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- For the node on Uranus, see Caliban (Node).
Release Date: December 15th, 2021
Amalgamated with our ancient nemesis, his vessel of Helminth morph suffused by adaptive bionics. Hybridize the powers of Warframe and 
Sentient combined as Caliban, the chimeral prototype. Splinter forth his triad of familial fragments, to sweep death from Tau across Origin, through cyclonic devastation and destructive energy infusion. Caliban returned to wage war in Update 31.0 (2021-12-15): The New War.
Acquisition
- Caliban's main blueprint is purchased from the Market. His component blueprints are acquired from Narmer Bounties after completion of The New War. One component blueprint is available as an uncommon drop; which component is available is chosen randomly on every Bounty refresh after 2½ hours.
- To celebrate his rework on Update 37.0 (2024-10-02), all players who log into WARFRAME between October 2nd to October 16, 2024 will receive a free Caliban Warframe complete with a pre-installed Orokin Reactor and Warframe Slot via inbox message.
| Item | Source | Chance | Expected | Nearly Guaranteed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Systems Blueprint |
Narmer Fortuna Bounty Lvl 50-70 Stages 2 & 3 / A | 8.11% | ~ 12 Stages | 81 ± 27 Stages |
| Systems Blueprint |
Narmer Cetus Bounty Lvl 50-70 Stages 2 & 3 / A | 8.11% | ~ 12 Stages | 81 ± 27 Stages |
| Systems Blueprint |
Narmer Fortuna Bounty Lvl 50-70 Stage 4 / A | 5.45% | ~ 18 Stages | 123 ± 41 Stages |
| Systems Blueprint |
Narmer Cetus Bounty Lvl 50-70 Stage 5 / A | 7.50% | ~ 13 Stages | 88 ± 29 Stages |
| Systems Blueprint |
Narmer Fortuna Bounty Lvl 50-70 Stage 5 / A | 7.50% | ~ 13 Stages | 88 ± 29 Stages |
| Systems Blueprint |
Narmer Cetus Bounty Lvl 50-70 Stage 4 / A | 5.45% | ~ 18 Stages | 123 ± 41 Stages |
 Neuroptics Blueprint |
Narmer Fortuna Bounty Lvl 50-70 Stages 2 & 3 / C | 8.11% | ~ 12 Stages | 81 ± 27 Stages |
| Neuroptics Blueprint |
Narmer Cetus Bounty Lvl 50-70 Stages 2 & 3 / C | 8.11% | ~ 12 Stages | 81 ± 27 Stages |
| Neuroptics Blueprint |
Narmer Fortuna Bounty Lvl 50-70 Stage 4 / C | 5.45% | ~ 18 Stages | 123 ± 41 Stages |
| Neuroptics Blueprint |
Narmer Cetus Bounty Lvl 50-70 Stage 5 / C | 7.50% | ~ 13 Stages | 88 ± 29 Stages |
| Neuroptics Blueprint |
Narmer Fortuna Bounty Lvl 50-70 Stage 5 / C | 7.50% | ~ 13 Stages | 88 ± 29 Stages |
| Neuroptics Blueprint |
Narmer Cetus Bounty Lvl 50-70 Stage 4 / C | 5.45% | ~ 18 Stages | 123 ± 41 Stages |
 Chassis Blueprint |
Narmer Fortuna Bounty Lvl 50-70 Stages 2 & 3 / B | 8.11% | ~ 12 Stages | 81 ± 27 Stages |
| Chassis Blueprint |
Narmer Cetus Bounty Lvl 50-70 Stages 2 & 3 / B | 8.11% | ~ 12 Stages | 81 ± 27 Stages |
| Chassis Blueprint |
Narmer Fortuna Bounty Lvl 50-70 Stage 4 / B | 5.45% | ~ 18 Stages | 123 ± 41 Stages |
| Chassis Blueprint |
Narmer Cetus Bounty Lvl 50-70 Stage 5 / B | 7.50% | ~ 13 Stages | 88 ± 29 Stages |
| Chassis Blueprint |
Narmer Fortuna Bounty Lvl 50-70 Stage 5 / B | 7.50% | ~ 13 Stages | 88 ± 29 Stages |
| Chassis Blueprint |
Narmer Cetus Bounty Lvl 50-70 Stage 4 / B | 5.45% | ~ 18 Stages | 123 ± 41 Stages |
All drop rates data is obtained from DE's official drop tables.
