The Grineer () are the first enemies encountered by newly reawakened Tenno. The expansion of their militaristic, violent Empire across the Origin System through the raiding or conquest of peaceful colonies serves as the primary motivator of the Lotus' call to her slumbering warriors.
Overview
As the products of ancient, half-remembered Orokin technology, Grineer are produced rather than born, and in industrial quantities along with their weapons and equipment. Each one is genetically defective to some degree, their genome both originally stunted by their creators, and further damaged by the invasive cloning procedures they themselves have been using to birth each generation in the centuries after the fall of the Orokin. As a result, they have a life cycle that is limited to only a fraction of a normal human lifespan and are prone to a host of degenerative disorders such as decaying limbs and skin or reduced intelligence. They compensate for this by the widespread use of crude cybernetic prosthetics and robust augmentations. Indeed, it could be argued that the Grineer are better at fixing broken bodies than they are at creating ones that function to begin with. Most of their equipment, weapons, and armor are technologically crude but undeniably effective, and many Tenno have fallen because they underestimated the firepower of Grineer machines.
History
Origins
The Grineer were once a caste of genetically modified, purpose-bred clones of the Orokin Empire. Programmed to obey their masters, Grineer slaves were tasked to perform manual labor, gathering resources for the advancement of the Empire.[1]
During The Old War, the Orokin were desperate to defeat their Sentient assailants, so a new breed of Grineer was created from the genes of an individual who had managed to defeat one.[1] These militarized Grineer would be deployed in the Orokin's war efforts but proved futile to the Sentient faction's strategies and defenses.
Eventually, the Warframes were created and led the Orokin to victory, only to be betrayed by the Tenno that controlled these war-suits. After the collapse of the Orokin Empire, Grineer started to congregate to take over territory and technology once belonged to the Empire.[2] At some point in time, the Grineer encountered Orokin twins that helped them fight against remnant Orokin in the Origin System who wanted to restore the Empire. In awe of their close kinship, the Grineer adopted them to be their queens, believing that they attained "Something more than a whole / A true understanding / Of each other soul", a quality that they aspire for.[3]
Present-Day
Their nominal "homeworld" is a feral, overgrown Earth, over which they hold only the weakest measure of control through their attempts to poison the planet's ecology to make it more suitable for themselves. Despite their efforts, some areas of the planet remain completely outside of their control, such as the Ostron safe haven and trading hub of Cetus or the secret Steel Meridian enclave known as Iron Wake. Several other planets fall under more complete control of the Grineer, such as the planet-wide factories of Ceres and Sedna, the underwater research laboratories of Uranus, and the occupied desert cities of Mars. They also have complete control over the space regions around the Earth and Saturn, as well as having outposts even in the outermost location of the Origin System, called Veil Proxima. Their main fortress, the home of the Twin Queens, is located on an asteroid constantly moving thanks to Fomorian engines, and is probably the most guarded place of the entire System.
They are people acting on ultimate xenophobia, fueled by hereditary madness, and a burning hatred of anything and anyone not like themselves and have absolute loyalty, not dissimilar from religious fanaticism, to their Queens, although very few have actually been granted the permission to see them. In the end, should they succeed, there will only be Grineer left alive in the Origin System.
In battle, the Grineer use heavy armor coupled with attrition and ambush tactics. While they are fairly weak individually, they are a potent threat in groups, able to lay down withering streams of fire at all ranges from behind cover. Specialist troops use more advanced weapons, and many are even issued comparatively advanced reactive armor and cybernetics to give them an edge.
The armor on an average Grineer deserves special mention because it makes them one of the toughest factions to face in a battle. Coupled with several elemental resistances and the fact that even the relatively common Elite Lancer is heavily armored makes them extremely durable, with their Medium and Heavy units becoming absolute bullet sponges at higher levels. Furthermore, their special corps tasked to defend their positions on space and to assault enemy ships such as Railjacks have even higher defenses. The Grineer also make notable use of rudimentary teleportation, either to transport small strike forces on daring missions even within hostile territory held by the rival Corpus, or on an individual level: their Flameblades utilize it to blink close to the enemy for a vicious melee attack, and Commanders employ an ability similar to the Switch Teleport of Loki to leave the victim confused and in the midst of the Grineer troops. Infamous Grineer officers who utilize teleportation are Tyl Regor, who blinks constantly to evade and confuse the player in his battle, and Captain Vor, who uses teleportation in battle to keep a distance from the player (though the latter's abilities might originate from his Janus Key).
Although notoriously known for their short lives, some selected Grineer units can be granted from their Queens the gift of immortality, in the form of their own blood, after facing a Warframe in battle. These super-soldiers called Kuva Liches, inherit some of the abilities of their "progenitor", as well as possessing a high level of adaptability and intelligence, making them by far the most powerful Grineer units to face.
Weaponry
- Main article: Category:Grineer Weapons
Fittingly for a military power like the Grineer, they have developed a wide variety of weapons and equipment used in their ceaseless conflicts with the Tenno, Corpus, and Infested. This ranges from simple pistols to heavier rifles, shotguns, and machine guns; to missile launchers, flamethrowers, melee weapons with superheated surfaces, hydraulically-assisted axes, hammers, and flail-like whips with hooked grinding blades.
Grineer weaponry are largely conventional or industrial in operation. Grineer aesthetics tend to employ a curved, rounded, and heavily plated spot-weld look. This is indicative of the extensive use of tough, temperature, and shock-resistant Ferrite and Alloys used in Grineer construction and manufacturing. As opposed to weapons built by the Corpus, Grineer weaponry are not laboriously cast or machined for precision, but instead pressed from molds, quickly filed down, and assembled by the billions, designed with loose tolerances to streamline the process. Many Grineer weapons also lack full stocks, and instead rely on their wielder's augmented strength and heavy armor to absorb the recoil.
Grineer weaponry are generally not designed to be used against the Grineer since they are simply too heavy or large for other races to utilize without the aid of something like a Warframe. They are also less effective against the Grineer since they are primarily engineered to deal Script error: The function "Proc" does not exist. damage for use against Corpus shield systems and Script error: The function "Proc" does not exist. damage for use against the Infested. Of course, Sentients with their adaptation abilities can efficiently resist to almost every attack of a Grineer weapon, and are for this reason studied and researched on, in order to develop even more advanced technology.
Despite their manufacturing processes being centered around mass-production, Grineer engineers are fiendishly clever in incorporating unusual and unorthodox ideas and new technologies into their weaponry, even if such technology is something they are unfamiliar with. An example of this can be seen in Captain Vor's Seer; this is a long-ranged pistol with sniper optics that incorporates Orokin technology. Other examples include the Jat Kittag - a Grineer warhammer that incorporates a series of jet engines to allow a more destructive impact.
Despite the best efforts of the Lotus, the Grineer have also developed primitive microwave and plasma-aided projectile weapons, as well as a rifle that fires guided projectiles. These weapons are reserved for the elite of the elites among the Grineer, such as the Nightwatch corps and the guards of their Queens' fortress.
The most powerful Grineer weapons are the ones used by the Kuva Liches, their super-soldiers, inheriting a percentage of elemental damage based on their progenitor. Some are just special variants of normal Grineer weapons, others are totally unique and with high-destructive power, such as a bow that shoots explosive arrows or a heavy weapon normally impossible to use on field.
Missions
Grineer Corps
The Grineer military forces are divided into specialized corps depending on their field of operations and combat tasks. As a rule, they tend to be camouflaged for the environment they expect to be fighting in.
Space Marines
The bulk of Grineer forces that are tasked with guarding Grineer mining and production facilities as well as manning their galleons. Basic in both armor and armaments, they are nonetheless among the most adaptable of the corps.
Frontier
Grineer units specialized in the guerrilla combat of Earth's vast overgrown forest and jungle areas.
Drekar
Grineer marine units stationed at their deep sea laboratories on Earth and Uranus.
Arid
Grineer units specialized in desert warfare such as at their colonies on Mars. Their combat gear has been adapted to the dusty environments with the addition of air filtration systems and sand catching fabrics.
Tusk
Grineer units adapted to the combat on wide-open steppes such as the Plains of Eidolon on Earth as well as night time engagements. Generally equipped with longer-ranged weapons than the other corps.
Nightwatch
A Grineer special operations crew tasked with elite assignments throughout the Solar system. Rarely seen but well equipped, they use modified equipment to enhance their effectiveness in battle.
Kuva
The Grineer royal guard corps stationed at the Kuva Fortress tasked with protecting their Twin Queens. The only time they are assigned to other locations is during Kuva collection. Their equipment tends to favor stopping power over rate-of-fire. (Kuva Larvlings, Thralls and Liches are special units and do not fall under this category)
Kosma/Gyre/Exo
Grineer units present during Empyrean missions, specializing both in support duties aboard crewships and intervention of the Railjack.
Enemies
Grineer have a dual classification system. Primarily, they are classified by their armor class - Light, Medium, and Heavy - which describe their base armor and their shared damage multipliers. Secondarily, they are classified by their role or engagement style. Light units primarily utilize melee weaponry and rush their attackers. Medium units use rifles and shotguns and tend to find good cover and engage at all ranges. Heavy units are normally outfitted with non-standard weapons (ex: Gorgon, Ogris etc.) and typically have various roles in combat based on their loadout.
