I am calling it the Specter Particle. As my Archimedians explain, mimicry is in its nature. An echo. Exposed to precept circuits, we are able to imprint behaviors! Like an infant mirroring her surrogate. Only this infant can set the world on fire.
A Specter is an AI-controlled ally unit that will fight alongside a player for the duration of a mission. They have their own set of weapons and/or abilities that they can use against enemies, and are generally summoned via a consumable Gear item.
Tenno Specters
- Main article: Specter (Tenno)
- Main article: Specter (Enemy)
Warframe Specters can act as allies or enemies depending on the circumstances. As allies, Specters are AI-Controlled Warframe-replicants employing customizable load-outs (which are configured via the Foundry). They can be summoned via consumable Gear wheel items in all Missions except Archwing and Sanctuary Onslaught.
Enemy Specters are primarily encountered as guardians of the Origin System's Solar Rail Junctions, and must be defeated to unlock connections to new planets and destinations on the Star Chart. Specter-like enemy Warframes also serve as enemies during specific Quests.
Warframe Specters were also used to guard a Clan's Solar Rail during Solar Rail Conflicts, before this game mode was discontinued. Contesting Clans would have to face these Specter Regiments in order to seize control of territory. A Specter Regiment was to be created through researching it in the Clan Dojo's Orokin Lab. As mentioned, however, the entire Clan-conflict mechanic and the associated Regiments were eventually removed from the game.
The blueprints of Warframe Specters can be acquired by completing Rescue missions, with the type of blueprint awarded depending on the node that was played, and how many points were acquired. In total, three points can be attained in a mission: one for rescuing the target, one for not triggering the execution sequence in the process, and one for killing all the Wardens.
Points
|
Easy Rewards Level 1-15
|
Medium Rewards Level 16-25
|
Hard Rewards Level 25+
|
Nightmare Rewards As it Occurs
|
1
|
None
|
Vapor Specter BP
|
Phase Specter BP
|
Force Specter BP
|
2
|
Vapor Specter BP
|
Phase Specter BP
|
Force Specter BP
|
Cosmic Specter BP
|
3
|
Phase Specter BP
|
Force Specter BP
|
Cosmic Specter BP
|
Cosmic Specter BP
|
The Vapor Specter (or Bronze Specter) blueprint is rewarded from Easy and Medium difficulty Rescue missions, and yields 10 Specter uses per build. Spawns at the starting level of the enemies in the current mission.
The Phase Specter (or Silver Specter) blueprint is rewarded from Easy, Medium and Hard difficulty Rescue missions, and yields 5 Specter uses per build. Spawns at the starting level of the enemies in the current mission, plus three levels.
The Force Specter (or Gold Specter) blueprint is rewarded from Medium, Hard, and Nightmare difficulty Rescue missions, and yields 3 Specter uses per build. Spawns at the starting level of the enemies in the current mission, plus five levels.
The Cosmic Specter (or Platinum Specter) blueprint is rewarded from Hard and Nightmare difficulty Rescue missions, and yields a single Specter usage per build. Spawns at the starting level of the enemies in the current mission, plus ten levels.
Syndicate Specters
Access to Syndicate Specters can be acquired by taking allegiance to the desired Syndicates and attaining the first tier in their ranks. Syndicate Specters can be purchased by spending 2,500 Standing 2,500 for a bundle of five. Only one instance for each type of Specters can be summoned. Summoning another one while an identical Specter is active will kill the one already out.
Their blueprints can also be acquired from Syndicate death squads, with the type of blueprint awarded depending on their respective Syndicates.
- Syndicate Specter x5
Miscellaneous Specters
Shockwave MOA
- Main article: MOA Cabinet Spawner
Friendly Specter-like Shockwave MOAs can be manually spawned from hackable cabinets located throughout certain Corpus tilesets.
Clem Clone
- Main article: Darvo, Weekly Mission
The reward for the final mission of the A Man of Few Words quest is a Clem Clone Blueprint, which works in the same way as specters, deploying a clone of Clem to fight. The blueprint is a one-time use item and produces 5 clones, and like normal specters deploying one in a mission will use one of them up, regardless of whether it is alive at the end of the mission. Additional blueprints can be acquired by undertaking a weekly "merchandise acquisition" Survival mission for Darvo. This weekly mission can be started by talking to him in his shop and asking if Clem needs help.
Clem Clone Specters have similar AI to Tenno Specters, and will act like bodyguards.
Corrupted Bombard
- Main article: Corrupted Bombard
The Corrupted Bombard Specter Blueprint was introduced as a Baro Ki'Teer exclusive specter, available for 100 100 and 50,000 Credits 50,000 between February 24 - 26, 2017 on PC. The blueprint is a one time use (providing 5x specters) and includes a Corrupted Bombard specter and an accompanying Orokin Drone. The drone does not and cannot obtain shields, and the limited 200 shield is gives to the specter will not recharge once depleted unless the Drone is killed and respawns, doing so in 30 seconds of being destroyed.
