Warhammer 40k Darktide throws you and your squad into the wretched hive city of Tertium on a desperate mission to keep the forces of Chaos at bay. But Tertium‘s streets and tunnels are crawling with all manner of horrors – from cultists and mutants to towering Ogryn brutes.
And then there are the elite monsters known as "monstrosities" – epic boss-level threats on a scale all their own. Defeating these lumbering behemoths takes every ounce of skill, coordination and firepower your ragtag Inquisitorial retinue can muster.
In this guide, we‘ll cover everything you need to know about the monstrosities in Warhammer 40k Darktide: where to find them, how to identify them, and most importantly…how to put them down for good.
Overview: The Monstrosities of Tertium
Four especially dreadful creatures qualify for "monstrosity" status in Darktide‘s grim setting:
- Beasts of Nurgle – Massive, slug-like daemons that spread disease and attempt to swallow enemies whole.
- Plague Ogryn – Hulking, heavily mutated Ogryn brutes single-minded in their desire to crush life.
- Daemonhosts – Mortals fused with hideous Warp entities via dark rituals. Extremely lethal.
- Scab Captains – Heavily armored traitor nobles turned to the service of the Plague God.
These aren‘t common foes – even in the endless battleground of Tertium, monstrosities stand out as epic-level encounters. But when one does rear its grotesque head, you‘ll need to be prepared for the fight of your life.
Monstrosities share the following attributes:
- Tons of health – we‘re talking over 10,000 HP even on lower difficulties.
- Deadly abilities – spreads diseases, spits poison, emits Hellish auras…these things have it all.
- Difficult to stagger – many attacks simply bounce off or barely phase them.
- Threat levels don‘t apply – monstrosities ignore the current mission‘s Threat Level, spawning with maxed stats.
Simply put, these are NOT enemies you want to be facing solo or haphazardly. Having a coordinated squad with specialized builds is a must.
So with all that in mind, let‘s jump into tips for locating these epic foes and sending them screaming back to the Warp!
Where To Find Monstrosities
Monstrosities don‘t have set spawn locations or appear on specific map types. Rather, they have a small random chance to replace enemy spawns on ANY mission.
However, that chance goes up substantially on higher Threat Level missions. Here are the rough odds:
- Sedition (1-3): Nearly 0%
- Uprising (4-7): ~5%
- Malice (8-10): ~10%
- Heresy (11-13): ~25%
- Damnation (14-15): ~50%!
So if you‘re hunting monstrosities for rewards, quests or glory, stick to Heresy and Damnation jobs. You‘re nearly guaranteed to run into these lumbering horrors every other mission or so.
Just hope you‘re prepared…because we‘re jumping straight into combat tips next!
Fighting Monstrosities: General Tips
Before going over tactics against specific monsters, here are some core tips to beating back ANY monstrosity:
- Fight together – Soloing these beasts, even with a perfect build, takes forever. You need focused fire. Communicate and combine abilities.
- Watch their patterns – Monstrosities telegraph most major attacks. Study their moves and time dodges perfectly. One bad hit can mean a knockdown or heavier damage.
- Manage distance – Getting point-blank to a monstrosity seems risky, but it stops some deadlier ranged attacks. Just dodge away when they rear up for huge strikes.
- Focus weak points – Every monstrosity has glowing weak points to prioritize, though they take reduced damage most of the time. Coordinate to hit them with big attacks after the monster uses certain abilities.
- Heal the team – Bring a Zealot or two to keep health topped off, since even grazing hits from these baddies hurts.
- Ult when it counts – Save your squad‘s Ultimate abilities for executing a monstrosity once its health drops below 20% or so. Burn it down before things get dicier!
And with those core tactics covered, let‘s get specific…starting with the Beasts!
Fighting Beasts of Nurgle
These massive, slug-like daemons are one of the toughest and potentially run-ending monstrosities in Darktide. Their lethal combination of contagious attacks, high damage strikes and the ability to instantly kill heroes makes Beasts priority targets.
Here are tips to put down these squelching fiends:
- Dodge the puke – The green vomit attack applies Nurgle‘s Rot, draining your health rapidly. And it can chain to teammates. Avoid at all costs.