Light
Light Grineer units mainly consist of melee units with decent damage and low durability. Some have special abilities.
- Main article: Butcher
Butchers are Grineer units that wield single Cleavers. They lack the armor and ranged firepower standard Grineer units possess, making them much easier to kill; in exchange, they can move quicker and deal more damage with their melee weapons. Butchers will wind-up their attacks for a split second, making it possible for players to dodge.
- Main article: Flameblade
Flameblades are similar to Butchers in combat style and visually identical to them except for their weapon. They have the ability to teleport short distances, and their Twin Basolk deal Heat damage.
- Main article: Guardsman
Guardsmen are heavily augmented Grineer melee units wielding the Amphis staff. They can most commonly be found in the Grineer Shipyards on Ceres.
- Main article: Powerfist
Powerfists are similar to Butchers, but use a single Furax instead. Like Flameblades, they tend to take cover until a player is close, which can allow them to ambush players. This is further aided by their faster sprint speed. Upon closing on players Powerfists will charge their melee to inflict massive damage, and then follows it up with a combo of quick melee. Powerfists have a much longer charge time than Butchers, but after their long charge they will attack like normal. They can also perform a powerful ground slam, knocking enemies up in the air and inflicting Electricity damage.
- Main article: Scorpion
Scorpions are female Grineer units that wield Machetes. They deal high damage with their Machetes, and have a grappling hook that they can use to knock down Tenno and drag them. The fast hooks, knockdowns and possibility of continuous hook-spamming by multiple Scorpions can make them a deadly adversary, especially when backed up by other units.
- Main article: Shield Lancer
Shield Lancers are defensive Grineer units that carry large iron shields in one hand and Viper pistols in the other. They slowly press forward while firing over their shields. Nearby Grineer will often use them as mobile cover to variable effectiveness. Shield Lancers will also use their shields as battering rams to knock players off their feet, often doing so when a player comes too close. Shield Lancers often will not charge players while providing cover for allies, but will charge when the units behind them die, or move away.
Medium
Medium troops make up the bulk of the Grineer army. They are not particularly dangerous when alone, but in groups they can pose a serious threat.
- Main article: Ballista
Ballistas are Grineer female units that utilize the Vulkar for long-range support. While they have a slower fire rate than other Grineer units, Ballistas deal more damage and are smaller targets.
- Main article: Elite Lancer
Elite Lancers are the Elite counterpart of the Grineer Lancers, and are found replacing the latter in mission levels 15 and up. Unlike the typical Lancers, they wield Hinds with a much higher damage than the regular Grakatas, as well as a high chance of Slash procing targets. Their armor is not only doubled in amount, but replaced by more resilient Alloy Armor compared to normal Lancer's Ferrite, the same armor heavy Grineer units often incorporate. They also have a slightly different helmet design, appearing to have a hood.
- Main article: Eviscerator
Eviscerators are Grineer units that were released with the Fomorian Event. They feature higher armor and health than the regular Grineer Lancer. The Grineer Eviscerator is equipped with the Miter that fires large saw blade projectiles, acting much like the Glaive when thrown. The saw blades bounce off surfaces and can be deflected by melee swings, being destroyed after bouncing a certain amount of times.
- Main article: Hellion
Hellions are medium armored Grineer units which are equipped with personal jet-packs that allow them to jet-jump across terrain quickly as well as hover high in the air, giving them mobility even greater than that of light units.
- Main article: Lancer
Lancers are the most basic and prevalent form of Grineer infantry. They wield Grakatas and occasionally throw Plasma Grenades. Although mostly inaccurate with their grenade throws, they can easily down a Warframe caught in the blast. Their armor is blue-green in color.
- Main article: Scorch
Scorches are medium Grineer units resembling Troopers with red and yellow armor. Scorches wield the Ignis flamethrower, dealing massive continuous damage in short range as long as the victim is in range. They can deal continuous damage and also set the player on fire, making them incredibly lethal in a successful ambush or when working with units such as Scorpions and Rollers that can inhibit player movement.
- Main article: Seeker
Seekers are tactical Grineer units with yellow-green armor and darker markings. Aside from using the Kraken pistol, they will also deploy Latchers. This ability makes them unlikely to rush into the front lines like any regular Grineer unit. More durable than regular Grineer Lancers, these can be versatile opponents.
- Main article: Trooper
Troopers are the shotgun-wielding counterpart to the Lancer. Armed with various shotguns, including Sobeks (and previously used Struns, which they are shown holding in the Codex), they lack the accuracy and range of Lancers and outfitted in more heavily armored yellow attire. This makes them comparatively more effective in close quarters, with shotguns and higher armor.
Heavy
These units are the strongest and toughest of the Grineer. Apart from the Grineer Commander, these units don't take advantage of cover. Most Heavy Grineer cannot seem to retaliate while under attack, showing vulnerability to status effects; therefore it is possible to dispatch lone Heavy units easily with sustained firepower. Heavy units typically have significant base Health and armor.
- Main article: Bailiff
Bailiffs are heavily armored Grineer melee units introduced in the Project Undermine Tactical Alert. They are rare but dangerous units, capable of smashing through crowds and soaking up Corpus fire. Throughout the Tactical Alert, they are considered to be the Grineer answer to the Corpus Isolator Bursa. The Bailiff wields a custom-colored Jat Kittag, which they use during battle, and wears heavier frontal armor that bears resemblance to a hockey goalie.
The base variant can be rarely found in the Kuva Fortress.
- Main article: Bombard
Grineer Bombards wield a modified Ogris with homing projectiles. In larger areas, their rockets are more easily avoidable, but they can be quite dangerous in enclosed areas, due to the 4 meter blast radius of the rockets. They can be identified by their white/grey armor. They have a significantly high amount of armor, making them significantly more resistant than regular Grineer units.
Like other heavy Grineer units, Bombards can also perform seismic shockwaves when players get too close, knocking them down with a radial blast. This ability has a long cooldown and can be used more than once over a long period of time.
- Main article: Commander
Commanders have much greater health than regular Lancers. They have the ability to Switch Teleport a targeted player; often, a Commander will teleport the player into the middle of a group of Grineer, causing some disorientation in the process. Unlike Loki's ability, a Commander's Switch Teleport can work through walls and doors and has a slightly longer duration stun.
- Main article: Drahk Master
The Drahk Master is a Grineer unit who can summon Drahk, vicious quadruped beasts that will attack their master's enemies.
- Main article: Elite Shield Lancer
Elite Shield Lancers are defensive Grineer units that carry large impenetrable shields in one hand, and a Tonkor in the other. They are larger and more durable than the standard Shield Lancer, and carry a shield with a distinct yellow coloring.
- Main article: Heavy Gunner
Heavy Gunners are cybernetically-enhanced female Grineer heavy infantry armed with Gorgon machine-guns. Identified by their taller, thinner frame and female voice, Heavy Gunners are capable of laying down suppressing fire to support their teammates. If left unchecked, they can tear through players' shields and health very quickly, especially on Warframes with lighter armor.
- Main article: Hyekka Master
The Hyekka Master is a Grineer unit who can summon Hyekka, vicious Kavat variants that will attack their master's enemies. They also wield the Ignis and throw firebombs that leaves areas of fire.
- Main article: Manic
Dashing in for quick strikes before falling back to the shadows, the Grineer Manic is difficult to catch and deadly to ignore. Although only a few Manics will spawn in a given Grineer mission, its speed and damage make it a devastating enemy to face.
- Main article: Manic Bombard
Manic Bombards are modified Grineer Bombards developed by Tyl Regor, introduced in the Operation Tubemen of Regor Event as the event's main mission target. After Update 17.0 (2015-07-31), they can be encountered primarily on Uranus Sabotage missions, though they may occasionally spawn outside of them.
- Main article: Napalm
Napalms are yellow/red jacket-armored Grineer using incendiary grenade launchers that shoot slow, incendiary explosives, which leave temporary fire hazards when they explode. These hazards act like Ember's Fireball ability making them very dangerous in confined spaces. Their flame attacks also have a Heat AoE explosion in the range of 4m radius, allowing them to hit even the most agile players.
- Main article: Nox
The Nox is a type of Grineer "Chem Strike" unit. They wield a poison-filled heavy gun that shoots blobs of Toxin sludge which stick to targets and surfaces before exploding. Bloated and disfigured by the very chemicals they wield in combat, these vicious warriors wear crude, heavily armored suits that both protect them in the form of Overguard and serve to contain the noxious clouds they emit.
Breaking the glass cover protecting their heads removes their defenses, but releases the poisonous aura to their surroundings. Beware of their final moments, as they explode into a lethal cloud upon death.
Arena
Executioners are Grineer warriors consigned to the service of Kela De Thaym, responsible for enforcing her rule in Rathuum. Armed with a variety of deadly weapons and skills, Executioners ensure that the accused on trial are given swift and brutal deaths.
Utility
The utility enemies of the Grineer are dangerous in their own right, such as the Roller, one of the most infamously annoying enemies in the game.
