While the co-op mode can be loosely described as "easy", it doesn't appear so due to the lack of onboarding and counter-intuitive mechanics. The pace and "feel" of the game varies wildly in between Campaign/PVP/Exterminatus with lack of explanations making the latter way harder than it otherwise would be, and the equipment available to new players at start (Bolters/Chainsword/Axe) all but ensures defeat against heavily armored enemies late into the game.

As of the creation of this guide the collective understanding of Exterminatus is extremely low. There are other niche co-op games that have been theorycrafted to exhaustion, analyzed extensively, discussed thoroughly, or explored in great detail, but not this one for whatever reason. I've have people on my friend list who - in spite of their relatively high skill levels - blithely make suboptimal loadout picks before gameplay mistakes or inefficiencies are even a consideration.



This was written in a info-dense manner as a way for determined players to quickly become acquainted with the most effective playstyles I'm aware of with no need spend hundreds of hours reinventing the wheel. I've gotten as good as I am after +2000 Exterminatus hrs, but someone with access to the information available here should be able to keep up with a lot less. Practice one thing at a time.

The point of this page is to publicly document and explain almost everything I know without an excess of redundant prose. That said, there is no need whatsoever to digest the whole of this resource. The game gets easy enough with 3 friends using the most powerful builds along with the bare minimum of teamwork for achievement hunters. If you're curious about a certain weapon, perk, map or enemy you can simply CTRL+F to search for it or skip to the relevant sections.

This guide should be adequate for most purposes other than speedruns. Since there has been 0 dedicated Exterminatus speedrunners as of May 2024, a breakdown of each and every spawn in the game is superfluous. I don't fancy myself a speedrunner but the guide may be updated with a Speedrun section in the unikely event that becomes relevant.

Some of the info here was gleaned from other veterans of the game such as animation cancels and a few glitch spots here and there. Perk details from spacemarine.fandom.com are within code windows. I do not have access to the code itself; the rest is deduction from observation and experience.

Sections are arranged sequentially across various levels of skill. If you're a casual newcomer or an achievement hunter you needn't read more than the initial parts. Experienced enthusiasts may well skip the beginner sections.

Whether your goals are to get your Exterminatus achievements ASAP or to make yourself a credit to team with the least amount of effort, look no further.

First you'll probably want VSync disabled to remove the 60FPS cap. I also recommend mapping the side buttons of your mouse if present. I personally use mouse5 for Sprint and mouse4 for Strike as secondary keys.

Unless your goal is to get hard carried for your achievements, you can simply play and gain a couple of levels to unlock passable gear that is viable at a beginner's level of ability.

This guide includes glitches that are helpful without proper gear. These can allow you to contribute significantly even with mere boltguns (they're weak in this mode). Winning in Exterminatus generally requires two of three things: Gear, Skill and Glitches. Oftentimes with other new players at least two of those will be missing for which you can compensate.

• If you're stuck on Chaos Bonus Wave, check the section on Scouts' Briefings. (CTRL+F "CHAOS 21/BONUS WAVE")
  
  
• Be at least level 13 for the most powerful guns and level 25 for the most powerful defensive perks (Artificer Armor / Larraman's Blessing with Stims for extreme healing).
  
  
• Stick to the Trinity of Efficiency when it comes to weapon choice: PlasmaGun&MeltaGun - Lascannon - Hammer / Maul. Pair Artificer Armor with Ammunition Stores, Feel no Pain or Reactive Blast. For Assault, the three perks of choice are Impenetrable, Sure Strike for spamming F+F AOE stuns and Killing Blow (50 pvp kills with hammer/maul, can be quickly farmed on a private lobby) for double damage on standard attacks.
  
  
• Having trouble with a particular phase? Get friends with Plasma Guns, Melta Guns and Lascannons along with the aforementined defensive perks and you'll be able to brute force thru pretty much anything. With 3 brothers using those you may consider an Assault with Killing Blow and Impenetrable whose job is to slay Marines and stay alive on unreachable spots during the hardest phases in case everyone else dies.
  
  
• You can gain all multiplayer unlockables instantly by downloading and installing my save file before backing up your own. This will save you and your friends the trouble of farming pvp unlocks, but it will also take remove the joy of co-op progression and make your profile look odd by giving you multiple achievements at once. If you care about that sort of thing, don't install another player's save file until the only achievement left is Keeper of the Armory (the most mindlessly grindy pvp one).
  
  profile_info.bin (1.26 kb)
  Place it into: Steam\userdata\(your steam id number)\55150\remote
  mega.nz/file/C84GDR6S#Mt1jC-4DVSPYt9t1VuO6xZSrZCEigrXxGlS79wJNhFE
  The loadouts on the above file are fully prepped for casual use. The first three are general purpose builds that work all the way up to the end. Tac1 and Dev1 loadouts are for getting through the early game quickly, Assault 1 and 2 are Sword Zeal builds that are easy to use early on, and 3 / 4 are Killing Blow builds for more damage lategame. Various achievements should unlock after winning or losing any Multiplayer game.

- Stand back / at the sidelines. Stay close to walls and cover. Avoid running into the center of the map or open areas except to gather ammo.

- The fodder waves can lull players into a false sense of security. There are sudden spikes in difficulty with lots of things that can stagger&kill players before they can react.

As an underequipped beginner, you are the Guardsman in this picture. There is no shame in weakness; one can not be brave when almighty and fearless. You can still earn your team the victory by playing to your strengths and utilizing guerilla tactics.

You're not Titus in the co-op mode. The need for cover generally applies all the way up to the highest levels of play except for certain damage sponge builds and even those can get staggered and die in a flash.

- Run and dodge - a lot. You can easily avoid most melee enemies even at melee range because of how quick you are compared to them.

- Some places in various waves are much safer overall than others. If you can't tell where to be when, ask more experienced brothers or follow them while watching their backs.

- Try to be mindful of your escape routes while engaging the enemy. This is especially the case for Jump-Pack users; you're much less likely to die through this one mental habit alone.

- Do not always circle around the map running from cover to cover - this strategy doesn't work in the later stages when players need to hold their ground to create breathing room, such as during Point Captures. Don't be that guy who panics in the Chaos Bonus Wave, running from one pack of Nobs and Squigs to the next until he runs out of HP.

- Ork target priority for beginners: Squigs > Shoota/Rokkit Boyz > Yellow Big Shoota Nobs > Choppa Boyz > Skarboyz > 'Ard Boyz/Shieldboyz > Nobs > Rokkit Nobs > Meganobs

These big orks with yellow colors and machine guns can be the bane of your existence. If you get caught by a single one shoot it in the head a few times which is usually enough to interrupt their barrage; this can save your life as well as those of others. When facing groups you better be behind cover unless you're playing the hero by rushing up to their face where they're vulnerable.




- Imperial Guard target priority for beginners:
1-Melta Gunner: The bane of player regen. Kill them ASAP - they explode from a single Bolt Pistol headshot.
2-Sword Sergeant: The bane of player accuracy. Don't let them tie you up in their combos, bash them yourself or shoot them before they get close.
3-Guardsmen: Their grenade spam can be troublesome.
4-Psyker: The electric beam can do high damage when it catches you off guard, but is otherwise easy to avoid when you spot them facing you. Their shields make them spongy to anyone without an axe (which you shouldn't use) and anti-armor weapons, so you can simply melee them to save ammo when they're left alone.

- If there was a single call-out we could have I'd want it to be "Squig / Shooters! Watch out!"

- If there was a second call-out I'd want it to be this:
https://wiki.teamfortress.com/w/images/7/79/Engineer_standonthepoint01.wav

- Pay attention to the enemy spawns that are triggered at various stages and try to at least vaguely memorize them. Take note of the fact that killing melee fodder too fast during certain phases - such as Point Captures - can cause more dangerous enemies to spawn with the exception of CHAOS14 and CHAOS19 where you better kill everything you can while capturing the points ASAP.

- Most weapons, especially the starter Bolter are weak. On the plus side, Bolt Pistol is quite strong and you can still turn the tide of a battle by gunning down unarmored Shooters as well as Squigs before they can get close enough. Don't worry about the melee horde, they're mostly there to distract from the real aforementioned killers.

- Try not to take more ammo - or lives - than your due. Consider saving them for other players with more powerful weapons so they can earn respawns for you as well. Don't waste too much of your weak Bolter ammo on heavily armored foes. Leave them to other players with armor piercing weapons unless capturing points.

- A neat trick regarding lives: Sometimes it's better to die to respawn with ammo.

- Do not pick Devastator/Havok until you unlock Lascannon(LVL 8). An unperked Heavy Bolter in the hands of a neophyte is dead weight. It'll slow you down and get you killed. A Plasma Cannon will do more than that; you'll blow yourself up with it while failing to kill things other than Squigs and fodder.

- Squigs make distinct noises that are audible long before they get close unless you happen to be next to their spawning area.

- Melee Nobs shout before charging into players making them easier to dodge.

- If it has a big stick, give it a wide berth. If you can't avoid it, perform a staggering Shoulder Charge into it followed by letting go of movement keys and switching weapon for a quick dodge away from it. If it has a Chainsword, pray to the Chaos Gods it prioritizes more experienced players. Otherwise stun lone Chainsword Marines by Shoulder Charging into them twice or with an interrupt attack (F by default) followed by more interrupts to stunlock them, but do retreat to your brothers if there's more than one of them as is often the case.

- Use Combat Stimulants for healing in a pinch. Use Frags as slow-down concussion grenades, they're too weak to be used purely for damage. Do not use Blinds unless you know what you're doing; it is far too easy is misthrow those and blind your brothers as opposed to the enemy.

- If you play Assault, avoid the Axe as a beginner. Don't rely on Death From Above for something other than Zeal perk jump-swing healing or staggering enemies with a downward crash; the damage from cratering is far too low compared to Campaign and PVP.
You can spam the Quick Stomp AOE stun to greatly reduce your melee damage intake (C + C + C + F) but keep in mind that Sword and Axe AOE stuns don't always register due to lag.
Your overall job is otherwise about the same as Tactical: sniping weak shooters and blowing up Squigs from a safe distance - such as from above unreachable peaks - before all else. You can Shoulder Charge into tough melee enemies before instantly jumping away - in most cases they won't be able to hit you back.

- Bolter Marines walk towards players when their shields are broken. You can take advantage of this by supporting other players focusing them down one by one, then slowly taking potshots at them while they walk toward you to drop ammo at your feet.

- You can melee attack Bolter Marines and Lascannon Marines that are separated from others, especially with Quick Stomp. But stay AWAY from Plasma Cannon Marines. The ways to deal with them up close are risky except for one-shotting them with a Melta Gun or two-shotting them with a Lascannon.

- Watch out for Bolter Marine grenades that are thrown liberally, especially at first contact. They can be an instant death at the center of the explosion.

- If you get stunlocked/staggerlocked by a Meganob in melee, you can save yourself by spamming the dodge key as Tactical/Devastator or swinging your sword to break the stagger and jumping away as Assault.

- Should you manage to get as far as the Chaos Bonus Wave, you can provide support fire by attacking the Killa Kans' weak spots (the pipes on top and the square on its back). That said, leave some ammo for the Ork waves that come in between Killa Kan spawns.

- You'll probably die during the Nob + Squig phases, but simply not dying to Killa Kans before those by standing way back behind cover is the least you can do and makes a big difference for the rest of your team by saving extra lives.

Various unlocks are quite weak or not worth considering from a casual perspective except the ones below.

- Swordsman's Zeal: This game-changing Chainsword unlock can be acquired even at level 1 by asking a friend to stand still for you to kill them 50 times in a private pvp lobby, which only takes a couple of minutes. Please note that I specifically mentioned Chainsword and not Power Sword due to the fact that the latter is bugged: it does not give health back with Zeal on jump-swings.

Get a brother on the opposing team to capture a point with Rapid Deployment perk, allowing him to quickly respawn over and over again on that point as long as you don't uncapture the it by standing on it for too long between his respawns.

Once you have Sword Zeal you can turn your brain off in the early waves due to the fact that there's almost nothing that can hurt you faster than the health you gain from every swing. You can even conveniently solo the first Arenas of each series of maps for easy levels.

Eventually you'll run into more dangerous enemies capable of killing you in mid waves, but those can also be stunned with the Quick Stomp combo (C + C + C + F by default).

I do not advise beginners to pick Assault/Raptor in the lategame, but your mileage may vary.


- First Milestone: Level 8
At this point, you get access to Plasma Gun which is the best Tactical weapon overall along with Impenetrable, an Assault/Raptor perk that reduces the damage taken from shooters. Plasma Gun by itself will suddenly make you way more effective even late into the game. If you didn't bother farming the Zeal perk, Impenetrable makes the class with the highest skill floor - and probably ceiling - easier to play.

It should be noted you now also have access to Blind Grenades. While they're generally more trouble than they are worth, the Assault's ability to observe the battlefield from above makes it uniquely qualified to throw down Blind Grenades to slow down dangerous hordes of Nobs and shooters without blinding fellow players.

- Second Milestone: Level 10
Lascannon is the most powerful weapon in the game.

- Third Milestone: Level 13
Now you have Weapon Versatility, the perk that makes Tactical "worth" playing along with his mainstay weapons: Plasma Gun and Melta Gun. With Lascannon on the side, you needn't worry about any other gun now that you have these three.

Grab Frags to use as slow-down concussion grenades against the toughest Orks or Stims for extra healing in a pinch, and you're already equipped to beat the whole of Exterminatus fair and square.

- Fourth Milestone: Level 15
Second perk slot.

- Fifth Milestone: Level 18
The Thunder Hammer/Daemon Maul is the easiest Assault/Raptor weapon to use lategame. It can be combined with Sure Strike AOE interrupts (F + F) for mass disruption on all but the toughest of enemies in addition to Killing Blow - a PVP unlock at 50 kills - for double damage on standard attacks.

Even Meganobs and Champions can be easily killed by shoulder charging into them to stagger them long enough for a single swing (the former) or three (the latter) before jumping away to do it again.

- Sixth Milestone: Level 25
Artificer Armor can be combined with Feel no Pain or Iron Halo to make you quite tanky. Larraman's Blessing can be paired with Stims to provide extreme healing on demand whenever you're wounded, effectively granting a get out of jail free card as long as you manage to pop the stim before dying.

Master-Crafted Frags, Plasma Cannon and Vengeance Launcher can be used to speed up the earlygame, but I do not recommend using them past the second arena of Classic and the first arena of Chaos.

- Seventh Milestone: Level 31
Notable because of Ammunition Stores which can be combined with Artificer Armor and Lascannon as the most powerful lategame build for Devastator.

As long as the combined skill & loadout strength of the whole team is adequate, most of these can be made easy even for beginners. Don't play Assault as a newbie in ARENA 3 or 4 without Thunder Hammer(LVL18).

HAB 8 (Point Capture): Can be difficult for inexperienced teams. While you can kill some melee fodder to prevent the point from overflowing, doing so can cause Shootas to spawn sooner. When they do kill them first no matter what - even if you have to abandon the point before they gun you down from multiple directions. Frags can kill or knockdown little Shoota Boyz in addition to staggering the bigger Yellow Shoota Nobs.

HAB 13 (Point Capture): Easy, but be mindful of Shootas that'll eventually spawn after slaying too many Choppa Boyz in addition to Melee Nobs surprising players from behind.

HAB 14 (Double Point Capture): The first real challenge of Hab Center Assault. Prioritize capturing the lower exposed point A first before all hell breaks loose.

Be mindful of this piece of cover. It offers a measure of protection from any shooters on the platform ahead while still allowing you to capture the point.

Then run up to point B using the relatively safe route through the player spawn area. Properly utilized Blinds can make a big difference here in reducing the amount of blood shed on both sides thereby reducing the flow and activity of more dangerous enemies.

HAB 17 (Double Point Capture): Overall the same principles as above apply. Capture the lower more exposed point first (B in this case). The other point inside the building can be defended with relative ease with Frags to slow down the melee horde who can forced to walk up to you thru the stairs.

The point can be glitch captured by diagonally running onto the protrusions through either side of the stairs. Doing this puts you out of the navigation mesh of melee enemies, causing them to lose interest in you except as the last player available (not necessarily last man standing when there's an Assault flying around).

HAB 19 (Triple Point Capture): The most demanding gauntlet of these series of maps. It is customary to capture the middle point first due to how exposed it is, but you'll need help. Don't hesitate to call out to your brothers to capture it first before moving onto the others. Shootas will start coming when Choppas start dying.

Don't die; run into the building nearby if you must where you can thin down the herd of shootas on the map before going back onto the points. If death seems inevitable, then die on top of the points. The lifeless body of a player on points can extend Overtime infinitely as long as there is someone alive to score kills and earn lives.

The points to the sides can be glitch captured. Hugging the corner in this particular spot on point B will put you out of melee AI navmesh making you invisible to choppy orks and Squigs except as last player available while still allowing you to capture the point.

Point C to the other side can also be easily glitch captured by running up to the blocked ramp from this corner just right. Then you can take cover behind the rubble while still capturing the point where almost nothing can hit you except the occasional gun toting Ork from the side.