Corrupted Heavy Gunner
- Main article: Corrupted Heavy Gunner
The Corrupted Heavy Gunner Specter Blueprint was introduced as a Baro Ki'Teer exclusive specter, available for 100 100 and 40,000 Credits 40,000 between May 4 - 6, 2018 on PC. The bundle provides 5x Corrupted Heavy Gunner specters and an accompanying Orokin Drone. The drone does not and cannot obtain shields, and the limited 200 shield is gives to the specter will not recharge once depleted unless the Drone is killed and respawns, doing so in 30 seconds of being destroyed.
Equinox
Equinox's Duality augment for Metamorphosis creates a temporary specter of Equinox herself armed with whatever weapon or gear item (the specter will not use gear items of any kind) she is currently using. The specter will take the form of Equinox's opposite half (i.e. swapping to her Night Form results in a Day Form specter and vice versa), will not use abilities, and her Warframe and equipment stats will take into account of any mods installed, while also dealing increased damage (not modifiable). The specter will only last for a set duration (modifiable via Ability Duration) and will instantly die if it walks in range of a Nullifier Crewman's bubble or a Nul Comba's/Scrambus' aura.
Duality's Specter has similar AI to Tenno Specters, and will act like a bodyguard.
Wukong
Wukong's Celestial Twin creates a permanent specter of Wukong himself armed with whatever weapons in his arsenal. The twin will cycle his weapons in response to Wukong's equipped weapons (i.e. swapping to primary or secondary results in the twin using melee and vise versa), is affected by Cloud Walker's invulnerability and health restore per meter travelled, and will mimic Defy and Primal Fury, and his Warframe and equipment stats will take into account of any mods installed. The twin takes continuous health damage if it walks in range of a Nullifier Crewman's bubble or a Nul Comba's/Scrambus' aura, although nothing will happen to it if Wukong himself is affected by a Nullifier bubble.
Celestial Twin's Specter has similar AI to Tenno Specters, and will act like a bodyguard.
Excalibur Umbra
Excalibur Umbra exhibits sentience when not piloted by the Operator, functioning as a specter and will fight on his own with whatever weapons in his arsenal. Sentient Umbra can use abilities (with the exception of Exalted Blade), and will arm himself with a melee weapon (if he has one equipped) whenever an enemy comes within close proximity, and his Warframe and equipment stats will take into account of any mods installed.
Sentient Umbra can be harmed and takes full damage from any source, and once his health is depleted, he will stop moving and attacking until the Operator pilots him again. However, Sentient Umbra cannot die and will not use up a revive.
Sentient Umbra has similar AI to Tenno Specters, and will act like a bodyguard.
Aggression and Pathing
- All Specters who don't have the "bodyguard" AI type will only follow the player if they do not detect any enemies. If they detect an enemy nearby, they may do the following:
- Corrupted lancers will sprint for cover and stay in that cover until enemies get near or until the enemy it detected dies (even if it is in another room).
- Rollers will roll towards the enemies and continue to attack until (easily) being destroyed.
- MOA specters are one of two Specters that will take the initiative to follow the player, often walking backward as it fires at enemies. It too, however, can get stuck as it notices many enemies, in which it will decide the enemies are a bigger priority than the player.
- Charger specters have a slightly smaller detection range and aggression towards enemies but never attempt to follow the player if enemies are nearby and its weak attacks often miss enemies who walk backward to avoid its attacks.
- Ancient Healer specters will slowly walk towards enemies until they are in range, and then charge as a normal Healer would do.
- Clem will stay close to the player most of the time, and sometimes stop to engage the enemy for a while.
- Shield Ospreys have both the "bodyguard" AI and the normal enemy AI; they will attempt to stay close to other deployed specters, defense objectives, or other high-value allies even if they detect enemies. If there are no high-value allies nearby (players don't count) it will simply drift into the enemies instead.
Tenno Specters Behavior
- Main article: Specter (Tenno)#Behavior
Tenno Specters don't rely on Energy, instead of utilizing a short cooldown system for their abilities. As their health, armor, and shield scales with the mission level, their Effective Health will generally scale far past the player's Warframe. When spawned during a Nightmare Mode mission, specters will attack the player instead of enemies, forcing players to play without an AI partner.
Depending on the Warframe being used, each of these specters has its own specific AIs tailored to assist the player Tenno in their endeavor. Abilities used by Specters have different values from their regular versions.
Warframe
|
Ability Casting Behavior
|
Ash
|
- Casts Shuriken when enemy is in line of sight. Cooldown of 15 seconds.
