Prelude to War is a narrative arc involving the Lotus returning to the Sentients, preparing to wage war against the Tenno. The Prelude is presented as a series of mini-quests and cutscenes consisting of Chimera Prologue, Erra, and The Maker, while being referenced in Sentient-related lore and events.
Synopsis[]
The chronology of Prelude to War are as follows:
Chimera Prologue[]
- Main article: Chimera Prologue
This is the opening act to Prelude to War, and is the first miniquest playable in the series.
Thanks to The Man in The Wall, the Operator discovers that Ballas survived the events of The Sacrifice and was turned into an Amalgam, seemingly under Natah's surveillance. After cursing his saviour for his current condition, and while trying not to be discovered, he creates for the Tenno the 
Paracesis, called the "Sentient-slayer", in order to prepare them for the upcoming war. His final motivations, however, remain unknown.
The Jovian Concord[]
- Main article: Fragments/Partnership
The Sentients are trying to find a way to neutralize their weakness to the Void. To do so, they force Alad V to create Amalgams with other races, while keeping a Ropalolyst on his cities to prevent any treason. The project is a success, and Alad V is tasked to gather data about the Tenno making them fight the Amalgams in a death game of Disruption. The Tenno, however, discover the Sentient plans and engage the Ropalolyst, while Alad V secretly tries to support them. Meanwhile, Natah contacts the Tenno claiming to have been freed by the Orokin manipulations, which forced her to turn her against her own race and family, and that she has now returned to them to finish the war. The Ropalolyst itself, which is in the end defeated, was nothing more than a sacrificial pawn, used to gather even more data about the Tenno.
Erra[]
- Main article: Erra (Quest)
This is the second miniquest playable in the Prelude to War series.
After the Tenno discover the first Murex ships in Veil Proxima, the Operator has a new vision, a flashback to the Old War. On Lua, the Operator is shown with other Tenno and the Lotus. The Lotus speaks to Erra, who calls her his sister, Natah. She replies, refuting his statement and calls herself The Lotus. The flashback ends with the Tenno attacking Erra with their Void Beams, but it is unclear whether or not he survived.
The Operator is then brought back in the present, inside of a Sentient mothership, and sees Erra, alive, talking to his now restored sister about the upcoming war, while keeping Amalgam-Ballas on a leash. Erra claims that Natah has memory lapses; as a matter of fact she still believes to be fighting the Orokin in the Old War, but nonetheless encourages her to lead the offensive against the Tenno, after her experiences gave her "something her race has never had before".
Operation: Scarlet Spear[]
- Main article: Operation: Scarlet Spear
The first true act of the New War is represented by a mass-invasion of Erra's Murex ships which breach Veil Proxima and deploy Condrix, info-gathering dropships, on Earth to gather data for future assaults. Little Duck, who had noticed the first Murex ships in Veil months ago, tried to inform Teshin about it, but wasn't believed. Now however, after the Sentients became a noticeable threat, he starts listening to what she says while also putting her in charge of the counter-offensive, in spite of her claims not to be a general.
The Tenno are instructed to fend off the invasion by poisoning the minds of the Murex ships, which can be considered living beings, forcing them to retreat. To do so, Tenno squads on Earth have the duty of intercepting Condrix ships and harvest their data, replacing them with poisonous Kill Codes. Such codes are then sent to Tenno squads in Veil Proxima, which instead board Murex ships to upload the Kill Codes in their cognitive nexus. In both instances the Tenno are forced to fight on two fronts, since the Grineer, lead by General Sargas Ruk, are also trying to harvest as much Sentient resources as possible while fighting the Tenno, believed to be the ones who caused the invasion.
The Maker[]
- Main article: The Maker
This is the third and last miniquest playable in the Prelude to War series.
Inside the Sentient mothership, Erra is telling Natah that their mother, who she wrongly believed to be alive, is dead and urges her to finish the war as "[she has] her fire". Natah notes that she remembers ordering the Tenno to attack Erra and that he was destroyed. Erra objects and states that she remembers wrong and will need time to completely heal from "what the Makers had done to [her]". Natah is not convinced and points at leashed Ballas asking if he is one of the Makers.
