Mining is a part of Warframe which can be done in some of the open world areas of the game which allow you to gather resources such as ore, gems and other needed and valued materials.
Access to either Cetus or Fortuna is necessary in order to mine since you will need to use mining tools only available from these cities/towns.
Several items that you will craft, including some Warframes, will require resources obtainable from mining as well as end game progression later on.
How To Mine in Warframe?
Once you have obtained a mining tool from either of the mining NPCs in either Cetus or Fortuna, you will be able to equip it in one of your gear slots.
Add your mining tool to a gear slot and head out into one of the open worlds so you can begin gathering resources.
Once you are in one of the open world areas, search for veins which hint that there is a mineable resource in the area.
You will notice either a blue or red vein which will also show an icon on your map if you have one of the more advanced mining tools.
Once you have found a vein, aim your mining tool at it and either a single dot or a few will appear which show the points where you need to mine.
Hold down your fire key while aiming at the dots in order to begin mining which will then show a gauge which will steadily increase as you hold down fire.
The goal during this minigame is to stop the gauge from filling up just as the meter goes in between a marker which you will have to aim for.
Stopping the meter inside the brackets will provide you with a good amount of resources and stopping it in the very middle will be a perfect mining action.
Once you have drilled at all the dots that have appeared, depending on how accurate you were by stopping the meter in the center, you will acquire resources.
The more centered the meter is, the more resources you will gain which can also be shown progressively as you mine all the dots by a bar at the top of your screen showing gems and a percentage based on how they are filled.
The number of dots may vary randomly and you can get any resource as long as it is obtainable in that area.
Occasionally, there will be a smaller bracket along with the main bracket which signifies a rare or lucky mining opportunity.
If you are able to stop the meter inside the special bracket, you will get a bonus resource, sometimes being rare.
After you are satisfied with the minerals/ores that you have mined, you will need to head back to the town based on which planet you are on.
Upon entering the town, all the resources that you have obtained during your farming session will be added to your inventory.
Other Resource Farming Guides
Where To Mine in Warframe?
1) Plains of Eidolon
The first open world area where mining became possible was on Earth in the Plains Of Eidolon which is right outside of Cetus.
2) Orb Vallis
Coming after the Plains Of Eidolon, Orb Vallis became accessible from Fortuna which is located on Venus.
3) Cambion Drift
The Cambion Drift was introduced later after Orb Vallis, being the open work on Deimos located outside of the Necralisk.
What Are Ore And Gems For?
1) Crafting (Building In Foundry)
The resources obtained from mining may later be used in the foundry where you craft them into more refined versions which are either forged or precision cut materials.
Later on, you will need these for crafting certain equipment in the foundry, especially some of the Warframes.
These may be crafted in the foundry once blueprints for each of the resources have been purchased from mining NPCs.
2) Trading For Standing
While ores are mainly used for crafting and pretty much nothing else, gems have a special value and become available for trading to get standing for either the Ostron or Solaris United.
Each of the gems have a specific amount based on rarity which will give you standing when traded, especially in bulk amounts.
Mining NPCs
1) Old Man Suumbaat
Old Man Suumbaat is the NPC for mining in the Plains Of Eidolon who sells you different Nostrum Cutters, gem and ore blueprints and more.
2) Smokefinger
Smokefinger can be found in Fortuna who will sell you the Sunpoint Plasma Drill which is the best mining tool at the moment as well as recipes for crafting the ores and gems into more refined versions.
3) Otak
Otak is a strange yet friendly Cephalon who appears to have been damaged as time went by but he still functions as a Necraloid, providing the Tenno with different services and wares.
Types of Cutters
1) Nosam Cutter
The Nosam Cutter is one of the first cutters that you can get, which may be purchased for 500 Ostron Standing.
The Nosam Cutter features a fast yet unstable laser with no radar built, which provides a 30-meter detection range that locates up to 5 deposits.
2) Focused Nosam Cutter
The Focused Nosam Cutter is the upgraded version of the Nosam Cutter and provides you with a more accurate mining procedure.
It can be purchased for 750 Ostron Standing and has reduced speed for its laser but is less unstable but still without a radar.
This provides you with a 45-meter detection range and can locate up to 10 nearby deposits that are within its range.
3) Advanced Nosam Cutter
This advanced cutter was considered one of the best before Orb Vallis was introduced and provides you with a slower and more stable laser.
It has a radar that ranges up to 50 meters, which shows you the location of nodes on your mini-map when you are in an open world.
It can detect nodes around you within a 60-meter radius, alerting you when up to 10 or fewer resources are nearby.
4) Sunpoint Plasma Drill
The Sunpoint Plasma Drill is the latest drill that has been introduced to the game which is purchasable from Smokefinger in Fortuna.
All the qualities of the previous cutters exist with the Sunpoint Plasma Drill along with the bonus option of upgrading it via widgets.
