Syndicates in Warframe can be accessed on your Landing Craft via the Syndicate segment after having reached Mastery Rank 3.

Syndicates are very useful to learn about and understand how they work since they will give you rewards as you progress through the individual syndicates Ranks – which you do by earning standing/reputation with these syndicates/factions.

Each syndicate offers various Weapon augmentation mods, Archwing item parts, Team health/energy/shield/ammo restores, spectres, warframe augmentation mods as well as Syndicate empowered Weapons! All of the various syndicates rewards can be checked out further down in this article :)

 

In Warframe there are 6 “important” Syndicates which is the only ones I’ll write about since one of the others is conclave, which to be honest doesn’t really belong in this game, together with a “Scanning faction” (Cephalon Simaris) which is a sort of different syndicate to earn points with. Basically to earn points with Cephalon Simaris you visit his chambers at a Relay station, buy Synthesis Scanners from a console in his chambers to later use to scan enemies in missions in exchange for standing points with his syndicate. These points can then be used same as for other syndicates – to buy fancy rewards – specific for Cephalon Simaris amongst the rewards you can find a Key which will give access to “Simulacrum” which is an Enemy Battle simulator to try out weapons vs. specific enemies etc. You can also get the Nekros-popular Health Conversion mod which gives +450 armor and stacks 3 times on health-orb pickup (also worth about 50 platinum on warframe.market :P).

There are also syndicates like Ostron in Plains of Eidolon/Cetus – but I won’t write about those in this article. Focus will be on the “main 6” syndicates – see below.

Limit of how many Syndicates you can earn points with at once

So to start off with, there is a limit in Warframe for these 6 syndicates where some of the syndicates are not on good terms with some of the other syndicates, which might make your choosing of what syndicate you want to earn points with a bit complicated.

For example you cannot earn points with 2 Syndicate factions at once that are opposed to one another – because doing so will cancel them both out – leaving you with basically no standing with either one of them. As an example you can imagine if you did a Syndicate mission that rewarded +3000 points for one specific syndicate, then you do a syndicate mission for the other opposed syndicate faction also giving +3000 points – this will boost points with the faction the mission was issued by, but reduce same or almost same amount of points from it’s opposed faction, leaving you with 0 or less than 3k points.

So the 6 Syndicates to keep track off as a Mastery Rank 3 relatively new player to Warframe is as follows:

Syndicate faction:	Enemy with:	Opposed to:	Allied with:
Steel Meridian	The Perrin Sequence	New Loka	Red Veil
Arbiters of Hexis	Red Veil	The Perrin Sequence	Cephalon Suda
Cephalon Suda	New Loka	Red Veil	Arbiters of Hexis
The Perrin Sequence	Steel Meridian	Arbiters of Hexis	New Loka
Red Veil	Arbiters of Hexis	Cephalon Suda	Steel Meridian
New Loka	Cephalon Suda	Steel Meridian	The Perrin Sequence

So to untangle this very messy web…

You can at max have 3 factions you earn points with at the same time, and there seem to be 2 ways to get a max of 3 factions which will never compete with each other:

If you choose New Loka, you can also choose The Perrin Sequence and Red Veil – this makes the first setup of those three.

Second setup will be Cephalon Suda, Arbiters of Hexis and Steel Meridian.

If you are happy with 2 factions and really want Steel meridian as well as Red Veil– these two would work since they are allies.

How to start earning Syndicate points for a specific faction?

You simply go to the Syndicate segment in your ship, select the faction you are interested in, and choose “Initiate” – this might require some form of donation to get started.

Once you’ve been initiated you will have access to a so called “Regalia” insigna to wear in order to represent your chosen syndicate faction on missions and thereby earning points with them :)

After Mastery Rank 3 and having been initiated with a faction you start earning syndicate points by going into Arsenal>Warframe>Appearance>Regalia and choose the Sigil for the specific syndicate faction you are interested in earning points with (it will say “syndicate faction sigil” under Regalia>Front/Back sigil).

As you rank up within your chosen syndicate, you will also be able to upgrade your “syndicate insigna” giving you possibility of earning more points easier within the faction based off Mission affinity (experience).

You can only earn syndicate points with one syndicate at a time – meaning only ONE syndicate sigil can be worn at the same time – and if you do try to equip one on your warframe Front and one from different syndicte on your back – you will get message saying so as well.

Remember if you are earning points for multiple Syndicate factions as well as switching a lot between various warframes – it might be wise to keep good track of what warframe has what insigna – easy to forget this and end up earning Syndicate points for the wrong faction or simply not the originally intended one :)

How to choose Syndicate faction?

Well, every faction offers a wide variety of different rewards – consistent of unique Augmentation mods, Squad restores (energy,hp,shields,ammunition), “mission-companion” and special weapon-augmentation mods.