Erra suddenly grabs and throws Natah at the pedestal behind him, where she is trapped in a field of energy of unknown purpose. Erra tells her to "finish the war" and drops Ballas's leash. Ballas stands as he and Erra silently watch Natah.
Operation: Orphix Venom[]
- Main article: Operation: Orphix Venom
Recovering from Scarlet Spear, the Sentients have redoubled their offense and deployed Orphix, dropships armed with specialized disabling pulses, now capable of disabling Warframes. Fortunately, Father's Necramechs are still immune to the Sentient pulses, giving the Tenno a fighting chance with the Old War retired rigs.
As the Tenno fight back, Natah reveals her role in having taught the Orphix to disable Warframes. However she also secretly transmits a code to them: "I AM DYING".
Trivia[]
- The quest was first teased at TennoCon 2018. Devstream 122 announced the expected released date is before TennoCon 2019 (July 6), but Devstream 127 pushed back the release date due to the update being a "massive expansion".
- In Devstream 123, [DE]Steve advised not to sell the
Paracesis (despite not being possible to), implying it may be used in The New War. - Devstream 134 implied The New War is a narrative arc, the first quest of the arc being Rising Tide, while The New War quest itself is being released beyond Christmas 2019.
- Tennocon 2021 revealed the first gameplay of The New War, featuring three playable non-Tenno characters: Kahl-175, a Grineer Lancer; Veso, a Corpus Tech[1]; and Teshin. This is the second time ever in WARFRAME's history where players are able to play as non-Tenno characters and factions (the first being with the Golden Maw during The War Within).
- The release date was changed from 2019 to 2021, as a reference to its original announcement date.
- In Devstream 123, [DE]Steve advised not to sell the
Media[]
Patch History[]
Update 32.3 (2023-02-15)
- Fixed the Prelude to War Codex screen opening when selecting the Quest guide tab in Navigation for a different Quest.
Update 31.1 (2022-02-09)
- Fixed ‘Prelude to War’ not appearing when searching it in the Codex.
Update 31.0 (2021-12-15)
- We have renamed the former “The New War’ Codex section to “Prelude to War”, players must have this complete to participate in The New War Quest.
Update 30.3 (2021-05-25)
- Added a "To be continued..." label to The New War in Codex if the third entry cinematic has been viewed. The third cinematic entry has also officially been titled “The Maker”.
- This section now also displays completion state for cinematic entries.
Update 29.5 (2020-11-19)
- Fixed several issues caused by opening up the pause menu during the New War cinematic from the Codex when using a controller, as reported here: https://forums.warframe.com/topic/1204201-orbiter-ui-breaks-when-exiting-new-war-cutscene/
Update 27.3 (2020-03-24)
- The New War Chapters:
As you may already know, in Warframe Revised we added The New War Chapters section of the Codex that allows you to shortcut to the Chimera Prologue and the Erra Quest (Sacrifice Quest completion required).
For those who have not logged in since before Warframe Revised, you will be presented with a welcome screen that now includes a direct shortcut to The New War Chapters to get you up to speed before you play Operation Scarlet Spear.
We’ve made a few changes to The New War Chapters section of the Codex:
- Selecting a completed New War Chapter will show the End of Quest screen.
- Selecting a New War Chapter in progress will show the Quest details like in the Codex.
Ensure you’re ready for the next chapter in The New War!
Update 27.2 (2020-03-05)
- The New War Chapters:
A Codex Quest chapter entry for The New War has been added for those who have completed the Sacrifice Quest! As you might be aware, The New War has started, and with Scarlet Spear coming soon we want players to be properly informed as The New War develops. If you have yet to complete the Chimera Prologue or the Erra Quest, head to The New War Codex Quest entry to access a shortcut to these Quests.
- ↑ Alad V: "Oh, and, uh, any remaining techs aboard, narrow-band me at once!" Veso: "Confirming tech aboard!" https://youtu.be/lpTIgUL9NrA?t=392
- ↑ Prelude to War is a compilation of miniquests and cutscenes leading up to The New War.
- ↑ While not part of the main story quest, The Duviri Paradox has very interlinked story context to several critical characters in The New War.