Best Melee Throwing Weapons in Warframe

Image: Digital Extremes via HGG / Andrew Oli

Human Made

Just a gamer that graduated from California State University of San Marcos with a BA degree who majored in Literature & Writing. I wanted to se... Read more

Reviewed by Jeffrey Hsu

While all the weapons in Warframe are very clearly classified into three main categories (primary, secondary, and melee), there are also smaller specified niche categories – such as throwing weapons. As the name suggests, these are weapons that, regardless of their main type, can be thrown in some fashion as a projectile in Warframe.

An example is the Hikou secondary weapon that resembles something of a Japanese shuriken. It’s classified as a secondary weapon but is also a thrown weapon as well.

Today however, we’re only going to focus on the best melee throwing weapons in Warframe. Unfortunately, the primary and secondary throwing weapons are rather lackluster and not particularly worthwhile.

While melee throwing weapons are rather niche, there are some thrown weapons that can be considered top tier and are used in high level content all across the Star Chart and into Steel Path. Let’s take a look at some and briefly go over what makes them viable.

Best Thrown Melee Weapons in Warframe

In no particular order, here are some of the best melee throwing weapons in Warframe that are viable and see use.

Xoris

“An obscure glaive weapon of Corpus provenance, intrinsically linked to Specter technology. The Xoris strikes rapidly and with great devastation. It is capable of chaining combos infinitely”

Ever since DE nerfed the previous infinite combo use for the Xoris, there had been no real reason to ever use it. However, with the release of the Volatile mods specifically made for thrown melee weapons, glaives are in the best spot they’ve ever been in, and Xoris is no exception. You can even now take this weapon into Steel Path Missions with no worries.

The key mod to this weapon is Volatile Rebound which, upon charging and throwing the Xoris, will proceed to create an explosion for every time the weapon bounces off an enemy. Accompany this interaction with a ridiculous amount of stacked damage mods such as Sacrificial Steel, Blood Rush, Organ Shatter, etc. and you have a quite literal weapon of mass destruction. Especially since you might get caught in your own explosions every once in a while.

It’s also worth noting that the Xoris does innate Electric damage on a charged attack, so you can throw on a Toxin mod (such as Fever Strike) to create Corrosive damage instead. Alternatively, leave it as is and use it exclusively for Corpus missions if you need to.

Build aside, the Xoris really shines when it comes to clearing large rooms of enemies due to how effective Volatile Rebound can be. A great example of content that this weapon shines in is the Granum Void where you have to eliminate X amount of enemies within a certain time limit. That being said, any mission that requires you to kill a large amount of enemies is usually a safe bet for this weapon.

Cerata

“Twisted and tortured from exposure to the Infestation, this glaive becomes an absolute predator in the hands of the right Tenno.”

Another melee throwing weapon that benefits heavily from the new Volatile mods is the Cerata. This Toxin glaive takes advantage of Volatile Quick Return in combination with Power Throw to obliterate shielded enemies.

Unlike the Xoris, the Cerata doesn’t function based on bouncing between enemies. Instead, you can detonate the glaive (use the heavy attack button after throwing it) while it’s near enemies and follow it up with another throw to benefit as much as possible from Power Throw.

Since Toxin damage scales off of elemental damage as well as crit, this weapon outperforms even the Glaive Prime when it comes to ramping up damage against shielded enemies specifically.

A good build for this weapon would be a generic damage build with a greater focus on Toxin damage, so you’ll be looking at mods such as Primed Pressure Point, Primed Fever Strike, Sacrificial Steel, etc. You’ll also be taking Amalgam Organ Shatter for the added Heavy Attack wind-up speed.

While the Cerata is not exactly a one-size-fits-all kind of weapon, it definitely excels at what it’s good at and is one of the best melee throwing weapons in Warframe.

Glaive Prime

“The Glaive Prime is a deadly and beautiful weapon from the Orokin era. The blades are as effective in close quarters as they are when thrown at distant enemies.”

When it comes to melee throwing weapons in Warframe, the Glaive Prime is your generic meta weapon that can be built for any situation and ensure you’ll be fine.

This weapon plays similarly to the Cerata with the Power Throw + Volatile Quick Return combo and comes with the added benefit of being able to be used quite literally anywhere. Most would even consider the Glaive Prime to be one of (if not the) best melee weapon due to the insane amounts of damage it’s able to output with little to no setup or investment.

Using the same generic damage mods as usual should be more than enough to bring this bad boy well into Steel Path with no issues whatsoever.

TLDR Summary

Glaive Prime is ideal as an all-rounder weapon good for any situation with minimal build differences or investment.
Xoris excels at clearing out large crowds of enemies.
Cerata is the best melee throwing weapon for taking down shielded enemies.
All of them are great endgame melee throwing weapons in Warframe.

Join the High Ground!

Hopefully, we gave you some ideas and insight on some of the best melee throwing weapons to build and try out for yourself in Warframe!

We tried to keep the list short and concise with only a few weapons, but we know there are more overall thrown weapons that could have been on the list. If we missed your favorite thrown weapon, let us know in the comments below!

Don’t forget to subscribe to the High Ground for the latest news, guides, and articles on all things gaming. Safe travels, Tenno.

Best Melee Throwing Weapons in Warframe