2020 Warframe Usage Stats: Overall Warframe Usage

[(XBOX)LurkyofAuir]

Hey guys! I was really interested in the Warframe usage stats, but I was kind of frustrated at how there was not a way to see Warframe usage when primes and normal variants are factored together. I thought that by combining all versions of the Warframes together, it might change which Warframes were considered to be the most used. So, I compiled all of the Warframe usages together and ranked them so that if anyone else wanted to see the stats in this way they could have an easy tool to look at! If you want to look at where I pulled the stats from or the stats of weapon usage, https://www.warframe.com/2020stats is the place to go!

One minor note of business before the stats though. Some of the Warframes have the same usage percentages as others when combined with their prime versions. When this happened, I placed them based on which Warframe had the highest average placement of usage in the original list, factoring in their prime variants. For example, Chroma had the same use percentage as Mag, however his average usage rank from the original list was 45.5 (Chroma Prime was #21 in usage, Chroma was #71 in usage) compared to Mag’s average placement of 41 (Mag was #31 in usage, Mag Prime was #51 in usage). Thus, Chroma was placed below Mag. For the other Warframes with the same use percentages, here were their average usage rank:

 Valkyr - 46 (Valkyr Prime #39, Valkyr #53) Ash - 48.5 (Ash Prime #30, Ash #67)                    and                           Xaku - 56 Banshee - 67.5 (Banshee Prime #63, Banshee #72).

 

With that out of the way, here are the usage stats (on all platforms). Enjoy!

1. Excalibur - 8.77%

2. Wukong - 8.3%

3. Volt - 6.1%

4. Rhino - 5.93%

5. Mesa - 5.52%

6. Saryn - 4.27%

7. Nekros - 3.78%

8. Khora - 3.38%

9. Inaros - 3.26%

10. Wisp - 3.07%

11. Limbo - 2.7%

12. Ivara - 2.54%

13. Nova - 2.3%

14. Frost - 2.1%

15. Ember - 2.07%

16. Loki - 2.05%

17. Nidus - 1.93%

18. Octavia - 1.9%

19. Trinity - 1.81%

20. Titania - 1.76%

21. Mag - 1.73%

22. Chroma - 1.73%

23. Nezha - 1.71%

24. Mirage - 1.7%

25. Vauban - 1.69%

26. Oberon - 1.65%

27. Equinox - 1.61%

28. Gauss - 1.56%

29. Valkyr - 1.35%

30. Ash - 1.35%

31. Revenant - 1.33%

32. Hydroid - 1.3%

33. Protea - 1.11%

34. Hildryn - 1.03%

35. Atlas - 0.97%

36. Gara - 0.89%

37. Harrow - 0.72%

38. Baruuk - 0.64%

39. Nyx - 0.53%

40. Zephyr - 0.49%

41. Garuda - 0.44%

42. Xaku - 0.43%

43. Banshee - 0.43%

44. Grendel - 0.29%

45. Lavos - 0.07%

One of the interesting things I noted:  All of the top 15 most used Warframes have 1 or more prime versions to give them their overall high usage percentage, except for the notable exceptions of Khora and Wisp who don’t have prime versions. Maybe this could be used to help DE figure out what kinds of Warframe abilities players enjoy using so that they can make more interesting and popular Warframes in the future.

Thanks for looking at this though! It's quite possible that there may be a discrepancy or two that formed in the numbers as I transfered from original list to calculator to spreadsheet to here, so just let me know if there are some things I have to change. I hope you find this as useful as I do.

[Dark_Lugia]

You can also take a look into the warframe/weapon stats here:
https://www.warframe.com/2020stats

[(XBOX)LurkyofAuir]

1 minute ago, Dark_Lugia said:

You can also take a look into the warframe/weapon stats here:
https://www.warframe.com/2020stats

I'll edit this into the main post so people know where to go to find the other stats. I can't believe I forgot to in the first place lol.

[Leyvonne]

Am I blind or is Saryn missing from the list?

[(XBOX)C11H22O11]

1 minute ago, Leyvonne said:

Am I blind or is Saryn missing from the list?

She is

[(XBOX)LurkyofAuir]

4 minutes ago, Leyvonne said:

Am I blind or is Saryn missing from the list?

You're not blind, I am lol. Just edited to put her in.

[Loza03]

Excal: Yeah, that figures.

Wukong: ... Not so much. Hey @DeMonkey, I summon thee. Of note, Wukong Prime seems to come up late in the MR, though almost all primes see their highest usages later in the MR tree (where applicable)

Khora: Likely got her stats buffed by steel path farming.

Limbo:  On the one hand - yay, people also like Limbo. On the other, it's probably because stasis is busted. 

Xaku: Interestingly, Xaku is almost exclusively used by MR 29 and 30, even more so than most. Possibly affected by his release date (i.e. he has 0 stats prior to his release)

Lavos: Figures, he was out on PC for like... a couple weeks in 2020. Naturally almost nobody used him.

 

I'd be very interested to see if they continue releasing these stats in later years!

[Veridian]

The stats for weapons are nothing surprising, but seing them in a chart does put things into perspective.

Also, how is Nezha so low...

[-JT-_-R3W1ND]

54 minutes ago, (XBOX)TyeGoo said:

Why are all the frames I like at the bottom half :( 

I suck 😭 

Check link for a high rank players usage.

I guess you are joking, but maybe you are not so lonely in your picks.

[(PSN)DoctorWho_90250]

1 hour ago, (XBOX)EliteGenji70667 said:

Hey guys! I was really interested in the Warframe usage stats, but I was kind of frustrated at how there was not a way to see Warframe usage when primes and normal variants are factored together. I thought that by combining all versions of the Warframes together, it might change which Warframes were considered to be the most used. So, I compiled all of the Warframe usages together and ranked them so that if anyone else wanted to see the stats in this way they could have an easy tool to look at! If you want to look at where I pulled the stats from or the stats of weapon usage, https://www.warframe.com/2020stats is the place to go!

