The most requested mechanic of speedrunning in Warframe is what to build and what to run. This guide will help you as a starting point into customizing your builds towards something more familiar to you. These builds should be goals to work towards and not necessarily requirements to start speedrunning. Aiming for a build close to the suggested can be ideal. Please note that these builds are for solo play, as group play has significantly different compositions.

We would like to emphasize that all these builds are simply suggestions and not built-into-stone meta builds. Meta builds are extremely variable; they will change with the content being speedrun and can potentially change with every patch released. These builds are from recommendations by community members and are meant to be timeless as long as the movement stays consistent through Warframe's development.

Please note that speedrunning mostly involves movement of a Warframe or the use of a specific set of Warframe abilities. Therefore, this guide focuses solely on Warframe builds. Weapons are situational and can change frequently as new and better weapons are released. However, we recommend using the melee weapon Telos Boltace, as the weapon will give bonus parkour movement when equipped (not necessarily held).

Banshee

An AoE-focused build utilizing Sound Quake as a form of crowd control with some damage. This build emphasizes use for Interceptions and Defenses with a mediocre use for Survivals. [Arcane Reverb Helmet] is recommended for this build.

There is currently no textual guide for this frame. Please contact a moderator to have it added.

Ember

An AoE-focused build utilizing the damage multiplier from Accelerant combined with the damage from World of Fire. This build emphasizes use for Exterminates and Mobile Defenses with a lesser extent towards Interceptions, Defenses, and Survivals. [Arcane Phoenix Helmet] is recommended for this build.

There is currently no textual guide for this frame. Please contact a moderator to have it added.

Equinox

An AoE-focused build utilizing the combination of ability strength multiplier from Provoke with [Peaceful Provocation] with the slash damage potential from Maim. This builds emphasizes use for Exterminates, Mobile Defenses, Defenses, and Interceptions with a lesser extent towards Survivals.

There is currently no textual guide for this frame. Please contact a moderator to have it added.

Gauss

Loki

Difficulty: Easy

• Description: Loki is one of the original speedrunning frames due to having the highest sprint speed out of all the Warframes. This build is easy to use and play as it involves skipping (nearly) all enemies with Invisibility, who will be unable to aim at you directly.

• How the build works: Loki's build shines with maximum Sprint Speed and as much Power Duration to push the duration of Invisibility. You will mainly be sprinting to the objective and to extraction while invisible, making this Warframe super easy to play.

• Deviations: The main components of this build are [Sprint Boost], [Speed Drift], [Armored Agility], [Rush], and [Coaction Drift] (not shown here). These mods will push Loki's Sprint Speed to over 2.00 when playing solo. The other mods are highly preferential and can be tuned to your needs or playstyle. Deviating from the five core mods is generally not recommended.

Nezha

Nova

Difficulty: Challenging

• Description: Currently one of the most used Warframes for speedrunning due to her instantaneous Wormhole (not Worm Hole) ability. Tileset knowledge is crucial and newer players may experience frequent impacts with walls and other objects. Due to the frequent usage of Wormhole, players using Nova may require constant energy resulting is a massive amount of Energy Pads utilized.

• How the build works: This build capitalizes on using Wormhole almost exclusively. [Escape Velocity] is crucial for more speed after traveling through a Wormhole. [Primed Continuity] affects how long [Escape Velocity]'s buff lasts (default is 7 seconds at 100% Power Duration) and to counteract the deficiencies of [Fleeting Expertise]. Power Efficiency is capped at 175% to use less Energy Pads as you are constantly spamming Wormhole. [Natural Talent] increases cast speed of Wormhole. [Stretch] pushes the Wormhole distance to 72.5 meters, which many players consider the "goldilocks zone" of her portals. [Quick Thinking] is for minimal survivability. Movement mods have been added.

• Deviations: [Streamline] can be replaced with [Endurance Drift] for more movement over efficiency. [Quick Thinking] can be replaced with [Redirection] as an alternative survivability option. [Quick Thinking] can be replaced with [Armored Agility] for a full glass build.