See Mission Rewards#Standard Missions for definitions on reward table rotations.
For more detailed definitions and information,
visit here.
Crafting
| Manufacturing Requirements | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 25,000 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
 Orokin Cell12 |
Time: 3 Day(s) |
Rush:  50
| |||||
 Market Price: 325
|
 Blueprints Price: 50,000
| ||||
| Caliban Neuroptics Blueprint | |||||
15,000 |
 Anomaly Shard3 |
 Narmer Isoplast12 |
 Neural Sensors10 |
 Tralok Eyes20 |
Time: 12 Hour(s) |
| Rush: 25
| |||||
| Caliban Chassis Blueprint | |||||
15,000 |
Anomaly Shard 3 |
Narmer Isoplast 16 |
 Mortus Horn20 |
 Hespazym Alloy100 |
Time: 12 Hour(s) |
| Rush: 25
| |||||
| Caliban Systems Blueprint | |||||
15,000 |
Anomaly Shard 3 |
Narmer Isoplast 12 |
 Breath Of The Eidolon30 |
 Hexenon30 |
Time: 12 Hour(s) |
| Rush: 25
| |||||
Lore
Birthed during The Old War by the Sentient warlord, Erra, Caliban was created for a single purpose: to destroy the 
Tenno.
A freakish amalgamation of both Warframe and Sentient, it is a miracle that his creator no longer controls him.
Notes
- When Caliban wields his Signature
Venato, each Melee hit has a 50% chance to gain additional Melee Combo points. - Caliban's ability kit is able to inflict
![DmgTauSmall64](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="32" height="32"><rect fill-opacity="0"/></svg>)
Tau damage, which is neutral to all health types meaning its damage is neither increased or decreased against all enemies. His abilities are also able to trigger the Status Vulnerability Status Effect.
Trivia
- Caliban is the 48th unique Warframe to be released, and is the second Sentient-themed Warframe after
![RevenantIcon272](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="31" height="32"><rect fill-opacity="0"/></svg>)
Revenant. - Caliban was first revealed in TennoCon 2021's Art of Warframe digital panel. The panel featured his concept artist, Keith Thompson, who designed much of the Sentient faction's aesthetic.
- Caliban is a character from Shakespeare's play The Tempest, which depicts him as half human and half monster.
- Caliban is second in line of Sentient-themed Warframes, after Revenant who is predominantly based on the Eidolon, a subspecies of undead spectral Sentients.
- Similar to Revenant's Eidolon energy, Caliban exudes the signature Sentient unlight within his core cavity and the various exhaust vents on his body.
- Caliban sports animated parts on his body ranging from the antennae spikes to the hovering shoulder blade pads.
- Much like the Sentient drones and fragments, Caliban's body is bisected in two from the neck down, giving him the Sentients' thematic starfish-like appearance.
- Caliban's abilities are derived from some attacks used by Sentient enemies:
![RazorGyre130xWhite](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="37" height="32"><rect fill-opacity="0"/></svg>)
Razor Gyre's spinning from Conculysts.- Sentient Wrath's shockwave from Eidolons.
- Lethal Progeny's Sentient summon from Eidolons, Oculysts, and Summulysts.
- Fusion Strike's beam convergence from Ropalolyst.
- Following his rework on Update 37.0 (2024-10-02), Caliban is the first Warframe to possess abilities that inflict Tau damage.
- Caliban shares his name with a mission node on Uranus.
- Caliban is third Warframe after Titania and Wisp and the first male Warframe with hovering Idle Animations. However, he does not have unique movement animations.
- Oddly enough, despite Caliban's Sentient composition that would make him highly susceptible to
Void damage, he and Revenant do fine in areas rife with Void Energy such as the Orokin Void and the Zariman Ten Zero. - Caliban is currently the last Warframe to have a dedicated profile video, as subsequent releases ( Gyre, Styanax, and so on) lacked such.