My advice is you look through every faction and take a detailed look at what each faction is offering and see who’s reward-table speaks volumes to you specifically :)

We will in this article cover which syndicates give what weapons briefly as well as what warframes augmentation mods so you might have an easier time picking syndicate faction :)

Syndicate companions

Steel Meridian offers a “Roller-specter” Grineer companion for missions.

Arbiters of Hexis offers a “Corrupted Lancer-specter” companion for missions.

Cephalon Suda offers a “Shield-osprey specter” companion for missions (quite nice to have boosted shields by this companion).

The Perrin Sequence offers a “MOA specter” companion like those you face off against in Corpus missions.

Red Veil offers a “Charger specter” companion like the ones you constantly get in your face on infested missions.

New Loka offers “Ancient Healer specter” companion which is like the Healer ancients you face off against in some Void missions or infested missions.

Personally I think the best two of all of these are the Ancient Healer specter and the Shield-osprey specter which I find to be most helpful and useful in missions.

Relic packs

All Syndicates offer so called “Relic packs” for 20k standing payment, personally I have never needed this or felt it was worth the price for it, but if you want to try and see what you get.. Have at it :)

Special weapon components

Every syndicate faction offers Special weapon components – which means if you want to reach the absolutely highest mastery rank in the game – you at some point have to have at least been rank 1-2 within every single syndicate (I think – maybe these components are tradeable, I’m unsure to be honest).

For example New Loka offers Onorix blade – which can be used to build the very awesome-looking massive archwing melee weapon Onorix :)

You can get a better insight of these specific components in the syndicate segment in the ship so I won’t delve deeper into exactly which syndicate offers exactly what components, I want to save some time since this will be a rather long article nonetheless :P

Squad restore blueprints for very helpful consumables to bring on missions

Steel Meridian can offer Large Health Restore x10 blueprint to craft these in packs of 10 at a time which in my opinion, is very useful – I myself use these quite often in missions :)

Arbiters of Hexis offer Large Energy Restore x10 blueprint to craft very mission-useful Energy restores 10 at a time :) I use these very often as well.

Cephalon Suda offer Large Shield Restore x10 blueprint to craft.

The Perrin Sequence also offer Large Energy Restores x10 blueprint to craft.

Red Veil offer Large Ammo Restore x10 blueprint to craft (this I would find super useful, but haven’t gotten it quite yet – would mean I have to re-roll my syndicate factions – but might be worth doing so quickly just to get this since it only requires rank 1 or 2 :P).

New Loka also offer Large Health Restore x10 blueprint to craft.

So for optimal “Large Squad restore blueprints” it seems best to choose the factions: New Loka, Perrin Sequence and Red Veil – which were one of the two possibilities to get 3 factions at once.

Alterantively one could go Steel Meridian and Red Veil and get the Large Ammo restore as well as the Large health restore – then simply focus on Cephalon Suda and Arbiters of Hexis and ignore Red Veil after that – as an example :)

Weapon Augmentation mods

Steel Meridian weapon augmentation mods

Steel Meridian offer weapon Augmentation mods for: Hek, Dual Cleavers, Miter and Sobek weapons.

The Hek mod I know from personal experience is really strong – giving +200% Multishot as well as +1 Justice effect (+1000 AoE blast damage proc every time Hek receives +1000 affinity as well as restore health +25% of max health and boost base armor with +25% for 30s).

The Dual Cleaver one gives +100% melee damage as well as +1 Justice effect (see Hek for what this means).

The Miter one gives a +90% chance of immidiately destroying a Nullifier field with one of its blades +1 justice effect.

The Sobek augmentation mod give +20% status chance and +1 justice effect.

Arbiters of Hexis weapon augmentation mods

Arbiters of Hexis have weapon augmentation mods for: Burston Prime, Jaw Sword, Silva & Aegis and Viper.

Burston Prime gets +80% fire-rate and +1 “truth effect” (same damage and AoE type of effect as for Steel Meridian, but Gas instead of blast, also restores +25% of players max health).

Jaw Sword gets +100% melee damage +1 truth effect.

Silva & Aegis absorbs 50% of damage when blocking, storing it as extra damage for the next charge attack +1 truth effect.

Viper gets +40% magazine capacity +1 truth effect.

Cephalon Suda weapon augmentation mods

Cephalon Suda give weapon augmentation mods for: Bolto, Kestrel, Obex and Supra.

Bolto gets +20% chance to explode (use with caution) +1 “entropy effect” (same as truth and justice, but Magnetic damage AoE also restores 25% of players base energy and provide base energy boost of +25% for 30s).

Kestrel gets +140% projectile flight speed +1 entropy effect.

Obex gets that lethal ground attacks cause enemies to explode dealing +1000 (+20% of enemy max health) blast damage in a 10m radius +1 entropy effect.

