Every frame in the game, ranked for how it actually performs right now, with one blunt line on why. This list gets re-checked every major patch, and frames with a gold name link to their full breakdown in our frames database. Community consensus disagrees in places, and where it does, the notes at the bottom say so.
Updated September 6, 2026. Roster and consensus as of 2026-09-06, Update 43.
SBring These Every Time
The frames that justify themselves in any squad, any mission, right now.
Wisp
Permanent squad buffs plus near unkillable, still the safest pick
Saryn
Spores nuke rooms and only get stronger the longer you sit
Mesa
Peacemaker deletes crowds while Shatter Shield keeps her standing forever
Octavia
Mallet nukes, Resonator tanks aggro, buffs stack for the whole team
Dante
Overguard and damage in one kit, even after repeated nerfs
Protea
Shield Satellites keep everyone alive while Blaze Artillery clears the room
Wukong
Two lives, a clone tank, and a sword nobody can punish
Revenant
Mesmer Skin makes him nearly unkillable, Reave scales with enemy health
AReliable Steel Path Picks
Strong picks you can build toward with zero regret.
Titania
Razorwing flight outruns every other frame in the game
Gauss
Redline sprint damage plus near endless energy from his own Battery
Khora
Whipclaw scales forever and Strangledome locks a room down
Mirage
Hall of Mirrors multiplies your damage output insanely
Nova
Slowed Molecular Prime turns every enemy into a bomb
Volt
Speed buffs the team and Discharge still clears rooms
Kullervo
Teleport spam plus a built in damage multiplier that snowballs
Uriel
Three permanent demons buff and shred, big early impression
Xaku
The Vast Untime freezes the room while Xaku shreds armor
Nekros
Desecrate loot with no enemy cap, still the farming standard
Harrow
Covenant crits and team energy make him a support staple
Rhino
Iron Skin tanks anything, Roar buffs the whole squad
Nidus
Stacks scale his tank and damage the longer a fight runs
Sirius & Orion
Two frames sharing one body, always fighting even when you're not looking
Nokko
Invisible mushroom nuking with built in team sustain
Cyte-09
Rewind lets him undo bad plays, kit punishes low health enemies
Citrine
Crystal walls tank hits and the whole kit scales with allies
Jade
Light based nuke and defense in one flexible kit
Nezha
Halo blocks damage for the team, fire trail melts enemies
Gara
Glass wall shreds armor and shields the whole squad
Trinity
Still the best energy and healing support in the game
Hildryn
Shield tank with no energy problems, Pillage strips enemy defenses
Baruuk
Restraint into Elude makes him nearly untouchable up close
Voruna
Strong hybrid kit but still short on proven high level builds
Garuda
Self damage fuels huge crit buffs for her and allies
Sevagoth
Shadow form nukes rooms while his real body sits safe
Styanax
Exalted spear plus a free source, hard to argue with
Ember
Fire Blast armor strip and burn damage that still scales
Lavos
No mods needed on abilities, just spam and go
Oraxia
Execute low health enemies instantly and go invisible on demand
BFine With Some Work
They work. They just need more from you than the tiers above.
Ash
Bladestorm still deletes squishy enemies but needs Helminth to matter more
Atlas
Tanky punches and good loot bonus but slow to get going
Chroma
Vex Armor buffs are strong but the kit needs Helminth work
Dagath
Horse charge is fun but damage falls off without investment
Equinox
Two forms means two builds, powerful but split focus hurts her
Excalibur
Exalted Blade still works, mostly outclassed by newer melee frames
Follie
Cute toolkit, spawns useful objects, but damage output stays middling
Frost
Globe still holds a point but offense is basically nonexistent
Grendel
Eating enemies for buffs is fun but clunky in practice
Gyre
Burst damage is real but ramp up takes too long
Inaros
Free tank stats, no shields to manage, damage is an afterthought
Ivara
Great for stealth and loot, weak for straight combat
Limbo
Rift mechanics still split squads, divisive even after tweaks
Loki
Disarm trivializes Interception but the rest of his kit is thin
Mag
Shield strip is useful, otherwise outclassed by other casters
Qorvex
Petrify tanks hits but the kit feels unfinished for its cost
Temple
Rhythm mechanic is neat but still climbing toward reliable
Valkyr
Hysteria invulnerability is strong, everything else is filler
Zephyr
Mobility and Tornado are fine, nothing about her stands out
CLow Priority
Build these for love or a niche, not for power.
Banshee
Silence and Sonar need Helminth just to stay relevant
Caliban
Reworked and better, still overshadowed by every A tier caster
Hydroid
Great for loot farming, mediocre for actual Steel Path combat
Koumei
Interesting kit on paper, barely anyone has real build data
Nyx
Absorb is fine utility, the rest of the kit is dated
Oberon
Support kit is outclassed unless you Helminth half of it away
Vauban
Crowd control is fun but the numbers don't hold at high level
Yareli
Merulina rework helps, still divisive and inconsistent past low levels
Where the community disagrees
- Revenant is the most contested S slot: two major sources put him in S, one ranks him only B. We sided with the universal-survivability argument.
- Titania, Gauss, Khora, and Wukong each got an S grade from at least one source. Wukong had enough breadth of support to join S; the other three top the A tier.
- Nekros gets a low grade from one prominent creator while nearly every other 2026 source treats him as the default farming pick. We went with the majority.
- Loki is a genuine top pick for Interception specifically, but general-purpose lists keep him mid tier outside that one mission type.
Rankings come from cross-checking current community consensus, creator picks, and our own testing against the live patch. For mission-specific picks, our Steel Path frame guide ranks by game mode instead.