Not one year goes by without Warframe receiving at least one major update. Since last year's Railjack update was met with a mixed reception from fans, Digital Extremes have taken a step back to basics with the Heart of Deimos update. A new Infested open world has been added alongside controllable mech suits and the ability to transfer curated Warframe powers between characters.
The update has no shortage of things to do, but many veterans might feel a sense of déjà vu while playing it. Many systems from previous open worlds have returned here, for better or worse. From leveling Syndicates to looting ancient vaults, here is everything that makes the Cambion Drift both similar and different to previous open worlds in Warframe.
10 Open World Activities
Similar to most open worlds, the Cambion Drift allows players to complete bounties for items and reputation. Should players get bored of defeating hordes of foes, they can mine minerals, fish, or capture animals instead. It is no different from the other two open worlds in this regard, and the Cambion Drift does none of these things better except bounties.
Mining is the same, requiring players to release their fire button at a specific time for a resource bonus. Fishing is arguably worse at first since fish can only be hit when they are above water, although a fishing spear from Daughter fixes this. Capturing animals is still rather mundane, but it is arguably worse here due to the activity being mandatory to obtain rank-ups with the Entrari or the new Helminth System.
9 Family Tokens Versus Reputation Farming
That said, the way Digital Extremes have designed the reputation grind and bounties for the Cambion Drift is the best an open world has seen thus far. Instead of earning a flat amount of Standing, players instead get tokens they can redeem for standing.
Tokens are a great way to allow players to farm activities as much as they want without letting them bypass the daily Standing cap or force Standing to not be awarded. The system isn't perfect, however. Each family member in the Entrati has different tokens worth various amounts, and some tokens are much harder to earn such as Son Tokens.
8 Map Size
The map size from each open world is surprisingly different. The Orb Vallis has plenty of terrain to explore but has a rather lackluster cave system. Contrast this with the Cambion Drift which has the smallest open world space in the game, yet has the most intricate cave system seen thus far.
The Plains of Eidolon is a mix between the two, not as large as the Orb Vallis but not having the same cave system as the Cambion Drift. Once Digital Extremes make more content around the area's massive cave system, players will begin to recognize just how massive the cave system is.
7 Cave System
Every open world has caves that players can explore. Most caves inside the Plains of Eidolon are rather generic until players start bounties that take them through certain unique tiles underground. The Orb Vallis doesn't fare much better, having caves for the sole purpose of mining resources.
Contrast this with the Cambion Drift, containing the most sophisticated cave system in the game. It acts as a second floor to the entire open world in a meaningful way, although the usage of this playspace is criminally low right now. Still, it is definitely the best way to farm resources currently with a Cataclysm Limbo or similar build.
6 Progression
Both the Entrati family and the Necraloid factions make up Deimos's progression systems. Players will need to rank up both groups to obtain all of the Cambion Drift's rewards, which is identical to the Plains and Orb Vallis. The difference here is the rank up requirements.
Leveling up the Entrati is significantly harder than other open world Syndicates. Capturing animals is required to rank up, rarer tokens are needed for the last two rank ups, and most of the items Mother asks for are extremely intensive on Standing costs.
These complaints are the polar opposite when discussing the Necraloids, however. For an Operator-oriented Syndicate, the Necraloids are by far the easiest to level out of any open world. They only have three ranks instead of five, are much easier to level, and can have all of their rewards purchased in a short timespan. Depending on what the player wishes to obtain, upgrading the Cambion Drift's Syndicates can be a breeze or a daunting task.
5 Resource Farming
Besides how exorbitantly rare Scintillant is, nearly every resource in the Cambion Drift is rather easy to farm for. This is a far cry from how painful certain resources in the Plains or Orb Vallis could be to obtain.
This is thanks to multiple factors, such as how many containers are on the planet, Isolation Vault runs granting rare mining materials, and the various Orokin Pylons that can be completed to earn resources. In terms of grinding materials, again excluding Scintillant, this is the best open world yet.
4 Endgame Activities
Unfortunately, there are virtually no endgame pursuits in the Cambion Drift. Eidolon boss fights can be found on the Plains of Eidolon which drop valuable Arcanes and Focus items. As for the Orb Vallis, players can earn a plethora of open world materials and hundreds of thousands of Credits. What does the Cambion Drift have?
Vault runs. These missions provide a fun distraction from the standard mission format of bounties. They certainly give a wide range of materials, but they don't offer anything comparable to Arcanes. If Deimos's worms ever become endgame combatants, this could easily change.
3 Isolation Vault Runs
Since it's the only pinnacle gamemode players can experience on the Cambion Drift thus far, Isolated Vault runs have a lot to live up to. While they don't quite compare to the scale or intensity of Eidolon or Orb fights, they certainly provide a great spin on Mobile Defense and Spy missions.
Players must escort Loid and Otak through an ancient vault after completing Mobile Defense and Exterminate objectives. Escorting the pair might not be as interesting as taking down an Eidolon, but the constant swarm of Infested and various Reactive Crystals to shoot at makes for a nice distraction from other bounties.
2 Fighting Infested Versus Other Factions
The Infested offer a different gameplay rhythm than the Grineer or Corpus do. Instead of dropships constantly flying in and pressuring players with reinforcements, the Infested will keep growing out of pods and chase the player.
Taking down dozens of Infested in every activity on the Cambion Drift is a blast when coupled with crowd-control powers. Since the Infested prefer to get close to the player, this open world is much more engaging and fast-paced than the Orb Vallis or Plains.
1 Necramechs Versus K-Drives And Archwing
If Digital Extremes nailed one thing in the Heart of Deimos update, it has to be Necramechs. These Operator-controlled mech suits offer a significant amount of firepower that feels worth transferring out of a Warframe to use. Better yet, they can be used on other open worlds to mix up combat.
Taking down an Eidolon with a Necramech is something every Warframe player should experience. Compared to other systems such as Archwings and K-Drives, Nechramechs blow them out of the water. It's just a shame they are so difficult to level and obtain Mods for.