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Archon Hunt Guide (2026): Amar, Boreal, Nira and Damage Attenuation
Weekly rotation, the fight, and why big hits win
Last Updated on September 11, 2026
The short answer
One hunt a week, three missions, the Archon on the third, one guaranteed Archon Shard. Damage attenuation caps how fast you can hurt an Archon, so one huge hit beats a stream of small ones: Kuva Hek, Phenmor, Laetum or a heavy-attack gunblade. Its armor cannot be stripped. Bring Revenant or Wisp, kill the adds when it goes immune, and never rely on a self-revive.
Reviewed September 10, 2026, current through Update 43.5. Iceblade of Narin lands September 23 and is not reflected yet; this page is re-checked after every major patch.
This week's Archon Hunt
Archon Amar (Crimson shard), resets in 2d 22h 51m.
- Rescue on Tharsis (Mars)
- Interception on Martialis (Mars)
- Assassination on War (Mars)
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Rotation | Amar, then Nira, then Boreal; resets Monday 00:00 UTC |
| Missions | Two regular missions around level 130 to 140, then the Archon assassination at 145 to 150 |
| Reward | One Archon Shard per week from the first clear: Amar Crimson, Nira Amber, Boreal Azure |
| Tauforged | A 20% chance that grows each week that Archon fails to give one |
| Restrictions | No self-revive, no Specters or Necramechs, cooldowns on Restores |
What you need first
| Requirement | Why |
|---|---|
| The New War | The story that puts the Archons in the game. |
| Veilbreaker | The solo Kahl quest; finishing it opens the Archon Hunt node and the Helminth shard segment. |
| A rank 30 Warframe | The gear gate on the node. |
Weekly rules
- Only the first full clear each week pays the shard and the bonus roll; replays after that are practice.
- Missions one and two are normal mission types at Steel Path-like levels with Narmer troops; mission three is the Archon.
- No self-revives, and bleedout timers shrink with every revive. Squadmates pick you up or you stay down.
- No Specters, no Necramechs, no summons; each Restore type goes on a three-minute cooldown.
- Narmer units and the Archon take extra Slash and Toxin and resist Magnetic. Their Sentient escorts are different: Cold and Radiation.
- Enemy health scales with squad size, so a duo or trio often kills faster than four.
The Archon fight
- The Archon arrives with flat damage reduction, halved status damage and armor that no mod or ability can strip.
- Attenuation caps damage per second and per hit. Sustained fire plateaus; a single big hit keeps more of its value, and the cap is per player, so spread the work.
- Break its defensive phase instead of waiting: shoot the orbs on Boreal's pyramid, burn through Amar's Heat walls, get behind Nira's frontal shield.
- Amar hides among clones to regenerate; target-lock finds the real one (clones do not attack).
- Around half health it grabs a player (mash melee to escape) and retreats behind a gate held by two Narmer Deacons. Kill them to open it.
- Behind the gate it is immune until its Sentient escort dies: Amar's drones, Boreal's Aerolysts (break the torso canister first), Nira's Amalgam MOAs (they heal her).
- Use Operator Void Blast to stagger it in the open windows and Void Mode to dodge charges and the grab.
- Finish the last health bar after the escort is dead, extract, collect the shard.
Each Archon in one line
| Archon | Shard | Gimmick | Counter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amar | Crimson | Clones and regen, then rotating Heat walls | Target-lock the real one; burn the walls down |
| Boreal | Azure | Blue pyramid barrier that heals him, then invulnerable Aerolysts | Shoot the four orbs; break the Aerolyst canisters |
| Nira | Amber | Frontal healing shield, Toxin field, healing MOAs | Hit her from behind; kill the MOAs first |
Rewards
| Reward | From | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Archon Shard | First clear each week | Color follows the Archon; Tauforged chance climbs weekly until it lands |
| Kuva or Endo | Bonus roll | Common bonus outcomes |
| Riven Mod | Bonus roll | A full veiled Riven, not a Sliver |
| Forma | Bonus roll | Three at once, rare |
| Ayatan Anasa Sculpture | Bonus roll | The most common bonus |
Best frames
| Frame | Role | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Revenant | Cannot die | Mesmer Skin ignores the grab, the charges and the Toxin field; the safest pick under no self-revive. |
| Wisp | Squad sustain | Motes keep everyone standing through the escort phases and speed the two lead-in missions. |
| Chroma | Damage | Vex Armor multiplies weapon damage, which is what attenuation leaves you. |
| Rhino | Roar | Iron Skin tanks, Roar buffs the whole squad's big hits. |
| Oberon | Support | Renewal heals through Nira's Toxin and Hallowed Ground stops the knockdowns. |
Best weapons
Kuva HekAlt-fire alpha
PhenmorStacking headshots
LaetumHeadshot burst
FelarxOne big shot
Glaive PrimeHeavy throw| Weapon | Why |
|---|---|
| Kuva Hek | All four shells in one instance; the classic Archon opener. |
| Phenmor | The highest damage per bullet in the game, built for exactly this cap. |
| Laetum | Headshot kills on the escort buff the shots that go into the Archon. |
| Felarx | Non-crit Incarnon build with Devastating Attrition hits the per-hit cap in one pull. |
| Glaive Prime | A charged throw is one huge instance of damage that ignores the DPS cap. |
Mods for a capped target
Big single hits, Slash and Toxin, and enough survivability to never go down.
12
Galvanized Aptitude
Galvanized Aptitude
+80% Status Chance
On Kill: +40% Direct Damage per Status Type affecting the target for 20s. Stacks up to 2x.
Rifle
16
Galvanized Chamber
Galvanized Chamber
+80% Multishot
On Kill: +30% Multishot for 20s. Stacks up to 5x.
Rifle
16
Umbral Vitality
Umbral Vitality
+100% Health
+11% Tau Resistance
Enhance mods in this set.
SET: WARFRAME
16
Umbral Fiber
Umbral Fiber
+100% Armor
+11% Tau Resistance
Enhance mods in this set.
SET: WARFRAME
12
Adaptation
Adaptation
When Damaged: +10% Resistance to that Damage Type for 20s. Stacks up to 90%.
WARFRAME
7
Malignant Force
Malignant Force
+60% Toxin
+60% Status Chance
Rifle
15
Hell's Chamber
Hell's Chamber
+120% Multishot
Shotgun
16
Primed Sure Footed
Primed Sure Footed
+100% Chance to Resist Knockdown
WARFRAMETips that save runs
- Do the hunt before anything else on Monday; the shard only comes from the first clear.
- Leave armor strip at home. The Archon's armor is immune to it.
- When it goes immune, the escort is the fight. Shooting the Archon does nothing.
- Slash and Toxin on the Archon, Cold and Radiation on its Sentients. They do not share weaknesses.
- Mash melee the instant the grab lands.
Mistakes that waste runs
- Corrosive Projection and armor-strip abilities, which do nothing here.
- Expecting Narmer Isoplast or a Riven Sliver; the hunt drops full Rivens and no Isoplast.
- A full squad of four with no coordination; scaling outruns the extra guns.
- Bringing a Necramech or Specter and finding the gear greyed out.
Related
- Best Warframe for Archon Hunts
- Archon Shards: colors, effects, best picks
- Best single-target weapons
- Weekly checklist
- Best weapons for 2026
- Warframe tier list 2026
- Weekly checklist: every reset worth doing
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