Curious what all the hubbub around Amps is about? Here’s what Amps are and why they’re so important in Warframe.
Amps are unlocked after you complete The Second Dream quest and gain the ability to switch between your Operator and Warframe modes. You get your first Amp, the Mote Amp, as a reward for initiating The Quills Syndicate quest.
The game gives you a brief explanation of what Amps are and how to use them, but beyond that, you’re pretty much left to figure things out on your own. If you’re like most players who’ve just arrived at the end game, you probably powered through the main quest without giving a second thought to the type of Amp you have equipped.
Here’s what Amps are, which parts you need to build an Amp, what are the best Warframe Amps to build, and which is the best Amp for Eidolon hunting.
What are Warframe Amps?
Amps can only be wielded by your Tenno Operator. Different amps enhance and alter the properties of your Operator’s Void Beam in different ways. They also give your Void Beam its own separate Energy Gauge meaning it no longer draws from your primary Energy Pool. This opens up your options in battle as using your Void Beam with an Amp equipped no longer handicaps your other Energy-dependent abilities.
Amps cannot be modified, but they can be equipped with a single Arcane. Amps are incredibly useful tools in combat but require intense, focused grinding in order to farm the materials needed to craft them. They’re also generally weaker than your primary weapons.
For these reasons, you shouldn’t worry if you haven’t paid much attention to your Amp build during regular play as they don’t become truly necessary until you’ve reached the end game.
What are Amps used for?
Amps are currently the only source of Void damage available in the game. Void damage is particularly effective against Sentient enemies because it resets any damage adaptation they’ve built up.
When facing Battalysts, Shadow Stalkers, and Concluysts, you’ll find attacking them with your primary, secondary, and melee weapons become increasingly less effective the longer the battle goes on due to the damage adaptation they accumulate as they take your hits.
This means you’ll occasionally want to switch to your Operator’s Amp to reset their damage adaptation then quickly switch back to your Warframe to continue with normal attacks.
Amps are primarily discussed with regards to their use in taking down a certain kind of Sentient enemy: Eidolons. Eidolons are massive beasts that roam the Plains of Eidolon during the night. Defeating an Eidolon grants you an Eidolon shard which is a necessary component for obtaining the most powerful equipment in the game. They’re also protected by special Void Shields that make them impervious to your regular attacks, but vulnerable to your Amps.
What’s wrong with the Mote Amp?
The Mote Amp is perfectly sufficient for completing the primary campaign.You’ll only be using your Amp to reset damage adaptation, after all, so it really doesn’t matter how much actual damage the Amp itself does.
Once you start hunting Eidolons, however, you’ll find it just isn’t up to snuff. The Mote Amp’s damage output is pitiful and it has several inherent disadvantages that make it significantly less useful compared to any Amp you can craft yourself.
It’s energy inefficient, has a terrible range of only 20 meters, has the worst fire rate of all Amps, can’t inflict any status effects, and has a horrible critical multiplier of only 1.5. You’ll want to switch to a custom Amp as soon as you have the components for it.
How do I build an Amp in Warframe?
Amps are comprised of three parts: a Prism, a Scaffold, and a Brace. We’ll go into each part in more detail down below, but just remember:
- The Prism determines the Amp’s primary fire.
- The Scaffold determines its secondary fire.
- The Brace adds passive stat bonuses to the Amp.
Amps can only be crafted once you’ve gained the capability to switch to your Tenno Operator, from which point you can craft them normally from your ship after you’ve collected the required components.
There are 7 tiers for each Amp component, and each tier consists of 1 component. You can mix and match the different pieces to combine them however you like, meaning you can, for instance, combine a tier 2 Prism, a tier 4 Scaffold, and a tier 7 Brace.
In total, there are 343 possible Amp combinations that you can craft in Warframe. The Warframe community has come up with a clever shorthand system to quickly describe Amp combo builds comprised of three numbers.
These three numbers (e.g. 127, X42, or 223) refer to the tier of Prism, Scaffold, and Brace used to craft the Amp. An X indicates a wildcard and means that particular component can be of any tier.
Where can I buy Amp parts?