HAB 21/BONUS WAVE: Without access to the PlasmaGun&MeltaGun/Lascannon/Hammer trinity, you won't be able to do much on this one due to the sheer number of shielded Marines. Support your brothers in breaking the shields of Bolter Marines one by one, then let them approach to die and drop ammo at your feet away from their comrades. As long as you have brothers with strong guns to do the heavy lifting you won't actually need to shoot that much at all so leave ammo boxes for them.

Save your ammo for the super tanky Champions with Daemon Mauls, kill the Bloodletters and approaching Bolter Marines in melee. Remember the protrusions inside the middle building that put you out of melee AI navmesh: any player with suboptimal gear can make use of them to take potshots at the Champions. You can even do some extra melee damage on Champions by charging into them > instantly rolling away by letting go of the movement key while switching weapons and dodging; but be careful to not get caught by their staggering horizontal swings - those can easily get you killed.

If you end up alone against multiple Champions in the end with nothing more than boltguns, you may consider luring them to this building (the right one from player spawn) where you can take potshots at them from unreachable spots without fear of retaliation. The godspot can be accessed by walking onto the ramp followed by the stairs just right. Their AI will be rendered inert with the only player left being inaccessible, allowing easy headshots for extra damage though maintaining line of sight on walking Champions may be tricky before their shields regenerate.

Probably easier than HAB except for the final phase where the lack of a Lascannon(LVL10) or a Melta Gun(LVL12) all but ensures defeat against the Chaos warband in the smaller ARENA 4 with its relative lack of cover. Playing Assault on the last map isn't recommended; there are huge groups of Marines and Havoks in the end when jumping onto them is suicidal without adequate skill.

You'll notice on the below images I'm not using a Bolter on the Bonus Wave. That game was lost; my team of neophytes didn't have a Lascannon or a Melta Gun either. Anyone without at least a Plasma Gun(LVL 8) in the end will probably stop being relevant for anything other than wasting lives and hogging ammo for weak guns.

KALKYS 12 (Point Capture): Can be mildly difficult with an uncoordinated team. Watch out for Yellow Shoota Nobs that will eventually spawn after killing enough fodder. If you're low on health, withdraw onto the upper floor from the stairs at the back and gun down shooters from up there. Melee Orks massing on the point itself can be crowd controlled with Frags.


KALKYS 17 (Point Capture):
Grenades can be used to slow down the stream of Orks. If you're underequipped you can make it easier by walking around to the side ledge of the bridge across the railing to put yourself out of the melee AI's navmesh while still capturing the point.


KALKYS 18 (Point Capture): A challenge. Mind the target priority: Squigs and shooters before all else unless you're so swamped you can't even get clear shots in between rolling and dodging. Try not to die; you can simply walk up to the bridge to clear any shooters on it followed by the ones taking potshots at the team from the far side. Grenades can be a huge benefit here; Frags for crowd control on top of the point itself and Blinds to reduce damage intake from shooters in the distance as well as reducing the flow and activity of melee Orks.

KALKYS 19 (Point Capture): After enough fodder is killed shooters will spawn on the bridge to take potshots at the team capturing the point followed by Squigs, Shieldboyz and Meganobs joining the melee horde. You can partially glitch the phase by standing on top of the pipe to put yourself out of melee AI navmesh while still capturing the point and returning fire on the Shootas.


KALKYS 20: Packs of Shoota Nobs will start coming from multiple directions after about half of the wave is dead. They're capable of boxing in players on this small map which is a wombo combo with the horde of melee Meganobs chasing players out of cover. Focus down the shooters as fast as you can, utilizing grenades to stagger or stun them.

If you end up alone against the Meganob horde with a mere boltgun you can juke them into krumping each while trying to hit you. This may sound difficult but it really is not. You can just run up to them before rolling away, or Charging followed by canceling the Charge animation by letting go of the movement key, switching weapons and rolling away. It helps to try to score killing blows on them as well to earn lives - when they start dying the surviving ones are probably wounded enough to be mopped up with further Charge > Rolls or a few bursts from a bolter.

Of course, if you already have a Lascannon or a Melta Gun by this point you can simply kill them all with these piercing and staggering weapons. That's how big of a difference these two guns make in this mode, rendering such trickery redundant.

KALKYS 21/BONUS WAVE: As a general rule it's helpful to keep the player spawn point clear of Marines. Do not get boxed in under the lower bridge. Try to stay close to either side of the upper bridge.

A lot of teams lose in the final gauntlet phase that begins with multiple Champions followed by an army of Bloodletters all around the map. Killing a few Bloodletters opens spawn slots for Ranged Marines to appear all around the map, even on the player spawn point.

Try not to kill the Bloodletters too quickly before the Daemon Maul Champions as well as any Ranged Marines on the player spawning area. Do not hesitate to inform your brothers of this trick; tell them to focus on any available Chaos Marines first before the demons.

Here I killed one of the Champions away from the player spawn point followed by retreating from the bridge to the cover next to the player spawning area where I killed another Champion in addition to a Tactical and a Havok camping it. With the cover cleaned out, 2 Lascannons and a Tactical with Plasma&Melta Guns it was smooth sailing from there.

If you find yourself in KALKYS 4 without anybody using those guns it's probably gg.

The difficulty of these series of maps is overstated. The problem isn't so much the difficulty but going in blind with zero coordination. Yes, Chaos Unleashed generally requires a teensy-tiny bit of teamwork and not just every man for himself as usual.

Most players might need friends on this one along with Lascannons or Plasma&Melta Guns. A single brother with a Lascannon along with a clue can basically solo-carry both Hab Center and Kalkys. Here, not so much, not even if he's able to flick shots like a god.

Generally speaking I do not recommend playing Raptor to new players, not even with a Daemon Maul(LVL18). While the essentials of Exterminatus Raptor gameplay may be simple, in my experience even Veterans waste lives using the class in Arenas 3 and 4. That said, there's a relatively easy way to use the weapon in the final phase explained below.

As a newbie you'll need more than a little Gear and Glitches, those being either:
-Friends with more Gear (Additional Meltas/PlasmaGuns/Lascannons)
-Randoms with more Skill i.e luck.

CHAOS 8 (Double Point Capture): Here I recommend taking point B on the second floor inside the building ASAP. Capturing B later on may be difficult after Imperial Guard populates the second floor along with a Psyker and a Space Marine in addition to more of those coming up to the point later into the wave.

CHAOS 10 (Point Capture): It is imperative to kill Ranged Marines followed by capturing the point ASAP as opposed to scoring too many easy kills on Guardsmen which causes more Bolter and Devastator Marines to spawn. This eventually renders the point nigh-impossible to capture even with map glitches.

The point itself can be glitch captured by standing on the edge without falling down; this completely puts the player out of melee AI navmesh such that they go into passive mode as opposed to chasing down the last player available as with various other glitch spots. But as mentioned before, Ranged Marines will still attack the player when they have line of sight which can throw a wrench in that plan without a Lascannon or a Plasma Gun.

CHAOS 12: This section can get mighty awkward if players score too many easy kills on Guardsmen without thinning down the Space Marine numbers. At some point the ground floor surrounding the player spawn can get swarmed in blue, making it difficult for reinforcements to arrive let alone fight off the Ultramarines.

CHAOS 13: Plenty of Squigs, lots of Shootas and quite a few Yellow Shoota Nobs covering almost every area in addition to the melee horde. Blinds are a big help.
CHAOS 14 (Point Capture): Can be unforgiving with an underequipped squad, but otherwise straightforward. Stand on the point and ask others to do the same, capture it as fast as possible while gunning down everything. As with CHAOS 13, Blinds can be thrown in the middle area or the Ork battlements to slow down the shooters. Frags can also be utilized as concussion grenades on charging Melee Nobs in addition to blowing up Squigs.

CHAOS 15: Yet another DPS check where underequipped squads often fail. Every type of Ultramarine will attack in addition to the Imperial horde. Slay the Ultramarines first if possible or they'll pin you down for the little chasers.

CHAOS 17: Stand on the point and take it ASAP with other players. The Imperial Guard will attack from both sides in addition to their grenade spam. Don't get staggered by the Sword Vanguards and the explosions; you can resist these staggers by briefly Sprinting. Killing a certain number of Guardsmen will cause 4 Chainsword Vanguards to join in the fray. Easy enough with Meltas and Lascannons.

CHAOS 18: The safest place overall is the previous area where Wave 17 pointcap is located. An entire horde of Orks will appear across the whole map, a lot of people die to the Shootas who should be killed ASAP. Blinds can be thrown into the middle area to slow down the Ork horde without blinding the players taking cover on the edges of the map. You may want to reposition to the player spawning area late into the wave due to increasing concentrations of spawns around Wave17 late into the wave.
CHAOS 19 (Double Point Capture): Take the more exposed point B above first, then go down to the lower A one. Gun down Meganobs ASAP to stop them from chasing players out of the points and kill Shieldboyz with Meltas and Lascannons or Charging into their shield followed by guning them down. The first group of Shootas will appear with 2:30 minutes left before Overtime and the second group will spawn with around 17 seconds left.

Raptor: A Daemon Maul can be helpful here. Just Charge into the Meganobs to stagger them long enough to cancel the charge by taking aim and instantly swing before jumping away to do it again.

Be careful not to kill every last ork just before fully capturing the final point. There must be at least 1 Ork alive for the game to progress into the next wave or you'll softlocked. If this happens you must either kill yourself with Frags / Charged Shots / Vengeance / Jumping into death pits as Raptor to Retry or rejoin the match thru Public Search / Steam Friends.

CHAOS 20: Stay close to the player spawn area and keep it clean for reinforcements. If you want a much easier time, avoid killing the few Guardsmen on the map. Every Guardsman takes a spawn slot away from Marines. Try to thin down the herd of Ranged Marines without getting too distracted by Chainsword ones or the wave can get pretty awkward with an excess of Bolter/Cannon/Hammer Marines later on.

Raptor: The same trick of charge cancels through pistol aim works even better against Marines. Charge into them for a stagger, cancel the charge by taking aim and instantly swing once or twice before jumping to do it again. Don't be overzealous and stay close to your brothers, protect them from being rushed by the melee Marines.

The infamous final stage. You might need friends capable of listening to simple instructions.

LOADOUTS AND ROLES:

- Larraman's Tactical: Plasma/MeltaGuns+Stims+Larraman for superhealing with Stims when wounded. Can roam around the edges and survive for as long as possible during the Nob & Squig phases buying time for dead brothers to respawn.

- Crowd Control Tactical: Plasma/MeltaGuns+Blinds or Frags+Larraman or Fast Melta Charge: Not as tanky without Stims but the grenades are excellent for crowd control. Fast Melta Charge is a PVP unlock for 50 player kills with the weapon (can be farmed on a private lobby). It allows for even more crowd control, staggering multiple Nobs in addition to easily blowing up Squigs.

- Master Blind Tactical: Plasma/MeltaGuns+Blinds+Master Crafted Wargear to make Blind Grenades strong enough to stun even Meganobs with only a single Blind instead of two thrown in quick succession. The class is also capable of stunning Hammer Champions with a Master Blind followed by a Melta Shot or a Charge to stagger them into a fully immobile state, otherwise they can still move around when only stunned without a stagger. They should be extra careful to avoid blinding their own teammates due to an additional 2 seconds of blinding effect on players for a total of four seconds.

- Lascannon+Frags/Blinds+Artificer Armor+Ammo Stores/Reactive Blast/Feel No Pain: I recommend the extra ammo perk if available due to 30 more Lascannon shots but your mileage may vary.

- Daemon Maul+Bolt Pistol+Blinds or Stims+Impenetrable/Sure Strike/Killing Blow: Most Raptors panic, haphazardly jump around and die when the Nob & Squig waves begin but the main job of a Raptor is to stay alive as team insurance during the hardest phases for the ground team. They can help their brothers save ammo by luring Kans away from the middle area to smash the things while the Kans passively walk back onto the middle area to reattack. When the Meganobs start coming they can simply jump onto the huge silos shown below to blow up the Squigs followed by shooting the gun-toting Orks from above.

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A) Skarboyz + Rokkit Boyz - Consider this the warmup. Take cover, do not allow Kans to mow you down. If you get caught in the open with a Kan revving up its gun, you can sometimes stop it from shooting by running up to it followed by dodging its melee attack.

B) Shieldboyz + Squigs + Rokkit Boyz - Neophytes without anti-armor weapons can get chased out of cover and die to Kans on this one. To save ammo on your main guns for the following Nob phases use Bolt Pistol to shoot the weak spots of Killa Kans on their pipes as well as the square part on their backs.

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Raptor: Kans can be lured to this area by standing behind the horizontal pipes and waiting for them to approach. Upon crossing a certain threshold into the area they will then turn around walking back to the middle at which point they can safely be attacked in melee. The process can be sped up by goading them into a Sprinting attack all the way back onto the railings at which point they can be bodyblocked from carrying out their scripted behavior of returning to the middle area which is the only place where they're allowed to attack players.

This trick can be relied upon with a Daemon Maul to save both time and ammo on Killa Kans in between the Ork phases.

C) Nobs + Shoota Nobs + Squigs

Begins after the Shieldboyz are killed and the remaining one or two Kans are damaged into their flaming or smoking states. Another Kan will spawn along with the Nobs and Squigs.

This part is extra difficult because unlike the subsequent Meganob & Rockit Nob phases the spawns on this one are divided in two. After enough Nobs and Squigs are killed even more will warp in en masse throwing barely surviving players further off balance.

Low Coordination:
Stack Lascannons, Plasma Guns and Melta Guns across the team, spread around the edges (not necessarily far away) while watching each other's backs.

Multiple players with Larraman Stims makes it unlikely for everyone to die at once, but this alone isn't a trump card when even those with the super-healing stims can get staggered and die before they can react.

It helps when one brother with Blind Grenades throws them into the middle area to slow down the horde without blinding other players.

Nobs and Squigs spawn on the green circles. Try not to stand right on top of them because the spawns attack or explode as soon as they warp in.

Raptor: For Raptors I present the following options. One, you can drop onto the small orange sections of the Pipe Assembly under the floor without falling into the death pit and sit tight as team insurance in case your brothers get krumped. However, as Last Man Standing you can still die if a Melee Nob gets right on top of you to somehow push you off of the pipe from above or if a Squig explodes on top of you, causing you to stumble into your death.

The idea here is that after your team dies far away from you, the Melee Nobs and Squigs will probably be distant enough for you to wait for a few moments before jumping away to kite the melee horde when they do get on top of you.


(The edited map above was found on a decade old Chaos Unleashed[spacemarine.fandom.com]page.)

Two, you can jump onto relatively safe spots where you can gun down Squigs and Shoota Nobs to support your brothers. Merely sniping the Squigs makes a huge difference. You can even throw Blind Grenades into the middle area to slow down the Ork horde even further without blinding your teammates.

The problem with standing on the huge silos is that you can sometimes get hit by Shoota Nobs from below. If this happens you can drop onto the relatively safe spots to the sides where you might be able to regenerate while providing further support.

Chokepoint Method:
People sleep on this simple strategy but it does require a bit more than the bare minimum of coordination.

The area marked with X is safe from Killa Kan fire where those with Lascannons can take cover forcing the entire horde into a chokepoint. At which point the Lascannon shots can end up piercing thru multiple Nobs.

Remember to put your backs against the wall. This simultaneously reduces the likelihood of triggering Nob charges or getting shot by Kans.
Squigs coming thru the chokepoint can be blown up with Bolt Pistols or alternatively Frags which also cause Nobs to slow down and stumble from the explosions. You just have to throw Frags one after another instead of the same time to avoid wasting them. 2-4 players with 4-8 Frags total can easily blow up Squigs while staggering melee Nobs long enough to eradicate them all.


You may consider a Tactical guarding the front with Plasma and Melta Guns, while dodging and distracting Nobs without exposing himself to Killa Kan fire. If a charging Nob makes it through, the Tactical can stagger it with with his own Charge followed by gunning it down. This particular Tactical may have Blinds instead of Frags since Melta Gun is already excellent against Squigs.

D) Meganobs + Rokkit Nobs + Squigs
Easier to survive than the earlier Shoota Nob phase. Kill Rokkit Nobs ASAP so they won't interrupt shield regeneration.

Raptor: Those with Jump-Packs can survive the Rokkit Nob phases much more easily due to the lack of Shoota Nobs. Simply jump onto the silos and provide support with your pistol and Blind Grenades thrown onto the middle area with approaching Orks. Keep in mind it takes two Blinds thrown in quick succession to stun Meganobs instead of two. You can extend the overall stun time by throwing 1 blind, waiting until the stuns on Rokkit Nobs end then quickly thrown the second blind which will stun them again in addition to any Meganobs around them.

If you end up alone as Last Man Standing your priorities are as follows:
1 - Wait until the remaining Squigs have all gathered under the silo and blow them up all at once with your pistol.
2 - Gun down any Ork with a gun from above so they won't catch you in a tight spot later on.
3 - Slay the group of Rokkit Nobs on the far side where Wave17 Imperial pointcap is located. Jump away to lure melee Meganobs away from the Rokkits as needed before going back to kill the rest.
4 - Take advantage of this railing where you can smash Meganobs without them being able to hit you back until they walk all the way around the railing.
- You can Charge into Meganobs to barely stagger them long enough to cancel the charge by aiming with your pistol and instantly swinging your Maul before jumping away.
- You can also Charge into groups of Meganobs to goad them into inadvertently krumping each other while trying to crush you. Charge into them > instantly jump away > rinse and repeat. Just don't get caught by the guns of Killa Kans.
5 - When the Meganobs are dead return to the horizontal pipes mentioned before (right below 'THE STAGES') where you can lure Kans and smash them as soon as they turn around to passively return to the middle, but watch out in case a Kan decides to perform a Sprinting attack. Jump away to safety if this happens.
6 - Jump back onto the Silos ASAP as soon as the final phase begins with another Kan warping in.