- Beware swallows – On higher difficulties, Beasts can devour heroes whole for an instant kill. But it leaves the Beast recovering – so unleash damage then.
- Focus the weak point – Hit the prominent cyst on the Beast‘s back whenever it glows for big damage. Just watch for poison bursts when it ruptures.
- Keep mobile – Beasts have fast attacks from their deceptively large bodies. Constantly reposition and don‘t get cornered.
- Cleanse Rot – Bring Zealots to cleanse Nurgle‘s Rot from struck teammates before it drains too much health.
It‘s a drawn-out battle, but watch for swallow attempts to score big damage and eventually you‘ll take down even the most bloated Beast.
Fighting Plague Ogryn
The only thing more terrifying than a raging Ogryn Berserker is one blessed by Grandfather Nurgle. These towering, mutated horrors combine immense strength, shocking speed and lethal contagions into nigh-unstoppable killing machines.
Here‘s how to stop them:
- Dodge the vomit – Just like Beasts, Plague Ogryn spew diseased bile that applies rot. This can quickly overwhelm your squad.
- Block their charges – Ogryn are shockingly fast in close quarters. Carry a shield to block their charges and create openings.
- Kite them – Ogryn have limited ranged attacks. Keep them at mid-range for easier dodging and damaging – but watch them closing distance!
- Aim for their head – The Plague Ogryn‘s swollen head is a prominent weak point. Coordinate focused shots whenever they pause rampages to score extra damage.
- Cleanse disease – Having one or two Zealots is practically mandatory. Their cleansing aura helps negate the overwhelming blight attacks.
Plague Ogryn seem unstoppable, but patience, teamwork and perfect dodging brings even these rotting giants crashing down.
Fighting Daemonhosts
Mortals willingly fused with daemonic essence via dark rituals, Daemonhosts come in many twisted forms. Some hover and blast with sorceries. Others rip through enemies with wicked-fast melee onslaughts.
Here are quick tips to stopping them:
- Spread out – Daemonhosts revel in slaying multiple targets at once with their wide-sweeping attacks. Don‘t cluster together.
- Exploit thresholds – At set health thresholds, Daemonhosts unleash ultimate attacks before vulnerability phases. Save squad abilities to capitalize on these openings.
- Avoid channeled spells – Some Daemonhosts plant themselves to channel devastating Warpfire attacks. These leave them exposed, so flank and destroy.
- Watch pad positions – Many missions require you to stand on rituals pads to stop Daemonhost summoning. Cover them quickly if one appears!
Daemonhosts seem otherworldly deadly…until you turn their dark powers against them!
Fighting Scab Captains
If you thought Chaos Space Marine traitor nobles were bad enough, Scab Captains take it to another level. These fallen lords bind their essence to the Plague God for immortality and strength – at the cost of twisted mutation into monstrosity.
Clad in thick armor and forcefields, wielding mighty Plasma Guns and thunder hammers, Scab Captains require sharp tactics:
- Break their shield – Scab Captains wield impenetrable void shields that must be destroyed before they take health damage. Coordinate hitting it with psychics, heavy weapons and melee blows.
- Beware their Enrage – At low health, Scab Captains enter a deadly Enraged mode, attacking furiously. Kite them while gunning them down.
- Exploit reload times – Scab Captains use deadly but slow-firing Plasma Guns. Wait for them to reload, then make your move.
- Thinned numbers – Scab Captains start battles surrounded by Cultists. Eliminate them first so you can focus fire.
- Ult when Enraged – Save squad Ultimate abilities once the Captain Enrages at low health. Focus everything on destroying them.
Scab Captains are walking fortresses, but methodical play topples even these Chaos champions!
Conclusion
And with that, you now know the monstrosities wandering Warhammer 40k Darktide‘s twisted tunnels and ruins! I hope these tips help prepare your squad to confront them.
The road through Tertium only gets darker, but standing together – Psyker, Veteran, Ogryn and Zealot alike – means even the deadliest horrors can be overcome.
Stay vigilant out there against the Ruinous Powers. The Inquisition depends on it!