You can purchase Prisms, Scaffolds, and Braces from two locations. Quill Onkko in Cetus sells the Amp components from Tier 1 up to Tier 4, and Little Duck in Fortuna sells components from Tier 5 up to Tier 7.
If you’re just getting started, you’ll need to spend some time increasing your Standing with these two vendors as this affects what components you can purchase, i.e. the higher-tier components are only unlocked with higher Standing.
Keep in mind that a higher tier doesn’t necessarily mean the component is better; each part has its own advantages and disadvantages that you’ll want to consider when creating your Amp.
Prisms Tier List
The Prism you use affects the crafted Amp’s primary mode of fire. It determines the rate of fire, attack range, and projectile type of the completed Amp. Prisms also are the only component in the Amp that you can level up towards the Amp’s mastery rank.
Tier 1 – Raplak
The Raplak Prism has a semi-auto fire rate and long-range but requires precise aim.
Tier 2 – Shwaak
The Shwaak prism is most notable for its guaranteed Impact proc on each shot and its ability to Punch Through (pierce) multiple enemies.
Tier 3 – Granmu
The Granmu Prism acts like a grenade launcher, releasing a burst of three grenades that each have a splash radius of 3.5 meters.
Tier 4 – Rahn
The Rahn Prism turns your amp into a fully automatic rifle. It’s great for builds that prioritize high critical damage, but it has a terrible Status Chance (it’s listed as 0% but is actually -6%).
Tier 5 – Cantic
The Cantic Prism makes your Amp’s primary work as a three-shot burst. It has great accuracy and a long-range with a high critical chance, but you’ll need a steady hand if you want all three rounds to hit their target.
Tier 6 – Lega
The Lega Prism turns your Amp’s primary fire into a wide jet of Void energy functionally like a flamethrower. It has a wide area of effect though it can’t hit targets at distance, and it has a terrible Critical Chance.
Tier 7 – Klamora
The Klamora fires a wide beam of void energy at short range. It has the highest Critical Chance of all Prisms and affects an area of 3 meters wide up to 13 meters away. It’s a high-risk, high-reward weapon that requires you to get up close to deal damage.
Scaffolds Tier List
Scaffolds determine the alt-fire mode of the Amp.
Tier 1- Pencha
The Pencha Scaffold takes 0.75 seconds to charge up before releasing a large Void beam that deals high damage. It’s terrible when dealing with multiple enemies, though, and it has below average Critical Chance and Critical Multiplier. It also releases its blast the moment it reaches full charge, so you have to time your movements to your shots if you don’t want to whiff.
Tier 2 – Shraksun
The Shraksun Scaffold fires a single projectile that explodes after a short delay. The projectile explosion has a wide radius of 8 meters and deals damage in two stages, 3,000 piercing shot damage and a bonus 4,500 explosion damage totaling to 7,500 damage if you manage to hit the target with both. Each damage-dealing stage also procs its own Crits, making the Shraksun a great pair for components that boost Critical Chance.
Tier 3 – Klebrik
The Klebrik Scaffold fires a continuous beam of Void energy that automatically follows its target, even behind cover. It has great Critical and Status Chance and has infinite Punch Through on surface, making it great for nailing targets that like to move in and out of cover. Its Punch Through doesn’t affect bodies, though, so it’s terrible against crowds.
Tier 4 – Phahd
Like the Klebrik, the Phahd Scaffold fires a projectile that homes in on its target. The Phahd’s glaive, however, bounces between enemies, allowing you to hit up to 4 targets with a single shot. Be careful, though, as you can hit yourself with your own glaive, causing a self-knockdown.
Tier 5 – Exard
The Exard fires several explosives that detonate on contact. It has great Critical and Status Chance, but once you hit fire it keeps shooting until your Amp runs out of energy. Its high recoil and terrible accuracy at range makes this a weapon for close quarters.
Tier 6 – Dissic
The Dissic Scaffold fires a MIRV-like explosive that splits into several smaller explosives. The initial blast has a massive radius of 12 meters. Be aware, its explosions can hurt you, too.
Tier 7 – Propa
The Propa Scaffold works like Doom’s BFG, firing a large, slow-moving ball that explodes on contact with an enemy or a surface. It deals no Status Effects but has a huge radius and inflicts self-damage, so you’ll want to fire once and get out of there quickly.
