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Warframe's Veilbreaker update released a new endgame mechanic for players to sink their teeth into. Completing endgame Archon Hunts grant Archon Shards, a new upgrade resource which can be installed into your Warframes for major, additive stat increases.
Warframe: Qorvex Complete Guide – Drops, Abilities, And Builds
Destroy your foes with radioactive lasers with the Qorvex Warframe.Is there a Warframe you love that feels too squishy for Steel Path? You can use Archon Shards to fix that. Looking to min-max the Ability Strength of your current build? Archon Shards can help with that. This guide will cover what Archon Shards are, how to get them, what each Archon Shard does, and we'll answer some common questions surrounding this endgame upgrade system.
Updated January 11, 2024, by Charles Burgar: Digital Extremes has changed how Topaz Archon Shards work in Update 35.0.7. The "Regenerate Shields on Blast Status" effect no longer applies while Shield Gate is triggered, significantly reducing its effectiveness on most Warframes. We've updated this guide to reflect this balance change.
What Are Archon Shards?
Archon Shards are an upgrade material that can be socketed into your Warframes, granting them defensive, offensive, or utility stats. Warframes can have up to five Archon Shards installed at once, accessed through the Helminth system. You'll unlock the ability to earn and socket Archon Shards upon completing the "Veilbreaker" quest and crafting the subsequent Helminth component.
As for their overall usefulness, Archon Shards are an endgame progression system that lets you min-max your favorite Warframes by giving them stats that are otherwise difficult to obtain. For example, you can use Archon Shards to give your build more parkour velocity, a flat bonus to their armor stat, or increase your build's Ability Strength.
How To Get Archon Shards
Archon Shards are primarily obtained from Chipper and the weekly Archon Hunt activity, unlocked upon completing the "Veilbreaker" quest. You can access Archon Hunts from the Star Chart menu at the very top-right of the UI. Archon Hunts are functionally identical to Sorties, featuring a three-stage mission structure that gets progressively more difficult.
Archon Rotation
Archons and their associated shards rotate each week. Players will fight Boreal (Azure), Amar (Crimson), and Nira (Amber) on a weekly rotation. If you are looking for a certain Archon Shard, keep an eye out for which Archon is active that given week.
Unlike Sorties, Archon Hunts always lead to an Archon boss fight for the final mission, reusing the Archon bosses seen in "The New War" quest. These enemies are incredibly tough, deal immense damage, and have two phases. Completing an Archon Hunt grants one Archon Shard. The shard that drops depends on the Archon you killed:
- Azure: Boreal
- Crimson: Amar
- Amber: Nira
Besides the weekly Archon Hunt, you may also purchase an Archon Shard from Chipper, a vendor located at Drifter's Camp. You can purchase the shard for Stock, a resource tied to Kahl's weekly missions. Archon Shards may not be traded.
Tauforged Archon Shards And Drop Protection Explained
Tauforged Archon Shards are upgraded variants of standard shards, featuring stats that are 1.5x better than typical Archon Shards. For example, a Crimson Shard that grants 10% Ability Strength will grant 15% Ability Strength if the shard is Tauforged. Tauforged Archon Shards have a 20% drop chance and feature bad luck protection.
For example, defeating Archon Amar has a 20% chance of dropping a Tauforged Archon Shard. You don't get one. This means you now have a 40% chance of receiving a Tauforged Crimson Shard the next time Archon Amar shows up. Your drop chance is saved per crystal, encouraging players to engage with Archon Hunts each week.
Assuming you're unlucky, it'll take 15 weeks to guarantee that you receive a Tauforged Archon Shard of each type.
If you're uncertain about the drop rate of a Tauforged Archon Shard, you can check your Archon Hunt tab in the Star Chart at any time. The percentage beside the Archon Shard denotes the chance of receiving a Tauforged Archon Shard upon completing that week's Archon Hunt.
Netracells
Another source of Archon Shards is the Netracell activity. Upon completing the "Whispers in the Walls" quest, players can speak with Tagfer in the Sanctum Anatomica on Deimos to start a Netracell mission. Just like Archon Hunts, Netracells are fairly difficult and contain many difficulty modifiers, all of which we cover in our Netracell guide.
Completing a Netracell mission has a small chance of dropping an Archon Shard; it's not guaranteed like Archon Hunts. Both normal and Tauforged variants can drop from Netracells, but Tauforged Shards are exceedingly rare. Exact drop chances are listed below:
All drop table values were derived from the Warframe PC Drops website.
