Of all the revolutionary systems introduced into Warframe over the years, the Helminth Chrysalis system stands as one of the most transformative for build crafting. By allowing players to subsume a Warframe, permanently destroying it to learn one of its abilities, and then infusing that ability onto another Warframe in place of a native power, it has unlocked a near-infinite array of new playstyles and synergies. However, with dozens of abilities to choose from, the question arises: which are the best? This tier list breaks down the most powerful, versatile, and meta-defining Helminth abilities available.
S-Tier: The Meta-Defining Essentials
These abilities are so powerful and universally useful that they are often the default choice for optimizing a vast number of Warframes. They provide fundamental buffs or capabilities that can elevate any frame to new heights.
Roar (Rhino): The undisputed king of damage buffs. Roar provides a multiplicative damage bonus that applies to all damage sources, including weapons, abilities, and even other damage buffs. While its strength is tied to your mods, even a modestly powerful Roar can drastically reduce time-to-kill. It’s the go-to choice for any frame that lacks a native damage buff and wants to maximize lethality in endurance runs or boss fights.
Gloom (Sevagoth): Perhaps the most powerful survivability tool in the game. Gloom creates a slowing aura around your Warframe that also provides lifesteal on damage dealt to enemies within it. This combination is devastating. The slow, which can reach near 95% with high ability strength, functions as incredible crowd control, making enemies virtually harmless. The lifesteal ensures you remain at full health indefinitely. It single-handedly solves survival issues for any frame.
Nourish (Grendel): A triple-threat ability that offers immense value. Nourish grants a viral damage buff to all your weapons (and squadmates'), provides a massive energy multiplier (effectively supercharging your energy gains from all sources), and releases a viral damage aura on being hit. It is the ultimate support and self-sustain package, making energy management trivial while massively boosting weapon damage. It’s a top contender for any frame that spams abilities.
Breach Surge (Wisp): An incredible tool for both crowd control and massive damage amplification. Breach Surge blinds enemies in a large area and causes them to release damaging surge sparks when hit. These sparks can chain to other enemies, creating a devastating feedback loop, especially when paired with high-damage weapons or abilities. It’s an excellent choice for nuke frames or any build that needs extra CC and scaling damage.
A-Tier: Powerful and Specialized
These abilities are exceptionally strong but might be more situational or serve a more specific purpose than the S-tier options. They are often best-in-slot for certain strategies.
Ensnare (Khora): The premier grouping ability in the Helminth system. While Larva exists, Ensnare’s key advantage is that it can pull in enemies that are normally immune to ragdolling, such as acolytes and demons in the Sanctum Anatomica. This makes it invaluable for high-level content where grouping tough enemies for focused fire is crucial.
Pillage (Hildryn): A superb defensive and offensive tool. Pillage strips enemy armor and shields while restoring your own shields (and overshields) and granting overshields to allies. For frames with high shield capacity or using the Shield Gating mechanic, Pillage is a one-button solution for survivability and armor stripping, making it a favorite on frames like Gauss or Harrow.
Empower (Wisp): A simple yet brutally effective buff. Empower gives a flat 50% ability strength bonus to your next cast. This is perfect for frames that rely on a single, powerful ability—like Rhino’s Roar, Chroma’s Vex Armor, or Mirage’s Eclipse—allowing them to achieve monstrous strength numbers for a key buff.
Xata's Whisper (Xaku): A fantastic weapon buff that adds Void damage. While not multiplicative like Roar, its unique Void status effect causes bullets to seek out the afflicted enemy's head and creates a damage-attracting bubble. This synergizes phenomenally with certain weapons like the Felarx or the Incarnon weapons from Zariman.
Eclipse (Mirage): A potentially massive damage buff or damage reduction tool based on the lighting in your environment. Its inconsistency is its main weakness, but in controlled environments or with a dedicated build, its damage output can surpass even Roar’s. It’s a high-risk, high-reward option.
B-Tier: Solid and Situational
These abilities are strong and can be the perfect solution for a specific build or playstyle, but they lack the universal appeal of higher-tier options.
Thermal Sunder (Gauss): An amazing ability for nuking low-to-mid-level content, especially on frames with high energy pools or efficiency. It can quickly clear entire tilesets in missions like Sanctuary Onslaught or ESO.
Larva (Nidus): The original grouping tool. It’s excellent for quickly clustering enemies for melee or AoE weapons. It falls slightly behind Ensnare due to its inability to hold certain high-value targets, but it’s far easier to acquire and use.
Perspicacity (Ivara): Instant, automatic hacking. It saves time and is a pure quality-of-life infusion, perfect for Spy missions or any loadout where you don’t want to bother with ciphers.
Tharros Strike (Styanax): A solid, spammable ability that offers a small amount of shield stripping and healing. It’s a great option for frames that need a quick "get off me" tool and some sustain.
C-Tier: Niche Picks
These abilities have their uses but are often outclassed by more versatile options above them. They are typically only used for very specific meme builds or highly specialized setups.
Airburst (Zephyr): A weaker grouping tool than Larva or Ensnare, but it can be used to manually pull enemies together. Its niche is on Zephyr herself to augment her Tornadoes.
Rage (Inaros): A health-to-energy conversion tool. It has some use on frames that want to use Hunter Adrenaline but have low shields, but it’s generally outmoded by better energy generation methods.
Spellbind (Titania): Grants status immunity, which is a powerful effect, but its casting mechanics can be clunky compared to simply using the Primed Sure Footed mod.
Conclusion
The "best" Helminth ability is ultimately subjective and depends entirely on your Warframe, your build, and your mission goal. Are you trying to make a squishy frame immortal? Gloom is your answer. Need to boost your weapon damage to the moon? Look to Roar or Nourish. Require energy to never be an issue again? Nourish has you covered.
The true power of the Helminth system lies in this experimentation. While this tier list provides a guideline based on general power and utility, the most rewarding builds often come from discovering a unique synergy that perfectly suits your playstyle. So, subsume, infuse, and experiment—the power is literally in your hands.
