Frost — Whiteout
Steel Path build. 167% Strength, Avalanche full-strips and freeze-locks the tile. Breach Surge over Freeze turns the shatter into a room clear. This is the peak you can run the day Steel Path unlocks — galvanized / arcanes, no Helminth.
Codex Checked · Compared against current game data for this update. · Update 43.5 · 5 Sept 2026 · PC · Current
Steel Path Star Chart, Circuit, first Archon. Helminth is the next card.
Wrong drop or mechanic?
Why this build?
Steel Path for Steel Path Star Chart, Circuit, first Archon. Helminth is the next card.
Health: Not yet — Helminth, Steel Path, or Archon Hunts still closed. Play the Starter.
- Avalanche is Frost's 2026 identity. Globe is still the objective tool — it is not the nuke.
- Icy Avalanche Overguard is why you stop dying after the first 4.
- Breach Surge plus freeze is a sparkle factory. Freeze (1) was never the damage.
Don’t use this for: Star Chart only · loadouts that need Helminth
Stronger mods, Arcanes, real synergy
You don’t need the shards to run the loop. They are a later ceiling, not a gate.
Bring: Primer (optional) — Viral primer (Epitaph / primaries) is comfort. Naked Grineer die to guns once Avalanche has stripped them.
Alternative if…
- Star Chart only → First Globe
- This is too much Forma / cost → First Globe — Star Chart
My test
Did this still work for you?
Your note, in this browser. Separate from Codex verification — the stamp on the card is editorial, this is yours.
Readiness
Inventory unknown
Not checked — add your collection. You have not failed a test.
- Required mods 0/9 · required — 0/9 named
- Forma 0/4 · required — 4 on the card. Codex does not track installed Forma.
- Helminth · optional — Not required
- Arcanes · recommended — 0/2 recommended
- Shards · optional — Optional unless the card says a breakpoint
Investment: 4 Forma · Reactor · 1 shard · 3 specialised mods. Typical farm ~4–6 hours. Trade if a route is vaulted.
Codex Checked · Compared against current game data for this update. · Update 43.5 · 5 Sept 2026 · PC · Current
Medium confidence. A solid recommendation with more situational dependencies. Confidence is not verification. Verification is separate: Codex Checked against Update 43.5.
Your next step
Next: Whiteout — Optimised
Unlock Helminth, Steel Path, or Archon Hunts before this upgrade is honest.
Whiteout — OptimisedPlan
Today → next → later
Inventory unknown — mark “I own this” on a few mods. Until then this is a plan, not a score of zero.
- NextGet Corrosive ProjectionOpen Nightwave
- After that3–4 FormaOne slot at a time. Rank 30 after each polarize.
- LaterCrimson · StrengthHelminth and shards are the last rungs. They are not the Starter.
- FinalWhiteout — Steel PathSteel Path · Advanced · 3–4 Forma
Upgrade from here
Whiteout — Optimised
Locked behind Helminth, Steel Path, or Archon Hunts. Tick those on Progress first.
Open Whiteout — OptimisedFarm the gap
- Frost augments — Icy Avalanche · Chilling Globe · Ice Wave Impedance · Freeze Force · Biting Frost
Helminth & shards
What to put on the body
- 1 Crimson · Strength — Hold 167% even with Overextended.Archon locked
Tonight
What is actually up
30 minutes, one hour, or two — matched to this loadout, not a dump of the Origin System.
30 minutes
Farm Corrosive Projection
One named gap. Open Nightwave
60 minutes
Corrosive Projection, then Forma
Finish the missing named card, then spend a Forma if a polarity is still fighting you.
120 minutes
One Archon Hunt
If you are logging off after this, stop at the named component. Do not start a second Forma session tired.
- Farm Corrosive Projection
Open Nightwave
Who this is for
Play this build from zero
Steel Path. You own Icy Avalanche and a Wisp subsume.
- Time to a playable copy
- After 167% Strength in the Arsenal and Breach Surge over Freeze.
- First mission to practice in
- SP Exterminate. You want clumps, not a Defense tile.
3 button drills · 12 parts · tick the lists as you go
Before you start
0 of 3 done
Put it on the Warframe
0 of 4 done
Keep this up
Avalanche loop
Pocket card. Stick this on a second screen; the long version is the mission below.
- 1Breach Surge (1) the doorway.
- 2Avalanche (4). Armor gone, frozen, sparks jump. Icy Avalanche Overguard lands on the squad.
- 3Snow Globe (3) only if the objective is actually taking fire. Do not Globe yourself into a closet mid-Exterminate.
- 4Ice Wave (2) stragglers in a lane. Recast Avalanche when new armor walks in.
First mission — press these buttons
- 1
Surge the pack
11. Sparks wait for the freeze.
- 2
Avalanche
44. Armor gone, frozen, sparks jump, Overguard lands.
You will know it worked when: Yellow armor bars vanish. A pale Overguard chunk on your health.
- 3
Shoot leftovers
Naked frozen enemies are a gun problem, not a 4-spam problem.
Common mistakes
Skipping Icy Avalanche
Then 4 is only CC. The Overguard is the tank.
When this feels easy
- 1Ice Storm + Molt AugmentedCold stacks and kills both feed Strength. Recast 4 after they stack if you started near the breakpoint.
