What are Search Pulses and why do Netracells and Deep Archimedea share them?

Search Pulses are a weekly currency: you get 5 per week (reset Monday 00:00 UTC), shared across Netracells, Deep Archimedea, and Temporal Archimedea. A Netracell costs 1 pulse; unlocking a Deep Archimedea run costs 2. They are not separate pools, so plan your week.

What do I need to unlock before Netracells?

Complete the Whispers in the Walls quest. Then talk to Tagfer in the Sanctum Anatomica to start a Netracell. No Search Pulse is needed to enter, but without one you get no reward drops.

What is required for Deep Archimedea?

Whispers in the Walls completed, at least one Netracell mission finished, and Rank 5 (Illuminate) with Cavia. Speak to the Necraloid in the Sanctum Anatomica. Unlocking the week costs 2 Search Pulses.

Do Netracells and Deep Archimedea drop Archon Shards?

Yes. Both can award Crimson, Amber, or Azure Archon Shards (normal or Tauforged) plus Legendary Melee Arcanes. That makes them the practical farm behind the Archon Shards guide.

Can I self-revive in these missions?

No. Both disable self-revive. In Netracells a dead player is out until the run ends; in Deep Archimedea a Void Angel spawns 30 seconds after a bleed-out and must be killed to bring the player back. Survival framing matters more than damage.

Warframe Netracells & Deep Archimedea

Two endgame modes, one shared currency

Netracells and Deep Archimedea are Warframe’s highest-tier loot missions, both parked in Albrecht’s Laboratories on Deimos. The one fact players miss most: they draw from the same weekly Search Pulse pool. You get 5 Search Pulses per week (reset Monday 00:00 UTC), shared with Temporal Archimedea. A Netracell costs 1 pulse to reward; unlocking a Deep Archimedea run costs 2. Spend all five on Deep Archimedea and you have none left for Netracells that week.

Both modes drop Archon Shards and pay Cavia standing (5,000 per Netracell, 15,000 on Deep Archimedea completion), which is why they sit behind the Archon Shards guide and the syndicates guide.

Netracells

Unlock: finish Whispers in the Walls (see the main quest order), then talk to Tagfer in the Sanctum Anatomica. Entering costs no pulse, but without one you get no drops.

The loop:

Spawn in the Anchorhold and pick up four Keyglyphs — each carries a debuff (you can shoulder all four solo, or split across the squad).
Hack the three Pom-2 terminals to narrow the vault location.
Insert the correct Keyglyph and kill enemies inside the marked zone to drop the Security Level (each kill = 0.5%). Necramite drones spawn at 67% and 33%; spawns intensify at 25%.
At 0%, nearby enemies die and the cache opens.

Keyglyph debuffs (pick your poison): Sanguine (bleed on hit), Framecurse (50 damage when you cast), Knifestep (lose 2 health per move), Exhaustion (lose 2 energy/sec per enemy within 10m), Vanquisher (extra Eximus), Wampyri (lose health/sec, kills heal), Conductive (periodic electric hits), Voidburst (slain enemies explode). Warframes with Overguard (Frost, Styanax, Dante) absorb every Keyglyph debuff, which is why they are top picks.

Restrictions: enemy health/shields +100%, +50% per squad member (cap 300%); more Eximus; no self-revive (a dead player is out and forfeits rewards); Last Gasp drains 2s faster each use; bleedout shrinks to a 5s floor; no summons; restores on a 3-minute cooldown.

Rewards (per completion): a guaranteed Entrati Lanthorn plus one of: Crimson / Amber / Azure Archon Shard (normal or Tauforged), a Legendary Melee Arcane (Melee Crescendo or Melee Duplicate), or a Melee Arcane Adapter. Updated drop rates: each base shard color 17.5%, Melee Arcane Adapter 15%, each Melee Arcane 10%, each Tauforged shard 4.17%.