References
| Warframes | ||
|---|---|---|
 Ash •  Atlas •  Banshee •  Baruuk •  Caliban •  Chroma •  Citrine •  Dagath •  Dante •  Ember •  Equinox •  Excalibur ( Umbra) •  Frost •  Gara •  Garuda •  Gauss •  Grendel •  Gyre •  Harrow •  Hildryn •  Hydroid •  Inaros •  Ivara •  Jade •  Khora •  Koumei •  Kullervo •  Lavos •  Limbo •  Loki •  Mag •  Mesa •  Mirage •  Nekros •  Nezha •  Nidus •  Nova •  Nyx •  Oberon •  Octavia •  Protea •  Qorvex •  Revenant •  Rhino •  Saryn •  Sevagoth •  Styanax •  Titania •  Trinity •  Valkyr •  Vauban •  Volt •  Voruna •  Wisp •  Wukong •  Xaku •  Yareli •  Zephyr
| ||
| Upcoming | ||
| Cyte-09 | ||
| Attributes • Helminth • Augments • Compare All • Cosmetics | ||
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329 comments
No prime but i guess Caliban Tau when we save Erra and he makes a proper version.
No augment but rock frame (which is good but the most invasive frame ever) has augments , DEreally dislike caliban
Caliban probably had his augment ideas postponed since he was on the slate for a rework. No point in making an augment then having to immediately rework it.
Inward pull buged right.?
Pros:
His 1st and 3rd effectively make him a shield tank without mods, meaning he has REALLY high level and consistent survivability
You can spam his 1st, regardless of Efficiency
His kit features damage vulnerability AND defense stripping, something rarely seen without subsuming.
The new Summulysts and Ortholysts are fantastic additions that feel strong and add strategy to the ability.
Summulysts will inherit additional damage and statuses from abilities like Nourish, or any of the augments that allow hold casting for bonus damage.
They kept the old synergy Conculysts had with his 1st and 4th, and didn't bring them to the other two, so Conculysts are still viable in comparison. No Sentient is particularly behind in strength.
Big laser :)
The new Tau status effect is very noticable. It's hard not to see half the statuses in the game follow a Tau proc.
It's also nice him and his team incidentally have a slight bonus with Condition Overload type mechanics.
Cons:
Ability cost is a bit expensive, highly recommend either Efficiency or Energy regen. (Edit: This is because his 2nd and 4th can be very expensive!)
Very vulnerable to Toxin procs.
His passive is basically non existent at higher levels.
Can only cast one type of Sentient at a time.
Also not really a pro or con, but Tau status vulnerability adds to your mods, not a flat bonus to your final chance, like what Puncture does to crit.
Overall, after the reworks, I'd say he's a 9/10 frame. Great for shield gating, deals massive damage with his abilities, and does just about everything possible to weaken entire rooms for him and his team in seconds (and in ways that scale well with enemy level). The only thing I could hope for is a way to cast multiple types of Sentients at once. That and make his passive equal to Adaptation DE I'm begging 🙏
Contradiction? "You can spam his 1st, regardless of efficiency" "Ability cost is a bit expensive, highly recommend either Efficiency or Energy regen" his 1st seems to work like nidus 1st . seems like in that regard he made for vazarin or magus anomaly /{nautalis|cordpm} shame that his beams didnt work a bit like the radioctive guys walls and line them up to spin through, im just leveling. so all speculation.
It's not a contradiction as his other abilities are quite expensive, and that includes the damage vulnerability and (especially) defense stripping! Not to mention his 1st has synergy with his 2nd, tripling it's damage. So it's worth making his 2nd and 4th much cheaper to make sure rooms are clear as fast as possible, even in endgame missions.
The thing with the energy refund on his 1st is it caps at returning 100% energy spent on the ability, similarly to Nidus. This isn't an issue on Nidus for a few reasons, namely he has only one other ability that takes energy, it's only 25 energy, and he can extremely easily take advantage of things like Rage. All of Caliban's abilities cost energy, and the one that synergizes with his 1st (his 2nd) is 50 energy. So overall, you're spending a lot more energy for a smaller portion in return.