Chokepoint Method:
Not much to add but a Tactical with Master-Crafted Blinds can stun Meganobs with a single Blind instead of two thrown in quick succession.

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E) Final Phase (Meganobs + Rokkit Nobs + Squigs)




Notably harder than the preceding phase in some ways.

Raptor: The silos aren't as safe due to even more Rokkit Nobs around it but they're still the best places to be overall. Don't panic if you get hit by too many rokkits, jump onto the other silo next to you or away from the silos altogether to get Rokkit Nobs to reposition before jumping back onto the silos to gun them down.

Chokepoint Method:
This strategy is considerably more difficult in the final phase due to an even larger concentration of spawns in front of the chokepoint. Poorly coordinated squads can get overwhelmed, so you may consider not using the choke on this phase to spread around the edges of the map instead.

Sole Survivor Method (Final Phase only):
A Tactical or Lascannon Havok can stand on this exact semi-invisibility spot next to the area where Wave17 pointcap is located.

Standing on this spot will render that brother invisible to melee enemies, making it relatively easy to gun down any Rokkit Nobs who spawn in this area - especially with grenades to slow them down. The reason why this method works well in the final phase is the lower concentration of gun-toting Nobs in this area compared to the earlier phases.

This strategy works best when the rest of the team is far away around the player spawn point. Even if they all die the sole survivor will probably be alive forcing the melee horde to travel all the way back to him, effectively clearing out the player spawn point for reinforcements.

Yes, it is true that most Blinds thrown across the years have been more of a hindrance than help. Yes, brothers occasionally die from suddenly losing their sense of direction or getting shot by that one kunnin' Ork who pops out of cover just after the flash. In most cases however, misthrown Blinds are a slight irritation at worst; Space Marines recover sooner than than their foes when caught alongside them.

These grenades, unlocked at merely the 7th level, are some of the most impactful tools in the game when properly utilized.

Originally posted by Vanfeldt:

...the utility they provide in halting entire hordes and allowing easy headshots rivals even the quasi-invincibility of the Larraman-Stim combo which has a slight tendency to "miss" and do nothing like the AOE stuns...

Another obscure quality to Blinds is that enemies appear to take bonus damage when stunned, i.e a stunned Skarboy dies to a single Lascannon bodyshot rather than two. A blinded Shoota Boy dies to a single Plasma Gun bodyshot instead of two. Even without the damage boost, the ability to quickly clear entire groups of helpless enemies is a boon for efficiency when merely bouncing enemies around with Frags can make them harder to hit.

That said, this section is not intended as a call for Blind spam. Stunning greenskins can also slow down the game by preventing them from bunching up in front of your gun's barrel. Frags are always available as staggering crowd control tools with their additional quality of blowing up Squigs; something Blinds do not have.

This game is full of glitches of beneficial and troublesome varieties without any developer oversight or rule enforcement tools. As such, the practical approach glitching is live and let live.

The list below is not conclusive but should cover most beneficial glitches relevant to the mode.

Videos for the movement glitches can be found in BunkerSlav's guides.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2581919205
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2583573954
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2586133671

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FAST SWAP: Weapon switch animations can be bypassed thru Sprinting for a split second before or after the swap followed by a sidestep to cancel the Sprint recovery animation as well. Allows for additional DPS.

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LASCANNON RELOAD CANCEL: See BunkerSlav's Devastator guide above or my "BOOSTED LASCANNON" section below in the Devastator Weapons section.

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DEVASTATOR DOUBLE DODGE After dodging with Bolt Pistol there is a brief moment during which you can switch to your main weapon to dodge again. Very useful for both agility and avoidance.

Can be used to reach some areas or jump onto props that are otherwise inaccessible to the class, but extending air time in this manner does not work with Heavy Bolter.

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CANCEL CHARGE: Charge recovery animation can be canceled by:
Swapping weapons and letting go of the forward button.
Instantly swapping twice to the weapon you aren't currently holding.
It is possible to Cancel Charges into a Roll or a Sprint for greater agility. This can then be followed up with further Charge Spam for minor AOE damage against fodder or staggering armored enemies to death (Meganobs / Hammer Champions, though they might still hit you if you're too aggressive and mess it up).

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LEDGE JUMP: Stand still at the edge of a drop and Sprint into and instant Charge with F instead of C. This allows Tacticals to gain some speed and it is even possible to switch weapons midair to instantly Dodge to gain further distance.

The amount of distance covered depends on your FPS. With high FPS you'll cover less distance, with low FPS you'll cover more. For the record is possible to enable Vertical Sync for the sole purpose of gaining more distance thru Ledge Jumps.

When Ledge Jumping with two-handed guns the distance you cover will be shorter and curved.

Does not work with Thunder Hammer / Daemon Maul.

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DEVASTATOR BOLTPISTOL FAST KICK: Kick faster by clicking mouse1 with Bolt Pistol out while tapping C at the same time. Can be used to stagger Psykers to death from behind or retaliate against a single Shieldboy / Sword Sergeant.

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PLASMACANNON RAPID FIRE: See the RAPIDCANNON section in Devastator Weapons.

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PLASMACANNON RAPID KICK: While moving forward rapidly tap Sprint and Kick at the same time for even faster Kicks. Useful for disposing of fodder that gets up in your face while using the dangerous weapon.

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GODSPOTS / NAVMESH BREAKING SPOTS: Some of these are shown in other parts of the guide along with the Melee AI Luring Spots below. They make a player invisible to melee enemies until they're the last player available (this can be due to Raptors being in flight or simply as Last Man Standing).

There are a lot of these and it's easy to get inside one without even realizing. As a general rule the glitch occurs when standing on "irregular" parts of a map's geometry, such as rubble or the edges of stairs. Sometimes they can even be triggered by hugging certain walls.

These spots, though frowned upon by some, make certain builds much more viable (Heavy Bolter, Kraken Double Bolter and such) in addition to allowing greater odds of victory when the combined skill / loadout strength of a team is simply inadequate for certain Gauntlet phases.

Even Ranged enemies can be rendered passive if they happen to be standing too close to a player on a godspot. This results in them becoming "confused" as they harmlessly walk towards the semi-invisible player as if to perform a staggering melee attack but don't due to their inability to "find" him.

Barring the exception above a player on a melee navmesh breaking spot is still fully visible to any enemy with a gun.

Keep in mind the "godspots" (not really) can suddenly become extremely dangerous when everyone else dies or becomes otherwise "inaccessible" (Jumping Assaults) in which case the melee enemies will once again be able to "see" you. That said, there are exceptions to this as well; certain godspots render a player completely invisible in which case all enemies except Ranged ones with a Line of Sight will become passive. This is particularly relevant on CHAOS10 Point Capture where it is possible to stand on the edge of the point without falling all the way down.

Standing on these can result in awkward moments with Squigs running up to you but not exploding until someone makes a move.

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MELEE AI LURING SPOTS: Assaults and in some cases Ledge Jumping Tacticals can make use of these; I'm aware of only one such spot for Havoks barring collision glitches. Standing on these spots allow a single player to draw all melee enemies in an area to himself with little to no risk. Useful for Point Captures on KALKYS18/19 and CHAOS17/19. Can even be used to cheese CHAOS21/BONUS WAVE though this is riskier.

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COLLISION GLITCH: With Vertical Sync disabled and high FPS moving in certain ways may sometimes trigger these. They appear to occur most frequently when walking without aiming with Bolt Pistol on pieces of rubble or stairs. When they occur the game will yank the player out of the collision with varying force, sometimes giving them a slight horizontal boost, other times a vertical jump and on rare occasions send them flying all the way up to the sky. AFAIK there is no way to reliably trigger these in the midst of combat and they can be dangerous by yeeting a glitcher into death pits.

Rarely colliding NPCs are subject to being practically teleported by these as well i.e a previously stuck Meganob appearing behind you.

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If you're irritated by an excess of glitching in your public runs, simply ask the glitchers to ease on them. Some may stop if you ask nicely, but be mindful of two things:

- Glitches tend to make the game more engaging and interesting overall. In fact, certain glitches function as double edged swords due to the difficulty of utilizing them without adverse effects.

- If someone is glitching, it may well be because the combined skill and loadout strength of the team is simply insufficient for a "Glitchless Run" to the extent such a thing exists. Ain't nobody got time for losing over and over again while waiting for holier-than-thou whiners to finally start pulling their own weight as opposed to appealing to some vague, disingenuous sense of moral superiority predicated on a refusal to bother learning the intricacies of the game.

A lot of people can't even tell the difference between glitching and cheating with some going so far as to confuse fully legit strats for "cheating". These silly attitudes are irrelevant in public lobbies.

If you truly want to do Glitchless Runs I respect the hustle, but keep in mind you'll probably have to learn the various glitches anyways to avoid triggering them by mistake.














Don't be Leandros.




"The Codex Astartes is a set of rules. They guide us... shape us as Ultramarines... teach us to hold duty and honor sacred above all. But how we live with those rules is the true test of a Space Marine. And you... have failed."

As a newbie don't listen to the Voices of The Emperor / Saints / Chaos Gods telling you to grab a Heavy Bolter or go swinging into a pack of Nobs. Don't pick Stomp boosting perks as a Devastator when you have access to Lascannon, Artificer Armor and Reactive Blast. Don't think that Iron Halo you just unlocked will protect you. You'll be worm food, broken down and metabolized into the next generation of Orks.

There comes a time when an Aspiring Champion must listen to the Voices in order to improve, but you're probably nowhere near that point nor do you need to be. Being that good at the game is, strictly speaking, unnecessary.


(Beautiful piece from petruha007:
http://www.deviantart.com/petruha007/art/Chaotic-Facepalm-673888206)


Stick to the most powerful weapons:
Plasma/Melta Gun, Lascannon and Thunder Hammer/Daemon Maul.

The best perks across the board are:
Tactical: Weapon Versatility + Larraman's Blessing
Devastator: Artificer Armor + Reactive Blast / Feel No Pain / Ammo Stores
Assault: Impenetrable + Killing Blow / Sword Zeal + Sure Strike (the Interrupt perk also works with a Hammer for F+F AOE Stun spam.)

With an entire squad using the best weapons even the hardest sections can become a breeze. When I lose games it's because I'm listening to the Voices telling me to dance around Killa Kans with a Daemon Eye Bolter followed by herding Meganobs into inadvertently krumping each other as they try to smash me as Last Man Standing on a sketchy glitch spot... among other things.

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KHORNE

Mind your positioning. Use Interrupt attacks when relevant. Don't just shoot and swing, be mindful of your surroundings or you may get surprised by a Nob from behind while aiming down the scope of a Lascannon.

Overextension applies to any level of skill (including mine, though I must be overzealous to improve). Hone your skills through speed, aggression and head-on combat but don't bite more than you can chew.

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NURGLE
The reason why people with thousands of hours don't improve. Not that there's anything wrong with casual play, but don't be a one trick pony who always relies on the same strategy even if you always use the same loadout. When I see certain names I already know what they'll do: hang around in the back with cookie cutter builds.

Don't overrely on defensive perks or at some point they'll start holding you back. Especially Iron Halo.

Take calculated risks, refrain from always playing it safe. Lives are important, but they're not more important than your own enjoyment and potential as a Battle Brother.

Be resilient in the face of failure. Mistakes are great teachers. One does not get good enough to solo maps without grit.

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SLAANESH
Don't worry so much about deathless runs or topscoring. It's cool, but it also doesn't really matter. Mostly a concern for veterans who've played for such a long time that the next step is a pursuit for perfection.

There is no need to use the best weapons and most effective strats. The game becomes more interesting in awkward moments when you're ill-equipped to handle whatever is thrown at you. Fresh install Neophytes are helpful for Veterans to get even better at the game. Be flexible, adapt to the situation.

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TZEENTCH
The rarest type of "corruption". While this game could certainly use more proactive as opposed to merely reactive playstyles, if you're the kind of player who prefers armchair theorycrafting to actually testing your theories you'll get nowhere except through the efforts of others. Throw the dice, put yourself out there in the fray and don't be afraid of looking silly every once in awhile.

I've had my own share of people discussing and arguing things I've already considered and tested. This is useless and a waste of time without practice, deaths and failures to back it up. The game is right there. Play it; see where that train of thought gets you.

The rankings below are made from a casual pub perspective. Various "S rank" perks in this environment necessarily fall behind for more specialized runs.

If a perk isn't mentioned here, it is largely irrelevant excepting meme builds / challenge runs.

WEAPON NAME (suitable Arenas) (level or pvp requirement if present)
WEAPON POINTS = While not an exact science, these are my impressions over the years.
EFFICIENCY: The overall effectiveness of a gun relative to its DPS, ammo pool and utility for suitable purposes; i.e Storm Bolter is primarily judged against squishy crowds whereas Stalker Bolter is appraised mainly for sniping. Weapons with a high Efficiency rating are easier to wield and do well with.
KILLHOG: Topscore potential in a suitable environment.
Using weapons outside of their "suitable" arenas in parentheses can work well for those who know what they're doing, but is generally asking for trouble. Even I lose games when I try to bring only a Bolter into the late game of Kalkys or Chaos.

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FRAG GRENADES
Grenades explode after hitting the ground. Lackluster for raw damage without the Master-Crafted Wargear(LVL 19) perk. Their main function is to serve as concussion grenades capable of:
- Knocking down weak enemies.
- Blowing up Squigs in a wide radius.
- Causing lengthy stumble animations on large Orks / Nobs. Meganob charging at your squad with Squigs in tow? Throw one of these and you'll have quite awhile focus that Meganob down.

Not that good against NPC Marines; these grenades will only cause them to flinch without lengthy stumbles, interrupting their attacks.

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BLIND GRENADES (LVL 5)
Misused and underrated. One of these will stun all enemies in a wide radius except for Maul / Hammer Champions and Meganobs. Two of them thrown in quick succession will stun the latter two as well. You can even get more bang for your buck by waiting until the lesser Orks around the Meganob recover from their stunned state before throwing the second Blind, stunning them all over again in addition to the Meganob itself.

Wiith Master-Crafted Wargear even one of these will be enough to stun both Champions and Meganobs but the blinding effect on players will also be 4 seconds instead of 2 without it.

Stunning enemies appears to make them more susceptible to damage; this is relevant for reaching certain thresholds easier i.e one-shotting a stunned Shieldboy with Lascannon instead of two shots without the stun.

Melee Marines will sometimes be able to move around while stunned without being able to perform any further attacks (unless the previous attack animation began before the stun). This semi-stunned state can be 'fixed' by also staggering them by any available means i.e Melta Gun, another player's Frag or charging into them. Semi-Stunned Marines are capable of attacking INSTANTLY as soon as their stun ends whereas fully stunned and staggered ones have to perform a recovery animation before moving and attacking again.

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COMBAT STIMULANTS (LVL 9)

Choosing this special equipment grants the player with one dose of Combat Stimulants that are consumed when activated. The perk Favor of the Armory increases this to two doses of the equipment in the inventory when the player spawns. The maximum number that can be carried by picking up equipment drops is two with Favor of the Armory and only one without it. When activated, the Combat Stimulants apply an effect to the user that reduces incoming damage to the user's health, and increases the user's melee damage output. Note that the reduction to incoming damage only works on damage being applied to health, and does not reduce damage to armor. Ranged, explosive and environmental damage is reduced by -25%, and incoming melee damage is reduced by -50%. Delivered melee damage is increased by 35%. When used by a Tactical Marine with the perk Master-Crafted Wargear, the reduction in received ranged, explosive and environmental damage is improved to -40% and reduction in received melee damage is improved to -65%. Delivered melee damage is increased by 100%. In either case, they also cause a player to be immune to the stunning effects of Interrupt melee attacks and explosive blasts for the duration of the effect.

In addition to the above Stims kickstart the health regen process even through further damage, making them useful for healing in a pinch.

Can be used by Assaults to one-hit-kill Skarboy clusters with a Sure Strike boosted Thunder Smash.

They can also be used to resist the shield-bash staggers of 'Ardboyz / Shieldboyz. This is important to for Assault stun combos.

They do not always work properly. In some cases they do not seem to do anything at all, in other cases they'll heal but fail to offer the stagger resistance or vice versa. As a general rule Assaults should use these with their feet planted on the ground to benefit from their full effects.

ROLE: GENERALIST
The most versatile class with the highest running speed. Has a variety of loadouts that can fill in for virtually any role short of flying, indefinite tanking/disruption or unleashing the enduring firepower of Devastators. Readily capable of saving ammo through quick melee attacks most notably with Shoulder Charge animation cancels to perform them over and over again on hordes of fodder or tough enemies separated from others.

With movement glitches and animation cancels, the class can become even more agile and survivable. This is not to be underestimated; a skilled Larraman's Tactical can run circles around Killa Kans goading them into stop revving up their guns in favor of melee attacks that are easy to avoid - all the while soaking up Squid and Rokkit damage in the middle to draw Nob hordes away from other players behind cover. While an extreme example it should help convey the potentials of the class.

