Reload

Reloading is the act of replenishing ammunition to a primary or secondary weapon. The length of time spent on reloading, Reload Time, is based on the individual weapon's reload animation speed (or Reload Speed for short), which can be altered by some mods and abilities. Reload time functions as a period of disadvantage for the player, though actions can be taken to compensate for the inability to shoot.

Manual Reload[]

R

When firing a weapon until it is empty, the game does not actually immediately initiate a reload. There is a short delay equal to the reciprocal of the weapon's fire rate. This delay can be averted by pressing the reload key as soon as the weapon's magazine is about to run out, assuming the firing trigger is being held down or rapidly pressed in the case of semi-auto weapons. This penalty cannot be avoided on Battery Weapons.

If the "Context Action Includes Reload" setting is enabled, reloading will occur when attempting to fire a gun with no ammunition.

While the reloading animation occurs, the player cannot attempt to fire the weapon. The animation can be cancelled by certain actions such as rolling.

Calculating Reload Time[]

There are several mods and sources of buffs that affect reloading. Reload time is not directly modified with these, but rather reload speed changes. To calculate the resultant reload time with reload speed buffs/debuffs:

{\displaystyle \text{Total Reload Time} = \frac{\text{Weapon Reload Time} }{1 + \text{Reload Speed Bonus} } }

For example, a Braton with a 2.0 second reload time and a rank 5 Fast Hands (+30% Reload Speed) would have a new reload time of:

2.0 ÷ (1 + 0.30) = 1.54s

Weapon Reload Time: This refers to the base amount of time indicated on the stats of an unmodified weapon.
Mod Reload Bonus: This refers to the speed increase marked as percentage on mod cards, expressed as a decimal to two places.

Weapons that reload per shell[]

There are some weapons that reload one shell/bullet/projectile at a time, thus increasing Magazine Capacity will also increase total reload time. However, players can interrupt the full reloading process by clicking on the reload button again or firing the partially reloaded weapon. These include the Corinth, Felarx, MK1-Strun, Strun, Strun Wraith, and Zarr.

{\displaystyle \text{Total Reload Time} = \frac{\text{Reload Start and End Delay} }{1 + \text{Reload Speed Bonus} } + ( \frac{\text{Weapon Reload Time Per Shell} }{1 + \text{Reload Speed Bonus} } \times \text{Magazine Capacity} ) }

Rechargeable weapons[]

Battery Weapons are those that do not have a reload animation and instead has their magazine replenish over time after an initial delay between firing and reloading, thus increasing Magazine Capacity also increases total reload time. Reload speed bonuses only affect the recharge delay while the recharge rate cannot be changed. Players can interrupt the full reloading process by firing the partially reloaded weapon. Examples include Flux Rifle and Plinx.

{\text{Total Reload Time}}={\frac {\text{Recharge Delay}}{1+{\text{Reload Speed Bonus}}}}+{\frac {\text{Magazine Capacity}}{\text{Recharge Rate}}}

Increasing Reload Speed[]

Mods[]

Note that while you may successfully install both Quickdraw and Stunning Speed onto a single sidearm with no discrepancies, Fast Hands cannot be placed onto a weapon with Primed Fast Hands, and vice-versa. Bows, snipers, and launchers benefit from the Rifle-type reload mods.

Arcanes[]

Abilities[]

2

50

Elemental Ward

Depending on Chroma's elemental alignment, an offensive area-of-effect is created. Chroma and his nearby allies are imbued with defensive energy.

Introduced in Update 16.0 (2015-03-19)

Strength: 25 / 50 / 75 / 100 ( damage per second)
15 / 20 / 30 / 55 % (health bonus)

Duration: 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 s

Range: 6 / 8 / 10 / 12 m (aura range)

Misc:2 / 5 / 7 / 10 % ( status chance)
5 m (burn radius)

Strength: 2.5 / 3 / 5 / 10 x (damage reflection multiplier)
10 / 15 / 20 / 30 % (shield bonus)
10 / 15 / 20 / 25 % ( status chance)
50 / 60 / 100 / 200 (minimum damage)

Duration: 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 s

Range: 6 / 8 / 10 / 12 m (aura range)
5 / 6 / 8 / 10 m (discharge range)

Strength: 25 / 35 / 40 / 50 % ( damage chance per second)
15 / 25 / 30 / 35 % (holster damage)

