Nightmare Mode is an optional difficulty modifier introduced in Update 9.0 (2013-07-13). When Nightmare Mode is selected, up to two mission modifiers take effect that greatly increase the mission's difficulty, but completing the mission will reward players with Nightmare Mods, which positively affect two stats of a weapon, Warframe, or Companion.
To unlock Nightmare Mode on a given planet, one must complete all mission nodes on that planet.
Mechanics[]
Each planet except Empyrean Proximas and the Zariman Ten Zero has one randomly selected mission node for Nightmare Mode, appearing a scarlet background and a white swirl in lieu of a Faction icon. The Nightmare Mode mission is treated as a separate mission from the normal mission, and can only be completed once. Reruns of the mission will not yield additional Nightmare Mods. Nightmare Mode missions cycle once every 8 hours.
All enemies encountered in Nightmare Mode have significantly increased levels, damage, and enemy spawns compared to their standard levels. Ciphers may not be used during Hacking and failure to hack any console will result in an Electricity proc applied to the player. Any summoned allied Specter will immediately be hostile to all players (except Shockwave MOAs spawned from a MOA Cabinet Spawner), indicated by a reddish distorted glow. Environmental Hazards can also appear as usual.
Endless mission types are treated as non-endless, but have higher victory conditions:
- Defense Nightmare requires 10 waves (instead of normal 5 waves) to complete.
- Interception Nightmare require 2 waves (instead of normal 1 wave) to complete.
- Excavation Nightmare require a minimum of 500 Cryotic (instead of normal 100 Cryotic) before players are allowed to extract.
- Survival Nightmare require a minimum of 5 minutes to complete.
- Disruption Nightmare is endless, but you will only get one reward from the table regardless of how many rounds you complete.
- Infested Salvage Nightmare require 2 rounds (instead of normal 1 round) to complete.
Challenges[]
Up to two of the following challenge may occur per mission, and each modifier has an equal chance of being selected.
Mission Modifier | Effect | Notes |
---|---|---|
No Shields | Player and companion shields are reduced to zero. |
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Timer | The mission has a 5-minute timer that will fail the mission if it runs down. Killing enemies will add 5 seconds to the timer. |
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Health Vampire | Players will lose 1.5% of their maximum health every second; Killing enemies will recover 12.5% of their maximum health for the entire cell. Players cannot die from the effect. |
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Energy Drain | Players will steadily lose Energy at approximately 15 points per second. |
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Low Gravity | Gravity is reduced. |
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Death Detonation | Enemies explode upon death, dealing damage in a small area of effect. |
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Retired Challenges[]
The following modifiers were present in earlier builds of the game, but have since been removed.
Mission Modifier | Effect | Notes |
---|---|---|
No Minimap | Minimaps are disabled. | Self-explanatory |
Lethal Explosive Barrels | Explosive Barrels deal high, if not fatal damage. | Self-explanatory |
Longer Reload | Reload Speed is reduced by ~50%. | Self-explanatory |
No HUD | The HUD is disabled. | Self-explanatory |
Friendly Fire | Players and enemies can damage their allies. |
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Mission Rewards[]
- Main article: Category:Nightmare Mode Mods
Below are the possible Nightmare Mode Mods that can be rewarded upon completing a Nightmare Mode mission. There are three pools of rewards that the Nightmare mission will pull from. These pools are based on the Planet where the Nightmare mission takes place, regardless of node level. Rescue missions have the potential to draw from any of the three reward pools based on the achievements performed throughout the mission:
A | B | C | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chilling Reload | 22.11% | Drifting Contact | 22.56% | Streamlined Form | 22.56% |
Accelerated Blast | 18.97% | Armored Agility | 15.49% | Animal Instinct | 15.49% |
Ice Storm | 18.97% | Fortitude | 15.49% | Constitution | 15.49% |
Stunning Speed | 18.97% | Rending Strike | 15.49% | Focus Energy | 15.49% |
Wildfire | 18.97% | Seeking Fury | 15.49% | Lethal Torrent | 15.49% |
Blaze | 1.01% | Shred | 15.49% | Vigor | 15.49% |
Hammer Shot | 1.01% |
Locations: See in-game World State Window for active Nightmare Mode nodes
Drop tables outdated? Readers can update Module:DropTables/data and cross reference with official drop tables on https://www.warframe.com/droptables.
For any non-Rescue missions:
Rotation A | Rotation B | Rotation C |
---|---|---|
For any Rescue missions, regardless of Planet:
- Rotation A: One rescue objective completed
- Rotation B: Two rescue objectives completed
- Rotation C: All rescue objectives completed
- Rescue objectives:
- Rescued hostage
- Stealth rescue (rescued target without raising alarms inside prison tile)
- Killed all Wardens
Notes[]
- As stated above, reruns of the mission will not yield additional Nightmare Mods. If the player does rerun the mission, the mod will be greyed out with a "reward already recieved" message on top of it.