- Main article: Arc Trap
Similar to the Nervos Mine, the Arc Trap is a Grineer device that attacks hostiles within 8 meters via an Electricity arc. The trap can be destroyed by your weapons, generating a burst of electricity that damages and stuns nearby opponents and allies. They will also destroy themselves after 3 seconds of continuous shocking. They were added in Update 12.5 (2014-03-19) as a replacement to Broken Lights.
- Main article: Drahk
The Drahk is a quadruped beast bred by the Grineer for use in combat. Its behavior is largely similar to Feral Kubrow.
- Main article: Hyekka
The Hyekka is a Kavat breed developed by the Grineer for use in combat. It appears to be a hairless version of the Kavat, with a stubbier snout and a stouter appearance. In addition, it only has one tail, as opposed to the many feathered tails that usually adorn the rears of feral Kavats.
- Main article: Latcher
Latchers are small autonomous grenades deployed by Grineer Seekers that will chase a player in an attempt to latch onto them and then detonate. Latchers can be destroyed before they reach their target, but their small size and speed make them very difficult to shoot. If one is attempting to shoot a Latcher preemptively, the ideal situation would be to stand on a platform tall enough to avoid their jump height, as they occasionally stop moving when they cannot reach their target. If the Latcher latches onto you, you can remove them by rolling (default Shift ).
- Main article: Power Carrier
Power Carriers are special units found only on Excavation and Defection missions. These units are mostly identical to their standard base units, though they feature greatly improved health, and visibly carry Power Cells on their backs. Killing these units will make them drop the Power Cells they carry, allowing Tenno to recover them for use in powering their Excavation machines or Med Towers. The Grineer version are based off Lancers, the Corpus version are based off Crewmen, and the Infested ones are based off Mutalist Ospreys.
- Main article: Regulator
Regulators are floating Grineer support drones found in Grineer Settlements. They can be deployed by any Grineer units and their propaganda broadcasts provide allies around them with a buff similar to Rhino's Roar. This will give the units in range a 50% damage increase, a speed buff, and disrupt the player's mini-map.
- Main article: Roller
Rollers are simple Grineer machines that resemble larger-sized Latchers. Unlike their smaller counterpart, Rollers will jump at players, bludgeoning and staggering them, and will continue to attack the player until they are destroyed. Rollers are sent as a syndicate death squad by Steel Meridian.
- Main article: Sensor Bar
Similar in nature to Corpus Laser Barriers, the Grineer Sensor Bar is located above some doorways in the Grineer Galleon tileset. It projects a field across the opening of the door which will deal damage and inflict a Magnetic proc, draining energy and temporarily reducing shields. Destroying the green sensor light will disable it, allowing safe entry.
- Main article: Grineer Target
The Grineer Target is the objective of Grineer Capture missions. There are 6 different types of targets that are variations of normal Grineer units with different color schemes, with the default Grineer Target being the exception. Some of these targets have their own special abilities. Each Target is armed with different weapons.
They drop small amounts of credits when shot or meleed.
- Main article: Warden
Wardens are special units that appear in Rescue missions, tasked with protecting prison complexes where hostages are kept. They appear as Heavy Gunners or Ballistas for Grineer missions, Corrupted Heavy Gunner for Orokin Moon missions, and Sniper Crewman and Corpus Tech for Corpus missions, and are more durable than normal units. They are however highly vulnerable to stealth attacks and takedowns.
Defenses
Various defenses are utilized by the Grineer, ranging from pre-spawned turrets or inflatable, deployable cover.
- Main article: Blunt
The Blunt is an item occasionally carried by some Grineer units during missions, visible as a large backpack with orange lights. When deployed, the Blunt inflates into a small, black barricade that Grineer units can use as cover to defend from enemies, and which can be deployed anywhere on the map. The Blunt itself has a limited amount of health (which depends on the level of its user), and unlike environmental cover can be destroyed but only with melee attacks. A Blunt can only be deployed once per unit and once deployed it will slowly start to "deflate" (lose health) on its own.
- Main article: Rampart
Ramparts are emplaced defensive turrets found on Grineer missions, armed with twin heavy machine guns to engage enemies. Unlike other types of environmental defenses, Ramparts can be directly controlled by Tenno players by mounting inside them with the Use key (default X ), allowing them to use the Rampart's guns. While Ramparts are rooted to their positions, they can be aimed at nearly every direction.
Ghouls
The Ghouls are hastily-bred Grineer clones grown in diapause bags dropped in from space and buried in the ground. They are the favored creations of Councilor Vay Hek, who refers to them as his "children."
Ghouls can be found hidden under the ground all throughout the Plains of Eidolon, ready to strike should any Tenno obliviously stumble near their burial grounds. Although they may be found in the plains, they may appear in greater numbers during a Ghoul Purge. Ghouls are also common enemies among other Grineer troops encountered in Olympus, a Disruption node on Mars.
General
The Ghouls are Grineer shock and ambush units, consisting of malformed, defective or partially-developed clones incubated for several days in diapause bags that are buried in the ground, with an emphasis on simplicity and speed of growth over quality and finesse. With toxic and paralytic blood, ghouls remain a threat even after they have died.
They have become a subject of study and research by Sigor Savah, whose encrypted journal fragments provided details about the various Ghouls, and how they are employed by the Grineer.
Usage
Far from the finest of soldiers, these deformed monstrosities may be lacking in typical qualities like intelligence, sanity or longevity, but their sheer numbers, deadly weapons, and savage and ferocious nature more than make up for it. Their burial process employs the element of surprise, which guarantees that any unlucky adversary will be quickly consumed and defeated.
Ghouls are used in advance of normal Grineer troops to soften up the opposition. However, before the battle begins, the Ghouls must be kept sated or they will turn on and consume any nearby Grineer troops. Ghouls are relentless and incapable of feeling fear, as even massive casualties will be ineffective at quelling any Ghoul advance.
They can mainly be be found employed in the Plains of Eidolon, used by the Grineer as an attempt to reinforce their rule over the Plains, while also using them to attack any nearby Ostron militias.
Ghoul Alphas
Despite their unpredictable and fickle nature, some Ghouls may develop unforeseen mutations, such as advanced higher brain functions. Despite these abilities being rudimentary, they still allow those lucky Ghouls to rise above the others and lead them. Additionally some Ghoul Alphas may rise simply by being more brutal and savage than the rest.
Alphas lead their pack with relentless savagery, and may attempt to cull out any unlucky Ghoul defectors and hold them prisoner for dissection.
Biology
Draped in shreds of the bags that birthed them, Ghouls are formed from repurposed Grineer gene slurry, and embody the phrase "quantity over quality". Very little, if any attention is given to the development of their higher functions, which cause them to exhibit primitive, animalistic pack behavior. Due to their cheap creation and outside factors, such as malnutrition and environmental poisoning, Ghouls may possess characteristics such as receding gums, exposed bones, distended or pale skin, and may also lack verbal communication skills. The Grineer may also attempt to bolster their Ghoul regiments through the use of growth hormone infusers, which would allow for faster gestation.
Ghouls also have a unique weakness to Grokdrul, a common chemical used in Grineer manufacturing. Despite its benign nature, a large dose of ultra-refined Grokdrul can be quite fatal for any Ghouls that are still developing.
However, despite the Ghouls simple-mindedness and animalistic nature, some Ghouls may be birthed with the cognition complex enough to understand their surroundings and desire to defect from the pack. Some defectors have attempted to contact Steel Meridian and seek refuge from dissection at the hands of Dr. Tengus.
All Ghouls have paralytic blood, which is released upon death as a cloud that inflicts Cold and Toxin procs on contact. The Cold proc has a reduced duration of 2 seconds, but the Toxin proc should be treated with caution as they can quickly sap a Warframe's health, especially in melee combat.
History
The Ascension
- Main article: The Ascension
Dr. Tengus first created these vicious Ghouls with the help of Councilor Vay Hek. Set during the rise of the Grineer empire, in the Kuva Fortress. Vay Hek and Dr. Tengus discuss how obedient the Ghouls prototype would be to the Grineer, of which the doctor assures so before reminding him that the Grineer Queens themselves will be the audience of their creation.
Playing the "good host," the councilor wears a wig and a ruff before greeting his fellow Grineer generals and welcoming them to his presentation. The Grineer treat him with disdain and disrespect, while the Grineer Queens find his act insulting.
Apologizing, the councilor then shares his own vision to the Queens - A vision where the Grineer conquers the solar system without having to deploy a single ship or carrier, a conquest where an invasion of planets would simply mean seeding a batch of biomass bags from the orbit. He presents the Ghouls to the queens, stunning his entire audience with his creation.
In an act of betrayal, or perhaps as a deliberate stunt to showcase their ferocity to the Queens, the treacherous Tengus kicks Vay Hek into the Ghouls' enclosure, where he is torn apart by the cannibalistic creatures. Impressed by the display, the Queens order Tengus to reconstruct Hek with cybernetics, turning him into the creature the Tenno will eventually encounter.
WARFRAME: Ghouls
- Main article: WARFRAME: Ghouls
A Grineer army unit led by Captain Vor begins raiding an Ostron village, intending to scavenge any Orokin artifacts left in the vicinity. Unable to find any, the raid unit deems the Ostrons rebelling against them and immediately executes them one by one, destroying their homes and settlement.