Archon Shard |
Drop Chance Normal |
Drop Chance Tauforged |
---|---|---|
Amber |
9.17% |
2.50% |
Azure |
9.17% |
2.50% |
Crimson |
9.17% |
2.50% |
In total, you have a 35% chance of earning an Archon Shard from a successful Netracell run. Up to five Netracells may be looted per week.
Warframe: A Complete Guide To Focus 3.0
Learn how Focus works, what all five schools do, and more with this in-depth guide.Installing Archon Shards
Installing an Archon Shard requires a crafted Helminth Archon Shard Segment. The blueprint for this component is given to you upon completing the "Veilbreaker" quest. It costs the following materials to craft:
Helminth Archon Shard Segment |
|
---|---|
2 Entrati Lanthorn |
10 Devolved Namalon |
5 Sporulate Sac |
50 Thrax Plasm |
Crafting Cost: 50,000 Credits |
Crafting Time: 24 Hours |
You can find these components on Deimos or on the Zariman tileset. Upon crafting the segment, install it in your Helminth chair to unlock the Archon Shard system.
In the Helminth menu, select on the "Archon Shard" tab at the top-left of the UI. This will showcase your Warframe's current Archon Shard slots. Select one of the slots to install an Archon Shard. All owned Archon Shards are visible at the top-right of the menu.
Socketing an Archon Shard will showcase one of five options, each option tied to the color of Archon Shard you're installing. Select one of the stats to finish the installation. The Archon Shard's bonus stats will thereafter affect all of your Warframe's configurations until uninstalled.
Uninstalling Archon Shards
From the Archon Shard tab, select any Archon Shard that's installed in your Warframe. You'll be able to uninstall the selected shard for 30% Bile resources from your Helminth. The refunded shard can then be used on any Warframe you desire. You may do this as often as you like, so long as enough Bile is stored in your Helminth.
Coalescent Fusion And Coalescent Shards
You can create three unique types of Archon Shards through Coalescent Fusion, an Archon Transmutation system introduced in the Whispers in the Walls update. To unlock this feature, you must purchase the Helminth Coalescent Segment from Bird-3 in the Sanctum Anatomica on Deimos. You must be Rank 2 with the Cavia Syndicate to purchase this blueprint. Crafting it requires the following:
Helminth Coalescent Segment |
|
---|---|
50 Stela |
5 Echo Voca |
5 Entrati Lanthorn |
25 Necracoil |
Crafting Cost: 50,000 Credits |
Crafting Time: 24 Hours |
Creating Coalescent Shards
Once installed, make your way to the Helminth chair and select the "Archon Shards" tab. You will see a shard icon above the right-most Archon Shard socket named "Coalescent Fusion" Select this button to bring up the fusion menu.
You may fuse two Archon Shards together to create a new Coalescent Shard, featuring entirely new modifiers not present on either base shard. Doing so requires two Archon Shards and 50 Stela, a resource acquired from Sanctum Anatomica activities. You cannot split a Coalescent Shard back into its original Archon Shards once it's been created.
Tauforged Coalescent Shards
You may create Tauforged variants of Coalescent Shards by transmuting two base Tauforged Archon Shards during the Coalescent Fusion process. Both shards must be Tauforged for this to work.
There are three types of Coalescent Shards:
- Emerald: Azure + Amber
- Topaz: Crimson + Amber
- Violet: Crimson + Azure
Each Coalescent Shard features four modifiers, from five, most of which offer buffs for certain elemental damage types. These Coalescent Shards are best used for highly specialized builds. Exact values for each shard may be found in the next section.
Archon Shard Effects
Archon Shard values are marked with either a [+] or [x]. [+] means the stat is additive, and [x] means the stat is multiplicative.
Unless otherwise stated, Archon Shard modifiers are unaffected by mods and Arcanes.
Azure Archon Shard Stats
Azure Archon Shard |
||
---|---|---|
Effect |
Standard Increase |
Tauforged Increase |
Health |
[+] 150 |
[+] 225 |
Shield Capacity |
[+] 150 |
[+] 225 |
Energy Max |
[+] 50 |
[+] 75 |
Armor |
[+] 150 |
[+] 225 |
Health Regeneration |
[+] 5/s |
[+] 7.5/s |
Crimson Archon Shard Stats
Crimson Archon Shard |
||
---|---|---|
Effect |
Standard Increase |
Tauforged Increase |
*Melee Critical Damage |
[x] 25% |
[x] 37.5% |
*Primary Status Chance |
[x] 25% |
[x] 37.5% |
*Secondary Critical Chance |
[x] 25% |
[x] 37.5% |
Ability Strength |
[+] 10% |
[+] 15% |
Ability Duration |
[+] 10% |
[+] 15% |
*Multiplied by base stats. Additive with mod bonuses.
