Warframe – Drifter Intrinsics, explained

In Warframe, the Drifter is the Operator’s counterpart, and while the Drifter can be used anywhere your Operator can, the Drifter has a ton of extra functionality in Duviri. Much like the Operator’s Focus Schools, the Drifter has its own upgrade system in Duviri, Drifter Intrinsics.

Keep reading for a breakdown of what the Drifter Intrinsics actually are, how you go about unlocking them, and which ones are the most important.

What are Drifter Intrinsics in Warframe?

Drifter Intrinsics are skill points for the Drifter. You can spend Drifter Intrinsics on four different categories of upgrades to make the Drifter more powerful in Duviri: Combat, Riding, Opportunity, and Endurance. Although, some upgrades will work outside of Duviri.

In general, though, the four categories of upgrades do the following:

• Combat: Upgrades for the Drifter in combat
• Riding: Upgrades for riding Kaithe
• Opportunity: More options of weapons and Warframes in the Circuit
• Endurance: Upgrades for the Drifter’s survivability and Warframes in the Circuit

The vast majority of Intrinsics will only work in Duviri, and many Intrinsics will only apply in open-world Duviri content, not in the Circuit. However, this is not a hard-and-fast rule.

How to unlock Drifter Intrinsics in Warframe

Unlike Railjack Intrinsics that are more like XP, Drifter Intrinsics are earned through decrees and completing various activities in Duviri, both in the Circuit and in the open-world.

When you complete a side objective in open-world Duviri, finish a wave in the Circuit, or do one of the main objectives in open-world Duviri, you’ll be rewarded with three Intrinsics each time. When you finish the Undercroft in open-world Duviri, you’ll earn yourself six Intrinsics.

Finding a Lost Islands of Duviri Fragment will net you five Intrinsics, while defeating the final boss of open-world Duviri, the Orowyrm, will net you 15 Intrinsics on normal and 22 Intrinsics in Steel Path. Simply killing enemies or playing content outside of Duviri will not earn Intrinsics.

You need 255 Intrinsics to max out a category, so with four categories, you’ll need a total of 1020 Intrinsics to fully upgrade the Drifter, Kaithe, and your frames in the Circuit.

What Drifter Intrinsics are the best in Warframe?

In general, the most useful category is Opportunity. On the other hand, the least useful category is Riding. However, all categories are worth leveling if you play Duviri.

Opportunity focuses on giving you more choice in the Circuit, and with better weapons and Warframes, you can last longer in the Circuit and more quickly unlock Incarnon weapons. Riding makes traversing open-world Duviri easier, but you can also earn decrees that do the same thing.

There are also Intrinsics that apply outside of Duviri, which are definitely worth getting:

• Combat, Rank 9, Muscle Mass: Drifter and Operator deal 25% more damage
• Endurance, Rank 9, Tough As Old Boots: Regenerate +5 health/s as Drifter and Operator

Rank 9 in Riding will unlock Kaithe for use in other open-worlds, but the Archwing is just a lot quicker. Endurance and Combat can definitely be a big help when playing The Lone Story, where you don’t earn many decrees, but otherwise, decrees can make you plenty overpowered.

How to farm Drifter Intrinsics quickly in Warframe

As discussed above, playing any of Duviri’s three modes can earn you Drifter Intrinsics, but not all three modes are equal when it comes to farming up Drifter Intrinsics.

The Circuit is just about the worst place to go for Intrinsics. Not only is it quicker to earn Intrinsics in The Lone Story and The Duviri Experience, but the Circuit is unreliable. Most co-op partners quit after just a few waves, and you have to get lucky on your loadout to go far anyway.

The Lone Story is decent for farming Intrinsics, because with a competent team it can be done fairly quickly and earn you around ~50 Intrinsics per run, but it’s not the best. If your teammates aren’t pulling their weight, The Lone Story can take a while and not earn you much.

This all adds up to why The Duviri Experience is the absolute best place to farm Intrinsics. Yes, games can last for over an hour, but you can earn 100s of Intrinsics in a single game. All you have to is complete as many side objectives as you can before eventually finishing the main stages.