Xaku is one of Warframe's most unusual frames: a single Warframe stitched together from the broken pieces of three dead ones, built entirely around Void manipulation. The kit is a crowd-control monster — strip armor off a whole room, disarm every gun in sight, then freeze time with the ultimate — which is exactly why "how do I actually get Xaku?" keeps coming up for both new and returning Tenno. The frame is farmed, not bought-only, and the farm is simpler than most open-world grinds once you know which bounty drops which part. This guide walks the exact unlock path, the part-by-part farm, how Xaku Prime fits in after its recent vaulting, and whether the frame is worth your time — verified against the official Warframe Wiki and Digital Extremes' published drop tables as of Update 44 (Iceblade of Narin, October 2026).
Quick answer: To get base Xaku, you need the main blueprint plus three crafted parts. The main blueprint is a reward from the Heart of Deimos quest (you can also re-buy it from Cephalon Simaris for 50,000 Standing). The Neuroptics, Chassis and Systems each drop from Cambion Drift bounties on Deimos, with each part locked to a different bounty level tier: Neuroptics at level 15–25, Systems at level 30–40, and Chassis at level 40+. Build the three parts in your Foundry (12 hours each), then assemble the frame (72 hours), or rush with Platinum. To reach Deimos you must clear the star chart up to Mars and complete the Earth-to-Mars Junction, which triggers the inbox message that opens the Heart of Deimos quest. Xaku Prime is a separate, vaulted frame — see the Prime section below.
Who is Xaku and why farm them?
Xaku arrived with the Heart of Deimos expansion as the game's first genderless Warframe, assembled from the salvaged remains of other frames — the in-game lore literally calls them "the Lost." Mechanically, Xaku is a Void-damage and crowd-control specialist. The four abilities are Xata's Whisper (adds Void damage to all your weapons, with a chance to open a mini Void fissure on hit), Grasp of Lohk (rips the guns out of nearby enemies' hands and turns them into floating turrets that shoot for you), The Lost (a three-in-one utility ability including a blinding Void dash and an evasion buff), and The Vast Untime, the ultimate that strips armor and shields across a huge radius while massively boosting Xaku's own survivability.
The practical draw is armor strip. In 2026 Warframe, a frame that can delete enemy armor for the whole squad is valuable in Steel Path, Netracells and endurance runs, and Xaku does it passively through The Vast Untime while also disarming trash mobs with Grasp of Lohk. That combination is why Xaku still shows up on "best for Netracells / Steel Path survival" community lists long after release — this is a use-case strength, not an objective ranking, since Warframe has no ladder or DE-published performance data.
Step 1: Unlock Deimos (the real prerequisite)
Before any Xaku farm is possible, you need access to Deimos and the Heart of Deimos quest. Here's the trap most guides skip: Deimos has no Junction of its own. You unlock it by progressing the normal star chart.
- Clear nodes up to and through Mars (specifically you need to have cleared War on Mars and completed the Earth-to-Mars Junction).
- After the Mars Junction, you receive an inbox message from Loid, a Cephalon servant of the Entrati, asking for help on the Cambion Drift.
- That message unlocks the Heart of Deimos quest, which you start from your Codex.
Completing Heart of Deimos drops you into the Necralisk hub and the Cambion Drift open world, unlocks the Entrati syndicate, and — crucially — rewards the Xaku main blueprint. So if you've already done the quest, you already own the hardest-to-replace piece. If you somehow sold or lost it, Cephalon Simaris sells it back for 50,000 Standing.
Step 2: Farm the three Xaku parts on the Cambion Drift
All three buildable parts come from Cambion Drift bounties. You pick these up from Mother at the tent checkpoints out in the open world, or from the bounty board inside the Necralisk. The key rule: each part is tied to a specific bounty level tier, and the highest-level bounty does not drop all three. Pick the bounty whose level range matches the part you still need.
Here is the full part-to-bounty map, with drop rates and build costs pulled from DE's published PC drop tables:
| Part | Bounty level tier | Approx. drop chance | Key build materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neuroptics | Cambion Drift bounty, level 15–25 | up to ~12% | 10 Neural Sensors, 60 Thaumic Distillate, 20 Sharrac Teeth, 40 Esher Devar |
| Systems | Cambion Drift bounty, level 30–40 | up to ~11.3% | 10 Breath of the Eidolon, 5 Scintillant, 45 Pustulite, 60 Ganglion |
| Chassis | Cambion Drift bounty, level 40+ | up to ~13% | 5 Gyromag Systems, 3 Spinal Core Section, 50 Venerdo Alloy, 50 Lucent Teroglobe |
A few things that save real time:
- Parts drop from any stage after the first in the matching bounty, and across all reward rotations — you don't need to chase a specific rotation letter, just the right level band.
- Run bounties with mastery (full objective completion) to maximize the reward roll; rushing and failing objectives lowers your odds.
- Scintillant is the bottleneck, not the blueprint. The Systems part needs 5 Scintillant, a rare Cambion Drift resource that drops from Isolation Vault bounties and occasionally while mining/exploring. Many players finish the bounty farm fast and then sit waiting on Scintillant — start collecting it early so it's not your final wall.
- Squad up. Grouped bounties let everyone roll on the reward and clear objectives faster, which matters a lot for the level 40+ Chassis bounty.
Step 3: Build Xaku in the Foundry
Once you have all three parts and the main blueprint, the build order is standard:
- Build Neuroptics, Chassis and Systems — each costs 15,000 Credits and takes 12 hours.