Supra gets +20% status chance +1 entropy effect.

The Perrin Sequence weapon augmentation mods

The Perrin Sequence offer weapon augmentation mods for: Acrid, Grinlok, Lanka and Spectra.

Acrid gets +200% status duration +1 “sequence effect” (same as above syndicate effects but radiation damage type instead and restores +25% of players max shields and provide base shield boost of +50% for 30s).

Grinlok gets +200% critical chance +1 sequence effect.

Lanka creates a lightning trap from remains of enemies killed that last for 8s +1 sequence effect.

Spectra gets +20(m) range +1 sequence effect.

Red Veil weapon augmentation mods

Red Veil offer weapon augmentation mods for: Dark Dagger, Embolist, Kunai and Mire.

Dark Dagger gets +100% status chance +1 “blight effect” (same as other syndicate effects, but deals viral effect + status proc, but also restore 25% of players base energy and boost speed by 10% for 30s).

Embolist gets +200% magazine capacity and +1 blight effect.

Kunai gets increased magazine capacity by +200% and +1 blight effect.

Mire gets +100% toxin damage and +1 blight effect.

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These augmentation mods cost 25k standing each btw.

Warframe Augmentation Mods

Steel Meridian

Steel Meridian got warframe augmentation mods for the following warframes:

• Atlas
• Ember
• Excalibur
• Frost
• Mesa
• Nezha
• Nova
• Oberon
• Rhino
• Saryn

So if you at some point in the game want to have augmentation mods for any of these warframes – this faction might be a viable choice for you :)

Arbiters of Hexis

Arbiters of Hexis got warframe augmentation mods for the following warframes:

• Ash
• Equinox
• Excalibur
• Inaros
• Limbo
• Loki
• Mirage
• Nyx
• Volt
• Wukong

If you want augmentations for any of these – Arbiters of Hexis is an tempting choice perhaps? :)

Cephalon Suda

Cephalon Suda got warframe augmentation mods for the following warframes:

• Banshee
• Chroma
• Frost
• Hydroid
• Ivara
• Limbo
• Mirage
• Nezha
• Nova
• Vauban

The Perrin Sequence

The Perrin Sequence got warframe augmentation mods for the following warframes:

• Banshee
• Chroma
• Inaros
• Ivara
• Mag
• Nekros
• Rhino
• Trinity
• Valkyr
• Vauban

Red Veil

Red Veil got warframe augmentation mods for the following warframes:

• Ash
• Atlas
• Ember
• Loki
• Mesa
• Nekros
• Saryn
• Titania
• Volt
• Zephyr

New Loka

New Loka got warframe augmentation mods for the following warframes:

• Equinox
• Hydroid
• Mag
• Nyx
• Oberon
• Titania
• Trinity
• Valkyr
• Zephyr
• Wukong

To Summarize:

I’ve analyzed all of these augmentation mods for the viable two possible 3-syndicate setups (1 = Perrin, New Loka, Red Veil, 2 = Steel Meridian, Arbiters, Cephalon) and this is what I’ve come up with:

First setup: The Perrin Sequence, New Loka and Red Veil

Ash	Red Veil
Atlas	Red Veil
Banshee	The Perrin Sequence
Chroma	The Perrin Sequence
Ember	Red Veil
Equinox	New Loka
Hydroid	New Loka
Inaros	The Perrin Sequence
Ivara	The Perrin Sequence
Loki	Red Veil
Mag	The Perrin Sequence, New Loka
Mesa	Red Veil
Nekros	The Perrin Sequence, Red Veil
Nyx	New Loka
Oberon	New Loka
Rhino	The Perrin Sequence
Saryn	Red Veil
Titania	Red Veil, New Loka
Trinity	The Perrin Sequence, New Loka
Valkyr	The Perrin Sequence, New Loka
Vauban	The Perrin Sequence
Volt	Red Veil
Wukong	New Loka
Zephyr	Red Veil, New Loka

They are missing Augmentation mods for following warframes:

• Excalibur
• Frost
• Gara
• Harrow
• Limbo
• Mirage
• Nezha
• Nidus
• Nova
• Octavia

And the Green-marked warframes are the ones that are unique for that 3-syndicate collective- that cannot be found with the other one.