And true, Qorvex's 4th causes instant explosions when damaging an enemy affected by Radiation, while Caliban's 4th only causes an explosion once, once the lasers cross at the end of the cast.
Retest his 1, it can give more energy than 100% of the cost. I havent played Nidus in a while so I cant remember but I think his 1 works the same way too.
Missed several cons honestly.
The shield generation stops when you trigger shield gate, there are hard LoS checks on his 2, his armor strip is linked to a relatively long cast animation for a higher cost than most armor strips in the game, his summons do very little damage even with 300+ strength and their shield generation has a hard LoS check so a crate can block it.
Already seen a few Caliban players who act like elitist assholes who call others losers for not having used Caliban pre-rework and now "jumping onto the train."
What's up with these people bro. Why haven't I seen a single Sevagoth player bitching the same???
Nevermind I am schizophrenic and this happened in my head and not irl ...
The [DE]mentia is real
Absolutely broken ngl, apparently Nourish also lets his little bombarder dudes spread not just Tau but also Viral simultaneously. Completely crazy weapons platform, viral spread, tau spread, huge AOE group damage vulnerability, CC for incredibly easy headshots, and armor strip. I also like Xata's and Breach Surge on him, they make all enemies an absolute joke once they're caught in his 2. Also, you really shouldn't be dying on this guy. Augur mods grant shield on cast, his Summulyst continue regenning shields the moment shields are regained. Just consistently cast his 2, even with good efficiency, and he will be almost always topped off on his shields due to the shieldgate. Build more into shields for a better shield gate though ofc. His 1 is unnecessary tbh, take that off for something more useful, unless you're struggling with Energy. But for that, I recommend primer companion (like Hound) with that one Synth mod and Equilibrium for practically infinite energy on him, especially with good efficiency and Arcane Energize. New Multron and Tazicor make it so easy to activate the Synth mod on any Sentinel now. okay done ranting...
"Also, you really shouldn't be dying on this guy"
Toxin enemies: hold our beer
Jeez, they really gutted the helminth version of sentient wrath...
Agreed. Would've preferred they reduce the numbers instead and maybe remove the Tau damage since its supposed to kinda be Calibans thing. The reduction of AoE from area to cone really blows. I was planning to put it on Revenant to match the sentient theme.
Helminth discussion. I'm thinking Eclipse with the Total Eclipse augment. For easier content, gives a damage buff to self + allies + (probably) the Conculysts/Ortholysts. When things start getting tougher, switch to the other buff for better survivability for everyone. 75% DR combined with shield regen should provide some tankiness. Thoughts?
Caliban is so tanky with his summulyst, he could shieldgate even without any shieldgating mods, so actually you dont need any defence subsumes and mods. I have done 9999 run only with one shield mod, to have 2.5 sec shieldgate, and his range summons is not so good in damaging on high lvls, but they have fixed status chance, also its mod slot, so actually you wanna more pure strength, to get more damage multiplier by 2nd and higher shield regen with 3rd (this stats is relate to your str). I'd recommend to leave 1st ability to have more energy regen, or roar for strngth and damage or nourish for energy and weapon buff
He doesn't really seem that tanky to me... Better than before, but his shields still easily get evaporated on harder content, even with the Summulyst, Adaptation, and Arcane Aegis. He struggles in Steel Path Mot and EDA.