- Casts Smoke Screen very sporadically, regardless of enemy presence. Attacking with Warframe weapons will end Specter's invisibility. Operator attacks will not end invisibility. Will cast every 8-12 seconds.
- Casts Teleport when enemy is more than 10m away. Cooldown of 10 seconds.
- Casts Blade Storm when 5+ enemies are within 50m with at least one within line of sight. Does not necessarily tag all 5+ enemies with the power. Cooldown of 55 seconds.
|
Atlas
|
- Casts first punch of Landslide when enemy is within 12m. Cooldown of 25 seconds.
- Does not cast Tectonics.
- Casts Petrify when enemy is within 5m. Cooldown of 80 seconds.
- Casts Rumblers when enemy is within 30m. Rumblers last 20 seconds. Cooldown of 100 seconds.
- Golems do not benefit from Specter's scaling health and armor.
|
Banshee
|
- Casts Sonic Boom when enemy is within 7m. Cooldown of 13 seconds.
- Casts Sonar when enemy is in line of sight. Cooldown of 30 seconds.
- Casts Silence when enemy is in line of sight within 10m. Cooldown of 65 seconds.
- Casts Sound Quake when enemy is within 10m. Maintains for up to 10 seconds. Cooldown of 13 seconds, starting when effect ends.
|
Baruuk
|
- Casts Elude when enemy is in line of sight. Lasts up to 120 seconds. Cooldown of 50 seconds, starting when Elude's effect ends.
- Casts Lull when enemy is within 30m. Cooldown of 35 seconds, often waits up to 20 seconds after cooldown to cast.
- Casts Desolate Hands when 3+ enemies are within 25m with at least one within line of sight and has no daggers. Cooldown of 1 minute.
- Casts Serene Storm when enemy is within 5m. Freely switches between Serene Storm attacks and weapon attacks for up to 130 seconds. Cooldown of 40 seconds, starting when Serene Storm's effect ends.
|
Caliban
|
- Does not cast any other abilities.
- Casts Fusion Strike when enemy is in line of sight. Cooldown of 8 seconds.
|
Chroma ( Heat element)
|
- Does not cast Spectral Scream.
- Casts Elemental Ward when enemies are within 15m. Cooldown of 55 seconds.
- Casts Vex Armor when enemies are within 15m. Cooldown of 30 seconds.
- Casts Effigy when enemies are within 15m. Seems to recall Effigy immediately the first time it's cast. Otherwise, leaves Effigy out for 15-25 seconds. After Effigy is recalled, cooldown is 1 minute.
- Effigy does not use elemental breath, but will use radial pulses. Stun pulse is typically used once per Effigy cast, while knockback pulse is used every 5 seconds if enemies are within 5m.
|
Citrine
|
- Casts all abilities.
- Casts Fractured Blast as normal with unranked stats and is her second most used ability
- Casts Preserving Shell often, starting at 40% damage reduction and scaling with kills by the specter or nearby allies like normal
- Casts Prismatic Gem when enemies are nearby, boosting status and applying status effects like normal
- Casts Crystallize rarely, offering minor crowd control and boosted crits for a short time on effected enemies
- Passive ability grants allies 5 health/second
|
Ember
|
- Casts Fireball when enemy is in line of sight. Cooldown of 20 seconds.
- Casts Immolation off cooldown. Effect lasts 50 seconds. Cooldown of 10 seconds, starting Immolation's effect ends if it ends naturally.
- Casts Fire Blast when enemy is within 15m. Cooldown of 40 seconds.
- Casts Inferno off cooldown, but seems to have no effect. Cooldown of 1 minute.
|
Equinox
|
- Casts Metamorphosis off cooldown. Cooldown of 35 seconds.
- Casts Rest & Rage when enemy is within 20m. Cooldown of 24 seconds.
- Casts Pacify & Provoke when enemy is in line of sight. Maintains for up to 25 seconds. Cooldown of 33 seconds.
- Because of staggered cooldown with Metamorphosis, uptime of Pacify & Provoke is highly inconsistent.
- Casts Mend & Maim when enemy is in line of sight. Maintains for up to 25 seconds. Cooldown of 33 seconds.
|
Excalibur/ Excalibur Umbra
|
|
Frost
|
- Casts Freeze when enemy is in line of sight. Cooldown of 12 seconds.
- Casts Ice Wave when enemy is within 13m. Cooldown of 25 seconds.
- Casts Snow Globe when shields are below 25% and no other Snow Globes (including those made by players) exist on the map. Cooldown of 30 seconds.
- Note that because Specter's armor stats scale with enemy level, their snow globes can be stronger than player-made ones.