Following the ensuing genocide, an Excalibur Warframe arrives to fend off the Grineer raid and nearly forces them into retreat. Yet, despite the tide of battle turning, the Excalibur chooses to save an Ostron child from danger instead of continuing the fight.
After hiding and tending to the child, the Grineer soon return with their never-before-seen Ghouls to capture the Warframe – dead or alive. The Excalibur is eventually overwhelmed by the continuous onslaught of the Grineer army and their ghouls, prompting the Lotus to seek the assistance of a fellow Tenno for reinforcements, Mag.
Variants
There are four variants of Ghouls:
- Ghoul Auger - Carries two drills that they use to attack or drill into the ground to appear in another place.
- Ghoul Expired - Ghouls that have succumbed to malnutrition, and have been turned into suicide troops.
- Ghoul Rictus - Weilds a giant circular saw whose blade can be ejected and literally ridden on.
- Ghoul Devourer - A personal favorite of Vay Hek, they are lumbering giants that carry two wrist-mounted hooks on each hand.
- Main article: Ghoul Auger
The Ghoul Auger is a Grineer Ghoul armed with drills that allow it to quickly dig underground and ambush their foe. Attached to these weapons are fuel canisters, doubling as a flamethrower. As with all Ghouls, on death they will release a cloud that inflicts Cold and Toxin.
- Main article: Ghoul Devourer
The Ghoul Devourer is a Grineer Ghoul that is considered Vay Hek's personal favorite. Despite its massive girth, it is armed with a powerful wrist-mounted hook that allows it to close the distance between it and its target. As with all Ghouls, on death they will release a cloud that inflicts Cold and Toxin.
- Main article: Ghoul Expired
The Ghoul Expired is a Grineer Ghoul that suffered from malnutrition or poisoning during the early parts of its development, causing their nervous systems to drive them forward and function as an ideal suicide troop. Aiding them in this task are a pair of shields with multiple bomblets strapped on. As with all Ghouls, on death they will release a cloud that inflicts Cold and Toxin.
- Main article: Ghoul Rictus
The Ghoul Rictus is a Grineer Ghoul armed with a Ghoulsaw. These saws can be ejected similar to the Panthera's Alternate Fire, traveling a distance before returning to them. The Rictus also has the uncanny ability to ride on the ejected saws, allowing them to approach and ram their enemies from afar. As with all Ghouls, on death they will release a cloud that inflicts Cold and Toxin.
Trivia
- A ghoul is an evil spirit or phantom that robs graves and feeds on dead bodies.
- According to The Ascension webcomic, the Ghoul bags can be deployed from orbit, which will "plant" themselves into the ground. They are meant as a cheap and fast method of a ground invasion of a planet, without requiring the deployment of more advanced troops.
- WARFRAME's first series of comics are named after these breed of clones.
Media
See Also
- WARFRAME: Ghouls - A WARFRAME comic series named after this breed of creatures.
- Main article: Ghoul Auger
The Ghoul Auger is a Grineer Ghoul armed with drills that allow it to quickly dig underground and ambush their foe. Attached to these weapons are fuel canisters, doubling as a flamethrower. As with all Ghouls, on death they will release a cloud that inflicts Cold and Toxin.
- Main article: Ghoul Devourer
The Ghoul Devourer is a Grineer Ghoul that is considered Vay Hek's personal favorite. Despite its massive girth, it is armed with a powerful wrist-mounted hook that allows it to close the distance between it and its target. As with all Ghouls, on death they will release a cloud that inflicts Cold and Toxin.
- Main article: Ghoul Expired
The Ghoul Expired is a Grineer Ghoul that suffered from malnutrition or poisoning during the early parts of its development, causing their nervous systems to drive them forward and function as an ideal suicide troop. Aiding them in this task are a pair of shields with multiple bomblets strapped on. As with all Ghouls, on death they will release a cloud that inflicts Cold and Toxin.
- Main article: Ghoul Rictus
The Ghoul Rictus is a Grineer Ghoul armed with a Ghoulsaw. These saws can be ejected similar to the Panthera's Alternate Fire, traveling a distance before returning to them. The Rictus also has the uncanny ability to ride on the ejected saws, allowing them to approach and ram their enemies from afar. As with all Ghouls, on death they will release a cloud that inflicts Cold and Toxin.
Archwing
These are troops which are deployed in the Archwing game mode.
- Main article: Lancer Dreg
The Lancer Dreg is a variant of the Dreg equipped with a laser cannon that deals Radiation damage.
- Main article: Temporal Dreg
The Temporal Dreg is a variant of the Dreg. Despite being unarmed, the Temporal Dreg can use a tractor beam that locks on to Tenno, preventing them from sprinting. The tractor beam can be dispelled by destroying the Temporal Dreg or cover blocking it and the player.
- Main article: Dargyn (Enemy)
The Dargyn is the basic Grineer flying skiff. Most commonly found in Archwing missions, it is piloted by a Grineer trooper behind an armored shield, and carries a light machine gun to strafe enemies at range. The variants found on the Plains of Eidolon can be commandeered by players.
- Main article: Hellion Dargyn
Hellion Dargyns are Dargyns equipped with guided missile launchers, which they can fire in salvos of missiles against enemies.
- Main article: Shield Dargyn
Shield Dargyns are Dargyns that mount energy shield emitters that enhance their protection from the front. They also carry triple-barreled pulse cannons that deal more damage than the Dargyn's machinegun.
- Main article: Shield-Hellion Dargyn
The Shield-Hellion Dargyn is a tougher version of the Hellion Dargyn that mounts the same defensive shield found on Shield Dargyn. Additionally, they have a faster firing rate than regular Hellion Dargyns [1]
Submersibles
These troops appear in the Submersible Archwing portions of the Grineer Sealab tileset.
- Main article: Draga
Draga are the simplest and most-common of the aquatic enemies which can spawn in underwater areas of the Grineer Sealab tileset. They wield the Harpak and usually move fairly slowly through the water, though they will move faster upon spotting a player.
- Main article: Darek Draga
Darek Draga are a more dangerous foe than the Draga, due to their usage of the Kulstar cluster-rocket launcher, which can be rather difficult to dodge due to a combination of Archwing movement-methods and the often-cramped environment of the submerged caverns beneath the Grineer Sealab tileset.
Also, when alerted, the Darek Draga releases a cloud of brown smoke, limiting visibility of it and nearby Draga, Shock Draga and Sikula, which can prove fatal if caught in the cloud, due to the Sikula's mines.
Potential threat to players if they are caught unaware, are in an enclosed space or if they are preoccupied with other enemy units.
- Main article: Shock Draga
Shock Dragas are an Archwing enemy found in the Grineer Sealab tileset. Wielding the Sydon trident, they can fire an arc of Electricity that deals constant damage.
- Main article: Sikula
The Sikula is a very small aquatic minelaying drone found in Grineer Sealab submersible missions, which can quickly saturate the surrounding area with mines if ignored in favor of killing the enemies actively shooting at the player.
Empyrean
These units appear in the Empyrean game mode. Kosma units are deployed on Earth Proxima, Gyre on Saturn Proxima and Exo on Veil Proxima. Almost all the units have Elite counterparts appearing in higher-level missions.
Fighters
Single person attack crafts, attack in waves.
Heavy Fighters
Feature higher armour and have more powerful, unique ways of attacking.
- Main article: Outrider
Outriders are Grineer heavy fighters encountered in Railjack missions. They are equipped with heavy armor, making them nearly impervious to standard weapons fire. They can only easily be destroyed with Munitions, or by specifically targeting the glowing weak points located on their fuselage.
Crewships
Heavily armoured and almost impenetrable to normal attacks, these ships feature a crew and can deploy Ramsleds.
- Main article: Gokstad Crewship
Gokstad Crewships are heavily armored Grineer troop transport ships, found in Empyrean missions, that can only be destroyed by the Railjack's Forward Artillery or internal reactor sabotage. They sport homing missiles commanded from three posts, and can be boarded to take command of those posts, pilot the ship, or destroy the central reactor. In addition, they can fire up to four Ramsleds in an effort to board the player's Railjack.
- Main article: Skold Crewship
Skold Crewships are Grineer troop transport ships in Empyrean missions, largely identical to the standard Gokstad Crewship but with the addition of shields that protect it from most threats. They are currently only found in the Veil Proxima.
Utility
- Main article: Ramsled
Ramsleds are Grineer boarding capsules in Empyrean missions. These capsules will home-in on Railjacks, and on collision will deploy Grineer Raiders, Raider Carvers and Eviscerators to attack the Railjack from within. Each Gokstad Crewship and the mission's Point of Interest(s) will deploy up to 4 Ramsleds.
Cephalon Cy will announce when a Ramsled has been deployed, and if the boarding party has successfully entered the Railjack.
Cannon Battery | General | Drops | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
[[File:|200x200px]] |
Introduced | Update 27.0 (2019-12-13) | Mod Drops: Hyperstrike 3.7935% Overloader 3.7935% Ripload 3.7935% Ironclad Matrix 1.1055% Protective Shots 1.1055% Warhead 1.1055% Crimson Fugue 0.3015% | |
Tileset | Empyrean | |||
Weapon | Cannons | |||
Codex Scans | 20 | |||
Statistics | ||||
Machinery | ? | |||
+ ++ +++ - - | ||||
Ferrite Armor | ? | |||
++ +++ - - | ||||
Affinity | 50 |
Bosses
- Main article: Bosses
Bosses are officers within the Grineer faction.
