Leveling up is one of the most important aspects of Warframe. For most weapons and Warframe, you’ll need to FORMA them a couple of times before they’re ready for the endgame builds you have in mind. Which means you want to get them to the maximum level as fast as possible. Luckily, Warframe isn’t stingy with their XP and you can easily get your gear to max level in minutes without any issue.
How Affinity Works
Before we get into the best mission for leveling, we need to talk about how Affinity (XP) works to maximize leveling.
Affinity Split
Gaining Affinity is split depending on how you kill the enemy and what you have equipped. Knowing how this works can help you level your gear efficiently and quickly.
The general rule for Affinity is that All Affinity gained is split, with 25% going to your Warframe and 75% divided among your equipped weapons. This is true even for weapons that have reached max level. So if you’re only trying to level a single weapon, make sure it’s the only one you have equipped.
Besides that, there are some specific rules for Affinity which are as follows:
- Kills with Warframe abilities grant all Affinity to the Warframe.
- Kills with weapons grant half the Affinity to the weapon that killed the enemy, and half to the Warframe.
- When within 50 meters of an ally, both you and the ally gain full Affinity for enemies killed, regardless of who killed them.
Sanctuary Onslaught/Elite Sanctuary Onslaught
Sanctuary Onslaught and Elite Sanctuary Onslaught are by far the best missions for leveling Warframes and gear. Run with a full squad of Tenno, you can easily reach max level within a couple of zones.
How It Works
Sanctuary Onslaught and its Elite variant are endless modes that, much like Survival, players must continue killing to keep playing. Unlike Survival, instead of picking up air canisters, each kill adds to an efficiency bar that you must keep from dropping to zero. After a couple of minutes, a portal opens up and you are given the choice to move to the next zone, or jump out.
Elite Sanctuary
Unlike Sanctuary Onslaught, the Elite variant can only be played if you’re using a rank 30 Warframe, or Mastery Rank 30 player with a Warframe who’s been polarized once. In Elite Sanctuary Onslaught, enemies start at 60-70 and gradually increase to 250-280. Abilities also become disabled if used too many times in quick succession.
Since you generally need max-level Warframes for Elite Sanctuary, normal Sanctuary Onslaught is better for leveling Warframes, and Elite Sanctuary Onslaught is better for leveling weapons.
How to Unlock
To unlock Sanctuary Onslaught you must complete The New Strange quest and speak with Cephalon Simaris at his Sanctuary in a Relay.
Alternative Leveling Missions
If you don’t have Sanctuary Onslaught unlocked or don’t want to run it, there are some alternative missions great for leveling.
Helene, Saturn is a defense mission perfect for new players looking to level up their Warframes because of the low level of the enemies.
Hydron, Sedna is another defense mission that provides a good amount of XP for players who might be too high level for Helene.
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