The Operator is the TennoIcon Tenno represented by the player, a young human whose DmgVoidSmall64 Void powers are the source of their Warframe's abilities. Operators control Warframes through a process known as Transference, allowing them to transfer their consciousness and power into a Warframe as a surrogate body, even over long distances.

A player first gains control over their Operator at the conclusion of The Second Dream quest, and obtains more direct control at the conclusion of The War Within. Operators gain access to weapons and Arcanes through The Quills and Vox Solaris factions. Finally, operators can learn and specialize in the Tenno's five Focus Schools.

Functions related to the Operator can be accessed in the Orbiter's Transference Room by interacting with the Somatic Link inside the ship, by entering Transference, or by accessing the Operator option under the player's Settings.

Focus (Version 3.0) refers to the Tenno's powers as guided by the principles of the five Focus Schools, as well as their associated special abilities. Players unlock their first Focus abilities after completing The Second Dream quest (starting with two passive abilities per school), and gain access to all remaining abilities after The War Within and Saya's Vigil with assistance from The Quills. Some abilities benefit the Operator or Warframe exclusively, while others can benefit both entities.

Upon completing The Second Dream, players can summon their Operator in a burst attack known as Transcendence (default: 5 ). The summon lasts for 10 seconds, during which the Operator fires a powerful Void Beam while also activating any Warframe passive abilities related to Focus. Both the Operator and Warframe are invulnerable during Transcendence. Once Transcendence ends, the Operator disappears and control is returned to the Warframe.

Activating Transcendence consumes the Focus Gauge which charges over time and fully fills after 3 minutes.

The Void Beam used during Transcendence oddly cannot damage Vomvalysts in their spectral forms, nor open Secret Labs triggerable through Transference.

Completing The War Within will replace Transcendence with Transference. Unlike Transcendence, Transference requires no resources and has no cooldown. Any Focus passives will immediately take effect at the start of the mission, even if Transference isn't used at all.

Transference allows for direct control of the Operator and to change control between Operator and Warframe. Operators are less physically agile than Warframes but they gain access to the teleportative Void Sling, the defensive Void Mode, and Focus school abilities.

While controlling the Operator, the Warframe becomes invulnerable to damage. However, if the Warframe has an ability active, it will instead have a 90% Damage Reduction instead of being invulnerable. Conversely, the Operator is invulnerable while controlling the Warframe. Ending Transference teleports the Warframe to the Operator's last location, preserving the player's position. Entering and exiting Transference has no cost, is instant, and has no cooldown. Transference cannot switch forms while stunned.

Operators have 100 base health, 75 base armor, and 350 base shields. These statistics can be augmented through Focus school abilities and Arcane Enhancements. Losing all health does not subject an Operator to Bleedout but instead removes the Operator from the field, resumes Warframe control from the Warframe's last location, depletes all Warframe shields (which also does not kick in shieldgating) and inflicts Transference Static. A Warframe suffering from Transference Static has reduced maximum health, stacking up to 4x.

Operators have 100 base energy, which regenerates at an accelerating rate of 5 energy per second squared, which is used to fire Void Beam and activate certain Focus abilities. Operator energy is independent of the Warframe. Energy Orbs, energy restoration items, and Warframe abilities can also restore Operator energy.

After completing Saya's Vigil and The War Within, the Operator can initiate into a Syndicate called The Quills, who can grant the Operator various permanent upgrades. The Quills are located at the northeast most part of Cetus, through a stone door that can only be entered by the Operator using Transference to leave their Warframe behind. The Quills also have a presence in Fortuna, in association with Vox Solaris, which likewise players can initiate into after completing The War Within and the Vox Solaris quest.

The Quills' Representative in Cetus will provide the Operator their first Amp, MoteAmp Mote Amp, a specialized weapon to enhance their Void Beam while also creating a separate "ammo" gauge for them, allowing them to execute this ability without exhausting their other powers. It can be improved even further by gilding it and enhancing it with Virtuos Arcanes, both of which are provided by The Quills and Vox Solaris. Further Amps can also be constructed later by assembling different parts from the same syndicates.

