When players go to the Origin System in theirWarframeexperience, their journey as the Operator takes them to a Solar System engulfed in an interstellar war between various factions. WhileWarframeplayers are introduced as the endangered Tenno, their capabilities to wield and wear the eponymous Warframe suits have earned the attention of groups interested in using them for their ends.
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At first glance,Warframedoesn’t offer much direct information regarding the true nature of each of theirfactions. However, players who progress through the game’s various modes can unlock information that reveals these warring factions to be more inter-connected than they present themselves to be. However, which factions are currently the strongest in the Origin System?
10The Wild
The Wildis separate from the other warring factions in the world of Warframe. Also considered Neutral or Unaffiliated creatures, the Wild are recognized as enemies inWarframegameplaybut have no active stake in the Origin System’s interstellar politics.
While there are multiple Unaffiliated creatures in the star system, the first and second life forms to be introduced are the Desert Skate in Maritan Grineer Settlements and the Feral Kubrow in Earth, respectively. Although the Wolf of Saturn Six is of Grineer origin, his status as an independent criminal warlord makes him one of the more powerful members of the Wild, mainly due to his lack of stakes in politics.
9Neutral Syndicates
Compared to the traditional Syndicates inWarframegameplay,Neutral Syndicatesis the informal umbrella term used to describe more minor factions with separate goals much like Syndicates but aren’t “joinable” in the game. These are members of the Neutral Syndicates:
8Grineer
Aside from ordinary human workers, the Orokin Empire genetically engineered theGrineeras clones pre-programmed to obey their creators. After the fall of the Orokin prior tothe start ofWarframe, the Grineer stuck with their programming to gather and secure territory that once belonged to their creators. However, their encounter and eventual worship of the Grineer Queens would have them focus on propagating their own Grineer Empire.
Unlike other races, the Grineer focuses on quantity over quality. Much of their technologies must be updated, crude, or hastily built - making them inferior when fighting the strategic Tenno despite their sheer numbers. Being incapable of “reproducing,” Grineer could only create their fellow Grineer.
7The Syndicate
Operating outside the realm of interstellar politics in the Origin System isThe Syndicate, the largest party of this type among the factions ofWarframe. InWarframegameplay, players can choose and develop their relationship with one of the Origin System’s six Faction Syndicates.
What perhaps makes the Syndicate a more significant threat than what players could fathom is the existence of Death Squads. These are groups of elite Eximus heavy units dispatched to assassinate players hated by a specific Syndicate. The Faction Syndicates are the following:
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6Corpus
The farmer Parvos Granum’s belief that it was unfair for the Orokin elite to enjoy the rewards of a worker’s hardwork had attracted many supporters, creating what would become theCorpusfaction. After stealing from the Orokin and loaning it to others, Parvos built a vast mercantile enterprise with a philosophy focusing on unbridled desire and rejecting contentment. In Corposium, anyone of any status can enter to test their mettle into earning their wealth.
The Corpus reached more considerable heights at the end of the Old War. Eager to control the Origin System after the extinction of their masters, the Corpus have begun stealing and trading Orokin technology to expand their influence. Despite discord in their ranks, their unified greed and access to resources likepowerfulWarframeweaponsgive Corpus a definite edge among the major factions in the RPG
5Tenno
When the Orokin ship Zariman Ten Zero went missinginside the Void, it returned intact with Void-touched children as its survivors. Their newfound abilities scared the Orokin, whose research into these children led to creating Warframes that can enhance but also control their powers. Now named theTenno, these beings eventually became Operators tasked to defend the Orokin Empire against the Sentient threat. While they succeeded in the Empire’s defense, their eventual betrayal and disappearance contributed to the Orokin’s extinction.
In recent times, the reappearance of the Tenno through the player-controlled Operator would send shockwaves to the current power dynamics in the Origin System and strike the interest of factions who want to control them. Despite being one of the remaining few who can wield Warframes, the sheer lack of numbers in the Tenno’s ranks make them not as powerful compared to other factions in the game.
4Sentients
Initially theorized as the first alien (non-Earth) species that the heroic Warframes would face, machine-likeSentientsare machines the Orokin Empire created to terraform the distant Tau System. In fear of an uprising, the Orokin built Sentients with a weakness against the Void to ensure they couldn’t return to the Origin System after their mission.
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However, their extreme resilience and adaptability became a problem when the Sentients returned to fight the Orokin after gaining sentience. The only way the Orokin fended off the Sentients was through the Tenno, whose Void-empowering Warframes capitalized the Sentients’ weaknesses. Among the factions, the Sentients dealt the most damage in the Origin System before the start of the game.
3Infested
TheInfestedinWarframegameplay isn’t just a sci-fi zombie virus, but rather the byproduct of Orokin’s research in biotechnology capable of corrupting and reprogramming both inorganic and organic matter. When the Old War positioned the Sentients as an immediate threat to the Empire, the Orokin resumed their Infestation research in the hopes of fighting their war machines, eventually creating the Warframes.
As for the vast majority of the Infested, they follow biological protocols aiming for self-sustenance and self-defense, propagating their kind across the Origin System with no way of destroying their advanced biology except throughWarframes such as Nidusthought to be extinct and Void energies that aren’t adequately understood.
2Narmer
Although the Sentients would eventually lose in the Old War against the Orokin courtesy of the Tenno, theNarmerwill carry their unofficial legacy. The initial absence of the Tenno and the Lotus made the Narmer Sentients easily take control of the Origin System, defeating even the Tenno-Grineer-Corpus alliance through brainwashing. Their leader Ballas was a former Orokin whose craving for power transformed him into an Orokin-Sentient Amalgam.
The Narmer is considered a revered concept among the machine Sentients, with its members simultaneously treating it as a faction, religion, and philosophy. Such is the might of the Narmer that its defeat was shortlived, as Ballas’ absence was soon filled by Archon Pazuul who revived the other deceased Archons and is slowly rising to power.
1Orokin Empire
While only a little is known about the true history and culture of theOrokin Empire, it is known for its obsession with beauty and excess and its mastery over biology and engineering. Most (if not all) of the existing sentient “races” inside the Origin System are eventually revealed as trans-human and/or manmade, all courtesy of Orokin’s projects.
Similar to the neverending ambition of the Roman Empire,the Orokin Empirefell at the crux of their power, with their projects going out of control or eventually conspiring against them. Despite their extinction in the recentWarframestory, the remnants of their Empire and their impact on the game’s events make them the title’s most significant faction.
The Duviri Paradoxis the most recent update inWarframe, which is playable on the PC, PS4 and PS5, Xbox One and Series X/S, and the Nintendo Switch
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