Modding is the most important system in warframe, and affects how you interact with every aspect of playing the game. Though the word resembles “modding” like mods from other games, mods in Warframe are simply another word for upgrades. 

 

Mods can be equipped to your warframes, your companions, your weapons, your vehicles etc. Basically anything you can use, you can mod. Before i explain anything else, this is where you can view and upgrade all your mods

 

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Try not to get overwhelmed by this menu, as most of it is optional to interact with. For now, lets swap to our arsenal menu

 

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Here, we can see all our equipment, warframes, weapons, and much more. Lets get into the upgrade menu for our warframe to explain how modding works. 

 

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For this explanation, we’ll be going over the basics to get you started and having fun in Warframe. To start this, lets go over capacity. Capacity represents the maximum number of upgrades you can have on an item. Every mod you equip on your item will subtract from the capacity. As you equip more and more mods, you will eventually be unable to equip any more mods due your capacity being drained by the equipped mods. The amount of capacity drained will depend on the mod you choose to equip. Lets go through this visually. 

 

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The amount of capacity each item has will be determined by its level. To make it simple, the level of the item directly corresponds to the capacity. For example: A level 12 item will have a maximum capacity of 12, a level 23 item will have a maximum capacity of 23, and a level 30 item (Maximum level) will have 30 capacity. The amount drained by equipping a mod is shown in the top right of each mod.

 

As you’re equipping a mod, you'll notice that hovering over a mod shows its effects, with each mod serving a completely different purpose in modifying the item its equipped to.

 

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Mods are divided up into categories that determine what they can possibly be equipped on. This is laid out very plainly on each mod, showing you what they can be equipped on. The game will be kind to you and only show you mods that can be equipped on the current item you're upgrading. So if you are in the menu of upgrading your warframe, it will only show you warframe mods. If you are in the upgrade menu for your melee weapon, it will only show you melee mods etc. 

 

The last piece of this whole equation is the little logo shown in the top right of every mod right beside the number. There are 4 main symbols:

 

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Every single mod in the game will have one of these logos in the top right. Let me show you something:

 

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See? This the same logo that's on many mods! Almost every item in the game comes with one or more than one of these logos embedded in their mod slots. If you match the mod symbol with the slot symbol, it will drastically reduce the capacity cost of equipping the mod. You can put any mod in any slot, but matching the symbols will save you space to equip more mods due to the reduced capacity cost. 

 

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This also works in reverse. If you put a mod in a slot with a non matching symbol, it will INCREASE the capacity cost of using the mod. Note that slots with no symbol are free ground, and anything can be put there with no penalties. For now, just try to match the symbols and don't think too hard about the benefits. Its an excellent habit to get into and you’ll soon understand the benefits as you level up your mods to higher levels. SPEAKING OF LEVELLING UP MODS

 

Levelling up mods drastically increases their performance. This serves as the main way of becoming more powerful in Warframe. Leveling up mods costs a combination of credits and Endo, two resources that you will naturally come upon during your journey through Warframe. The tradeoff for this increase in performance, is a correlated increase in capacity cost to equip them. For every 1 level you add to a mod, its cost (located in the top right of each mod) will also go up by 1. 

 

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​​​​​​​The final piece of this equation is aura mods. Aura mods are a special type of mod that applies to you, as well as all other players in your mission with you. This slot is located in the top left, and can be equipped ONLY ON WARFRAMES. 

 

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Unlike every other mod in the game, equipping an aura mod will grant you increased capacity rather than reducing capacity. For example: If you put in a max rank aura mod that says 7 in the top right, your maximum capacity will increase from 30 to 37 (base 30 + the 7 from aura mod). If we apply the matching symbol rule, we can get even more mod capacity to work with. 

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Optional Advanced Information

 

Above is all the information you need to interact with the modding system and enjoy the game, but there are some advanced mechanics that experienced players will want to become familiar with. The first of these is Orokin Reactors and Orokin Catalysts. 

 

Orokin Reactors and Catalysts are rare consumable items found in trace amounts throughout the game. These can be applied to all equippable items in the game (Reactors for warframes and companions and Catalysts for weapons) to double their mod capacity. For example, a max level item or warframe at level 30 with a capacity of 30 will be doubled to 60. Reactors and Catalysts allow for more advanced and powerful mod setups.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Forma is another key system to learn when modding your equipment. Though less scarce than reactors or catalysts, Forma are a rare consumable resource that can be applied to any piece of equipment or warframe. It will reset the item’s rank to 0, forcing you to relevel the item up to 30. However, in return you apply a mod symbol of your choice to any mod slot on the item. 

 

If we look back to the explanation for matching mod symbols, we’ll see that this process of matching symbols will save you mod capacity on your items. As your mods become higher and higher level through upgrades, the capacity drain for equipping them will become more and more limiting in your mod setups. Applying Forma gets around this limitation and allows you to mod to your heart's content through matching symbols. 

 

The final category of mod to be discussed is exilus mods. Once again, this is gated by a rare consumable: Exilus Adapters. By using an exilus adapter on a warframe or weapon, you’ll unlock the final slot in your mod setup. The exilus mod slot is located at the top of your mod setup beside aura mods, and is reserved exclusively for exilus mods. 

 

Exilus mods are a special category of mods that can be equipped in this final slot. These usually have more niche or specialized effects, and are usually used to add a little flavour to your mod setups in minor ways. They are denoted by a small symbol in the top middle of the mod.

 

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ONLY mods with this symbol can be equipped in this slot.