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Diagonal 'ledge jumps' from the top of stairs onto the railings allow the class to reach certain areas that are otherwise only accessible to Raptors barring collision glitches not everyone can pull off due to low FPS from hardware limitations, AFAIK.

This significantly increases the solo-carry potential of the class with its ability to bring two-handed guns onto places that are otherwise inaccessible to the ground classes. This can be a double-edged sword for your squad; sometimes it can save the game through allowing a Tactical to support his team in addition earning lives from relative safety and other times it can result in a loss from the Tac not sharing the load of aggro in favor of taking on different flavors of risks.

Don't expect much from a Tactical with any sort of a Boltgun in their hands except for the pistol.

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TACTICAL PERKS

WEAPON VERSATILITY (S) (LVL13)
Grants access to two weapons in addition to the standard issue Bolt Pistol. Vastly improves your ammo economy due to the fact that you get additional ammo from every box with 3 guns as opposed to only a rifle and a sidearm. A no brainer except for niche purposes that generally make the game harder.

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LARRAMAN'S BLESSING (S) (LVL25)

This perk grants +45 health regeneration rate, increasing it from 5 to 50 health per second. Health will begin to regenerate after a 3.5 second delay (down from 5.0 seconds without the perk)

Hard to go wrong with this one with its ability to grant your entire health bar back from brief pauses between soaking up damage. Allows Tacticals to be more aggressive for a DPS boost especially when combined with Combat Stimulants for extreme health regen on demand; the Stims kickstart the powerful regeneration even through further damage allowing them to briefly survive situations that would break the other classes.

It should be noted the Larraman Stim combo doesn't always register which results in a wasted stim and a probable death. For this reason Frags or Blinds may be taken for more reliable survival tools.

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MASTER-CRAFTED WARGEAR (B) (LVL19)
For Exterminatus, what this perk does is:
- Greatly increase the damage of Frags, making them viable as more than slow-down concussion grenades at the cost of being more likely to blow yourself up with them.
- Make Blinds strong enough to stun even Meganobs and Hammer/Maul Champions with each one with no need to throw two in quick succession, but does not actually increase the stun time. The player-blind effect is extended from 2 seconds to 4 so you have to be extra careful.
- The increased Stim melee/resistance bonuses are largely irrelevant due to the existence of Larraman's Blessing & Favor of the Armory combo.

The Frag bonuses are relevant for killhogging in the early waves whereas the Blind strengthening is largely irrelevant except in specific situations where it can be effective; those being KALKYS20 against the horde of Meganobs, CHAOS20 against the groups of Hammer Champions when combined with Melta fire to properly put them into a stunned state (Melee Marines don't react to being stunned properly, they can still move without attacking unless staggered) and CHAOS21 in the last two phases with Meganobs everywhere.

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FAVOR OF THE ARMORY (C) (LVL31)

Spawn with twice as much Frag/Blind Grenades, but still only spawn with one (1) Combat Stimulant. With this Perk, you are also now able to carry a max of four (4) Frag/Blind Grenades, but only a max of two (2) Combat Stimulants.

Besides of luck of the draw Frag hogging when paired with Master-Crafted Wargear in early waves, this perk can be situationally strong when combined with the same with Blinds or Larraman's with Stims.

With a modicum of teamwork, 4 Master-Crafted Blinds plus a Plasma Gun can make a mockery of the hardest stages of Chaos Unleashed and 2 Larraman Stims allow Tacticals to fill in as supercharged Tanks momentarily capable of surviving way more than an Impenetrable Zeal Raptor. Unfortunately:
- These combos aren't exactly relevant for general play without proper support.
- Missing out on Weapon Versatility / Larraman's Blessing / Fast Melta Charge just isn't worth it in majority of circumstances.
-Larraman Stims are kind of overrated for Exterminatus due to the fact Stims are buggy and don't always work.

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TELEPORT HOMER (C)
Allows rapid reinforcement of your position by neophytes so they can die again sooner. Kidding aside, easier point captures alone can be a boon in relevant phases.

The greatest advantage of this perk is acquired thru glitching but even then it's not particularly beneficial in pubs. It can be used to get brothers onto areas that are tricky or impossible to reach.

On Chaos Bonus Wave's final phase a tactical can hide on a godspot, specifically behind the railing at the far corner where wave17 pointcap is located and clear it out of Rokkit Nobs with Blinds while rest of the team dies around the player spawn point. The dead brothers can then respawn on the teleport homing Tactical for easier defense as the horde travels all the way back to the freshly spawned squad.

In many cases however randoms have no idea what's going on and will not teleport onto you when they should and do when they shouldn't i.e when you're being chased by Squigs and under fire by a Killa Kan.

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RAPID DEPLOYMENT (C)
This!? On Exterminatus? Really?
If you know what you're doing, possibly. This perk can actually come in clutch when neophytes are dropping left and right and the only obstacle between you and victory is that one Axe Raptor with his True Grit bolter vying to steal the only life left so he can get squashed by the nearest Meganob or Killa Kan if he doesn't get shot in the air beforehand.

A veteran with Rapid Deployment can run in circles around the middle area juking Killa Kans into melee while drawing both Nobs and Squigs onto himself, tanking a few while popping the rest as he lures some of the horde away from the hapless neophytes in his squad. If you die while doing this, it is a life well spent - AND you get to quickly respawn to take potshots at the horde you pulled away from the player spawn point, effectively saving more than the one life put on table.

Further strategizing is possible thru coordinating with your brothers. But the problem with all this is everyone has a plan until they get shot in the face. A possible lack of better perks notwithstanding I wouldn't expect anyone but veterans to get value out of Rapid Deployment in spite of the nonexistent level requirement.

Tactical guns don't exactly lend themselves to killhogging by themselves but they are capable matching Lascannon and even Rapidcannon in kills through perk / gun synergies; i.e Plasma Gun + Melta Gun grant the class a combined 5 in KILLHOG rating.

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PLASMA GUN (ALL ARENAS) (LVL 8)
ANTI-ARMOR + HEADSHOTS + CHARGED AOE PROJECTILE
The gun to take when you mean business. Effective in any situation. One hit kills Shoota Boyz with headshots. Slays Skarboyz with five bodyshots.

As with all Plasma weapons, it is possible to drain heat by tapping the reload key between each shot.

Charged AOE shot is wasteful on a solitary target except with 1 ammo remaining.

EFFICIENCY: 5/5
KILLHOG: 3/5
STYLE: 2/5 - Signals that you probably have a clue if nothing else.

ENLARGED PLASMA CHAMBER (B) (35 PVP KILLS WITH CHARGED SHOTS)

Increases plasma gun fuel from 125 to 200.

A decent pick when neither the superior DPS of Improved Melta Charge nor the better survivability afforded by Larraman's is a concern, i.e when playing with ammo-hogging brothers or map glitching.

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MELTA GUN (ALL ARENAS) (LVL12)
ANTI-ARMOR + AOE + PIERCING + STAGGERING
Almost a superweapon if not for its low range. Affects all enemies in a cone, staggering even the toughest of foes in addition to blowing up hidden Squigs under them. Can be combined with Shoulder Charges or the below perk to staggerlock tough enemies. A lot fewer people would've beaten Exterminatus if not for this weapon.
EFFICIENCY: 5/5 - When paired with a long range weapon.
KILLHOG: 2/5 - Low ammo pool.
STYLE: 1/5 - Impactful, but boring.

IMPROVED MELTA CHARGE (A) (50 PVP KILLS)

It decreases time for the Melta Gun to cooldown between shots by 40%

The tryhard's choice. Theoretically grants Tacticals the highest DPS available to the class but in practice you'll be hard pressed to make the most of that advantage in pubs due to soaking up damage without coordination.

A tactical with this perk can reliably control a single lane of advance against rushing enemies all by himself which isn't exactly relevant in pubs where every man for himself tends to apply.

Allows survival in certain late game phases through quickly clearing out a defensible area for some breathing room where Larraman's Blessing would only delay the inevitable. Nevertheless, those situations are rare compared to all the lives saved by the Blessings.

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VENGEANCE LAUNCHER (H1234, K123, C1) (LVL22)
AOE + AIRBURST + STICKY TRAPS

The Vengeance launcher can fire up to 3 charges, which will adhere to any surface or player. These can then be detonated either by hitting the reload button (in which case they will detonate starting with the most recently fired) or by firing additional charges (which will detonate the charge least recently fired).

One shots groups of both Shootas and Choppas, kills Skarboyz in a couple of blasts. Does not count as "ranged kills" for Challenges.

Can be used to clear a path through any Squigs ahead who can't be shot directly due to being obscured by Orks you can dodge through or terrain. Of course this also applies to Melta Gun at lower ranges.

Keep in mind this weapon must automatically rearm after each shot. The rearming period briefly prevents dodging or sprinting. This can be circumvented by switching weapons in which case the Launcher will have to be rearmed before the next shot.

EFFICIENCY: 3/5 - Tight ammo economy, struggles against armor. Airburst capability makes it superior to Plasma Cannon for clearing Shootas on high ground.
KILLHOG: 5/5 - Can allow Tacticals to exceed Rapidcannon's performance against fodder.
STYLE: 5/5 - Potentially one of the coolest weapons of Exterminatus due to various tricks:

-Spawn combo-killing with Vengeance traps + Plasma Gun charged shots
-Pre-empting distant Shoota/Squig spawns with traps.
-Planting traps onto tough enemies to blow them up when they merge into a group.
-Placing stickies onto Raptors over and over again.
-Placing stickies onto neophytes that will automatically explode when they get swarmed and die.
-Placing a single sticky on a ranged Marine to interrupt its regen from behind cover where your own proceeds unimpeded.

VENGEANCE PAYLOAD (B) (16 PVP MULTI-KILLS)
Doubles both the ammo available on spawn in addition to the max ammo pool. A good pick in all maps where Vengeance shines in addition to making it more readily usable against packs of Marines. That said, RNG shortages notwithstanding the primary benefit of twice the ammo pool doesn't necessarily lend itself to speed or killhogging; constantly blowing up huge swarms of fodder tends to ensure a self-sustaining chain of carnage.

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STORM BOLTER (H12, K123, C1) (LVL16)
EFFICIENCY: 3/5 - Struggles against Marines.
KILLHOG: 3/5 - Decent DPS against Orks where its ammo economy isn't bad either.
STYLE: 4/5 - Bullet hose.

RAPID-FIRE RELOAD (B) (50 PVP KILLS)

Halves the reload speed down to 1 second from 2 seconds.

If you're using Storm Bolter in the early game, you may as well slap this on to double the fun.

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STALKER BOLTER / DAEMON EYE BOLTER (H34, K234, C2) (LVL 4)
HEADSHOTS + SNIPER + PIERCING

Has the highest headshot damage multiplier in the game but falls behind more powerful guns. Laggy pubs don't lend themselves to headshots on all but the largest Orks. The piercing effect doesn't come in play that often either.

EFFICIENCY: 2/5 - Low ammo pool, long reloads. The fact that Meganobs don't take extra damage from headshots is the final insult to injury.
KILLHOG: 2/5 - Can be surprisingly killy with headshots, especially on Shootas of both Boy and Nob varieties.
STYLE: 5/5 - If you can aim, that is.

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BOLTER (H12, K123, C1)
HEADSHOTS

EFFICIENCY: 1/5 - Not altogether useless; effective on Shootas and has a high ammo pool.
KILLHOG: 1/5 - Pop gun.
STYLE: 3/5 - Both fresh installs and tryhards struggling to make the most of this disappointment can be charming.

BOLTER TARGETER (B) (50 PVP KILLS)
A new player can grind either this or Kraken for better performance at low levels. This one makes it easier to down Shoota Boys / Nobs who are the real threats compared to more heavily armored meatheads.

KRAKEN BOLTS (B) (50 PVP KILLS)
PIERCING (No, not "ANTI-ARMOR"; the effect isn't strong enough to be classified as such)
A substantial improvement; but it is still a mere SM1 Bolter at the end of the day. Don't expect much more than better ammo economy. Reduced DPS on Shootas who are the highest priority targets for Bolters.

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KRAKEN DOUBLE BOLTER (H1234, K123, C124)
HEADSHOTS + PIERCING
EFFICIENCY: 3/5 - Struggles in tight spots without map glitching or teamwork.
KILLHOG: 3/5 - Poor handling but effective at mid to long range unlike Storm Bolter.
STYLE: 5/5 - Confuse your brothers as to why your Bolter shoots so fast.

Credit to Robot Ginger for teaching me how to equip two bolters in the first place through which I was able to discover the rate of fire glitch by rapidly swapping them while firing.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2988538920
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2847493148

ROLE: FRONTLINER / SUPPORT
Capable of packing an entire armory's worth of ammo with them, these walking tanks are slower but boast the largest health pool with perks to make them even tankier. Their loadouts can be extremely efficient with Ammunition Stores at level 31 to double their max ammo capacity.

Their role depends on their weapon of choice. With Lascannon they can be the frontliners of the team. With Plasma Cannon or Heavy Bolter they either have no idea what they're doing or support their brothers with ammo-efficient builds, proper positioning & target prioritization.

Devastator Stomps cause Stagger on fodder Orks, Bloodletters and knockdowns on Guardsmen but only with the main weapon out. This is largely useless for DPS but can occasionally be useful when trying to regenerate health behind cover. Stomping with Bolt Pistol does only damage without stagger / knockdown.

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DEVASTATOR PERKS

ARTIFICER ARMOR (S) (LVL25)

Shortens the delay before armor regeneration starts by 5 seconds (2.5 instead of 7.5)

The armor regen begins 1 second earlier than Larraman's but proceeds at a slower rate. This is so strong you can sometimes regenerate chip damage out in the open from pauses between soaking it up. Shoota Nob gunning you down? Return fire with a Lascannon or Heavy Bolter, throwing it off long enough for the regen to kick in.

If you aren't taking this, you can go Ammo Stores + Improved Plasma Charge / Heat Sink for Plasma Cannon or Coolant for Heavy Bolter. That said, Lascannon and Plasma Cannon are so strong in the late game and the early game respectively that you can do just fine without Artificer Armor if needed.

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AMMUNITION STORES (S) (LVL31)

This perk will double the starting amount, and also the max capacity, of ammunition for a Devastator or Havoc's selected heavy weapon.

Combined with Artificer Armor this is the Lascannon meta. The thirty extra shots serve as a buffer against ammo shortages and allows Havoks to be more aggressive with their lasers. Artificer Armor is already so good by itself that Feel No Pain and Iron Halo are somewhat redundant compared to the benefits afforded by this as the second pick.

Where two defensive perks could save you in a tight spot, this will make it less likely for you to get into one in the first place.

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FEEL NO PAIN (A)

This perk reduces all damage caused by explosives or melee attacks by 30%. NOTE: All melee weapons and attack types are affected, including the Ground Pound. "Explosives" includes grenades and the Vengeance Launcher. This perk does not affect plasma weapons (such as the Plasma Cannon), including their "charged shots", nor does it mitigate the Melta Gun.

Available right from level 1. If you're more of a casual player who can't be bothered to shoot your Lascannon that often on all but big targets, this can be the second pick. Superior to Iron Halo in sustained engagements which is basically the whole of Exterminatus. Reduces damage from Rokkit/Grenade spam as well as Squigs and melee attacks.

That said, through pairing this with Artificer Armor you open yourself up to greater risk of death due to RNG shortages especially with ammo hogging brothers. This means that some games, perhaps most will be easier (especially 2-Player runs with lots of ammo to go around) but on others you can reach a dead end with 0 rounds left. With 3-4 people to share the load of aggro, dual defensive perks are somewhat redundant especially when considering that with Lascannon, quick swaps to Bolt Pistol combined with Frags largely negate Squigs as a threat.

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REACTIVE BLAST (B) (LVL 7)

When the player's Armor is depleted, it releases a radial surge of energy doing damage to nearby enemies. The radius is small and the perk is therefore of little use against ranged attackers. However, the blast knocks back and staggers those close enough to be affected, giving the Devastator or Havok a moment's respite to react against a melee attacker.

When paired with Artificer Armor (LVL25) this is situationally superior to Feel No Pain and is arguably preferable to it. This perk can save a Havok completely cornered by a horde of Shieldboyz blocking his movement. Affords more breathing room from melee enemies for players struggling to dodge and completely negates stunlocks from Meganobs.

Not bad, but it is the kind of perk a brother will ideally grow out of. With Double Dodges (first with main weapon out, then quickly dodging again after switching to Bolt Pistol) a skilled player can avoid most melee attacks.

Meme build potential through Artificer + Reactive Blast and the faster melee attacks afforded by Plasma Cannon and Bolt Pistol. Stagger everything within melee range over and over again with Artifier Armor's Reactive detonations. Allows completely dry Devs to go toe to toe with a horde of Meganobs in an amusing if lengthy slugfest.

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IRON HALO / CHAOS ICON (C) (LVL19)

This perk will 'add' 50 armor to the base 125 armor that Devastator/Havocs have, raising it to a total of 175 armor. Using the graphical onscreen armor meter (which is always scaled to the player's max armor), it will have the apparent visual effect of reducing armor damage by 40%. Likewise, the armor bar will appear to regenerate slower. Note that this is only the perceived effect on the graphical meter, the actual change is simply the max armor being raised from 125 to 175, while armor regeneration speed is the same as before (and therefore takes longer to fill up). As armor is increased but health is unaffected (still 100 health), the perk will have no effect on health damage.

