Captain America fans rejoice! If you’ve ever wanted a weapon in Warframe that gives off the Star-Spangled Avenger vibes well then Glaives are the thing for you.

Like pretty much every other melee, you swing these babies around and cause a lot of hurt. Unlike other melees, you can throw them and they’ll hit and bounce between enemies and surfaces before coming back to you. Is it as cool as it sounds in-game? Yes, yes it is.

Another thing that makes glaives special is that if you press the heavy attack button (middle mouse by default on PC) while the glaive is mid-flight, it explodes before coming back to you. First Avenger, eat your heart out!

Also, when they are thrown, they will force proc whatever status effect/s they have on the enemies they hit.

There are currently only 10 of these exploding boomerangs in the game (not counting glaives that are only usable by companions like the Deconstructor) and here they are ranked from worst to best:

10. Kestrel

*Insert joke stereotyping Australians here*

I joked about glaives being exploding boomerangs at the start but this one literally is an exploding boomerang.

The Kestrel falls to the very bottom of the list due to it being nerfed hard a couple of years ago. This weapon used to be able to just ragdoll enemies like crazy but now it’s just another glaive but with weaker stats.

It has an incredibly high riven disposition (the highest of all the glaives) though so there’s that.

What Kestrel excels at:

• Being a boomerang

Another thing I’ll say about the Kestrel is that it’s the only glaive in the game that has the boomerang design and I think it looks really cool and unique.

How to get Kestrel:

You can simply buy the Kestrel’s blueprint from the in-game market. You can access the market from the console across the console where you access your quests.

Kestrel Details

9. Glaive

The OG Glaive: the Glaive

A weapon named after the weapon category just signifies it as iconic. This weapon is even a reference to Digital Extremes’ (Warframe’s developer) previous work: Dark Sector where the protagonist uses a similar weapon.

Does this weapon have the best stats? No, but it’s still a fun weapon and a must-have for collectors.

What Glaive excels at:

• Rebounding quick

The Glaive has the second-highest flight speed among all the glaives which allow it to hit a bunch of enemies and come back to you faster than most of the other glaives.

• Being an iconic weapon

As I’ve stated earlier, this weapon has a lot more sentimental value to it than it has actual usefulness in the game. It’s more for fun rather than sweaty competitiveness.

How to get Glaive:

Blueprints for the Glaive are obtainable via the Nightwave Offerings. The items for sale there are on a weekly rotation though so you might have to wait a while until it’s available again if it’s not there yet.

Here’s a video on completing Nightwave Challenges to get the Nightwave Credits you need for the Glaive

Glaive Details

8. Halikar

Rocket powered boomerang? Yes please!

You may have noticed that Grineer Drahk Masters use the Halikar. You may have also noticed your equipped weapon suddenly dropping to the ground when there are Drahk Masters around. Coincidence? Nay.

The Halikar (as well as its Wraith version) has the unique property of disarming enemies it hits. The Halikar’s status chance determines how likely it is to disarm an enemy per hit. Really useful against Grineer and Corpus units who rely on their long-range weapons. They’ll be forced to use weaker melee weapons when they lose their main guns.

What Halikar excels at:

• Disarming enemies

As stated above, the Halikar has a chance of whacking your enemy’s weapons out of their hands based on its status chance. The Halikar has a really high status chance too with 31% when thrown without charging and 33% when charged.

• Locking onto enemies

Another unique trait the Halikar has is that it actually has built-in thrusters that help control its trajectory when thrown. The weapon will automatically slightly chase enemies. This is usually only effective against targets from far away though to give the weapon time to correct itself. 

Also, after it bounces on the first hit, it will no longer lock onto enemies until it’s thrown again.

How to get Halikar:

You can simply buy the Halikar’s blueprint from the in-game market. You can access the market from the console across the console where you access your quests.

Halikar Details

7. Halikar Wraith

Yes please-er!

The Halikar comes back (get it?) and is now better than ever! The Halikar Wraith features increased base damage, critical multiplier, and status chance. Once you get this, the base Halikar essentially becomes obsolete.