You rather want to increase strength and shield capacity (or shieldgate mod), than having aegis, adaptation and, maybe brief respite. He actually have 650+ shields per second and 2.5 sec shieldgate, pairing with rolling guard and 4th skill (you dont need to increase casting speed so much, because 4th gives invincibility during cast) you actually can live on 9999, not so easy as invis frames or revenant, but really well. Just make sure that summulysts in range, you roll often and let recharge shields. If you do it correctly you will not feel 225 sp mobs, but it requires some shieldgating skill
I've done a lot of research on frames, and I have a system for scaling them I would say he's B tier now like a top 15 pick his main problem before was a lack of speed that allowed enemies to overwhelm you, fusion was slow and rooted you in place with no protection, razor gyre was slow, sentient wraith caused enemies to float making their elimination tedious, and although high had a enemy cap eliminating said enemy cap and changing the cc to just be a raise making the cast for fusion strike faster and great invincibility has encourage me to spam it the way the tua status effect works makes his weapons platform design far more pronounced that's just some of the changes his rework has made him drastically stronger than how I experienced him on release he's not OP, however his power is now relative to his point of acquisition as I believe post new war frames and equipment should be strong and Caliban now reflects that.
I typed this now I have a account
I dont think he is a B tier warframe .Probably he is A tier or A- tier. He is not op but now have a very solid kit that work well together.
Caliban's 2 is an all-direction CC with a huge range that also gives Damage Vulnerability. It's probably one of the strongest instant-activation, spammable abilities in the whole game. His 3 gives him the easiest shield gate in the whole game, which is relevant to less skilled shield gates less relevant to more skilled shield gaters, but for the latter, the Ortholysts are actually very useful, as, in tandem with Nourish, let him spread not just Tau, but also Viral to all enemies in range. His 1 is pretty useless once you've got a solid grasp on his latter 3 abilites, but that just means you have a comfy subsume spot. His 4 is also just free armor strip + invincibility in one ability.
What about that kit is B tier again??? As he is, I'd rate him somewhere around top 8 Warframes for soloplay, top 3 for group play, specifically behind Wisp and new Nova (Volt/Jade ties 4th imo, others go to #6 and beyond) because his allies can also use his sentient wrath for a huge damage multiplier, on top of his sentients also giving shield regen to allies, as well as the other reasons in the above paragraph also benefiting his allies... Caliban has always been a hidden gem that just needed some polishing. DE gave him that polishing. He's A+ atm, if not S-.
Such a Caliboss.
For me caliban has become one of the best frame in the game,he is so much fun now ngl
Caliban and Dante are still the most fun frames in the game
His 3 minions of Ortholyst can delete enemies with ease if you put nourish on him, and that is before you strip their armor or debuff them with sentient wrath. Now I know this might be similar case with Wukong back in the days where you just sit in the corner and let the AI destroy things, but DE please let the Calibros have their moments. Let it pass DE dont nerf it.
This frame is fucking OP now wtf
Also has to be the best looking deluxe skin to date
To the dude from 16 hours ago, list which ability beats out Caliban's 2 in terms of providing huge AOE damage vulnerability. Rest & Rage with the augment? Yeah, sure, I'd like to see the build which pulls that off LOL. That also doesn't provide the CC of Cali's 2. His 1 is useless though ngl. His 3 is the most free shield gate in the game that you don't even have to spam or consistently use, just use his 2 regularly and you will never die with even ONE augur mod equipped. His 4's armor strip isn't the best tbh, but it's good enough that you can actually use it to a pretty solid degree. Also gives invincibility, which is pretty cool...
Shame that DE slaughtered his 2 is subsume form though, making it 1-directional just killed its viability imo
> list which ability beats out Caliban's 2 in terms of providing huge AOE damage vulnerability. Rest & Rage with the augment? Yeah, sure, I'd like to see the build which pulls that off LOL. That also doesn't provide the CC of Cali's 2
Not that guy, but Molecular Prime. 2x damage (compared to Caliban's 1.35x base), and either slow for CC or speed for faster kills.
His 2 was always a trash subsume anyways because of how it flung enemies all over making it more tedious to ad clear, not counting that the damage vulnerability loses out to armor/shield stripping.
Is the guy above smoking? When in the world dmg vul is bad in any case? And "flung"? Are you living in 1999 or sth? FLUNG?????
I never thought I would see the day where I called Caliban "The only d-tier frame in the game" peak. It's beautiful.
This dude broken AF now. I've always loved his kit but it's absolutely bonkers now
How so?
Can you share how is he broken?