Amber Archon Shard Stats
Amber Archon Shard |
||
---|---|---|
Effect |
Standard Increase |
Tauforged Increase |
Maximum Energy Is Filled On Spawn |
[+] 30% |
[+] 45% |
Effectiveness On Health Orbs |
[+] 100% |
[+] 150% |
Effectiveness On Energy Orbs |
[+] 50% |
[+] 75% |
Casting Speed |
[+] 25% |
[+] 37.5% |
Parkour Velocity |
[+] 15% |
[+] 22.5% |
Emerald Archon Shard
Emerald Archon Shard |
||
---|---|---|
Effect |
Standard Increase |
Tauforged Increase |
Toxin Status Effects Deal More Damage |
[x] 30% |
[x] 45% |
Recover HP When Dealing Toxin Status Damage |
[+] 2HP |
[+] 3HP |
Ability Damage On Corrosive Enemies |
[x] 10% |
[x] 15% |
Corrosive Status Cap |
[+] 2 |
[+] 3 |
Topaz Archon Shard
Topaz Archon Shard |
||
---|---|---|
Effect |
Standard Increase |
Tauforged Increase |
HP Recovery Per Enemy Killed With Blast |
[+] 1HP Max 300 HP |
[+] 2HP Max 450 HP |
Shield Regeneration On Blast Status |
[+] 5 Shields |
[+] 8 Shields |
*Secondary Critical Chance On Heat Kill |
[x] 1% per kill, 50% cap. |
[x] 1.5% per kill, 75% cap. |
Ability Damage on Radiation Enemies |
[x] 10% |
[x] 15% |
*Multiplied by base stats. Additive with mod bonuses.
Violet Archon Shard
Violet Archon Shard |
||
---|---|---|
Effect |
Standard Increase |
Tauforged Increase |
Ability Damage On Electricity Enemies |
[x] 10% |
[x] 15% |
*Primary Electricity Damage |
[+] 30% Added Electricity Damage [+] 10% per Azure, Crimson, or Violet Shard |
[+] 45% Added Electricity Damage [+] 15% per Azure, Crimson, or Violet Shard |
**Melee Critical Damage |
[x] 25% Default [x] 50% if Energy Max is over 500 |
[x] 37.5% Default [x] 75% if Energy Max is over 500 |
Equilibrium |
[+] 20% Energy from Health Orbs [+] 20% Health from Energy Orbs |
[+] 30% Energy from Health Orbs [+] 30% Health from Energy Orbs |
*Works identically to an elemental mod.
**Multiplied by base stats. Additive with mod bonuses.
The Best Archon Shards
Despite the vast array of Archon Shard options, your best upgrade options are quite simple:
-
Azure: Spec for Armor or Health.
- Energy Max is also an option for Warframes with minuscule Energy pools.
- Crimson: Spec for Ability Strength or Duration.
- Amber: Spec for Cast Speed or Parkour Velocity.
- Emerald: Spec for Corrosive Stacks.
- Topaz: Spec for Shield on Blast status or Secondary Critical Chance on Heat kill.
- Violet: Spec for Equilibrium or Ability Damage on Electric Targets.
The rest of your options are either too niche or not useful for most Warframe builds in the game. Like most things in Warframe, it's possible to use any buff you desire and do quite well, so ultimately pick what you value the most.
Just because you aren't using the most min-max options doesn't mean your Archon Shards are being wasted, far from it. But for those wondering why these are the best, let's explain why each option is good or mediocre.