The Halikar Wraith also still has the disarming trait so it’s still useful for neutralizing a lot of the high-damaging long-range enemies.

What Halikar Wraith excels at:

• What the base Halikar excels at, but better

Nothing much else to say. Except for having a lot of its stats upgraded, the Halikar Wraith functions exactly like the original Halikar.

How to get Halikar Wraith:

The Halikar Wraith can be bought from Baro Ki’Teer whenever he shows up in a Tenno Relay. However Baro Ki’Teer’s inventory changes on every appearance so this weapon might not be for sale the next time you go check on him.

Alternatively, unranked Halikar Wraiths can also be traded between players.

Here’s a Baro Ki’Teer guide in case you haven’t met him yet

Halikar Wraith Details

6. Cerata

Inject fear into your enemies… among other things.

This wicked-looking weapon has been affected by the infestation, allowing it to deal toxin damage on default.

As you know, thrown glaives will guarantee procs of their main status effects to whatever enemy they hit. With the Cerata, it will guarantee both toxin and impact status effects which double its usefulness.

What Cerata excels at:

• Procing toxin and impact status effects

With a guaranteed chance of inflicting these two status effects, the Cerata is best thrown at shielded enemies since the toxin status effect ignores shields and damages health directly.

• Procing everything else

Aside from its guaranteed procs, the Cerata also has a very good status chance of 33% when thrown uncharged and 34% when thrown charged. So you can add any additional elements you want onto the weapon and have it dish out those status effects consistently.

How to get Cerata:

You can research and obtain the Cerata Blueprint in the Bio Lab of your clan dojo.

Here’s a quick guide on building a Dojo 

Cerata Details

5. Falcor

Creators of Tron, please don’t sue

The Falcor has default electricity damage and will guarantee electricity and impact procs upon contact when thrown. Also, similar to the Halikar, the Falcor has homing capabilities. It can track enemies within 24m with a cone of 30° from when you throw it.

A former crowd favorite, power creep has taken the Falcor down a notch but it’s still a great weapon that can deal a ton of damage.

What Falcor excels at:

• Zigging and zagging

The Falcor ties with the Glaive with having the second-highest flight speed among all glaives.

• Going the distance

With a range of 40m when charged, the Falcor has an incredible throwing range, allowing you to snipe enemies farther with your death disc.

• Seeking heat

Having homing capabilities makes this thing really reliable in hitting its targets and dealing huge constant damage.

How to get Falcor:

You can research and obtain the Falcor Blueprint in the Energy Lab of your clan dojo.

Here’s a quick guide on building a Dojo 

Falcor Details

4. Orvius

Honor the Dax fighting spirit with the Orvius 

The Orvius’ gimmick is that when it’s thrown uncharged, it will float above the first enemy it hits and suspend that enemy (like a puppet), immobilizing them while dealing damage to them before exploding and returning to the player.

A little fun fact: in The New War questline, Teshin could also use the orvius as a mode of transportation by throwing it and then latching onto it with some kind of rope and pulling himself towards it.

What Orvius excels at:

• The criticals

The Orvius’ charged throw has the second-highest critical chance (22%) and critical multiplier (2.4x) among all the glaives. This makes that charged throw just as useful as the normal throw’s effect.

• Puppeteering

You can use the Orvius’ special feature for dealing with high-priority targets. Suspending them so they will temporarily be useless while you deal with other enemies first or just outright killing them while they’re suspended.

How to get Orvius:

The Orvius’ main blueprint is a reward for completing The War Within quest

Here’s a complete walkthrough of The War Within quest

The Orvius’ blades and disc, on the other hand, drop from Kuva Guardians and Kuva Jesters respectively. They each have a 5% drop chance.

Here’s a video on farming for the Orvius components

Orvius Details

3. Pathocyst

The Zealoid Prelate’s toy. For some reason, it didn’t return to him.

