With over 7 years of content available today in the world of warframe it’s no wonder newer players can get lost and confused. If this is you, hopefully this breakdown of the missions available will clear up some of that confusion and help you on the way to mr30.
Mission Types:
Exterminate:
Quite possibly the first mission type you’ll play, exterminate missions pit you, the tenno, against an overwhelming number of enemies. Your task is simple, kill the required number of enemies and then extract from the mission.
Spy:
For you stealth lovers out there, spy missions are for you. They will see you dropped into the map with your objective being to break into three different data vaults without being spotted and hack a terminal inside to earn rewards. If you are spotted however, a timer will begin and you will have that long to retrieve the data. If you do not manage to retrieve the data in this time, it will be purged from that vault and you will not earn a reward for it, it is still possible to earn rewards from the remaining vaults though. After completing all three data vaults it will then be possible to extract.
Capture:
Capture missions are great, a simple concept that can be completed quickly with minimal effort to really maximise those rewards. In capture missions you will be dropped into the tileset and will have one enemy marked for you, this is the capture target, your job is to shoot, stab, damage the capture target to the point they fall down then run over to them and press X (default keybind)on pc to capture them. An animation will play and then the extraction point will be marked on your HUD for you to get to and extract.
Survival:
Survival missions are classed as endless, this is because after the first 5 minutes you will be able to extract at any time. However, for every 5 minutes you stay in the mission for, you will earn extra rewards and have to deal with higher level enemies. To start a survival mission, there will be terminal nearby, hack this terminal, a clock will start and you will be notified that enemies are turning off life support. You should then see a circle appear in the top left corner of the HUD containing your current life support. If this number drops to 0, you will start taking increasing damage, if it stays at 0 for too long, the mission will be failed. Therefore, it is important to keep an eye on your current life support. To gain more life support, you can kill enemies as they have a chance to drop a small boost on death, or you can also go to the life support modules that will be dropped around the map and interact with them to refill a large portion of your life support bar.
Defence:
Similarly, defence missions are also endless missions, this time though, you will be given the option to extract after every 5 waves completed. Defence gameplay consists of literally defending an objective from enemies. This objective is usually a cryopod that will spawn on the map. To progress through waves, you must kill all enemies from the previous wave first, you will then be given a few seconds break and then the next wave will begin. If the defence objective takes damage, its not usually an issue as it will heal itself after not taking damage for a set time, although, if the objective loses all its health, it will be destroyed and the mission will be failed.
Excavation:
Another of the endless mission variety, excavation sees you defending excavators from enemies until the timer runs out. However, it is slightly more complex than that. For starters, the excavators need powering, this power can be found by shooting enemies carrying it, then picking it up and bringing it to the excavator, where it will replenish its shields and add 20 seconds worth of fuel to it. Keep doing this until the excavator is complete then move on to the next one. It should be noted though that it is possible to start more than one excavator at once but if you are playing solo, defending both at the same time will be a challenge. When an excavator has completed its dig, you will be rewarded with 100 cryotic and a reward from the drop table. There is no penalty for destroying an excavator, however, you won’t earn a reward for it and will receive just the relative amount of cryotic earned. After the first excavator has completed, extraction will be available.
Disruption:
A relatively new endless game mode, this will see you protecting conduits throughout the map from a special type of enemy called a demolyst. Conduits have four colours and each conduit has its own required key. These keys are dropped from enemies and when inserted into the conduit, will trigger a countdown and spawn a demolyst. Demolysts are the only creatures that are able to destroy a conduit, they do this by running up to it and detonating themselves. To find where a demolyst is coming from, listen for a beeping sound and follow it, then kill the demolyst before it is allowed to destroy the conduit. When a conduit is activated, a random effect will occur, be it a buff to tenno or enemies or an environmental hazard. You will need to do this four times per round and will earn a reward based on the number of conduits protected per round. After the first round, it will be possible to extract.
Interception:
Writing this is making me realise how many endless type missions are actually available in warframe, because guess what? This is another. Interceptions will see you defending four objectives around the map from being captured by enemies, to capture a point, simply kill nearby enemies and stand on it until it is captured. Capturing these points will increase the speed at which the intercept completes, this counts for enemies and for players, so it is important to keep the enemies from capturing points. After the intercept is complete, you will be tasked to kill all remaining enemies and will then be given the option to extract or stay for another round.
Mobile Defence:
These missions will spawn you into the map next to a datamass. This datamass is required to hack special terminals and get rewards. So, pick up the datamass and carry it to the first objective where you can insert it and will then have to defend until the timer is complete, where you can then move the datamass onto the next objective. There will be three objectives per mission and if any of these get destroyed, the mission will be failed. Although, similar to defence missions, the defence target will heal itself after not taking damage for a set amount of time. After successfully defending all three objectives it will be possible to extract from the mission.
Sabotage:
These missions are slightly different to other missions offered in warframe. This is because the objective will be slightly different depending on the mission node chosen, although the majority do share the same formula, which will be to get to the objective, destroy a reactor and then extract. I would advise following the instructions while in the mission as they are a good indicator of what to do.
