I just started the game today, what do I need to know?

do you have to spend money in order to get certain weapons?

Not at all, everything's craftable or buyable for currencies you can obtain just by playing.

how long will it take to gain loot without spending money?

Depends what loot we're talking about.

Getting Ash Prime, Latron Wrath, and Gaia's Tragedy will take a long time. But getting just upgrades to your current gear? Nah, it mostly is a breeze, as long as you keep unlocking new planets.

what should my priorities be as a brand new player?

  • Unlock all of the planets
  • Get your Vitality, Redirection, Serration and Hornet Strike mods to 8/10
  • Get a varied selection of weapons and frames. Don't go all stealth, all Rambo, all bows, etc.
  • Join a clan
  • Get some basic and essential mods.
  • Max everything you get your hands on to 30

what weapons/warframes/etc are best for starting players?

  • Frames: Rhino is a solid choice for every new player.
  • Primaries: Karak, Latron -> Tiberon and Boltor are very good starter weapons.
  • Secondaries: You can't go wrong with Lato -> Bolto -> Akbolto. Furis -> Afuris is also a good path to take.
  • Melee: Once Awake quest will reward you with decent melee weapon. Bo and Orthos are also solid choices.

Can the game be played start to finish completely solo?

Can it be? Yes, it can.

Will it be easy? Fuck no.

Until you get a good collection of high-level mods, high-tier weapons and frames, doing most missions - especially endless ones - will be a royal pain. You will be dying. You will fail those missions. You will get frustrated after 10th failed attempt.

what is the best way to farm materials?

For common and uncommon resources, endless missions, especially Dark Sector ones. If you have Nekros or Hydroid in your team, it's even better.

For rare resources, killing bosses is usually a good idea. Especially iff there's a Phorid Manifestation on the boss node.

how long will it take to unlock additional warframes?

You can unlock Rhino as early as Venus, so not long at all.

/r/Warframe Thread