Horde Mode is back, baby! And better than ever. Personally, this is the online game mode that’s the most fun for us to play because it pits you and your friends against everything (literally) that Gears of War 4 has to offer: COG enemies, Swarm enemies, and of coures mini-bosses.
The way that Horde 3.0 works is that you start with Wave 1, and the enemies become more numerous and tougher as you progress through Wave 10. Once you reach Wave 10, it’s a mini-boss round and in addition to the multiple baddies, you have a boss to worry about. Defeat that boss and you go advance to Wave 11, which is just like “Wave 1” but with tougher enemies. Rinse and repeat all the way to Wave 50, if you can make it that far.
Obviously the boss waves are the hardest to get past, so we’ve thrown together a lot of good tips and tricks to help you out with Horde 3.0.
Our friend TheRazoredEdge has already uploaded a helpful video on the Boss Waves in Horde 3.0, so make sure to watch his video if you need some visuals to help you figure out how to defeat them. The dude knows his Gears, for sure, so go ahead and check out his channel and follow him on Twitter. He was a big help to us for putting together this guide.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyMb3Bv8vCE
General Horde 3.0 Tips + Tricks
• Communication is of the utmost importance. For everything in the game. Let people know when you’re down, or that you’re coming to help them when they’re downed. Let people know when you’re coming to help them.
• If your teammate dies, collect their COG tag and revive them for free (the first time) at the Fabricator. After the first time, you start to get charged points.
• If you have an Engineer, let those guys do all the buying. They can buy stuff for the low-low, meaning you get to save extra power for the later rounds. If you need power and have a scout, kill every enemy except for one and let the scout pick up all the power. They get 2x the power.
• Quick kills via the new Close Quarters Combat system (X-grab + Y-to-finish) are a godsend, just make sure that you’re not nearby another drone.
• Use the Power Weapons that are dropped by the big baddies and save the good ones in the weapons locker (which is a sneaky good thing to build early on).
Kestrel
Aim for the Kestrel engines
Weapons: Dual laser-guided missile launchers
The Kestrel is a powerful COG attack helicopter equipped with laser-guided rockets. Because it’s weapons are laser-guided, it has to choose one player to pick on before moving on. If you’re currently being targeted, get away from any/all turrets + defenses because the Kestrel will 100% destroy those. It’s best to just stay hidden until it moves on.
If you’re not being targeted by the Kestrel SHOOT THE ENGINES. The fact that they’re glowing should be a sign to you. The engines are the weak point of the Kestrel, so if you can get them quickly you should be in good shape.
Using the manned turret from a distance is a great idea here.
Snatcher
Weapons: Pincers, Spiky Tail Launcher
The Snatcher is a real pain in the butt, but is definitely a better alternative than some of the others. On the downside, it’s faster than the Carrier or the Swarmak, but the plus is that its weak points are exposed almost all the time.
• STAY AWAY from the Snatcher. Not only will it kill you, it will also gobble you up and take you out of the fight.
• The tail attack isn’t all that tough, just stay hidden behind a wall.
• When it rears up on its hind legs, light that sucker’s belly up with everything you have.
Carrier
Weapons: Earth Shattering Pound, Acid Spray, Homing Gross Exploding Nemacyst-like Creatures
The Carrier is one of the more difficult mini-bosses in Horde. Sure they move slow and expose a relatively large weak point, but they are extremely well-armored and the little things they spray out of their chest are pretty good at finding and hurting you.
• Stay away from the Carrier. Not only does it have the ability to shoot out its acid (which stays on the ground for a little while) directly, it can pound the earth and hurt you. Mid-range is the best place to be for this guy.
• If the Carrier is coming for you, wait until the last second before the homing spit things come for you. Then roll out of the way to safety. Simply ducking behind a wall won’t be enough.
• If the Carrier is going for your teammate, light that sucker up once it opens its chest.
Swarmak
Weapons: Two Turrents, Missile Launchers
The single most important thing you can do when fighting a Swarmak is to keep your fingers crossed that you don’t get a Swarmak. These things are tough as nails. The dual-wielding chain guns on their stupid hands seem to never stop firing, and if you get downed, you better believe that the Swarmak will walk right up to you and finish you off.
• We found that trying to take out the Swarmak earlier is better. Obviously you’re going to need to keep the drones, etc. off your back but trying to run around killing Scions seems to be impossible when there’s a 40-foot-tall monster with an artillery cannon on his head.
• Aim for the five glowing weak points on the Swarmak (head, groin, right leg, left leg, back/tail). On Level 10 this isn’t as crucial, but once you start getting higher and higher you won’t have time to waste your bullets or ammo. Explosives are a must. Once the weak points have been destroyed, they extinguish.
• As always, try to deal as much damage as you can from afar using the manned turret.