 

Thanks for the link.

[eboomer]

I wish you could download some raw data in an Excel friendly format (like .csv).  Would make things like what the OP did WAAAAAY more accessible, and I'm sure DE has a dataset they could sanitize a bit and upload for us.

[CephalonCarnage]

The one concern I have for this is the "equip time" that's used to track which is more popular. that means if you equip a weapon and sit around all day, the stats will be skewed in favour of it. I'd have preferred to see a snapshot with the kit equipped per mission. A 3 minute capture mission should count for as much in terms of usage as a 4 hour survival one, because ts not about how much time you spend with it, its which you choose that I think matters more.

[Ace-Bounty-Hunter]

It's not surprising that Excal is number one since he's generally a new Tenno's first choice when starting the game. 

I'm just happy to see the Monkey King riding his heels at the second place spot. He truly is the best all round frame in the game.

[Berzerkules]

Excal nerf incoming...

[Ace-Bounty-Hunter]

Just now, Berzerkules said:

Excal nerf incoming...

If you think that's bad. Take a look at the stats for the secondary weapons.

Enjoy using the Kuva Nukor while you can, folks. 

[ReddyDisco]

"the art of doing nothing" prime is no 2 in usage, not surprising 

[CephalonCarnage]

9 hours ago, Ace-Bounty-Hunter said:

t's not surprising that Excal is number one since he's generally a new Tenno's first choice when starting the game.

Nor Volt as he's one of the first 3 choices. Mag however, doesn't get the same kind of popularity.

[kwlingo]

Excal is number one because most players dont stay in long enough to play any other frames outside the starting frames. Base on aesthetics along Excal get chosen most of the time. I was one to chose Excal aslo many years ago without knowing any of their kits. As you can see it MR# usage is from new players. When you start looking at Vet, the % of frames usage differs with MR 20-30 significantly.

[(PSN)FK2P]

Oh look, all the bad ones are at the bottom. 

[Marvelous_A]

10 hours ago, kwlingo said:

Excal is number one because most players dont stay in long enough to play any other frames outside the starting frames. Base on aesthetics along Excal get chosen most of the time. I was one to chose Excal aslo many years ago without knowing any of their kits. As you can see it MR# usage is from new players. When you start looking at Vet, the % of frames usage differs with MR 20-30 significantly.

I think that's the right idea. Excalibur is not particularly popular after MR10. Just 1.8% around MR 25-30. But it does help that Excalibur Umbra is gifted for free after completion of The Sacrifice. 

[(PSN)SolarPhantom82]

I'm surprised my girl valkyr is not lower,  she needs a rework. ..but haging in there. . But I think I'm going to become a wrath mane.  My two favorite frame are valkyr and wisp..  sooo 

[Loza03]

On 2021-01-30 at 6:34 AM, ReddyDisco said:

"the art of doing nothing" prime is no 2 in usage, not surprising 

Likewise the weapon that a literal piece of sellotape can play is no1 in primary and no2 overall.

Shocking.

[ReddyDisco]

23 minutes ago, Loza03 said:

Likewise the weapon that a literal piece of sellotape can play is no1 in primary and no2 overall.

Shocking.

ignis and bramma pair well with wuclone

i see no connection there either

[Zimzala]

Thanks @(XBOX)EliteGenji70667 for compiling. The usage line with Prime vs Non-Prime is interesting.

 

"Lies, damned lies, and statistics..." 

The best part will be all of the 'definitive conclusions'  about various things these numbers will used to define and defend.

Posters here already deriding other players for playing 'lazy' and 'idiot proof' equipment to let us know their e-peens are bigger - adorable!

And the calls for 'nerfs and buffs' will ring from the mountaintops now, because. "look I have Proof!"

Fun Times.

[Loza03]

7 minutes ago, Zimzala said:

Posters here already deriding other players for playing 'lazy' and 'idiot proof' equipment to let us know their e-peens are bigger - adorable!

There's a difference between something being relatively low effort or simple to use and literally taking nothing from the player whilst still being competitive in the damage department. Wuclone and Ignis Wraith are absolutely competitive in the damage department, Ignis for example being able to take on sortie level enemies with a 0 forma six-mod build.

If that's the precedent we're setting - that this game takes no effort - then any chance of content that satisfies the other side of the spectrum is, quite frankly, impossible. Whereas if the game is built around rewarding skill, then both sides can be satisfied. Consider TF2 or Monster Hunter. Most TF2 classes have simple, low-effort strategies that offer enough success to satisfy newer players, even on the more complicated classes like Engineer or Spy, but all the classes have high skill ceilings - even the seemingly less complicated classes like Soldier or Pyro. Monster Hunter, especially in World, does much the same thing, with many easy-to-learn weapons that have hidden layers of depth and skill. What matters is that these strategies are substantially more effective than their lower-effort counterparts, and become necessary to deal with sooner or later. TF2 will have extremely skilled players who know what they're doing dominate you unless you figure out what you're doing. Monster Hunter will have Monsters that laugh in the face of your simplistic strategies.

The issue with stuff like Ignis Wraith is that it takes no effort to use, but it's competive with - or even more effective than - more complex or interesting builds. Which means that the game doesn't reward skill, either mechanical or in buildcraft knowledge. You can work on your build all you want, but why bother if you'll get the same or better results not doing that?

Action games should reward skill. RPG's should reward clever builds. Warframe is both, and it should reward both. Ignis Wraith and Wuclone do neither.