In Greek mythology, Atlas was a titan who the Gods condemned to carry heaven on his shoulders. In educational terms, an atlas is a map. And, in Warframe, Atlas is an Earth elemental with the power of a pissed-off tectonic plate. If you buy him through Prime Access, you’ll be able to take him for a spin on October 1.
He is, of course, not the Atlas who debuted in Warframe’s October 2015 update, but a powerful Prime version. These are rare versions of characters, weapons, and accessories coveted throughout the Origin System for their boosted performance, representing technology as it was during the height of the Orokin Era. It was a great era.
Ordinarily, Atlas uses rock and stone-themed attacks to drive enemies’ faces into the dirt, summons elemental mates for strength in numbers, and collects some craggy rubble to wear as armour. Prime Atlas delivers all this and more, with altered mod polarities for greater customization. That includes accessories such as cloth garment the Massif Syandana, an Atlas Prime signature; fetching Prime Glyphs, and new attachments for your Sentinel pet.
Despite being the game’s 26th Prime Warframe, and the 67th overall, our boy Atlas keeps it fresh with a bunch of potent abilities. He can freeze people in place and bowl them over with a massive boulder, and with every crumbly punch sounds like a moderately-sized building collapsing. He’s not alone either.
Take his companion Dethcube, now in Dethcube Prime form. Picture a violent Rubik’s Cube and you’re halfway there. This bloodthirsty wingman supports your rage with words of encouragement, only these words take the form of bullets. Lots and lots of bullets. Dethcube can enter assault or vaporise mode, and wields a Prime Deth Machine Rifle to make short work of enemies. Do not cross Dethcube.
Atlas himself carries the Tekko Prime, which are basically a pair of razor-edged boxing gloves that use crushing force to obliterate foes. They sacrifice status effect chance for an increased focus on delivering hit after critical hit. Letting loose all these powers should be a joyous, stress-busting experience – unlike the aforementioned Greek version of Atlas, who literally carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.
As for how to obtain him, you’ll need Prime Access, a rotating programme that offers discounts on the latest Prime Warframes, gear, and other items. The current headline act available with Prime Access is Wukong Prime, a tricky conjurer who cloaks and clones himself, but he’ll leave the programme when Atlas arrives. If you’d prefer not to pay, you can go through Warframe’s in-game Relic hunting system, but it’ll obviously take a little longer.
Atlas Prime comes to Warframe on October 1.