How to get Ash in Warframe

It would be impossible to have a game about robotic space ninjas without bringing in an actual robotic space ninja, and that’s where Ash comes along.

Ash is Warframe‘s shadow assassin, and he brings an arsenal of tools that mix stealth, deception, and firepower to take out his enemies. His main blueprint is available for Credits at the in-game market, but players need his three components to build the Warframe itself—and that’s the tricky part.

Ash only drops from specific rotations in specific missions, which means the chances to get Ash will involve you sticking around the activities that may drop these components. Ash used to be one of the trickiest Warframes for players to farm since his pieces used to drop from Manics, an enemy that rarely spawns.

As of Update 29.1 in March 2021, however, Ash drops from Railjack missions, which makes the process of farming him easier, but still fairly convoluted, especially if you don’t have a Railjack. Here’s what you need to know to get Ash.

How to get Ash in Warframe

Ash’s component blueprints drop from missions in Pluto Proxima, Neptune Proxima, and Venus Proxima. These missions involve getting a Railjack and staying for the necessary amount of time to achieve the specific rotations that can award them.

Rotations are, essentially, Warframe‘s designation for rewards at the end of each mission. With endless missions, rewards (and rotations) change based on time spent. Defense rotations change every five waves, while Survival rotations change every five minutes. Both follow the AABC pattern, which means you’ll need to make it to 20 waves (or 20 minutes, in the case of Survival) for a shot at Ash’s components, whose drop rate fluctuates between eight and 10 percent.

• Ash Neuroptics Blueprint: Drops from Arva Vector (Neptune Proxima Defense) rotation C, Enkidu Ice Drifts (Neptune Proxima Survival) rotation C. Each component has roughly an eight percent chance of dropping.
• Ash Chassis Blueprint: Obol Crossing (Pluto Proxima Defense) rotation C (10.26 percent drop rate), Fenton’s Field (Pluto Proxima Survival) rotation C (8.33 percent drop rate).
• Ash Systems Blueprint: Falling Glory (Venus Proxima Defense) rotation C (10.56 percent drop rate), Luckless Expanse (Venus Proxima Survival) rotation C (8.33 percent drop rate).

Do I need a Railjack to farm Ash in Warframe?

You don’t need a Railjack to farm Ash in Warframe, but it helps. Ash only drops from Railjack missions, but Warframe lets you squad up and look for a crew. You’d have to find a crew that’s willing to do those missions for at least 20 minutes, however, which may not always be the case. You can also get Ash Prime from Relics or trade it with other players to skip the farming altogether, and it will likely be cheaper than buying the base version of it on the Market.

Ash Prime also boasts slightly higher shields and armor, as well as an extra Naramon polarity, which makes it easier to build the Warframe.

Regardless of how you obtain him, however, Ash is a solid addition to any Tenno’s arsenal due to his unique style and hefty firepower.

Ash’s abilities in Warframe

Ash’s abilities revolve around dealing damage to enemies, though he can use deception to become invisible and create assassin copies of himself to attack his foes.

• Shuriken: “Launches a spinning blade of pain, dealing high damage and impaling enemies to walls.” This is Ash’s Helminth ability.
  • The Seeking Shuriken Augment reduces the armor of enemies hit by the ability. The armor strip effect scales with Ability Strength, making it fairly easy to reach 100 percent armor removal. This makes Shuriken an excellent tool against armored enemies, and since it’s his Helminth ability, this combo can be used on any Warframe.
• Smoke Screen: “Drops a smoke bomb that stuns enemies and obscures their vision, rendering Ash invisible for a short time.”
  • The Smoke Shadow Augment conceals allies and grants them increased critical chance when they’re invisible.
• Teleport: “Ash teleports towards the target, bringing him into melee range and making enemies vulnerable to finishers.”
  • The Fatal Teleport Augment makes Ash perform a finisher on the target, dealing double damage. Getting a kill with it refunds half of the energy used on a Teleport.
• Blade Storm: “Project fierce shadow clones of Ash upon groups of distant enemies. Join the fray using Teleport.”
  • The Rising Storm Augment makes Blade Storm attacks increase your melee counter by four and passively adds 10 seconds of combo duration, making it useful for melee-oriented builds. That said, players can replicate the combo duration effect on their own weapons and use other means to increase their combo counter more quickly.

There are plenty of ways to build Ash based on what abilities you prefer to lean into. Strength will increase the damage of Blade Storm and Shuriken (as well as the armor strip from the Seeking Shuriken mod), while his invisibility benefits from duration, and Smoke Screen, Teleport, and Blade Storm all benefit from extra range. Ability efficiency may not be a bad choice either depending on how much you favor ability usage.