Voruna Prime has arrived in Warframe, and she is a genuine beast

• A well-rounded skillset
• Utterly rips through foes
• Makes you feel like an absolute animal

I have been a fan of Warframe for quite some time, and was quite peeved when I lost my first account. It wasn’t banned or anything, I just legitimately lost whatever email or PSN account it was tied to. The point is, during my original tenure and when I returned, my Warframe of choice was Ash Prime.

Or at least it was. For the past few weeks, I switched over to Wukong Prime. I love Ash, but he is a bit too squishy. And I enjoy Wukong a lot. So, I thought I had a new main. But then Digital Extremes released Voruna Prime, and what more can I say than just wow? She is a complete menace, and I adore her. 

Her backstory is one of Warframe's most badass

Let’s just start at the very beginning. Voruna's background is so unbelievably metal. She was once the warden of one of the most holy Yuvan temples, guarding it with her pack of four wolves. During The Collapse, she and her beasts fought against a horde of abominations, with each of the wolves eventually falling in battle.

In Voruna’s grief, she hijacked the Continuity, a ritual that one of the Orokin Seven was doing to save himself, to merge with the severed heads of her fallen companions. In my mind, she kicked the doors in, covered in the gore of battle, strode towards the terrified practitioner, and casually threw him aside. This is one of the best origins in Warframe. And it gets better.

The Voruna Prime trailer is the greatest Digital Extremes has made

When Follie launched toward the end of last month, her trailer was amazing - the music, the atmosphere, the content, all incredible. I didn’t think it would be topped. Then Voruna Prime's trailer dropped. Words will not do it justice; you need to watch it. 

The choice of Höllvania for a setting was perfect; 1999 was already a musically rocking update. And just watching Voruna chase down and tear through those foes in full beast mode with the gore was adrenaline-pumping. Finish it with the full Mortal Kombat, holding the head and spine aloft, and this is the best trailer. It was DE's first NSFW-tagged trailer, and they did it to perfection.

She is a proper treat for the eyes

In terms of looks, she is an upgrade in a few areas from the original Voruna. Having her decked out in the Orokin gold is always a nice status flaunt. And her headpiece is immaculate. The maw makes her look like a fierce animal, and I love it. 

My only issue is that I preferred the original four wolf heads that adorn Varuna. The black heads and red mouths have serious Cerberus energy. Of course, thanks to Warframe's amazing appearance customisation, you can solve that easily. And speaking of customisation, a little bonus that is not well signposted; getting Voruna Prime nets you the Heart of the Pack Honoria. I am using that for the foreseeable. 

She has a fantastically balanced skillset

Now, as important as aesthetics is, let's talk about the combat capabilities of Voruna Prime. And I got to say, she lives up to that wolf motif perfectly because she just rips enemies to pieces. Here is a rundown of what she is packing. Each of her four skills is represented by one of her wolves; an idea I adore, as it shows how connected they are. 

Shroud of Dynar grants you invisibility and causes your melee attack to have increased Critical Damage, Critical Chance, Status Chance, and to inflict Slash Status Effects. Killing foes extends this buff. It also gives you extra speed, which Voruna Prime already has tons of. I got whiplash the first time I moved with her. This is the skill I used least, however, because I preferred just going ham with the offence. Speaking of. 

Moving on to my favourite, Fangs of Raksh. You leap at a foe to deal damage, which is pretty basic. However, it also applies 5 random Status Effects at 10 stacks each, which spread to another foe when the target dies. The cascade of status effects during a mob battle is hilarious. Her fourth skill is Ulfrun’s Descent, and it is majestic.

A unique animation made for Voruna Prime, she drops to all four and belts across the battlefield as a true wolf. You get five lunge attacks to use, which I was ecstatic to learn you can target manually. And lunge is an understatement; I have fired myself clear across the battlefield with it. The sensation from using it is incredible as well. The speed is immense, and the FOV seems to narrow as you fixate on your target, chase them down, and strike. It feels feral in the best way. 

A bit of tactical know-how will get you everywhere

The best part of Ulfrun’s Descent is that it deals more damage to foes with Status Effects. So if you are of a tactical mind, use Fangs of Raksh, then keep targeting whoever has the debuffs. The damage of the next attack also doubles if you kill someone, so that you can deliver crazy damage.

You may have noticed I missed out Varuna's third skill. That is because I am about to dish out a little basic advice. Lycath’s Hunt makes it so your melee kills cause foes to drop a Health Orb, and headshot kills cause Energy Orbs to drop. So, the obvious synergy is to pop on an Equilibrium mod, which causes Energy Orbs to also heal health and vice versa. Then, just go nuts with however you want to kill your foes, safe in the knowledge you won’t run out of health or energy. 

Your wolfpack has your back

Finally, because her kit just keeps on giving, the passive. You can summon one of the four wolves to grant a permanent mission buff. They orbit around you when you choose them; it's quite cute. Dynar gives an increase in Parkour Velocity to turn your bullet jumps into rockets, and Raksh guards against Status Effects. We love a loyal guard dog, but I prefer offence.

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That comes in the form of Lycath, who grants you massive Heavy Attack efficiency. Finally, if you die with Ulfrun summoned, he will perish in your place, and you will return hale and healthy. Plus, he recharges in a minute. So, provided you have an ounce of survival instinct and book it from whatever caused your doom on your first revive, you are functionally immortal. 

Her weapons are treasures I was unworthy to wield

Our final port of call is the weapons, although this comes with a caveat. Voruna Prime brings with her the axe Sarofang Prime and the rifle Perigale Prime. Unfortunately, I was not very adventurous during my time with Warframe. I chose a setup and stuck to it, so my Mastery level is low. As such, I tried Varuna Prime out with the standard variants of these weapons.

I will say off the bat, I am not a big fan of Perigale. Varuna is more of a melee combatant to me, and a scoped rifle doesn’t do much. Yes, it procs Lycath’s Hunt, but Equilibrium makes that moot. Landing four headshots grants you the Gale Force buff, which increases Ammo Efficiency, and being a burst rifle helps with that. However, when things get hectic, who goes for headshots? What you need is a big axe. Enter, Sarofang.

Sarofang is my new favourite melee weapon

It is probably a good thing I couldn't use Sarofang Prime, for my head would have exploded from sheer majesty. The standard Sarofang was enough to have me weep. I was mowing through crowds like butter, and surprisingly, you can get really technical with this. Obviously, Lycath’s Hunt and Equilibrium again, Orbs everywhere. But there is more.

Sarofang's heavy attack slam, the jump, then slamming the ground, will create a vortex to gather enemies at an 8x combo multiplier. Except for Voruna and her Prime, it is a 5x combo multiplier. Summon Lycath for that Heavy Attack efficiency, and you will be creating vortexes all day long, and sprouting orbs left, right and centre, combined with Lycath’s Hunt. It is a basic strategy; we aren’t going to be too deep into that here, but it works so well.

Not to mention the heavy attack slam is so visceral. The shockwave and the strength of the impact when you bury your axe into the ground. It evokes that feeling from Infinity War, with Thor and his “bring me Thanos” line before he obliterated everything. It just makes me so unbelievably happy.

And that sentiment sums Voruna Prime up perfectly. I adore using her. I love wolves, and Voruna evokes that wolfpack feeling so well. Adding the benefits of a Prime to that and turning up to eleven was always going to be great. But I didn’t think it could be this magnificent. From the trailer to the boosted gameplay, you need Voruna Prime in your life.