Duration: 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 s
3 / 3 / 3 / 3 s (holster damage duration)
15 / 25 / 30 / 35 % (reload speed bonus)

Range: 6 / 8 / 10 / 12 m (aura range)

Misc:5 m (poison radius)
5 % (enemy health to damage)
100 % ( status chance)

Strength: 1.5 / 2 / 2.5 / 3 x (damage reflection multiplier)
25 / 70 / 90 / 145 % (armor bonus)
10 / 15 / 20 / 25 % ( status chance)

Duration: 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 s

Range: 6 / 8 / 10 / 12 m (aura range)

Subsumable to Helminth

Info

Chroma expends 50 Energy to emit an aura of elemental energy, empowering himself and nearby allies within 6 / 8 / 10 / 12 meters for 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 seconds, providing both offensive and defensive buffs.
- Energy cost is affected by Ability Efficiency.
- Duration is affected by Ability Duration.
- Aura radius is affected by Ability Range.
Elemental Ward exhibits different effects depending on Chroma's current elemental alignment, determined by Chroma's primary emission color or the selected element of Spectral Scream.

Generates a flame aura around Chroma and affected allies that increases base Health by 15% / 20% / 30% / 55% and inflicts 25 / 50 / 75 / 100 Heat damage per second within a radius of 5 meters with a 2% / 5% / 7% / 10% status chance. The radius of this damage effect is not increased with ability range.
- The health bonus stacks additively with base health modifiers.
  - A rank-3 Elemental Ward with Intensify and a maxed Vitality will increase Chroma's health to $⌊370 \times (1 + 1 + 0.55 \times 1.3)⌋ = 1,004$ .
- Damage bypasses obstacles in the environment and decreases with distance.

Infuses Chroma and affected allies with an electric current that increases base Shields by 10% / 15% / 20% / 30% and converts incoming damage into arc discharges. An arc discharge inflicts 250% / 300% / 500% / 1,000% incoming damage as Electricity damage to a single target within 5 / 6 / 8 / 10 meters with a 10% / 15% / 20% / 25% status chance. Arc discharges will inflict a minimum of 50 / 60 / 100 / 200 Electricity damage.
- The shield bonus stacks additively with base shield modifiers.
  - A rank-3 Elemental Ward with Intensify and a maxed Redirection will increase Chroma's shield capacity to $⌊370 \times (1 + 1 + 0.3 \times 1.3)⌋ = 884$ .
- Arc damage bypasses obstacles in the environment.
- The final damage of an arc discharge is determined by the amount of shields and/or health lost by incoming damage. For example with a maxed Intensify, losing 100 shields from a single instance of damage will produce an arc that inflicts $100 \times 10 \times 1.3 = 1,300$ Electricity damage at rank 3 to a single target as long as it's within range.
- Damage from environmental hazards can also be converted into arc discharges.
- Arcs can strike the same target multiple times, and arcs can be produced in quick succession should Chroma and allies receive multiple instances of damage that exceed the minimum threshold.

Emits an aura of noxious fumes around Chroma and affected allies that increases base Reload Speed by 15% / 25% / 30% / 35%, as well as weapon damage when Holstering by 15% / 25% / 30% / 35% for ? / ? / 3 / 3 seconds. Within a radius of 5 meters, the noxious fumes also have a 25% / 35% / 40% / 50% chance per second to deal 5% of an enemy's maximum health as Toxin damage with a 100% status chance.
- The Toxin damage will only be applied to an enemy if it is not already affected by a Toxin proc, but can occur as soon as an existing Toxin proc expires. As such, its effect cannot stack with itself but can refresh itself every 7 seconds.
- Damage bypasses obstacles in the environment and does not decrease with distance.

Encases Chroma and affected allies in a layer of frost that increases base Armor by 25% / 70% / 90% / 145% and creates an ice shield that reflects incoming gunfire back to its source. Reflected damage is increased by 150% / 200% / 250% / 300% and has a 10% / 15% / 20% / 25% status chance.
- The armor bonus stacks additively with base armor modifiers.
  - A rank-3 Elemental Ward with Intensify and a maxed Steel Fiber will increase Chroma's armor to $⌊370 \times (1 + 1 + 1.45 \times (1 + 0.3))⌋ = 1,437$ .
  - As with all other additive armor bonuses, Elemental Ward's bonus is applied before multiplicative armor bonuses.
- Incoming hitscan and non-hitscan projectiles are physically redirected after hitting Chroma. As such, obstacles in the environment can prevent reflected damage from hitting enemies.
- Hitscan projectiles are reflected directly to the source enemy regardless of distance from Chroma. Melee attacks are not reflected.
- Non-hitscan projectiles are reflected in the direction of the source enemy.
- Does not prevent damage to Chroma aside from the additional armor bonus and other damage reduction rules; Chroma will be hit normally before reflecting weapons fire.

