Grendel

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Release Date: October 31st, 2019

Indulge amid the stench of battle as Grendel the voracious gourmand, greedily swallowing armies whole into his fathomless maw. Corpulent and courageous, he consumes prey to invigorate kindred warriors, or disgorges the eaten out drenched in putrid acidic bile. Stampede through strongholds as a spherical menace, leaving cadavers in the wake crushed by his thunderous quake. Grendel's feeding frenzy began in Update 26: The Old Blood.

Acquisition

Grendel's main blueprint can be purchased from the Market. Grendel's component blueprints are awarded by completing certain missions on Europa using Locators, which can be purchased from the Arbitration Honors vendor found in any Relay for 25  Vitus Essence each.

Purchasing a Locator will unlock the unique mission associated with it, which guarantees the associated Grendel component as a reward. These missions will have level 25-30 enemies, however players will be unable to use their Gear items, weapons with unique traits (e.g.  Knell's Death Knell) do not function (however, Syndicate Radial Effects from Syndicate Weapons do still occur), Kuva and Tenet weapons will not have their elemental damage bonus, Incarnon weapons will not transform and bonuses from Incarnon evolutions will not apply, Operators cannot be used, and any Focus abilities will be disabled. Also all Mods will be deactivated, except Warframe Augment Mods, which will still work. The effects of Archon Shards also will not apply. Syndicate Death Squads will also not appear in these missions. Arcanes do not work as well.

• The  Grendel Neuroptics Locator unlocks the Archaeo-freighter, a 20-minute Survival mission.
• The  Grendel Chassis Locator unlocks the Icefields of Riddah, a 10-wave Defense mission.
• The  Grendel Systems Locator unlocks the Mines of Karishh, an Excavation mission where players have to collect 800 Cryotic.

These missions do not have public matchmaking, requiring players to form pre-made squads.

Locators are only consumed after completing the mission, requiring the purchase of another Locator to unlock once again. However, only the squad host requires a Locator, allowing them to invite other players to participate in the mission, and the component reward will be granted to all players upon completion.

Crafting

Manufacturing Requirements 📝 Edit blueprint requirements
25,000	1	1	1	Orokin Cell 3	Time: 3 Day(s)
					Rush: 50
Market Price: 325			Blueprints Price: 35,000
Grendel Neuroptics Blueprint
15,000	Argon Crystal 2	Control Module 5	Ferrite 3,500	Alloy Plate 3,800	Time: 12 Hour(s)
					Rush: 25
Grendel Chassis Blueprint
15,000	Condroc Wing 25	Kuaka Spinal Claw 30	Tralok Eyes 20	Murkray Liver 15	Time: 12 Hour(s)
					Rush: 25
Grendel Systems Blueprint
15,000	Circuits 1,125	Morphics 10	Fish Meat 125	Fish Oil 100	Time: 12 Hour(s)
					Rush: 25

Lore & History

Karishh's Final Feast

Main article: Leverian#Grendel

View Grendel List▾▾

After the Collapse of the Orokin Empire, Karishh found refuge within the frozen, famine-struck city of Riddha, located on Europa. There he would live a lavish life, consuming feast after feast while the emaciated citizens looked on.

The Warframes  Grendel and  Gauss would then appear to liberate Riddha from Karishh's control. Gauss would remain near the entrance of the city, presumably intercepting any returning patrols, while Grendel would go on to plow straight into the city, consuming all of Karishh's sycophants and Dax soldiers. With his gut full, Grendel would then  Nourish all the afflicted masses of Riddha with the power he consumed, leading them to join him in storming the Karishh's manse.

Smashing open the gates with his  Masseter, Grendel would lead the newly reinvigorated citizens, interrupting yet another of Karishh's feasts. The Executor would then flee to the far-off mountains of Riddha, pursued by Grendel. As the citizens sat feasting, Grendel would have a feast of his own, consuming Karishh in one bite.

Notes

• When Grendel wields his signature  Masseter, he will become immune to crowd-control effects while performing Heavy Attacks.
• Grendel sports the third highest base health of all Warframes, behind  Inaros and  Inaros Prime.
• Sprint Speed mods do not appear to affect the speed of  Pulverize, however, the  Motus Signal does increase double jump height whilst in the ability.
• Despite retaining the UI of the last equipped weapon, Grendel is unable to activate Syndicate Radial Effects while in Pulverize.
• Grendel is able to consume many of the specters in the junctions between planets, largely trivializing each encounter.

Trivia

• Grendel is named for the villainous giant in the epic poem Beowulf. Among Grendel's epithets is "the destroyer and devourer of our human kind," and he is described as eating the flesh from the humans he kills.
  • During his development, Grendel was referred to as the "Oni" Warframe. In Japanese folklore, Oni are depicted as hulking, horned ogres with a penchant for terrorizing humans, up to and including devouring them.
• Several of Grendel's idle animations as well as the pose he strikes during  Nourish are modeled after Sumo wrestlers.
• Grendel is the 42nd Warframe to be released (excluding Primed and Umbra variants).
• Grendel is the first Warframe whose component blueprints are obtained from exclusive mission nodes, which requires Vitus Essences and, in turn, Arbitrations.
• Grendel was originally intended to release simultaneously with his best friend  Gauss, but required more time for development. As a nod to their friendship, Gauss appears in Grendel's Warframe Profile to receive his support from  Nourish, as well as a mention in Grendel's Leverian exhibit. Grendel also appears in Gauss's profile video riding a K-Drive while Gauss sprints beside him.
• Grendel's belly maw snaps open with the use of his abilities, namely  Feast and  Regurgitate.
• Grendel's belly visually enlarges and gains jiggle physics when enemies are eaten and stored with Feast.
• Voicelines spoken by enemies inside Grendel's gut have a muffled and gurgled sound overlay.