Unlocking the Steel Path in Warframe: A Complete Guide

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Understanding the Steel Path in Warframe

Warframe is filled with a variety of game modes, offering players an exciting range of mission types, daily challenges, and alerts to keep gameplay fresh. Among these modes, the Steel Path stands out as particularly intriguing, serving as a New Game Plus experience for seasoned veterans of the game.

Initially introduced as "Hard Mode," the Steel Path significantly raises the difficulty level of the Star Chart. It’s designed for endgame players equipped with advanced weapons and Warframes, making completion a challenging yet rewarding endeavor. Here’s a comprehensive overview of the Steel Path mode in Warframe.

What Is the Steel Path?

The Steel Path is Warframe’s take on New Game Plus. Activated from the Star Chart menu, it transforms the standard Star Chart into a much more difficult version, complete with its own daily missions, Acolyte minibosses, and unique rewards. When playing on Steel Path difficulty, the following modifiers apply:

Enemy Level: Increased by +100 (Archwing missions increase by +50)
Enemy Health: Boosted by +250%
Enemy Shields: Boosted by +250%
Enemy Armor: Boosted by +250%
Resource Drop Rate: Increased by +100%
Mod Drop Rate: Increased by +100%

In addition to these changes, Steel Path missions introduce new minibosses called Acolytes. These enemies are varied versions of the Shadow Stalker, utilizing specific Warframe abilities and weapons. They spawn every five minutes throughout Steel Path missions (with the exception of Archwing missions or Assassinations). Defeating Acolytes rewards players with Weapon Arcane and two Steel Essence, a special currency exclusive to this difficulty.

It’s important to note that Steel Path only affects core Star Chart missions and daily Incursions. The difficulty cannot be toggled for Sorties, Fissures, Syndicate dailies, Nightmare missions, Sanctuary Onslaught, Alerts, or Railjack operations.

Why Engage with the Steel Path?

The Steel Path offers numerous unique endgame rewards, particularly Weapon Arcanes. These Arcanes, dropped by Acolytes, can enhance weapon damage by up to 360%, significantly improving overall damage output. Players can also collect Steel Essence through Acolytes and daily Incursions, which can be traded for various cosmetic items, Arcane Adapters for weapons, and Kuva.

Unlocking the Steel Path

To access the Steel Path, players must complete every node on the Star Chart, including Dark Sectors, Archwing nodes, and the Zariman Ten-Zero. Once every node is cleared, players should speak with Teshin in a Relay to unlock this challenging difficulty, which can be toggled on from the Star Chart menu.

Note: Railjack, Golem Assassination, and Mutalist Alad V Assassination nodes are exempt from this requirement.

Once Steel Path is activated for the first time, only Earth nodes will be accessible. Players must clear all nodes on a planet and its Junction to unlock additional planets, similar to the standard Star Chart process. If you want to revisit older nodes, you can turn off Steel Path at any time, but Incursion daily missions are unaffected.

Steel Path Incursions

Steel Path Incursions are daily missions that reward players with five Steel Essence upon completion. This currency is essential for acquiring certain endgame rewards from Teshin. Incursions can occur on any Star Chart node, including Archwing missions, and follow the same format as traditional Steel Path missions. Acolytes can also appear during these missions, allowing for additional Steel Essence gains. Therefore, completing Incursions regularly is crucial for maximizing your Steel Essence collection.

Steel Path Fissures

Players can also upgrade Void Fissure missions to Steel Path difficulty, applying all associated modifiers while maintaining unchanged relic rewards. Every mission completed will grant one Steel Essence reward, and Acolytes can spawn in these missions, offering more chances to gather Steel Essence.

Steel Path Circuit

The Duviri Circuit can also be tackled at Steel Path difficulty, replacing standard Warframe rewards with Incarnon Adapters. These powerful attachments can elevate weapons to top-tier effectiveness, significantly changing the gameplay dynamic. For details on Incarnons and their respective impacts, check out the Incarnon Adapters guide.

Steel Path Rewards

There are two key rewards linked to the Steel Path:

Weapon Arcanes: These enhance primary and secondary weapons, increasing base damage by up to 360% and providing various quality-of-life enhancements.
- Dropped by defeated Acolytes.
Steel Essence: This is a currency that can be spent in Teshin’s shop.
- Acquired from defeating Acolytes and through daily Incursions.

Acolyte Weapon Arcanes

All Acolytes can yield Arcanes such as Merciless, Deadhead, and Dexterity. Each Arcane has primary and secondary variants, totaling six unique Arcanes available. Acolytes are guaranteed to drop an Arcane upon defeat, and collecting 21 of one kind creates an R5 variant.

Here’s a brief summary of these Arcanes:

Merciless: +30% damage for 4 seconds on kill (up to 12 stacks) and +30% reload speed.
Deadhead: +120% damage for 24 seconds on precision headshot kill (up to 3 stacks) and +30% headshot multiplier with -50% weapon recoil.
Dexterity: +60% damage for 20 seconds on melee kill (up to 6 stacks) and +7.5 seconds combo duration.

Teshin’s Steel Essence Shop

Teshin offers a mix of weekly rotating and static rewards in his shop. Weekly missions change every Sunday at midnight UTC, whereas static rewards are available at all times. Keep in mind that you can purchase each weekly item only once, and cosmetic rewards cannot be bought multiple times.

Tips for Navigating the Steel Path

Focus on Incursions: These missions yield the best Steel Essence returns, netting five per completion, which totals to 25 Steel Essence per day.
Target Acolytes Wisely: Acolytes have a cap on how many status effects they can endure, making high-damage weapons preferable for taking them down quickly.
- Heavy attacks on melee weapons can be effective against Acolytes, especially with tanky Warframes.
Armor Management: Ensure your loadout includes armor removal capabilities for fights against Grineer. Utilizing Helminth and Focus abilities can be beneficial.
Acquire Galvanized Mods: Steel Path and Arbitrations are unlocked together, so focus on farming Arbitrations first to secure powerful Galvanized Mods that enhance your weaponry to effectively tackle Steel Path challenges.

By following these strategies and understanding the intricacies of the Steel Path, players can navigate this challenging aspect of Warframe and reap the rewards that come with it.