The most glaring noob trap of Exterminatus. When I see someone running around with this I know its probably someone who hasn't given the gamemode much thought. It's not about hard you can get hit. It's about how often you can get hit and keep dishing it out in return. The perk functions as a Catch-22 where it can theoretically save you in the situations it makes you more likely to get into in the first place through the reduction in sustain caused by the lack of other perks.

There are situations where it can genuinely save you, such as when running from point A to B under Killa Kan fire. But you're unlikely to have full armor when you actually need it, which is why this is akin to a wasted perk slot as soon as your Armor drops below 126; a common occurrence in Exterminatus.

Still, it does look cool, and can simply be equipped for style given that Devastators can be quite strong regardless of perks.

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SIGNUM LINK (D) (LVL 4)

In Exterminatus, this perk highlights enemies with crosshairs, as if it was the end of the wave.

Does not however allow for spotting enemies through walls. Can be useful for memorizing spawns especially on the first Arena of Hab Center with its occasional fogs but that's about it. With Lascannon and Ammunition Stores it could be a theoretical DPS boost when you have Zeal Assaults or Larraman's Tacticals to soak up damage for you.

LASCANNON (H234, K234, C234) (LVL10)
ANTI-ARMOR + SNIPER + HEADSHOTS + PIERCING + RICOCHETS
Lascannon shots can ricochet off of enemies at angles. Evaporates anything short of Killa Kans in a couple of shots at most. Overkill in the first Arenas where Plasma Cannon is superior by far.

Part of the reason why this gun shines is due to its ease of use compared to Plasma Gun. There is no need to track the twitchy Shoota Boyz; one bodyshot is all it takes before moving onto the next one. The pause between shots provides ample time for players to dodge while considering their next move amidst the chaos.

While the staggering effects of the weapon aren't as powerful as those of Melta Guns, Lascannon can still be used to stagger Nobs to death unless they're already swinging or charging.

EFFICIENCY: 5/5
KILLHOG: 5/5
STYLE: 1/5 - Snore.

BOOSTED LASCANNON (SUPERWEAPON)

Originally posted by Vanfeldt:

Lascannon reload animation can be interrupted by sprinting or dodging without stopping the actual reload itself.

This allows the player to keep moving and shooting while the reload still occurs without its corresponding animation, and interrupting the reload with at least 2 rounds left in the weapon makes it possible to keep firing without delay.

Switching to Bolt Pistol before the reload finishes however will prevent Lascannon from loading regardless of animations.

Renders the Lascannon Capacitors faster reload perk redundant.

Skilled players can even get Bolt Pistol shots off for extra DPS in between Lascannon usage.

Allows Havoks to solo CHAOS 4 all by themselves.




EFFICIENCY: 5/5
KILLHOG: 6/5
STYLE: 2/5 - All lasers, no brains, eh, mate?! Kidding aside, both the proper management of reload cycles and deliberate ricochets take more than a couple of brain cells to pull off.

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PLASMA CANNON (H1234, K123, C14) (LVL20)
AOE + CHARGED AOE PROJECTILE + EXCESS AMMO
The Squig / fodder cleaner and the most ammo efficient weapon in the game. A single pick up returns 50 shots which is half of your entire ammo pool or a quarter with the Ammunition Stores perk. Problem is, you'll struggle to actually spend that ammo against heavily armored foes in the end except for HAB 4 where it is possible to hide in buildings.

The charged blast is somewhat impractical and dangerous to use amidst the chaos of Exterminatus with Orks constantly running up your face. A brother blithely rolling in front of your gun's barrel can mean instant death. It can be used to pre-emptively one shot Skarboy spawns but is nevertheless quite ineffective against heavy armor. Spending 25 ammo at once on a single Marine or Meganob is kind of a waste during ammo shortages when 25 individual shots does more damage than a single charged blast.

Keep in mind you can get anohter Charged Shot off with that 1 ammo you have remaining before picking up an ammo box.


EFFICIENCY: 4/5 - Struggles greatly against heavy armor.
KILLHOG: 4/5 - A bit slow by default.
STYLE: 5/5 - Supportive Battle-Bro softening up hordes while deleting Squigs en masse, even providing a morale boost thru blowing himself up every once in awhile. What's not to like?

IMPROVED PLASMA CHARGE (B) (35 PVP MULTI-KILLS)

Reduces the time it takes to build up a charged shot from 3.5 seconds to 2.0 (a 43% improvement.)

In pubs this is a fun & convenience perk for when Artificer Armor is redundant at which point it can be paired with Ammunition Stores for 8 charged shots without ammo pickups instead of 4.

Makes it easier to delete hordes of Red Skarboyz along with anything weaker. Can be utilized for occasional burst damage against tougher foes at the cost of ammo economy. Can be used to deshield multiple Ranged Marines with a single blast which can be a good or a bad thing when too many pissed off Marines start chasing players behind cover. Lascannon & Plasma Cannon Marines die to a charged shot followed by 2 Bolt Pistol headshots.

Grenades can be utilized to corral hordes into big squishy clumps for Plasma Cannon to eat. Blinds can keep clusters in place for a Charged Shot but sometimes prevent a big blob from forming which is when Frags are the more practical choice.

Suboptimal in the second half of CHAOS 21 / BONUS WAVE with its hordes of Nobs. There the main purpose of the gun is to clear the Squigs - the real threats - ASAP after which regular shots can theoretically allow for slowly kiting Nobs to death.

The Rapidcannon glitch below makes ammo inefficient Charged Shots largely redundant.

RAPIDCANNON (SUPERWEAPON)

Originally posted by Vanfeldt:

shoot > sprint for a split second > interrupt sprint with sidestep > reload > shoot > repeat

The glitch also works with Kicks instead of Sprint canceling for less movement when being relatively stationary is needed i.e when standing on glitch spots.

Works best with Heat Sink + Ammunition Stores in earlygame or Artificer Armor in lategame. The best build for speedrunning through easier sections of the game to get to the more challenging waves sooner. Works well all the way up to the end with a modicum of proper support.

Barring concerns for carpal tunnel syndrome I don't understand why more people don't practice this. It's not that hard to learn, once you get it down as muscle memory it is almost automatic. Turns the entire game into a thrill for experienced players when the early waves may seem like a chore otherwise. Buttons are tapped so rapidly that it vaguely resembles being a Korean StarCraft player. That said, there are other earlygame builds without IRL health considerations (Zeal / Vengeance) and it gets harder to use after the earlygame regardless.

I suppose it can be macro'd for slightly superior DPS to human inputs without straining fingers at the cost of micro-adjustments on the fly.

Without map glitching or supportive brothers to draw aggro it can be difficult to get in the groove of rapid plasma casting with foes rushing from all sides. Even a Grot can be a real threat by stepping in front of you. Both Grenades and Sword Sergeants can become the bane of your existence through screwing with your player model, causing you to inadvertently blow off your own feet.

Extremely effective from a vantage point, especially those placing the Havok out of melee AI navmesh.

PLASMA HEAT SINK (S) (50 PVP KILLS)

Without this perk you can perform 5 shots without interruption before overheating. With this perk you can perform 10 shots.

Minor benefit on a regular Plasma Cannon without glitching, but with a Rapidcannon the perk allows for nonstop annihilation of anything without heavy armor. The meta pick in the earlygame after which you may consider a Rapidcannon build with greater sustain and survivability; i.e two defensive perks instead of Artificer + Heat Sink or Artificer with Ammo Stores.


EFFICIENCY: 4/5 - Yes, this thing STILL struggles against heavy armor.
KILLHOG: 7/5 - Those with most builds can say pretty much say goodbye to scoring a series of kills on anything weaker than a Shieldboy.
STYLE: 4/5 - Looks and feels awesome, but brothers might not appreciate being unable to play the game.

HEAVY BOLTER (H1234, K123, C14) (LVL 2)
The veteran's weapon in spite of the almost nonexistent level requirement. Most players have no business using this, but clueless Havoks along with their silly Raptor brothers are part of the reason why pubs can be so enjoyable... or annoying, depending on your perspective.

The Coolant PVP unlock below is almost "required". Using the weapon without it is generally an exercise in frustration both for yourself and your brothers.

While this thing can work quite well with supportive teammates to draw aggro away from you, in a pub environment you'll simply have to resort to either bracing far back or utilizing glitch spots.

Priority targets for Heavy Bolter are any Ork with a gun in addition to Squigs. The weapon also features a staggering effect on Choppas, Skarboyz and Sword Sergeants - mildly useful for holding a position, not so much for saving neophytes unable to dodge fodder.

With Ammunition Stores (800 round capacity) and glitch spots it can become an excellent support weapon in CHAOS 4 where it is capable of eating Killa Kans for breakfast.

Bracing can sometimes cause its user to get desynced in online games, causing his attacks to do no damage. This can be fixed by re-bracing.

In spite of its generally impractical nature for Exterminatus where enemies are constantly rushing from all available directions the weapon itself boasts respectable single target DPS; swiftly terminating Yellow Big Shoota Nobs as well as their charging Nob buddies before they can get close. Takes awhile to down Meganobs so be prepared to reposition multiple times when facing them alone.

EFFICIENCY: 3/5 - High ammo pool especially with Ammunition Stores but struggles greatly in certain phases, most notably during CHAOS 20 against the horde of Ultramarines. Can be surprisingly effective with glitch spots and team support on CHAOS 21 / BONUS WAVE.
KILLHOG: 4/5 - with Coolant.
STYLE: 4/5 - A point subtracted because the weapon is somewhat... disappointing in all but the most ideal of circumstances.

HEAVY BOLTER COOLANT (S) (35 PVP KILLSTREAKS)

Without this perk a heavy bolter fire 56 shots before shutting down; with this perk it will only overheat after 100 shots fired from the hip, or 143 shots when fired from a braced position.

This perk along with proper positioning are two key factors to make the weapon a somewhat decent pick in Exterminatus. Without either of those your brothers will probably have to 'carry' that Heavy Bolter along with you.

ROLE: DISRUPTION / TANK
The wild card with the highest skill floor/ceiling/solo-carry potential all at once. As of May 2024, even more than a decade after release, these guys tend to be little more than a wrecking ball of a distraction, wasting lives and sometimes even ammo by picking them up in excess for their pistol (or worse, True Grit Bolter). That said, they're otherwise readily capable of contributing to the ammo economy of their brothers with their melee specialization.

Jump-Pack users are uniquely qualified to observe the battlefield from above and pick off unarmored shooters as well as Squigs, in addition to throwing Blinds down at exactly where they're needed. This one quality of theirs alone can win games, but in practice I haven't seen much more than haphazard swinging and jumping all over the place until they run out of HP.

Sure Strike Raptors can provide ample disruption with AOE interrupts, creating deathzones in which most still-standing foes are stunned. Zeal Raptors can survive most situations indefinitely up to midgame where they'll need to pay attention to become the ultimate tanks.

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ASSAULT PERKS

SURE STRIKE (S) (LVL 4)
Sure Strike on 'S' Tier, how Serendipitous. Not only an awesome stunning perk that grants a world of utility to the class but also a solid damage boost for interrupt attacks.

Increases the AOE for all Radial interrupts; greatly increases the stunning strength of all interrupts for the purpose of reaching Stun thresholds faster on tough enemies. Ergo, the perk dynamically boosts the Disruption, Tanking through Zeal on stunned enemies and DPS capabilities of the class all at once.

For Hammer / Maul it enables convenient, spammable stuns through the Thunder Smash (F + F).

For both the Sword and Axe it allows for stunning both Meganobs and Hammer/Maul Champions with a Quick Stomp (C + C + C + F) followed by single a basic C attack as opposed to two without the perk. The windows of opportunity for stuns are smaller on Champions, so you can only stun 1 of them after a Quick Stomp with a basic attack whereas it is possible to stun two Meganobs who were affected by the stomp in quick succession.

For Axe it unlocks stuns in a wide area through the Overhead Smash which works the same as Thunder Smash (F + F) but does less damage.

It should be noted the radial / AOE stuns of the Sword and Axe don't always work except with Host advantage. See "Assault Doctrine" for more info on combos and stuns.

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IMPENETRABLE (A) (LVL7)

Reduces incoming ranged damage by 30%

Less damage taken from bullets / Melta Gunners / Psykers / Lascannon & Plasma Cannon Marines.

Most effective with Hammer / Maul. Sword Zeal users with this can serve as low-effort tanks to draw aggro away from teammates at the cost of not being able to disrupt both hordes and elites as effectively as with Sure Strike. For those with Axe Zeal the perk is suboptimal due to the weapon's reduced healing speed.

Offers better survivability to Killing Blow Raptors, casual Raptors as well ones who are still learning shooter spawns. When combined with Killing Blow the perk affords easy Marine kills. Arguably the better pick for CHAOS21 / BONUS WAVE due to superior survivability against both the horde of Yellow Big Shoota Nobs in addition to Killa Kans; the latter can sometimes have ungodly tracking depending on connection between players.

Nevertheless, Impenetrable is kind of a noob trap many fall into in Exterminatus; especially those coming from PVP with the presumption it is the best pick in the CO-OP mode as well. The Killing Blow combo notwithstanding, this perk generally promotes low effort plays that aren't as effective. Sure Strike grants the class everything including dynamic survivability through better stuns whereas this perk offers survivability against only ranged damage in a passive form.

FUEL AND LONG JUMPS:
The class is capable of limited flight through jumping. Long distance jumps by holding the SPACE key cost fuel which must recharge before you can jump again. You can perform a long jump twice in a row before waiting for a recharge.

Holding down SPACE to fly is the only Assault movement option that costs fuel. Don't jump excessively. On occasion you could end up in a tight spot from a poorly timed jump without making sure you have enough fuel left to escape, but even without fuel you can still perform Charges, horizontal Hops and Dashes as a last resort.

GROUND POUND (MELEE ATTACK AFTER A LONG JUMP):
Mostly a mobility option for zooming around without spending too much time exposed in the air. Does minor staggering damage which may not register unless you stand still for a short moment after landing. This attack in addition to Jump-Swings can be used for quick Shoota Boy takedowns; you can shoot them once midair before landing on top of them.

JUMP-SWING (MELEE ATTACK CLOSE TO THE GROUND:
This move is key for Zeal Raptors. Jump-Swings grant not only extra healing but even allow for hitting and leeching health from multiple enemies at once. Problem is, the hitbox for this move can be rather unforgiving or straight up nonfunctional at times, making it a little unreliable for healing.

HOP (TAPPING SPACE WITHOUT HOLDING IT DOWN):
Quick horizontal movement with a slight vertical boost. On its own this move doesn't seem very useful for Exterminatus due to its relatively uncontrollable nature without cutting it short by following up with a Dash (Melee Attack) or Jump (Holding down the JUMP key after the hop).

With the Plasma Pistol & Sword combo Hops can also be interrupted by performing them after any melee attack or interrupt followed by charging the pistol during the hop. The pistol charge can then be canceled by reloading to immediately start a new combo as needed.

It's possible to inadvertently "hop" into death pits while trying to dodge threats such as a charging Meganob so be aware of your surroundings.

DASH (TAPPING SPACE FOR A HOP > MELEE ATTACK):
Primarily a mobility option and mostly inconsequential for damage in Exterminatus. Dashes normally have a lengthy recovery animation which can be cut short by dashing against walls for zippy movement. On occasion it's possible to Dash into Shoota Boyz to quickly take them out with one solid hit.

The attack does not cause stagger in Exterminatus which makes it dangerous to use.

As a general rule, the 'meta' picks for mobility are judged according to certain loadout & animation cancel combinations explained below.

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BOLT PISTOL
HEADSHOTS
Reliable, no-nonsense sidearm. Clears out Shoota Boyz with ease, especially from vantage points Assaults can reach.

The meta pick with Thunder Hammer / Daemon Maul due to the ability to cancel horizontal dashes. Performed by taking aim for a split second before dashing.

(With Hammer) Take Aim > Hop > Dash > Sprint > Repeat

If you simply make it a habit to tap Aim before each Hop you should be able to cancel Dashes into Sprints to repeat as needed.

Both Bolt and Plasma Pistols are capable of canceling Charges by taking aim, but only Bolt can be used for the above mobility trick.

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PLASMA PISTOL (LVL14)
CHARGED AOE PROJECTILE
The meta pick with Sword and Axe due to the ability to cancel charges by taking aim. Is it necessary? Not really, but I feel like a cripple without this one particular cancel.

With this setup it's possible to start off a combo by canceling a Charge right next to an enemy without them being able to stagger you out of your combos i.e you can Charge > Take Aim > C + C + F for a staggering Shoulder Bash > pause while holding down the movement key to reset combo > F again for a stunning Backhand.

You can also perform a staggering Charge into a Meganob with Sure Strike, land a Backhand, jump to dodge its counter-attack and immediately land to stun it with another Backhand.

With Axe the setup is even more impactful due to its powerful staggers. It's possible to Charge into a Hammer / Maul Champion and stun it with F Backhand (staggers with Axe) + Strike + Shoulder Bash (staggers and stuns with the previous Backhand). You can even just follow up a charge by resetting Axe combos by taking a shot between every interrupt, effectively slapping Champions to death without even swinging your weapon.

