Warframe: Helminth System Guide (2024)

Warframe has its fair share of complex systems that allow players to augment their playstyle. From modding to Focus, there is no shortage of progression avenues that Warframe has to offer. One of the game's most powerful progression systems is Helminth.

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This Infested mass in your Orbiter serves as a library of Warframe powers and buffs. So long as you're willing to sacrifice some of your Warframes, the Helminth system allows you to replace one of your Warframe's abilities, giving players the ability to make their own mini-rework on a Warframe they enjoy using. In this guide, we'll be discussing how the Helminth system works, how to unlock it, and strategies to level up your Helminth as quickly as possible.

What Is Helminth?

Helminth is an Infested hivemind that resides in your Orbiter. This being can "subsume" Warframes, unlocking one of their abilities that can then be applied to any Warframe you own. Every Warframe has one ability that the Helminth can apply to your other Warframes, the ability in question being pre-determined. Once a Warframe is subsumed, you can apply that ability to any Warframe you desire as often as you like, provided your Helminth has enough resources.

Similar to the Focus system, you'll need to level the Helminth up to get the most out of it. We'll cover that in the next section, but just know that not every aspect of Helminth will be available to you the second you unlock this system. It'll take multiple weeks before you get your Helminth fully leveled.

How To Unlock Helminth

To unlock the Helminth system, you must purchase the Helminth Segment Blueprint from Son, an NPC found in Demios' Necralisk hub town.

There are a few prerequisites before you can purchase this item:

• You must be Rank 3: Associate with the Entrati.
• You must be Mastery Rank 8 or higher to use the Helminth system.
• You'll need 15,000 Entrati Standing to purchase the blueprint.

Helminth Segment Crafting Requirements

Since you only get a blueprint from Son, you'll need to craft the Helminth Segment yourself. Here's what you'll need:

• Reputation: 15,000 (blueprint cost)
• Credits: 50,000
• Purple Velocipod Tag: 5
• Adrenal Alloy: 20
• Saturated Muscle Mass: 5
• Ganglion: 15

It takes 24 hours to build. Once the segment is built, head to the Infested room on the lower section of your Orbiter. Insert the segment into the operating chair to unlock the Helminth system.

Where To Get Purple Velocipod Tags

This is the only resource tied to the Helminth Segment BP that might give you trouble. Purple Velocipods spawn near Undulatan, the giant tree near the center of the Cambion Drift. They spawn around the eastern part of the Undulatan, typically near cave entrances.

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Once you've found a pair of them, use your Tranq Rifle to knock them unconscious. Each Velocipod can then be turned in to Son for one tag. You'll need five tags for the Helminth Segment.

Using Helminth

To interact with the system, head to the Infested room in your Orbiter. Sit down in the operating chair to enter the Helminth menu. From here, you can do a few things:

1. Infuse a subsumed or Helminth ability into your current Warframe.
2. Subsume your currently equipped Warframe.
3. Feed Helminth.
4. Apply an Invigoration to a Warframe.
   1. Requires the Invigoration Segment

Infusing Abilities

The left-hand part of your screen will showcase every unlocked ability you can infuse into your Warframe. Selecting one of these abilities will showcase what it does, which Warframe it comes from, and whether it's been "altered." Altered abilities are nerfed versions of their default counterpart.

When you've found an ability you like, select it, click "Infuse Ability" on the right-hand part of your screen, then select which configurations you want to have affected. Infusing an ability will cost resources.

Note: Should you decide that you dislike a certain ability, you can remove the subsumed ability from your config. Enter the Helminth menu, select the subsumed ability you don't like, then click "remove infusion" on the right-hand part of your screen. This doesn't cost any resources.

Unlocking Abilities

Two sources grant abilities for the Helminth system:

1. Subsumed Warframes
2. Helminth itself

Subsuming a Warframe can be done from the Helminth menu. Sit on the operating chair with the Warframe you wish to subsume. Select the ability they grant—denoted by a "subsume" icon—then click "subsume Warframe" at the right-hand part of the screen. This costs resources. Subsumed Warframes are destroyed in the process. Once 23 hours pass, that Warframe's ability will be unlocked.

Helminth abilities are unlocked by leveling the Helminth itself, which is done by subsuming Warframes, feeding the Helminth resource, and applying Invigorations onto applicable Warframes. We'll cover each ability in the "All Helminth Abilities" section.

All Helminth Abilities

This section will only cover abilities granted by Helminth itself. For a full list of subsumed Warframe abilities, consult the Warframe Fandom Wiki.

Feeding Helminth

Eating and infusing Warframes takes a rather large toll on Helminth's appetite. You'll need to feed Helminth various materials to use this system continuously. There are six types of resources, known in-game as secretions, the Helminth needs:

1. Oxides
   1. Includes Alloy Plate, Salvage, Ferrite, and Oxium
2. Calx
   1. Includes Rubedo, Iradite, and Lucent Reroglobes
3. Biotics
   1. Includes Ganglion, Maprico, Pustulite, and Threshcones
4. Synthetics
   1. Includes Circuits, Detonite Ampules, Fieldron Samples, and Orokin Cells
5. Pheromones
   1. Includes Nano Spores, Plastids, Juggernaut parts, and Neurodes
6. Bile
   1. Includes Morphics, Cryotic, Nav Coordinates, and Argon Crystals

Bile is easily the rarest resource of the bunch.

Diminishing Returns

When you feed Helminth any resource, that resource will start to give diminishing returns. For example, feeding one batch of Nano Spores will give 30% fulfillment to your Pheromones secretion, but feeding a second batch will only give 15%. Helminth's affinity towards all resource types will grow every 24 hours, increasing the fulfillment that resource grants until it reaches the cap of 30%.

Helminth's affinity towards a certain type of food is denoted by arrows beside an item.