- Main article: Captain Vor
Captain Vor is the Grineer officer responsible for the players' awakening in the opening moments of WARFRAME. He is one of the few figures in the Origin System that understand ancient Orokin technology, and is capable of utilizing it and merging it with Grineer technology to create offensive weapons such as his trademark Seer pistol and his armor, powered by a Void Key that he refers to as the "Janus Key", which also grants him a powerful ranged beam attack, impenetrable shielding and the ability to teleport.
- Main article: Councilor Vay Hek
Councilor Vay Hek is the Grineer boss of Earth. He is among the most influential and dangerous Grineer, being responsible for the Cicero Toxin to poison Earth's forests, the reconditioning of the psychotic and highly aggressive The Grustrag Three soldiers, the Balor Fomorian warships that can destroy capital ships and Relays, and the animalistic and hastily bred Ghouls.
Vay Hek is fought on Oro, Earth, which can be accessed only by players of Mastery Rank 5 or higher. Upon defeating him and completing the mission, players will receive Hydroid component blueprints.
- Main article: General Sargas Ruk
General Sargas Ruk is the Grineer boss of the Saturn system. The head of one of the Grineer Artifact extraction projects, Sargas Ruk was targeted by the Lotus for annexing Tenno-controlled dig sites. Ruk enjoys Grineer augmentation, even going as far as replacing the lower part of his right arm with a massive flamethrower and his normal vision with a single augmentation in the center of his helmet.
Ruk is fought in the mission Tethys, Saturn. After defeating him and finishing the mission, the player will receive an Ember component blueprint. He has an increased chance to drop an Orokin Cell upon death since it can also drop it as a normal planet resource.
- Main article: The Grustrag Three
The Grustrag Three (commonly abbreviated as the G3) are a group of Assassins, founded by Councilor Vay Hek, who come after Tenno that have completed five Invasion missions against the Grineer.
- Main article: Kela De Thaym
Kela De Thaym is the Grineer boss of the Sedna system. Bloodthirsty and sadistic, she owns the combat arena known as Rathuum where Grineer defectors are forced to fight for their freedom against her Executioners, to the delight of her audience.
Kela is fought on the mission Merrow, Sedna. After defeating her and finishing the mission, the player will receive Saryn component blueprints. She will also drop an Executioner-themed mod and has a chance to drop Twin Kohmak blueprint and an Orokin Cell upon death.
- Main article: Lieutenant Lech Kril
Lieutenant Lech Kril is the Grineer boss of Mars, and a dual boss on Ceres alongside Captain Vor. A revered war hero clad in impenetrable armor and armed with a Gorgon and his signature Brokk hammer with Cold/ Heat abilities, Lech Kril is a formidable adversary for anyone who opposes him.
- On War, Mars, a successful assassination will reward Excalibur's components.
- On Exta, Ceres, a successful assassination will reward Frost's components and either Miter parts or Twin Gremlins blueprint.
- Main article: Sprag
Sprag is a Grineer Field Boss unit first introduced in Operation Gate Crash and now regularly encountered in Orokin Sabotage missions where Grineer are the dominant enemy. She, along with Ven'kra Tel, guard a Void Key necessary to close the Void Portal. She is later captured by Narmer and forced into their service.
She possesses a jet pack identical to that used by Hellions that grants her excellent mobility, and can use her Renok Hammer and special melee abilities to engage Tenno in close combat.
- Main article: Tyl Regor
Tyl Regor is the Grineer boss of the Uranus system. As the head researcher of Grineer gene repair, Regor works to remove the Cloning Decay Syndrome on his brethren, making strides through his "tubemen." Regor is fought in the mission Titania, Uranus. After defeating him and finishing the mission, the player will receive Equinox component blueprints.
- Main article: Ven'kra Tel
Ven'kra Tel is a special Grineer Field Boss unit first introduced in Operation Gate Crash and now regularly encountered in Orokin Sabotage missions where Grineer are the dominant enemy. She, along with Sprag, guard a Void Key necessary to close the Void Portal. She was later captured by Narmer and forced into their service.
She possesses a blue jet pack identical to that used by Hellions that grants her excellent mobility, and can use her Avex and other ranged special abilities to engage Tenno from afar.
Kuva Liches
- Main article: Kuva Lich
- Main article: Kuva Lich/Main
- For the resource, see Kuva (Resource).
- For the weapon variant, see Kuva (Variant).
- For the Corpus counterpart, see Sisters of Parvos.
Kuva Liches are Grineer super soldiers that have been spiked with their Queens' Kuva, rendering them all but immortal. Kuva Larvlings that have the potential to become Liches are infused with the "old blood", and are armed with advanced Kuva weaponry and elite Thrall troops.
Acting as nemeses of the individual Tenno whose actions in battle have caused them to rise, Liches establish a foothold in the Star Chart. From there, they hinder the progress of the Tenno, seizing a portion of the loot gained from missions. Their Kuva-originated powers grant them invincibility in battle, that can only be broken by the Tenno who they are bound to - by discovering a sequence of enigmatic phrases inscribed on Requiem Mods, which the Tenno must unearth and apply to their Parazon in corresponding order, thus being able to purify the Lich's Kuva and permanently sever their Continuity. Every Kuva Lich has a unique name and various randomized properties.
Creation
After the completion of The War Within quest, obtaining Mastery Rank 5, and acquiring a Railjack, the player may encounter a Kuva Larvling in a regular level 20+ Grineer mission - this does not include Sorties, Void Fissures, Invasion, Quests or Dark Sectors, but does include Crossfire. Also, the planet Uranus isn't included as a compatible location despite all of its regulars nodes being 20+ Grineer missions, but Steel Path missions are included (You may encounter a Larvling on Earth Steel Path missions, but this isn't possible on regulars missions). The potential for the spawning of a Kuva Larvling in a mission is announced to the player by the level's lighting flickering yellow. When the flickering occurs the player has approximately 30 seconds to kill enough enemies to force a Larvling to be created, similar to the way the Juggernaut spawning works. When enough enemies have been killed, a Kuva Larvling will spawn along with a transmission from a Kuva Guardian announcing their presence. Its location will be marked by a red waypoint which is slightly different from the red marker for nearby enemies.
By choosing to kill the Kuva Larvling with a Parazon Mercy kill, the player causes a Kuva Lich to arise in the Origin System, thus becoming the Progenitor of that Kuva Lich, and the Warframe used for this is recognized as the Progenitor Warframe. In a squad, only the last player that damaged the larvling may take the Mercy kill. If no one takes the mercy action, the larvling will despawn after 30 seconds. This does not interrupt the normal course of the mission. Upon return to the Orbiter, regardless of whether the mission was completed or aborted, the player will receive communications from the newly created Kuva Lich. The Lich's profile can be accessed from either the Orbiter's Navigation console, or on the Main Menu, through a banner on the lower right corner of the screen.
Players cannot Mercy the Larvling if they already have an active Lich or Sisters of Parvos. A Kuva Larvling can still spawn if any member of the squad already has an active Lich/Sister.
Once the Larvling has been downed, the entire squad will receive 100 Kuva on end of mission, even if not mercied. When the player is within mercy distance, the downed Larvling will also display an icon and name of the Kuva Weapon the created Kuva Lich will possess. The displayed weapon is always random, meaning players can attempt the Larvling multiple times before Mercy killing one with their weapon of choice. If the Larvling is ignored, the displayed weapon will not show up again for any subsequent larvlings (only if the mission is finished properly) until the entire weapon pool is rejected, though this is not currently true due to bugs.
Progenitor Warframe
The Warframe that created the Kuva Lich will determine the elemental damage bonus the Kuva Lich weapon will have, as well as the type of Ephemera should they spawn with one. In addition, it will determine the Kuva Lich's ability kit.
Element | Progenitor Warframe* |
---|---|
Impact | Baruuk • Gauss • Grendel • Rhino • Sevagoth • Wukong • Zephyr |
Heat | Chroma • Ember • Inaros • Kullervo • Nezha • Protea • Vauban • Wisp |
Cold | Frost • Gara • Hildryn • Revenant • Styanax • Titania • Trinity |
Electricity | Banshee • Caliban • Excalibur • Gyre • Limbo • Nova • Valkyr • Volt |
Toxin | Atlas • Dagath • Ivara • Khora • Nekros • Nidus • Oberon • Saryn |
Magnetic | Citrine • Harrow • Hydroid • Lavos • Mag • Mesa • Xaku • Yareli |
Radiation | Ash • Equinox • Garuda • Loki • Mirage • Nyx • Octavia • Qorvex • Voruna |
*Note that the Primed or Umbra version of a Warframe share the same element
Personality
The Kuva Larvling's character model also acts as a preview of whether it will have a jovial/mad (male) or logical/flirtatious (female) personality. Jovial or mad liches will spawn from a Kuva Larvling appearing as a Saturn Six Fugitive, whereas logical or flirtatious liches will spawn from a Kuva Larvling appearing as a Kuva Scorpion.
Tutorial
The Kuva Lich tutorial summary can be accessed from the "Tutorial" button in the Kuva Lich profile.
