Warframe Mods Guide: Applying, Combining, Fusion, Transmutation, Catalysts, Reactors, and Forma

Fusion and Transmutation

Fusion and Endo

Despite most Mods having universal values between players, they’re not static. That is to say, Mods can be leveled up to produce greater benefits (and detriments) similar to how Warframes level up as they earn experience.

Mods don’t level up naturally, however. The player must manually and selectively choose which Mods are worth upgrading. Furthermore, raising a Mod’s level also increases the Capacity it drains (or adds, in the case of Aura and Stance Mods). So consider whether you’ll still be able to fit a Mod onto your equipment before upgrading it for enhanced stats.

To upgrade a Mod, visit the Mod Station. It’s located at the centre of your ship on the starboard wall. Opening the terminal will reveal your entire Mod collection with various filters and sorting options for easy searching.

To upgrade a Mod, just select it. Assuming the Mod isn’t already at its maximum level, which it shouldn't be unless you upgraded it yourself or had one traded to you by a fellow player, the “Fusion” option on the far left of the menu should light up.

This will show you all kinds of information about the Mod itself, what it will be like after you upgrade it, and if you have the necessary resources to do so. The right-hand side of the screen will show you two numbers next to corresponding icons. This the amount of credits and Endo you’ll need to perform fusion up to whatever rank you require.

Credits are the basic currency of Warframe but Endo is a unique resource only earned in specific ways. It will sometimes drop as white-gold orbs from enemies during missions, for one, or you can choose to “dissolve” unwanted Mods into specific quantities of the stuff. Otherwise you can earn it from Alert missions or by building sculptures for the NPC Maroo at Maroo’s Bazaar. She’ll give you sculptures that can be completed with items called “Ayatan Stars” that can be found in containers on any mission.

As you level up a Mod, the cost in credits and Endo increases as well - sometimes exponentially so. Which is why many players will buy and sell fully upgraded Mods for premium currency on the game’s trade channel.

Transmutation

Besides upgrading, selling, and dissolving Mods at the Mod Station, there’s one other major reason to visit the terminal: Transmutation.

Transmutation is the process of taking four unwanted Mods and spending credits to combine them into one new, random Mod. The resultant Mod can be any rarity, polarity, or type - no matter what Mods you used in the combination. However, using more Mods of the same rarity, polarity, or type will increase the chances that the result matches. So if you combine four uncommon Mods the odds that you’ll create a fifth uncommon Mod are higher than if you used four commons.

Bear in mind, this doesn’t work with any of the special Mods we listed earlier in this guide. You won’t won’t get Corrupted Mods, Nightmare Mods, and so on from Transmutation - no matter what Polarities and types you cast into the cauldron.

This is, however, a pretty nifty way of goosing the odds that you’ll get that one very specific normal Mod you really need. If you’re absolutely dying for a “Continuity” Mod, but it just won’t drop, you can increase your chances by Transmuting four rare Mods with the same Polarity. It’s better than wishing and hoping that of all the possible drops in the game you’ll get that specific one instead of something else.

You can even eliminate the credit cost of Transmutation to make it easier on your virtual wallet. You just need to buy “Transmutation Cores” from the NPC Cephalon Simaris at any Relay. Like so many things, they’ll cost you reputation specific to that vendor which can be earned by completing quests for them. The upside is that, besides eliminating the cost of Transmutation, Cores also have their own Polarities. Which further increases the odds of creating Mods of that Polarity during Transmutation.

Riven Mods require a similar item to transmute at all. The aptly named Riven Transmuter drops from Eidolon Hydrolysts - a powerful boss only found on Earth’s Cetus location at night. If players manage to summon and capture the creature, it will drop two Transmuters.

One Riven Transmuter and four unveiled Riven Mods can be combined just like normal mods. They’ll then be converted into a new, veiled Riven Mod. Since these items offer random statistics transmutation can be an efficient - if time consuming - way to get rid of Rivens with unwanted perks. And if you combine four Riven Mods of the same type, the resulting mod is guaranteed to be that type, too (i.e. four shotgun Rivens will produce a fifth shotgun Mod).

Looking for more help? We also have a complete Warframe Crafting guide.