Kuva is a special resource that can be collected with the help of Operator void abilities from Kuva Siphons, which appear on planets near the ever-moving Kuva Fortress.
In addition to its use as a crafting material, Kuva is used to cycle Riven Mods.
Due to the circumstances through which the Kuva Fortress itself is discovered, accessing Kuva siphon and Kuva Flood missions is only possible after completing The War Within quest. Kuva siphon and Kuva flood missions can be found on nodes marked with a Kuva symbol. Each mission only appears for a certain amount of time before the Kuva Fortress moves again.
Lore
Fragments
In Cephalon Ordis' fragments, it is revealed that one of the Orokin executors, Ballas, offered Ordan Karris a red vial, calling it an opportunity "to be one of us". This was later presumed to be a Kuva vial, wherein it was possibly used on the Beast of Bones, as an eternal punishment to become a Cephalon slave, rather than a status ascension.
While the fragments contained within them are not directly involved with the quest itself, the Glass Shards involved in the Saya's Vigil quest reveal that during the last days of the Orokin Empire, the Unum used some of her "Temple Kuva" in an effort to locate a monstrous Sentient, which would terrorize her tower and her people by night but retreat and hide during the day. The Unum instructed her people to feed the Kuva to the local wildlife, connecting her consciousness with them and allowing her to find the Sentient.
This proved to be a double-edged sword, however, as the Sentient discovered that Kuva could restore its ability to reproduce, increasing the intensity of its attacks even further. This necessitated 
Gara, the lone Tenno defender of the Unum, to sacrifice her life, carrying a bomb that devastated the Sentient even as she was killed. Even to this day, long after the war, the Unum's consciousness still resides in the Plains' wildlife, allowing her to keep an eye on the Grineer troops, and she still gives her Temple Kuva for the Ostrons to use.
The War Within
Kuva is also involved in The War Within quest, wherein the Elder Queen of the Grineer holds a Kuva Scepter, a symbol of Orokin dominion used to command their Dax soldiers, of which Teshin is one. Kuva is also used to perform Continuity, the Orokin ritual of transferring the consciousness of a dying Orokin to a new body.
The exact nature of Kuva is a mystery yet to be revealed. From how Teshin describes it, it likely has properties that extend life up until Continuity is needed, and it may have also contributed to the Orokin's pride and authoritative mistreatment of their political subordinates, hence playing a role in their downfall. It also has other properties; it is mentioned by Teshin that the Kuva Guardians' weapon, 
Kesheg, is imbued with Kuva which supposedly makes them immune to Warframe powers. This is also alluded to in the braids surrounding the Queens' throne: they are immune to all attacks except for the Operator's Void Beam, suggesting they were also made with Kuva.
Another possible property of the Kuva can be seen within the Kuva Scepter, which is used by the Elder Queen to knock the Operator out of their Warframe and preventing further Transference. This suggests that Kuva has the ability to interfere or limit Transference to a certain extent.
Acquiring Kuva
- The primary method for acquiring Kuva is through Kuva Siphon missions, of which there are two types available: the regular Kuva Siphon (mission level 25-35) and the Kuva Flood (mission level 80-100). Successfully destroying one Kuva Siphon will grant around
550-700 Kuva, while the Kuva Flood will reward double that amount, at the cost of having higher level enemies. - Kuva can also be acquired in 100 or 300 units by doing Cetus Bounties, and 500 units from Fortuna Bounties.
- Sorties can reward 6,000 units of Kuva as a possible completion reward.
- Kuva Survival on Taveuni, Kuva Fortress rewards 200 units of Kuva for converting a Life Support Capsule into a Kuva Harvester and then defending it.
- Disruption on Tamu, Kuva Fortress awards 100 Kuva for Tier A, 200 for Tier B, and 350 for Tier C. In addition, Demolisher units drop 50 Kuva when killed.
- (Obsolete) Nightwave Series 1 grants 20,000 Kuva at rank 15 and 19.
- Kuva can sometimes be purchased as a Nightwave Cred Offering at a rate of 10,000 units for Template:Wc.
Blueprints Requiring Kuva
| Blueprints | Type | Quantity (Research) |
|---|---|---|
| Bleeding Body Ephemera | Cosmetic | 10,000 |
 Excalibur Umbra |
Warframe | 60 |
 Garuda |
Warframe | 3,500 |
 Harrow |
Warframe | 2,000 |
| Kesheg |
Melee | 1,400 (400) |
 Nidus |
Warframe | 2,000 |
 Octavia Systems |
Component | 2,000 |
 Orvius |
Melee | 4,000 |
 Tatsu |
Melee | 1,200 |
 Twin Rogga |
Secondary | 1,600 |
 Zarr |
Primary | 1,800 |
| Total | 29,460(+400) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research |  x1  x3  x10  x30  x100
| ||||||||
Last updated: Update 24.0 (2018-11-08)
Notes
Kuva's codex entry.
- Kuva gain is affected by Resource Boosters and Smeeta Kavat's Charm.
- This does not apply to the mission rewards from Kuva Fortress Disruption, but does apply to the Kuva dropped by Demolishers.
- During Kuva Siphon missions, Kuva clouds can be captured with the Operator's Script error: The function "Proc" does not exist. abilities, which includes Void Beam, Void Blast and Void Dash.
- Kuva has its own Codex entry, requiring 3 scans, though it does not contain any meaningful information.
Trivia
- Kuva has possible meanings in two languages:
- In Marathi, it means a well or a cavity in which is fixed the mast of a vessel.
- In Sanskrit, it means a flower or a lotus.
- Both languages use same Devanagari spelling, कुवा (kuva).
- Kuva also mean 'subdue' is Swedish.