The Pathocyst is a glaive that’s even more infested than the Cerata. Instead of toxin though, the Pathocyst will guarantee viral and impact status effect which is mostly considered to be even deadlier.

It has a special feature wherein when you throw it or hit an enemy with it (even with just melee hits), it will spawn Infested pods that hatch into Maggots. These Maggots will then latch onto enemies and stagger them before exploding for some damage.

What Pathocyst excels at:

• Crowd control

The Maggots are an incredible tool that can help you deal with massive numbers of enemies. They will confuse and slow enemy forces down as well as deal damage to them while you can continue attacking or do something else.

• A lot of damage

The Pathocyst’s charged throw and explosions have the highest base damage among all glaives’ throw and explosion damage. They also have the highest critical multiplier (2.5x). Match that up with the weapon’s already considerable critical chance and you’ll be decimating enemies in no time.

• Blanketing enemies with status effects

With a 30% status chance for normal melee attacks, 33% for the normal throw, and 35% for the charged throw, the Pathocyst can spread even more chaos with various status effects while the Maggots continue to do their thing.

How to get Pathocyst:

The Pathocyst’s blueprints and parts all drop from the Zealoid Prelate boss on Deimos. The blueprint and parts each have a 33.33% chance of dropping every time you beat him.

Here’s a guide on how to beat the Zealoid Prelate

Pathocyst Details

2. Glaive Prime

This; is what is known as a classic that has ascended above a classic. Or, you could just call this a classic 2.

The Glaive’s big brother has higher base damage, critical chance, critical multiplier, and status chance. So just straight-up upgrades all across the board.

The Glaive Prime will also guarantee slash and impact proc on throws and explosions, making it one of the best weapons in the game.

What Glaive Prime excels at:

• Breaking the sound barrier

The Glaive Prime has the fastest flight speed among all glaives so you’ll be able to toss and catch this weapon faster than anything else in Warframe.

• Consistent crits

The Glaive Prime’s charged throw and explosions have the highest critical chance (26%) among all glaives’ charged throws and explosions. This will allow you to deal the most amount of critical hits while this weapon bounces around between enemies’ skulls.

• Sniping

The throw range (from both the charged and uncharged throws) for the Glaive Prime is 50m which is the longest distance among all glaives so you’ll be able to take out enemies from across huge areas.

• Slashing through everything

Slash is one of the most wanted damage types and status effects in the game. So for the Glaive Prime to just guarantee slash procs is just wild. The slash status effect (called bleeding) will deal true damage to the enemy, which means it just ignores any and all armor.

How to get Glaive Prime:

Like most Primed weapons, the Glaive Prime’s blueprints and parts are obtainable by cracking Void Relics or trading them with other players. A list of the Void Relics containing this weapon’s blueprints and parts can be found on the “Glaive Prime details” link below.

Void Relic Guide

Glaive Prime Details

1. Xoris

C-c-c–c-combo!

How long do you want your combo to last? If your answer is “yes”, this is the weapon for you.

The Xoris is so popular, it’s not only the most used glaive, it’s the most used melee weapon in the game. It scored a whopping 6.13% usage in the 2021 Warframe Statistics. Admittedly, part of that is due to the Xoris being almost essential in the Granum Void game mode.

What makes it so special is its combo timer. And by that, I mean a lack of one. The Xoris has an infinite combo duration which means its combo count never goes down no matter how much time has passed. So you’ll easily be able to stack up huge combos before unleashing it in an explosion (the glaive mid-flight explosion’s damage is influenced by your combo count).

What Xoris excels at:

• Massive explosions

If you can get your combo count high enough, the Xoris can pretty much one-hit almost any enemy with its explosion.

• Granum Void missions

The Xoris is the only weapon in the game that can free Solaris in the Granum Void and grant your timer 20 seconds to be able to get more kills.

How to get Xoris:

You will get the blueprint and all the parts for the Xoris during The Deadlock Protocol quest.

Here’s a complete walkthrough for The Deadlock Protocol quest

Xoris Details

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