Warframe Helminth Ability Guide: Best Subsumes for Each Frame

Warframe Helminth Ability Guide: Best Subsumes for Each Frame

Welcome, Tenno, to the ultimate playground of customization: the Helminth system. This living, breathing (and slightly unsettling) entity in your Orbiter isn't just for show; it's the key to unlocking your Warframe's true potential. By "subsuming" a Warframe, you permanently donate one of its abilities to the Helminth, allowing you to infuse that power onto any other frame in your arsenal. The possibilities are staggering, but with over 50 frames to choose from, the question is: where do you even begin?

This guide is designed to be your comprehensive companion. We won't just list abilities; we'll explore the philosophy behind a great Helminth choice, provide top-tier recommendations for every frame archetype, and dive into specific, powerful builds. Our goal is to solve the puzzle of "what should I put on my frame?" by focusing on shoring up weaknesses, amplifying strengths, and opening up entirely new playstyles.

Understanding the Philosophy of a Good Helminth Choice

Before we dive into specific abilities, let's establish a framework for thinking about your Helminth infusions. The best choices typically fall into one of three categories:

1. Covering Weaknesses: Does your frame struggle with survivability, energy generation, or crowd control? Plug that hole with a carefully chosen ability.
2. Amplifying Strengths: Is your frame already a powerhouse in one area? Double down on it with an ability that synergizes perfectly.
3. Enabling New Playstyles: Sometimes, a single ability can completely transform how a frame is played, turning a support into a nuker or a caster into a tank.

With this in mind, let's look at the most versatile and powerful abilities in the Helminth arsenal—the "S-Tier" staples you'll find yourself using again and again.

The Helminth Hall of Fame: Top-Tier Abilities

• Gloom (from Sevagoth): Arguably the king of Helminth abilities. Gloom creates a slowing aura around you that also provides lifesteal on damage dealt to affected enemies. This is the ultimate "cover your weakness" tool for any squishy frame that deals high damage. It provides incredible survivability and soft crowd control, making it a top contender for many builds.
• Roar (from Rhino): A straightforward and massive damage multiplier for you and your entire squad. Roar is the go-to choice for "amplifying strengths." If your frame's kit is already strong but you just want more damage, Roar is almost always a safe and powerful bet.
• Breach Surge (from Wisp): This ability does it all. It blinds enemies in a large area, making them harmless, and then causes them to spark when damaged. These sparks fly out and deal scaling damage to other enemies. It's an incredible tool for crowd control, damage amplification, and area denial.
• Energized Munitions (from Mesa): In a game dominated by gunplay, this ability is a hidden gem. It drastically reduces ammo consumption for a duration, making it a godsend for weapons with long reload times or small magazines (like the Tenet Envoy, Kuva Zarr, or Trumna). It turns any frame into a sustained DPS monster.
• Nourish (from Grendel): A fantastic all-in-one package. Nourish grants a viral damage bonus to your weapons, massively boosts energy gained from all sources (including Energy Orbs and Zenurik), and provides a health burst. It solves energy problems and boosts damage simultaneously.
• Pillage (from Hildryn): The premier shield-stripping and survivability tool. Pillage strips armor and shields from enemies in a wide cone while restoring your own shields and overshields. For frames with high shields, this is an incredible defensive and offensive ability.
• Warcry (from Valkyr): A fantastic buff for melee-centric builds. It provides a massive attack speed and armor bonus, making you both deadlier and tankier. While its base duration is short, it can be extended with mods and by killing affected enemies.

Best Subsumes by Warframe Archetype and Specific Examples

Now, let's get practical. Here are some of the best Helminth infusions, categorized by the problem they solve and including specific frame examples.

1. For Frames Needing Survivability:

• The Problem: Frames like Banshee, Mirage, or Saryn can deal immense damage but are often one mistake away from death.
• The Solution: Gloom is the top-tier choice here. The lifesteal keeps you alive as you shred through enemies, and the slow makes it much harder for them to hit you.
  • Example - Saryn: Replacing Saryn's Molt with Gloom creates an unkillable plague-bringer. You can stand in the middle of a crowd, spreading spores while Gloom ensures you never die.
• Alternative Solution: Pillage. For frames with a decent shield pool (like Mag or Harrow), Pillage offers incredible shielding and full shield-gating reset, while also stripping enemy defenses.
  • Example - Mag: Replacing Mag's Pull with Pillage transforms her. She can now easily strip armor, restore her shields to full, and maintain her defensive bubble with incredible efficiency.