The Operator's base health of 100 is also increased to 350 and other attributes such as armor or sprint can be enhanced with Magus Arcanes which can be acquired from The Quills and Vox Solaris as well. Additionally, the Operator is now able to perform a slide maneuver to help them dodge incoming attacks (default: LShift  while running), although they cannot slide while in Void Mode.

During the penultimate mission of The Sacrifice quest, Excalibur UmbraIcon272 Excalibur Umbra is rewarded. Unlike other Warframes, Umbra possesses sentience, allowing him to fight on his own (in a similar manner to a Specter) when not piloted by the Operator. However, Umbra can be harmed and takes full damage from any source, and will stop moving altogether if he loses all his health.

Necramechs are Orokin combat platforms used in The Old War, now scattered across Cambion Drift, Deimos. Some of these drones can be found in wreckages but still barely functional, indicated by a blue swirling aura, which the Operator can take control of via Transference.

After completing Heart of Deimos and The War Within, the Operator can initiate into the Necraloid Syndicate and build their own Necramech, being able to deploy it in Landscape and Empyrean missions.

Operators have a base Health of 100, permanently increased to 350 after initiation to The Quills, which can be further increased with MagusVigor Magus Vigor and with FocusLensVazarin b Vazarin Focus school's FocusEnduringTides Enduring Tides. The formula to calculate operator health is:

For example, with a maxed MagusVigor Magus Vigor, if combined with the FocusLensVazarin b Vazarin school's rank 3 or rank 4 FocusEnduringTides Enduring Tides ability +200% bonus results in:

FocusLensVazarin b Vazarin Focus school's FocusRejuvenatingTides Rejuvenating Tides also provides passive Operator Health Regeneration. At max rank the values are +6 HP/s as the Operator and +12 HP/s to the Operator while controlling the Warframe.

The following table shows different combinations of Arcanes and Focus Abilities which affect armor and also the resulting Damage Reduction. All Arcanes and Focus Abilities are considered max rank for table simplicity.

Operators have a base shield of 350, and like Warframes are in possession of Shield Gating. There is currently no Arcane or Focus ability that increases this value.

The following table shows different combinations of Arcanes and Focus Abilities which affect Health and Armor and the resulting Effective Health. All Arcanes and Focus Abilities are considered max rank for table simplicity.

Hotfix 36.1.5 (2024-09-03)

Hotfix 36.1.2 (2024-08-22)

Update 36.1 (2024-08-21)

Update 36.0 (2024-06-18)

Hotfix 35.5.11 (2024-05-07)

Hotfix 35.5.9 (2024-05-01)

Hotfix 35.5.8 (2024-04-24)

Hotfix 35.5.3 (2024-04-04)

Hotfix 35.5.1 (2024-03-27)

Update 35.5 (2024-03-27)

GENERAL CHANGES
OPTIMIZATIONS
TOP FIXES
GENERAL FIXES

Update 35.1 (2024-02-20)

Hotfix 35.0.9 (2024-01-17)

Hotfix 35.0.4 (2023-12-20)

Hotfix 35.0.3 (2023-12-18)

Update 35.0 (2023-12-13)

Update 34.0 (2023-10-18)

Hotfix 33.6.4 (2023-08-15)

Update 33.6 (2023-07-27)

Hotfix 33.0.11 (2023-05-24)

Update 33.0 (2023-04-26)

Update 32.3 (2023-02-15)

Hotfix 32.2.10 (2023-01-18)

Hotfix 32.2.9 (2023-01-11)

Hotfix 32.2.4 (2022-12-07)

Update 32.2 (2022-11-30)

Hotfix 32.1.1 (2022-11-03)

Update 32.1 (2022-11-02)

Hotfix 32.0.13 (2022-10-14)

Hotfix 32.0.10 (2022-10-05)

Hotfix 32.0.9 (2022-10-05)

Hotfix 32.0.8 (2022-09-29)

Hotfix 32.0.7 (2022-09-28)

Hotfix 32.0.5 (2022-09-15)

Hotfix 32.0.3 (2022-09-14)

Hotfix 32.0.1 (2022-09-07)

Update 32.0 (2022-09-07)

OPERATOR TRANSFERENCE CHANGE:

We have drastically reduced the cooldown on Operator Transference.