- Casts Avalanche when enemy is within 10m. Cooldown of 70 seconds.
|
Gara
|
- Casts Shattered Lash (arc version only) when enemy is within 5m. Cooldown of 12 seconds.
- Does not cast Splinter Storm.
- Casts Spectrorage when enemy is in line of sight. Cooldown of 70 seconds.
- Casts Mass Vitrify when enemy is within 7m. Cooldown of 70 seconds.
- Note that because Specter's armor stats scale with enemy level, their walls can be stronger than player-made ones.
|
Garuda
|
- Does not cast Dread Mirror.
- Does not cast Blood Altar.
- Casts Bloodletting when above 90% health. Cooldown of 30 seconds.
- Will also increase Specters' damage output because of passive.
- Casts Seeking Talons when 4+ enemies are in line of sight. Cooldown of 40 seconds.
|
Gauss
|
- Gauss Specters will start with 80% battery.[1]
- Casts Mach Rush when enemy is in line of sight. Does not cast if set to Hold Position. Maintains until targeted enemy is knocked down. Can cast other abilities while active, but cannot use weapons. Cooldown of 5 seconds, starting when Mach Rush's effect ends.
- Casts Kinetic Plating when enemy is within 12m. Cooldown of 1 minute.
- Casts Thermal Sunder when enemy is in line of sight. Cooldown of 28 seconds.
- Casts Redline when enemy is in line of sight. Cooldown of 70 seconds.
|
Grendel
|
- Casts Feast when enemy is within 10m. Cooldown of 40 seconds.
- Casts Nourish when holding an enemy with Feast. Cooldown of 30 seconds.
- Casts Regurgitate when holding an enemy with Feast, and another enemy is in line of sight within 10m. Cooldown of 5 seconds.
- Casts Pulverize when holding an enemy with Feast, and another enemy is in line of sight within 45m. Maintains for up to 1 minute. Cooldown of 1 minute, starting when Pulverize's effect ends. Uses Roller AI when in this form.
- Ignores Hold Position command while rolling, but will return to position after ending the ability.
|
Gyre
|
|
Harrow
|
- Casts Condemn when enemies are within 15m. 15 second cooldown.
- Casts Penance when enemies are in line of sight. 25 second cooldown.
- Casts Thurible off cooldown. 52 second cooldown. Tries for 13.5 energy return, but will sometimes cut it shorter. Hits a lower value for the first cast after being summoned.
- Casts Covenant when any enemies are in line of sight. 55 second cooldown.
|
Hildryn
|
- Casts Balefire when enemy is within line of sight. Maintains until shields run out. Cooldown of 25 seconds, starting when Balefire's effect ends.
- All shots are fully charged before firing.
- Casts Pillage when any shielded enemy is in line of sight, even if too far away to affect with the ability. Cooldown of 45 seconds.
- Casts Haven when enemy is within line of sight and shields are above 50%. Maintains until shields run out. Cooldown of 30 seconds, starting when Haven's effect ends.
- Does not cast Aegis Storm.
|
Hydroid
|
- Casts Tempest Barrage when enemy is in line of sight. Cooldown of 21 seconds.
- Casts Tidal Surge when enemy is in line of sight within 20m. Cooldown of 25 seconds.
- Does not cast Undertow.
- Casts Tentacle Swarm when enemy is in line of sight. Cooldown of 70 seconds.
|
Inaros
|
- Specter corpses do not despawn. Likely tied to Inaros' passive ability.
- Casts Desiccation when enemy is in line of sight within 5m. Cooldown of 20 seconds.
- Casts Sandstorm when 5+ enemies are within 25m with at least one in line of sight. Maintains for up to 10 seconds. Cooldown of 1 minute, starting when Sandstorm's effect ends. Casting Sandstorm will disable the Hold Position command.
- Does not cast Scarab Swarm.
|
Ivara
|
- Casts Quiver when any enemy is in line of sight with 25m. Only uses Sleep arrow. Cooldown of 15 seconds.
- Does not cast Navigator.
- Casts Prowl off cooldown. Lasts indefinitely, until Specter fires an Alarming weapon or until player attacks with any Warframe weapon, even if silenced. Abilities and Operator attacks do not cancel Specter's Prowl. Does not steal from enemies. Cooldown of 13 seconds, starting when Prowl's effect ends.
- Casts Artemis Bow when 4+ enemies are within line of sight. Maintains for up to 20 seconds. Cooldown of 50 seconds, starting when Artemis Bow's effect ends.
|
Khora
|
- Casts Whipclaw when any enemy is in line of sight within 5m. Cooldown of 9 seconds.
- Casts Ensnare when any enemy is in line of sight. Cooldown of 25 seconds.
- Specter Venari behaves like a regular Kavat, without parkour maneuvers and only uses Protect stance. Specter Venari will follow the summoning player, rather than the Khora specter.
