Digital Extremes has been hard at work with the latest update, one of the largest yet for their free-to-play game, and one that has been considered to be the best update to the title yet. The new update completely rocked the Warframe community the moment Plains of Eidolon launched. With its new content featuring a 60 player open-world, a new basecamp, quests, new enemies, side activities such as fishing, and hunting; Plains of Eidolon is by far, the most ambitious update to the current day.

Update Notice: In the article we’ve included links to the following videos on our YouTube channel

In order to help you prepare for the launch tomorrow on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, we’ve decided to give you an idea of what there is to do. So let’s take a look.

Before We Begin

Before we begin, I need to make this clear. I decided to jump onto the PC version again recently. The downside about it? I was quick to realize that this was absolutely not for beginning accounts. Just like my fellow Warframe writer, Christopher Adee, I’m a huge fan of the game and I have hundreds, upon hundreds of hours invest within the game.

On my PC account, I’m only roughly 30 hours in, and it was a tough 30 hours experienced when restarting. Downside is, Plains of Eidolon was not a welcoming sight to see on a much less experienced account. If you do plan on taking a more experienced character in, just know it will be tough, and may not seem as rewarding as one may hope. Your valuable resources will be extremely limited, you will want to focus on completing campaigns such as The Second Dream, War Within, and even a few side stories.

So just take your time, don’t feel forced to experience the latest and greatest. It’ll still be there in the days to come.

Warm up Those Archwings Tenno – You Need Them

Before you ever step into the Plains of Eidolon, you may want to research your Archwing Launcher Segment (video here), assuming you or your clan haven’t done so yet. Trust me, this nonspecific-sounding device isn’t absolutely vital to your experience. But it will help a lot when trying to get around this insanely massive map. Trust me when I say it’s massive. It is almost (if not bigger) than the Egyptian areas in Assassin’s Creed Origins. So having this jetpack equivalent makes your life a bit more fun while trying to explore the world around you.

Why might you want it though? Even if you are like me and like to explore, you may want to be able to eventually dart about, and move to events that are happening in this new zone rather quickly. This will also allow you to bypass enemy encampments and any terrain that may seem rather inaccessible when you first start, which makes it quite fun to explore the area around Cetus. Plus, who doesn’t want to summon an Archwing for your friends to use?

While looking a gift horse in the mouth is considered a troubling thing to do, you may want to at this time, and you may want to take note that the launcher you will need is expensive. It uses a considerable amount of rare resources in order to research and construct this new segment. Also, don’t forget, it does take 72 hours in the Tenno Lab to research, and another 12 just to construct unless you speed it up.

If you’re a new player and deciding to explore the Plains of Eidolon, you will need to unlock Earth, complete a few secondary quests in order to unlock the Mars Junction, and there, you can begin your Archwing quest-line. While this questline is relatively short, you will need to take the time to craft it, learn to use it, and ensure that you are comfortable with the one you have.

So just remember, you will want your Archwing regardless, and you will want the Archwing Launcher Segment.

How to get Started in Plains of Eidolon

Aside from enjoying a nice little cutscene, which shows off Cetus, the Plains of Eidolon, and people you will meet, this update doesn’t exactly tell you how to get started. It’s actually kind of tricky really. So to help you get started and get past this little oversight, there are a few things you will want to do as well as by while in this newly explored Earth-based colony. You can check out our video guide on how to earn reputation for both the Ostron and The Quills here via our YouTube channel.

Unlike any locations you’ve been to – and yes this includes relays – you may find yourself a little overwhelmed in this new central location known as Cetus. Since this is a public instance, it can house up to 50 players at one point, and will definitely be flooded the day it launches on consoles, just as it was on PC. Unfortunately, the Plains themselves aren’t nearly as busy. You will only get to see yourself, your squad, and the inhabitants of the Plains themselves. This makes exploring absolutely fun and you don’t have to worry about competing with dozens of players running around, looting, and killing important targets.

As you explore the Plains, you will want to take note that there’s a real-time day and night cycle. The daytime will last 100 minutes while night cycles last around 50. If you want to safely explore, you will want to dart around during the day, but if you want to see just how good you are, and test your end-game gear; then the night cycle is up your alley. The night cycle is dangerous, it’s threatening, and it will absolutely devastate even the most powerful endgame characters.

But here’s the first two things we absolutely suggest that you need to do to start. Do these in this order too:

Talk to Konzu: Until you talk to Konzu, you really can’t do anything outside in the Plains themselves or in Cetus. When you first arrive here, the only way for you to earn the standing you need with Ostron Standing is to do bounties for Konzu. Once you obtain it, go straight out right off the bat, and do this bounty before you do anything else. You’ll see why I say this later.