Azure Archon Shards
Effect |
When To Use |
---|---|
Health |
Equip if Armor > Health by 300+ |
Shield Capacity |
Hildryn builds to increase her Energy Max |
Armor |
Equip if Armor < Health by 300+ |
Energy Max |
Use on Warframes with small Energy pools with limited mod space |
Health Regeneration |
Apply to shield-focused Warframes to mitigate chip damage |
Crimson Archon Shards
Effect |
When To Use |
---|---|
Melee Critical Damage |
Use with melee stat-stick builds (Khora, Atlas, etc.) |
Primary Status Chance |
Never use this |
Secondary Critical Chance |
Never use this |
Ability Strength |
Always a good option |
Ability Duration |
Always a good option |
Amber Archon Shards
Effect |
When To Use |
---|---|
Maximum Energy Is Filled On Spawn |
Sanctuary Onslaught farming, decent option otherwise |
Effectiveness On Health Orbs |
Never use this |
Effectiveness On Energy Orbs |
Energy-hungry Warframes that use channeled abilities (Ember, Equinox, etc.) |
Casting Speed |
Always a good option |
Parkour Velocity |
Always a good option |
Emerald Archon Shards
Effect |
When To Use |
---|---|
Toxin Status Effect Damage |
Saryn builds that use Toxic Lash |
Recover HP From Toxin Status Damage |
Never use this |
Ability Damage On Corrosive Enemies |
Hydroid builds, or any build that uses Tempest Barrage |
Corrosive Status Cap |
Always a good option |
Topaz Archon Shards
Effect |
When To Use |
---|---|
HP Recovery Per Enemy Killed With Blast |
Never use this |
Shield Regeneration on Blast Status |
Never use this |
Secondary Critical Chance on Heat Kill |
Always a good option |
Ability Damage on Radiation Enemies |
Qorvex builds, or any build that uses Breach Surge |
Violet Archon Shards
Effect |
When To Use |
---|---|
Ability Damage on Electricity Enemies |
Gyre builds, or any build that uses status primers |
Primary Electricity Damage |
Weapon builds that use Corrosive, Radiation, or Electricity |
Melee Critical Damage |
Equip if Energy Max > 500 |
Equilibrium |
Always a good option |
Archon Shard FAQ
Can You Trade Archon Shards?
No, you cannot trade Archon Shards with other players.
Is There A Limit To How Many Archon Shards I Can Install On My Warframe?
You may only have five Archon Shards installed on a Warframe at a time. All five shards may be Tauforged. If you hit the Archon Shard cap and want to make changes, you may uninstall Archon Shards from your Warframe for the cost of 30% Bile from your Helminth.
Do Tauforged Shards Have Drop Protection?
Yes, they do. The Citrine's Last Wish update added drop protection for all Archon Shard types, granting a stacking chance of receiving a Tauforged crystal each week if it doesn't drop. This drop chance is scaled per shard, meaning that this drop protection only affects a specific type of Archon Shard. This encourages players to complete all weekly Archon Hunts to maximize their Tauforged drops across all three shard types. For more information on this system, see the "Tauforged Archon Shard" subsection near the start of this guide.
Can Chipper Sell Tauforged Archon Shards?
No, he cannot. See our Kahl's Garrison guide for more information on how Chipper's reward pool works.
The Archon Fights Are Incredibly Tough. How Can I Make Them Easier?
You want to spec your weapons for Radiation damage, multishot, and critical damage. Damage attenuation—an aggressive form of damage resistance—is tied to every Archon fight in Warframe, flooring your damage if the game detects you're dealing too much damage in a short timeframe.
Your best way of bypassing this is to damage the Archon with consistent damage, preferably criticals. Archons do adapt their DR to multishot and critical damage now, but the DR ceiling from this has been greatly reduced since its original release. Since the Archons are all weak to Radiation, that's what we recommend using.
As for weapons that melt the Archons quickly:
- Knell Prime: It deals massive damage and has infinite ammo if you can land the occasional headshot.
- Glaive Prime: A similar concept to the Kuva Hek, achieve a max combo multiplier and detonate the Glaive on the Archon.
- Laetum: The Incarnon form's bonus damage seems to ignore damage attenuation, making this a phenomenal pick if you can charge the alt-fire before the fight starts.
Do Archon Shards Have A Level Requirement?
No, there isn't a Helminth requirement for using Archon Shards, but there's technically an MR requirement. The only prerequisites are a crafted Helminth Segment (which has an MR8 requirement) and the completion of the "Veilbreaker" quest. Your Helminth does not need any upgrades to install Archon Shards in your Warframes.
Once I Merge Two Archon Shards Together, Can I Split Them?
No. Once you create a Coalescent Shard, the Archon Shards will be fused together permanently. Be sure the Coalescent Shard is a good fit for your build before making one, especially if you're using Tauforged Shards.