- 2Don't overcap Strength foreverPast 167%, buy Range.
Parts checklist
0 of 12 owned. Tap How on anything you still need.
Dependencies
15 dependencies
Frame → mods → unlocks. Tick Collection and Progress. This is a decision graph, not a wiki tree.
- 1●frostframe
- 2○Corrosive Projectionmod
- 3○Cunning Driftmod
- 4○Icy Avalancheaugment
- 5○Blind Ragemod
- 6○Intensifymod
- 7○Primed Continuitymod
- 8○Stretchmod
- 9○Overextendedmod
- 10○Primed Flowmod
- 11○Arcane Persistencearcane
- 12○Molt Augmentedarcane
- 13○Crimson · Strengthshard
- 14○Steel Pathunlock
- 15○Archon Hunts (shards optional)unlock
Depends on
What this loadout needs
Required is a gate. Recommended is a ceiling. Optional is a later farm — don’t stall the card for it.
Required
Cunning Driftmissing · Lua Halls of Ascension
- Icy Avalanche
missing · Steel Meridian / Cephalon Suda · 25,000
Overguard per enemy hit. This is how Frost tanks in 2026.
Blind Ragemissing · Run Orokin Vaults
Intensifymissing · Fight Lieutenant Lech Kril
Primed Continuitymissing · Wait for Baro Ki'Teer
Stretchmissing · Enemy drops
Overextendedmissing · Orokin Vaults
Avalanche radius. Pay Strength back with shards if you dip under 167%.
Primed Flowmissing · Baro Ki'Teer
Recommended
Arcane Persistencemissing · Finish The Old Peace
At 700+ armor, incoming damage caps at 500/s. Azure armor shards or Health Conversion to the breakpoint. Pair with a heal (Grace, kit heal, or Gloom). Rank 0 is legal. Rank 3 is the Steel Path version.
Molt Augmentedmissing · Unlock the Zariman
Kills add Strength. Recast Avalanche after it stacks if you started under breakpoint. Rank 0 is legal. Rank 3 is the Steel Path version.
Optional
Strength
~167–200% (Intensify + Power Drift is the floor; Blind Rage if you overcap)
Duration
130–155% freeze time
Range
175%+ so Avalanche is a room
Full armor strip at 167% Strength, 137% with Corrosive Projection. Range is more kill than extra Strength past the breakpoint.
From the mods
Live power
Additive from max-rank Codex mods. Efficiency clamped 15–175%. Umbral set is +11% Strength per extra piece.
- Strength
- 169%
- Duration
- 155%
- Range
- 250%
- Efficiency
- 45%
- Energy
- +275%
- Capacity
- 49 / 67
Weapon HUD
Arsenal numbers
Base × damage mods × crit expectation × fire rate × multishot. No faction, no quantization. Galvanized kill stacks are a slider, not assumed.
- Damage
- 35
- Crit
- 12% × 2.00
- Status
- 26%
- Fire rate
- 9.58
- Multishot
- 1.00
- Avg hit
- 39
- Arsenal DPS
- 376
Toggle common mods
Frost mods
- AuraCorrosive ProjectionDrops the strip breakpoint to ~137%.Nightwave
- ExilusCunning DriftLua Halls
- 1Icy AvalancheOverguard per enemy hit. This is how Frost tanks in 2026.Steel Meridian / Cephalon Suda · 25k
- 2Blind RageOrokin Vaults
- 3IntensifyMercury / Venus
- 4Primed ContinuityBaro Ki'Teer
- 5StretchEnemy drops
- 6OverextendedAvalanche radius. Pay Strength back with shards if you dip under 167%.Orokin Vaults
- 7Primed FlowBaro / relics
| Slot | Mod | Source | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aura | Corrosive Projection Drops the strip breakpoint to ~137%. | Nightwave | |
| Exilus | Cunning Drift | Lua Halls | |
| 1 | Icy Avalanche Overguard per enemy hit. This is how Frost tanks in 2026. | Steel Meridian / Cephalon Suda · 25k | |
| 2 | Blind Rage | Orokin Vaults | |
| 3 | Intensify | Mercury / Venus | |
| 4 | Primed Continuity | Baro Ki'Teer | |
| 5 | Stretch | Enemy drops | |
| 6 | Overextended Avalanche radius. Pay Strength back with shards if you dip under 167%. | Orokin Vaults | |
| 7 | Primed Flow | Baro / relics |
Primer (optional)
Viral primer (Epitaph / primaries) is comfort. Naked Grineer die to guns once Avalanche has stripped them.
Arcanes
Arcane Persistence
At 700+ armor, incoming damage caps at 500/s. Azure armor shards or Health Conversion to the breakpoint. Pair with a heal (Grace, kit heal, or Gloom). Rank 0 is legal. Rank 3 is the Steel Path version.
Roathe, La Cathédrale · 5 Maphica (The Descendia)
Molt Augmented
Kills add Strength. Recast Avalanche after it stacks if you started under breakpoint. Rank 0 is legal. Rank 3 is the Steel Path version.
Zariman bounties
Archon shards
- 1
Crimson · StrengthHold 167% even with Overextended.1 · Netracells
| # | Shard | Qty | Source | How |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crimson · Strength Hold 167% even with Overextended. | 1 | Netracells |