Hijack:
The main objective of a hijack mission is to protect a transport from enemies until you reach extraction. To accomplish this you will need to run to the objective, hack a terminal and a transport should spawn. This transport will need to be protected from enemies while it moves to the extraction point. There is a twist however, the health of the transport will decrease while in the mission, so you want to be completing it as quick as possible, but its not quite that simple though. For the transport to actually move, it requires a power source. That power source is going to be the shields on your warframe, that’s right, as the transport moves, you need to be close enough to it for it to siphon your shields and move along, therefore for hijack missions, it is recommended to bring a warframe with a large amount of shields. If, However, your shields run out during the course of this, they will replenish like normal, this can be sped up by moving out of range of the transport while they refill, but if you are away for too long and the enemies get too close to the transport, it will start moving backwards, undoing all your hard work.
Rescue:
Rescue missions are a rather strange bunch, they can be completed in two ways really. That is either by going stealthily to avoid alerting guards or by just killing everything and rescuing the prisoners before the timer counts down. The objective in rescue missions is to infiltrate a prison like complex and hack the jail cells within to free the prisoner. Although, only one cell will hold a prisoner.
Similar to spies, if you are spotted while in the prison complex, a timer will begin, you have until that timer runs out to save the prisoner otherwise they will be killed and the mission will fail. If you do successfully break the prisoner out, you then have to escort them to the extraction, if they take too much damage while escaping, they will be downed, much like a warframe is and will have to be revived, it is possible for the prisoner to die, in which case the mission will be failed. Successfully reaching the extraction will mark the mission as completed.
Assassination:
Assassination missions are pretty much what they sound like, you will be dropped into the map with one goal, to kill the target. The target depends on the node but it will always be a prominent member of a faction. Upon killing the target, head to extraction to collect your reward.
Bounties:
Bounties are found in Fortuna and Cetus from Eudico and Konzu respectively, they will rotate every few hours and each bounty has a random chance at it own set loot table.
Index:
The index is an arena pitting tenno against corpus investors. It’s used by most players as a way of farming credits. The objective in index is to score more points than the investors without running out of time. Every enemy killed will drop an index point you can pick up, but beware, every index point you pick up will reduce your maximum health. If you die while holding these points, they will all be dropped on the floor where they can be picked up by any team. To bank points simply run into the waypoint marker while holding them. It is important to keep an eye on the timer though as if it runs out, you will lose. Every point banked will increase the timer by 10 seconds but every point an enemy banks will reduce the time left by 10 seconds.
Archwing specific missions:
The majority of archwing missions will function the same as their ground based counterparts thre are however, a few new modes that are only available in archwing, these are:
Pursuit:
The goal in pursuit is to retrieve the black box from an enemy ship and extract with it. To do this, you will need to chase the ship and disable its engines, then shoot the shield generators to disable the shields and attack the ship directly to deal damage to be able to capture it. A timer will then appear, for this time, you will need to defend the ship from enemies. When the timer runs out, the black box will be retrieved and you should automatically extract.
Rush:
In rush missions, upon spawning, a timer will start and you will have to fly towards the waypoint, where there will be a loading dock. In this loading dock will be corpus ships you will have to destroy. To destroy the ships you will need to first destroy the drones near them, after they are destroyed you will be able to damage the ship. When one ship is destroyed, the next will become waypointed. Destroy all 3 ships and extract to complete the mission. If the timer runs out, you will earn rewards based on how many ships were destroyed.
Special missions:
Nightmare mode:
Nightmare missions are unlocked when you complete every mission on that planet, they will rotate every 8 hours and allows up to two missions per planet to have modifiers that will increase the difficulty of the mission and add 1 or two random modifiers to the mission.
Void fissures:
This is where you can open relics you’ve earned for a chance at some cool and useful loot. Essentially upon selecting a mission, you will be able to choose a relic you want to open and the mission will start. During the mission you’ll want to complete the objective like normal, however you might notice different enemy types. These are corrupted enemies. Upon death they have a chance to drop something called void reactant, get 10 void reactant and you’ll be able to open the relic when you reach extraction and see what reward you got. I would recommend playing void fissures with other players as each player can bring their own relic and at extraction time, you’ll be able to choose from their rewards as well, giving you more chances to that sweet loot.
Alerts:
Alerts are special missions that appear on random nodes. They will be between two warring factions and give you the choice of who to help. After you have helped one side through three missions you will be eligible for the rewards listed. These rewards will arrive in your inbox when the alert is over, the alert being over when one faction has dominance. The winning faction will also “take over” that node for a short time, meaning instead of the usual enemies, you will find the winning factions’ enemies there. It should be noted that running these missions more than three times per node will not grant you additional rewards.
Syndicate:
Syndicate missions are given to you by syndicates you have a positive standing with, they will refresh every day and upon completion will reward a decent amount of standing for that faction. It is also possible to get faction coins scattered throughout the map in these missions that you can pick up and turn in at a relay for more standing.
Arbitrations:
Arbitrations are unlocked after completing every node on the star chart and are considered to be “endgame” content for some players. You will get one arbitration mission per hour that can be rerun as many times as you want. All arbitration missions will be “endless” game modes such as Defection, defence, interception, excavation, and survival.
Arbitrations also all have a special bonus for players, along with vastly improved rewards than normal missions, they will give a random Warframe a bonus of 300% power strength and a random weapon a bonus of 300% damage. For example, you could get an arbitration defence with a strength bonus to Oberon and a damage bonus to the karak. It should be noted though that although every player has the same mission on rotation, the bonuses vary per player.
hopefully you found this list of most of the missions you can come across in Warframe helpful.