With Hammer / Maul Plasma Pistol grants Hop Swings. These are performed by taking aim before a hop followed by a regular C strike or an interrupt F attack. I believe this trick isn't as useful as the Bolt Pistol mobility glitch with the weapon. Oftentimes Hop Swings will not be solid hits but glancing blows dealing reduced damage when you could've simply Charged into your target to stagger it for extra damage before the follow up Hammer strike.

The weapons are not granted a KILLHOG rating for various reasons.

- Assault Marines have better things to do than killhogging.

- The speed in downing enemies varies greatly both from perk selection and team composition. The ranged classes can make significant contributions even in a team with 3 Raptors whereas a single Assault will struggle to do do much in a squad with Plasma Cannons, Meltas and Lascannons evaporating everything within range.

- Skilled Raptors can nevertheless topscore with situational awareness and adaptability.

- I haven't actually played with nearly enough skilled Raptors to compare weapon performance in this regard.

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THUNDER HAMMER / DAEMON MAUL (H1234, K123, C124) (LVL18)
It's hammer time! Charge to rapidly approach or stagger, cancel charge by aiming with pistol and immediately swing. Jump away before tough foes retaliate to do it again. Meganobs clad in black can only be struck once after a charge cancel stagger.


With Sure Strike you can F + F to perform AOE stunning Thunder Smashes. These outright kill or stun anything short of a Meganob or a Hammer / Maul Champion and if you manage to perform two in a row with those in the vicinity even they will be stunned. There are additional combos to stun them but they're unnecessary when you can simply Cancel Charge stagger > Strike > Jump away to repeat as needed. The third 'Super Heavy Swing' should be used sparingly due to its slow recovery time.

No Zeal means you'll be unable to hold your ground as easily or at all during Point Captures.

EFFICIENCY: 5/5 - The lack of Zeal is more than made up for through raw DPS with Killing Blow and utility with Sure Strike. Saves both time and ammo for your brothers while being easy to use.
STYLE: 4/5 - It is a Warhammer that hits like a truck so it'll always score points from that alone. The impacts are quite satisfying regardless of the simplistic nature of the weapon.

KILLING BLOW (S) (50 PVP KILLS)
While I do not know the exact stats this allows for dealing much more damage with basic swings. It's possible to one-hit-kill Devastator Marines and two-hit-kill Bolter/Chainsword Marines with it, not to mention slaying Orks much more easily with solid hits as opposed to glancing blows. Faster kills result in less damage sustained while swinging. Can be paired with Impenetrable for additional survivability or Sure Strike for a more versatile and 'tryhardy' approach.

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CHAINSWORD (H12, K123, C12 + H3 with Zeal & ALL ARENAS with Zeal Mastery)
Perkless it gets the job done on all but the most heavily armored of foes. With Zeal it can turn you into a real badass, with Host it can make you nigh-unstoppable.

Note that the 'Foot Stomp' has little to none Stunning Strength compared to the mighty Quick Stomp. Foot Stomps can be used on occasion for extra AOE damage but should otherwise be avoided.

Sword Combos can be extended or reset by swinging in the opposite direction. The combos can also be reset by firing with either Bolt or Plasma Pistols for more DPS, though the nature of these cancels are different.

- Bolt Pistol: Shooting cancels the current swing, but appears to be somewhat unreliable.
- Plasma Pistol: Shooting cancels the current combo followed by adding one extra first swing to the beginning of the next combo. In addition, it's possible to fire the gun while swinging for even more DPS. This can theoretically result in inadvertently dealing the killing blow with a pistol shot followed by automatically locking onto the next target within melee range.

I think the above in addition to being able to cancel Charges with Plasma Pistol should paint a clear picture that it's the superior choice overall. With pistol cancels it's possible to time stuns much more easily.


EFFICIENCY: 2/5 without Zeal in which case you're relegated to Disruption duty. Theoretical 5/5 with Zeal where you too can take your place among the ultimate Tanks of Exterminatus - provided you can do more than spam Quick Stomps all day.
STYLE: 5/5 - Chainsword go BRRRR... Literally. One of the most iconic weapons of 40k verse with an in-game potential to match its glory... unlike some other weapons I could name.

SWORDSMAN'S ZEAL (S) (50 PVP KILLS)

It allows a marine to gain back 30 health per sword attack that successfully strikes an opponent.

Game changing. Without this Sword / Axe Assaults will struggle to do much other than sniping Shoota Boyz and Squigs from above. With Zeal it's possible to charge headlong into dangerous situations and come out on top... with adequate skill and situational awareness.

The melee swings must be solid hits for the healing to occur as opposed to glancing blows.

Jump-Swings restore even more health back per hit, and it's even possible to hit multiple foes with it at once despite the somewhat unreliable hitbox of the attack. A single Squig can be killed with a Zeal Jump-Swing to kind of break even.

This perk is unlocked along with Power Swordsman's Zeal by getting 50 PVP kills with either weapon, but Zeal on Power Sword is does not restore health from Jump-Swings.

On a minor note, it's also possible to heal by performing Jump-Swings on the center of Points as well as fellow players.

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POWER AXE / CHAIN AXE (H12, K123, C12 + H3 with Zeal & ALL ARENAS with Zeal Mastery) (LVL 6)
Jack of all trades master of Disruption. Lowest single target DPS of all Assault weapons. Without Zeal this can be used as a poor man's Thunder Hammer with Sure Strike. With Zeal in addition to Sure Strike it can excel against packs with ANY level of armor through a combo skip granting the fastest consecutive AOE stuns in the game:
Quick Stomp with C + C + C + F + let go of movement keys + another F for an immediate Overhead Smash without a Backhand in between.

Axe Combos are reset by swinging in the opposite direction after the first basic swing. This can be an issue due to slowing down stun combos. Try to avoid turning around mid-swing after the first strike unless it is a Backhand F interrupt.



EFFICIENCY: 2/5 without Zeal in which case you're relegated to Disruption duty. 4/5 with Zeal; the extra stuns generally aren't worth the drop in single target DPS and healing rate even if you somehow wield a hard to use weapon like a god.
STYLE: 5/5 - One of the best weapons for flexing your skills. Can be about as effective as Chainsword, even exceeding it in certain situations. This doesn't mean you should grab it however, even I fail on occasion when I'm forced to solo-carry with it.

AXEMAN'S ZEAL (S) (50 PVP KILLS)

For each swing which connects with an enemy the Marine will regain 30 health, but the healing effect does not restore armor; it only replenishes health.

Grants the same amount of health as Sword despite Axe having slower swings, but still makes a big enough difference to be the best pick for the weapon along with Sure Strike. You'll have to rely on Jump-Swings to heal even though the hitbox is somewhat unreliable.

As with Swordsman's Zeal it's also possible to heal by performing Jump-Swings on the center of Points and teammates.

Enemies are divided into the following categories regarding Armor and Mass:

UNARMORED / LIGHT ARMOR: Vulnerable to Boltguns, can be deleted en masse with Plasma Cannon / Vengeance Launcher / Master-Crafted Frags (except Shoota Nobs who have enough health to tank some explosions)
MEDIUM ARMOR: Boltguns and AOE weapons are still effective.
HEAVY ARMOR: Boltguns and AOE weapons are generally ineffective without headshots or concentrated fire.

HOLLOW: Momentarily pushed aside by a moving player, capable of passing through each other. An entire group is capable of melee attacking a player simultaneously.
FEATHERWEIGHT: Momentarily pushed aside by a moving player, incapable of passing through each other. A group of them is not as aggressive as Hollow or Solid units in melee; some take turns to swing even when a player is within reach.
SOLID: Can be pushed with staggering attacks, blocks both friend and foe. An entire group is capable of melee attacking a player simultaneously.
SOLID-RANGED: Can be pushed with staggering attacks, blocks both friend and foe. A pack almost always takes turns to perform staggering melee attacks depending on which one is closest and available i.e not staggered or stunned themselves. Since even a single stagger can spell death, being group-staggered is even more dangerous.
NIGH-IMMOVABLE: Killa Kans. Blocks everything including other Kans. Multiple Kans can melee attack a player simultaneously. Can only be pushed back through damage twice into their smoking and burning states.

CHOPPA BOY (UNARMORED) (FEATHERWEIGHT)
THREAT RATING: LOW
Compared to Skarboyz below these lowest tier Orks have superior tracking in their melee swings capable of interrupting player regeneration. This can be slightly troublesome when trying to regenerate in a pinch or solo capture a point but is mostly negated by dodging.

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BOMB SQUIG (UNARMORED)
THREAT RATING: MEDIUM to VERY HIGH depending on amount.
A lot of the game revolves around memorizing Squig spawns. It's usually possible tank one or two at a time, and sometimes this is the only option when you can't possibly pop all of them from multiple directions.

The explosions cause stagger on players which can be resisted by Sprinting for a split second. They can sometimes be juked into exploding by dodging away at the last moment though this is unreliable due to their unpredictable nature.

It's not Nobs or Killa Kans that are the real killers of Chaos Bonus Wave but these little guys. Any kind of AOE weapon in addition to Frags makes short work of them.

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SKARBOY (MEDIUM ARMOR) (HOLLOW)
THREAT RATING: LOW
Clumsy, dumb, easy to avoid in spite of their high damage and health compared to Choppa Boyz. When I say 'easy to avoid' I mean its often possible to dodge them without the in-game dodge function through footwork alone, i.e brief sprints, backpedaling and sidesteps. Their charge and pounce is notably harder to avoid than their close range swinging mode; the latter can be negated by slowly walking backwards.

Nevertheless, they should not be underestimated. An entire pack is capable of striking players all at once unlike Choppa Boyz. This can severely wound a brother or kill him instantly.

NOTABLE THRESHOLDS:
5 Plasma Gun bodyshots
2 Lascannon bodyshots
1 Lascannon headshot
1 Lascannon bodyshot when stunned
1 Lascannon bodyshot + 2 Bolt Pistol bodyshots
1 Lascannon bodyshot + 1 Bolt Pistol headshot
1 Solid hit with Killing Blow
2 Stalker / Daemon Eye headshots
1 Stim-Boosted Sure Strike Thunder Smash (One-Hit-Kills an entire group of Skarboyz in a small radius)
4-5 Plasma Cannon shots
1 Plasma Cannon Charged Shot (One-Hit-Kills an entire group of Skarboyz in a small radius)

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SHIELDBOY / 'ARD BOY (HEAVY ARMOR) (SOLID)
THREAT RATING: MEDIUM
Troublesome without anti-armor weapons. Capable of flushing out the unprepared from cover. The stagger from their shield bashes can be resisted with Combat Stimulants, but their Heavy Choppa swings that are triggered by receiving melee damage can not be resisted in like manner.

A horde of them can corner a lone Devastator without Reactive Blast and shield bash him to death.

Their shields can be circumvented by shooting through the hole or flanking. Alternatively, they can be staggered with a Shoulder Charge followed by gunning them down, which can be performed faster by canceling the Charge animation.

NOTABLE THRESHOLDS:
1 Melta Gun shot at the side of the shield from front or directly at the Shieldboy from its flanks
2 Lascannon shots directly at the Shieldboy
1 Solid hit with Killing Blow

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SHOOTA BOY (UNARMORED) (HOLLOW)
THREAT RATING: HIGH
Ork glass cannons. Easily killed but can also easily kill brothers; therefore high priority targets. Their gun bashes have great tracking and their Stikkbomms function as area-denial tools, neither should be underestimated.

NOTABLE THRESHOLDS:
2 Plasma Gun bodyshot
1 Plasma Gun headshot
1 Plasma Gun bodyshot when stunned
2 Bolt Pistol bodyshots up close
3 Bolt Pistol bodyshots from far

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ROKKIT BOY (LIGHT ARMOR) (FEATHERWEIGHT)
THREAT RATING: MEDIUM
Rokkits are capable interrupting player regeneration even from behind cover. While not as threatening as Shoota Boyz, they too should be killed ASAP. Does not have melee attacks, passive up close.

NOTABLE THRESHOLDS:
2 Plasma Gun bodyshot
1 Plasma Gun headshot
3 Bolt Pistol bodyshots up close
4 Bolt Pistol bodyshots from far

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YELLOW BIG SHOOTA NOB / FLASH GIT (LIGHT ARMOR) (SOLID-RANGED)
THREAT RATING: VERY HIGH
The most dangerous Ork in any range except melee. Though relatively passive up close where they stop shooting, their hand to hand attacks should not be underestimated due to their staggering nature. Either break LOS to engage from behind cover or return fire with any hitscan weapon which usually makes them stop shooting to dodge.

NOTABLE THRESHOLDS:
1 Lascannon headshot + 1 bodyshot
2 Solid hits with Killing Blow

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ROKKIT NOB (HEAVY ARMOR) (SOLID-RANGED)
THREAT RATING: MEDIUM
Tanky, but inaccurate. Nevertheless, they still pose a significant threat due to interrupting player regeneration and the rokkits occasionally cause severe damage when all of them land.

NOTABLE THRESHOLDS:
4 Lascannon bodyshots
2 Lascannon headshots + 1 bodyshot
3 Solid hits with Killing Blow

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NOB (MEDIUM ARMOR) (SOLID)
THREAT RATING: MEDIUM
Their staggering basic attacks do more damage than those of Meganobs, but are easy to avoid especially when dodging is combined with Charge Cancels. Quite vulnerable to being staggered; a Tactical can easily stagger one to death with interrupt attacks or by charging into it over and over again. Dies easily to concentrated fire.

NOTABLE THRESHOLDS:
2 Lascannon headshots
2.5 Solid hits with Killing Blow

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MEGANOB / 'UGE CHOPPA NOB (HEAVY ARMOR) (SOLID)
THREAT RATING: HIGH
Can not be headshot. Capable of stunlocking players with their rapid staggering swings.
-Tacticals and to a lesser extent Devastators can escape by spamming Dodge.
- Sword Raptors can escape by swinging their sword and jumping away. Does not work when stunlocked by multiple Meganobs.
- Hammer and Axe Raptors can sometimes escape the first stunlocking hit by jumping away as soon as it lands. Once the stunlock begins, nothing can save them AFAIK other than their brothers or the Meganob pushing them just outside its own stunlock range with the staggering attacks.

They cause big trouble with their large size and staggering attacks, blocking bullets and preventing brothers from returning fire to shooters by tying them up in melee.

Their Overhead Smash is an instant kill on an unstimmed Tactical or Raptor at the center. This can sometimes result in cheesy deaths when a brother triggers their Overhead attack right before you charge / roll into them.

NOTABLE THRESHOLDS:
5 Lascannon shots
4 Melta shots
4 Solid hits with Killing Blow
3 Solid hits with Stim-Boosted Killing Blow (relevant when stunned, they don't allow themselves to be combo'd in this manner)

STUN THRESHOLDS:
Sword Quick Stomp (C + C + C + F) + 2 solid swings
Sure Strike Quick Stomp (C + C + C + F) + 1 solid swing
Sure Strike Sword Facetank Stun (F Backhand + eat a swing + F Backhand)
Axe Quick Stomp (C + C + C + F) + 1 F Backhand interrupt followed by a brief pause while holding a movement key to reset the combo earlier than normal.
All Assault Weapons with Sure Strike (C + C + F) Shoulder Bash to stagger them just enough for a quick combo reset thru holding down a movement key to reset combo followed by a F Backhand. When done right you will execute a Backhand as opposed to a Foot Stomp with almost non-existent Stun power (not to be confused with Quick Stomp).

The timing for combo resets through holding down a movement key can be easily practiced on a private lobby.

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WEIRDBOY (SOLID)
THREAT RATING: MEDIUM

His warp magic projectile, though rare, does high damage when it connects and should be avoided.

While it's customary to refrain from engaging this fella until the final phase of HAB 15 to avoid softlocking the game, he can be instakilled as soon as he appears at the start of Wave 15 with Killing Blow. This results in all remaining Orks dying later into the wave for quick progression after a certain amount is killed. You'll probably need someone else with a different loadout to actually beat the Arena regardless so don't be too eager to bring Thunder Hammer just because of this trick.

(MEDIUM ARMOR) (NIGH-IMMOVABLE)
THREAT RATING: EXTREME
Can be headshot from their pipes on top as well as the square section on their backs. All guns are somewhat effective against them despite their immense health pools.

Don't get caught in the open and waste lives that are needed during the Nob phases. Pay attention to their firing cycles; the windup noises are easily audible except when they get glitched after a sprinting attack and start shooting without warning.

The tracking of their guns is inconsistent across online matches. In some they'll barely manage to hit you when you're moving fast, in others they can be extremely unforgiving or even gun you down moments after taking cover.

These mechs will chase players around the middle open area of the map followed by passively walking back at the center to do it again. This can be exploited to land melee hits on them from behind or front, the latter preventing the completion of their scripted behavior for more melee hits. Passive Kans can even be used as a "wall" of sorts from other melee enemies. Occasionally two Kans will end up blocking each other in such a way as to form a perfect wall blocking a single lane of advance which can be taken advantage of to make the Bonus Wave easier.

Veterans can run circles around them to interrupt their shots by goading them into melee, but this is dangerous due to their staggering quick horizontal sweep in addition to the slower Overhead Smash which can be an instant kill on anything below an unstimmed Tactical. These attacks are sequential so you can predict which one is next.