• Green Arrow: Grants 30% fulfillment.
• No Arrow: Grants 15% fulfillment.
• Red Arrow: Grants 3% fulfillment.

How To Efficiently Feed Helminth

Do not feed Helminth the same resource multiple times in a single day. This drastically reduces the effectiveness of that resource for the next few days. The optimal strategy is to only feed Helminth items with a green arrow. This allows you to gain 90% fulfillment by using only three items.

For comparison, achieving 90% fulfillment with one item would require 17 stacks of the same resource. If you used Nano Spores, that'd be 340,000 Nano Spores. Even if you've been playing Warframe for years, you'd eventually run out of Nano Spores if you exclusively fed your Helminth that resource for one or two weeks. Feed your Helminth a balanced diet to get the most mileage out of your resources and this system in general.

Leveling Helminth

Virtually everything tied to the Helminth system will increase your Helminth's level. There are four sources of XP for your Helminth:

1. Feeding it resources
2. Subsuming Warframes
3. Infusing subsumed abilities
4. Applying invigorations

The best XP gains come from invigorations and feeding your Helminth resources. Invigorations grant far more XP than subsuming Warframes or infusing abilities, although invigorations require an additional component that you don't unlock until Rank 5: Family with the Entrari.

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If you can't use invigorations, you can level by starving your Helminth. Infuse as many abilities as you can into a Warframe until you don't have enough secretions. Feed your Helminth any resources with a green arrow. The combination of ability infusions and resource feeding will grant a massive amount of XP.

Helminth Invigorations

Added in the Sisters of Parvos update, Helminth Invigorations grant a Warframe two powerful buffs for one week. The Helminth will choose three random Warframes each week that are eligible for an invigoration. All invigoration buffs are random. Once you've applied ten invigorations, your next invigoration can be applied to any Warframe of your choosing.

How To Unlock Helminth Invigorations

To unlock this system, you must purchase the Helminth Invigoration Segment Blueprint from Son in Necralisk. Just like the Helminth Segmen Blueprint, there are a few prerequisites:

1. You must have built the Helminth Segment and installed it.
2. You need to be Rank 5: Family with the Entrari.
3. You'll need 30,000 Standing to purchase the blueprint.

Helminth Invigoration Segment Crafting Requirements

Once you have the blueprint, you'll need to craft it. The Helminth INvigoration Segment Blueprint requires the following materials:

• Reputation: 30,000 (blueprint cost)
• Credits: 50,000
• Vizier Predasite Tag: 5
• Tempered Bapholite: 20
• Pustulent Cognitive Nodule: 10
• Pustulite: 15

This blueprint takes 24 hours to build.

All Heminth Invigorations

There are nine primary invigoration buffs and eleven utility buffs. One primary and utility invigoration are pulled at random. Any Warframe can get any invigoration combo. Every primary and utility invigoration is listed below.

Credit to the Warframe Fandom Wiki for the information provided above:

Helminth FAQ

Helminth is one of the largest systems in Warframe and can be quite confusing if you've never used it before. If you're still unsure about certain aspects of this system, some of these answers should clear up some common misconceptions.

Can I Unlock Any Ability From A Subsumed Warframe?

No. Digital Extremes have chosen one ability from each Warframe that gets unlocked through this system.

In general, this system avoids giving ultimate abilities or those integral to a Warframe's identity (for example, Chroma's Vex Armor). There are a few exceptions, but they are few and far between.

Can I Apply More Than One Subsumed Ability To The Same Build?

No. You can only replace one ability per configuration.

Can Subsumed Abilities Use Augment Mods?

Yes.

Once I Subsume A Warframe, Is It Destroyed?

Yes.

Can I Subsume Prime Or Umbral Warframes?

No. Only standard Warframes can be subsumed. However, any Warframe type (standard, Prime, or Umbral) can use subsumed abilities.

Can I Remove A Subsumed Ability?

Yes. You remove a subsumed ability through the same process as adding one. Removing a subsumed ability is free.

Is There A Mastery Rank Requirement For This System?

Yes. You need to be Mastery Rank 8 before you can use the Helminth system.

Are There Limits To Which Abilities I Can Apply To My Warframes?

There's one limit: you can't apply a damage-boosting ability (Roar, Eclipse) onto a Warframe that already has a damage-boosting ability (Chroma, Rhino, etc.) unless you remove said ability.

For example, if you wanted to put Mirage's Eclipse onto Chroma, you'd have to replace Vex Armor. Abilities that add elemental damage to your Warframe through augments, such as Volt's Shock with the Shock Trooper augment, are exceptions to this rule.

Beyond that rule, you can apply any subsumed ability into any ability slot—even if it means bricking your Warframe's kit. Want to replace Sevagoth's fourth ability with something else? You can. Dislike Excalibur's third ability? Replace it with something better. You have full control over which ability gets replaced.

Are Invigorations Based On Warframes You Own?

No. The game pulls three random Warframes from the total Warframe pool, not what you specifically own.

How Does Lavos Work With This System?

Any subsumed ability on Lavos will have a cooldown instead of an Energy cost. The cooldown is tied to the ability type:

• Channeled Abilities: 12-second cooldown
• Non-Channeled: 10-second cooldown

If a subsumed ability can't be recast until its duration expires (ex: Elemental Ward), the cooldown will only begin after the ability ends. Elemental imbuement is disabled for all subsumed abilities.

Lavos' subsumed ability, Vial Rush, has a 5-second cooldown when applied to other Warframes.

How Does Hildryn Work With This System?

Subsumed abilities on Hildryn cost Shields instead of Energy at 10x their initial cost.

Hildryn's subsumed ability, Pillage, costs 50 Energy to cast when applied to other Warframes.

Next: Warframe: Every Tenet Lich Weapon, Ranked