How to Get Forma in Warframe: Relics, Crafting, Platinum and Steel Path Options

Sooner or later every Warframe build runs into the same wall: not enough mod capacity and slots with the wrong polarity. The fix is Forma, a consumable that changes the polarity of one mod slot on a maxed-out item. Serious builds often need five or six of them per weapon or Warframe, so knowing where Forma comes from matters more than almost any other resource.

This guide covers every reliable source as of Update 44.1 (Iceblade of Narin), which made no changes to how Forma is earned or crafted.

Quick answer

The short version: crack Void Relics for blueprints, keep one Forma building in your Foundry at all times, and buy the 3-pack with Platinum if you're in a hurry.

Step-by-step: farming and building Forma

1. Stock up on Void Relics. Forma Blueprints are a reward in many Lith, Meso, Neo and Axi Relics, including vaulted ones. You get Relics from almost every mission node, so you'll have plenty after a few hours of normal play.
2. Run Void Fissure missions. Open the Navigation's Fissure list, pick a mission that matches a Relic tier you own, and equip the Relic. Collect enough Reactant during the mission to crack it open.
3. Pick Forma from the reward screen. When nothing else on the reward screen is useful to you, Forma is a safe pick. Since Update 36.1, the Uncommon Forma reward gives two blueprints instead of one, so it's worth taking whenever it shows up.
4. Gather the resources. Each blueprint needs 35,000 Credits plus one each of Morphics, Neural Sensors, Neurodes and an Orokin Cell. These come from normal planet farming, so keep a buffer of each.
5. Start the build in the Foundry. A Forma takes 23 hours. Digital Extremes trimmed it from 24 hours in Update 27.3 so you can start a new one at the same time every day without the timer slowly drifting.
6. Claim it and start the next one. Make it part of your daily routine: log in, claim yesterday's Forma, queue a new one. The Foundry can build several at once if you have the blueprints and resources.

Buying Forma with Platinum

If you'd rather skip the grind, the in-game Market sells built Forma:

• 1 Forma: 20 Platinum
• 3 Forma: 35 Platinum

The 3-pack is clearly the better deal, at under 12 Platinum per Forma. You can also rush a Forma that's already building for 10 Platinum, which is cheaper than buying a single one outright but only helps if you already have a blueprint and the resources. Buying Forma doesn't make your build any stronger than farming it would. It only saves time.

Other free sources

• Daily Tribute: Your daily login reward is sometimes a Forma Blueprint. It's random, so don't plan around it, but it adds up over months.
• Sorties and Invasions: Both can reward Forma Blueprints, so they're worth running whenever the rewards line up.
• Earth Sabotage caches: Finding the hidden resource caches in Sabotage missions on Earth can reward a Forma Blueprint. They're often tucked away in side rooms and caves.
• Nightwave: Seasons have regularly included Forma and an Umbra Forma on the reward track, though what's offered and at which rank changes from season to season. Check the current season's rewards in-game.

Umbra, Omni and Stance Forma

Normal Forma covers most needs, but three special versions exist:

• Umbra Forma adds the Umbra polarity, used by Umbral mods, to a Warframe or melee weapon. Regular Forma can't add this polarity. The main repeatable source is Teshin's Steel Path Honors shop, where the blueprint costs 150 Steel Essence and appears in a rotation roughly every eight weeks. Nightwave has also given them out as high-rank rewards.
• Omni Forma replaced the old Aura Forma in Update 38.5. It makes a slot accept any polarity except Umbra. The blueprint drops from Arbitrations, and the Market sells it for 80 Platinum (or 150 Platinum for 3). Crafting one consumes four regular Forma, so it's an expensive upgrade.
• Stance Forma gives a melee weapon's Stance slot a universal polarity. Its blueprint costs 10 Steel Essence at Teshin's Steel Path Honors.

Requirements before you use Forma

• The item must be rank 30. You can't apply Forma to anything below max rank.
• It resets the item to rank 0. You'll have to level it back to 30. Your Orokin Catalyst or Reactor stays installed.
• No extra Mastery. Re-leveling a Forma'd item doesn't give Mastery points again, so do it on gear you actually plan to use.

Tips and common mistakes

• Never let the Foundry sit idle. One Forma a day is about 30 a month at no Platinum cost.
• Don't forget the side resources. Plenty of players have a stack of blueprints but no Neural Sensors or Orokin Cells. Farm those before you need them.
• Plan your polarities first. Pick the slots that will hold your most expensive mods, and set up a build in the Arsenal before you commit.
• Prefer the 3-pack. If you buy Forma, never buy singles unless you really need just one.
• Save Umbra Forma for the right frame. It's slow to get, so only use it where Umbral mods are part of the plan.