Elemental Auras of any type from two or more Chromas do not stack and only the first aura will apply its benefits as long as the player is within buff range. For example, two Heat auras do not increase damage nor health values, and possessing a Heat aura will negate receiving a Cold aura.
Has a casting delay of 1 second. The animation interrupts movement and other actions.
Elemental Ward cannot be recast while active.
Elemental Ward does not work on Nekros' Shadows.
Subsuming Chroma to the Helminth will offer Elemental Ward and its augments to be used by other Warframes. The Ward's effects are determined by the Warframe's primary emission color.

Augment

Main article: Everlasting Ward

Everlasting Ward is a Warframe Augment Mod for Chroma that allows allies to retain Elemental Ward's effects upon moving out of its range, lasting for a percentage of Elemental Ward's remaining duration.

Everlasting Ward

Tips & Tricks

In a pinch, the bonus Health provided by the Ward can be used as a quick heal, as the Health granted is automatically added to your remaining health and is not reduced from your remaining health when Elemental Ward wears off.
The Ward is capable of damaging containers and hazards, albeit fairly slowly. Combining Elemental Ward with Spectral Scream and range mods will make for a useful farming tool so long as you have the energy to maintain it.

Can be used to great effect on Survival and Exterminate missions where enemies approach you from all directions and are often difficult to locate or target. At maximum Ability Strength, the damage reflected can easily finish off weaker enemies and potentially stun any survivors.

Works very well with weapons that require you to reload frequently or have long reload times.
Its damage increase is considered as a Universal base damage increase, same as Vex Armor and Arcane Arachne
Can reduce recharge delay for Cycron or a Kitgun equipped with Pax Charge, however, it does not affect recharge rate.

Properly modded, a Cold-oriented Ward can provide an armor bonus high enough that can counteract the armor penalty generated when casting Effigy.
The damage reflection is calculated using the damage before any damage reduction.

Bugs

Allies who enter, leave, then re-enter the radius of Heat-oriented Ward will not regain the buff on the same cast of Elemental Ward. This results in an empty space where the bonus health should have been, even if they took no damage at all.
- This causes Medi-Ray and other healing abilities to attempt to heal the player, but if the player gets out of Elemental Ward's range, their health will return to normal again, wasting the health restored in the process.
The in-game UI shows the armor bonus from the Cold aura as a flat bonus rather than a percentage.

4 100	Redline Push Gauss' battery beyond the redline, supercharging his Abilities and setting Fire Rate, Attack Speed, Reload Speed, and Holster Rate into overdrive. When past the redline, bolts of arcing electricity dance periodically from Gauss, exploding en masse when the ability is deactivated. Introduced in Update 25.7 (2019-08-29)	Strength:100 / 200 / 300 / 400 ( Impact and Puncture area damage)
		Duration:15 / 20 / 25 / 30 s (duration) 6 - 30% / 9 - 45% / 12 - 60% / 15 - 75% (fire rate buff) 5 - 25% / 6 - 30% / 7 - 35% / 8 - 40% (attack speed buff) 4 - 20% / 6 - 30% / 8 - 40% / 10 - 50% (reload speed buff) 4 - 20% / 6 - 30% / 8 - 40% / 10 - 50% (casting speed buff)
		Range:N/A
		Misc: ? m (activation knockback radius) +20% (battery limit release) 50% (projectile accuracy) 50% (energy discount for Mach Rush) 100% (melee damage bonus and stagger chance for Kinetic Plating) 100% ( Cold freeze chance and Heat ignite chance for Thermal Sunder) ≤100% ( Blast enemy armor reduction for Thermal Sunder)

