Warframe’s New War expansion marked a seismic shift for the ever-changing space ninja game – the threat of the Sentients annihilating the Origin System forced new allegiances, as well as a trip into Tenno history with a visit to the Zariman Ten Zero. In Angels of the Zariman, Warframe will give players the chance to dig into that piece of their characters’ past further – and it’s adding new game modes, new characters, and all new narrative twists and turns.
“We were really fortunate with the reception to the Zariman segment of the New World quest, it really gave us confidence to go further,” says Rebecca Ford, Warframe’s live operations and community director. “That was a lucky preview that reinforced that we were on the right track.”
Originally, Ford tells us, Digital Extremes had hoped to include more of the Zariman in The New War. “The thing that no one will believe is that we wanted to have the Zariman playable with the New War, but we were like, no, we need to put more into it,” she says. “Now we’re in April, and all the pieces are there for it and we’re releasing it, but it took about a month to really reorient and make sure that we were hitting a content bar that players want for their post-New War world.”
On their return to the Zariman, players will indeed find plenty more to do. The upcoming expansion adds a new social hub called the Chrysalith, located deep within the inner workings of the massive Orokin ship. This area has all manner of new characters to meet, as well as a new player apartment to customise with hand-picked Vistagraphs (and fill up with floofs).
The Zariman itself is a grand transport and life support vessel, with beautifully appointed promenades, parks, and apartment complexes. But during its many years in the Void, it’s become overgrown, almost like an abandoned Earth city that’s being reclaimed by nature. Here, however, there are more ominous forces at work as well.
Ford says there are three new endlessly replayable mission types coming with Angels of the Zariman, two of which Digital Extremes has already revealed. There’s Void Flood, which challenges players’ parkour skills in a race to collect Vitoplast, which provides the void energy needed to seal ruptures that appear in the level. In Void Cascade, players will face decaying life support as they fight to cleanse corrupted exolizers – which can become possessed by new void wraith enemies, which will make the task that much tougher.
The third new mission type is called Void Armageddon, and it’s one Digital Extremes hasn’t revealed much about yet. “It’s effectively an endless boss fight mission, where you’ll be fighting waves of a new boss enemy,” Ford says, adding cryptically: “It’s… trying to achieve something that you need to stop it from doing.” Digital Extremes describes this new enemy type as “elegantly horrific.”
In addition to the new explorable Zariman areas and mission types, the expansion also brings with it the elegant and electric new Gyre warframe. “She is the most graceful of all warframes yet, which makes me very excited,” Ford says, grinning. “She has a spinny dress, which I’m going to just fawn over until the end of days.”
Gyre’s design evokes the early days of electrical engineering, and her abilities reflect this – she uses electricity to inflict heavy critical damage, and Ford says it feels like she’s “dancing through the battlefield.”
Angels of the Zariman also includes a raft of quality of life updates. The rework for focus schools will be coming alongside the expansion, giving each school “a more defined identity” and provide “more options for active abilities, instead of passive energy drains,” Digital Extremes says. Eximus-type enemies are also getting a rework: they’re becoming more deadly, and have enhanced rewards and visuals to match.
The Angels of the Zariman release date is set for April 27, so there’s not much longer to wait for the next chapter of the New War.