• Brysko is the new greatest Warframe
  • We are finally going to current day Tau
  • The Hex is back with a brand new adventure

If you are a Warframe fan, you have probably been asking yourself the same question: “How can Digital Extremes top last year's TennoCon?" It is a fair one, and one I am sure the team have asked themselves. The Old Peace took us past Tau to experience the war; it was amazing. What’s better than that? The answer was surprisingly simple. TennoCon 2026 took us to present-day Tau.

There would be more buildup, but quite frankly, I am too excited to geek out, so we are diving into the good stuff. The Drifter kicked things off by kidnapping a version of Lotus during the events of her sending Lua into the Void. Is The Drifter trying to alter their own fate, or perhaps The Operators'? 

It is time to head to Tau

These are questions that must wait, since we move swiftly to a particular delivery with The Operator at the Relay Dry Docks. Hopefully, you were there, because it is once in a lifetime. Customising is cool, but I am more intrigued by its name, the Vessel. Warframes are bad ass enough, imagine piloting that.

And pilot we did, albeit in our Raijack, because we are finally headed to Tau! Well, much like last year, kind of. After a beautiful visual fly-through of Tau, we end up in another Vessel. I presume. A giant eye blinked in the background. Anyway, we are in the esteemed lab of Albrecht Entrati, who is working on my new favourite Warframe, Brysko. Sorry, Dante. 

This is where the good stuff really starts, with our Matthew Mercer-voiced hero, because of course it's Mercer, he's everywhere. Brysko is styled after the old-school hard-boiled noir detective type of character. The world has worn him down, so much so that he is introduced with Albrecht rebuilding him. A boon Brysko is less than pleased about.

Brysko has instantly become my favourite Warframe

He is sent off with a pat on the back and a goal: infiltrate that inner circle of The Hunra, a figure who controls the planet of Fornax. Incidentally, this is the first planet that will sport three distinct hubs. But that is less important than the fact that Brysko looks phenomenal.

I adore the noir detective characters, but my god, he looks fantastic in combat. Wielding that revolver-type gun that spawns homing lasers on hit, or that Gambit-esque throwing card skills. Plus the inner monologue that is so incredibly noir-coded. We won’t recap everything because you need to experience it for yourself. But we will skip to the end.

After a job, Brysko is invited to a beautiful casino, in a car sequence backed by yet another banger track from the genius of Matthew Chalmers and co. This casino, by the way, will be fully functional. Gambling is good for you, kids. For legal reasons, that's a joke. Anyhow, you finally come face to face with The Hunra, and hold onto your hats.

An old friend has really gone down a dark, yet profitable, road

This figure, who has Fornax in a death grip, a planet full of either drug-addicted sentients or those suffering from the planet's black rain, the figure who sent you to brutally kill two targets, is none other than Aldis. Your floating, inoffensive best friend from The Old Peace. But he has been hitting the gym, or found a bigger shell. He remembers your last encounter a little differently, and boy, has he changed. 

Suffice it to say, I need this immediately. Alas, we only have the tentative date of “2026”, so within the next six months, which isn’t bad. My money is on December, though, same as 1999 and The Old Peace. Let’s look at something a little bit closer: the fall update.

The Unannounced but named Fall Update

In the past, this has been referred to as the “Unannounced Fall Update”, but DE has gotten a bit sick of that, so they are spoiling the name early: Iceblade of Narin. Looking at that art, you might see something that looks familiar. But let’s not spoil the surprise. Instead, let's take a peek at what we are getting. 

Our first entry really is just a peek: a new Warframe. The first female ice-themed Frame, step aside, Frost, you have had your time. Sticking with the girl power vibe, Citrine will be getting a Prime variant. She is a fantastic support Frame, with defensive abilities, crowd control, damage enhancement, and she makes Health and Energy orbs drop more. Did someone say Equilibrium? Yes, me, in every Warframe article, it's the best mod!

The females are coming out in force this year

As we all know, Fashionframe is the true endgame. Fans of Qorvex and Banshee will be able to sport some new Deluxe outfits, with Qorvex having a pretty cool gargoyle design. Sadly, it doesn’t make you sound like Keith David. Although I suppose you DO also need to be able to fight effectively. 

So, Banshee specifically will be getting a rework to make her viable in the current day, which would be great if Brysko wasn’t clearly the best Warframe. Sorry again, Dante. Speaking of female Warframes, let’s continue on that trend. Hopefully, you all watched on Twitch and are now enjoying your free Mesa Prime. Perhaps you should go ahead and splurge on the Mesa Heirloom skin too. You can finally embrace that cowgirl theme, dual Peacemakers and all. Keep the duster on, though, you deviants.

The Hex are back in a brand new adventure

Let’s stick with Fall. Warframe: 1999 introduced us to The Hex and their pantheon of fantastic voice actors, and I am sure we have all been waiting for them to return. A certain Amir hijacked TennoCon this year to announce Amir’s Shockwave. This is a reskin of Nightwave, Warframe’s reward track. It is like a battle pass, but considerably less exploitative. Don’t forget, you can unlock everything in Warframe for free. 

The highlight of these rewards has to be a new On-Lyne track: “Running Late”. Even though they are a video game band, On-Lyne is legitimately one of the world's greatest boy bands. Party of Your Lifetime is an absolute bop, the type of earworm you are glad to have. Then follow that with The Great Dispair, a moving melody about loss; the DE music team are immense. I am sure Running Late will similarly cement itself as a stone-cold hit.

But wait, there is more Hex, this time in D&D form. I mean, the legally distinct Fables & Frontiers. This tabletop triumph will be available indefinitely, so you can continue to enjoy it at your leisure. There are special glyphs and character sheets for each of the Hex, and a new Kim chat with the whole group. If you have ever had a tabletop group, you know that it’ll be full of “sorry, I am busy that day”.

TennoCon is over for another year, much to our great despair

Alas, that's TennoCon 2026 all wrapped up, yet the legacy lives on. A legacy of content I am frothing at the mouth to get my hands on. But let's not forget that TennoCon also does great help with charities, this year London Cares and Sistema Toronto. Check them out if you are feeling generous.

And now for that sad word, “finally”. Digital Extremes will be hitting the road to spread the good word of Warframe with TennoVIP. There will be Seoul on September 4th, Xi’an on September 12, London (the UK version) on October 2nd, and Glasgow on October 4th. If you can make it, I am sure they will be great shows. If not, then you can always find your fellow Tenno on Warframe, available on Android and Apple devices.