- Venari's health does not scale with enemy level.
- Venari will attack enemies even if Inactivity Penalty has been triggered.
- After death, Venari will be respawned after 45 seconds.
- Casts Strangledome when 3+ enemies are within 8m, with at least 1 in line of sight. Cooldown of 30 seconds.
|
Kullervo
|
|
Lavos
|
- Casts Ophidian Bite when enemies are within 10m. Cooldown of 8 seconds.
- Casts Catalyze when 4 or more enemies are within 15m with at least one within line of sight. Cooldown of 35 seconds.
- Does not cast any other abilities.
|
Limbo
|
- Casts Banish when enemies are within 20m. Does not send enemies to the Rift, just causes knockdown. Cooldown of 22 seconds.
- Does not cast any other abilities.
|
Loki
|
- Casts Decoy when enemy is in line of sight, placing Decoy on top of targeted enemy. Lasts 25 seconds, or until death. Cooldown of 10 seconds, starting when Decoy is cast.
- Casts Invisibility off cooldown. Lasts for 11 seconds, or until player attacks with any weapon Cooldown of 3 seconds if Invisibility ends via reaching its maximum duration, or cooldown of 7 seconds if Invisibility ends due to player using a weapon.
- Operator attacks do not end Loki's Invisibility.
- Does not cast Switch Teleport.
- Casts Radial Disarm when enemy is in line of sight within 10m. Cooldown of 70 seconds.
|
Mag
|
- Casts Pull when enemy is 8-15m away. Cooldown of 20 seconds.
- Casts Magnetize when any enemy is in line of sight. Maintains bubble for 6 seconds. Cooldown of 33 seconds.
- Does not cast hold variant.
- Casts Polarize when player is within 20m with shields below 60%. Cooldown of 5 seconds.
- Appears to cast 3 times in a row more rapidly than possible for a player, but this is only an animation bug.
- Casts Crush when enemy is within 10m. Cooldown of 30 seconds.
|
Mesa
|
- Casts Ballistic Battery when enemy is in line of sight. Cooldown of 45 seconds.
- Casts Shooting Gallery when enemy is within 10m. Cooldown of 90 seconds.
- Does not cast Shatter Shield.
- Casts Peacemaker when enemy is in line of sight. Fires for up to 10 seconds. Cooldown of 45 seconds, which begins upon casting Peacemaker, not upon ending it.
|
Mirage
|
- Does not cast Hall of Mirrors.
- Casts Sleight of Hand when enemy is within 15m. Cooldown of 20 seconds.
- Casts Eclipse when enemy is within 20m. Cooldown of 40 seconds.
- Casts Prism when enemy is within 30m. Maintains for up to 10 seconds. Cooldown of 70 seconds, starting when Prism's effect ends.
|
Nekros
|
- Casts Soul Punch when enemy is within 20m. Cooldown of 13 seconds.
- Does not summon a shadow version of target.
- Casts Terrify when 5+ enemies are within 25m with at least one within line of sight. Cooldown of 1 minute.
- Does not cast Desecrate.
- Does not cast Shadows of the Dead.
|
Nezha
|
- Does not cast Fire Walker.
- Casts Blazing Chakram when enemy is within 20m. Does not make the enemy vulnerable to damage. Cooldown of 20 seconds.
- Casts Warding Halo when taking any damage. Cooldown of 70 seconds, starting when Warding Halo's health runs out.
- Casts Divine Spears when enemy is within 10m. Cancels ability immediately after casting. Cooldown of 30 seconds.
|
Nidus
|
- Casts Virulence when enemy is within 15m. Cooldown of 12 seconds.
- Does not cast Larva.
- Casts Parasitic Link when any ally is within 30m, though the max range is 40m. Provides 10-28% Ability Strength boost depending on player's Warframe rank. Cooldown of 20 seconds, starting when Parasitic Link's effect ends.
- Does not use Parasitic Link on enemies.
- Casts Ravenous when enemy is within 15m. Seems to heal for 23 when casted without link, and 30 with. Cooldown of 50 seconds.
|
Nova
|
- Casts Null Star when enemy is in line of sight. Cooldown of 30 seconds, starting when Null Star's particles have all been expended.
- Casts Antimatter Drop when enemy is in line of sight and more than 15m away. Cooldown of 25 seconds.
- Does not cast Wormhole.
- Casts Molecular Prime when enemy is in line of sight. Cooldown of 50 seconds.
|
Nyx
|
- Casts Mind Control when damaged by enemy within 20m. Cooldown of 30 seconds, starting when Mind Control's effect ends.
- Casts Psychic Bolts when any enemy is in line of sight. Cooldown of 13 seconds.