Media[]
Patch History[]
Update 34.0 (2023-10-18)
- Fixed Nightmare mode UI displaying in the Host's language.
Hotfix 25.7.4 (2019-09-05)
- Fixed enemies in Nightmare missions spawning at different levels than advertised in the Star Chart UI.
Update 25.7 (2019-08-29)
- Fixed only 2 Nightmare modifiers being chosen at a time across the Star Chart.
Update 25.5 (2019-07-31)
- Any summoned allied Specters in a Nightmare mission will now have a reddish distorted glow to indicate that they have turned against you and you’ve made a huge mistake in trusting them.
Update: Recurring Dreams (2016-11-03)
- Increased the amount of enemies spawnable in Nightmare Exterminate mission (max cap of 500).
- Removed ‘Friendly Fire’ modifier from Nightmare missions.
- It is no longer necessary to use Antitoxin to get Nightmare rewards on Earth Sabotage missions.
- Tweaked the Nightmare node algorithm so that they appear on the same node for all players, regardless of Star Chart progression.
- Fixed Nightmare missions clearing from the Star Chart if aborted/failed before reaching the mission objective.
- Fixed players who have cleared the Nightmare for a given planet, getting Nightmare rewards by joining friends who have not cleared it yet.
Hotfix: Recurring Nightmares 2 (2016-10-28)
- Vastly improved framerate for Nightmare missions on some systems.
- Fixed Nightmare missions appearing on quest nodes (e.g. Mutalist Alad V Assassination from Patient Zero quest).
Hotfix: Recurring Nightmares 1.1 (2016-10-27)
- Fixed Nightmare Exterminate missions spawning an insane.. Or… nightmarish number of enemies.
Hotfix: Recurring Nightmares 1 (2016-10-27)
- New Nightmare modifiers have been added to the mix! Take on the new ‘Death Detonation’, and ‘Friendly Fire’ modifiers.
- Fixed Nightmare modifiers not re-applying after a Host Migration.
Update: Recurring Nightmares (2016-10-27)
- Nightmare Missions are now back in the Starchart but with a few twists:
- Each Planet will have 1 Nightmare node that changes every 8 hours (all respective Planet nodes must be completed before that Nightmare node becomes available).
- Mercury, The Void, and Lua are now included in Nightmare node eligibility.
- These Nightmare nodes are not replayable, and the Nightmare will be cleared for that Planet for 8 hours until the next one appears.
- Failing to effectively hack panels will now result in a zap and tougher enemies will spawn when you set off alarms- good luck!
- New Nightmare Mods are now available through Nightmare missions!
- Chilling Reload (Shotgun): Increases Cold Damage and Reload Speed!
- Drifting Contact (Melee): Increases Combo Duration and Status Chance!
- Streamlined Form (Warframe): Increases Holster Speed and Slide Boost!
- Nightmare Mod rewards (19 total now) can be earned across 3 tiers of Nightmare missions: Easy, Medium, Hard.
- Easy Nightmare Missions can be found on Earth, Venus, Mars, Phobos and Mercury and contain:
- Ice Storm
- Stunning Speed
- Hammer Shot
- Wildfire
- Accelerated Blast
- Blaze
- Chilling Reload (new!)
- Medium Nightmare Missions can be found on Jupiter, Ceres, Saturn, Void, Europa, and Lua and contain:
- Drifting Contact (new!)
- Seeking Fury
- Armored Agility
- Shred
- Rending Strike
- Fortitude
- Hard Nightmare Missions can be found on Sedna, Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, and Eris and contain:
- Streamlined Form (new!)
- Animal Instinct
- Vigor
- Lethal Torrent
- Focus Energy
- Constitution
Update: Specters of the Rail 0.0 (2016-07-08)
- Unlisted Change
- Nightmare nodes removed, though Nightmare alerts can still occur.
Hotfix 18.5.4 (2016-03-07)
- Fixed an error preventing Nightmare mods being received from Sabotage Nightmare Missions.
Hotfix 16.11.3 (2015-07-10)
- Some Endless Nightmare missions now function like their Alert counterparts in completion criteria to be eligible for a Nightmare Mod. Specifics as follows:
- Nightmare Interception now requires 2 Rounds to be eligible for extraction/Nightmare Mods, like their Alert Counterparts.
- Nightmare Defense missions now require 10 Waves to be eligible for extraction/Nightmare Mods, like their Alert Counterparts.
- Nightmare Excavation (Nodes & Alerts) now requires 500 units of Cryotic before extraction is enabled.
- Fixed Nightmare Defense Missions not properly giving Nightmare Mod rewards.
Update 16.11 (2015-07-07)
- Time-mission Nightmare variants will no longer appear in Assassination Missions.
Hotfix 16.10.2 (2015-07-02)
- Added the new platinum-purchase mods to the Nightmare Mission drop tables.
- Nightmare assassinate missions will no longer select the "mission time limit" challenge mode.
Update 16.8 (2015-06-10)
- Fixed Sentinels and Kubrow having shields in no-shields Nightmare Missions.
