Unlocking the AX-52: Your Guide for Warframe Success

Warframe: 1999 immerses players in the harsh environment of Höllvania, a city overrun by a horde of infested creatures. Amid the chaos, a faction of soldiers equipped with chemical weapons clashes with one another, while the Hex, a group of valiant warriors, strives to shield the innocent citizens from harm. The arrival of the Drifter from the future further complicates the situation.

One of the significant weapons added in this update is the AX-52, a rifle that resembles modern firearms more than the typical gear found in your Warframe arsenal. Here’s what you need to know about it and how to acquire it.

What Is The AX-52?

The AX-52 is a fresh addition in the 1999 Update. This rifle serves as the main weapon for Arthur Nightingale, who will lend it to you during the primary storyline. You’ll be able to claim it as your own later in the game.

This weapon boasts a high fire rate, above-average critical chance, and critical damage, dealing pure Puncture damage. Headshots result in an impressive 400% increase in critical chance when aiming, making it an ideal choice for builds focused on critical damage.

How To Get The AX-52

To obtain the AX-52, you need to complete The Hex quest. This quest will unlock all the vendors in Höllvania Central Mall. After reaching Syndicate Rank 4 (Hot & Fresh), you can purchase the weapon blueprint from Amir. Once you have the blueprint, you’ll need to gather materials to construct the AX-52. The required materials are as follows:

Blueprint	Materials	Credit Cost	Time To Build
AX-52	– Techrot Motherboard x5 – Techrot Chitin x25 – Efervon Sample x60 – Höllvanian Pitchweave Fragment x60	25,000	– 12 Hours – 25 Platinum to Rush

Note: The AX-52 was previously available as a Twitch Drop during Tennocon 2024, but that option is no longer available.

Best AX-52 Build

Given the weapon’s critical chance boost for headshots and its efficiency in critical damage, critical chance, and fire rate, we’ll focus our build around these attributes. Start with mods such as Galvanized Scope, Bladed Rounds, Critical Delay, Vital Sense, and Primed Shred, which enhance the AX-52’s strengths.

Next, include Galvanized Chamber to improve multishot. For the final two mod slots, you may opt for either a combination of two elemental mods (like Cryo Rounds and Infected Clip) or one faction-specific mod (like Bane of Grineer) paired with Hunter Munitions, which adds extra bleed damage with critical hits.

For Arcane recommendations, either Primary Deadhead or Primary Merciless would be suitable. However, keep in mind that Primary Deadhead is most effective with direct headshot kills, while Primary Merciless offers more consistent damage output if you’re still developing your aiming skills.

Mod/Arcane Name	Effect
Arcane: Primary Merciless	On Kill: +30% Damage for 4 seconds (stacks up to 12 times). +30% Reload Speed.
Or
Arcane: Primary Deadhead	On Precision Headshot Kill: +120% Damage for 24 seconds (stacks up to three times). +30% Headshot Multiplier. -50% Weapon Recoil.
Galvanized Scope	+80% Multishot. On Kill: +30% Multishot for 20 seconds (stacks up to five times).
Galvanized Chamber	On Kill: +30% Multishot for 20s (stacks up to 5x).
Vital Sense	+120% Critical Damage
Critical Delay	+200% Critical Chance. -20% Fire Rate (x2 for Bows).
Hunter Munitions	+30% chance to apply Bleed Status on Critical.
Bladed Rounds	On Kill: +120% Critical Damage when Aiming for 9 seconds.
Primed Shred	+55% Fire Rate (x2 for Bows). +2.2 Punch Through.