- Casts Chaos when 5+ enemies are within 20m with at least one within line of sight. Cooldown of 50 seconds.
- Casts Absorb when under 80% health and an enemy is within 10m. Lasts up to 5 seconds. Cooldown of 75 seconds.
|
Oberon
|
- Casts Smite when enemy is within 20m. Cooldown of 30 seconds.
- Casts Hallowed Ground when enemy is in line of sight. Cooldown of 30 seconds.
- Casts Renewal when player health is 80% or lower. Lasts up to 140 seconds. Cooldown of 40 seconds, starting when Renewal's effect ends.
- Casts Reckoning when any enemy is within 7m. Cooldown of 55 seconds.
|
Octavia
|
- Inspiration passive activates whenever the Specter casts an ability.
- Casts Mallet when enemy is in line of sight within 10m. Cooldown of 15 seconds.
- Casts Resonator when enemy is in line of sight within 10m. Cooldown of 16.5 seconds.
- Casts Metronome off cooldown. Cooldown of 20 seconds.
- Casts Amp when enemy is within 10-20m. Will not cast if any enemy is within 10m. Cooldown of 40 seconds.
- Damage boost does not increase with noise level.
|
Protea
|
- The Specter possesses a passive but does not use it intelligently.
- Casts Grenade Fan with Shrapnel Vortex only when any enemy is in line of sight within 30m. Cooldown of 30 seconds.
- Casts Blaze Artillery when any enemy is in line of sight within 60m. Cooldown of 12 seconds.
- Casts Dispensary when player is below 70% energy/health or 70% ammo on primary or secondary (reserves). Lasts 25 seconds with a cooldown of 40 seconds after casting.
- Casts Temporal Anchor when Specter's health is brought below 75% and 2+ enemies are within line of sight. Duration up to 10 seconds depending on whether enemies are in close proximity.
- The implosion on ability expiration does occur but it is not currently known if the Specter's stockpiled damage has an effect on the implosion's damage. It is also not known if the ability can save the Specter from lethal damage similarly to a player-controlled Protea Warframe.
|
Revenant
|
- Does not cast Enthrall.
- Does not cast Mesmer Skin.
- Does not cast Reave.
- Casts Danse Macabre when shields are depleted. Maintains until no enemies remain within 20m. Cooldown of 5 seconds. Shields must begin recharging before Danse Macabre will be cast again.
|
Rhino
|
- Casts Rhino Charge when enemy is 5-20m away. Cooldown of 15 seconds.
- Casts Iron Skin when enemy is in line of sight. Cooldown of 20 seconds, starting when Iron Skin's effect ends.
- Casts Roar when any enemy is in line of sight and 2 or more other Specters are in the mission. Cooldown of 75 seconds.
- Companions and other players do not count towards the trigger conditions. These Specters can belong to other players, they do not have to come from you. Note that you can only have one Tenno Specter out at a time, so you will need Syndicate Specters to trigger Roar when solo.
- Casts Rhino Stomp when enemy is within 15m. Cooldown of 70 seconds.
|
Saryn
|
- Casts Spores when enemy is within 50m. Cooldown of 20 seconds.
- Does NOT proc enemies with Corrosive status effects.
- Casts Molt when enemy is in line of sight. Cooldown of 6 seconds.
- Specter's AI will lock up when staying in the same location as its Molt, making the Hold Position command highly detrimental.
- Casts Toxic Lash when enemy is in line of sight. Cooldown of 45 seconds.
- Casts Miasma when 2+ enemies are within 5m. Cooldown of 55 seconds.
|
Sevagoth
|
- Casts Reap
- Specter's shadow tends to get stuck or just spin around the specter
- Casts Sow
- Casts Gloom
- Casts Exalted Shadow
- Casts Embrace in Exalted Shadow mode
- Does not use other abilities in Exalted Shadow mode
|
Styanax
|
- Casts all abilities
- Rally Point gives 3 energy a second and 40 shield per kill to kills within range
- Final Stand does massive damage but with a long cooldown
|
Titania
|
- Casts Spellbind when enemy is within 25m. Cooldown of 20 seconds.
- Casts Tribute when enemy is within 20m. Cooldown of 40 seconds.
- Casts Lantern when enemy is within 15m. Cooldown of 40 seconds.
- Does not cast Razorwing.
|
Trinity
|
- Casts Well of Life when player health is below 80% even if no enemy is present to target. Cooldown of 45 seconds.
- Casts Energy Vampire when enemy is in line of sight within 100m. Cooldown of 40 seconds.
- Casts Link when enemy is within 20m. Cooldown of 35 seconds.
- Casts Blessing when player health is below 60%. Cooldown of 1 minute.
|
Valkyr
|
- Casts Rip Line when enemy is 6-15m away. Cooldown of 15 seconds.
