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Even before the release of our first Cinematic Quest seven years ago, the Zariman Ten Zero has represented one of the biggest mysteries in Warframe. It’s a massive colony ship stranded in a mind-bending dimension called The Void that exists outside of space and time. It’s also the setting of a supernatural and violent tragedy that created Warframe’s player protagonists, the Tenno.
On April 27, Tenno are finally returning to this derelict ship to confront their past in Angels of the Zariman, a free update for PS4 and PS5 players that lets you step directly into this shrouded and bloody chapter of Warframe’s history. Lured by an ethereal song radiating across the Origin System, players will discover how years of Void exposure twisted the Zariman into a place both beautiful and haunting—where ghosts of the past now stalk its lush, overgrown halls. Today, I want to peel back the shroud just a smidge to talk about one of those ghosts: Void Angels.
A Heavenly Chorus
When Tenno briefly visited the Zariman Ten Zero as part of last year’s The New War Update, one of the most unsettling things they witnessed were the vaguely humanoid shapes that formed from The Void molt that congealed throughout the ship. In Angels of the Zariman these elegant, unsettling statues come to life as the update’s main boss encounter. Void Angels are closely tied to the mysterious tragedy that happened aboard the Zariman so many years ago, and creating them has been one of the most exciting and daunting challenges of this entire update.
When we began work on The New War our art team began exploring all the ways The Void might distort the Zariman. We were inspired by the concept of fractals—never-ending patterns that become more complex the closer you look—and the alien look of marine life, and began exploring how that might look when applied to humanoid shapes. The result were these hauntingly beautiful statues that flowed almost like liquid mercury. Half-recognizable faces in a twisting, chrome shell.
When we saw the result, we knew that these Void Angel statues could be so much more than a mere set decoration. So we started planning the moment we could turn them into a challenging new boss and kept their true purpose a closely-guarded secret.
Angels of War
Warframe is already known for its unique aesthetic, but Void Angels required our art, animation, design, and audio teams to really push themselves to create a boss unlike anything Tenno have encountered before.
Even before you fight one, you’ll feel the danger Void Angels pose. Their song echoes through the Zariman’s halls, turning into blood-curdling screams as they close in on your position. And you don’t just fight Void Angels in one plane of existence, either. Players will need to weaken the Void Angel and swap to their Operator in order to enter a pocket dimension of The Void to fight the Angel’s true form. This pocket dimension is a whole different combat arena, one that will test your mastery of your Operator’s Void Abilities as you square off against the Void Angel. In this ethereal form, the Void Angel will bombard you with projectiles that coat the arena in damaging Void Corruption. And once you’ve weakened it enough, you’ll need to gather shattered protective fragments to shield yourself against a fatal energy attack.
That’s just a little of what you can expect when you encounter Void Angels for the first time. In addition to our new Thrax Centurion enemy type, which we revealed back in Devstream 160, players are going to have to use every tool in their Warframe’s and Operator’s Arsenal to stay alive in Angels of the Zariman’s three new mission modes.
While Void Angels and Thrax Centurions are sure to keep you on the move as you explore the Zariman, there’s so much more to this update that we can’t wait for players to experience. You’ll be able to fight enemies as Gyre, our 49th Warframe, decorate and upgrade your own Dormizone apartment, uncover powerful new weapons that evolve and take on new characteristics as you complete challenges, and even change the texture and material of select Warframes with our new Void Shell skins—opening up a whole new realm of Fashion Framing for select Warframes. And all of this is wrapped up in a new Quest that’ll finally peel back some of the mystery around the Zariman itself.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this little taste of what’s to come in Angels of the Zariman when it launches for PS4 and PS5 on April 27.