In Update 31.5: Angels of the Zariman, we made changes to Operator Transference to make it Client-Authoritative to alleviate the common scenario of latency. After the change was made, players noted that there was now a cooldown in between Transferences that was causing delays when performed back to back. We have made improvements so that the cooldown is much less felt. It is worth noting that there are still some idle animation bugs that can happen at zero cooldown, but the improvement will be noticeable regardless.

GENERAL CHANGES:
FIXES:


Hotfix 31.7.2 (2022-08-17)

Update 31.6 (2022-06-09)

OPERATOR CHANGES

MULTIDIRECTIONAL VOID SLING

We have added multidirectional movement to Void Sling!

Before: Void Sling would only let you sling forward in the direction of the camera.

Now: Void Slings are all about player direction input, no longer dependent on the camera.

How to execute

To BACK SLING, hold the S key and Void Sling - observe the Operator slinging towards the camera instead of away. The back sling will always be backwards, regardless of camera angle. Same goes for slinging sideways, hold either A or D and Void Sling - observe the Operator slinging in the direction the Operator is running.

To STRAFE, when in the air hold directional key and Void Sling to strafe side to side.

If you are using a controller: Tilt the left analog stick down and Void Sling (Tap A and Hold A) - observe the Operator slinging towards the camera instead of away. The back sling will always be backwards, regardless of camera angle. Same goes for slinging sideways, tilt the left analog stick left or right and Void Sling - observe the Operator slinging in the direction they are running.

CAPSULE CHANGES

We made some improvements to the Operator projection positioning tech so that it produces a more accurate result of the final position where the Operator can pass through. This should help alleviate scenarios where the Operator could appear to Void Sling under a door but instead bonked their head. More work will be done to improve in other areas, notably issues with the Operator’s lower half colliding with the environment during Void Sling travel (we’ve got some broken ankles on the court).

Operator Cosmetic Fix & Additions

You may recall on Devstream 162 we had an open conversation about a newly surfaced bug where you could change the Operators facial appearance with any color available within your Color Palette inventory. While this was not intended, the team has discussed how to develop it into an appropriate feature based on Community sentiment.

Introducing REFACIA KIT! Open up an enticing array of radical new artificial skin colors using Refacia. Includes imitation Orokin Blue!

Players with access to a Focus School’s Represent Store (unlocked by fully maxing all of the Nodes within a School) can purchase the Refacia Kit with Focus Points to add an additional 15 artificial skin colors.

We wanted to add an investment path towards earning the Refacia Kit for a couple key reasons: 1) prevent new player confusion who have yet to reach that level of lore within Warframe, and 2) having a cosmetic to strive for in the later game.

We understand that the artificial colors given are on the subdued side compared to the Infested Palette hot pink and neon green. Our desire is to take the enjoyed bug and turn it into a lore-driven feature that fits within the ecosystem of Warframe for all to enjoy!

General Operator/Focus Changes & Fixes:

Hotfix 31.5.10 (2022-05-17)

Hotfix 31.5.8 (2022-05-11)

Hotfix 31.5.7 (2022-05-06)

Hotfix 31.5.5 (2022-05-03)

Hotfix 31.5.4 (2022-05-02)

Operator & Focus Changes:

A mix of both Community feedback and our own internal digging has brought forth some further changes to Operators and the Focus School System. A couple key goals of the Focus School System changes in Update 31.5.0 was to bring all Schools to the same level (while keeping their identifying attributes) and bring synergy to Warframe and Operator gameplay. While we believe we’ve achieved that, there’s still very understandable feedback surrounding the “survivability of Operators” in higher level combat (most noticeable in the Zariman gameplay). It’s unfair to put players in scenarios where Operator gameplay is required, but not provide a general base bump to their survivability.

