Best Warframe melee weapons: From Lesion to Redeemer Prime

Jessica Filby
Warframe characters posing with melee weapons

Warframe is a free-to-play third-person shooter that offers intense multiplayer battles. If you’re to survive these battles, you’ll need the most powerful weapons. Here are the best melee weapons in Warframe.

Blasting the enemy from afar is only part of Warframe, should an opponent get up close and personal you’re going to need to engage in melee combat. Primary or secondary guns aren’t much use when the enemy is right up in your face, but this is when close-quarter weapons begin to come into their own.

Melee weapons in Warframe are quick, deadly, and great in a pinch. So, if you prefer to use them as your main weapon, or if you want a powerful tool to save your life when needed, having a great melee weapon is vital. We’ve compiled some of the best melee weapons in Warframe so you can dominate the battlefield.

Kronen Prime

While weapons in this game are absolutely about the damage and effectiveness in battle, it’s also relatively important that they look good. After all, you want to deal devastating damage and look good doing it.

Thankfully, the Kronen Prime is exactly that with more power than you ever considered. It has great attack damage with the speed to really make you a formidable fighter. That matched with the fantastic range, great mods, and great critical chance will make you feel indestructible.

Pangolin Prime

While it may not have the flair many are looking for when they choose a great melee weapon in Warframe, it does have the damage and the ease of use.

Essentially, the Pangolin Prime is the kind of weapon that just carves through enemies with ease but lacks anything particularly special. The Pangolin Prime is a fantastic weapon if you want damage and don’t care about using anything unique.

Nikana Prime

The weapon itself looks deadly, regal, and powerful and the stats prove that it certainly holds that description to its core.

The Nikana Prime is the kind of weapon you can take throughout the game and still feel like it cuts through enemies with ease. It has some stunning slash damage along with enough crits to take down anyone you need quickly and efficiently. It also has the ability to take down multiple enemies with the right mods.

Warframe Gram Prime
The Gram Prime is large – and deadly.

Gram Prime

Looking straight out of a Final Fantasy game, the Gram Prime is large, powerful, and arguably one of the best weapons in Warframe.

While it is deadly, it’s the versatility that really grants this weapon the status of one of the best melee weapons in Warframe. No matter how you want to fight, the Gram Prime will let you. Using great mods and a well-made build, you can do whatever you want.

Redeemer Prime

As one of the more popular melee weapons in Warframe, the Redeemer Prime is a fantastic choice for anyone who can get their hands on it.

It boasts a great design, strong base damage, and a fantastic critical multiplier to keep you fighting longer and harder.

Orthos Prime

Not all powerful melee weapons need to be close-range swords or deadly knives, sometimes a battle requires you to stand back and let the weapon thrive.

This polearm is effective when fighting multiple enemies at once and will keep you far enough back to stay safe. It’s both a great defensive weapon and an effective offensive tool.

Venka Prime melee weapon
Feel like Wolverine with the Venka Prime melee weapon.

Venka Prime

Looking straight out of a Wolverine film, the Venka Prime is a deadly, quick, and awesome melee weapon. It’s relatively close range but that shouldn’t matter when you take into consideration the speed, damage, and critical chance given through this deadly weapon.

It’s recommended you get Primed Reach to give a bit more power.

Lesion

Another powerful polearm. The Lesion has a great range with some unbelievable damage which, when combined with the speed this weapon grants you, will cut through enemies like it’s nothing.

Unlike many other melee weapons, the Lesion will gain 100% Toxin damage so you’ll be able to deal more than just physical damage on each hit.

Guandao Prime

The Guandao Prime is the perfect representation of a powerful weapon with a perfect design that makes you feel like a regal warrior.

While it may not be the quickest melee weapon in Warframe, it is among the most powerful when considering the base damage output.

Stropha

With a simplistic design and an irresistible amount of power, the Stropha is a fantastic melee weapon to use in Warframe.

It deals high damage which all combines into a great critical chance and a devastating critical multiplier that will leave your enemies terrified of your presence.

Those are the best melee weapons in Warframe. For more Warframe content, check out some of our other guides.

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About The Author

Based in Cumbria, England, Jessica is a Senior Games Writer who joined Dexerto after stints at Game Rant and The Gamer. You can find her covering everything from Minecraft, CoD, Disney Dreamlight Valley, Pokemon Go and more. You can contact Jessica at jessica.filby@dexerto.com