You can only defeat this Adversary with the power of mysterious Requiem Mods.
Requiem Mods can be acquired from Requiem Relics, found in Kuva Siphons, Thralls & Hounds and Kuva Floods.
Collect Murmurs by defeating [ADVERSARY NAME]'s Thralls (Grineer) or Hounds (Corpus) to learn the Known Requiems.
Equip the Known Requiems on your Parazon and battle [ADVERSARY NAME] to determine the correct sequence.
In regions containing your Adversary's territory, [ADVERSARY NAME] may steal your rewards. Defeating [ADVERSARY NAME] is the only way to recover your losses.
Lure [ADVERSARY NAME] out of hiding by defeating Thralls or Hounds in controlled areas.
Pursue [ADVERSARY NAME] in Railjack once they Flee to the Proxima Regions.
Behavior & Mechanics
Star Chart Influence and Reward Tax
Once born, a Kuva Lich will establish influence across various mission nodes on a certain planet. The occupied planet is determined by the Lich's current level (detailed in the chart below). The Lich mission on influenced nodes will spawn Kuva Thralls, which are indicated by a white/blue aura and red waypoint marker. Completing these missions will clear the influence from that node. Influence will shift to the next planet in the sequence if the player performs a Parazon finisher on their Lich and causes them to rank up. Alternatively, clearing all influenced nodes from a planet will automatically cause the Lich to rank up and shift its influence to the next planet.
Additionally, a portion of the rewards a player earns on an influenced node will be stolen by the Kuva Lich as a Reward Tax (this includes Credits, Resources, Blueprints, Void Relics, Ayatan Treasures, Kuva, and Mods, but not Requiem Relics, Requiem Mods, and Pigments). As the number of nodes under influence increases, the Reward Tax will also increase (roughly 0.7% per node). Fortunately, the player can reclaim everything that was stolen once they fully defeat their Lich.
- A Kuva Lich that has retreated to their Railjack confrontation node in Saturn Proxima will continue stealing rewards from normal Saturn starchart missions until the player defeats them.
Rage Meter
Kuva Lich may have one of five levels of anger: Indifferent → Annoyed → Fuming → Furious → Enraged. A rage meter can be seen in the Kuva Lich Profile page, representing the likelihood that the Kuva Lich will appear in the player's missions. The 'angrier' the Kuva Lich, the more likely the player will encounter them. Only killing thralls in nodes occupied by the player's Kuva Lich will further anger the Kuva Lich and increase the meter. Occupied node mission completion will not increase the meter nor will killing thralls in different Kuva Lich nodes (via taxi), although the latter will still give murmur progress. The meter will reset every time the Kuva Lich levels up, except for the final level of 5.
Using a Requiem Ultimatum can instantly spawn the player's Kuva Lich regardless of rage meter level.
Level
Kuva Lich Level | Enemy Level on Controlled Nodes |
Region |
---|---|---|
1 | 55-75 | Earth |
2 | 50-60 | Mars |
3 | 55-70 | Ceres |
4 | 75-90 | Sedna |
5 | 90-110 | Kuva Fortress |
Every Kuva Lich starts at Level 1, indicated above their name in their stats screen. As the player progressively fills the Kuva Lich's rage meter they will eventually meet the Kuva Lich in combat during a mission. If the player fails a Mercy attack at any point during the fight, the Kuva Lich will be staggered, swearing vengeance towards the player. After doing so, the Kuva Lich will increase in level by 1 and then despawn. As a Kuva Lich increases in level so too does the level of missions under their influence. A Kuva Lich can reach a maximum level of 5. Kuva Liches may gain additional resistances and immunities upon leveling up.
Abilities/Attacks
Kuva Liches have four unique abilities, three of them are variants of existing Warframe abilities and one is a movement ability. The first three abilities that they possess depend on the element associated with the Progenitor Warframe that killed them. Regardless of the Progenitor Warframe, the fourth ability can be one of the following four abilities: Lurch, Stampede, Teleport, or Vault. Thralls will inherit their Kuva Lich's movement ability.
Kuva Liches start out with their ability 1 and ability 4 (movement); they will gain access to their ability 2 at level 2, and ability 3 at level 3 (similar to how Warframes gain access to their new abilities when ranking up).
Element | Ability 1 | Ability 2 | Ability 3 | Ability 4 (Movement) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Impact | Carapace ( Iron Skin) |
Leash ( Rip Line) |
Lich Stomp ( Rhino Stomp) |
Lurch, Stampede, Teleport, or Vault |
Heat | Plasma Flare ( Fireball) |
Ring of Fire ( Fire Blast) |
Plasma Eruption ( World On Fire) | |
Cold | Ice Blast ( Freeze) |
Frozen Surge ( Ice Wave) |
Frozen Fortress ( Avalanche) | |
Electricity | Lightning Bolt (Unique ability, similar to Captain Vor's beam attack) |
Arc Mines (Unique ability, similar to Captain Vor's Nervos Mines) |
Molecular Annihilation ( Molecular Prime) | |
Toxin | Overload ( Smite) |
Cursed Ground ( Hallowed Ground) |
Miasma ( Miasma) | |
Magnetic | Attractor Wave ( Pull) |
Magnetic Snare ( Magnetize) |
Magnetic Crunch ( Crush) | |
Radiation | Ruse ( Decoy) |
Tactical Inversion ( Switch Teleport) |
Decommission ( Radial Disarm) |
In addition to the above abilities, Kuva Liches can perform grapple attacks against Tenno, dealing heavy damage to them. The player will be thrown and stuck in a ragdoll animation after these attacks. During the animation other players can damage the Kuva Lich, albeit dealing reduced damage.
Thrall
A Kuva Lich does not maintain their territory on their own. Aside from enlisting the aid of Grineer soldiers, a select few of these soldiers are turned into Thralls, who are behaviorally identical to standard Grineer troops but have various bonuses. Aside from inheriting Kuva Lich's ability 4 (movement), they receive 25% less damage compared to their standard counterparts.
Thralls are identified by a blue outline that surrounds them, similar to the one found on Synthesis Targets. Their label is changed to "[Kuva Lich Name] Thrall", and their presence is noted by both a special red Mission Waypoint and a musical string that plays when they spawn. Ironically enough, the Thralls themselves provide the means to defeat their Kuva Lich once and for all.
All thralls have a 5% chance of dropping a Requiem Relic.[4] Each Requiem Relic has an equal chance to be dropped.
Spawning Mechanics
Generally, most Grineer units can be converted to Thralls with the exceptions of Latchers, Hyekkas, Drahk, Rollers, Noxes, and Guardsmen. A Thrall appearing in a mission will be accompanied by a musical sting and a waypoint marker, and their weapon colors are changed to match the general color scheme of their Kuva Lich. Kuva Liches may attempt to convert the latter three units, but despite appearances they will not turn into Thralls.
Only a certain amount of Thralls can spawn in a given mission type, naturally. Some mission types (endless Survival, for example) allow up to 10 Thralls to spawn in naturally. Other mission types, like Capture, only allow for 2-5 Thralls to spawn (depending on RNG, if Grineer units have been killed or not).
The Kuva Lich is also limited to enthralling 10 nearby enemies once every 20 seconds, thus up to 20 Thralls can be encountered in a given Kuva Lich-controlled node should the Kuva Lich spawn in the mission. However, enthralled enemies count towards the mission's natural Thrall limit, so the maximum of 20 can only be reached if all 10 Thralls have already spawned in the mission before the Kuva Lich enthralls any enemies.
Naturally converted Thralls usually appear in large groups of Grineer, always out of sight, or range, of the player. These naturally converted Thralls are almost always converted in the neighboring tile, in the direction of the mission objective, relative to the player. However, there's a small chance a Thrall can also spawn in the same Tile the player is in, if it's out of line of sight, as close as 20 yards away.
The 1st Thrall appears at the start of the mission, as the player starts to move, with a few more Thralls appearing as the player moves through the Tile Set. A few additional Thralls, on top of these few extras, will spawn if enemies are being killed. Killing Thralls quickly have no impact on when the next Thrall will spawn. The spawn timer is somewhat fixed (roughly 23-45 seconds, from spawn to spawn). Stealth has no impact on Thrall conversion, neither negative nor postive.
Natural maximum of Thralls in Missions:
2-3 Thralls | No Grineer killed, besides the capture target, and the Thralls themselves |
3-5 Thralls | Grineer units, the capture target, and Thralls killed |
More testing is being conducted.
Quirk
Kuva Liches may rarely spawn with a quirk that provides unique voice-lines and behavior when encountered.
