Warframe on PS4 - Once more into the (Orokin) Void...

Warframe, Warframe, Warframe, it's still all about Warframe (click the Links, for more Warframe). And it might be, until something better comes along, that does even less to explain itself to the people playing it...

If you're new to Warframe, I'd suggest starting with the links above - in order - or your in for major SPOILERS!! Also, you won't understand much of what I'm about to divulge.

The Void. The Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the Tenno, faceless (since helmet-wearing) Sci-Fi Ninjas, on a quest for even more loot. And special loot it is. Prime, even. No, seriously, outside of the Login-Lottery, the Void is the only place you can, if the random reward generators are equally willing, earn your Warframe Prime Gear - special, and mostly better versions of the weapons you love to kill with.

When logging in, and looking at the update screen, did you ever wonder where that damn newspaper/newsletter for the Prime Gear is? You know, "The Void Today"? I sure did.
So, I'm not that smart. I play video games all day, what do you expect?

The Void (and in my defense, that "Today" with that capital "T" is quite misleading) is a place outside of what we, the Tenno, consider our space. The Orokin, these mysterious beings of ancient mystery, made it - well, them, actually. They had a lot of spare time and Forma on their hands.
Orokin Towers are big and filled with treasure. And, as with all treasure, many have tried to win it, and it has destroyed them all. Corrupted them. So, don't feel bad about killing everything inside those towers. The enemies you encounter, from all three different ilks (Grinneer, Cropus and the Infested), are only puppets of the Orokin, and we all know what to do with puppets, right? No, not the anatomically correct life-sized ones, I paid good money for...

Anyway.

How do you get to the Void? You need a key (obviously). Keys to the Void can be gained, as pretty much everything, through the Login-Lottery; but mostly you'll earn them from Tier 3 rewards of Survival Missions. Survive the onslaught for long enough, and 2 out of 3 times, every 15 minutes will net you an Orokin Key. Keys have different Ranks (I-III equaling enemy levels of 10-20, 20-30 and 30-40, and, of course, better loot), and come in the well-known shades of different missions. There's Survival, there's Exterminate, there's Capture (how I hate those...), and all the others - just with a touch or Orokin.
The Keys you can find in your "Key Menu" (obviously). Interesting Fact, though, as opposed to the Clan Dojo Key, only the host needs an Orokin Key, and can invite up to three friends or somethings to join him: 4 people only need one Key. Even better, if you fail, disconnect or abort, the Key is not used up. As you can see, though, I don't have any friends, so I had to do this "Rank I Orokin Exterminate all by my lonesome. Hence, the length...



There's dangers in these Towers. All kinds. Corrupted, yes, but still enemies, no matter how nice they all play with each other. (Mind out of the gutter, people!) Corpus have Shields, Grinner have Armor, and the Infested burn-a-lot. So remember, when loading up for the Void, bring weapons to fight a versatile tide (bring killing stuff with at least Impact, Puncture and Slash Damage).



The enemies you can see are only part of the danger, though. Hidden pressure plates activate deadly traps, and while those spinning laser cubes might look like nothing at all, they burn you bad and quick, and you won't want to have to dodge one during a firefight. You might want to activate one, then shoot out the top to stop it from spinning and create a deadly barrier between you and your enemies, though. When those traps try to trap you is often quite predictably: Secret Treasure Room? Trap! There are a few strewn throughout the regular environment without obvious bait (including the freeze-you-into-slo-mo strips of decorative ice), but those are pretty rare.



And in that regard, at least, going solo is not a bad thing. You can take your time, especially in Exterminate Missions. Nobody runs away, so you don't have to run - period. Except for those huge empty rooms. And to cover. And... well, you know. And did you notice those pop-up covers in the environment? Very handy, those.

Void Missions not only give you rare materials like Gallium and Control Modules, Prime Gear Components or Blueprints, you might also find special mods - the Corrupted kind (obviously). In theory, Corrupted mods have two effects, just like Nightmare Mods, but only one of the Corrupted Effects is beneficial. You might get an increase in Power... uhm, Power, but get a reduction in Power Range, and so forth. Still, they do stack with similar mods to increase certain effects even more, so the trade-off might be worth it.
Sadly, as I now know, regular Orokin Missions (started by keys you get ready to use) do not get you Corrupted Mods. The Corrupted Mods are rewards for getting access to an Orokin Vault on an Orokin Derelict and extracting an Orokin Artifact. Which requires a special needs-to-be-crafted Key (for which you need all those Nav-Coordinates you find) to enter the Derelict, and another, even more special key to open the vault. Weird. But more on that, when I know more on that.

When you're done with the Void, you extract - and might get something special - most likely one Prime Gear Thingee. Sadly it seems, that to complete a Prime set, you have to do different missions (always playing Exterminate will likely net you more duplicates of the same Prime Thingee than a complementary part), and even different Mission (Key) Ranks to assemble something Prime.

And that's it. The Void (halfway) explained. Yearning to try? Warframe is free on PC and PS4. Well, it's Free-2-Play, so you can pay for instant access to better stuff.

For all your PS4 needs, especially the European needs, head over to Amazon UK - best deals in Europe (mostly). For TV or Movie Streaming needs, as well. Yes, I do buy there myself. Exclusively. Unless I find a better deal, elsewhere...