Earlier this week, I got to sit down and watch a presentation for Warframe’s upcoming Techrot Encore, an expansion to the Warframe 1999 story coming to the game on March 19, 2025. This update adds to the story, expands the 1999 hub with new characters and shops, and introduces a new defense mission with some wild theatrics. Techrot Encore also brings us Warframe’s 60th new character, Temple.
This new piece of the story revolves around Flare, one of several new Protoframes being introduced to the Warframe 1999 universe. Flare is the Protoframe parallel to Temple, the new addition to the Warframe roster. He’s the sole surviving member of a defiant rock band whose other members were executed by the Scaldra. On his journey to become the “ultimate work of art,” your job is to defend him while he puts on a legendary performance, one so powerful it literally destroys the stage.
To access the new stuff, you’ll be visiting the Round Table pub, an addition to an expanded Hollvania hub. The new Protoframes all hang out here with Flare, including Minerva (Saryn), Velimir II (Frost), and Kaya (Nova). Minerva and Velimir serve as new merchants selling weapons and decorations respectively, while Kaya plays host to a new iteration of the challenging Archimedea mode. Flare serves as your connection to Temple, offering blueprints for the new Frame in exchange for drops you get from the new defense mission.
Temple is a wild new Frame, a Heat-based rocker who works with a sentient “Exalted Guitar” named Lizzie. Their mechanics involve using abilities on beat, via a metronome that’s attached to your targeting reticle. Staying on beat powers up three of the abilities, and ultimately unlocks the fourth one for use. There’s a mix of buffs, debuffs, and elemental offense, making Temple a versatile fighter with an over the top gimmick. Considering the defense mission is about a politically-charged solo performance, you can tell what the vibe is.
Kaya is in charge of the Temporal Archimedea, which is a gauntlet of randomly-selected missions at an endgame challenge level. A fun new gimmick associated with this mode is the Peely Pix system. You’ll unlock stickers that give you stackable bonuses, making further Temporal Archimedea attempts a little more manageable. These stickers are all designed by community artists Digital Extremes commissioned, adding a fun collectible element to a mode that’s otherwise about nail-biting challenges.
Finally, Techrot Encore also brings a new minigame, Ollie’s Crash Course. This Atomicycle racing game is related to a Make-A-Wish commitment Digital Extremes made to James Conlin, and can be accessed in the Hollvania arcade. This silly mode almost looks like a Mario Kart race on Rainbow Road.
Naturally, alongside all the new content to play with, Techrot Encore will also be paired with updates to Warframe under the hood, including adjustments to other characters on the roster and quality of life improvements. Many adjustments are being made to onboarding this time, with the intent of making things a little easier on new players trying to wrap their heads around Warframe. It’s not as easy as it sounds, but is worth the effort. But hey, that effort might get a little lighter come March 19. All those details and more will be doled out in the latest Digital Extremes devstream, which should be available to watch around the time this preview goes live. So if you’re reading, go check that out too! After you finish reading of course.
Warframe’s Techrot Encore update launches on all platforms on March 19, 2025. We were invited to and attended a virtual preview event for the purpose of this article.
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replyLucas White posted a new article, Warframe Techrot Encore preview: A rock 'n roll defense mission