Deep Archimedea

Unlock: Whispers in the Walls done, at least one Netracell finished, and Cavia Rank 5 (Illuminate). Talk to the Necraloid in the Sanctum Anatomica; unlocking the week costs 2 Search Pulses.

The loop: three missions back-to-back with no breaks and no loadout swaps. Clearing all three grants 3 Research Points (RP).

Loadout parameters: each week lists 3 Warframes + Primary/Secondary/Melee; equipping a listed item earns 1 RP per mission.
Personal Modifiers: voluntary debuffs for extra RP.
Deviations: per-mission twists (e.g. Sealed Armor = 90% less damage unless you hit weak points; Damage Link = linked enemy groups).
Risk Variables: enemy/weapon escalations (Hostile Regeneration, Vampyric Liminus, Bolstered Belligerents, etc.).

Restrictions: same +100%/+50% (cap 300%) scaling and Eximus bump; no self-revive — 30 seconds after a bleed-out a Void Angel spawns and must be killed to revive that player (each later Angel is stronger); Last Gasp -2s; bleedout floor 5s; Mortis Strike after 3 minutes dead (3 strikes = no rewards for the run); restores on 3-minute cooldown.

Elite Archimedea: adds a second Risk Variable, pushes enemies to level 375–400, and grants +10 RP. Permanently unlocked by clearing a Deep Archimedea with 25 RP.

Reward tiers by Research Points: 5 → Uncommon Pool A · 10 → Uncommon Pool A · 15 → Entrati Lanthorn ×3 · 20 → Rare Pool B · 25 → permanent Elite unlock · 28 (Elite) → Vosfor ×20 · 31 (Elite) → Rare Pool B · 34 (Elite) → Legendary Pool C · 37 (Elite) → Vosfor ×50. Rewards do not stack across attempts — satisfy all parameters in one run to maximize.

Deep Archimedea Deviations & Risk Variables

Each week Necraloid rerolls a set of Deviations (mission twists) and Risk Variables (enemy/weapon escalations). Reading them before you spend the 2 pulses changes your loadout. Common ones and how to answer them:

Sealed Armor (Deviation): enemies take 90% less damage unless you hit weak points. Bring a frame or weapon that reliably marks/exposes weak points; spray damage into bodies and you will stall.
Damage Link (Deviation): enemies within 10m share incoming damage. Spread your fire across separate targets instead of focusing one, or you funnel all your damage into a single linked group.
Fissure Cascade (Deviation): enemy level climbs +1 every 10s until you destroy the fissures. Prioritize closing fissures or the level spirals out of control.
Hostile Regeneration (Risk): enemies regen 10% max HP/s after 5s without taking damage. You must keep constant pressure; burst windows that let them idle undo your work.
Bolstered Belligerents (Risk): every enemy gains Overguard equal to 50% of max health. Bring shield-strip (Magnetic, Hildryn’s Pillage) or punch-through, or your damage vanishes into the shield.
Myopic Munitions (Risk): enemies only take damage if a player is within 15m. This is a brawl, not a snipe — get inside.
Vampyric Liminus (Risk): immortal drainers that deal 5× damage to Overguard and drain 150 HP / 25 energy per second within 5m. Avoid Overguard-heavy frames (Frost, Styanax) here.

Netracells has no such weekly rotation — its difficulty is fixed by the Keyglyphs you choose — so it is the more predictable of the two when you just want a guaranteed shard.

Which to run first

New to endgame: start with Netracells — shorter, single mission, and the Archon Shard farm you can repeat three times a week (3 pulses) while saving 2 for a Deep run.
Chasing Tauforged / Legendary Arcanes: Deep Archimedea pays more per week but demands a coordinated squad and Cavia Rank 5.
The Murmur (both modes) are weak to Electricity and Radiation, resist Viral — bring those elements and a survival frame (Trinity, Wisp, Rhino, Nezha, Revenant) plus Adaptation/Quick Thinking.