I've always thought he was one of the best weapon platforms in the game. He had 3 great abilities, but a lot of people seemed unhappy they couldn't make him afk while his pets killed things (now you can lol). They don't seem to know how or why to build him, or why his defense strip is arguably the best in the game. They don't factor in that his kit, without augments, had full strip, damage vulnerability, crowd control, and tank in 3 rock solid abilities. I also really like dagath, as you get the similar results out of her kit... but you kind of need all 4 abilities or an augment that uncomfortable to use IMO. There are very few frames that check all of these boxes as a weapons platform, or strip defenses as effectively as he does with his 4.
First off, tau as a new status is unique to Caliban, and its extremely good. CO and things that care about status get a 'free' extra status when you play Caliban. You obviously are incentivized to play with weapons that inflict/care about status. It's not necessarily in your face how good this is, but with the support status builds has been getting lately, I think this the biggest buff putting him into 'broken' territory, by a pretty wide margin.
His 1 is still a meme imo, but if you are going to helminth over something...
His 2 is absolutely amazing- now locking things in place. It's vauban's cage with more range, less energy, damage vulnerability, and no collapsing and sucking npcs into corners.
His 3 has been overcomplicated- but massively buffed. Probably about 1/5 the energy required to keep them up (summon 3 at a time and increased duration) and making them resummonable. I'm still using conculysts 90% of the time- they do decent damage now, they do the spinny laser, and they nuke with your 4. The artillery guys make you do fun impression of protea, and I might use them more. Little reason to use the shield bot but I guess it heals your team. Whatever.
His 4 hasn't changed too much, but does a lot more damage and with conculysts you just blast everything in your zip code.
You can practically get back free energy if enough enemies are grouped with his one.
Is the new summulyst sometimes bugged?
Sometimes he doesn't summon his crew when he gets summoned.
And sometimes he summons them instantly.
His AI seems a bit wacky.
I found out what the problem is..... The AI changes depending on the mission.
I don't know if that is intended.
Basically he instantly summons his group in steel path survival missions always.
But in random exterminate missions he sometimes doesn't summon anything.
Its weird. I hope they fix that in the future.
You're both wrong. If you watch it closely, you'll find that it's just trying to find a flat surface to spawn them in. Which makes no sense because they float but that's what it does for some reason
It's not a bug. Just AI not being very I. You can fix this by paying attention to where you spawn them.
The fact that Caliban does not always seem to summon from the gate is in fact A BUG! He does not EVER summon in the Exterminate Mission in the Zariman PERIOD! ONLY when the mission is over you summon the Summulyst and then he will summon the other guys!
RIP Caliban. His best ability is getting nerfed for no reason... No more persistant armour/shield strip zone.
well, it's back now, welcome back Caliban.
Pablo changed again and he has his field and all sentients gave caliban shields also the base duration of the sentients has been increased from 25 secs to 45 secs
Calibros. our time is now.
We're fucking winning, finally!
Ikr Lol
Calibros. It's our time.
No.
It's Calitime.
It s calitime indeed Bro
With the coming of his rework its interesting that he's transitioning to a status based frame. Tau damage status proc increases the status vulnerability of enemies. So our weapons will be dealing a lot more procs with Caliban. Very good for builds that focus on high status procs or making a low status high damage weapon more viable for DOTs.
I'm excited to see how his and Koumei's kits could be meshed together - I'm sure Koumei will already be crazy, being able to earn decrees outside of Duviri and all, but the extra status damage for her status-based kit certainly wouldn't hurt.
Wait... would she maybe already be able to roll tau status on her own? Maybe it's more exciting to think of what her helminth ability could do in Caliban's kit, idk but I'm getting excited just thinking about it all.
Koumei can only roll elemental statuses from her preview, so no void or tau damage from her. I'm actually not sure if tau status will interact with her abilities directly or just her random status passive.
I'm gonna test if Cascadia Empowered gets any majorly stronger with it, it was already an Arcane I used quite a bit in Steel Path but fell off a bit on endgame stuff.
The haters will join us and embrace us
The haters won't ever erase us.
Caliban's in the house!~
To bring the Caliparty in your lifetime!