In Warframe, the Helminth is an infested being that lives in your Orbiter. You can use the Helminth to transfer the ability of a Warframe to a different Warframe, add new abilities unlocked at the Helminth to Warframes, Invigorate Warframes to make them stronger for a limited time, insert Archon Shards into Warframes, and combine Archon Shards to make more powerful Shards.
The Helminth is an incredibly powerful mechanic every Warframe player should use, but it isn’t explained well and can be confusing. Read on for a breakdown of all the various Helminth systems as well as how to unlock your Helminth, how to upgrade it, and how to level it up efficiently.
How to unlock the Helminth in Warframe
The Helminth is located in the room in your Orbiter opposite to your personal quarters. The room itself becomes accessible when using Nidus, Nidus Prime, or a Warframe with a Helminth Cyst.
When using Nidus, you can enter the Helminth room and interact with the Helminth to receive a Helminth Cyst. Afterward, you can infect other Warframes you come into contact with during missions. A day after being infected, a Helminth Cyst will appear on a Warframe.
However, you can’t actually use the Helminth, even if you can access its room, until you purchase a Helminth Segment for your Orbiter. You can purchase the segment from Son at the Necralisk on Deimos. You will need to be Mastery Rank 8 and Rank 3 with the Entrati.
The Helminth Segment costs 15,000 standing, and its crafting requirements are:
- 5 Purple Velocipod Tags
- 20 Adramal Alloy
- 5 Saturated Muscle Mass
- 15 Ganglion
After a 24-hour crafting time, you’ll be directed to the Helminth room, and you’ll be given a chance to name your Helminth. Then, you can start using it. However, to access Invigorations, Archon Shards, or to be able to upgrade Archon Shards, you’ll need to upgrade your Helminth.
How to upgrade the Helminth in Warframe
There are three different upgrades, by way of Orbiter segments, for the Helminth.
The Helminth Invigoration Segment allows you to Invigorate Warframes, which gives a Warframe temporary buffs that last for a week. You can purchase the segment from Son at the Necralisk on Deimos. You need to be Mastery Rank 8 and Rank 5 with the Entrati.
A Helminth Invigoration Segment costs 30,000 standing, and its crafting requirements are:
- 5 Vizier Predasite Tags
- 20 Tempered Bapholite
- 10 Pustulent Cognitive Nodules
- 15 Pustulite
The Helminth Archon Shard Segment allows you to socket Archon Shards into Warframes, which give Warframes powerful, permanent buffs. The Helminth Archon Shard Segment Blueprint is a reward for completing the Veilbreaker quest, and its crafting requirements are:
- 2 Entrati Lanthorn
- 10 Devolved Namalon
- 5 Sporulate Sacs
- 50 Thrax Prisms
The Helminth Coalescent Segment allows you to combine Archon Shards to create either more powerful versions of Shards or new types of Shards with different sets of buffs. You can purchase the segment from Bird 3 at Sanctum Anatomica on Deimos. You need to be Rank 2 with the Cavia.
A Helminth Coalesecent Segment costs 30,000 standing, and its crafting requirements are:
- 50 Stela
- 5 Echo Voca
- 5 Entrati Lanthorn
- 25 Necracoil
How to use the Helminth in Warframe
The Helminth’s core mechanic is subsuming. Basically, you sacrifice a Warframe (a base variant, not a prime) to add one of its four abilities to the Helminth. Then, you can add that ability to other Warframes, overwriting one of their four abilities of your own choosing.
Once you subsume a frame to unlock an ability in the Helminth, that ability will be forever addable to other Warframes. However, only a specific ability on each Warframe is subsumable. This is done for balance reasons, and you can check the Wiki for the full list of subsumable abilities.
Keep in mind that a subsumed ability may work differently than the ability does normally on its original frame. For example, Rhino’s Roar is a subsumable ability and a very popular one at that, but Roar boosts damage less when subsumed onto another Warframe versus on Rhino himself.
It’s also worth noting that Augment Mods can be used on Warframes with the corresponding subsumed ability. So, Rhino’s Piercing Roar mod can be installed on any frame that has Roar. However, some Augment Mods will have functionality specific to their original Warframe.
Aside from subsumed abilities, the Helminth has its own set of abilities you can add to frames, too. Some of the Helminth abilities are quite powerful, like Energized Munitions that makes your weapons only consume ammo every four shots instead of every shot while it’s active.
However, you can’t do any of the above without the necessary resources.
How to feed the Helminth in Warframe
Regardless of whether you’re Invigorating a Warframe, socketing in Archon Shards, or subsuming abilities, every Helminth action has a price. And you pay in Secretions.
There are seven different categories of Secretions made up of various resources from across the game. For example, the Oxides Secretion is made up of metal resources, like Alloy Plates. By feeding the Helminth these resources, your Oxide Secretion fills up.
A Secretion can be filled up to a maximum of 100%. How much a particular resource fills up a Secretion depends on your Helminth’s appetite. The more you feed your Helminth a particular resource, the less it will fill up its Secretion. So, you’ll need to vary what you feed your Helminth.
However, if you give your Helminth some time after feeding it, feeding it that resource again will fill up your Secretion as normal. What your Helminth is hungry for is represented by arrows on that resource in the feeding menu. The Helminth can be hungry, not hungry, or neutral.
A green arrow means the Helminth is hungry for that resource, so you’ll fill up your Secretion the maximum amount, while a red arrow means it’s tired of something, and you’ll fill up your Secretion a lot less. No arrow means your Helminth is neutral on the resource in question.
Lastly, the Sentient Secretion works differently from the rest. You can feed your Helminth Sentient resources to restore its appetite for a particular resource. So, if you have a lot of one resource the Helminth is tired of, you can change its arrow from red to green by feeding it.
How to level the Helminth in Warframe
How many Warframes you can subsume, as well as what Helminth abilities you have access to, is determined by your Helminth’s Metamorphosis rank. Essentially, this is the level of your Helminth. To even begin subsuming frames, you need to be at Metamorphosis Rank 1.
Leveling your Helminth is simple. By feeding it resources, subsuming Warframes, socketing in Archon Shards, or Invigorating frames, you’ll get Metamorphosis XP. However, leveling your Helminth quickly is a more difficult task, especially considering the resource costs of feeding it.
Invigorations give you tons of Metamorphosis XP, so even if you don’t plan on using a particular frame, Invigorating is a great way to level up fast. You should also take care when feeding your Helminth not to waste your resources, which means wasting precious Metamorphosis XP.
A resource with a green arrow can fill up a Secretion by up to 30%, so feeding your Helminth a resource it’s hungry for when the corresponding Secretion is already at 90% isn’t very efficient. So, don’t feel the need to keep your Secretion levels at 100%, just fill them up as you need to.
You also can remove a subsumed ability from a Warframe and then add a new one, which can be an effective way of spending your Secretions that in turn can be filled up again – both of which will give you Metamorphosis XP. Just be careful not to feed your Helminth resources you need.
As a word of caution, even when you’re being efficient, the Helminth isn’t something that most players can just reach the maximum level with in a few days. Depending on how many frames you have to subsume as well as what resources you have, it can take a month or longer.