All that being said, we have made a few changes to provide this bump:

To recap, we’ve changed the math behind Enduring Tides, raised the floor on Operator survivability overall, and provided some buffs to Magus Vigor/Husk. We’ll be watching for further feedback on these changes!

General Operator Changes & Fixes:
Fixes:

Hotfix 31.5.3 (2022-04-29)

Hotfix 31.5.1 (2022-04-27)

Update 31.5 (2022-04-27)

FOCUS SCHOOL SYSTEM REWORK

Focus School is in session! The Focus System is getting an extensive rework to refresh the gameplay potential of Operators, movement, School identity and balance.

WHAT IS FOCUS?

Focus has been a lot of things over the years. What started in 2015 as a pivotal decision moment in Warframe’s story has continually evolved into its own form of gameplay: Convergence was introduced alongside Focus Lenses to give players an added boost to collecting Focus, Update 22: Plains of Eidolon shook the system up to add new Focus School nodes and Way-Bound abilities, and Update 22.6 attempted to bring the 5 schools’ power levels closer together with numerous abilities reworked.

At its core, Focus aimed to be an exciting new path to enjoy Warframe from the lens of another character. What we’ve come to realize over the many years is that there was a lack of true synergy between Operator and Warframe. We hope to change that while also bringing something fresh to the table!

OPERATOR GAMEPLAY REWORK OVERVIEW

The Operator Gameplay and Focus School reworks aim to improve the flow between Warframe gameplay and Operator gameplay, with the goal of encouraging players to swap more frequently between their Operator and Warframe to maximize the benefits received from both gameplay systems.

As with all our major system overhauls, we encourage you to give it some time in your own hands before delivering your constructive feedback!

For Operator Gameplay specifically, these changes come in three major ways: first, the introduction of Void Sling; secondly, re-engineering Operators to be Client-authoritative to reduce jank caused by latency issues related to the mission host; thirdly, removal of Void Blast to allow Melee inputs to cause automatic Transference from Operator to Warframe.

Void Sling is the intended replacement of Void Dashes as a more fun and controllable system. In full transparency, the current state of sustained Void Dash movement has a spam-centric loop that we want to refine. We are very much approaching this like how we added Bullet Jump to Parkour: we want movement to be king, but better controlled. Current Void Dash does not provide easily controlled movement in the typical gameplay spaces. We are aiming to strike a balance to ensure good distance can still be covered, but some re-mastery will be required of this new movement system (much like having to learn Bullet Jumping)!

Additionally, Operator Transference has been re-engineered to be Client-authoritative to alleviate the common scenario of latency. Previously, Transference was Host-authoritative, meaning when Clients used Transference the responsiveness was determined by the round trip network latency. In order for the new Void Sling functionality to be more responsive, the switch was made to be Client-authoritative.

Void Dash to Void Sling

The Operator sends a Void Sling of themselves and then Void Slings to it. It is the Operator’s ‘Double Jump’. *After its debut on Devstream #160 and following further playtesting, the team has since increased the overall speed of the Operator’s Void Sling thanks to feedback.

Void Blast to Warframe Melee Transfer

Melee input while using your Operator will now instantly Transfer to your Warframe and perform a Melee attack.

FOCUS SCHOOL REWORK

The Focus School rework aims to boost the lesser used Schools by a) giving them more interesting and useful abilities, b) defining a clear role and gameplay style for each school, and c) incentivizing Warframe-Operator Transference as part of the core gameplay loop.

