Warframe: 1999 is packed to the gills with new content, including three all-new game modes, as well as a twist on a familiar one. But the game doesn’t necessarily explain how to play them all.
Before you dive into the new game modes, though, check out the new frame, Cyte-09, how to build him, and how his sniper rifle works. Then, it’s time to sink your teeth into the 1999 game modes.
How to play Hell-Scrub in Warframe
Hell-Scrub is, essentially, a new version of Survival in Warframe. It comes in two flavors: Scaldra and Techrot. These play the same, just with enemies of each respective faction.
This mode plays like traditional Survival, but instead of life support capsules, there are Hell-Scrubbers. These still provide life support when you interact with them, but they can be infected by Techrot spores, which can be removed by destroying them with your weapons or abilities.
If a Hell-Scrubber is taken over by the Techrot, it will spawn a Techrot Babau. When killed, the Babau will drop life support, but it’ll be less than what you’d get from a Hell-Scrubber. However, there are a few new mods added in the 1999 update dropped from Techrot Babaus.
Simply activate Hell-Scrubbers as necessary, and you can extract after five minutes.
How to play Legacyte Harvest in Warframe
Legacyte Harvest is a unique mode in Warframe, but it plays somewhat like Disruption. In Legacyte Harvest, you follow Kalymos underground and guard her as a gauge fills up. Once filled, a Legacyte will spawn in, which is a particularly chunky enemy with a lot of health.
Kalymos is invulnerable, but the gauge will not fill up if she’s taking damage. Normally, the gauge will fill up by 1% per second, but Pheroglands may drop from nearby enemies that can be picked up to increase the gauge by 15% at once. Either way, filling up the gauge doesn’t take long
Once you damage a Legacyte down to half health, it will begin running away towards a Techrot Umbilix. The Umbilix can be destroyed, but if left alone, the Legacyte will use the Umbilix to escape, failing the mission if a Legacyte hasn’t already been defeated at least once.
After you fully deplete its health, the Legacyte is downed and can be captured. You can extract after capturing a Legacyte, or you can continue on and capture more Legacytes.
How to play Faceoff in Warframe
Faceoff is a PvPvE mode, the first mode of this kind in Warframe, and by playing it you can earn Conclave standing as opposed to Hex syndicate standing. This mode plays with two squads of four people, and the goal is to complete a series of three objectives faster than the other squad.
There are two Faceoff missions: one is the squad vs squad version mentioned and shown above, and the other is Faceoff: Single Squad, where your squad competes with an AI squad. The modes play the same, but if you play against the AI, you get fewer rewards than in squad vs squad.
Vosfor and the new arcanes added in 1999 are the primary rewards for this mode, although you can earn Steel Essence by playing Faceoff on Steel Path. As you’d expect, winning against another squad (not against the AI) will earn you more rewards than you’ll get by losing.
The three objectives you complete during the mission are randomized, but they can be familiar tasks like Exterminate or Assassination as well as a number of tasks unique to Faceoff:
- Data Burn: Transfer the data. This plays like Excavation. A server will begin transferring data, and you need to keep the server powered with gas cans carried by enemies. Once an enemy with a gas can is defeated, it will drop, and you can pick it up to bring it over to the server.
- Techrot Scan: Keep your scanner alive. This plays like Defense, except you’re protecting a scanner. Jammers spawn that you can destroy to reduce the time you have to protect your scanner. If your scanner is destroyed, the timer stops until the scanner revives itself.
- Pirate Radio: Maintain your broadcast. Like Techrot Scan, you’ll protect your radio as it floats around on a balloon. Jammers spawn that you can destroy to reduce the protection time required. If your radio fails, the timer stops until the balloon revives itself.
- Lockbox: Unlock the box. Marked areas on the map can be searched to find keys. Deliver the keys to your lockbox, and once five keys have been delivered, the objective is complete. Fail to deliver all five keys before the timer expires, and your lockbox will explode instead.
While you complete these objectives, you can find various boosts for your team as well as penalties for the other team. Check out the patch notes to find the full list of boosts and penalties.
How to play Exterminate in Warframe: 1999
Exterminate in Warframe: 1999 plays like, well, Exterminate. But there is a new optional objective in 1999 Exterminate missions: opening Scaldra Supply Caches. Opening these caches awards you with one of the new arcanes added in the 1999 update but also sends in stronger enemies.
To open a Scaldra Supply Cache, you’ll need to find Efervon Charges. You need as many Efervon Charges as you have squad members plus one. So, with a full squad, you’ll need to find five Efervon Charges. Efervon Charges are located near the cache, but you will have to search for them.
Pillars of green light mark Efervon Charges, and if you’re close enough to one, a yellow indicator will appear directly on top of it. Efervon Charge locations are static, but they’re tied to where the cache spawns, and the cache can spawn in different places on the map.