As with Melee Nobs the overhead smash can result in an unforeseen death when other players trigger the attack before you walk into them; this also applies to the Charging / Sprinting Attack below.

Their sprinting attack can be an instant kill when it squarely lands; a common occurrence when a Veteran gets caught by one from another Killa Kan from behind or even the front from the second one being obscured by the one right next to them (the sprint attack has enough range to kill the player behind the 'Kan Wall'). Sometimes a Sprinting Kan can catch a brother even after a dodge by quickly performing a U Turn right back at the player to smash him all the same.

Their line of fire does not necessarily align with the direction their guns are pointed at as with other ranged enemies. As unlikely as it may be this means a Kan may be unable to hit you directly when you're behind cover, but another player could momentarily distract it long enough for it to turn its large torso causing its previously blocked shots to kill you.

In some cases their AI breaks causing them to chase players around the edges of the map. This can catch brothers off-guard when they open fire from odd angles they're not supposed to especially when it occurs in conjunction with collision glitches teleporting Kans around.

It's possible to reset their AI back to normal by luring them back onto the middle area.




They can sometimes be goaded into falling off stage though there isn't a reliable method AFAIK.

The featherweight Imperial troops can be easily thrown around by charging into them or Interrupt attacks, knocking them down. Even an F Backhand can sometimes be used to throw them off stage to their deaths - though this stylish move grants no score.

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GUARDSMEN (LIGHT ARMOR) (FEATHERWEIGHT)
THREAT RATING: LOW without grenade excessive grenade spam in the earlygame 1, MEDIUM with grenade spam in later Arenas
The Lasguns do almost no damage but can nevertheless be troublesome through interrupting regeneration. Their grenade spam can be deadly. Dies to a single Bolt Pistol headshot. Entire squads can be easily mopped up with AOE weapons.

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MELTA GUNNER (LIGHT ARMOR) (FEATHERWEIGHT)
THREAT RATING: MEDIUM
Chases players and breaks their regen over and over again with mini-melta guns that pack quite a punch.

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SWORD SERGEANT (LIGHT ARMOR) (FEATHERWEIGHT)
THREAT RATING: LOW
Refuses to die from a single Bolt Pistol headshot. Dies to the second one. Relentlessly attempts to tie players up in melee combat but is quite vulnerable to being staggered or thrown around by charging players. Even a cleanly missed Combat Knife swing is enough to stagger them.

Their attacks are actually easy to avoid, all it takes is minimal footwork with the occasional sprint between firing.

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SANCTIONED PSYKER (PSIONIC SHIELD) (SOLID)
THREAT RATING: MEDIUM
Can not be headshot. The electric beam packs quite a punch but is very easy to avoid; oftentimes sidestepping is all it takes due to their inability to track targets out of a tight cone. That said, even veterans can die to an unforeseen beam attack.

Their staggering melee swings do low damage but can be quite dangerous combined with Guardsmen or Space Marine backup. The stagger from this attack can be resisted with Combat Stimulants.

NOTABLE THRESHOLDS:
1 Clean Melta Gun shot
1 Lascannon shot + 1 Bolt Pistol shot or any other form of damage
1 Solid hit from Killing Blow
2 Solid hits from Axe; it's uniquely strong against Psyker Shields.

STAGGER TECH:
While immune to being stunned they can be staggered to death by Sword cancelling Raptors and fast-kicking Havoks from behind after being goaded into missing their beam attack. With Plasma Pistol the staggerlock can reliably be performed with C + F (Kick) + shoot once to reset combo + tap C repeatedly until 2 more sword swings (the first swing is performed twice for a short moment after shooting with Plasma Pistol) + Kick again, repeat until dead.

All Marines have regenerating Shields in addition to heavy armor. Be wary of wasting ammo on them; make sure you're in a position to break their shield and do health damage before engaging.

Ranged Marines are capable of sidestep dodging twice in opposite directions when engaged.

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BLOODLETTER (UNARMORED) (FEATHERWEIGHT)
THREAT RATING: LOW
Shooting them when they have a clear path to you or any other player results in them teleport-dodging multiple times. This behavior can be avoided by shooting them from cover.

Both Tacticals and Devastators can stagger them to death with Cancel Charge spam and Stomps with their main weapon out respectively. Assaults can easily stun&kill them en masse.

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CHAOS BOLTER MARINE (HEAVY ARMOR) (SOLID-RANGED)
THREAT RATING: HIGH
Bolter Marines uniquely chase players after taking health damage unlike other Ranged Marines. This behavior can be exploited to lure them into player defended areas where they can be killed to drop ammo at brothers' feet.

Bolter Marines tend to instantly throw Frags that are capable of severely wounding or instant killing players. The grenades are usually easy to avoid but can sometimes catch you in a bad position or off-guard. Be wary of standing too close to brothers peeking out of cover; I've had moments when I landed / dodged onto their grenades and died instantly.

Unlike player bolters theirs pack a punch and are capable of relentlessly interrupting regeneration.

Small groups are not particularly threatening on their own; a single one can be easily cut up with a Combat Knife.

Their melee attacks do little to no damage but can be quite dangerous solely due to the heavy staggers inflicted through them. A group will take turns staggering a player one after another which can be deadly especially if a Plasma Cannon Marine is involved.

Unlike Bolter Ultramarines, these ones can be easily stunned with a single heavy interrupt (C + C + F Shoulder Bash in addition to C + C + C + F Quick Stomp as Sword / Axe Assault) or a single Light interrupt with Sure Strike.

NOTABLE THRESHOLDS:
1 Lascannon shot to break shield + 1 Lascannon headshot + 1 Lascannon bodyshot
2 Solid hits with Killing Blow

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PLASMA CANNON HAVOK (HEAVY ARMOR) (SOLID-RANGED)
THREAT RATING: VERY HIGH at close range; MEDIUM otherwise.

Best dealt with using Lascannon / Melta / Killing Blow. Maintain a long enough distance to dodge their projectiles unless you're a Sword / Axe tryhard unafraid of wasting lives.

Although they refuse to shoot at point blank range, getting too close to them can result in being pushed back by a staggering Kick just enough for them to evaporate you.

Unlike Ultramarine Devastators these guys have a much shorter pause between each series of plasma blasts. This makes it harder for Sword / Axe Assaults so stun them even when they're alone, and approaching entire packs of them can be a death sentence.

Interestingly, they eventually run out of ammo after a few minutes of bombardment at which point they become almost completely harmless.

NOTABLE THRESHOLDS:
2 Lascannon shots
1 clean Melta Gun shot
1 Solid hit with Killing Blow

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CHAOS ICON CHAMPION (HEAVY ARMOR) (SOLID)
THREAT RATING: HIGH

Their attacks are more aggressive than those of Ultramarine Champions but they are otherwise slow enough to dodge and kite. Not a big problem on Hab Center with anti-armor weapons, but they can pose a serious threat during the final phase of Kalkys with almost nowhere to hide.

Charge canceling Tacticals and Assaults can stagger them to death, but this is risky due to their staggering & hard-hitting horizontal swings capable of connecting through lag even when they appear to be passive onscreen.

Bane of ammo economy for anyone using Vengeance or full-auto bolters.

Approach with extreme caution when using Sword and Axe, especially the former due to its relative lack of staggering attacks. Remember that Melee Marines must be both Stunned AND Staggered to be put into a properly stunned state or they'll smash you as soon as the Stun ends without the lengthy recovery animation.

Can be engaged much more comfortable with a Thunder Hammer combined with staggering Charges with which to start a combo of 2 or 3 swings.

STUN THRESHOLDS:
Sure Strike Quick Stomp (C + C + C + F) + 1 solid swing immediately or 2 solid swings
Sure Strike F Backhand + C + F Kick (Works with both Sword and Axe but Sword is more dangerous compared to latter due to lack of stagger on these interrupts on Champions)
Sure Strike Axe Rapid Backhand (F +

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TAINTED PSYKER (SOLID)
THREAT RATING: MEDIUM

Follows a set teleport path during KALKYS 21/BONUS WAVE, but mostly passive from what I can tell. When he does attack though, the beam is much more damaging in close range than those of Sanctioned Psykers. Just keep and eye out and burst him down when possible - there is only 1 of them per match.

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BOLTER ULTRAMARINE (HEAVY ARMOR) (SOLID-RANGED)
THREAT RATING: HIGH

Same as Chaos Bolter Marines with one key difference: they're harder to stun. Sure Strike Assaults can stun them with 2 Light Interrupts and those without the perk can still stun them with a single Quick Stomp albeit on a smaller radius.

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PLASMA CANNON DEVASTATOR (HEAVY ARMOR) (SOLID-RANGED)
THREAT RATING: HIGH at close range; MEDIUM otherwise

Same as Chaos Bolter Marines with one key difference: much bigger pause between each barrage, making them less dangerous to approach at close range.

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LASCANNON DEVASTATOR (HEAVY ARMOR) (SOLID-RANGED)
THREAT RATING: MEDIUM

Snipers. Low rate of fire, can easily be juked into missing their shots by peeking out of and back into cover. Capable of catching players off-guard from odd angles with the combined force of other units.

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CHAINSWORD VANGUARD (HEAVY ARMOR) (SOLID)
THREAT RATING: MEDIUM to EXTREME depending on loadout / skill.

Along with Killa Kans these are the bane of anyone new to the gamemode. They incessantly dodge roll when shot, take potshots with Bolt Pistols interrupting regeneration, run extremely fast upon noticing a clear path towards an enemy and don't stop running until they either collide into an obstacle or catch someone at which point their attacks are rapid, staggering and hard-hitting.

One of their staggering chainsword swings has an extremely long cleave radius such that it can hit a player and kill the other one behind him.

Now these, THESE are Space Marines. Not their slow moving brothers on both sides.

The threat they pose is largely negated by the existence of staggering Melta Guns. Otherwise they are designed to be extra vulnerable to Stuns such that a mere Backhand from a Tactical or 2-3 staggering Charge Cancels in quick succession is enough to stun them. As with Hammer / Maul Marines they must be both Stunned AND Staggered to properly go into a Stunned state; otherwise they'll still be able to move without attacking and start swinging as soon as the stunned state ends without a recovery animation.

A key trick to shooting them is to hug walls while peeking out of cover as much as possible. This makes it less likely for their melee AI to get "Sprint Locked-On" to players, giving them more time to take potshots at the Vanguards from distance. This also applies to any Ork with a charge attack.

NOTABLE THRESHOLDS:
1 Lascannon shot to break shield + 1 Lascannon headshot + 1 Lascannon bodyshot
2 Solid hits with Killing Blow

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IRON HALO CHAMPION (HEAVY ARMOR) (SOLID)
THREAT RATING: HIGH

Same as Chaos Icon Champions but their attacks do less damage and they appear to be less aggressive overall. A lot of them can be present at once during CHAOS 20 which can be a serious problem when they push players out of cover.

(Artwork from https://x.com/RightSideD0wn)

POINT CAPTURE TIME:
SOLO: 2 minutes
2 PLAYERS: 1 minute
3 PLAYERS: 50 seconds (max)

MELEE AS TACTICAL AND DEVASTATOR:
Avoid unless trying to save ammo during shortages. Not so much because it's dangerous but because it's inefficient when you have guns. Kill things faster to get drops faster. In rare cases you may want to lure enemies into certain places to cause drops in defensible areas or save them for Point Captures.

Tactical Knife is largely irrelevant. Charge Cancels are generally superior against both fodder (AOE damage) and elite units (staggerlocking them).

GUARDING YOUR POISE, FOOTWORK AND LAG COMPENSATION:
A good rule of thumb when playing online is to treat enemies as if they're ever-so-slightly ahead in time compared to you.

Occasionally the animations of an enemy will not match up with what they are in fact doing i.e a Meganob will be moving towards you at high speed while its body appears to be still. The rapid acceleration is a tell it's charging.

Various staggers on players from Squigs, grenades and melee attacks can be resisted by briefly Sprinting as any class. Staggers from heavier Nob attacks can be resisted by dodging as a Tactical or a Devastator. A Lascannon Dev can shoot a Meganob dead in point blank range by timing his Dodges to resist the Meganob's staggerlocking even if its attacks connect and deal damage. Heavy staggers from Chainsword Vanguards can not be resisted by dodging.

Guarding one's Poise is one of the subtle skills that separates an Ancient from veterans. Being staggered will tend to make a situation go from bad to worse in short order thru the cost of both DPS and life saving moments.

There are three stages to dodging.


CASUAL: A battle brother becomes acquainted with the overpowered nature of the Dodge function and spams it. Since this isn't Dark Souls with a stamina bar a Space Marine can dodge indefinitely.

Almost any non-hitscan or non-explosive attack is thrown off with the in-game Dodge function available to Tacticals and Devastators. Assaults are instead granted a horizontal 'hop' which doesn't require Fuel but isn't as useful and it is possible to inadvertently hop away from enemies to your death. This makes brief and more controllable Fueled jumps more useful for dodging by holding down the Jump key as opposed to tapping it for a hop.

Tacticals and Devastators are capable of solo capturing various Points with relative ease compared to an Assault who needs Zeal, melee enemies to leech health from and well-timed Stuns to capture points by himself barring glitch spots / godspots on top of the points.


VETERAN: Dodging too often is counter-productive except when solo capturing points with only fodder on the map to prevent the opening up of spawn slots for more dangerous enemies (Squigs, shooters and Nobs, though this doesn't exactly apply on the lategame of Chaos Unleashed).

Excessive dodging can make various Gauntlet Stages harder due to various threats which can't be avoided. Clearing some breathing room is imperative on certain stages, most notably on the final stages of both Kalkys (horde of Marines) and Chaos Unleashed (ditto in addition to the horde of Killa Kans, Nobs and Squigs later on).


ANCIENT: Ideally even Veterans should eventually realize dodging thru footwork alone to the extent possible is more efficient i.e briefly tapping sprint, backpedaling or sidesteps. This has the benefits of additional DPS in addition to saving the Dodge for when it's truly needed.

The staggering lunges of Choppas and Skarboyz can be avoided with sideteps. The rampage of Skarboyz is negated by slowly walking backwards. The combos of Sword Sergeants are thrown off by walking past them. Even Chainsword Vanguards can be avoided by timing the Dodge just after they commit to an attack in a single direction.

Footwork combined with quick swaps between weapons, most notably Plasma Gun and Melta Gun will allow you to play more effectively. Double Dodges as a Devastator and Charge Canceling into a Roll as a Tactical will make turn you into an extremely slippery target i.e you'll be able to Charge into a group of Meganobs to stagger them, then cancel the Charge to roll away as the Meganobs krump each other to death while trying to hit you.


ASSAULT / RAPTOR: See Assault Doctrine.


Example scenario:

A pack of Rokkit Nobs warp into the area. A casual will dodge after getting hit, a Veteran will dodge before getting hit and an Ancient will momentarily step forwards to juke Rokkit Nobs into melee instead of shooting followed by walking or briefly sprinting backwards to avoid the staggering punches, only Rolling to reduce the size of his hitbox in case there is enough space for one of them to open fire anyways.


The more you play, the more you'll get a "feel" for the lag-compensated hitboxes of various attacks and adjust your footwork accordingly.

Learning how to counter NPC behaviors isn't hard, all it takes is the knowledge that it can be done. Even veterans are unable to dodge to this extent not for a lack of ability but for a lack of trying.

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Low skill floor. Requisites for high performance:

Dexterity: Very high
Tracking: Extreme
Flicking: Very high
Situational Awareness: Very high

- Master the animation cancels for superior agility.

- Tactical weapons are the most tracking intensive. Maximizing DPS is more difficult than Devastator due to the twitchy nature of enemies and inconsistent reactions to being shot. Aim true and faster, seamlessly move from one target to next without wasting time between shots.

- High rate of fire combined with worse ammo economy compared to Devastators makes trigger discipline more important.

- Scores the most kills thru roaming with the highest running speed to gather ammo for Melta Gun / Plasma Gun / Vengeance Launcher.

- Practice Vengeance Launcher at various distances.

- When using Vengeance Launcher it is possible to score more kills by pre-empting one spawn point while running to another one.

- Charge Cancels followed by Rolls allow the class to save ammo while avoiding retaliation. Charge Canceling over and over again without Rolls is more dangerous but grants superior DPS on fodder / Shieldboyz with no ammo cost.

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Medium-Low skill floor. Requisites for high performance:

Dexterity: High; Extreme when combining Rapidcannon with quick swaps to Bolt Pistol.
Tracking: High
Flicking: Extreme
Situational Awareness: High

- Devastator weapons are easy to aim in general but Lascannon can be flicking intensive with Lascannon headshots, pierces and ricochets i.e dodge out of cover > fire at shooters > dodge back into cover > fire at melee fodder.

- Make use of vantage points when possible. The class lends itself well to a campy playstyle with its high ammo capacity, capable of rapidly eradicating entire hordes with Plasma Cannon or Elites with Lascannon to quickly fill up the map with ammo and equipment drops.

- Learn and know the glitch spots/godspots so you can decide if you want to resort to using them in a pinch or to make Heavy Bolter work in a team of neophytes.

- The slowest class, especially without animation cancels. Proper positioning is critical between ammo gathering.

