I’m fairly new to Warframe, only MR 6 with a few weapons maxed (and sold) and just now making Rhino as my first new frame. I have been working through the star chart and completing quests as I got them.
In my adventures I have encountered some opportunities to grind for certain things. Reputations with the syndicates, rewards from Fortuna or the the happy family in Deimos, or that frame you can buy from Duviri wyrm kills etcetera. But how do I know what is worth going for?
I don’t necessarily want to rush to end game ASAP, but I also don’t want to spend time grinding for something that I would very quickly replace anyway
In my experience;
The best grinds are those that you’re either grinding multiple things at once. For example: Doing a mission that gives parts for something you want while also doing it as a Void Rift so you collect Relics (ideally also for Prime items you want). You would also, ideally, be leveling weapons simultaneously to these grinds to be grinding three things at once but as you go it gets harder and harder to have new weapons to grind.
There are a few grinds that are still very worthwhile even when they’re not multi-grinds. Getting to max rank with Fortuna is one of them. Efficient grinding of Focus for the Operator (once you get it, and the Zariman) is another.
Anything passive is an instant yes. Just because… why not?
Syndicates, for example. There’s pretty much no reason to not choose a syndicate and rank them- and their ally- up.
If you’re intending to do all the main quests, eventually you’ll either need Entrati and Cetus standing unless you buy a Necramech either via market or player trading. You’ll also want Quill standing- which you may or may not even have unlocked depending on the quests you’ve done- though it’s not really necessary until you’re pretty much endgame. It’ll make life a lot easier long before that.
Doing two things or more at once is great, as Halasham says.
But most importantly, if the grind isn’t fun, don’t do it. If it’s not fun the way you’re doing it, find another way to do it. Back before they moved Harrow Systems, I spent roughly thirty hours getting it to drop in Caracol defection. It wasn’t super fun, but I made it more fun by experimenting with every frame I had to see if that frame could do the job effectively.
So to answer your question: anything that’s fun is worth doing. Because every piece of gear is worth having, and if it’s fun to get, then why not?
This. Thank you for adding this necessary piece of advice. Unfun grinds are horrible detractors from what makes the game good. Warframe is definitely a grind-game, forcing yourself to engage with grinds that you aren’t enjoying is probably the best way to kill your enjoyment.
Since you mentioned Duviri, I’m gonna assume you’ve done some circuit/orowyrm, so you’re already getting an idea of frames/weapons you might want to have for your collection. Everyone jives with different stuff, so if it feels good to play, or sounds good on the wiki (and the grind seems reasonable), go for it. Worst case, you end up selling it after leveling it to max.
- A lot of mods are worth collecting (although some are too rare or niche to bother with). Check the wiki, look at build sites for equipment you already use, and see if anything you don’t have (and can access easily) could make a big difference.
- Faction rep is always worth getting at some point (especially the ones SolOrion mentioned). When you hit MR8, you might want to grab the helminth segment from the Deimos family at rank 3, as well.
Sidenote: since the anniversary’s going on right now, make sure to do any weapon alerts that come up in the next few weeks: they come with their own weapon slots (which you keep even if you delete the weapons later), and are pre-installed with catalysts.