Info

Info

Gauss expends 100 energy to overclock his battery, blasting away enemies within ? meters around him and gaining access to 100% of his battery for 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 seconds. During Redline, Gauss grants himself bonus weapon Fire Rate by 6% - 30% / 9% - 45% / 12% - 60% / 15% - 75%, melee Attack Speed by 5% - 25 % / 6% - 30% / 7% - 35% / 8% - 40%, and Reload Speed and Casting Speed by 4% - 20% / 6% - 30% / 8% - 40% / 10% - 50%, based on battery. While active, Redline drains 2% battery power per second. Redline deactivates on duration end or by manually pressing the ability key again (default 4 ).
Redline introduces a new counter onto the battery gauge, shown as a percentage value between 0% and 100%. While the battery level is above 80%, the Redline counter gradually increases. The speed of the increase is based on battery level, with the counter decreasing if the battery level drops below the Redline limit. When the Redline counter reaches 100%, battery drain from abilities will be completely negated.
- Redline counter maximum growth scales inversely with Ability Duration (e.g. more duration reduces growth), calculated as: $100% / ( Duration \times 1/3 )$ . This means the Redline counter cannot be maxed earlier than 1/3rds of its duration.
- While battery power level is above the Redline limit release, damaging projectiles of arcing electricity will periodically shoot out from Gauss and home in on nearby enemies with 50% accuracy, dealing 100 / 200 / 300 / 400 damage, with a distribution of 81.25% Impact and 18.75% Puncture damage with a moderate status chance and guaranteed Stagger effect. On deactivation, a variable number of projectiles are simultaneously released from Gauss and explode on impact with enemies.
  - Number of projectiles released during Redline and on deactivation are affected by battery power level above the redline battery charge (>80%).
  - Projectiles will become more accurate and strike enemies more frequently, with the higher the battery power level beyond the redline limit.
- When Redline expires, battery drains to amount displayed on Redline counter (e.g. if the counter is at 20%, the battery will decrease to 20%).
Ability Synergy:
- Mach Rush energy cost is halved when cast during Redline.
- While the battery level is boosted during Redline, Kinetic Plating also grants Gauss a 100% base melee damage bonus and 100% chance to stagger enemies on hit.
- Thermal Sunder gains bonuses to its status effects when Redline is active and above the redline battery charge (>80%):
  - The Cold proc freezes enemies solid instantly.
  - The Heat proc deals full damage-over-time against enemies.
  - The Blast proc permanently strips away the current amount of armor based off of battery power level, up to a maximum of 100% with a full battery charge, before inflicting its damage.

2 50	Penance Sacrifice shields to boost reload, and fire rate while converting damage inflicted on enemies into health for Harrow and nearby allies. Introduced in Update 21.0 (2017-06-29)	Strength:50% (initial heal) 5% (lifesteal on hit) 20% / 25% / 30% / 35% (fire rate bonus) 40% / 50% / 60% / 70% (reload speed bonus)
		Duration:4 s (base time) 1.25 / 1.33 / 1.43 / 1.54 s (bonus per 100 shields)
		Range:N/A
		Misc: 50 m (affinity range) 120 s (max duration)

Info

Harrow expends 50 energy to flagellate himself twice with his thurible, sacrificing all of his shields and Overshields to gain 20% / 25% / 30% / 35% Fire Rate and 40% / 50% / 60% / 70% Reload Speed while restoring his Health by 50% of the amount of shields and overshields sacrificed. While active, 5% of any damage dealt by Harrow to enemies converts into health for Harrow and allies within his Affinity Range. Penance has a base duration of 4 seconds, plus extra duration of 1.25 / 1.33 / 1.43 / 1.54 seconds for every 100 Shield and Overshields points drained, up to a maximum of 120 seconds.
- Affinity Range is not affected by Ability Range but is affected by Fosfor and Vazarin's Mending Unity.
- The amount of shields to be drained is determined on activation. Shield points from Condemn will not be drained if gained during Penance's casting animation.
- Each time Harrow flagellates himself, 50% of the total shield points are subtracted.
Can be recast while active to stack extra duration to the remaining time.
Allies affected by the lifesteal include all Warframes, Companions, Eidolon Lures, summoned allied units such as Specters, allied Invasion units, Hostages, Kavor Defectors, Sortie and Arbitrations Defense Operatives, and Defense Objects.
- On Defense Objects, Penance restores up to 50 health per second.
While active, stylized art appears beneath the aiming reticle; when a player is healed by Penance, colored text denoting the amount of health healed from damage dealt briefly replaces the art for several seconds. Both visuals are affected by Harrow's Warframe energy color.
Harrow's wounds on his back from flagellation emit piercing light in his chosen Warframe energy color.
Casting Penance stops all of Harrow's movement and actions.

