How to unlock and master the Steel Path

Once you have played through every planet, Warframe gets easy fast. The Steel Path is the answer: you play the same missions again against much tougher enemies, and get more loot, a currency of its own and another round of mastery points for every mission.

The key terms in short:

Star chart

The map of all planets and missions, opened from the navigation console on your Orbiter.

Node

A single mission on the star chart. Every planet has many of them.

Junction

The link between two planets. You fight a Spectre there to open the next planet.

Relay

Large space stations where you meet other players and vendors such as Teshin.

Mastery Rank (MR)

Your player level. It rises when you level new gear and complete missions for the first time.

Steel Essence

The Steel Path currency, spent at Teshin.

The Steel Path opens once you have completed the normal star chart. That means every mission node reachable before the quest “The New War”. The Zariman, Albrecht’s Laboratories and Höllvania do not count.

1. 01

   Clear the star chart

   Complete every node on every planet once, including Junctions, Lua and the Kuva Fortress. You can skip the Mutalist Alad V and Jordas Golem assassinations on Eris and Brutus on Uranus.

2. 02

   Don’t forget quest nodes

   Some nodes only open through quests, such as Tyana Pass on Mars, Ropalolyst on Jupiter and every node on Lua. For those you need the main quests up to “Chimera Prologue”.

3. 03

   Talk to Teshin

   Visit Teshin in any Relay and pick “Steel Path?”. If something is missing, he lists exactly which nodes, quests or Mastery Rank you still need.

4. 04

   Flip the switch

   A toggle then appears on the right side of the star chart. Use it to switch between the normal chart and the Steel Path at any time.

• Every enemy is 100 levels higher with 250% health and shields. Archwing and Railjack missions only add +50 levels.
• You unlock the star chart again, starting at E Prime on Earth. Each node gives its own mastery points once more.
• Resources and mods drop twice as often, one of the best farming bonuses in the game.
• Acolytes show up regularly in almost every mission: tough enemies with guaranteed loot.
• Endless missions spawn enemies for a full squad, even when you play solo.
• Bounties start at level 100 and require Mastery Rank 10.

Steel Essence is the Steel Path currency. You spend it at Teshin in any Relay. The main sources:

Acolytes spawn roughly every three to seven minutes depending on how fast you kill, so endless missions like Survival are a good way to farm them. Resource boosters double their Steel Essence, but not the Incursion reward.

Teshin’s shop has a fixed range plus a weekly offer that changes every Monday and loops through eight items.

Offer	Price	Worth it?
Umbra Forma Blueprint (weekly)	150	Yes, rare anywhere else
3× Forma (weekly)	75	Good early on
Veiled Riven Cipher	20	Yes, once a week
10,000 Kuva	15	Yes, for Riven rerolls
Primary/Secondary Arcane Adapter	15	Yes, for weapon arcanes
Relic Pack (3 Void Relics)	15	Only if you need it

• Enemy shields and armor are the main problem. Abilities that strip them make all the difference, such as Psychic Bolts from Nyx or The Lost from Xaku. Many of them are also available through the Helminth: unlock it, feed it, swap abilities.
• Status effects like Viral and Corrosive scale with enemy level. Build your weapons around them in the builder and check the time to kill against level 150 to 200.
• Archon Shards: unlock, farm and socket them cover the weaknesses of fragile Warframes, for example with extra armor or health.
• Crowd control locks Acolytes in place, for example Condemn from Harrow or Ensnare from Khora.
• Invisibility still works against almost every enemy, the safest answer for tough Spy and Rescue missions.