I don’t understand mission levels

[AnnoyedArkham]

Yes; I’m basically a huge noob. But please, someone, explain this to me. I know master rank is used to unlock gear, and I know that no single piece of gear can go beyond level 30. So, what does, for example, a mission listing level 40~45 mean? Is that the composite level of all my stuff? Some sort of average? Or is there a hidden level I don’t know how to see? I just find it strange for the game to list mission levels like they are important, but not actually provide a way to compare yourself against that level to estimate difficulty.

[Pakaku]

Enemies start at that level, their level affects their health and damage they can do, they also slowly increase in level as the mission progresses. Totally irrelevant to your own mastery rank or weapon levels

[Zakkhar]

33 minutes ago, AnnoyedArkham said:

I know master rank is used to unlock gear, and I know that no single piece of gear can go beyond level 30. So, what does, for example, a mission listing level 40~45 mean? Is that the composite level of all my stuff?

You are mixing terms. Rank and Level.

Weapons/frames/companions have ranks. Enemies have levels.

Item rank dictates the amount of capacity you have to equip mods. Item power depends on the mods you use and the base stats of the item. Higher rank does nothinng for the item if you do not capitalise on the additionnal capacity by equipping better (higher ranked) mods. 

Enemy level dictates its scaling. Higher level enemieis deal more damage and are harder to kill.

33 minutes ago, AnnoyedArkham said:

Is that the composite level of all my stuff?

There is no item level or gearscore stat for players. Not that kind of game.

33 minutes ago, AnnoyedArkham said:

I just find it strange for the game to list mission levels like they are important, but not actually provide a way to compare yourself against that level to estimate difficulty.

You can compare yourself just fine. If you just done a mission that had lets say lvl 30 enemies and you have found yourself struggling to kill them or/and having difficulties to stay alive, you can safely assume that unless you change something (upgrade your gear, get better weapons, get better at movement and using soft cover) lvl 45 enemies will most likely sweep the floor with you. It kiknda depends on the faction a bit as well, but lets say you had troubles with 30 Grineer, so 45 Grineer will roll you.

Max level mission on normal starchart is 60, I think. But it will depends on mission type, as some missions involve bosses or miibosses that must be killed in order to succeed and those can be substantially beefier than oridinary enemies.

Edited August 9 by Zakkhar

[quxier]

"Mission levels" are way to show difficulty, like @Pakaku said. The bigger the level, the harder it will be. New enemies types may appear at some levels.

Warframe have lot of different mission "types": open world (bounties), Railjack, Duviri, normal missions etc. I'm not sure about nowadays but in old times I wouldn't compare levels from different 'types'. For example I could do normal mission just fine but open world missions were harder for me.

[NinjaZeku]

24 minutes ago, AnnoyedArkham said:

So, what does, for example, a mission listing level 40~45 mean?

It's enemy levels.

25 minutes ago, AnnoyedArkham said:

I just find it strange for the game to list mission levels like they are important, but not actually provide a way to compare yourself against that level to estimate difficulty.

Alas, that's not really how Warframe works, there is no "Light Level" or whatever rating like in Destiny etc,
your personal power can vary wildly based on what Mods you use, what weapons, Frames, Arcanes, etc,
and all the interactions between those separate pieces, not to mention skill and experience regarding how to best utilize them / general aspects of gameplay.

So, the best way to find out if a certain mission is "appropriate" for you, is to just try it and see :D

[Pakaku]

16 minutes ago, quxier said:

Warframe have lot of different mission "types": open world (bounties), Railjack, Duviri, normal missions etc. I'm not sure about nowadays but in old times I wouldn't compare levels from different 'types'. For example I could do normal mission just fine but open world missions were harder for me.

It makes me feel like levels on the map are just misleading, because the enemies always do feel like they vary between mission types. Probably would make more sense to show the stats those levels actually affect, because the level is effectively meaningless even if you know what it affects

[quxier]

7 hours ago, Pakaku said:

7 hours ago, quxier said:

Warframe have lot of different mission "types": open world (bounties), Railjack, Duviri, normal missions etc. I'm not sure about nowadays but in old times I wouldn't compare levels from different 'types'. For example I could do normal mission just fine but open world missions were harder for me.

It makes me feel like levels on the map are just misleading, because the enemies always do feel like they vary between mission types. Probably would make more sense to show the stats those levels actually affect, because the level is effectively meaningless even if you know what it affects

I think they are fine once you know mission types' differences. Showing health, armor etc wouldn't be great imho. That would forces you to know/check your damage & other stats. That's why I think Simulacrum should plays bigger/better role.