Tips & Tricks

Mod for a higher shield pool to gain more extra duration for Penance by default.
Harrow can opt to choose to build Penance over Ability Strength for quick bursts of fire rate and lifesteal, or Ability Duration for sustained fire rate and reduced need to deplete Shields to recast. While the former is useful in quick missions and Assassination runs, the latter can be useful in endless missions such as Survival, considering the added protection afforded by a Duration-based Covenant.
Use Condemn to quickly replenish shields and Overshields to fuel Penance' extra duration.
Build up your shield and Overshield pool again after casting Penance, then recast Penance to stack extra duration onto your remaining time to keep the ability active much longer.
Guardian, Protect, Brief Respite & Arcane Barrier are useful for this ability as they are capable of restoring Harrow's shields.
Cast Covenant before or after using Penance to protect yourself from damage when you are at your most vulnerable state.
The fire rate bonus also affects melee weapons.
Can reduce recharge delay for Cycron or a Kitgun equipped with Pax Charge, however, it does not affect recharge rate.

Mesa has improved proficiency with secondary weapons, and gains a health bonus at the expense of not having a melee weapon equipped:

+15% fire rate with dual wielded sidearms.
+25% reload speed for one handed sidearms.
+50 health when no melee weapon is equipped.

2

25

Speed

Volt energizes his body and nearby Warframes, giving them increased speed and dexterity for a short time.

Introduced in Update 5.3 (2013-01-10)

Strength:75% (speed buff)
10% / 15% / 20% / 25% (reload speed buff)

Duration:9 / 10 / 11 / 12 s

Range:25 m

Info

Volt expends 25 energy to energize the surrounding area, increasing the mobility of himself and his allies within 25 meters. Affected players will gain 10% / 15% / 20% / 25% weapon Reload Speed and 75% melee Attack Speed and Movement Speed bonuses, lasting for 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 seconds.
- The attack speed buff grants an additive bonus that will stack with other attack speed modifiers. (e.g., Fury combined with Speed at max rank and +30% Ability Strength will increase Volt's attack speed by $0.75 \times 1.3 + 0.3 = 127.5%$ ).
- The movement speed buff grants a multiplicative bonus that will stack with other movement speed modifiers. (e.g., Rush combined with Speed at max rank and +30% Ability Strength from Intensify will increase Volt's sprint speed by $(1 \times 1.3) \times (1 + (0.75 \times 1.3)) - 1 = 156.75%$ ).
- The reload speed buff grants an additive bonus that will stack with other reload speed modifiers. (e.g., Quickdraw combined with Speed at max rank and +30% Ability Strength from Intensify will increase Volt's reload speed by $0.25 \times 1.3 + 0.48 = 80.5%$ ).
Allies can backflip to remove Speed if they wish to opt-out.
Increases the distance of Maneuvers like the sliding front flip and wall run as a result of the faster sprint speed.
Can be used while performing many actions without interrupting them, including reloading.
Can be recast while active.

Augment

Main article: Shocking Speed

Shocking Speed is a Warframe Augment Mod for Volt's Speed that causes him and his allies to inflict Electricity damage and status to enemies within close proximity while moving.

Shocking Speed

Tips & Tricks

Great for catching up with teammates that need to be revived, fleeing from tough enemies, or taking the lead.
Excellent skill to use for a squad looking to get through a mission quickly.
Can be combined with Rush for speed only rivaled by the likes of Gauss, Titania, etc.
Combine with Fury and Berserker Fury for absurd attack speed on melee weapons.
Can be used to avoid enemy fire due to reduced enemy accuracy and to dodge almost all Corpus due to their weapons' projectile travel time.
Can reduce recharge delay for Cycron or a Kitgun equipped with Pax Charge, however, it does not affect recharge rate.
Using Speed before switching to Archwing mode significantly boost Archwing's flight speed, including underwater

Conclave-only[]

In addition, there are some Conclave-exclusive mods which affect reload:

Reloading While Holstered[]

Certain weapons and mods when holstered refill a portion of their magazine every second. The holster reload rate cannot be changed by reload bonus mods.

Tactical Reload - Reloads 20% of a rifle's magazine per second.

Lock and Load - Reloads 20% of a shotgun's magazine per second.

Eject Magazine - Reloads 20% of a pistol's magazine per second.

Synth Charge - Synth Set Effect reloads 5%/10%/15%/20% of primary and secondary weapon magazine per second.

