As you get into the late-game stage of Warframe, you unlock the ability to attach Arcanes to your frames and weapons.
These are extra stat boosts under specific conditions, with some being easy to trigger and others requiring specific builds to reach their maximum effectiveness. One such Arcane provides an easy boost to your damage output but can be tough to acquire depending on how strong your gear is. Here’s how to farm the Primary Merciless Arcane in Warframe.
Where to get the Primary Merciless Arcane in Warframe
The Primary Merciless Arcane is acquired through defeating Acolytes within the Steel Path mode of Warframe. To access Steel Path, you must complete all nodes on the star chart at least once, excluding the Mutalist Alad V and Jordas Golem assassinate missions alongside Duviri. While it may appear that you have completed all nodes on the star chart, some nodes aren’t unlocked until you have completed up to the Whispers in the Walls quest, the latest story quest as of writing.
Once you complete every star chart node, you’ll receive a message from Teshin regarding the Steel Path. Simply visit him in any relay and select the “Steel Path?” dialogue option to access the Steel Path. This provides the same mission nodes with much harder enemies, so make sure you’re well-equipped to handle it.
Now that you have access to the Steel Path, you want to run missions until an Acolyte spawns. This is noted by a transmission on the right side of your screen from whichever Acolyte is attacking you, followed by them spawning in. Defeat them, and they have a small chance to drop Primary Merciless. They also drop Steel Essence, which can be spent at Teshin in any relay.
As for trying to farm Primary Merciless, you want to run any Survival mission as long as you can go without losing outright. In Survival missions, Acolytes are guaranteed to spawn once every five minutes or so. Each Acolyte has a 16.67% chance to drop Primary Merciless. Simply repeat the Survival mission as much as needed to get enough Primary Merciless Arcanes.
What does the Primary Merciless Arcane do?
The Primary Merciless Arcane provides 5% increased damage when killing an enemy, stacking up to 12 times for a maximum of 60% increased damage. When the Arcane is at max rank, this is upped to 30% increased damage per kill, stacking up to 360% increased damage with a bonus 30% reload speed. This makes Primary Merciless one of the best Arcanes in Warframe since it’s a ton of free damage for your primary weapon. I run it on main weapons and it is a beast for increasing damage, especially for the more dangerous Steel Path missions.
