A Beginners Guide to Mirage in Warframe – Understanding Abilities, Build, Weapons

Warframe is a game filled with many in-game content and if you are a new player, this can be daunting to understand every aspect of the game.

One of the key aspects of Warframe is the different frames to choose from. One of the most famous frames is Mirage, which is very popular among players due to its kit and damage buffing abilities.

Mirage in Warframe is the 20th released frame and a very popular among players due to her huge damage-dealing and weapon-buffing abilities, which make her useful in various mission types and multiplayer game modes.

Mirage Introduction

Mirage is a versatile frame that can be used as excellent support or as a great damage dealer in missions that require eliminating a large number of enemies like Steel Path Missions Exterminate Missions or Sanctuary Onslaught.

So if you are a new player, this article is a starting point to help you understand how you can get Mirage and effectively use her in the game.

How to Use Mirage Abilities in a Game?

Just like any other frame, Mirage also has 4 abilities and a passive ability and if you are new to the game, understanding these abilities in her kit is crucial to play the game effectively and utilize her full potential.

Here’s a table that gives a brief introduction of each ability and its energy cost without using any efficiency-based mod in the game (Will talk more about Modding Mirage later in the article).

Ability Name:	Energy Cost:	Description
Hall of Mirrors	25	This is the ultimate ability of Mirage where Mirage releases an energy prism that shoots lasers in all directions to deal damage to enemies. Reactivating the ability detonates the prism and blinds the nearby enemies.
Sleight of Hand	50	There are two modes in the ability, TAP mode temporarily reduces the amount of damage the mirage takes and HOLD it temporarily increases the weapon damage based on the light level of the place.
Eclipse	25	It’s a unique ability that creates a Booby trap in a certain radius that bursts and gives radial blinds to the enemy.
Prism	50	There are two modes in the ability, TAP mode temporarily reduces the amount of damage the mirage takes, and HOLD it temporarily increases the weapon damage based on the light level of the place.

So let’s understand each of the above abilities in much more detail and how players generally use them in the game.

Mirage’s Passive Ability

Mirage’s passive ability in my opinion is not that great, it just gives Mirage increased proficiency while forming several Maneuvers Sliding lasts 85% longer and Mirage has a +50% faster maneuver speed.

This thus makes it a little more convenient to move freely around the map but doesn’t make much of a difference because, with time, you will improve with movement in Warframe the more you play it.

Mirage 1st Ability: Hall of Mirrors

Hall of Mirror is Mirage’s 1st ability and supports her overall kit very well. It costs 25 Energy which creates doppelgangers around Mirage. These doppelgangers confuse and distract the enemy. These doppelgangers also deal a certain percentage of damage to the enemy which depends on your weapon stats and overall build.

Most of the ability in the game has Augment Mods and so does Hall of Mirrors. Its augment mod is called: Hall of Malevolence, which increases doppelgangers’ damage by 5% with every enemy killed.

Overall Hall of Mirror is a great ability for survivability in mission and to deal damage to enemies. This ability synergies really with Mirage’s other abilities as well.

Mirage 2nd Ability: Sleight of Hand

Mirage 2nd Ability is called Sleight of Hand which is not very famous on its own but is extremely popular when paired with its Augment mod called Explosive Legerdemain.

This ability creates a booby trap that traps all interactive objects in a certain radius, this ability also simultaneously places a jewel that is light sensitive and attracts enemies and detonates when the enemies come within the 2m radium of the jewel.

This ability might seem good but due to its high energy cost, it’s not much popular unless paired with its augment mod.

It’s augment mod Explosive Legerdemain converts all the eligible pickups like ammo and orbs into proximity mines that detonate and deal damage with a 100% status chance. Making it very usable to clear large group of enemies and apply them with status effect at the same time.

Mirage 3rd Ability: Eclipse

Mirage 3rd Ability Eclipse is one of the best damage buffing abilities in the game. This is also a Helminth ability that can be used on other frames by subsuming Mirage in the game.

Though this ability has two modes (Tap and Hold), players mostly use it for Hold effect.

• Tap Mode: If you tap this ability, it reduces the incoming damage Mirage takes from the enemies. This only is good in certain situations to increase survivability.
• Hold Mode: Holding this ability buffs your weapon damage temporarily which affects initial and status effect damage as well.

Eclipse is also one of the only two weapon damage buffing abilities in the game, making is a player all all-time favorite. The percentage of damage increase depends on the surrounding light level, meaning a well-lit area will have more damage buff compared to darker areas of the map.

This ability not only affects the player but by uses it with its Augment mod called Total Eclipse, during multiplayer mode, this buff can also given to teammates making Mirage and this ability is one of the best to pick while playing with your friends.

Mirage 4th Ability: Prism

Prism is Mirage’s 4th and ultimate ability which can deal tons of damage to surrounding enemies. This ability creates a prism that shoots laser beams at nearby enemies and activates this ability again while its active detonates the prism, blinding the nearby enemies to increase survivability.

In most of the damage-dealing Mirage builds, this ability is used especially with its Augment Mod called Prism Guard which makes Prism follow Mirage around the map instead of roaming in a random direction.

How to Get Mirage in Warframe?

Now that you know about Mirage kits and how amazing she is in the game, let’s understand how you can get Mirage for the first time.

The only way to get Mirage the first time in the game is by purchasing the main frame blueprint from Market and completing the Hidden Message Quest to get the Mirage components blueprint. After acquiring all the components, players can use them to build Mirage.

