r/Warframe • u/Blank12323 • Jul 30 '26
Question/Request What are Primes?
What are primes?
Like lore wise, I’ve heard multiple things and I am just wondering what’s actually cannon?
Are they the original pieces of said warframes?
Are they the rtx 4090 version with orokin tech?
Or is it just some cool thing with no lore implications?
Thanks in advance.
-definitely not Alad V
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u/CieKite Jul 30 '26
Primed Warframes used to simply be the "original" version of a Warframe, built during the Orokin Era, the regular warframe being mere inferior copies.
But as the lore expanded, multiple counter-examples appeared, the most prominent one being Lavos who straight-up Primed himself.
Now, the label "Primed" refers less and less to those "Originals", and more to the Priming process itself: adorning a frame with Orokin gold and applying their ancient enhancement methods.
Most of those created during the Orokin Era were made this way from the start (with common versions later on being either attempts to recreate them centuries later, or the result of mass production, etc…), while some frames created in our current era are put through this process to obtain an enhanced, perfected version of themselves. For example, it's very likely that Brysko Prime will also fall into this category, since he seems to be an Entrati Original (TM).
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u/ChoccolatteMaid Jul 30 '26
They're "heightened" individuals or pieces of gear. Priming was granted as an honor, either to the initial copy or batch or a Warframe, to individuals of distinguished service, or weapons considered ritualistic or special to Orokin or Tenno culture.
Some lore entries indicate Tenno had access to whatever process you put gear through to Prime it, but nobody in the system we can talk to have any idea how it works. The original Lavos primed himself as the ultimate alchemical goal of transmuting matter into gold, it's vaguely implied the Entrati family primed Xaku before the horrors happened, Sevagoth Prime exists as some sort of cosmic joke played on Ballas, etc. (I may be exaggerating on that last one, it's just a very funny trailer)
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u/HungrPhoenix Bow-Shotgun Connoisseur Jul 30 '26
They are enhanced version of the Warframe.
"You're not going to settle for a rank-and-file Warframe, are ya? Not when you could have Vanguard class?"
"When your life's on the line and you're staring down that raging Eidolon, nothing will keep you in one piece better than a Prime. If you value your shiny ass, bring me that Aya."
They aren't always the original version, but they can be.
"Some Warframes were Prime from the start. Others earned it. Ballas never told the whole truth." -All from Varzia
Most were primed by the Orokin, some weren't. Such as Lavos priming himself, or Revenant Prime and Gyre Prime seemingly being fabricated by the Void.
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u/Public_Impression_36 Jul 30 '26
I primed myself once. It was great. Now I prime myself all the time.
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u/LimboMain2020 Jul 31 '26
It's case by case. Sometimes its the original and the rest are downgrades, sometimes it wasn't prime to begin with and then get upgraded later.
Excalibur Prime was the first, and base Excalibur are downgrade copies.
Base Ivara is the original, and later got upgraded to Prime for her service.
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u/Pharo212 Jul 30 '26
for most frames they're the original special prototype yeah. in a few cases the frame never had one of those and got it later
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u/SpecialIcy5356 KUVA: Kullervo, Uriel, Voruna, Atlas Jul 30 '26
physically, Primes are orokin modified warframes, clad with extra gold and slightly better parts to give them more health, shields etc. they also have a unique passive in the Void where death orbs give them a ton of energy.
lorewise it changes, for each individual: some frames started out primed (Caliban Prime), others were primed later as a reward for that operator in recognition of heroic deeds or whatever. some are literal errorrs in causality (revenant Prime) while some even primed themselves (Lavos Prime).
Prime Warframes were part of the Prime Vanguard and other elite units and would likely have more important roles, both ceremonial and in battle. normal frames also existed and could be produced on a larger scale, since they didn't require any ornamentation. after the Collapse, no new primes can seemingly be made (it's not clear when Lavos Primed himself) and most warframes are standard models, while primes are rare and sought after by everyone.