Until you talk to Konzu, you really can’t do anything outside in the Plains themselves or in Cetus. When you first arrive here, the only way for you to earn the standing you need with Ostron Standing is to do bounties for Konzu. Once you obtain it, go straight out right off the bat, and do this bounty before you do anything else. You’ll see why I say this later. Saya’s Vigil Quest: Again, this is EXTREMELY important, and I can’t stress its importance. This quest will unlock right after you compete and turn your quest from Konzu in. This quest is a guided tour of the Plains. It is a slow one but it’s very descriptive, and will tease you about what locations are available to be explored. This quest will even have you go spelunking in order to explore a single, but rich cave system. Here, you also meet your very first Eidolon – they are terrifying, but they will make you want to fight them at night. This quest also nudges you forward so that you can work on unlocking the newest Warframe in the game – Gara.

Again, this is EXTREMELY important, and I can’t stress its importance. This quest will unlock right after you compete and turn your quest from Konzu in. This quest is a guided tour of the Plains. It is a slow one but it’s very descriptive, and will tease you about what locations are available to be explored. This quest will even have you go spelunking in order to explore a single, but rich cave system. Here, you also meet your very first Eidolon – they are terrifying, but they will make you want to fight them at night. This quest also nudges you forward so that you can work on unlocking the newest Warframe in the game – Gara. Earn 1,000 Ostron Standing: You may wonder why this is listed at all. The reason you will want this, is because it’ll allow you to unlock both mining and fishing in the Plains.

You may wonder why this is listed at all. The reason you will want this, is because it’ll allow you to unlock both mining and fishing in the Plains. Complete The Second Dream and War Within if you Haven’t: This is EXTREMELY important. I can’t stress this enough. You will want to do this as it will help you unlock everything you need in order to fully enjoy the Plains of Eidolon.

How do you Earn More Ostron Standing?

The Ostron, as they are suggested, are the people of Cetus. They are those whom have found this area to be a home. They’re also the mainstay for this new Warframe update. They give this game more life than ever, which makes them extremely important, and a faction you want to be the good side of. Just like other factions, you will have a rating system, and you will be able to continue on just how you’d expect. you get more goodies for earning reputation with them, just as you did with the Syndicates, Cephalon Simaris, or the Conclave.

Just like them, you can only earn so much reputation, rather, “standing”. You are locked down to 1,000, rounded up to your Mastery Rank, plus another 1,000. You can use this standing, just like with the other factions, to by some new goodies. You will want to take note of the new items you can obtain. New ranks, means new gear, new gear means currency to spend, and a reason to farm for more Ostron Standing.

I’m out of Bounties. What Now?

Don’t stress this one out. Konzu of the Ostron refreshes his bounties every two hours. So just explore, hunt down some new crafting materials, and take time to become familiar with the Plains themselves.

It’s Been a Couple of Hours. Can I Check in With Konzu?

Yes, of course. This is never a bad option. In order to check in with Konzu, you’ll want to head to where you met him last time. Forgot where he is? Just head to the northmost end of Cetus itself. He’ll be right in front of that hulking door that takes you out into the Plains.

To help you navigate his missions, you’ll notice that they have five categories. Each of those categories will be a bit more difficult than the previous. Just as it suggests, with the risk, there comes the rewards. You can complete each of these bounties multiple times in order to obtain their rare loot drops. But what kind of drops? Lets just say Gara’s parts are part of them, and you’ll want to do them if you want the new Warframe itself.

I Complete a Bounty Already. It Only Gave me Reputation Once. So… This is Broken?

Actually, no. The quests are not broken. They only reward you with Ostron Standing one time. Fortunately, obtaining the rare rewards multiple times is the added bonus here. Fortunately for you, Konzu also refreshes his list of bounties, as I said, every two hours, so after every day/night cycle. So all you have to do is check out in the “morning” in order to obtain new bounties.

Once you’ve decided to partake in a bounty, you will be sent directly out to complete it. Each quest is broken down into multiple steps. The harder bounties, of course, will take more steps to complete them. The upside here, is as I said. Risk comes with reward here. The downside about this approach? You won’t get the bonus rewards unless you complete a full bounty, but this way, even a failed quest, is worth something if you have to bounce before you can complete it.

I Farmed a ton of Materials. What do I do with them?