- With all three parts built, the main blueprint needs 25,000 Credits, 1 of each part, and 3 Orokin Cells, then a 72-hour build.
- Claim the finished frame from the Foundry.
If you'd rather skip the wait, you can rush each stage with Platinum, and the fully built Xaku is also sold directly on the in-game Market for Platinum. That's the one legitimate shortcut — bought entirely in-game, no third parties. (Short on Orokin Cells? See our guide to getting Orokin Cells, which the final assembly needs.)
Xaku Prime: what changed in September 2026
This is where current, accurate information matters, because most guides online are out of date on it. Xaku Prime exists — it was released on November 13, 2024 alongside Trumna Prime and Quassus Prime, and it's notable as the first Prime Warframe with no distinct gender, carrying Entrati design elements like the Entrati Obols.
But as of September 23, 2026, Xaku Prime entered the Prime Vault. Its relics — Lith X1, Meso E6, Neo G8 and Axi A19 among others — were retired from the regular drop tables on that date (the same day Citrine Prime Access and Update 44 went live). That means:
- You cannot currently farm Xaku Prime relics from normal missions. Guides telling you to "run Capture missions for Lith X1" are stale.
- Your legitimate routes right now are Prime Resurgence — buying the vaulted relics from Varzia in Maroo's Bazaar with Aya (earned free, see our guide to where to farm Aya), or grabbing the parts instantly with Regal Aya (paid) — or player-to-player trading for the parts through the in-game Trading Post.
- If you already own Xaku Prime relics in your inventory, you can still crack them; vaulting only stops new relics from dropping.
For a brand-new player, base Xaku is the one to farm today. It's always available, needs no vaulted relics, and the farm is entirely free. Chase Xaku Prime later when it rotates back through Prime Resurgence or when you can trade for the parts.
How to get Xaku faster (legitimately)
Warframe's own economy is built around saving time with in-game currency, and Xaku is a clean example of what you can and can't do:
- Buy the built frame on the Market for Platinum — the fastest fully-legitimate route, and the Platinum can be earned in-game by trading Prime parts and mods.
- Earn Platinum by trading, then use it on the Market or to rush builds. Trading requires Mastery Rank 2 and TennoGuard 2FA enabled, happens only at a Clan Dojo Trading Post or Maroo's Bazaar, and your daily trade limit equals your Mastery Rank. New to it? Read our how to make Platinum guide and the full how to trade in Warframe walkthrough.
- Do not buy Platinum, accounts, or "leveling services" from third-party sites. Digital Extremes' EULA explicitly prohibits secondary markets for in-game currency and names third-party leveling services as a banned offering, and DE support publicly states that discounted-Platinum sellers are "not legitimate." Player-to-player trading through the in-game console is the only sanctioned way to move value — stick to it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to farm Xaku? If you've already completed Heart of Deimos, a focused player can farm all three parts in an afternoon of Cambion Drift bounties — the real variable is RNG on the ~11–13% part drops and collecting the 5 Scintillant for the Systems. Factor in roughly 1.5 days of Foundry time (three 12-hour parts you can build in parallel, then a 72-hour frame build) unless you rush with Platinum.
Do I need to beat Heart of Deimos to get Xaku? Yes. The main blueprint is a Heart of Deimos quest reward, and the quest also unlocks the Cambion Drift where every part drops. There's no way to farm the parts without first completing the quest. If you've done it before, the blueprint is re-buyable from Cephalon Simaris for 50,000 Standing.
Which bounty drops which Xaku part? Neuroptics come from the level 15–25 bounty, Systems from the level 30–40 bounty, and Chassis from the level 40+ bounty. Each part is on its own tier — running only the hardest bounty will never complete the set, so rotate through all three level bands.
Can I still farm Xaku Prime in 2026? Not from normal relic drops. Xaku Prime was vaulted on September 23, 2026, so its relics no longer drop. You can only get it now through Prime Resurgence (Varzia, via Aya or Regal Aya) or by trading for the parts with other players until it returns.
Is Xaku worth it? For crowd control and armor stripping, yes — The Vast Untime and Grasp of Lohk make Xaku a strong support/CC pick for Steel Path, Netracells and endurance content. It's a use-case frame rather than a straight nuker, so value it for group utility, not single-target DPS. Warframe has no official tier data, so treat any ranking as community consensus.
Can I just buy Xaku with Platinum? Yes — the fully built frame is on the in-game Market for Platinum, which is the only legitimate shortcut. Buy it there, not from a third-party Platinum or account shop; DE's EULA and support pages prohibit those.
The bottom line
Base Xaku is one of the more approachable farms in Warframe once you understand the structure: unlock Deimos through the Mars Junction, finish Heart of Deimos for the main blueprint, then run Cambion Drift bounties at the three matching level tiers for Neuroptics, Systems and Chassis — keeping an eye on your Scintillant stock. Xaku Prime is a later goal that's currently vaulted, so don't burn relic farms chasing it right now. Build the base frame, learn the Void-manipulation kit, and you've added one of the game's best crowd-control and armor-strip tools to your arsenal.
Want more farming routes and frame unlocks? Browse all our Warframe guides for the latest part farms, tier lists and economy tips.
Facts in this guide were verified against the official Warframe Wiki (wiki.warframe.com), Digital Extremes' published PC drop tables, and warframe.com as of Update 44 (Iceblade of Narin), October 2026. Drop rates and vault status can change on any hotfix — check warframe.com/droptables for current values before a long farm.
