Credits are Warframe's most common currency and are used in almost every step to craft items, from replicating and purchasing blueprints to the actual crafting requirements. Depending on your Clan policies, even trading with other players can become a Credit sink if you do it regularly. Players are often driven toward methods of farming Credits to keep progressing in the game.
Thankfully, many ways will help you to maintain a healthy balance of Credits. One of the best methods is The Index, the only way to farm Credits in isolation. This arena is a team deathmatch between your squad and a barrage of specialized Corpus enemies.
As with all in-game activities, some Warframes perform much better than others in The Index. In organized squads, there are generally two roles to fulfill: DPS to kill the enemies and a tank to carry Index points. Here are some of the best Warframes that fit into one or both roles.
Top 5 Warframes for The Index mode, ranked
5) Rhino
On account of being part of the original eight Warframes in the first build of the game, Rhino is the oldest on this list. His overall reputation translates perfectly to his place in the Index. He gets the job done decently, but a few newer Warframes outshine him in various roles.
For beginners doing their first round through the star chart and short on cash, Rhino is the best bet until a more bespoke loadout dedicated toward the Index is acquired.
Investing Formas into your Rhino or Rhino Prime will let you build him for both roles. Primarily played as a tank, Rhino can soak up a great deal of damage through Irons Skin's Overguard.
The issue here is that Iron Skin depends a lot on converting a window of damage taken into extra Overguard, and public matchmaking in The Index will not always present these opportune occasions.
In this aspect, Roar becomes the saving grace for Rhino's hybrid niche in the Index. You can deal decent damage with a good weapon modded for the Radiation element, thanks to the significant bonus from Roar in an Ability Strength build.
4) Trinity
Trinity is the archetypal support Warframe with restorative abilities. Health restore, overshield generation, energy sustain—Trinity has it all. While her place on this list may surprise some, long-time Trinity players will know how well she plays in a single-target DPS role.
The build is reliant on Trinity's second skill, Energy Vampire. It drains energy from enemies, but a little-known added spice is that it deals a percentage of the target's health as Shield-bypassing True damage.
Pair this skill up with high ability strength and a viral primer secondary like Epitaph, and you have a recipe for one-shotting Index targets on any round. The augment mod Energy Leech, on the other hand, gives Trinity high Overshields and lets her withstand damage to a certain extent.
The only catch here is that you will have to kill enemies individually. If you prefer engaging, fun gameplay, Trinity gets the job done slowly but surely.
3) Mesa
Mesa is the community's favorite Warframe when it comes to the damage dealer role in The Index. Her Ammo economy sometimes becomes an issue in the Index, as enemies do not drop ammunition. This drawback makes players roam around the map fending for ammo spawn spots, which slows down run time for the average Index round.
Mesa eliminates this worry as her exalted secondaries, Regulators, do the dirty work instead of her weapons. Energy economy is also not an issue for a pure DPS Mesa; she won't have to worry about Financial Stress debuffs. Moreover, she can use Helminth abilities like Dispensary.
To sweeten the deal, Mesa adds unparalleled convenience to her niche. If you know where the good camping spots and enemy choke points are, you can spend the entirety of The Index simply standing in one place, refreshing Peacemaker, and firing away.
2) Revenant
Revenant is currently the most reliable tank in Warframe by a long shot. This overwhelming popularity comes down to his second ability, Mesmer Skin. It gives you several protective stacks that are individually consumed on taking a hit. Each stack nullifies all damage taken within that second before they're consumed.
In Update 32.0, Mesmer Skin was slightly reworked to balance it with the release of Overguard on Eximus units that became the critical difference maker for this Warframe.
Instead of draining rapidly if there are multiple instances of damage from multiple sources, each Mesmer Skin stack gives you one second of invulnerability after being consumed.
If you have high ability strength, the Mesmer Shield augment mod, and the Inner Strength perk from Zenurik focus school, you can refresh Mesmer Skin stacks every minute without energy and stay invulnerable throughout the Index round.
1) Wukong
Wukong is easily the best Warframe to take into a public Index squad. Many Warframes can practically solo the Index, and some arguably do it better than Wukong. Where he wins out over these other contenders is in ease of use.
With Wukong, the Celestial Clone generated by your first ability will deal damage and dispatch enemies. You can simply pop the ability in a favorable camping spot and watch the kill count go up as your clone does the dirty work.
Since the AoE meta nerf, weapons like Kuva Zarr don't work with this strategy anymore. However, you can still use a good deal of precision hitscan weapons, like the new Incarnon ones, as a stat stick for your Clone.
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