Warframe Heavy Caliber
Image via Prima Games.

How to Get Heavy Caliber in Warframe

Bringing out the big guns with this mod.

Warframe mods have all sorts of drop locations that can range from overly complex to quite simple. For example, you may not know that the Nightmare missions offered under the Alerts tab of the game can give exclusive and useful mods like Hammer Shot, which increases Critical Damage and Status Chance. One such mod isn’t from Nightmare missions but can be a bit obscure to get regardless. Here’s how to get the Heavy Caliber mod in Warframe.

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Where to Find the Heavy Caliber Mod in Warframe

The Heavy Caliber mod in Warframe is found through opening and looting Orokin Derelict vaults, with a 4.35% chance of the mod drop being Heavy Caliber. This means that when on average, you may need to open as many as 23 Orokin Derelict vaults to get the mod. Orokin Derelict vaults are found on the Orokin Derelict tileset, or every node on the planet Deimos excluding the Cambion Drift, Exequias, Magnacidium, and Hyf.

What You Need to Open Orokin Derelict Vaults and Get Heavy Caliber in Warframe

Before you go jumping into missions and opening vaults, there are a few things you’ll have to do first. First of all, you’ll need all four of the Dragon keys so you can have a key ready when you find a vault. The blueprints for these can be gotten in your Clan’s Dojo (you’ll need to join one if you aren’t in one already) through the Orokin Lab. There are four keys in total: Bleeding, Decaying, Extinguished, and Hobbled. Each of these will provide a debuff of some sort, so we suggest having friends with you to each take a key if possible. You can also try the Recruitment chat to see if anyone else wants to open some vaults.

Related: How to Get Growing Power in Warframe

Once you have all the keys available, pick one of the Deimos missions excluding the missions above, and search the map for a Derelict Vault. The door to which will look like a large half circle, with the image of a Dragon Key plastered right in the center. Have whoever has the key interact with the door, then grab the glowing orange ball inside. Once you finish the objective and complete the mission, a mod will appear in the Mission Rewards. If it’s Heavy Caliber, then you’re done! If not, you’ll have to keep trying. Thankfully, there are a lot of useful mods in the Derelict vault, so you might get some other good stuff.

As for the Heavy Caliber mod itself, the mod (at max rank) will increase damage by 165% while lowering accuracy by 55%. This makes it useful for rifles and bows where accuracy isn’t a concern. I use the mod for my Nataruk build since that bow is designed for destroying everything in a hallway with one click. Accuracy, to say the least, is not a concern.

While you’re on the hunt for mods, be sure to check out how to get the Overextended mod in Warframe. Spoiler alert, it isn’t too different to this mod’s acquisition method.


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About the Author

Shawn Robinson

Shawn is a freelance gaming journalist who's been with Prima Games for a year and a half, writing mainly about FPS games and RPGs. He even brings several years of experience at other sites like The Nerd Stash to the table. While he doesn't bring a fancy degree to the table, he brings immense attention to detail with his guides, reviews, and news, leveraging his decade and a half of gaming knowledge. If he isn't writing about games, he's likely getting zero kills in his favorite FPS or yelling at the game when it was 100% his fault that he died.