Warframe is an incredible free-to-play game where players don mighty frames to travel the stars and rid the universe of evil. Each frame possesses unique abilities and different playstyles. Considering there are more than 60 frames to take into battle, odds are there’s a frame for every player and their needs.
While the standard Equinox has been around since 2015, the newly released Prime Equinox released in April brings greater stats and different polarities. It’s a great addition to a player’s armory, but one that can prove complicated to obtain.
10 The Frame
The Equinox is a powerful frame that has the unique ability to alter between two different forms: a Day form and a Night form. Generally speaking, the Day form possesses abilities and attacks that give the Equinox a more aggressive style of play, while the Night form is a little more passive.
The Equinox in either form is meant to be played as a support character, lending powerful buffs to allies, hindering opponents, and granting energy regeneration to teammates. She can be played solo, but she really shines in groups.
9 Why You’ll Want Her
The Equinox has powerful abilities on the field of battle, and both forms have their uses. In Night form, the Equinox can put enemies to sleep, decrease their damage, and can heal allies with every enemy kill. In her Day form, the Equinox can lower enemies’ defenses, grant a buff to allies' ability strength, and deal a brutal slashing attack that bleeds enemies.
Her unique ability to switch between these forms does take time, but it gives her the advantage of altering her approach to each combat situation.
8 Where To Find Parts – Easy
To obtain the Equinox for yourself, the easiest way is to purchase the Equinox Prime Access for a limited time at a starting price of $79.99. If that’s beyond your gaming budget, then you can also try trading in-game via the market.
In trading, you can either buy the frame outright or the four components necessary to craft it and put it together yourself. You’re searching for the relics Lith M4 (Chassis), Axi K5 (Blueprint), Meso E2 (Systems), and Meso M3 (Neuroptics). It can get pricey, and considering it’s a newer frame, the parts will go fast once they hit the market.
7 Where To Find Parts – Hard
If you want to obtain the Equinox Prime the good old fashioned way, then you’ll have to do some hefty farming in four separate areas. The Lith M4 is going to be in the Hepit on the Void planet; it’s a capture mission and it’s a common drop. The Axi K5 is found in Xini on the Eris planet; it’s an interception mission and has an uncommon drop. The Meso M3 is found in Io on Jupiter; it’s a defense mission and is also an uncommon drop.
The last relic is the Meso E2, found in Gaia on Earth. It’s another interception mission, but this one is a rare drop, so odds are you’ll spend most of your time trying to farm this part.
6 Tips For Hepit, Void
The Void is a dangerous area populated by the Corrupted, a collection of enemies across factions enslaved by Orokin towers. They are stronger and deadlier than their free brethren and deal 200% more damage. Hepit will require between level 10-15 to safely beat.
As a capture mission, you’ll want a fast frame that deals high damage to bring down the fleeing target. Something like Atlas, Volt Prime, or Ember would do well here. It’s your call how you proceed from here. Some say it’s better to blitz capture missions as quickly as possible, and others say dragging them out to kill enemies is better. You should probably do whichever is more entertaining for you.
5 Tips For Xini, Eris
Eris is overrun by the Infested, parasites that have infected both Corpus and Grineer warriors. These beings like to swarm the player. Considering you’ll be running an Interception mission, this means you’ll be scrambling to take the capture points while dealing with hordes of enemies. This one’s tough, so you’ll want to be level 30-40.
Your best bet is to have a frame that has good crowd control, can move fast, and can hold each position. Nyx is a great frame, given her mind control abilities; Nova is good; and Rhino can be good for holding an area. This is an interception mission, so feel free to grind through enemies, though blitzing can be a little more interesting.
4 Tips For Io, Jupiter
Jupiter is under the control of the Corprus, so you’ll be fighting heavily armored foes and robotic units. As a defense mission, players will be tasked with holding an area against waves of enemies. This is also an endless mission that allows players to continue defending the area, though the enemies get stronger with each wave. You’ll want to be level 15-20 at least.
The Frost is by far the best frame in the game for defense missions. Other strong heavy hitters or frames with crowd control are helpful, too, like Oberon or Atlas. The recommendation is to grind out the waves until you feel it’s getting too dangerous, and then start the mission over again.
3 Tips For Gaia, Earth
Earth is inhabited by the Grineer, the first enemies the player encounters in the game. In fact, Earth is the first planet in the game, and players need to be at least level 1-6 to beat the mission. Odds are if you’re grinding Xini at Level 30, you’ll be blitzing this mission whether you want to or not.
You’ll be running an interception mission, so use any crowd control frames or heavy hitters, like Nyx, Nova, or Rhino. But again, this is an early level mission, so really any frame will be fine. Do whatever it takes to keep this farm interesting, as you’ll be here a while because you’re looking for a rare drop. It’ll feel awesome blowing away enemies in the beginning, but it gets old fast.
2 Cost
If you have all the materials necessary to craft the parts, you’re looking at six days and twelve hours to craft the frame, assuming you’re on the ball and crafting each part one right after the other.
Assuming you aren’t spending credits on the materials, you’ll spend $65,000 to craft the Equinox Prime. If you are using credits in the markets, then you’ll be looking at a higher cost. Surprisingly, the Equinox Prime is much easier to farm and craft than its standard frame, which required building both the Day form, the Night form, and then fusing them together. It was a beastly task.
1 Using Equinox Prime
Once your Equinox Prime is built, you have a powerful frame that can be a little tricky to get the hang of. But once you do, you’ll have your hands on an adaptive weapon of war. As mentioned before, the Night form is to keep enemies weakened and the Day form is to give teammates an edge in battle.
In either form, the Equinox Prime is meant to function as a support frame, so she’ll be suited to join groups. Like any frame, she can function on her own, but the Equinox Prime thrives when empowering others in battle and throwing her crowd control abilities around.