Nyx

Difficulty: Medium

• Description: Nyx is unique Warframe as her uses in speedrunning are limited, but she dominates those limits. The most noticeable advantage of this build is that Nyx requires no forma invested. However, Nyx is also in a unique situation where she is entirely dependent on the type of gear she wears and uses. Nyx capitalizes on extreme forms of parkour movement with dodge rolling by using the combination of [Arcane Menticide Helmet], which adds Parkour Velocity, increasing the distance of her rolls. This can potentially make Nyx one of the more expensive Warframes to invest into. The difference in Nyx and Nyx Prime can be critical, as Nyx Prime has an extra Vazarin (D) polarity. Nyx can be built without a forma, provided that she does not utilize her exilus slot. Usage of Nyx is very niche and is normally not recommended for general speedrunning.

• How the build works: As stated before, Nyx is heavily reliant on her [Arcane Menticide Helmet] to reach her maximum potential due to its added Parkour Velocity. For the build, the mods added are just to further her velocity in the form of more Sprint Speed, further Bullet Jump, and less Friction. [Coaction Drift] provides an unseen buff to [Sprint Boost] from 15% to 19.8%.

• Deviations: Removal of the reduced Friction mods can help for many players who feel Nyx slides too much, but there's no satisfactory replacement of these mods, except for survivability purposes.

Rhino

Titania

Difficulty: Variable

• Description: Titania is speed incarnate. Nothing is off-limits with Titania due to her augment, Razorwing Blitz, allowing unmatched speed customisation from comfortable to crossing open worlds in seconds. A true platform for buildcraft experimentation, Titania builds are much more subjective and involved than any other speed-frame. Razorwing allows for full flight movement meaning she does not have the same restrictions grounded frames like Volt and Nova have in terms of freedom of navigation. Note: Always jump before casting Razorwing, as the cast time is much lower when in the air.

• How the build works: The build is a well rounded setup that will be capable in all situations. Firstly, the Pull ability (subsumed from Helminth) is used to activate [Razorwing Blitz] stacks, as it has a much shorter cast time than Spellbind. It is important to compensate for the lost benefit of status immunity (stagger/knockdown, magnetic procs) if you do not use Spellbind. [Primed Sure Footed] completely nullifies the staggers that occur when driving Razorwing into a wall. [Sure Footed] requires the use of [Motus Setup] and [Motus Impact] on shotgun (Sweeper sentinel weapon can hold this mod) and melee respectively to reach the same 100% immunity. [Natural Talent] and [Speed Drift] are mandatory on every speed build as they reduce the extremely long cast time of Razorwing and also the ability used to proc [Razorwing Blitz] stacks. Efficiency is an important stat to have in almost all builds, with [Streamline] and [Fleeting Expertise] providing the best longevity for longer missions like spies. Duration is preferential based on situation. [Primed Continuity] and [Narrow Minded] provides the best bang for buck when attempting to stretch out the duration of your Blitz stacks. Strength is preferential based on confidence in play and personal build theory. [Intensify] is a great all-rounder starting point, with 1-2 [Razorwing Blitz] stacks being the most common amount for this Strength. Prime Arcane choices include [Arcane Nullifier] for any mission that may give you a Magnetic proc, [Arcane Avenger] for a free DPS boost (very easy to proc even accidentally as it procs off wall staggers), and [Arcane Precision] for DPS.

• Deviations: Every part of the build besides cast speed can be customised to preference. This is one of Titania's great strengths as builds can be crafted to the exact wishes of the user. Bumping up the Strength will provide extra speed and Dex Pixia DPS. This can be used to reach a high speed at a lower stack count or to reach higher speeds at the same stack count (useful for larger tilesets like Jupiter). When experimenting with Stength, suggestions include trying [Transient Fortitude], [Umbral Intensify] (for a middle ground), and even [Blind Rage] for very experimental 1-stack builds. Note that as you lower strength, your weapon effectiveness against capture targets and tanky enemies goes down, which can negatively affect these sorts of missions. For Duration, it is advised to base Duration off the intended situation. High stack builds will have lots of duration available (the duration from 1 Blitz stack adds onto the current Blitz timer) therefore tuning down Duration can still make the buff last for the entire mission. Low stack builds such as an Infested Mobility setup (Infested Mobility buff lasts the same as 1 stack of [Razorwing Blitz] which the ability procs on cast, making a 1-button-press fast speed build at the cost of some Pixia DPS) will want high duration to squeeze out as much duration as possible out of a single stack. [Preparation] is a prime QOL choice for long mission builds if you have the space. If there's any free space on a build that you don't know what to do with, sprint speed mods increase Razorwing speed slightly (but not as efficiently as strength does) and survivability mods can help in missions that you expect to receive damage in. [Arcane Energize] can be useful for certain missions like exterminates and some bosses but won't see a use in captures, spies etc.