Afentis - Reloads 33% of its magazine per second.

Ferrox - Reloads 33% of its magazine per second.

Javlok - Reloads 33% of its magazine per second.

Scourge - Reloads 33% of its magazine per second.

Scourge Prime - Reloads 33% of its magazine per second.

Tenet Envoy - Transforms into an attaché case that reloads 1 round per second.

Tenet Diplos - Transforms into an attaché case that reloads 8 rounds per second.

Felarx - Evolved Autoreloader: Reloads 50% of its magazine per second.

Laetum - Awakened Readiness: Reloads 30% of its magazine per second.

Instant Reload[]

Some mods and buffs allow the player to instantly reload their weapon, skipping the reload animation.

One-Handed Action[]

Main article: One-Handed Action

One-Handed Actions are actions that can be done while reloading or charging. They are called such because the animations to cast these abilities generally use up to one hand each, leaving the other hand free to reload weapons. This does not imply that all ability animations which show only one hand doing things are one-handed abilities; it only refers to the fact that a hand is still able to be reloading a weapon while the ability is being cast. One can take advantage of this mechanic to further increase their efficiency and flow of actions.

Sustained Damage Per Second[]

Players looking to achieve as high as single-target damage as possible might wish to consider the effects of reload speed modifiers on their weapons. Burst damage considers damage as an instantaneous sample of averages, relying purely on the damage dealt by each attack and how many attacks can be dealt per second. Sustained damage, on the other hand, relates to encounters that last beyond a single Magazine and therefore must include reload time into its average.

Currently, modding for reload speed is a poor choice on almost every weapon in this regard, due to the opportunity cost of using the same mod slot for elemental damage or the like. There are some conditions where reload speed can be considered valuable, however.

Reload Speed vs Fire Rate[]

Sustained DPS works as a function of total damage dealt over the combined period of firing the weapon and finishing the reload. If the combined period is split into two parts, then an increase in either can be easily compared the other. For example:

Viper is a pistol that spends its entire Magazine in 0.97 seconds. It then needs 1.1 seconds to be reloaded.
For 7 mod capacity, a player can install either a rank 5 Quickdraw or a rank 3 Gunslinger.
Rank 3 Gunslinger increases the Viper's fire rate from 14.4 to 21.31, reducing time spent firing from 0.97 seconds to .66 seconds. Combined with the reload time, the viper deals 224 damage over 1.76 seconds, assuming no crits or damage modifiers, for a sustained DPS of 127.27.
Rank 5 Quickdraw decreases the Viper's reload time from 1.1 to 0.74 seconds. Combined with the firing time, the viper deals 224 damage over 1.71 seconds, for a sustained DPS of 131.99.

The Viper is a rare instance of a weapon with nearly-equal firing and reload times. The vast majority of weapons have a greater percentage of time spent firing compared to reloading. Furthermore, as players progress in the game, their limiting factor becomes mod slots, not mod capacity, and so a more apt version of the above comparison would be a rank 5 Gunslinger (at 9 capacity) where its 72% increase in fire rate far outperforms the 48% increase in reload speed. Only weapons where the reload time significantly dominates the firing time (the Tigris, for example, spends 1 second shooting and 1.8 seconds reloading) should one even consider choosing Reload Speed mods in opposition to Fire Rate mods.

Reload Speed vs Magazine Capacity[]

Magazine capacity increases the amount of ammo in a single Magazine while keeping fire rate constant. Therefore, if any weapon of any fire rate has its magazine of any capacity increased by 60%, it will take 60% more time to finish off its Magazine, except for rounding discrepancies, or weapons with spool-up. Because sustained DPS considers both the time spent firing and the time spent reloading, magazine size also acts nearly identical to reload speed, by reducing the percentage of total time spent reloading as opposed to firing. For example:

Grakata spends its entire Magazine in 3 seconds, and then spends 2.4 seconds reloading. As a percentage, ~55% of sustained Grakata usage is firing time, while ~45% is reloading time.
Max rank Fast Hands reduces the reload time to ~1.85 seconds, making firing time represent ~61% of sustained Grakata DPS.
Max rank Magazine Warp increases firing time to 3.9 seconds, making firing time represent ~62% of sustained Grakata DPS.

Without even calculating the resulting DPS, it can be shown that a 30% increase in magazine capacity has almost the same effect as a 30% increase in reload speed. That means that, if ever in the situation to choose between the two effects, consider the other factors.

