Prime Access has arrived, showing off Ash in all of his prime glory. Prime Warframes represent a Warframe as it was during the height of the Orokin era -- adorned with gold trim and ornamental regalia to display power and prestige. A Prime Warframe is one that stylishly embraces an era of excess, but the trick to an effective Prime is capturing the majesty of that golden age without sacrificing what makes a Warframe so iconic.

Ash Prime is no different, but it also represents an opportunity for us to revisit old concepts for Ash that didn’t quite make the cut.

Arguably his biggest change comes in the form of his iconic helm, taking elements of Samurai culture to add a sense of cultural tradition to his look. The original Ash had also once been designed with a 'ponytail' in mind, but due to physics and development limitations had to unfortunately be cut. Thankfully Warframe has come a long way since then, and with new technology in place we were able to spruce up his helm as a throwback to his initial concept.

Once we have a general idea of how a Prime Ash should look a rough sketch is drawn over an existing Ash model, giving a better visualization of where these alterations could go. This sort of rough design over a pre-existing model gives our artists an easy way to share their vision with the rest of the team before committing to any work within the game's engine.

In addition to his fancy new helm Ash Prime also features significant new details on his armguards. The stitched organic-looking material has been upgraded to something considerably larger, giving him a far more formidable appearance. What it's made of is difficult to say, but perhaps we've seen this material somewhere before?

The end result is a Prime Warframe that captures the spirit of Ash's lethal nobility with an Orokin twist. Prime Warframes will always be a unique opportunity for us to explore the past in a multitude of ways -- from in-game lore to the real design inspirations behind each of our characters.

We hope everyone has enjoyed this little preview into Ash Prime's design philosophy and hope you all enjoy the final product. Good luck hunting for Ash Prime across the Void, Tenno!