Warframe Melee Tier List 2025 – Best Melee Weapons Ranked

Melee combat is a core aspect of Warframe, offering players fast, fluid, and visually spectacular combat experiences. Our Warframe Melee Tier List 2025 ranks the best melee weapons, from swords and polearms to dual swords and gunblades, helping both beginners and veterans optimize their builds and dominate missions.

Our Warframe Melee Tier List 2025 is designed to guide both beginners and experienced players by ranking weapons based on damage potential, versatility, critical chance, status effects, and overall usability. This tier list incorporates the latest balance updates and weapon additions for 2025, ensuring your melee loadout is meta-ready.

Whether you prefer quick-swinging blades, heavy-hitting greatswords, or hybrid gunblades, this guide will help you make informed decisions and optimize your Warframe builds.

How We Ranked Warframe Melee Tier List Weapons

To determine tier placements, we evaluated:

  • Base Damage & Scaling: Weapons with high base damage and efficient scaling are prioritized.
  • Attack Speed & Combos: Faster weapons with smooth combos excel in mobility and crowd control.
  • Critical & Status Potential: Weapons capable of frequent critical hits and status effects perform well in high-level missions.
  • Versatility Across Missions: Weapons effective in multiple mission types, including Survival, Defense, and Spy, were ranked higher.
  • Ease of Use: Accessibility for beginners without heavy mod investment was considered.

We also incorporated community feedback and developer patch notes to ensure our tier list reflects current meta trends.

Top-tier Warframe melee weapons with high damage, critical chance, and crowd control abilities.

S-Tier Warframe Melee Weapons

S-Tier weapons dominate Warframe’s melee meta. They combine high damage, critical efficiency, and versatility, making them suitable for almost all missions.

1. Galatine Prime – S-Tier Warframe Melee Weapon

  • Type: Heavy Sword
  • Strengths: Massive base damage, excellent critical chance, staggering enemies with each hit
  • Best Mods: Pressure Point, Berserker, Organ Shatter, Gladiator mods
  • Usage: Ideal for Steel Path missions, Sorties, and high-level Endgame content. Pair with Excalibur or Rhino for tanky melee dominance.
Galatine Prime delivering massive damage in Warframe missions.

2. Nikana Prime

  • Type: Katana
  • Strengths: Balanced speed, high critical potential, and smooth combos
  • Best Mods: Pressure Point, True Steel, Berserker, Gladiator mods
  • Usage: Effective for solo and co-op, excelling in fast-paced melee engagements. Nikana Prime’s versatility makes it beginner-friendly yet potent for veterans.

3. Gram Prime

  • Type: Greatsword
  • Strengths: Strong AoE, high critical multiplier, reliable stagger
  • Best Mods: Blood Rush, Weeping Wounds, Gladiator mods
  • Usage: Excellent for crowd control and mid-to-late game missions. Its AoE potential allows easy clearing of grouped enemies.

A-Tier Warframe Melee Weapons

A-Tier weapons are powerful but situational or harder to optimize without mods. They perform well in most missions but require slightly more skill or investment.

1. Orthos Prime

  • Type: Polearm
  • Strengths: Long reach, fast sweeping attacks, solid damage
  • Best Mods: Primed Reach, Pressure Point, Gladiator mods
  • Usage: Perfect for clearing mobs efficiently, especially in defense or survival missions.

2. Redeemer Prime

  • Type: Gunblade
  • Strengths: Hybrid melee and ranged attacks, AoE blast
  • Best Mods: Pressure Point, Berserker, Gladiator mods
  • Usage: Allows engagement at range and melee, offering flexibility for different playstyles.

3. Dual Keres

  • Type: Dual Swords
  • Strengths: Rapid attack speed, high status chance, combo potential
  • Best Mods: Blood Rush, Weeping Wounds, Berserker
  • Usage: Ideal for crowd control and high-mobility missions. Great for stealthy runs or continuous combat loops.

B-Tier Warframe Melee Weapons

B-Tier weapons are viable but either niche, harder to mod, or less effective in current meta. They can still be fun or useful in specialized missions.

1. Galatine

  • Classic Galatine lacks Prime stats but remains serviceable for beginners.

2. Dakra Prime

  • High critical potential but slower attack speed limits effectiveness in fast-paced scenarios.

3. Atterax

  • Excellent for status-focused builds but requires mod investment and careful positioning.

Melee Weapon Categories

Heavy Swords

  • Examples: Galatine Prime, Gram Prime
  • Strengths: High damage, staggering power, strong AoE
  • Weaknesses: Slower attacks

Polearms

  • Examples: Orthos Prime, Bo Prime
  • Strengths: Long reach, fast sweeping attacks
  • Weaknesses: Moderate single-hit damage

Dual Swords

  • Examples: Dual Keres, Dual Zoren
  • Strengths: Fast combos, high status
  • Weaknesses: Lower damage per hit

Gunblades

  • Examples: Redeemer Prime
  • Strengths: Hybrid melee/ranged capability, AoE blast
  • Weaknesses: Less efficient for pure melee-only missions
Comparison of Warframe melee weapon categories: swords, polearms, dual swords, gunblades.

Modding Tips for Warframe Melee Tier List

  • Pressure Point: Boosts base melee damage
  • Berserker: Increases attack speed on critical hits
  • Organ Shatter: Enhances critical damage
  • Blood Rush: Scales status chance with combo multiplier
  • Weeping Wounds: Increases status chance for high combo multipliers

For more guidance, see 👉 Best Warframes for Beginners to match weapons with suitable Warframes.

Updated Melee Weapons in 2025

Recent updates introduced new weapons and balance adjustments:

  • Daggers & Polearms: Improved critical multipliers
  • Gunblades: Enhanced projectile scaling
  • Dual Weapons: Increased status efficiency
  • Special Note: Some older weapons received buffs, making them competitive again
Warframe melee weapon updates and buffs in 2025.

Choosing the Right Warframe Melee Tier List Weapon

  • Mission Type: AoE weapons excel in survival/defense, single-target weapons for Spy or stealth missions
  • Mod Accessibility: Beginners should prioritize easily obtainable mods
  • Playstyle: Choose heavy-hitters for brute force or fast combos for fluid gameplay
  • Team Play: Coordinate with co-op teammates to maximize melee efficiency

For more insight on weapon rankings, visit our 👉 Warframe Tier List (2025).

Conclusion

Melee combat in Warframe is dynamic, fast-paced, and highly customizable. Using this Warframe Melee Tier List 2025, players can identify S-Tier weapons like Galatine Prime, Nikana Prime, and Gram Prime for high damage and versatility. A-Tier weapons remain solid choices, while B-Tier options serve niche purposes or fun playstyles.

Experiment with builds, tailor mods to your mission objectives, and consult our site for additional guides, such as 👉 Warframe Spy Missions Guide to master stealth gameplay and improve your efficiency in high-level missions.

2025 Warframe Melee Tier List showing top swords, polearms, dual swords, and gunblades.

For detailed melee weapon stats and advanced build guides, check out 👉 Overframe’s Melee Weapon Builds.

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