For rifles, a maxed Fast Hands drains 2 fewer mod capacity points than a maxed Magazine Warp for the same DPS change.
For shotguns, the Tactical Pump mod drains the same as Ammo Stock but the latter makes a 60% magazine increase while the former only makes a 30% reload speed increase.
- However, the Strun and Corinth reload one shot at a time, meaning a larger magazine takes proportionally longer to reload. Therefore, Tactical Pump is better for these two.

Game System Mechanics Edit
Currencies		Credits • Orokin Ducats • Endo • Platinum • Aya • Regal Aya • Standing
General	Basics	Arsenal • Codex • Daily Tribute • Empyrean • Foundry • Market • Mastery Rank • Nightwave • Orbiter • Player Profile • Reset • Star Chart
	Lore	Alignment • Fragments • Leverian • Quest
	Factions	Corpus • Grineer • Infested • Orokin • Sentient • Syndicates • Tenno
	Social	Chat • Clan • Clan Dojo • Leaderboards • Trading
	Squad	Host Migration • Inactivity Penalty • Matchmaking
	Base of Operations	Backroom • Clan Dojo • Dormizone • Drifter's Camp • Orbiter
	Special	1999 Calendar • Kinemantik Instant Messaging
Gameplay	Basics	Affinity • Buff & Debuff • Death • Hacking • Invisible • Maneuvers • One-Handed Action • Open World • Pickups • Radar • Stealth • Tile Sets • Void Relic • Waypoint
	Damage Mechanics	Critical Hit • Damage • Damage Redirection • Damage Reduction • Damage Reflection • Damage Type Modifier • Damage Vulnerability • Health • Status Effect
	Enemies	Bosses • Death Mark • Enemy Behavior • Eximus (Overguard) • Lich System
	Mission	Arbitrations • Archon Hunt • Break Narmer • Empyrean • Invasion • Sortie • Tactical Alert • The Circuit • The Steel Path • Void Fissure
	Activities	Captura • Conservation • Fishing • K-Drive Race • Ludoplex • Mining
	PvP	Duel • Conclave (Lunaro) • Frame Fighter
	Other	Gravity • Threat Level
Equipment	Modding and Arcanes	Arcane Enhancements • Archon Shard • Fusion • Mods (Flawed, Riven) • Polarization • Transmutation • Valence Fusion
	Warframe	Attributes (Armor, Energy, Health, Shield, Sprint Speed) • Abilities (Augment, Casting Speed, Helminth System, Passives, Duration, Efficiency, Range, Strength)
	Weapons	Accuracy • Alternate Fire • Ammo • Area of Effect • Attack Speed • Bounce • Critical Hit • Damage Falloff • Exalted Weapon • Fire Rate • Hitscan • Holster • Incarnon • Melee • Multishot • Noise • Projectile • Projectile Speed • Punch Through • Recoil • Reload • Ricochet • Trigger Type • Zoom
	Operator	Amp • Focus (Madurai, Vazarin, Naramon, Unairu, Zenurik) • Lens
	Drifter and Duviri	Decrees • Drifter Combat • Drifter Intrinsics • Kaithe
	Other	Archwing • Companion • K-Drive • Necramech • Parazon • Railjack
Technical	General	AI Director • Drop Tables • HUD • Key Bindings • Material Structures • PBR • Rarity • RNG • Settings • String Interpolation • Text Icons • Upgrade
	Software, Networking, and Services	Cross Platform Play • Cross Platform Save • Dedicated Servers • EE.cfg • EE.log • File Directory • Fonts • Network Architecture • Public Export • Public Test Cluster • Stress Test • Warframe Arsenal Twitch Extension • World State
	Audio	Mandachord • Music • Shawzin • Somachord • Sound
	Mathematical	Calculating Bonuses (Additive Stacking, Multiplicative Stacking) • Condition Overload (Mechanic) • Enemy Level Scaling • Maximization • User Research

Reload

Contents

Manual Reload[]

Calculating Reload Time[]

Weapons that reload per shell[]

Rechargeable weapons[]

Increasing Reload Speed[]

Mods[]

Arcanes[]

Abilities[]

Conclave-only[]

Reloading While Holstered[]

Instant Reload[]

One-Handed Action[]

Sustained Damage Per Second[]

Reload Speed vs Fire Rate[]

Reload Speed vs Magazine Capacity[]

References[]