General Notes:

Operator UI Changes

General

Equipment menu

Appearance menu

Focus menu

Changes:
Fixes:

Update 31.3 (2022-03-28)

Hotfix 31.1.5 (2022-02-17)

Hotfix 31.1.2 (2022-02-10)

Hotfix 31.1.1 (2022-02-09)

Update 31.1 (2022-02-09)

Hotfix 31.0.8 (2022-01-12)

Hotfix 31.0.7 (2022-01-07)

Hotfix 31.0.6 (2022-01-04)

Hotfix 31.0.5 (2021-12-21)

Hotfix 31.0.3 (2021-12-17)

Hotfix 31.0.2 (2021-12-16)

Update 31.0 (2021-12-15)

Hotfix 30.9.3 (2021-11-12)

Update 30.9 (2021-11-11)

Hotfix 30.7.6 (2021-09-23)

Hotfix 30.7.2 (2021-09-09)

Update 30.7 (2021-09-08)

Hotfix 30.6.1 (2021-08-10)

Update 30.6 (2021-08-04)

Hotfix 30.5.5 (2021-07-29)

Hotfix 30.5.4 (2021-07-17)

Hotfix 30.5.2 (2021-07-07)

Update 30.5 (2021-07-06)

Hotfix 30.3.2 (2021-05-27)

Update 30.3 (2021-05-25)

Hotfix 30.2.1 (2021-05-13)

Hotfix 30.0.8 (2021-04-27)

Hotfix 29.10.9 (2021-04-01)

Hotfix 29.10.7 (2021-03-26)

Update 29.10 (2021-03-19)

Hotfix 29.8.1 (2021-02-18)

Hotfix 29.6.8 (2021-01-25)

Hotfix 29.6.4 (2021-01-06)

Hotfix 29.6.1 (2020-12-18)

Update 29.6 (2020-12-18)

Hotfix 29.5.7 (2020-12-10)

Hotfix 29.5.2 (2020-11-20)

Update 29.5 (2020-11-19)

Hotfix 29.2.3 (2020-10-08)

Update 29.2 (2020-09-29)

Hotfix 29.1.2 (2020-09-22)

Hotfix 29.1.1 (2020-09-18)

Update 29.1 (2020-09-17)

Hotfix 29.0.8 (2020-09-10)

Hotfix 29.0.5 (2020-08-28)

Hotfix 29.0.4 (2020-08-27)

Hotfix 29.0.3 (2020-08-26)

Hotfix 29.0.2 (2020-08-26)

Hotfix 29.0.1 (2020-08-25)

Update 29.0 (2020-08-25)

NEW GAMEPLAY: NECRAMECH

Within the NECRALOID Syndicate, you will access everything you need to get started on building your very own NECRAMECH! You must have completed The War Within Quest to access this content.

In HEART OF DEIMOS, we are launching 1 NECRAMECH, found in the NECRALOID Syndicate! It is fully colour customizable, has 4 Unique Abilities (like a Warframe) and can be summoned for Transference via the NECRAMECH SUMMON Gear Item for use in ANY Open World! The Necramech Summon Gear Item is awarded upon crafting your first Necramech!

Update 28.3 (2020-08-12)

Update 28.1 (2020-07-08)

Hotfix 28.0.5 (2020-06-17)

Hotfix 27.5.4 (2020-05-20)

Hotfix 27.4.2 (2020-05-04)

Update 27.4 (2020-05-01)

Hotfix 27.3.14 (2020-04-15)

Hotfix 27.3.4 (2020-03-26)

Hotfix 27.3.3 (2020-03-25)

Update 27.3 (2020-03-24)

Update 27.2 (2020-03-05)

Hotfix 27.0.12.1 (2020-01-23)

Hotfix 25.7.7 (2019-09-26)

Hotfix 25.7.6 (2019-09-18)

Hotfix 25.7.5 (2019-09-09)

Hotfix 25.7.4 (2019-09-05)

Hotfix 25.7.2 (2019-08-30)

Update 25.7 (2019-08-29)

Hotfix 25.6.3 (2019-08-14)

Update 25.5 (2019-07-31)

Hotfix 25.4.2 (2019-07-25)

Hotfix 25.3.2.1 (2019-07-12)

Hotfix 25.2.3 (2019-06-25)

Hotfix 25.1.2 (2019-06-12)

Update 25.1 (2019-06-05)

Update 25.0 (2019-05-22)

TWO-TONED COLOUR CUSTOMIZATION - Round 2!

