Warframe is a game with many things to do, from learning how to effectively use a weapon or which warframe you should choose in a specific mission, to more intricate combinations of Mods within a loadout to max out its potential. There’s a certain resource you will need for sure if you want to take your warframes, companions, and weapons to the highest level, and that’s the Forma. But to understand what Forma is, we first need to learn about Polarities.
Polarity - How to understand
When you customize your arsenal piece of choice, your Mod slots accept any type of Mod. However, some of these have a symbol in the top right corner, which means they’re “polarized”. Each type of Polarity has a unique symbol, and it means that if you insert a mod that matches that symbol, the cost of installing it will be reduced by 50%.
This becomes extremely useful and even vital in later stages of the game since some builds are determined by how well you economize your loadout points at the moment of doing a setup in your warframe or weapon. There are currently 9 Polarity symbols, and the list goes as follows:
- Madurai (shaped like a V) - A Polarity that can be installed in any piece of arsenal equipment, related mainly to damage-related Mods.
- Vazarin (shaped like a D) - A Polarity that can be installed in any piece of arsenal equipment, related mainly to defense-related Mods.
- Naramon (shaped like a Dash/Bar) - A Polarity that can be installed in any piece of arsenal equipment, related mainly to utility and miscellaneous Mods.
- Zenurik (shaped like a Scratch) - A Polarity that can be installed in any piece of arsenal equipment, related mainly to Augment Mods.
- Unairu (shaped like an R) - A Polarity that can be installed in any piece of arsenal equipment, related mainly to several Melee Stance Mods.
- Penjaga (shaped like a Y) - A Polarity that only affects Companions and can only be found in their Mod slots.
- Umbra (shaped like a U) - A polarity that only applies to Umbra Mods, which are obtained after the completion of the story quest The Sacrifice.
- Aura (shaped like an O) - An Universal Polarity that can only be applied by the use of an Aura Forma or Stance Forma on the Aura and Stance slots, respectively.
Now you understand Polarities, we can talk about what Forma is and its principal use.
Forma - What is it? How do I use It?
Forma are items used to add, remove or change the Polarity of a Mod Slot on Warframes, Archwings, Weapons, and Companions. This makes those slots gain the cost reduction bonus and allows mod capacity to be used more efficiently which, as stated before, becomes critical the more you progress.
The second most common use of Forma is as components on crafting certain items, such as weapon blueprints, the creation of an Exilus Adapter, adding Tiles to a Clan Dojo, and ranking up with Syndicates. There’s a number of ways to obtain Forma, and they go as it follows:
- Purchased from the Market for 20 Platinum, or a bundle of three for 35 Platinum.
- Purchased from NPCs in events such as Operation: Plague Star.
- Obtained As a Nightwave reward.
- Blueprint Received as a Daily Tribute.
- Blueprints Dropped from Relics and certain missions.
Aura Forma
Aura Forma is a variant that allows any Aura Mod to fit in the aura slot of a Warframe, regardless of Polarity. It can be obtained through numerous ways:
- Purchased from the Market for 80 Platinum, or a bundle of three for 150 Platinum.
- Obtained from Operation: Hostile Mergers or as a Nightwave reward.
Stance Forma
Stance Forma is a variant that allows any Stance Mod to fit in the stance slot of Melee weapons, regardless of Polarity. It can be obtained through numerous ways:
- Purchased from NPCs in events such as Operation: Scarlet Spear and Operation: Orphix Venom.
- Purchased from The Steel Path Honors shop for 10 Steel Essence.
Umbra Forma
Umbra Forma is a special variant that can be used to apply an Umbra Polarity to any Warframe, Companion, or Weapon. It can be obtained through numerous ways:
- Rewarded at certain ranks of Nightwave (usually the last rank or second to last)
- As Gift from the Lotus.
- Awarded for completing the Mastery Rank 30 test.
- Blueprint can be purchased from The Steel Path Honors Shop for 150 Steel Essence when it’s available once every 8 weeks.
And that's all you need to know about Formas! While you're here, you can check out our useful Yareli, Nidus, and Sevagoth guides, or keep an eye on our Prime Vault and Prime Access guide so you don't miss on the returning and upcoming items!