- Casts Warcry when enemy is within 10m. Cooldown of 40 seconds.
- Casts Paralysis when enemy is within 10m and Specter's shields are above 33%. Cooldown of 25 seconds.
- Does not cast Hysteria.
|
Vauban
|
- Casts Tesla Nervos when enemy is in line of sight. Cooldown of 20 seconds.
- Casts Minelayer (any variation, random) when enemy is within 30m. Overdriver affects Warframe or Specter closest to the impact point at time of casting. Cooldown of 30 seconds.
- Casts Photon Strike when enemy is in line of sight, even if blast will not reach the enemy. Will not cast if there are enemies within 10m. Cooldown of 10 seconds typically.
- May sometimes cast multiple Photon Strikes in a row.
- Casts Bastille when enemy is within 10m. Cooldown of 30 seconds.
- Will cast Vortex variant more frequently than Bastille.
|
Volt
|
- Casts Shock when enemy is in line of sight. Cooldown of 9 seconds.
- Casts Speed off cooldown. Cooldown of 30 seconds.
- Casts Electric Shield when enemy is in line of sight. Cooldown of 25 seconds.
- Casts Discharge when enemy is within 10m. Cooldown of 85 seconds.
|
Wisp
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- Casts Reservoirs when enemy is within 40m. Reservoir type is random. Cooldown of 20 seconds.
- The motes are unreliable at actually providing a buff, while it may seem like you get the buff, health/regen/speed will not increase sometimes.
- Extends the timer of a player's motes, without diminishing strength.
- Casts Wil-O-Wisp when enemy is within 30m. Teleports to decoy immediately. Cooldown of 12 seconds.
- Poor synergy with the Hold Position command, as the Specter will teleport once something is in range, and then slowly walk back towards the holding position without firing.
- Casts Breach Surge when 2+ enemies are within 30m. Cooldown of 45 seconds.
- Casts Sol Gate when 3+ enemies are within 40m. Maintains for up to 10 seconds. Cooldown of 65 seconds, starting when Sol Gate's effect ends.
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Wukong
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Yareli
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- Does not cast any abilities.
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Xaku
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Zephyr
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- Casts Tail Wind when enemy is within 5m. Cooldown of 20 seconds.
- Casts Airburst when enemy is within 10m. Cooldown of 20 seconds.
- Casts Turbulence when Specter takes damage. Cooldown of 50 seconds.
- Casts Tornado when enemy is within 10m. Cooldown of 70 seconds.
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Lore
- Main article: The Deadlock Protocol
I am calling it the Specter Particle. As my Archimedians explain, mimicry is in its nature. An echo. Exposed to precept circuits, we are able to imprint behaviors! Like an infant mirroring her surrogate. Only this infant can set the world on fire.
Specters were developed by the Corpus founder Parvos Granum, spearheaded by his research in Specter Particle Theory. The Xoris plays an important role in the creation of specters, being able to trap energy in the form of Specter Particles. This energy is speculated to be used in infusing 'programmed behavior' into bodies such as Warframes.
Notes
- These specters do not teleport to the player and have limited AI capabilities. As such, they generally act like normal enemies such as taking cover or other similar behavior. If they detect enemies, they will take the initiative to engage them regardless of where the player is.
- Due to lack of armor or shields, the Red Veil's Charger Eximus Specter typically does not survive very long after being summoned.
- Its energy leech ability also does nothing to allies or enemies.
- Specters of this type are most useful in game modes where the mission takes place in a fixed location, such as Defense or Interception, as they can easily lag behind players or have difficulty navigating certain tiles/rooms.
- Shield Osprey Specters behave differently than all the other specters: They may stay near the objective in defense or decide to protect another specter, and will never take the initiative to actually protect the player.
- The Roller Specter is arguably the weakest of all the specters due to its relatively low health and slow attack speed, despite being able to steal health from enemies.
- Ancient Healer Specters have a short ~15m aura that reduces damage by 90% for all friendly targets such as other players, allied specters, or Defense objectives. When connected to said targets the Healer itself will gain a damage resistance boost as well.
- Damage done to you or linked allies with heal the specter as well as its own occasional healing pulses.
- Oddly enough, a specter's weapon can level up, shown in the media below. It is unknown if it actually affects the weapon or the Specter itself.
- Upon successful defeat of a certain syndicate's death squad/platoon, you may earn the blueprint to build that syndicate's specters.
- Players are able to choose to either make the specters stay in an area or follow them around by pressing X (default keybinding) when close to it.
- Doing this to a Shield Osprey specter will cause it to hold position and fire plasma repeater weapons at enemies.
- The Shield Osprey may also rarely fire its weapons when not told to wait, although this is rare.
