In Warframe, the Razorback Armada is a quick little event with a singular purpose. You need to blow up a Razorback. Well, technically you want to destroy at least three to get the event’s full rewards. But even completing the Razorback mission once gives you a shot at useful mods and weapon components. The process for actually finding and beating a Razorback in Warframe, however, isn’t fully explained. So we’ve put together this useful guide to send the Razorback Armada running. Read on for more info!
The mission begins like so many other events in Warframe. You’ll get an email from the Lotus notifying you that it’s available for a limited time (usually a few days). This message will trigger automatically as soon as you log in or return to your Orbiter. And when it does, you’ll get the all-important Razorback Cipher Blueprint. This device is key to accessing the next stage of the mission. Literally. It acts as an actual key to beat the boss. And you’ll need three in total to collect the full rewards.
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Getting the Razorback Cipher & Cryptographic ALU
Completing the cipher requires four things: credits, Polymer Bundles, Gallium, and the Cryptographic ALU. The first three should be fairly straightforward. None of these resources are particularly rare. If you’re out of Gallium and Polymer Bundles, however, you can head to Uranus and complete missions there to farm both. The Cryptographic ALU is another story…
This special resource is only available during the Razorback Armada event. As such, you probably don’t have a bunch just laying around. What’s more, it only drops from two specific missions in Warframe: Salacia on Neptune and Galilea on Saturn.
These are both Arcwhing missions. Naturally, that means you can’t complete the Razorback Cipher unless you’ve completed the quest “The Archwing,” and unlocked a spiffy jetpack of your own.
Let’s assume you already have one, though. Just head to Salacia or Galilea! The necessary Cryptographic ALU will drop from enemies killed during either mission. It’s not an extremely common drop, though, so you may need multiple runs to acquire what you need (12 of the rare substance in total). I suggest Salacia on Neptune in particular. It’s a Mobile Defense mission, meaning far more enemies come to you than during the Sabotage on Jupiter. You can easily get the necessary four units of Cryptographic ALU per cipher in a single run.
Then it’s simply time to craft the Razorback Cipher in the Gear section of your Foundry. The build only takes 60 seconds, so don’t worry about time being an issue. Once it’s finished, however, the device won’t work automatically. You need to equip it in your Arsenal (just like a normal cipher you might bring on missions). Once that’s done, you can access the Razorback alert from your star map.
The Razorback Cipher will be consumed when you — or anyone else on your squad — hacks the final door leading to the boss on the mission. You can’t game the system by having one person use a key, then letting someone else hack, and repeating. Everyone needs a cipher.
How to Beat the Razorback in Warframe
Entering the final room will trigger the boss fight. And you’ll notice right away that the creature looks a lot like the Jackal boss on Venus. Just like the Jackal, the Razorback is immune to damage at first blush. But the trick here is very different than your average foe. The Razorback is completely impervious to damage… except from a Bursa.
If you’re not familiar with the name, Bursas are those short, shielded attack drones that Corpus often deploy when you trigger an alarm. These heavy walkers rest in alcoves that line the walls of the Razorback boss room — protected by laser grids. The trick to this fight is getting the Bursas down on the floor, depleting their hit points by shooting them in the back (thereby stunning them), and hacking the consoles on their butts. Naturally, this makes them fight for you for 10 whole seconds.
The question is how to get a Bursa down in the first place. It’s not entirely explained. Neither is it complicated! There’s a platform high above the entrance to the Razorback room. On said platform are two more terminals to hack (you do that a lot during this event. Unlocking the terminals will deactivate the laser grids for a brief time, allowing a Bursa or two to hop down. Then it’s time to open fire and “recruit” them to your cause.
When the Bursas deplete the Razorback’s shields, the boss will become vulnerable to normal damage. That’s your chance to unload (preferably with Radiation damage, as that’s its greatest weakness). The downside is that any Bursa friendly to you will die once the invulnerability goes down. You may have to hack even more to finish the fight. Once it’s down, though, you’re good to grab your loot and leave!
Just make sure your Bursa can get down in the first place. Certain stunning and slowing abilities can trap them in their upper alcoves, significantly slowing down the battle. Wisp’s shock Reservoir, in particular, can be a huge problem since its range can reach up all the way into the rafters. Plan your build accordingly.
And that’s all there is to it. The process sounds like a lot on paper, but it flies by in just a few minutes once you get to it. So why don’t you do just that? Get to it, Tenno! Grab some Cryptographic ALU, build a cipher, and take care of that Razorback while you still can.