Braces Tier List
Braces add significant passive effects to both the primary and secondary fire modes, affecting energy pool, critical/status chance, and Amp recharge delay.
Tier 1 – Clapkra
The Clapkra Brace adds 40 Energy to your Amp’s pool. If you have the Inner Gaze ability (Madurai Focus) maxed out that makes a total of 196 energy.
Tier 2 – Juttni
The Juttni Brace reduces the recharge delay on your Amp by 1 second. Pairs well with the Pencha Scaffold as you can regenerate energy at the same rate that you expend it, effectively allowing you to shoot forever.
Tier 3 – Lohrin
Before you unlock the Certus Brace (Tier 7), the Lohrin Brace is the Brace of choice due to its 12% amplification to both your Critical and Status Chances.
Tier 4 – Anspatha
The Anspatha Brace adds 20 to your Amp’s energy pool and increases its energy recharge rate to 45/s.
Tier 5 – Suo
The Suo Brace offers the greatest bonus to your energy pool, 100, but it increases the delay on your recharge by 2 seconds resulting in a 4 second overall delay.
Tier 6 – Plaga
The Plaga Brace reduces your Amp’s energy pool by 20 but decreases its recharge delay by 1.5 seconds. The Inner Gaze passive ability (Madurai Focus) can compensate for the smaller energy pool.
Tier 7 – Certus
The Certus Brace will be the Brace of choice for most builds. It offers a 20% flat increase to the Amp’s Critical Chance.
What are the best Amp builds?
Fortunately, the community has done a lot to reduce the guesswork from Amp crafting. There are Amps for different situational needs, but in general, you’ll want to stick to two template builds. These are X23 and X27.
Best Amp for Eidolon hunting
Again, the primary purpose for your Amp is to take down Eidolons. Because of this, you’ll want to choose the components that will deal as much damage to Eidolons in as little time as possible.
The Prism you choose doesn’t matter – which is why we assigned an X for the Prism – since the Shraksun Scaffold will be your primary source of damage. There’s no reason to ever use your Primary fire when hunting Eidolons.
We recommend the Shraksun Scaffold (Tier 2) for its Punch Through property and its ability for dealing multiple instances of high damage per shot. Since quick, high-damage bursts are critical for defeating Eidolons, The Certus Brace (Tier 7) is a must-have due to the significant improvement it offers to your Amp’s Critical Chance.
That extra 20% chance goes a long way, especially when combined with the numerous damage procs of the Shraksun Scaffold’s flak grenade. If you don’t quite have the Standing to purchase the Certus Brace, the Lohrin Brace (Tier 3) is a great alternative. It’s the only other Amp that amplifies Critical Chance (12%). It also affects Status Chance but Eidolon’s aren’t affected by Status Effects.
Best Amp for general combat
There’s a lot more flexibility when it comes to the best Amp builds for general combat.
Your best bet is to go for a build with excellent crowd control great synergy with a decent Arcane.For the Prism or Scaffold, we suggest going with either the Shwaak Prism (Tier 2) or the Shraksun Scaffold (Tier 2).
They’re both similar in practice, offering Punch Through capabilities and multiple damage procs which means they go great with the Certus Brace (+20% Critical Chance) or the Lohrin Brace (+12% Critical/Status Chance).
Both the Shwaak and the Shraksun have guaranteed Impact procs, meaning they go great with the Virtuos Fury Arcane which deals bonus damage for each Status Effect you inflict.
Wrapping Up
Amps are a weapon type unique to your Tenno Operator. It has both a primary and alternate firing modes, and also has a passive bonus that affects both of those modes.
All Amps are comprised of three components: The Prism, which determines its Primary fire mode; the Scaffold, which determines its Secondary fire mode; and the Brace, which adds a passive bonus to the Amp.
Amps are mainly used in the end game for taking down the massive Sentient Eidolons that roam the plains at night. They’re the game’s only way of dealing Void-type damage and thus the only means for destroying the Eidolons’ shields.
Their use outside of this special case is limited as they deal less damage than your Warframe’s weapons, but they function as a utility tool for resetting damage adaptation and dispensing of Sentient-type enemies.
Speaking of weapons, you can also check if there are any new Warframe promo codes that could help you out there.