Warframe Update 43: Jade Shadows Constellations Guide

Update 43 dropped June 17, 2026: the biggest Warframe mainline since The Shadowgrapher. It contains a cinematic sequel quest, the 65th Warframe (a two-in-one that occupies one slot), two new Protoframes, a new Railjack region, five Incarnon reworks, Nidus buffs nobody asked for but everyone needed, and a hub called Pontis Tower that will become your new ritual parking spot.

The Warframe Update 43 is a Mainline, meaning every feature in development since Update 42 ships simultaneously. Expect hotfixes. Expect bugs. Expect a forum thread titled "THIS IS UNPLAYABLE" posted 11 minutes after launch.

Once the Jade Shadows: Constellations quest begins, all other Warframe content is locked until completion. Do not start it during a lunch break.

Prerequisites: Yes, All of Them

The quest chain is three sagas deep. The Jade Shadows Constellations quest prerequisites are non-negotiable and strictly ordered. If your codex shows nothing new, you skipped something.

Prelude to War: Three separate story missions. Budget 1-2 hours. None are optional.

The New War: The long one. Sets the stage for everything after it.

Jade Shadows (original): ~30 minutes. Your choice of the child's name carries into Constellations and determines your primary son. Pay attention.

Open Codex > Main Quests > Jade Shadows: Constellations: It will not auto-start. Go find it yourself.

Quest Walkthrough

You play as the Stalker. He has Dread, Despair, Hate, and a passive that gives 300% crit chance against enemies who don't see him. The game rewards aggression with no downside. You have infinite revives. Good luck dying anyway.

Quest sequence

1. Type FATHER to confirm quest start.
2. Beat the dual boss Emerald X Crimson: fly-and-charge scythe pattern, energy blades at range. Deplete both bars, then survive the cinematic tantrum.
3. Sneak into the Orbiter. Ordis kicks you out immediately. Use the Helminth to distract him, enter Personal Quarters, greet Excalibur Umbra.
4. Hunt Vena (Garuda Protoframe, loyal to Orion) and Ryoku (Ash Protoframe, loyal to Sirius). Order affects your Frontman designation: not permanently, don't panic.
5. Chase the Void-spark through a Corpus ship into the Void. Fight Jade's Mockery: aim for the head, go full offense when she strips your invisibility.
6. Return to hideout. Cook the meals: Green Pot = Sugar + Meat, Red Pot = Spice + Vegetable. Wrong combination does nothing except make you feel like a bad parent.
7. Hunhow sacrifices himself to the Void. Everyone lives. Constellations complete.

The Jade Shadows Constellations walkthrough runs 30-40 minutes start to finish. The kitchen puzzle at the end is the game's way of saying "we know you've been killing for two hours, here's some soothing domestic content."

Sirius & Orion: Two Frames, One Slot, Zero Restraint

The Sirius and Orion Warframe abilities are built around a shared resource called Constellation Stars: generated by casting any ability. Green stars for Sirius, red for Orion. A maximum of 7 can be held, with no more than 2 of the same color in a row. They are spent in the 4th ability, Celestial Clash.

Sirius

• Coronal Ejection: Scythe toss, Heat damage, collects pickups
• Jade Stars: Heat motes that auto-fire on enemies
• Light's Sanctuary: AoE heal + revive well, grows over time
• Celestial Clash (shared 4th): LMB for Sirius attacks

Orion

• Gravitic Slash: Frontal arc, Slash + armor/shield strip
• Astral Shell: Damage-absorbing decoy shell
• Event Horizon: Black hole; enemies killed inside empower it
• Celestial Clash (shared 4th): RMB for Orion attacks

Celestial Clash launches both sons into an aerial duel. Each consumes a Constellation Star for 7,000 Blast damage in a 20m radius. Match star color to attacker for +55% Critical Chance. Dodge to reposition mid-air. Ends when all stars are spent, capped with a joint explosion. Both sons cannot cast other abilities or use weapons while this is active: you are fully committed to the bit.

The Constellation Stars mechanic explained: the passive grants 45% Ability Efficiency for 2 casts every time you swap between sons. Build around constant swapping and the efficiency discount effectively pays for itself. The uncontrolled son behaves as an AI Specter: attacks enemies, casts all abilities except Celestial Clash, and goes down when you go down. Treat him as a free turret you sometimes play as.

Modding: Sirius and Orion have separate mod loadouts. Archon Shards and Decrees are shared. Duplicate Auras do not stack. Mod each son for his role: Sirius for ability strength and range, Orion for efficiency and duration.

The how to farm Sirius Orion blueprints loop is straightforward. The main blueprint drops at quest completion: guaranteed, no RNG. Components are the grind.

Total talent cost for components: 270. Add 275 for the main blueprint if you somehow need a second copy. Each Uranus Proxima Skirmish rewards 12-16 Talents (18-22 on Steel Path). Stick to one mission type: either Scoria's Angel (Emerald) or The Kuva Wytch (Crimson): to stack a single currency faster and buy out missing blueprints without spreading thin across both.

You do not need your own Railjack. Ryoku and Vena each offer a loaner ship. Use them. Don't spend Intrinsics or resources kitting a Railjack you barely fly.

Pontis Tower & Uranus Proxima

Pontis Tower is the new permanent hub on Uranus. Fast travel to Vena, Ryoku, and the secret vendor (unlocked post-quest: not naming them here) from the pause menu. The Pontis Tower vendor items list includes blueprints, Ephemeras, Landing Craft skins, Capturas, and cosmetics themed around the mentors: all purchasable with Emerald or Crimson Talents.

The Uranus Proxima Steel Path Railjack introduces Steel Path to Railjack for the first time. Acolytes do not spawn. Steel Essence comes from Eximus enemies instead. The missions are designed to be the most accessible Railjack content in the game: no personal ship required, no gatekeeping by Intrinsics rank.

Scoria's Angel

• Side: Ryoku (Sirius)
• Reward currency: Emerald Talents
• Railjack: Santovan's Oath
• Style: Cloaking, precision, ranged

The Kuva Wytch

• Side: Vena (Orion)
• Reward currency: Crimson Talents
• Railjack: Vena's ship
• Style: Gore, aggression, chaos

Both missions can drop any component blueprint, so you are never locked to a specific run for a specific part. The Owowyrm/Ramsled minigame during missions adds bonus Talents on top of completion rewards. Shoot the targets. Do not ignore them.

The Warframe Protoframes Ryoku Vena guide: both are hireable as Elite Crew for your personal Railjack after earning their favor through the respective Skirmish missions. Neither gets a KIM entry: the game will not hold your hand about them. Learn their lore through the quest and Railjack dialogue.

The Nidus ability rework Update 43 is a quiet buff with a loud impact: Health up from 555 to 675 (Prime: 650 to 825), increased innate health regen, base max Stacks raised to 200, and Abundant Mutation now adds 300 additional stacks. If you shelved Nidus after Warframe's early years, dust him off.

The new Incarnon Genesis weapons Warframe are sourced from Uranus Proxima content and Pontis Tower, keeping the farming loop tightly contained. The camera offset feature alone justifies the patch notes: it has been requested since 2019 and it's here now, quietly making every tileset bearable.