Update 24.8 (2019-04-24)

Hotfix 24.7.3 (2019-04-22)

Update 24.7 (2019-04-10)

Update 24.6 (2019-04-04)

Hotfix 24.5.5 (2019-03-25)

Hotfix 24.5.4 (2019-03-20)

Hotfix 24.5.2 (2019-03-18)

Hotfix 24.5.1 (2019-03-15)

Update 24.5 (2019-03-14)

Hotfix 24.4.2 (2019-03-08)

Update 24.4 (2019-03-08)

Update 24.3 (2019-02-27)

Hotfix 24.2.15 (2019-02-15)

Hotfix 24.2.13 (2019-02-06)

Hotfix 24.2.12 (2019-01-30)

Hotfix 24.2.11 (2019-01-29)

Hotfix 24.2.10 (2019-01-23)

Hotfix 24.2.8 (2019-01-15)

Hotfix 24.2.7 (2018-01-09)

Hotfix 24.2.3 (2018-12-19)

Update 24.2 (2018-12-18)

Hotfix 24.1.3 (2018-12-05)

Hotfix 24.1.2.1 (2018-11-29)

Update 24.1 (2018-11-22)

Hotfix 24.0.10 (2018-11-21)

Hotfix 24.0.9 (2018-11-21)

Hotfix 24.0.8 (2018-11-15)

Hotfix 24.0.7 (2018-11-15)

Hotfix 24.0.5 (2018-11-12)

Hotfix 24.0.2 (2018-11-09)

Hotfix 24.0.1 (2018-11-08)

Update 24.0 (2018-11-08)

Vox Solaris

Use your Standing to purchase the newest classes of Mechanical Operator Armour:

Operator Suit Mesh Revisit

Hotfix 23.10.7 (2018-10-24)

Hotfix 23.10.5 (2018-10-18)

Update 23.10 (2018-10-12)

Operator Suit Mesh Changes

As we have added more complex Operator outfits and Armor Sets, we've made revisions to the some of the existing cosmetics to allow for better sharing of aesthetics among sets. There are now new seams on the shoulders, neck, and waist of multiple outfits which will make mix & matching less jarring!

Hotfix 23.8.2 (2018-09-19)

Hotfix 23.8.0.2 (2018-09-12)

Update 23.8 (2018-09-12)

Hotfix 23.6.2 (2018-08-31)

Hotfix 23.3.2 (2018-08-13)

Update 23.3 (2018-08-09)

Update 23.2 (2018-08-02)

Hotfix 23.1.3 (2018-07-26)

Hotfix 23.1.2 (2018-07-24)

Hotfix 23.1.1 (2018-07-19)

Hotfix 23.0.8 (2018-07-09)

Hotfix 23.0.6 (2018-06-27)

Hotfix 23.0.4 (2018-06-20)

Update 23.0 (2018-06-15)

Update 22.20 (2018-05-17)

Hotfix 22.14.1 (2018-03-01)

Hotfix 22.13.1 (2018-02-15)

Hotfix 22.8.4 (2018-01-11)

Update 22.3 (2017-11-15)

Hotfix 22.2.5 (2017-11-11)

Update 22.0 (2017-10-12)

Hotfix 21.3.1 (2017-08-04)

Update 21.0 (2017-06-29)

Update 19.7 (2017-01-18)

Hotfix 19.6.3 (2017-01-17)

Update 19.6 (2017-01-11)

Hotfix 19.5.7 (2017-01-06)

Hotfix 19.5.5 (2017-01-03)

Hotfix 19.5.1 (2016-12-22)

Hotfix 19.3.2 (2016-12-14)

Hotfix 19.3.1 (2016-12-08)

Update 19.2 (2016-12-01)

Update 19.1 (2016-11-25)

Hotfix 19.0.7 (2016-11-22)

Hotfix 19.0.6 (2016-11-18)

Hotfix 19.0.5 (2016-11-18)

Hotfix 19.0.4 (2016-11-15)

Hotfix 19.0.3 (2016-11-14)

Update 19.0 (2016-11-11)

Update 18.0 (2015-12-03)