- For clients this is unreliable and the osprey may ignore the commands anyway, and continue to fly into crowds of enemies and not be able to defend itself, being destroyed soon after.
- Some Specters may rarely disable alarms.
- Cephalon Suda's shield osprey specter is useful in Hijack missions, as they can instantly restore your shields.
- Its shields will not be affected, however.
- Specters will spawn at the current enemy level, plus a few extra. For endless missions, this allows specters to scale to enemy level; placing one at the beginning of the mission will be lower than later on if spawned again.
- The Corrupted Lancer and Ancient Healer specters become very powerful due to this, becoming massive bullet sponges.
- If the player kills a Specter affected by Radiation, they will receive affinity identical in amount to an enemy unit of the same type (i.e. Ancient Healer Specters will give affinity matching an Eximus unit of the same level).
- Specters spawned during Nightmare alerts and missions are immediately hostile to the player, indiscriminately attacking Tenno and enemies alike, and cannot be commanded to hold position or follow. These specters are marked with a reddish distorted glow to indicate that they have turned against the player.
Bugs
- Telling a specter to hold position may cause the specter to act strangely, including freezing in an animation or tracking but not firing upon enemies. Telling them to follow you and re-hold position can fix the issue temporarily.
- The Corrupted Bombard Specter spawns with a small shield count which will recharge slowly as long as its drone is active. However, having this shield drain completely will prevent it from ever coming back until its drone is destroyed and respawned after a period of time. This has been a bug since the Specter existed and may be due to an issue where Heavy Grineer cannot obtain shields.
Media
Specter command : "Hold Position"
Specter Command : "Follow"
Discussing Specters And Their Role In Warframe
Corrupted Bombard - Warframe Specter Review
Roller - Warframe Specter Review
Corrupted Lancer - Warframe Specter Review
Shield Osprey - Warframe Specter Review
Ancient Healer - Warframe Specter Review
Clem - Warframe Specter Review
MOA - Warframe Specter Review
Patch History
Hotfix 27.3.15 (2020-04-17)
- Fixed friendly Specters suffering knockdown when deployed and taking entirely way too long to recover.
Hotfix 27.3.11 (2020-04-09)
- Fixed a script crash when spawning a Specter.
Update 25.5 (2019-07-31)
- Any summoned allied Specters in a Nightmare mission will now have a reddish distorted glow to indicate that they have turned against you and you’ve made a huge mistake in trusting them.
Hotfix 22.11.1 (2018-02-06)
- Followers (Specters, Rescue Target, etc) no longer cancel charging if they switch targets while using a charging weapon.
Update 22.10 (2018-01-25)
- Warframe Specters are now much smarter! We've done a general intelligence pass on their proficiency with Weapons, and we've also updated their power-casting logic. Virtually every power is now castable with only a few exceptions!
- Specters CANNOT cast the following Abilities: Vauban's Minelayer, Ivara's Zipline, Titania's Razorwing, Nekros’ Desecrate and Shadows of the Dead, Excalibur’s Exalted Blade, Valkyr’s Hysteria, Wukong’s Primal Fury, Cloud Walker, and Defy, Atlas’ Petrify and Tectonics, Limbo's entire kit (save for the damage aspect of Banish), and finally Zephyr’s Dive Bomb.
Gear Edit
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Usable
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Antiserum Injector • Antitoxins ( Amethyst, Beryl, Citrine, Lapis, Topaz, Vermilion) • Apothics ( Nightfall, Sunrise, Twilight) • Archgun Deployer • Archwing Launcher • Cipher • Dragon Keys ( Bleeding, Decaying, Extinguished, Hobbled) • Grustrag Three Beacon • Health Restore (Large) • Kaithe Summon • K-Drive Launcher • Necramech Summon • Omni Ammo Box • On Call Crew • Pheromone Synthesizers • Requiem Ultimatum • Stalker Beacon • Stims ( Adrenal, Calcifin, Clotra, Refract) • Wolf Beacon • Zanuka Hunter Beacon
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Equipable
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Codex Scanner • Cutters • Echo-Lures • Fishing Spears • Pheromones • Synthesis Scanner • Tranq Rifle
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Deployable
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Air Support Charges • Baits • Fosfors ( Rahd, Blau) • Kinetic Siphon Trap • Loc-Pin • Luminous Dye • Pharoma • Pherliac Pods • Specter ( Cosmic, Force, Phase, Vapor) • Team Bonus Consumables ( Ammo, Energy, Health, Shields)
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Event-Restricted
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Eidolon Phylaxis • Fomorian Disruptor • Infested Catalyst • Razorback Cipher • OpLink
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Cosmetic
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Eros Arrow Skin • Glyph Prism • Grand Finale • Ki'Teer Fireworks • Remote Observer • Starburst
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