Warframe: Techrot Encore release date and features

Techrot Encore is Warframe's first major update this year, coming on March 19. It's essentially the Echoes of 1999 patch that many of us have been waiting for, and Digital Extremes have unveiled a whole bucket-load of features for it in Devstream 184 and 185. The total update will be a hefty addendum to Warframe 1999 content, but it's far from a content island vertical expansion - there is a whole-new Warframe, Infested Liches, and a lot of QoL features.

Here's everything known about the Techrot Encore update in Warframe.

When is Warframe: Techrot Encore coming?

It's only a few days now, if not weeks (Image via Digital Extremes)

During Devstream 185, it was confirmed that Warframe: Techrot Encore is going live on March 19, 2025. The exact release time is not known, as is always the case with Warframe updates. Warframe 1999 was released somewhat early in the day, but generally, Digital Extremes drops updates sometime between 11am and 1am EST.

Everything new in Warframe's Techrot Encore update

There's a lot of new stuff coming with the Techrot Encore; the sheer volume actually rivals the mainline Warframe 1999 update itself. Here's a quick rundown of the elements.

Technocyte Coda (Infested Liches)
Technocyte Coda Weapons
New Warframe: Temple
Four non-Coda weapons
Four new Augment mods
Three new Arcanes
Four new Protoframes
Gyre Deluxe Skin
The Pseudo-Exalted rework
New Stage Defense mode
Ollie's Crash Course Minigame
QoL Changes

Technocyte Coda, i.e. Infested Liches

Familiar scene, unfamiliar faces (Image via Digital Extremes)

The highlight feature we have all been waiting for is, of course, the Technocyte Coda themselves. Those who have followed the game last year will likely know how it's conceptualized as a boy-band, but the Lich hunt itself also comes with its own twist.

Generated through a Snakes minigame in Hollvania consoles, this variety of Liches will be taken down by the right combination of Antivirus mods, and you can fasten the process with the new Potency mods. The bosses will initially be duet fights, and it will eventually be a showdown against the whole five-man encore in the Earth Proxima.

Defeating the Technocyte Coda will always drop enough Live Heartcells to purchase a Coda weapon from Eleanor.

Technocyte Coda Weapons

Coda Weapons will eat the meta (Image via Digital Extremes)

With a new variety of Liches come a new variety of Lich weapons. As promised before, 13 Coda weapons are coming to Warframe with the release batch in the Techrot Encore update. Check out our guide on all the Coda weapons (as revealed thus far) to learn more.

Here are some additional details revealed in Devstream 184:

Coda Weapons can be purchased from Eleanor based on a four-day vendor reset rotation, similar to Ergo Glast's melee Tenets.
A new item being introduced alongside Coda weapons is the Elemental Vyse, which will let you freely switch the progenitor Elemental type on a Coda weapon as long as it's Rank 40.

Scaldra Weapons

Alongside Coda weapons, four new Scaldra-themed weapons are also coming to Warframe this March. The list includes a sidearm, an assault rifle that looks like the Scaldra mockup of the Kalashnikov, as well as a grenade launcher and an RPG.

New Warframe: Temple

Nothing quite templar about this (Image via Digital Extremes)

The 60th Unique Warframe, Temple is the second-timer in a lot of categories: the second non-binary frame after Xaku, the second bard after Octavia, the second Heat-based kit after Ember. They have a jack-of-all-trades kind of kit, where they can buff, debuff, deal big damage and prime enemies with status, and also get brief invulnerability while during a sick guitar riff.

Here's all of Temple's Warframe abilities in detail.

New cosmetics

Gyre Deluxe Skin, Steampunk-themed. Bundle will include Alternox Deluxe Skin too.
Eight new Operator hairstyles for Drifter and Operator. These will be identical to custom hair seen on Whispers in the Walls and Warframe 1999 characters including Hex members, Loid, and more.
Two new Scaldra-themed Operator and Drifter outfits.

KIM system continuation

Rebecca Ford's favourite romance author is hard at work behind the scenes to implement all-new lines for your chosen romance option over at KIM. In general, the broader goal is to keep expanding the KIM system with more conversations to keep it fresh. An option to reset and force all conversations will also be introduced with the Techrot Encore update.

And no, this doesn't mean you get to romance any of the new Protoframes. The lid on that is closed... for now.

Four new Protoframes and Gemini Skins

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The Hex will now be a 10-man gang in a sense, with four new Protoframes. As revealed on Devstream 185, they're the Protoframes for the new Warframe Temple (aka David Bowie), Saryn, Frost, and Nova.

Kaya - Nova/Nova Prime skin
Flair - Temple (new Warframe) skin
Minerva - Saryn/Saryn Prime skin
Velimir - Frost/Frost Prime skin

They will not be immediately romanceable, but never say never.

New Game Mode: Stage Defense

With the Techrot Encore patch, all Defenses in Warframe are getting streamlined with 3 waves per rotation. However, there's also a new mode coming in the Solstice Square node up in Hollvania. Simply put, Temple rocks out in a concert, and you have to defend him like any defense target.

Unique to the Stage Defense is a Berserker enemy that Viktor will drop at the end of a rotation, which will seek out the defense objective like a Demolisher unit — something that you must prevent. The stage structure also breaks down and you get down to a different level in a few waves, a gimmick we've seen before in the Lua Defense.

Pseudo-Exalted Rework

Psuedo-Exalted abilities such as Landslide (Atlas) and Whipclaw (Khora) will now have their own separate modding platforms, which essentially bids goodbye to stat-sticks for that purpose. While it's meant to be a beginner-friendly QoL change, it is a nerf for veterans who main these Warframes.

As a side-effect, this will pop the Melee Riven bubble, so expect your Jaw Sword Rivens and Amphis Rivens and such to drop dramatically in value. Check out our stat stick guide for a brief explanation about how the system works now, up till March 19 — although there's little point to reading up on it now, other than some soon-to-be-historical trivia.

Ollie's Crash Course

Warframe is getting the perfect racing mod to further platform its resilient Atomicycle Mount. Accessible from the Ollie console in Hollvania, the new Crash Course mode will let you play a Hot Wheels-esque track.

A mock-up of the Rainbow Ride level from Mario 64 is an era-appropriate throwback for Warframe 1999, so this minigame fits the mood as perfectly as Caliber Chicks.

QoL changes

Some massive new QoL changes are coming to Warframe with Techrot Encore, including but not limited to:

Defense missions will now have three waves per rotation instead of five, following the structure of Defense in The Circuit.
Aura Forma will now become Omni Forma, which can basically turn any mod slot into an Universal slot that adapts to polarity of any slotted mod (non-Umbral).

Check out all of the QoL changes in Techrot Encore here.

That's the gist of all we know about Warframe's Techrot Encore update so far, and more info will be revealed if Digital Extremes decide to drop a new Dev Workshop notes post (which is unlikely). Stay tuned for more Warframe guide and news on Sportskeeda:

Edited by Abu Amjad Khan