Warframe's next update might bring a baffling nerf, and it's not Khora

Warframe released a new Dev Workshop preview for its upcoming Techrot Encore patch, and no, this is not about the Pseduo-Exalted rework. Specifically, there's one line in the documentation of this preview that worries us, and it's about Set Mods. The Pseudo-Exalted rework itself brings some rather fundamental changes to Whipclaw, Shatterd Lash, and Blade Storm (and even Baruuk's exalted), but one sneaky line of patch notes has big implications outside of the pseudo-exalted bubble.

Set Mods equipped on Exalted weapons will now contribute fully to the Set bonuses. However, to explain this change further, the Dev Workshop explains:

"With this change, Set Bonuses are now calculated based on the Active Weapon. This means that if you have three Set Mods equipped on your Warframe, three on your Melee weapon, and none on your Exalted Melee, then you will only benefit from the three Set mods on your Warframe while your Exalted Melee weapon is active."

If this is to be interpreted literally, it means a nerf on specifically Augur and Synth set mods.

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Warframe's Pseudo-Exalted dev workshop notes have a worrying proposition for Set Mods

Is it joever for Augur-bros? (Image via Sportskeeda || Digital Extremes)

For newer players, the quick summary is that Set Mods are somewhat self-explanatory: equipping them gives you a Set bonus which increases the more Set Mods you equip.

Generally, this considers the totality of your equipment loadout, meaning whatever you have on your primary, secondary, melee, companion, sentinel/companion weapon, and the Warframe itself will be active at all times. There have been some standout exceptions to this rule, for example: Gladiator mods on Deconstructor don't add bonuses to the Gladiator set.

However, as this documented change implies, this will only be pooled from Active Weapons. In other words, set mods on your pistol will no longer work when you holster the pistol and use a melee or primary.

Warframes and sentinels are always active, so this only feels particularly a nerf for Set Mods on primaries and pistols. Mainly, the biggest nerf is for Augur Set Mods on Pistol (Augur Pact and Augur Seeker). For utility/primer pistols, these are currently used to bolster a shield-gate playstyle. If the Active-Weapon clause is added to the equation, their main utility is gone.

Synth mods are a particularly baffling case, which actively encourage you to holster your weapon, since that's their main gimmick. Synth Charge would also auto-reload the pistol it's equipped on when that's holstered — but this change would also neuter that allowance.

Inversely, some other cases would automatically invalidate the possibility of counting the Set Mod when performing its condition. For example, Carnis Stinger may not add to the Carnis bonus because you need to use a melee heavy attack to trigger the effect, which means your Pistol will never be active during the moment of the Impact (other than with Glaives). Jugulus Spine (requires slam attack) is also in the same boat.

These self-contradictory use cases mean it's possibly a mistake in the documentation, or indeed interacts with Set Mods in a different way than what it implies, or several exceptions must be made for this rule.

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Check out our other guides on the game:

• All Warframes tier list
• Warframe Incarnon weapons tier list
• Best weapons in Warframe for each Mastery Rank
• All new Mods in Warframe 1999, and how to get them
• All Abilities of the upcoming Temple Warframe