2. For Frames Needing Energy or Damage Boosts:

• The Problem: High-energy-cost frames or those who want a simple, universal damage increase.
• The Solution: Nourish. This is often better than Roar for frames with energy issues, as it provides a similar viral damage boost while solving all your energy needs.
  • Example - Gyre: Replacing Gyre's Coil Horizon with Nourish is a game-changer. It fixes her energy economy and adds a powerful viral proc to her already high-crit kit, making her an electric and viral devastation machine.
• The Solution: Roar. For frames that already have good energy management, Roar is the raw power option.
  • Example - Chroma: While Vex Armor is his signature, replacing his Spectral Scream or Effigy with Roar adds a second, multiplicative damage buff, pushing his weapon damage to astronomical levels.

3. For Weapon-Focused and Melee Frames:

• The Problem: Frames that excel with weapons but lack direct synergy or need to boost their weapon performance.
• The Solution: Energized Munitions. This ability turns any frame into an A-10 Warthog.
  • Example - Zephyr: Replacing Zephyr's Airburst with Energized Munitions is a perfect synergy. Her Tornadoes group enemies and amplify projectile damage, while Energized Munitions lets you unload an entire AOE weapon magazine into them without ever reloading.
• The Solution: Warcry. The ultimate melee steroid.
  • Example - Baruuk: Replacing Baruuk's Lull with Warcry might seem counter-intuitive, but it makes his Desert Wind exalted weapon even faster and gives him a massive armor boost, making his already high survivability even more absurd.

4. For Enabling New and Unconventional Playstyles:

This is where the Helminth system truly shines.

• The Transformation: Thermal Sunder (from Gauss) on Titania.

  • How it works: Titania's Razorwing build is all about efficiency and duration, minimizing the cost of her exalted weapons. By replacing her Spellbind with Thermal Sunder, you gain a powerful, spammable nuking tool. With high efficiency and the "Preparation" mod, you can spawn into a mission, cast Thermal Sunder a few times to wipe the entire starting room of low-to-mid-level enemies, and then enter Razorwing. This turns Titania into one of the fastest nuking frames for Sanctuary Onslaught and star chart clearing.

• The Transformation: Wrathful Advance (from Kullervo) on Atlas.

  • How it works: Atlas is a brawler who relies on his Landslide. Wrathful Advance is a teleport that guarantees heavy attack critical hits. By replacing Atlas's Tectonics with Wrathful Advance, you can instantly teleport into a group of enemies and unleash a Landslide that is guaranteed to be a critical hit, dealing millions of damage in a single punch. It adds incredible mobility and a massive damage spike to his kit.

• The Transformation: Empower (from Helminth) on Lavos.

  • How it works: Lavos has no energy pool, instead using cooldowns. Empower, when infused, gives his next ability a strength boost. Since Lavos's abilities scale with ability strength, this is a direct damage increase. Replacing his Vial Rush with Empower allows him to cast a super-powered Catalyze or Ophidian Bite, significantly boosting his nuking or single-target damage potential.

Final Tips for Your Helminth Journey

• Don't Sleep on Niche Abilities: While we've focused on the top tiers, abilities like Tharros Strike (for instant shield and armor strip) or Condemn (for reliable crowd control and shielding) can be perfect solutions for specific builds.
• Consider the Slot: What ability are you replacing? Is it a crucial part of the kit or a "dead" ability you never use? Always sacrifice the least useful ability.
• Synergy is Key: Look for abilities that synergize with your frame's stats. A frame built for high range and duration is a great candidate for Breach Surge or Gloom. A frame built for high strength is a natural fit for Roar or Warcry.

The Helminth system is Warframe's deepest endgame mechanic, a sandbox of endless creativity. Don't be afraid to experiment. Use this guide as a starting point, a source of proven and powerful combinations. But the true joy comes from finding that perfect synergy that turns your favorite frame into a uniquely powerful instrument of destruction, perfectly tailored to your playstyle. Now go feed your Helminth, Tenno. It's hungry for new abilities, and you have some building to do.