Acolytes

The Acolytes are mysterious, twisted and sinister warriors that follow the Shadow Stalker, taking the appearance and abilities of different Warframes while bearing the distinctive helmet of their master. They were first introduced in the Operation: Shadow Debt event, and would make sporadic reappearances afterwards.

As of Update 29.5 (2020-11-19), Acolytes became a permanent addition to the game, making appearances in The Steel Path missions and dropping  Steel Essence.

Mechanics[]

Acolytes can only receive up to 4 stacks of any Status Effect with the exception of  Impact which can stack up to 6 times, and  Radiation only amplifies the damage the Acolyte receives from allied units and does not enable friendly fire unless those allies themselves are inflicted by the status.

The Steel Path[]

Acolytes typically spawn in any non-Archwing, non-Assassination, non-Ascension, and non-Duviri Steel Path missions once every 3-8 minutes on average. They are guaranteed to drop 2 Steel Essence, as well as one random Steel Path Arcane ( Primary Deadhead,  Primary Dexterity,  Primary Merciless,  Secondary Deadhead,  Secondary Dexterity, or  Secondary Merciless), upon defeat.

Damage Reduction[]

Acolytes possess Damage Reduction that scales based on several static metrics of the weapon and its mods. Firstly, Acolytes posses a 62.5% damage reduction on health and +50% bonus damage to their shields which apply before the below damage reduction is applied. These factors only apply once in status effect damage calculations. The damage reduction for a particular damage instance can be calculated as follows:

${\displaystyle \text{Tier Minimum}=1-\frac{1}{max(1, \text{Critical Tier})}}$

${\displaystyle \text{DPS Reducer}=\frac{\text{Tier Minimum}}{\text{Modded Critical Multiplier} - \text{Tier Minimum}}+1}$

${\displaystyle \text{DPS Multiplier}=\frac{(\text{Modded fire rate})\cdot(\text{Modded multishot})}{\text{DPS Reducer}}}$

${\displaystyle \text{DPS Metric}=(\text{Tier 0 Damage})\cdot(\text{DPS Multiplier})}$

${\displaystyle { \text{Damage Multiplier} = \begin{cases} 1,\; & \text{DPS Metric} \leq 3000 \\ 0.8 + \frac{600}{\text{DPS Metric}},\; & 3000 < \text{DPS Metric} \leq 7500 \\ 1.6/3 + \frac{2600}{\text{DPS Metric}},\; & 7500 < \text{DPS Metric} \leq 22500\\ \frac{14600}{\text{DPS Metric}},\; & 22500< \text{DPS Metric} \end{cases} }}$

Tier 0 Damage is the theoretical non critical damage instance that would be seen in game if there were no static DPS limiter. Note that this factor includes the 62.5% damage reduction on health and +50% bonus damage to their shields.

As can be deduced from the above, output DPS is capped at 14600, however this limit can be bypassed with critical hits. Critical damage against acolytes have a modified critical scaling equation defined below.

${\displaystyle \text{Tier 1}=(\text{CM} - 1) \cdot 0.5 + 1}$

${\displaystyle \text{Tier Increase}=\frac{\text{Tier 1}}{1+\frac{1}{CM-1}}}$

${\displaystyle \text{Total Critical Multiplier}=\text{Tier 1} + (\text{Tier Increase}) \cdot (\text{Tier} - 1)}$

"CM" is the weapon's modded critical multiplier.

Acolytes[]

• Angst
• Malice
• Mania
• Misery
• Torment
• Violence

Main article: Angst

Angst is one of Shadow Stalker's acolytes, first appearing in Operation: Shadow Debt. She takes the form of a  Valkyr Warframe with an Immortal Skin, wearing Stalker's helmet and the Vanquished Syandana. She battles with the  Hysteria claws.

As of Update 29.5 (2020-11-19), Angst can now spawn in The Steel Path missions.

Angst battles with the  Hysteria claws, which can stagger Tenno on hit. She can also let out a Sonic Scream much like Phorid, slowly draining the health of all Tenno in the map. She can also use Teleport similar to  Ash.

Malice wields an and a . Malice is capable of casting against enemy Tenno, forcing them to soak up fire from their teammates and making it near-impossible to avoid his Opticor blasts. In addition, Malice is capable of summoning drones (using the summoning animation of a ).

Mania battles with Scorn, a custom , launching its grappling hook at unsuspecting Tenno. He can also stun Tenno using , and cast to shield himself from gunfire. His melee attacks are capable of his targets, leaving them vulnerable as he slices away.

In battle, Misery wields an .

Instead of Mesa's abilities, Torment uses and and wields the .

Violence also casts periodically. Silence prevents Tenno from casting abilities from within 20 meters of Violence for the duration.

Notes[]

• Because they are dropped as mystery items in the form of a Mod item, Arcanes dropped by Acolytes in Steel Path can be sucked up and permanently destroyed by Scavenger Drones.
• Acolyte spawns take the place of regular spawns and are not timed. This means you will see them spawn more frequently with more frequent enemy spawns and less often with slow spawns, stopping entirely if normal spawns stop for any reason.

Tips[]

• As of Update 36.0 (2024-06-18), Acolytes are neutral to every element.
• Due to their damage reduction, certain types of weapons are more effective than others:
  • Beam weapons such as the  Glaxion are notably weakest against them.
  • AOE (Area of Effect) projectiles such as the  Arca Plasmor ( Tenet Arca Plasmor) and detonated Thrown Melees perform very well against them.

Trivia[]

• The Acolytes' appearances are generally a Warframe with attachments either from other Warframes or Warframe Cosmetics such as armor pieces, Syandanas, or skins, and the Stalker's helmet in lieu of their default helmets;
  • Angst uses  Valkyr's body with her Immortal Skin and the Vanquished Syandana.
  • Malice uses  Frost Prime's body without his shoulder armor and wears bits of machinery on his arms.
  • Mania uses  Loki's body with his Immortal Skin as well as a Daedalus shoulder plate on his left arm.
  • Misery uses  Nekros' body with the Kyroptera Syandana,  Oberon's loincloth and a Daedalus chest plate as an impromptu codpiece.
  • Torment uses  Mesa's body with some of  Equinox's front tassels on her waist, a Naberus shoulder plate on her right arm and an Eos chest plate as an impromptu codpiece.
  • Violence uses  Limbo's body with Hulta shoulder plates.
• Though their origins are disputed, Alad V calling them "betrayers" implies they may be Tenno themselves.
  • However, Misery states, "Betrayers will die," as well as saying, "These children will not stop us," implying that he knows the Tenno's true nature. All of this pointing that the Acolytes are just as separated from the Tenno as the Stalker himself.
• When played backward, some intelligible speech can be heard in the audio taunts the Acolytes use. The messages contained are as follows:
  1. We are the Stalker's revenge.
  2. The end has come to take you, Tenno.
  3. You're just a puppet, Tenno.
  4. We fight for the Stalker. This is the end for you.
  5. You cannot kill what you cannot see.
  6. All you know is lost(?). You are nothing.
  7. We are Shadows. You are just a suit.
  8. You are nothing.
• Acolytes in Steel Path reuse dialogue from Operation: Shadow Debt which references Alad V, despite no longer having anything to do with him.

Pre-Update 29.5 (2020-11-19) Acolyte Appearance Durations[]

Pre-Update 29.5 (2020-11-19) Mod Drops[]

Operation: Shadow Debt Mechanics[]

Patch History[]

See Also[]

• Stalker
• Shadow Stalker

Collapse Stalker
Acolytes	Angst • Malice • Mania • Misery • Torment • Violence
Bosses
Stalker (Shadow / Protector)