Quirk | Functional changes | Aesthetic changes |
---|---|---|
Allergic to Nature | - | Talks about being allergic to nature. |
Always Hungry | - | Talks about getting a snack. |
Bloodhound | - | Makes comments when the player turns invisible. |
Coward | Attempts to run away from the player when at low health. | - |
Deserter | Can leave the mission unexpectedly. | - |
Fear of Being Alone | - | Makes comments if there are no other Grineer nearby. |
Fear of Children | Is afraid of the player's Operator. | - |
Fear of Kubrows | Is afraid of Kubrows, Feral Kubrows, and Drahks. | - |
Fear of Space Travel | Upon spawning on a ship, sometimes stands frightened and does not attack first. | - |
Hatred of Children | - | Makes aggressive comments if the player's Operator appears. |
Hatred of Corpus | - | Talks about hating Corpus when spawned on Corpus tilesets. |
Hatred of Infested | - | Talks about hating Infested when spawned on Infested tilesets. |
Loner | - | Talks about preferring to fight alone. |
Paranoid | Attacks allied Grineer troops; prevents the conversion of nearby Grineer into thralls. | - |
Poor Sense of Balance | Retreats after kneeling down and without stabbing. | - |
Prone to Vertigo | Stays on the ground level of the map. Avoids going up stairs and catwalks. | - |
Pyromaniac | - | Talks when the player is on fire. |
Trophy Hunter | Reward tax is higher than usual, allowing the Kuva Lich to steal more rewards. | - |
Vain | - | Talks about how beautiful they are after appearing in a mission. |
Requiem Mods
Requiem Mods are a special subset of Parazon Mods, each one an enigmatic phrase fragment of a complete Requiem Sequence, thus the only way to permanently sever a Kuva Lich or Sisters of Parvos's Immortality.
Notes
- All Kuva Lich interactions will be registered in the Codex, under "Kuva Lich History" in the Universe tab.
- The ability to rewatch the Kuva Lich intro cutscene is present in the Kuva Lich History, through the "View Cinematic" button.
- Successfully completing all available Kuva Lich mission nodes without failing during the requiem mini-game (or by just ignoring it) will automatically rank the Kuva Lich up and spread their influence to another planet.
Converted Notes
- Will always spawn at level 75 (if Rank 5) on Railjack missions and through normal missions with the On-Call feature of Railjack. However, they will have limited scaling when they spawn naturally to assist players who have died at least once, going past level 75 in Steel Path missions.
- The "Lightning Bolt" ability on Electric Liches is generally ineffective on Converted liches, they may target an enemy behind a wall or in another cell, then be locked in place for a few seconds as they slowly redirect it, only to stop after a short direction change and not hit anything.
- The Decoy used by Radiation liches is effective on Railjack to draw Aggro from enemy boarders and away from other crew and the ship, as it has a high threat level.
- "Plasma Eruption" from Heat based liches locks the lich in place, but the pillars of fire will spawn seemingly to all enemies within range, offering excellent stun at the cost of making the lich vulnerable during casting and the long cooldown.
- "Plasma Fire" from Heat based liches will also often miss and only offers minimal damage and a very short stun.
- Liches with the Kuva Bramma will often aim while moving slowly if they detect enemies, and walk slower than other types of Liches. On railjack, they will never run as a result and slowly walk around.
- Liches with the Kuva Ogris will often miss as they will target enemies' torsos at range, or at enemies feet if they are close enough. They will also only fire 2 rounds before reloading, or oddly enough 3 rounds if their fire rate is boosted by Wisp's Haste Reservoirs.
- A Cold Lich's "Frozen Fortress" ability fully removes the armor of enemies they freeze solid, but the duration is rather low and the cooldown is long (like all "ultimate" abilities from liches). It does however, let them do decent damage against armor in this manner.
- Liches with the "Fear of space travel" quirk will cower in the Simulacrum if spawned with the On Call railjack feature, since the relays are in space. This is despite the fact that the simulacrum is technically not on land or in space but a digital realm.
- Impact Liches will only use their Iron Skin ability once when casting, and do not appear to ever use the ability again, preferring to use their movement ability the most and sometimes pulling enemies with ripline, and rarely using Stomp.
- Liches equipped with the Kuva Nukor retain the weapon's perfect accuracy and chaining ability, offering excellent crowd control through Radiation procs but minimal damage to heavy armor, even alloy.
- Liches, like Sisters, will revive downed Crew Members the same way players do and take time to do so. As they are significantly stronger than normal crew this makes them be able to withstand the toughest punishments while keeping your crew alive.
- Cold based liches' Avalanche ability does not remove armor permanently, unlike Frost's version of Avalanche.
Trivia
- Lich, from Old English līċ meaning 'corpse', is a type of undead creature commonly featured in fantasy fictions.
- The idea of Kuva Liches dates back to Devstream 88 when they were previously known as the "Kingpin" system.
- Originally, the Warframe's color palette, choice of skin, and even whether it was a Prime/Umbra variant or not would affect the Kuva Lich's look and color scheme. In the current build, however, only the Warframe's chosen helmet is attached to one of the Kuva Lich's shoulders, though it also takes into account Deluxe and TennoGen helmets as well.
- Some helmets are seemingly incompatible, however. In these instances, Excalibur's default helmet will appear instead.
- Originally, the Warframe's color palette, choice of skin, and even whether it was a Prime/Umbra variant or not would affect the Kuva Lich's look and color scheme. In the current build, however, only the Warframe's chosen helmet is attached to one of the Kuva Lich's shoulders, though it also takes into account Deluxe and TennoGen helmets as well.
- During the Railjack gameplay during TennoCon 2019, a Kuva Ayanga wielding Kuva Lich was present named "Agor Rok" who served as the Railjack Grineer Galleon assassination target.
- During TennoCon 2019, Agor Rok's Galleon was protected by a shield powered by a generator on the Plains of Eidolon; players were planned to connect to other squads in real-time via Squad Link (called OpLink in Operation: Scarlet Spear) to have a ground team destroy the generator. This mechanic did not make it into the game.
- During TennoCon 2019, Agor Rok was a Tech Specialist that allowed him to use the Galleon's energy to shield himself, which could be disabled with the Railjack team destroying the generators outside of the Galleon. This mechanic did not make it into the game.
- "Agor Rok" appears to be the default name of Kuva Liches, and by extension the Sisters of Parvos, internally; Liches or Sisters who spawn in a co-op session may use "Kuva Lich Agor Rok" instead of their actual name, which remains unchanged for the Lich's/Sister's Progenitor.
- As confirmed on Prime Time #267, the first Kuva Lich that rose in the public build was named "Budigg Fugg".
- Prior to Update 27.1 (2020-02-04), using the Parazon on a Kuva Lich with the incorrect Requiem passphrase would result the Kuva Lich grappling the Warframe and snapping their spine, instantly killing them regardless of bleedout and death prevention effects such as Phoenix Renewal or Wukong's passive.
- With 8 unique Requiem mods, there are 336 possible permutations that can be created using three of those mods.
- Thus, if none of the mods needed are known there is a 1 in 336 chance for a random 3 of the 8 mods to be in the correct order. If one mod in the sequence is known, there is a 1 in 126 chance. If two mods in the sequence are known, there is a 1 in 36 chance. And if all three mods in the sequence are known, there is a 1 in 6 chance for them to be in the correct order.
- However, while knowing 0, 1, 2, or 3 of the needed mods, only a maximum of 18, 13, 8, and 3 preliminary fights against a Kuva Lich respectively are needed to determine the correct mod order. In the case where at least one mod is known as the best strategy to minimize the possible number of fights needed is to always check the position of the known mods first. Otherwise, if 0 mods are known, the player must make 7 checks for the first position, 6 for the second, and 5 for the third, resulting in 18 total checks in the worst-case scenario.
- For example, say only 2 mods are known. These known mods, A & B, should always be placed in the first two positions with the third position being filled by one of the remaining 6 mods. Say position 3 is filled with mod C for the time being. If during the fight with a Kuva Lich the first mod fails, switch the first and second position since both A and B are known. So B is in 1 and A is in position 2, then repeat the fight. If the first position fails again then it is guaranteed that one of the remaining 6 mods must fill position 1, while A & B are in positions 2 or 3. In which case 5 more checks for mods C through G may be necessary to determine the correct mod for position 1, and one more check may be necessary to check the order of A & B in the last two positions. 5 checks for position 1 and not 6 even though 6 mods remain, because if mods C through G fail then it is guaranteed mod H must fill position 1, and as such there is no need to check it. Thus resulting in 13 checks total in the worst-case scenario. This process applies to the other two cases where only 1 mod and 3 mods are known.
- Because simply testing a combination on a Kuva Lich grants roughly 10 Murmurs on average, the number of checks needed will actually be even lower than described above. It should also be noted that Murmurs collected from Thralls during missions will of course lower this further.
- All Kuva Liches have a large crimson gem-like container on their bodies, specifically on the chests, on the backs, or covering one of the eyes. This is presumably a vessel that contains the Queens' blood, Kuva.
- In the execution animation that plays, the Tenno always stabs their Parazon into the orb when vanquishing a Kuva Lich, probably to destroy their source of Kuva, severing their immortality.
- In the conversion animation, the Tenno's Parazon will latch onto the orb and shock the Kuva Lich, presumably purifying their Kuva to be aligned with the Tenno.
Bugs
- Currently it is possible to finish other people's Kuva Lich if they were to spawn during a Thrall hunt. This is possible during a small time window after the original target attempts to kill the Kuva Lich without the correct sequence of Requiem mods. Doing so will kill the interacting player without playing the animation and will grant the Kuva Lich a level for both interactions.
- There is a discrepancy between the stats you see in your Kuva weapon's equip menu (and codex entry) stats and its upgrade menu stats. What this may be is the upgrade menu reflects the actual stats of your Kuva weapon and the equip menu reflects generic Kuva weapon stats for that specific Kuva weapon, before the Kuva Lich modifier is applied.