Update 15.13 (2015-02-05)
- Nightmare Mode nodes now have an updated Icon on the Star Chart.
Hotfix 15.5.7 (2014-12-03)
- Removed Nightmare Mode from final quest mission in Patient Zero.
Hotfix 15.0.6 (2014-10-27)
- Fixed an issue with Nightmare Rescue Alerts giving out additional mods.
Update 15.0 (2014-10-24)
- Fixed an issue where Hijack missions in Nightmare Mode with the ‘no shield’ permutation would be unbeatable.
Update 14.6 (2014-09-11)
- Fixed an issue with Alerts/Invasions/Nightmare nodes disappearing when returning from a mission.
Hotfix 14.5.2 (2014-09-03)
- Fixed an issue with Nightmare modes not having their proper debuff applied when playing on Rescue event missions.
Hotfix 14.1.3 (2014-08-02)
- Fixed an issue with join in-progress functionality not working correctly for publicly hosted alerts, invasion, Conclave, Dark Sector, and Nightmare missions.
Hotfix 14.0.8 (2014-07-24)
- Fixed an issue with Nightmare Mods only successfully being rewarded in Survival and Rescue missions.
Update 13.0 (2014-04-09)
- Fixed Nightmare mode overrides not being properly maintained.
Update 12.3 (2014-02-27)
- Fixed progression stopping issue if playing Earth’s Sabotage mission with Nightmare mode ‘timer’ permutation.
Update 12.1 (2014-02-13)
- Fixed nightmare-mode rewards on Interception Missions.
Hotfix 11.7.3 (2014-01-17)
- Changes to the Nightmare Alert structure:
- No more 5% chance of Optional Nightmare (was incorrectly announced Wednesday 1/15/2014 – we’ve changed it)
- NOW: There will be 10 nightmare alerts "per cycle", one for each original nightmare mod.
- When the Alert is up, it will appear as "Nightmare Mod Located"; the type of mod will be displayed in the Alert info popup.
- The mission does not have an option, must be played in Nightmare to acquire the Mod indicated.
- No shields is always the nightmare modifier.
- These alerts will also be worth double the credits that would normally be given for an alert mission on the selected node.
Update 11.7 (2014-01-15)
- Alerts now have a 5% chance to be nightmare Alerts (Clarity: Eligible alerts will prompt choice to play in Nightmare Mode).
Hotfix 11.0.7 (2013-11-26)
- Removed energy drain from no-shield mode Nightmare missions.
Update 11.0 (2013-11-20)
- Added option to opt-in to Nightmare nodes.
Update 10.5 (2013-10-23)
- Fixed nightmare Assassination missions giving only the nightmare reward, and not the boss reward.
Hotfix 10.3.2 (2013-10-10)
- Fix for nightmare assassinate missions giving only the nightmare reward, and not the boss reward.
Update 9.7 (2013-08-30)
- Mod Rewards from “Arid Fear” event (Shred, Vigor, Lethal Torrent) now available in Nightmare Mode.
Update 9.4 (2013-08-02)
- Nightmare mode tuning
- Don’t allow 0 shields in nightmare mode if Vampire mode is in effect.
- Energy Drain mode now gives zero shields in addition to draining energy. Reduced chance of Energy -Drain mode (33% instead of 50%).
- Mobile Defense is now exempt from No-HUD mode.
- No-Mini Map mode removed as it was universally despised (but if you really liked it, a post-it note will do the trick).
Update 9.3 (2013-07-26)
- Increased difficulty (just a little) of Nightmare Mode.
- Nightmare mode storage lockers don't give ammo.
- Better timer sound for Nightmare mode.
- Fixed weapon restrictions not being applied in nightmare mode.
- Fixed weapon restrictions not being applied in Nightmare mode.
- Fixed host migrating during nightmare mode causing the mode to change.
Update 9.2 (2013-07-19)
- Vampire mode degeneration cannot kill the player -- lowest health can be is 1%. Must die to enemy fire or other environmental disasters.
- Removed Nightmare mode as an option for Mercury missions.
Hotfix 9.1.4 (2013-07-16)
- Fix for Nightmare mode timer sound not being high enough stakes.
Hotfix 9.1.3 (2013-07-15)
- Further tweaks to Nightmare Mode Vampire missions to be challenging but playable.
Hotfix 9.1.1 (2013-07-15)
- Increased difficulty of Nightmare Mode. Vampire drain rate is higher,
and weapon restrictions are now enabled... coming soon. MUHAHA! - Fix for Nightmare mode appearing on nodes before entire planet had been completed.
Update 9.1 (2013-07-14)
- Fix and swap for Nightmare Defense mode: mission is now 15 wave countdown aka Nightmare Survival Defense.
Update 9.0 (2013-07-13)
- Introduced
- Nightmare Game Mode. Are you tough enough to survive Nightmare mode?
- 10x Dual Stat Mods rewards (awarded in “Nightmare” game mode challenges only)