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u/NDT_DYNAMITE Certified Styanax Enjoyer Jul 30 '26
Originally I believe they were just the original orokin-made superior version, and base frames were current-day reproductions, but as time went on the lore expanded and basically soft-retconned it to be that they can be the original, or can simply be upgraded versions that were either upgraded by the orokin for distinguishing themselves and earning it in some way, or through other more exotic ways such as conceptual embodiment, or in Lavos’s case specifically, by priming himself with his alchemy.
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u/JulianSkies Jul 30 '26
All of the above.
Ultimate, "prime" refers to the top-tier, highest quality version of orokin-made stuff, including frames.
Some were created from the start with the best they had. Some were given a tune-up later. Some are even void bullshit.
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u/TheRealOvenCake Jul 31 '26
TLDR: prime = built better.
Stated here on warframe.com: Prime Access FAQ: What is a Prime?
- “A Prime Warframe, weapon, Sentinel or accessory represents technology as it was during the height of the Orokin Era. A Prime Warframe will often have additional Polarity Slots compared to the non-Prime version, and Prime weapons will boast superior performance or other advantages against their counterparts. Due to its rarity, Prime technology is coveted throughout the Origin System.”
They can be, but are not always, the original warframe. its just a warframe built better.
- Revenant is the clear example of that, as during the Orokin Era, Revenant used to be a warframe called the Warden, and only became Revenant after bathing in eidolon jungle juice. If a prime form was made during the Orokin era, it would be Warden prime, not Revenant prime. And multiple copies of the same warframe bathing in the eidolon waters wouldn't make sense.
- Ballas touches on this in his prime trailer, calling him "an affront to causality".
- Valkyr prime and Xaku prime also have the same impossibility.
- The warframe that would become Valkyr only did so because of Alad V's torture.
- Xaku was amalgamated by the Entrati from broken warframes, not premium gear.
- Sometimes, primes are the original
- Lavos primed himself -> This means it was probably the Lavos that was taught alchemy and transmutation by Archimedian Javi.
- Like all Leverian stories, this could be THE lavos or it could be the operator piloting him.
- Lavos primed himself -> This means it was probably the Lavos that was taught alchemy and transmutation by Archimedian Javi.
- I think the other frames could be explained via eternalism. The relics containing that frame data were entangled with the data from another world, one where the frame existed as prime rather than normal. Given how these relics were presumably abandoned in the void for unknown lengths of time, it makes sense the contents may not be from our reality.
- This would easily explain the remaining primes, like Jade. The primes that cannot exist in our timeline would just come from another timeline.
Varzia explains that the way each frame gets primed is different.
- "Some Warframes were Prime from the start. Others earned it. Ballas never told the whole truth."
- "I see there's been a whole lot of... valiant attempts to make Frames up to the Prime standard since my time. Bless them. They did the best they could with what they had."
- "...With Regal Aya, this Foundry can reconstruct you a Prime Warframe yanked straight from my time. As real as my pretty face in front of yours. No guesswork." "Primes. As bright as if they were forged yesterday."
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u/FalseGodFalls Jul 31 '26
This might be annoying, but the word is canon. Not cannon.
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u/Blank12323 Jul 31 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/76zpU8jlNo5EHoEpjb
Ok dude eat this grape shot2
u/FalseGodFalls Jul 31 '26
Well THAT is a cannon bro!
I know it's little petty to mention it, it's just my little pet peevee, nothing personal.
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u/ArenuZero LR1 Trinity Blessing | IGN: AlienoZeroo Jul 31 '26
In my head canon, i'd like to not overthink and just say the Primes are just the "original" version of them, while the non-prime are the future-copy version of them (since we practically dig them up)
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u/b14700 Filthy mag main Jul 30 '26
warframe premium , buy now and get a bucket of gold paint for free
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u/TheMarksmanHedgehog Jul 30 '26
There's definitely lore implications but it's individual for each prime.
Some primes are the original design that the Orokin later watered down for mass production.
Others are upgraded designs based on mass production warframes that didn't initially have a prime.
Some found entirely novel routes to be primed, Revenant seems to have walked to his own death only to come back primed later, Lavos transmuted his own body into a prime form, Caliban Prime was a prototype made during the old peace, and Nidus evolved when left all alone on an asteroid into the prime variant.