• Helminth: Infested Mobility, Molt, and Fire Walker increase Razorwing speed. Fire Walker provides too low of a bonus to have any substantial effect. Molt speed boost has an extremely low duration that conflicts with [Razorwing Blitz] timers, however it can be useful for 4 stack builds (40-80% Strength). Infested Mobility duration perfectly lines up with [Razorwing Blitz] duration and works very well for a 1-stack build. Pull is the best option for replacing Spellbind as a simple [Razorwing Blitz] proc stick as it has the lowest cast speed of the spammable abilities in Helminth selection (besides Molt which is instant). Roar, Eclipse, Shock (with [Shock Trooper]) and Smite (with [Smite Infusion]) will improve boss and target damage. Rest & Rage (in the Rage form) will speed up many boss invulnerability actions and make them more susceptible to damage. Thermal Sunder is an experimental theory option for small scale room nuking. [Arcane Energize] is a must for a build like this.

Volt

Difficulty: Easy

• Description: Volt is the definition of "gotta go fast." Volt's Speed ability grants Movement Speed to himself and other allies which can be affected by Power Strength. More advanced parkour maneuvers are not necessary with Volt, as this will sacrifice his increased movement, making Volt one of the easiest Warframes to use when speedrunning.

• How the builds works: [Blind Rage], [Transient Fortitude], and [Intensify] increases Speed to a 2.42x multiplier for Movement Speed. Paired with [Primed Continuity] and [Narrow Minded], the Speed will last for 22.65 seconds. Power Efficiency is kept low, because Speed only will cost 39 energy per use, which is maintainable if you are properly managing your energy pool. [Primed Flow] helps keep your energy pool rich with energy for Volt when speedrunning. [Shocking Speed] is a fantastic utility for Volt due to the augment being able to destroy obstacles like Nullifier Gates and to open crates for energy orbs to be collected. This augment is not affected by the reduced Power Range. Note: This images uses [Arcane Storm Helmet], which adds an additional 20% Power Strength, or roughly a 0.05x multiplier. This makes this limited helmet negligible in its use.

• Deviations: This build can be changed heavily to fit your preferences. The general rule of thumb is that you are safe with a 45% Power Efficiency, as the cost for Speed is only 39, and [Shocking Speed] is an extremely helpful augment with a sentinel companion. Generally, anything above 300% Power Strength might be considered too much Movement Speed, but many Volt mains have argued otherwise.

Wukong

Difficulty: Easy

• Description: Wukong is a mild alternative to Titania. His Cloud Walker ability possesses the same 3D movement as Razorwing, however it is much slower than even a conservatively built Titania Razorwing Blitz speed build and cannot be made any faster. The upsides to Wukong include his exceptional base survivability and much simpler activation of Cloud Walker (press the button to go in, shoot/melee to go out quickly).

• How the build works: Cloud Walker, no longer being affected by sprint speed and movement speed buffs, scales only off Duration, Efficiency, and cast speed. [Narrow Minded], [Primed Continuity]/[Continuity], [Augur Message], [Constitution], [Streamline], [Fleeting Expertise], [Natural Talent], and [Speed Drift] (in Exilus) will create a fully rounded build. The Aura slot is down to preference and the final mod slot is also down to preference.

• Deviations: Change the build as you see fit.

• Helminth: Cloud Walker speed does not scale off abilities like Molt and Fire Walker therefore his biggest downside cannot be overcome with Helminth. Roar, Eclipse, Shock (with Shock Trooper) and Smite (with Smite Infusion) will improve boss and target damage. Rest & Rage (in the Rage form) will speed up many boss invulnerability actions and make them more susceptible to damage.

Zephyr

Credits

Specials thanks for the contributions from the following community members: @Akemi, @Ceejay, @Hejryt12, @Mortar, @Velocikitty