Warframe is a free-to-play action role-playing third-person shooter multiplayer online game developed and published by Digital Extremes in 2013. Warframe has players control members of the Tenno, a race of ancient warriors who have awoken from centuries of suspended animation.
They awaken centuries later, far into the Earth’s future to find themselves at war in the planetary system with different factions. To fight, these warriors utilize Warframes in battle. Each of these Warframes has its own specialty and role in battle. These roles were further expanded upon with the addition of the new Veilbreaker update.
Warframe Veilbreaker
Warframe‘s Veilbreaker update was released on September 7 with a lot of new additions to the game, especially to the endgame. This was a topic of contention for many players with some players leaning towards the game having a distinct lack of endgame content, while other players claimed it was all about the grind.
With the Veilbreaker update, a new endgame mechanic was added for all players that can engage in it. Now, completing the endgame Archon Hunt quests will grant players Archon Shards to improve end-game builds.
Archon Shards
Archon Shards are upgrade resources that can be installed into your Warframes for a huge stat boost. These upgrades to stats are additive and give increasing bonuses depending on how many are stacked. A total of up to five Archon Shards can be installed at once.
Archon Shards can be socketed into the Warframe of your choice, giving them either a boost in offensive stats, defensive stats, or utility stats. The Helminth system keeps track of all the Archon Shards installed in the Warframe and you can access the Shards through it if you choose to make any changes.
Naturally, the first question that comes to mind is how does one acquire these Archon Shards? Well, we have you covered there.
How to get Archon Shards in Warframe
Acquiring Archon Shards is only possible after completing the namesake Veilbreaker quest and crafting the subsequent Helminth component. Once the Veilbreaker quest is complete, you can gain Archon Shards from the Archon Hunt activity. These refresh weekly so make sure you complete them before the week is up.
To access Archon Hunts, you have to interact with the Star Chart option. Once you click them, you can begin. These Hunts can take a while because they consist of three individual quests which have to be completed in the form of stages. Each stage ramps up the difficulty with stronger enemies and new modifiers added to them, with the final stage culminating in a boss battle with the Archon itself.
The Archons themselves rotate each week, so you will not be able to get their respective shards on consecutive weeks. So far, the Archons are:
- Boreal: Azure, provides additional Armor or an Energy Max increase
- Amar: Crimson, provides additional Ability Strength
- Nira: Amber, provides additional Energy Orb effectiveness or increased Parkour Velocity
Depending on which Archon is active that week, completing the Archon Hunt quest will drop Archon Shards associated with that Archon. If you want specific Archon Shards, make sure you log in during the weeks when that Archon is currently active. Completing Archon Hunts provides one Archon Shard for each Archon killed.
There is another method to gain Archon Shards apart from the Archon Hunt. If you go to Drifter’s Camp, you will meet a vendor named Chipper. You can purchase an Archon Shard from him in exchange for Stock, which can be acquired through Kahl’s missions.
And finally, there are special Archon Shards called Tauforgred Archon Shards. These special Shards provide a 50 percent increase to the buffs already being provided by the Archon Shard. These Tauforged Archon Shards cannot be traded, crafted, or bought and can only be acquired from Archon Hunts, where they have a 20 percent chance of dropping.
Installing Archon Shards in Warframe
Now that you have Archon Shards, the next thing to know is how to install those Archon Shards. First off, you will need a Helminth Archon Shard Segment. This component can be crafted using these materials:
- Devolved Namalon (10 needed)
- Entrati Lanthorn (Two needed)
- Sporulate Sac (Five needed)
- Thrax Plasm (50 needed)
Sporulate Sac can be obtained by fishing Glutinox in Deimos, while Devolved Namalon requires you to mine some Namalon and transform it in the Foundry after obtaining the Devolved Namalon blueprint from Otak. Entrati Lanthorns and Thrax Plasm, on the other hand, appear during Holdfast missions in the Zariman Ten-Zero. To craft the Helminth Archon Shard Segment from these components, you will need its blueprint. Fortunately, you can acquire it automatically after completing the Veilbreaker quest.
Once you have everything, you will need an additional 50,000 credits to craft the component. It will take a total of 24 hours to craft, so it’s best to do other activities while you wait. After the crafting is complete, open the Helminth menu and interact with the Archon Shard tab. Here, there will be an option available to install the Shard of your choice. Each Shard will have one of five options, with a color denoting the Shard itself. Simply select one of the options, the appropriate socket, and the Shard to install it on your Warframe.
Effectiveness of Archon Shards in Warframe
Once the Archon Shard is socketed, its buffs will apply to your Warframe. Depending on the color of the Shard, that particular stat will be buffed. Following this, the Archon Shard installed will provide buffs to that stat and affect all of that particular Warframe’s configurations.
These Shards truly shine in the endgame, especially when you need those bonus stats to push your Warframe past its limits. You can use the Shards to give them stats they would otherwise not be able to obtain through conventional means.
You can also take the completely opposite route and opt to experiment using Archon Shards. With the flexibility this system provides, you can choose to convert your Warframe into something it would not be able to become otherwise.
Also, keep in mind that you can only have five Archon Shards installed on a Warframe at any given point. No more can be added once you reach the installation cap, but you can replace them with better Shards later if needed (like Tauforged Archon Shards).
But what if you aren’t satisfied with your build? The game gives you the option to uninstall those Archon Shards as well.
Uninstalling Archon Shards in Warframe
If you decide to change your build and realize that the Archon Shards you’re currently using don’t suit the build you’re aiming for, the game allows you to uninstall them from your Warframe. Doing this is considerably easier as well.
Navigate to the Archon Shard tab, then select any Archon Shard that’s installed on your Warframe. Here, you should get the option to uninstall the Shard of your choosing. Keep in mind that doing this will use 50 percent Bile resources from your Helminth.
Once you uninstall the Archon Shard, you are free to keep it in your inventory. These Archon Shards can then be used in a future build or just as an alternative if you ever find a better use for them in the future. Just make sure you have enough Bile reserves to do so.
And that’s everything you need to know about Archon Shards and how to use them in Warframe. As always, we will keep you updated with any changes that may happen in the game.