Even in my early hours on the PC version, you are going to find dozens of ore deposits’ worth the gems. You’ll even find these little things to be something to pass by, but let me make this clear: They are worth standing with the Ostron. Just like spearfishing, the fish you catch, can be converted into materials, and can sold for standing. Just note that Fish Oil is extremely important. You can use it to power your Archwing while exploring the Plains of Eidolon. You can refer to our video regarding Ostron and Quills standing tutorial via YouTube for a more in-depth look.

I want to Craft Stuff, but how do I get Started?

The most important thing to remember is, bounties, fishing, mining, and Eidolon hunting themselves, are all paving the way for you to buy and craft your way to the top. Even with a new zone such as Plains of Eidolon, Warframe is still a loot game, which means inevitably – you will need the best-of-the-best to remain powerful as ever.

This also includes obtaining the new powerful and majestic frame itself – Gara. You can get it, but it will take time, and it will take a lot of patience. Remember, I already covered how you will obtain it, but there are other options such as paying real-money for the frame itself.

The most interesting part, aside from Gara, about the new update is a new weapon class known as the Zaws. This new class of weapon is a first-ever set of fully customizable pieces of gear. You can build them from the ground up. That includes combining different grips, different links, and strikes that determine the kind of damages you do, the movesets available, and even the special ability your new custom Zaw will offer.

In order to obtain new Zaw parts and upgrades, you can purchase them from Hok in Cetus. You will notice his shop since it uses the typical anvil and hammer marker to point it out. But we highly suggest you wait to do this. You won’t have immediate access to him or his shop. Mostly because you won’t have blueprints right away and even his shop isn’t cheap. You’ll be throwing out quite a bit of your Ostron Standing in order to unlock what he has.

Luckily for you veterans that are reading this, you won’t find yourself being left out in the cold. Your endgame gear should hold you over for a bit. This will allow you to work your way up with the Ostron and not feel yourself struggling in any form. If you are wanting to work your way up to making your own and best custom weapon, you’ll want to use your Ostron Standing, and do it that way. Again, this isn’t recommended. We highly recommend you save it and use it to help level up your Ostron Standing itself with the faction. This will allow you to earn better gear, better blueprints, and show it off as you go through what you are doing.

Sadly, this next one, is a completely different story. Amp crafting isn’t as fun and it is a very, very heavy grind task to undergo. These new gauntlets are weapons you get to use while playing as your Operator in Operator Mode. These new gauntlets allow you to power up your void Beam, and even give you a new energy pool to draw from instead of using your Void Energy. Sadly, this system, is only accessible through a secret faction known as The Quills.

The difference here between both Amps and Zaws? Ones only accessibly to late-game players. This leaves newer players a lot of room to improve and experiment with Zaw combinations as a replacement for their regular melee weapon.

Okay, so The Quills. How do I Unlock This Faction?

Just as you would expect, the Plains of Eidolon aren’t alone in offering us some fun content to enjoy. With it comes a hidden faction – The Quills. This new secretive group is located up the staircase northeast of Konzu in the settlement of Cetus. You will find them behind a blue door, one that can only be opened while in Operator mode-again, this door only unlocks if you have completed The War Within content.

Unlike the Ostron – The Quills are much harder to earn Standing with. They’re even more difficult to do so for. In order to obtain reputation with them, you will need to kill Eidolons. This means you will need to go outside, explore the town at night, and ensure that you – as well as your squad – are endgame geared.

While taking these enemies out, you will need to ensure that you obtain Intact, Exceptional, and Flawless Sentinent Cores. These can be turned in to The Quills for 100, 500, and 1200 standing each. The only way to earn them, as I stated, is through killing Eidolons during the night.

Lastly – Arcane Enhancements Have Returned

If you are a fan of Arcane Enhancements, there are some new permanent ones for you to upgrade your Zaws as well as your Operators. You will still need to farm Eidolon Shards for these guys. In order to craft these buggers you will want to hunt down and take down a creature called an Eidolon Teralyst, which only comes out at night. Luckily for us, they allow us a bit of wiggle room when it comes to making our Zaw’s how we want. Unfortunately, Operators not so much. Operators are straightforward and locked down to their passive upgrades.

But as it was said, this is for endgame players. This is focused upon those that are already using some of the best gear available including weapons, mods, and Warframes. so take your time, enjoy the content, and explore the Plains how you wish.

Last, but not least – Have Fun

Remember, the Plains of Eidolon is Warframes largest update. It’s the biggest one out there and it surely won’t be the last one thanks to the critical success. We do hope this guide helps get you going and we look forward to seeing you out there on the Plains!

About the Writer:

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter or Facebook.

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