Warframe The New War: Release date, Caliban, playable characters and everything we know

Butcher79

7 December, 2021

Warframe's next big update, The New War, will add a huge new set of story content to the popular free-to-play game. Here's everything we know so far.

Warframe has been around since 2013 and after huge updates it has grown into one of the best free games out there. What started out as a game about how to slash and shoot space ninjas at enemies and build new costumes with fresh abilities now has huge open world areas, space combat and even fishing.

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The good news for fans is that the Warframe universe is about to get even bigger. The New War, the next chapter in the franchise's history, will add a whole host of new storytelling to the game as well as new playable characters and of course new Warframes to earn.

Lotus' story will be a key part of the New War.

Release date and platforms

New War content for Warframe will be released December 15 as a free update.

You will be able to play the new content on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch.

Cross-save and cross-play in Warframe are not coming with the update, both of which are scheduled for 2022 only.

Trailer

Check out the latest trailer for The New War below:

Plot

Warframe's history has been full of mystery and danger for years, but New War could be the biggest shake-up in the universe in years.

Players will fight new sentient enemies created by the Orokin Empire and team up with a series of unlikely allies (more on them in a minute). Think of it like Warframe's Avengers: Infinity War moment and you're on the right track - just with space ninjas instead of spandex-clad superheroes.

Lotus, who has been leading our Tenno for years, join the Orokin. It's a pretty wild twist, and Lotus, Erra, and Ballas will see their narrative arcs pay off throughout the game's longest cinematic quest.

Playable characters

Teshin is a fierce warrior and will be playable in New War.

Fortunately, our Tenno will not fight alone. They will team up with Grineer, Kahl-175 and Veso, Corpus Tech. Perhaps most exciting, however, is the addition of Teshin, a deadly warrior with his own abilities.

Caliban Warframe

Caliban is part Sentient, part Warframe

As you can imagine from the new Warframe expansion, there is a new Warframe to earn. It's a little different though, Caliban is part Warframe and part Sentient.

The game's 48th warframe, Caliban's passive ability "Adaptive Armor" means he can withstand certain types of damage. Here are his full abilities, courtesy of Digital Extremes:

Whirlwind of Death: Become a spinning whirlwind of death. Hold fire to speed up the whirlpool, increasing damage, then target an enemy to charge towards them. Hitting enemies inflicted by Mind Wrath creates a devastating explosion.
Fury of the Mind: Shatter the ground by sending out a wave of destruction. Those not killed by the initial explosion are lifted helplessly into the air, where they continue to suffer damage for a short time.
Deadly Fiends: Summon the sentient aspect of Caliban to produce up to three Conculist companions to fight at his side and repair shields when not in combat.
Convergent Strike: Three streams of raw energy converge at one point, causing a massive jet explosion. The fallout from the explosion strips the armor of all enemies that touch it.

Prime Access - Harrow Prime

Harrow Prime is coming with The New War expansion.

The next Prime Warframe will be Harrow Prime. Armed with a spear and signature pistol, he will be available for a limited time only from December 16th.

For the uninitiated, Prime Warframes are more powerful variants of the base Warframes, with additional mod slots.

Ahead of Warframe's New War update, players can take part in Prime Resurgence event, which continues right now to upgrade your arsenal.