- Practice Rapidcannon or at least Charged Shot trajectories for better performance against fodder.

Medium skill floor in the lategame. Requisites for high performance:
Dexterity: High
Tracking: N/A
Flicking: Very high for blowing up Squigs before landing; Godlike for scoring headshots in flight.
Situational Awareness: Extreme

- Assault and Axe AOE interrupts have a tendency to "miss" and do nothing without Host advantage, but in my experience this problem can be mitigated by standing still until the stuns register.

- Though unable to Dodge in the same manner as the other classes they are still capable of Charging away from attacks as an alternative. This is more difficult to control due to occasionally locking onto a nearby enemy and charging in directions you didn't intend, but is still useful overall due to the staggering nature of Charges.

- Simply swinging with an Assault weapon will often push you forward and result in missed attacks from enemies. Abruptly swinging in other directions can allow for even more damage avoidance.

- The attention economy of the class can be quite demanding. With more experience however various combat situations become increasingly 'compressed' requiring less concentration to maneuver.

- The direct interrupts (Backhand, Kick and Shoulder Bash) should generally be solid hits as opposed to glancing blows to count as stunning attacks. Kick and Shoulder Bash however reliably stun Chainsword Vanguards even as glancing blows.

- Pay attention to how various attacks and interrupts affect different types of enemies i.e which ones cause stagger and which ones do not.

- Learn how to cancel combos & time stuns properly and you'll be able to control entire groups of Chainsword Vanguards. It's possible to counteract Meganob charges by timing your staggering Quick Stomps just right, breaking its charge and staggering it long enough for a stun with another sword swing with Sure Strike or two without it. You can otherwise stun them by timing a staggering interrupt around a corner followed by more attacks and interrupts.

- Amusingly, Axe combos can be reset by shooting (or attempting to shoot) after any interrupt except for Overhead Smash. This can allow for Backhand slapping Meganobs & Hammer / Maul Champions to death in addition to easily stunning other Marines and Nobs (F Backhand + shoot to reset combo + F Backhand).

- Practice the combos and animation cancels for stylish plays.

This non-conclusive list should cover various glitch spots. More places like these can be found by paying attention to similar patterns across the terrain i.e edges of drops, certain walls, irregular geometry such as rubble to use as navmesh breaking spots or places to trigger collision glitches.

HAB 4: The multi-story building to the left of the player spawn can be accessed by Tacticals thru ledge jumping onto a piece of rubble followed by the building itself. The first jump is difficult with high FPS but can be made easier by swapping weapons to Roll midair after the ledge jump. Mostly irrelevant except during Wave19 with its three capture points.

KALKYS 3: Navmesh breaking spot next to the drop. Useful for Heavy Bolter.

KALKYS 4: A player standing on top of this pipe just so can result in melee Orks gathering under him. Useful for making Point Captures easier.
This particular spike can be climbed on followed by dodging onto the other side of the bridge across the railing.
CHAOS 2: The abundance of navmesh breaking spots make this arena much more manageable. Stand on irregular bits and pieces of terrain such as the edges of ramps or stairs to focus down more dangerous enemies during Wave10.
CHAOS 3: Hugging these walls shown below can result in partial invisibility to melee enemies as well as ranges ones within melee range. Useful against Chainsword Vanguards except when everyone else dies at which point they'll suddenly be able to 'see' you.
The navmesh breaking spot shown below at the far corner of the map from player spawn can be used as a vantage point. Standing on it just so by touching the edge without falling down also results in Grenades cleanly missing the player on top. The staggers from any Grenades that don't miss can be resisted by timing dodges against the floor with the explosions.










It's possible to perform a diagonal Ledge Jump (or rather, Ramp Jump) onto this railing to safely drop onto the pipe behind it. Can theoretically be useful as Last Man Standing as long as you don't run out of ammo. Try to kill things next to the railing to be able to pick up the drops. If successful, the game will automatically teleport you into the staging area for the next Arena with no need to kill yourself in between.

CHAOS 4: Tacticals and Havoks can get on top of these pipes with a Ledge Jump > Midair Weapon Swap Roll or a Double Dodge followed by running against the wall to sometimes lure nearby melee enemies to themselves without them being able to hit the glitching player. Beware, it's possible to get stuck here if you fall into the hole between the vertical and the horizontal pipes.











It's possible to easily drop onto these pipes shown to the right during Wave18 especially. Can be a good Heavy Bolter bracing spot after the initial Shoota Boy spawns around it are taken care of.

This piece of scrap can be destroyed to take its place as a navmesh breaking spot. Useful during Bonus Wave 21 against Nobs except when a shooting Kan has a Line of Sight on the spot or when other players lure too many Squigs and Nobs onto it.

Another navmesh breaking spot partially exposed to Kans. Useful to provide support from far away, but a neophyte blithely luring Squigs onto it can result in the glitching player falling down where another glitch spot awaits. This other semi-invisibility spot is also somewhat exposed to Kan fire even though it looks like it should be safe from such, so be careful when you hear one revving up.










It's possible for a Raptor to drop onto this Melee AI Luring spot just so to gather Shieldboyz under him for slaughter with F + F AOE smashes during the Bonus Wave. Blow up the Squigs with your pistol and watch out for shooting Kans, jump onto the nearby pipes without falling into death pits to regen as needed.
Though these Silos shown below are exposed to Shoota Nob fire it's possible to stand on the rear edges without falling all the way down to use the Silos as partial cover. Keep in mind Shoota Nobs who spawn under you or the ones who occasionally walk all the way from the far side can still get an angle on you, forcing you to shoot them or reposition. The back edge of the silo furthest away from the player spawn from here can also be used as a Melee AI Luring spot.
This horizontal pipe up above on the middle area can also be used as a luring spot, albeit a rather risky one. It's possible to walk diagonally against the pipe to stay on top of it while also using it as cover from shooting Kans ahead. When the Kans get under you to gain Line of Sight a Raptor can then stand directly on top of the pipe to avoid getting shredded by the shooting Kan below. When used properly Nobs, Squigs and Kans will gather under the pipe as easy targets for the ground team.
The steep slopes around and under the player spawn catwalks can be dropped onto as a Raptor. Walking diagonally on these stop the Raptor from sliding down to his death. However, standing too close to the catwalk above can result in being staggered into the death pit below by Melee Nobs and Squigs above (as Last Man Standing they'll 'sense' you being right under them and attack through the floor). This can be prevented by standing still on the slope until you slowly slide down just enough to put yourself out of the range of these threats without dying. If you hear the attack sound of a Nob or a Squig above you, instantly Jump to prevent the stagger and reposition.
A diagonal Ledge / Ramp Jump followed by a Charge Cancel can be performed onto the railing shown below just so, preferably without falling behind the railing which makes recovery awkward. It is then possible to carefully walk onto this area normally inaccessible to ground classes from where to provide fire support. However, not sharing the load of aggro can be a double-edged sword for your squad, and Squigs can converge next to you as Last Man Standing for a quick death.

A careful diagonal Ramp Jump > Charge Cancel is required to get onto the railing without falling into the death pit. Make sure Killa Kans do not have LOS on you when you're making the jump, lure them away beforehand if needed. Walking with Bolt Pistol on the pipe should be avoided to prevent risky collision glitches with high FPS in which case two-handed weapons aren't completely safe either. The almost completely closed-in area next to the pipe can be dropped into for safety, Squigs and gun-toting enemies above notwithstanding.


As Last Man Standing it's possible to lure Melee Nobs onto this area behind the railing where they'll krump each other to death while trying to hit the player below in addition to dropping ammo on top. The drops can be picked up with Ledge Jumps from the pipe and picking them up while rolling or tapping Sprint while switching weapons midair to extend airtime without leaving the glitch spot entirely.











It's possible to jump pack onto the pipe by performing an angled Ledge Jump with a two-handed weapon; the direct Bolt Pistol Ledge Jumps are much riskier here.

Keep in mind Kans and ranged enemies can still get an angle on you on the pipe in which case you may be forced to walk all the way to its edges without falling down and even that may not be enough for survival. Moreover, a Killa Kan's AI may become glitched causing it to become aggressive around the edges of the map and it may also simultaneously get teleported on top of you due to a collision glitch. If this happens you may only have a very short time to jump back onto the pipe if at all.


Razor's Edge strategy for the Bonus Wave:
1) Ramp Jump > Charge Cancel onto the railing from the top of the stairs before the Nob & Squig waves begin.

2) Shoot the Kans as needed to start the next phase and walk to the lowest point of the pipe without touching the death pit for protection against Squigs. You may die here if a Kan gets an angle on you anyways.

3) Blow up Squigs with a Melta shot onto the railing above you or a Plasma Gun Charged Shot onto the vertical pipe ahead. If there are too many Squigs above you may still die; pop a Stim to reduce the risk or try Sprint > Rolling onto the upper parts of the pipe as a last resort after shooting any Shoota or Rokkit Nobs within reach above.

4) Lure Melee Nobs onto the railing where they'll kill each other, saving you ammo. Try to score killing blows to earn lives when they're weakened.
5) A player may spawn at this point to take the heat off you. If not, you have the following options:

- Ledge Jump away from the pipe into a roll further away from Kans followed by Sprinting into the area where Melee Nobs dropped ammo. Make sure to juke the staggering Killa Kan swings before making the jump or you may get squashed. This may or may not work so well if there are one too many Kans blocking the route, in which case you may try blowing up one of them or otherwise trying to lure them a bit further to create an opening by walking onto the lowest point of the pipe.

- Ledge Jump from the pipe onto the railing used as an access point. This is riskier because a nearby Kan could stagger you to your death while performing the jump.

Besides of solo runs these can be used for additional "spice" by the few who can handle such.

RESPAWN TIME: Can be increased to 25 or 30 seconds.
MAX ARMOR: Can be reduced to half or a quarter.
ARMOR REGEN: Can be disabled. The Armor settings are in fact "Shield" settings and interestingly affect both players and enemy NPC Marines.
FRIENDLY FIRE: Playing with this on can easily result in brothers inadvertently one-hit-killing each other with Daemon Mauls or Lascannons. Avoiding firing lines and refraining from AOE attacks around teammates become vital.
ALLOW PERKS: No perks can make the game much more difficult especially for Raptors with neither Zeal nor Sure Strike.
Player Decorators: Disables player name tags as well as ammo / equipment pickup highlights; you'll neither be able to easily spot them from distance nor be able to tell if one is an ammo or equipment pickup until you grab it. The lack of player name tags can make Friendly Fire games even harder.

Why solo?

In addition to the thrill of the challenge solo runs are good for memorizing the various spawns and lag-free practice in general. My greatest spikes in skill were achieved not through months of casual play but weeks of intermittent solo efforts.

I'll try to avoid step-by-step walkthroughs in favor of general tips and videos.

The problem with solo games is that Lives stop being a factor; one fatal mistake and it's over. This can be a grating issue when dying over and over again during or after more demanding phases.

AFAIK all Classic maps are easily solo-able except for HAB4 due to the existence of three Capture Points on H19 without enough time for all of them so an additional player can be considered solely for capturing the points on that particular phase.

Most maps actually have a very low skill floor when it comes to soloing; all it takes is understanding which perks to use and what to do. As such, they're more of a challenge in terms of problem solving than skill and dexterity.

However, soloing maps glitchless / perkless / without armor regeneration / with suboptimal weapons can be more than mildly difficult.

The first Arenas of each series of maps can be almost effortlessly solo'd with Sword Zeal & Impenetrable. Ranged classes with proper builds (i.e Plasma Cannon / Vengeance) + defensive perks can be more troublesome until Shoota spawns are memorized.

Most spawns in the game play out basically the same so it's possible to spawnkill shoota boyz or at least not be caught off guard by them.

Various control points can be made much easier by not killing melee enemies as much as possible which prevents the more dangerous shooters from spawning. I've solo captured many points by simply killing shooters only, causing the entire map to become full of harmless melee enemies to occupy NPC spawn slots which prevents new shooters from warping into the area.

When there are melee enemies bullrushing you, messing up your aim, blocking your shots, preventing you from killing off the shooters taking potshots at you it's easy to get discombobulated. In these cases it's crucial to avoid getting distracted & suppressed by the melee horde and try to get accurate shots on shooters in between moving and dodging.

Tanking melee attacks and explosions screws with the player model and crosshair, but there are small windows for accurate shots after dodges and rolls. Sprinting for a split second also makes it possible to interrupt the stumble animation from tanking various melee attacks / explosions for faster recovery.

CHAOS 2 can be troublesome as a Zeal Raptor without glitching the control point. I don't know of any ranged build capable of getting thru the WAVE10 point cap without glitching it thru the godspot on the edge of the point.

I'm not aware of any strategy for getting thru the WAVE14 pointcap on this one. Larraman Stims may theoretically make it possible thru RNG equipment drops but I've had no such luck after many attempts.

Another idea I have not fully explored is spawn quota manipulation by only killing shootas and rokkits until the whole map gets full of only melee enemies before the time runs out to capture the point during overtime. Unfortunately the timing appears to be extremely tight and I'm not sure if the strat would have worked regardless; there seems to be almost always a single shooter or two and the melee Nobs tend to krump the lesser orks while trying to hit the player causing more dangerous enemies to spawn even if the occasional Nob gets stuck on odd spots of the map.

Nevertheless the map serves as excellent high intensity practice up to the bitter end.

Veterans may or may not be able survive up to the WAVE 19 Double Point Capture wave. A few pointers:
WAVE16: Kill Psykers as soon as possible to prevent them from boxing you in behind cover with Guardsmen rushing from all available directions. Avoid places where Guardsmen spawn or you may die instantly from Melta Gunners warping in around you.
WAVE17: Technically all that is required is killing the Melta Gunners followed by running circles on the point while dodging melee attacks and grenades. Fighting before and during the capture is much more demanding due to at least two lanes of approach to cover combined with the eventual Chainsword Marine spawns after a certain amount of kills.
WAVE18: Any Ork with a gun are priority targets to avoid being boxed in - they'll spawn in groups after crossing certain thresholds in kills. Watch out for the Squig horde combined with two Meganobs late into the wave.
WAVE20: The difficulty can be greatly lowered thru not killing the few Guardsmen who appear at the start of the wave. They take up spawn slots by being alive, lowering the maximum number of Marines on the map.

A hard skill check for each class. I'm aware of one loadout per class capable of getting thru but it's probably doable with some others.

It's imperative to capture the more exposed point B first when it's still possible to momentarily stray out of the point to survive as needed. The point A on the lower floor does not have as many spawns around it and the second group of Shootas will take awhile to get in position to open fire.

Shootas spawn with around 2:30 minutes left before overtime. They can kill you easily if you get caught off-guard while fighting the melee horde.

The second group of shootas spawn with around 17 seconds left before overtime. You'd better be on point A after having captured B so they won't start gunning you down as soon as they warp in. It's especially difficult to survive this second group combined with the melee horde during Overtime when leaving the points results in an instant loss.

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Lascannon + Frags/Blinds + Artificer Armor + Ammo Stores
Kill everything ASAP, simple as. Flick headshots to OHK Skarboyz, quick swap to Bolt Pistol for Squigs without interrupting Lascannon reload cycles. Throw Frags to blow other Squigs in addition to staggering Meganobs and Shieldboyz. Don't get too comfortable between spawns; it's easy to be suddenly overwhelmed.

For the Bonus Wave this is basically the brute force method combined with the chokepoint under the stairs. Frags are more for the Meganob phases where two consecutive non-MasterCrafted Blinds are needed to stun Meganobs; a single Frag can slow them down for quite awhile in addition to blowing up hidden Squigs behind them. Artificer Armor may be relied on to tank a few Squigs at first before retreating into the chokepoint where it should quickly regenerate back to full.

The problem with relying on Frags is the Shoota Nobs who'll probably spawn in front of the chokepoint and instantly start gunning you down. You may be able to stagger&kill them fast enough with Lascannon, but even more can spawn in short order which is difficult to survive without Blinds.

The final two phases with Squigs, Meganobs and Rokkit Nobs appear to be more difficult with Blinds as opposed to Frags. I came close to almost winning with Blinds multiple times but but my victory with the class was with a lucky Frag attempt without Shoota Nobs in front of me in the preceding phase.

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Plasma Gun + Melta Gun + Stims + Fast Melta Charge
Capable of causing heavy staggers on Shieldboyz in addition to light staggers on Meganobs with Charge Cancels to aid in avoidance of damage for regeneration.

More demanding than Lascannon in terms of skill and attention economy / situational awareness, but I can't imagine surviving the Bonus Wave without serious luck or esoteric trickery (i.e ledge jumping onto dangerous pipes or hoping two Kans form a wall to block a single lane of advance during Nob + Squig phases).

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Chainsword + Plasma Pistol + Stims + Zeal + Sure Strike
In my experience this is frontloading the bulk of the difficulty to Wave19 which is nigh-impossible without almost flawless timing/execution of stun combos as well as proper positioning to prevent Meganob charges from being cut short by them stumbling into certain obstacles in the map's geometry.

As a general rule, the sooner Meganobs are killed the better; otherwise more than a single one may attack at the same time along with everything else which is basically a death sentence when trying to capture both points.

Survival during the Bonus Wave Shoota Nob phase can be difficult without proper planning and maneuvering across the dangerous edges and slopes of the map.