Warframe is one of the best free-to-play games on PC, but it's also hopelessly complex and intimidating for new players. Check out our beginner's guide to help you make sense of everything and start on the right foot.
Hoverboards are cool and all, but if you really want to get places quickly in Fortuna, Warframe's biggest open-world update ever, you'll want an Archwing. These flight suits connect to your warframe exoarmor and let you jet around the enormous frozen wasteland of Orb Vallis with ease. But how do you unlock the Archwing for use in Warframe: Fortuna?
It's a bit of a laborious process (especially if you're brand new to Warframe). But if you plan on spending any amount of time exploring Fortuna, it's worth taking a few hours to grind out these steps so you can use one while exploring Venus.
The first part of this guide will cover how to unlock the Archwing for beginner players. But if you already have one, scroll down to the section that covers exactly how to unlock it for use on Venus.
How to unlock the Archwing for beginners
If you're brand new to Warframe but have already made your way to Venus and watched with envious eyes as your more experienced team mates have zipped off into the sky on their Archwings, I have some bad news. It's going to take you a little while before you can do the same. Have no fear, though, this is something you need to do anyway, so taking the time to do it now is a good idea.
To start, you need to unlock the Mars Junction on Earth, the planet where all new players first start. This requires completing several objectives that are listed if you mouse over the junction on the star chart. It's a bit of an involved process though and you'll have to complete all of Warframe's introduction. Again, this is something you'll need to do anyway so don't fret.
First, complete quests titled Vor's Prize and Once Awake. These two quests will take you from Earth all the way to Venus and Mercury, and you should definitely take your time to complete every mission along the way. Once you've done that, the three other Mars Junction objectives are easy: Kill Grineer troops, harvest Rubedo (the red crystalline blocks found on most missions), and complete Suisei on Mercury.
Once you've unlocked the Mars Junction and defeated the guardian specter there, you'll unlock The Archwing quest that, through a series of missions, will let you build your very own flight suit. If you need step by step instructions for this quest (don't worry, it's all very easy), this guide will help. Now that you have your Archwing, it's time to build the components that will let you fly it on the Plains of Eidolon and Orb Vallis (Fortuna).
How to use the Archwing in Fortuna
Right now, the only way to unlock the Archwing for use on Fortuna requires a bit of grinding in Warframe's older open-world zone called the Plains of Eidolon. It feels like an annoying oversight on developer Digital Extremes' part, so we'll keep this guide updated just in case things change.
This step cannot be completed until you have reached Mastery Rank 5. If you're new to Warframe, just continue completing quests and leveling up new gear until you're ready.
Now that you have a fully built Archwing, the first thing you'll need is the Archwing Launcher Segment. This piece of gear augments your Foundry back on your ship so that you can build Archwing Launchers. A year ago, this item used to be a consumable that you'd spend every time you boarded your Archwing but, thank god, Fortuna changes this so you only need to build it once and it can be used an infinite number of times.
First, you'll need to have the Archwing Launcher Segment researched in your clan dojo. If you're not a part of a clan, there's no way to get one without buying one from the market for 175 platinum (Warframe's premium currency). You can find clans on the Warframe subreddit's recruitment thread or just ask in the Recruiting channel in-game. Most clans should have the Archwing Launcher Segment researched already.
Assuming this is all done, head to your clan dojo to pick up the blueprint. You need to be Mastery Rank 5 to use it. Now, in order to build this you'll need the following:
- 100,000 credits
- 50 grokdrul
- 50 iradite
- 1,200 oxium
We'll also need some materials to build the actual Archwing Launcher so we can summon the Archwing while on the Plains of Eidolon or Orb Vallis. Here's what we need:
- 7,500 credits
- 50 grokdrul
- 50 iradite
- 30 fish oil
- 600 circuits
The credits, circuits, and oxium are easy to find and you should have plenty. The grokdrul, iradite, and fish oil, however, can only be found on the Plains of Eidolon and will take several hours to farm.
Where to find grokdrul
This resource can be found in containers often located in Grineer outposts on the Plains of Eidolon. It is also awarded by bounties given by Konzu in Cetus. The best way to earn grokdrul is to take on as difficult a bounty as you can manage from Konzu and then head out into the Plains of Eidolon. More difficult bounties increase the drop rate of resources, so you'll earn the 100 grokdrul you need much faster this way. While your attacking the Grineer and stealing their grokdrul, complete the bounties as well. You'll need Cetus standing points to spend on a fishing harpoon so we can harvest fish oil later.
Where to find iradite
Iradite is easy to find on the Plains, but again, if you take on a difficult bounty from Konzu you'll increase the drop rate. This mineral is harvested from these oddly shaped rock formations that are scattered all over the low-lying areas of the Plains.
The problem is that iradite formations blend into the environment really easily and are hard to spot. My suggestion is to steal a Grineer Dargyn and use it to fly around the map at a low altitude, making the formations much easier to spot from above. You can shoot the formations using the Dargyn and then jump off to collect the iradite, hop back on, and look for more. You'll need 100 iradite.
Don't pick up the iradite while piloting the Dargyn. There's a bug where it says you've collected it but once you actually leave the Plains of Eidolon, the iradite will disappear. You have to collect it by hand.
Where to find fish oil
Fish oil is the most complicated resource to farm for the Archwing. To get it, you'll first need to acquire a fishing spear from Hai-Luk in Cetus for 500 Ostron Standing points. Our Plains of Eidolon beginner's guide has a more detailed walkthrough of how to fish, but the gist of it is this: Equip the spear, find a body of water out in the Plains, and wait for fish to appear and then throw the spear at them.
These fish can then be taken back to Hai-Luk and filleted, earning you a bunch of resources including fish oil. Check this chart to see what each fish will earn you as you catch them so you know when you've caught enough to make 30 fish oil.
Building the Archwing Launcher Segment
Now that you have everything, head back to your ship and begin building the Archwing Launcher Segment. This build will take 12 hours, which is a bit of a bummer but you should have plenty else to do while you wait. Once it's done, you'll already have all the resources to begin building the Archwing Launcher. The blueprint is already in your Foundry, too.
Fortunately, the Launcher only takes 30 minutes to construct. Once it's done, you can equip it to your gear wheel and head to Orb Vallis. Once you're out in the snowy wasteland of Venus, use the Launcher to call your Archwing and take flight.
Depending on how far into Warframe you were when you started this, it's likely that this whole process to a couple of days. But now that you have an Archwing and can quickly traverse Orb Vallis and keep up with other players, it'll be well worth the trouble.