Second setup: Steel Meridian, Arbiters of Hexis and Cephalon Suda

Ash	Arbiters of Hexis
Atlas	Steel Meridian
Banshee	Cephalon Suda
Chroma	Cephalon Suda
Ember	Steel Meridian
Equinox	Arbiters of Hexis
Excalibur	Steel Meridian
Frost	Steel Meridian, Cephalon Suda
Hydroid	Cephalon Suda
Inaros	Arbiters of Hexis
Ivara	Cephalon Suda
Limbo	Arbiters of Hexis, Cephalon Suda
Loki	Arbiters of Hexis
Mesa	Steel Meridian
Mirage	Arbiters of Hexis, Cephalon Suda
Nezha	Steel Meridian, Cephalon Suda
Nova	Steel Meridian, Cephalon Suda
Nyx	Arbiters of Hexis
Oberon	Steel Meridian
Rhino	Steel Meridian
Saryn	Steel Meridian
Vauban	Cephalon Suda
Volt	Arbiters of Hexis
Wukong	Arbiters of Hexis

They are missing Augmentation mods for the following warframes:

• Gara
• Harrow
• Mag
• Nekros
• Nidus
• Octavia
• Titania
• Trinity
• Valkyr
• Zephyr

With all of these facts in mind, you should be able to easier see what warframes you get augmentation mods for with one 3-syndicate setup which you cannot get with the other one.

Do remember though, that the augmentation mods you cannot get with your own 3 syndicates, you can always buy for around 15 plat per augmentation mod on http://warframe.market.

Syndicate Weapons

Steel Meridian:

Primary: Vaykor Hek (shotgun)

Secondary: Vaykor Marelok

Melee: Vaykor Sydon (staff/polearm)

Arbiters of Hexis:

Primary: Telos Boltor

Secondary: Telos Akbolto

Melee: Telos Boltace

Cephalon Suda:

Primary: Synoid Simulor

Secondary: Synoid Gammacor

Melee: Synoid Heliocor

The Perrin Sequence:

Primary: Secura Penta

Secondary: Secura Dual Cestra

Melee: Secura Lecta

Red Veil:

Primary: Rakta Cernos

Secondary: Rakta Ballistica

Melee: Rakta Dark Dagger

New Loka:

Primary: Sancti Tigris

Secondary: Sancti Castanas

Melee: Sancti Magistar

All syndicate weapons once received +1000 affinity, will proc the Syndicate specific AoE damage effect.

When I was new to the game myself – I found out which weapons were strong – where I could get those – what warframes needed Augmentation mods “most” to be as useful as possible for teams – and after that I decided to pick the “3-syndicate setup” that worked best for me. The few augmentation mods I couldn’t get myself, I bought, due to them not being available from my chosen “3-syndicate setup”. To get the Large Ammo Restore Blueprint from Red Veil I had to re-roll syndicate by sacrificing Arbiters of Hexis points – but before doing so I made sure to have 120k+ syndicate points with Arbiters of Hexis – this way I didn’t have to “lose” syndicate ranks with the faction.

If I would get to re-do my selection of syndicates – I would probably select Steel Meridian and Red Veil first, that way I can easily get the Large Ammo Restore, and after I have gotten it, I can simply switch to keep Steel Meridian but replace Red Veil with Arbiters of Hexis as well as Cephalon Suda. This way I wouldn’t have to re-roll syndicates – even if it wasn’t really any bother for me personally – others might find it more annoying.

No matter which 3-syndicate combination you choose – you are probably always going to miss out on some augmentation warframe mod you might need. It’s easier to simply buy this from warframe.market if thats the case.

Hunted by syndicate enemy faction

If you earn point with a syndicate faction, they usually have an enemy syndicate faction where you decrease in points as you earn points with your selected syndicate faction, and when it gets low enough in the enemy faction, they sometimes want to kill you, and might send assassination squadrons to your missions randomly – the “specters” the syndicate factions are offering – are also the enemies that the assassination squadron will be consistent of.

Getting specter blueprint from enemy factions assassination squadrons

Once you have killed the assassination squadron that was sent after you by the enemy faction of your chosen syndicate, sometimes they drop specter blueprints for the enemies you faced off against in that assassination squadron. This means you can get the Specter blueprints even if you are not within the syndicate, but instead have chosen a syndicate that is enemy with a syndicate who has a specter blueprint you wouldn’t mind having access to :)

When ranking up within a syndicate

When you rank up within a syndicate they will ask for various donations in order to receive the new rank – once you have contributed these donations, you will have your next rank – as well as get to choose a “free” reward for the points you invested into upgrading your syndicate rank – mind you – you can only select ONE reward at rank up for your previous rank(!).

Re-rolling a syndicate faction

If you have reached for example MAX with a syndicate or you simply wish to switch to a different one, this can easily be done and you simply start earning points with the different faction – only thing that will happen is that the new faction you have chosen will drain and make you lose points with your previous one if they were opposed or enemies.

This is also a way for you to get all possible rewards offered from all Syndicates, but it will take quite some time.

Daily Syndicate missions for Syndicate points

Every day there will be 1-3 daily missions available for you if you have selected and started earning points for a syndicate, this is a nice additional way of getting a specific and fixed amount of points each day to progress within the syndicate faction you have chosen. Make sure to buy the “upgraded Syndicate sigils” to gain increased amounts of Syndicate points after your progress through a syndicates ranks!