- Occasionally, Mercy Finishers may not correctly play against Kuva Thralls, resulting in a simple placeholder animation where the Warframe stabs their Parazon in the direction they're facing, regardless of the target's actual location; the target simply falls over after the animation completes. This can also be seen by performing a Mercy Finisher as an operator, as the operator lacks animations for it.
- Upon defeating the Kuva Lich the UI to convert or kill the Kuva Lich might be missing. This locks the player's vision and prevents converting and killing the Kuva Lich as well as extracting from the mission. Used Requiem Mods will not be consumed.
- If player(s) can deal damage fast enough when the Kuva Lich stands up after being incapacitated for the third time, the Kuva Lich will be incapacitated again without having time to retreat/despawn.
- Nova's Null Stars and Baruuk's Desolate Hands will attack downed Kuva Larvlings and Thralls, despite not being able to damage them further. (Thralls however still "die" when killed so Nova's Molecular Fission augment still works to replenish some on doing a mercy kill)
- Players who are not the host will sometimes glitch during a mission in Kuva Lich territory and be able to mercy any enemy they want, however the enemy will not die after the animation unless the conditions to mercy normally are met.
- If you have a Index return stolen under a credit booster and kill the Kuva Lich even if you have a credit booster active you will only receive the original return and not the boosted return (250k return with booster gives 500k return in Index, but the Kuva Lich will only give you 250k even with the booster)
- A bug might happen where an Ephemera might not match up with the element of the weapon.
- Liches with the "Fear of Children" Quirk will run away constantly, regardless of if transference is used by the player or their squad.
- Converted Magnetic Liches will cast "Magnetic Snare" but it nothing will happen. (possibly they are still trying to cast it on the player, as while an enemy the ability will effect the player)
- Setting a Converted Lich with a Quirk to the "On Call" system in Railjack will cause the Player's current Lich or Sister to act as if they have the same quirk, but only in taunts and voice lines.
- If a player has an active Kuva Lich or Sister of Parvos, viewing any past defeated or converted listings in the codex will play the voice lines from their current one only, even playing female voices for males or vis versa.
- Successfully stabbing a Lich that has the Kuva Grattler will become entirely disarmed afterwards for the rest of the fight.
Media
References
External Links
- Main article: Kuva Larvling
A Kuva Larvling is a unique Grineer enemy that can spawn on any regular level 20+ Grineer mission. They can be mercied at low health to spawn a Kuva Lich.
Kuva Larvlings will only spawn after you have completed The War Within quest.
After the screen flashes in any level 20+ Grineer mission, players are required to kill at least 10 enemies in under 1 minute for the Kuva Larvling to spawn. The body count requirement may increase by 10 for each Tenno present, so having more players may affect the kill requirement and the length of the timer.
Grineer Language
- Main article: Grineer Language
The Grineer speak and write in a heavily corrupted form of English, intermixing grunts, simplified terms, and onomatopoeia into their writing and naming conventions as well as a form of substitution that highlights their degenerative speech impediments.
They use their own unique set of barcode letters with dot-matrix-styled 'cuts' made along its edges (left for letters, right for numbers), to various depths. A dot present under each letter's bottom-right corner helps to determine the correct orientation and makes it easy to tell if the text has been flipped or rotated.
In many cases, Digital Extremes did not intend for this script to be translated and read by players. Therefore, many cases of text longer than a few words (such as the readouts on monitors) tend to be random letters strung together and occasionally flipped or rotated. Since the dot-marks are supposed to be on the bottom-right, it is easy to tell when this has been done.
Trivia
- Before Update 10.0 (2013-09-13) was implemented, the Grineer troops used to speak fluent English, which was then changed to the Grineer language in order to retain the lore of the Grineer aggressively disliking anything not Grineer.
- One of the more infamous voice lines from pre-Update 10.0 (2013-09-13) Grineer was "Combat formation Bravo!". It was jokingly explained by a DE staff member that a key requirement of Formation Bravo is to never mention anyone's mother. Other joking fan interpretations of Formation Bravo refer to the "enemy tower" bug, where enemies would spawn on each other's heads.
- Other popular lines from pre-Update 10.0 (2013-09-13) were "Stay close to the walls." and "Hey, leave my mother out of this."
- So far, the Grineer are the only voiced faction to have a strong direct aggression against the Tenno, speaking their name during their attacks in their language.
- They also have been heard saying Waframe, as in Warframe, when spotting one themselves.
- The same applies to many phrases the Grineer use, such as yelling "attaf!" instead of "attack!" and "ket clem!" instead of "get them!" (The Grineer word "clem" has been created into a fictional fan character whose name is the word itself. DE has stated in a Devstream that he is the Medallion Merchant for the Steel Meridian in their syndicate room as well.) Clem was later added to the game as a full character.
- In essence, Grineer still speak English, but since Update 10.0 (2013-09-13), it has been adjusted to account for their decaying flesh and how that might affect their speech, essentially giving them a speech impediment.
- In a Devstream, DE has stated that the Grineer are British. However, this might only be a joke regarding their language and their loyalty to the Twin Queens. They also share similarities to the Lasrian troops from Dark Sector.
- When playing an Invasion mission, while the player has sided with the Grineer, they still will cry out quotes like Tenno Scum, because although the AI is allied with the player the voice choices still do not alter. The same goes with Shadow Grineer, shouting at other Grineer the same anti-Tenno aggressive lines.
- The Corpus nicknamed the Grineer as the "dogs", not because of their degraded appearances but to their aspect of extreme servitude towards their leaders (and possibly creators), the Twin Queens. This was mentioned by Alad V during The Gradivus Dilemma.
- Their name "Grineer" seems to be a portmanteau of the words "Genetically" and "Re-engineer" which makes sense given the lore behind them.
- The name "Grineer" may also be derived from the title of a folkloric monster known as Seigneur du grenier, a French version of the Bogeyman myth.
- In Update 13.2 (2014-05-01), the female Grineer received an audio overhaul. Speaking in a deeper and more aggressive tone, with long pauses and slurs, adding viability to their genetic deterioration.
- Despite the Grineer being a xenophobic race, in the trailer for Vor's Prize, which was shown at the end of Devstream 32, Captain Vor and the Twin Queens are heard speaking in English. Sargas Ruk and a number of other notable Grineer speak the language as well.
- Kuva Liches can speak English as well, but couldn't in the form of Kuva Larvlings. It is implied it is an effect of the whole immortalization process, being gifted with a superior body and intelligence.
- As evidenced by Grineer Lancer's Synthesis imprint, the Grineer existed in the same time period as the Orokin. This is further confirmed by the Arid Eviscerator's imprint, which also confirms the Orokin created the Grineer for slave labor. Originally clone servants used for hard labor, they were militarized by their masters in a desperate attempt to beat their enemies in the Old War.[1]
- The Operator will also mention that "the Grineer used to be builders."
- According to the Landing Craft's Scanner, the Grineer use Solar Rails, possibly in a sort of ongoing partnership with the Corpus (who are known to be the faction controlling the transport network) or a fraction of them; while the Rail Control dispatcher's voice sounds closer to Corpus, he always closes his communications with "Glory To The Queens". They also control mining colonies by attacking them and killing anyone that opposes them (e.g. Rebels).
- For some reason most all of the Drekar Grineer units have the Operator eye guard cosmetic on their left eye.
- In a new Warframe trailer aired during TennoCon 2019, a Grineer depicted in the trailer shows no sign of genetic deterioration, whose concept art was later shown during Devstream 129.
- The event in the trailer is presumably at least a millennia before the Tenno went into their long stasis sleep and awakened at the current timeline.
Media
References
Patch History
Hotfix 28.0.6 (2020-06-24)
- Fixed an issue in the Grineer's genetic code where dying while frozen resulted in their face floating a meter away from their head.
Update 27.2 (2020-03-05)
- Added new Elite Shield Lancers to Asteroid, Forest, Shipyard and Galleon missions that have level 25+ Grineer.
- Added new “hit reaction” animations to Grineer enemies!
- Before this change Grineer would only “flinch” when attacked - Now, with the updated hit reactions, it’ll be much easier to see when an enemy has been hit. These hit reactions are also much more dynamic to improve your Grineer crushing experience.
Update 27.0 (2019-12-13)
- Kosma, Gyre, and Exo units introduced in the Empyrean.
Update 22.0 (2017-10-12)
- Tusk units introduced in the Plains of Eidolon.
Update 19.0 (2016-11-11)
- Kuva units introduced in the Kuva Fortress.
Update 17.0 (2015-07-31)
- Drekar units introduced in the Grineer Sealab tileset on Uranus.
Update 11.5 (2013-12-19)
- Frontier units introduced in the Grineer Forest tileset on Earth.
Update 10.0 (2013-09-13)
- All Grineer now speak “Grineer”, a language capable of communicating their barbaric ways!
- Added all-new Male and Female Grineer combat VO!
Update 9.5 (2013-08-09)
- Arid units introduced in the Grineer Settlement tileset on Mars.
See Also
- Grineer Language
- Enemy Behavior, including tips and tricks on how to know your enemy.
- Factions
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