifact debuff reapplies every time you switch to the Operator. For example, if you received the effect of the Bleeding Key, you'll continue to lose health every time you activate the Operator, down to a cap of 10 HP.
• The Orokin artifact debuff reapplies every time you die and respawn.
• The Hobbled Key stacks slow effect when the player starts Glassmaker's detective maps.

Tips

• While it is possible for a lone player to carry all 4 Dragon Keys, a four-person squad is ideal for speed-running the Orokin Vaults, as each player would carry a different Dragon Key. This not only ensures that at least one player will always have the appropriate key to access Orokin Vaults but also allowing each player to only suffer the effect of one Dragon Key at a time. The other strategy is to have one player with all four keys, and the three other players fully effective to do the mission and search the Orokin Vaults.
• If a player has completed The War Within, they can use their Operator to accomplish the objective before opening the vault, since Operators are not affected by Dragon Key debuffs. Most Amp compositions are strong enough to kill anything on Deimos, and the Operator's void abilities (particularly Void Dash) can be used to traverse the map quickly, easily, and safely. This also makes Operators the best way to accomplish Orokin Vault runs as a solo player, especially with the Way-Bound Focus abilities unlocked.
• The easiest way to obtain a Corrupted Mod is to play the exterminate node (Phlegyas), since fewer rooms are likely to spawn.
• Be sure to remove any keys from the gear when playing normal missions, as the key will apply the debuff as long as you have it equipped.

Dealing with penalties

• Hobbled Key only reduce the walk/run speed, not the speed of Maneuvers like Bullet Jump.
•  Volt can temporarily add speed bonuses to teammates to counter Hobbled Dragon Key penalties.
•  Nezha can rely on his slide passive to bypass the Hobbled Dragon Key penalties.
• Since  Inaros and  Nidus have no shields, it is best to equip them with a Decaying Dragon Key. Rhino's  Iron Skin likewise avoids shield damage.
• A  Mag relying on Shield HP mods or a  Hildryn could hold a Bleeding key and minimally affect their health.
• The damage penalty from the Extinguished Dragon Key does not reduce the damage done by  Concealed Explosives or  Thunderbolt, as they do bonus flat damage.
• In a pinch,  Rhino,  Valkyr, or  Mirage with Augments can increase damage dealt to enemies.
•  Limbo can use his passive to become immune to most forms of damage, helping him survive with the effects of Bleeding and Decaying Dragon Keys.
•  Yareli's  Merulina is unaffected by the Hobbled Dragon Key, and the 75% damage reduction it provides can help deal with the Bleeding and Decaying Dragon Keys.

Patch History

Update 27.4 (2020-05-01)

• Fixed Dragon Key debuff indicator appearing as a red dot in the HUD when Piloting the Railjack.
• Fixed a large game hitch that could last up to 10 seconds when replacing a Dragon Key in the Gear wheel with a K-Drive Launcher.

Hotfix 24.0.9 (2018-11-21)

• Fixed the Gear Spiral sometimes not letting you equip more than one item in the same group (i.e. multiple Dragon Keys, etc).

Hotfix 23.10.3 (2018-10-15)

• The Gear Spiral now restricts duplicate Gear items (Apothics, Stims), with the exception of Dragon Keys! The bug turned feature of ability to equip all Dragon Keys shall live to hobble another day!

Hotfix 22.0.3 (2017-10-16)

• Fixed a broken Dragon Key UI icon.

Hotfix 19.0.2 (2016-11-12)

• Fixed Orokin Labs Research shutting out all tech and not just Solar Rails (IE: you can get your Dragon Key Blueprints again).

Hotfix: The Silver Grove 2 (2016-08-22)

• Fixed the Extinguished Dragon Key causing the Scanner to work very slowly.

Update: Specters of the Rail 0.0 (2016-07-08)

• Dragon Keys will now require 10 Void Traces to craft instead of Void Keys. Their blueprints have also been moved to a more appropriate place: the Orokin Lab!

Hotfix 18.0.2 (2015-12-04)

• Fixed Corrupted Dragon Keys not being craftable in the Foundry.

Update 17.1 (2015-08-12)

• Fixed the player HUD becoming unresponsive when a Dragon Key is equipped.

Hotfix 15.10.2 (2015-01-16)

• Fixed players not being able to build Corrupted Dragon Keys in Foundry.

Update 15.0 (2014-10-24)

• Fixed instance where a grey box would appear when selecting a Dragon Key to be crafted in the Foundry.

Hotfix 11.7.3 (2014-01-17)

• Fixed hosts being able to consume the same Void key that was used to initiate the lobby when building a Derelict Dragon key in the Foundry.

Hotfix 10.3.1 (2013-10-09)

• Fix for New Dragon key blueprints not explicitly stating they are reusable.
• Fix for Clients joining Derelict Missions holding a Dragon Key not seeing Key indicator on HUD.

Update 10.3 (2013-10-09)

• Introduced.

Last updated: Hotfix 28.0.5 (2020-06-17)

See also

• Orokin Vaults
• Guide to Orokin Vaults on the Warframe Forums