The Hidden Message Quest unlocks after completing the Pluto and Sedna junction, once you begin the quest, you will be given three riddles in total one after another, solving each riddle will reward you with a component and the location of the next mission.

Hidden Message Quest Riddles Answer

Answers to all three riddles are related to Greek Mythology and lead to a node in the star chart.

The table below contains answers to all three riddles of the Hidden Message Quest:

Riddle No.	Answer
Riddle 1 of Hidden Messages Quest	Olympus, Mars
Riddle 1 of Hidden Messages Quest	Calypso, Saturn
Riddle 2 of Hidden Messages Quest	Charybdis, Sedna

Materials Required to Craft Mirage Components

Every warframe requires different components to build, all of these materials can be acquired from various missions around the star charts. These are pretty easy to acquire but have certain rarities and best places to farm.

To Build a Mirage, a player is required to use 11 different materials in the game like Game Credits, Argon Crystal, Alloy Plates, etc. These materials can be farmed throughout various locations in the game but have some best places to farm. The table below contains a list of all materials required to build a Mirage with the best places to acquire the materials in the game.

Material	No. of Materials	Best Place to Get Material
Credits	70,000	The Index or Profit Taker
Argon Crystal	1	Endless Void Survival Missions: Mot & Ani
Alloy Plate	250	Draco Survival Mission on Ceres with Khora or Nekros
Neurodes	1	Earth or Lua
Polymer Bundle	1050	Assur or Ophelia Endless Mission on Uranus with Khora or Nekros
Orokin Cell	2	Saturn, Ceres, Deimos & Boss Drops
Ferrite	2,500	Teshub Exterminate on Void or Mercury Survival Missions with Khora or Nekros
Plastids	450	Missions on Saturn, Uranus, Phobos, Pluto, or Eris.
Gallium	1	Lech Kril boss of Mars or Tyl Regor boss of Uranus
Control Module	1	Void: Teshub Exterminate Mission or Hepit Capture Mission
Circuits	250	Dark Sector Gabii or Seimeni on Ceres

How to Build Mirage in Game

After getting Mirage, it is now time for you to take her on missions and clear the whole map in one go, but wait before we do all this.

First, we have to level Mirage to level 30 and give it an Orokin Reactor to double the Mod capacities.

P.S: There are many ways for players to play a character in a game and Warframe provides unlimited possibilities to players to build and play the character.

What we will be discussing is some of the popular playstyles that complement Mirage Kits and some common mods that are essential in most of the Mirage Build out there.

But always feel free to spark your creativity and build the character in whichever way you like.

Some Essential Mods for Mirage Builds

While Modding Mirage, we have to consider her kit and playstyle. The major issue with Mirage’s abilities is its duration. Even though they are very good with high damage and range potential, the duration of the ability is low.

To tackle this issue using mods that increase duration like Continuity or Narrow Minded is essential for players in the game. The table below contains all the essential mods you will need to build in most of the builds out there:

Most Popular Mods for Mirage Builds in Warframe
To increase duration:
	Continuity / Primed Continuity	Narrow Minded
To increase strength and deal more damage:
	Blind Rage	Intensify / Umbra Intensify
	Transient Fortitude	Augur Secret
	Power Drift

Different Mirage Playstyles

Using the mods above, there are different ways you can build Mirage in the game. Mirage can be used as an excellent nuke frame to clear out the enemies, a survival frame in endless game modes where killing a big cluster of enemies is important while maintaining health.

So let’s see what are different playstyles players generally use to play Mirage:

Using Mirage as Nuke

In many of the nuke warframes list you will find online, Mirage will be present because of her special augment mod called Explosive Legerdemain.

This mod converts all the ammo, health, and energy pickups within a radius to proximity mines. These mines deal 500 damage to enemies with 100% status chances.

Using Mirage as Team Support

Mirage 3rd ability Eclipse has two modes. When you tap the 3rd ability, it will decrease the incoming damage to Mirage and when you Hold the 3rd ability, it will buff the weapon damage of Mirage as well as teammates weapons based on the surrounding light level.

Using Mirage as a Crowd Controller

In the community, players generally don’t use Mirage as a Crowd Controller because there are other warframes like Khora or Nidus that are better with crowd control than Mirage.

This does not mean these builds don’t exist. You can use other warframe abilities like Wisp’s Breach Surge to create a Mirage build which is good with crowd control.

This can not only help you to affect multiple enemies at the same time but can also help you deal tons of damage to enemies using Prism.

Best Places/Missions to Use Mirage in Warframe

Mirage is best used in mission types like exterminate or survival where players have to eliminate large groups of enemies. Mirage is also very popular to farm daily focus in Elite Sanctuary Onslaught missions.

Best Weapon Choices for Mirage Kits in Warframe

Mirage is all in one frame which can deal high damage to a large group of enemies while applying 100% status effect due to her 2nd ability. That’s why a high AOE damage weapon with high-status chance works really well with Mirage because this can create multiple reactions in the game.

Here are some very popular weapons that work really well with Mirage in the game:

Weapon	Image	Benefit
Tenet Arca Plasmor		High AOE Damage with Status Effect Chance
Ignis Wraith		100% Heat status effect on a large group of enemies
Amprex		High AOE Damage Projective to Damage and Status Effect
Kuva Ogris		100% Heat status effect to a large group of enemies