It is like the Advanced Nosam Cutter when it comes to its radar and detection range but it has a slow and stable laser.
Sunpoint Plasma Drill Widgets
1) Silencer Widget
The Sunpoint Plasma Drill Silencer Widget makes prevents enemies from being alerted when you are mining, allowing you to mine resources in peace.
This is good for those who bring a Warframe that does not have any defensive abilities that can be activated while mining.
2) Range Widget
The Sunpoint Plasma Drill Range Widget increases the range of your mining tool to reach further targets unlike the previous cutters that had a limited range.
This is useful for mining ores and gems from vein which are located further away from you, allowing you to mine resources without having to adjust your position or attempt to find a spot that allows you to reach high places.
Types of Veins (Where To Get All Ores and Gems)
1) Red Veins (Ore)
Red Veins can be found in both the Plains of Eidolon and Orb Vallis, which provide you with different types of Ore from the mentioned open worlds.
The following resources may be obtained from Red veins:
Plains of Eidolon
Resource | Rarity | Crafting Uses |
Coprun | Common | Coprite Alloy |
| Pyrol | Common | Pyrotic Alloy, Tempered Bapholite |
Ferros | Uncommon | Devolved Namalon, Fersteel Alloy |
| Auron | Rare | Auroxium Alloy |
Orb Vallis
Resource | Rarity | Crafting Uses |
Axidite | Common | Axidrol Alloy |
| Travoride | Common | Adramal Alloy, Travocyte Alloy |
Venerol | Uncommon | Thaumic Distillate, Venerdo Alloy |
| Hesperon | Rare | Hespazym Alloy |
2) Blue Veins (Gems)
Blue Veins are found in all open worlds (Plains of Eidolon, Orb Vallis, and Cambion Drift) and can be mined to provide you with Gems.
Gems are not only used for crafting, but they can also be traded at a local town to get standing depending on their rarity.
The following can be obtained from Blue Veins:
Plains of Eidolon
Resource | Rarity | Crafting Uses | Standing |
Azurite | Common | Tear Azurite | 50 |
| Devar | Common | Esher Devar | 50 |
Veridos | Uncommon | Marquise Veridos | 75 |
| Crimzian | Rare | Star Crimzian | 100 |
Sentirum | Rare | Radian Sentirum | 400 |
| Nyth | Rare | Heart Nyth | 400 |
Orb Vallis
Resource | Rarity | Crafting Uses | Standing |
Phasmin | Common | Smooth Phasmin | 50 |
| Noctrul | Common | Heart Noctrul | 50 |
Goblite | Uncommon | Goblite Tears | 200 |
| Amarast | Rare | Star Amarast | 500 |
Zodian | Rare | Radiant Zodian | 1000 |
| Thyst | Rare | Marquise Thyst | 1000 |
Cambion Drift
Resource | Rarity | Crafting Uses | Standing |
Dagonic | Common | Purged Dagonic | 50 |
| Tiametrite | Common | Faceted Tiametrite | 50 |
Heciphron | Uncommon | Purified Heciphron | 200 |
| Necrathene | Rare | Stellated Necrathene | 500 |
Embolos | Rare | Cabochon Embolos | 1000 |
| Xenorhast | Rare | Trapezium Xenorhast | 1000 |
3) Yellow Veins (Ore)
Yellow Veins are like Red Veins but are only found in the Cambion Drift, which provides Ore exclusively from the said location.
The following Ore can be obtained from Yellow Veins:
Cambion Drift
Resource | Rarity | Crafting Uses |
Adramalium | Common | Adramal Alloy, Lobotriscid Trophy, Xaku Kintsu Helmet |
| Bapholite | Common | Tempered Bapholite |
Namalon | Uncommon | Devolved Namalon |
| Thaumica | Rare | Thaumic Distillate |
Mining Tips
- Warframes that have invisibility such as Loki or Ivara can mine while invisible to avoid getting disrupted by enemies in order to prevent mining efficiency.
- Using Warframes that have defensive abilities such as Frost with his Snow Globe or Gara with her Mass Vitrify, can help keep enemies away while you attempt to mine nodes in an area.
- Having an active resource booster will double the amount of ores and gems that you obtain while mining.
- The Smeeta Kavat can give you a buff that doubles the amount of resources you gain, including ores and gems when mining.
- The effects of both the resource booster and Kavat buff stack and will further increase the amount of resources you gain, causing you to get an extremely large amount of ores and gems when both are active.
Verdict
Mining is necessary to obtain some of the resources that cannot be found in the other missions across the other planets and is also great for gaining extra standing with other syndicates.
Extracting from a session is important as aborting can lead to the loss of all the resources you have obtained and the same goes for running out of respawns.
Upgrading to the more advanced cutters is essential to make mining more efficient, which should be a priority if you plan to mine a lot in the future.
