Beast Forces

The first tier of Beast forces is unlocked when you begin. You unlock the upper tiers by earning enough points through inflicting damage each round. In general, you can expect to unlock the second tier in just a few rounds. The third tier should unlock roughly halfway through the waves. Finally, you should access the final tier sometime during the last three waves. Naturally, this may differ depending on how aggressive you are, and if your team has to replay one or more waves.

Remember that you should always be inflicting damage to something. You need to be in the fight as much as possible, not just to increase your own score, but to keep the timer running and have a chance at victory!

First Tier

Wild Ticker

The Wild Ticker lacks the suicidal explosive power of the Locust-armed explosive Ticker. Instead, the Wild Ticker is useful for its melee attack. It can damage any type of fortification, and it doesn’t take damage when it melee attacks higher-level barriers.

Automated sentry guns ignore the Wild Ticker. So, it can safely approach some base routes that other Locust troops cannot. On the downside, the Wild Ticker is relatively slow to dig through even low-level barriers. Its melee attack is too weak to deal much damage to any COG forces, assuming it survives being in their line of sight for longer than a second!

Use the Wild Ticker only when you absolutely have to make a hole in a COG base’s defenses, and there is no other way for a mantling unit to enter. When you pick away at a barrier, keep your scrawny behind tucked away behind cover. Don’t expect to live long if any COG forces see you.

Just like the regular Ticker, the Wild Ticker can gain a temporary burst of speed via the Roadie Run button. This gives its already rapid movement a considerable boost for a short period of time.

Ticker

The Ticker is identical to the Ticker you encounter in the campaign. Now you can hurl yourself at COG forces as a mobile suicide bomb! The Ticker is useful primarily for downing dangerous COG troops that are distracted by other Locust forces. You can also use the Ticker to good effect by downing a turret or Silverback operator.

Detonation takes a second to activate, so time your attack carefully. If you try to detonate near targets that are aware of your presence, they almost always roll away from your blast without taking serious damage.

The Ticker can be useful for destroying key sentries, but don’t waste time detonating near a barrier if you can help it. The Ticker is better for taking down clustered COG troops or one manning a Silverback or turret than it is for destroying barriers. As with the Wild Ticker, you can give yourself a boost of speed to reach your destination faster via the Roadie Run button.

Wretch

The Wretch is a melee fighter that can mantle over walls and jump over low-level barriers. Its powerful scream can also temporarily stun nearby COG forces. However, the Wretch is weak, and you should avoid fighting in the open when you play as one.

Your best bet is to exploit the Wretch’s mobility to get past defenses, either by jumping over low-level barriers in the early rounds, or by mantling over low cover to bypass them entirely. Once you’re inside, you can use the Wretch’s scream to stun nearby COG troops and let your teammates mop them up. This is especially useful if a Ticker or Savage Drone is nearby to finish off the stunned enemy.

The Wretch’s melee strike inflicts decent damage, but the Wretch is so weak that getting multiple kills from melee attacks is unusual. The Wretch employs two types of melee strikes: the Melee button yields a quick melee swing, while the Right Bumper initiates a lunging melee jump. The melee jump is generally more useful for clearing barriers than it is for combat. If you miss the attack, you may be taken out before you have a chance to take another swing. Instead, use repeated quick Melee strikes to down enemies at close range.

Try to attack with the Wretch at the same time as your teammates. Fighting alone with the Wretch is inadvisable. Note that the Wretch’s scream penetrates cover, so you can hide out on the opposite side of cover and safely stun nearby COG forces.

Savage Drone

The basic trooper of the first tier beasts, the Drone is equipped with a Retro Lancer. It otherwise plays identically to a normal COG trooper. Drones are more expensive than other first-tier choices. Try to avoid dying if you use one in the early rounds to build up a good cash reservoir. The Savage Drone remains useful into the middle waves. You can take out sentries, turrets, and even the Silverback with patience and cover. Because the Savage Drone can mantle over low cover, you can often bypass barriers, allowing you to get into range to take down COG forces.

All Beast forces have infinite ammo. As a result, you can be aggressive with the Retro Lancer without fear of running low on ammunition. Spray away! It’s still a good idea to fire more carefully when you try to hit a distant target, but you can take down fixed defenses and still be able to fight any COG forces in the area. You can consider the Savage Drone a baseline Beast troop; it’s effective, reasonably inexpensive, and comfortable to use.

Butcher

The Butcher is a fat and brutal melee combatant. His cleaver can down COG forces quickly, but he is a cumbersome, easy target for them. Despite his bulk, the Butcher can mantle over obstructions. So, on some maps, you may be able to bypass walls and reach the tasty fleshy targets beyond them.

The Butcher also works well as a distraction for other first-tier forces, but be sure they’re nearby before you start a charge. Rushing a heavily defended position too quickly is guaranteed to get you killed before you reach them or your teammates take them out. Coordinate your assault with other first-tier Locust forces so you can provide a useful distraction.

Because the Butcher is melee only and not especially fast, he is often taken down before he gets into melee range, which can be frustrating. If you do get into melee range, no low-level COG forces can withstand the cleaver, and you can reap a bloody harvest. The Butcher fades in effectiveness quickly in the later rounds, when the Mauler and other higher-tier melee troops hit the field.

Second Tier

Kantus

The Kantus is the most vital support class of all Beast options. It’s also the only healer until you unlock the Armored Kantus in the later rounds. The Kantus can heal certain Beast allies with a scream. However, it’s extremely vulnerable during this process, being frozen in place and inviting COG fire with its cry. Kantus cannot heal each other, the Berserker, and other select beasts.

The Kantus comes armed with a Gorgon SMG and a single Ink Grenade. Be sure to use the Ink Grenade early so that a second one regenerates more quickly. The Kantus has an evasive roll, but it cannot take cover. Be sure to keep your distance from COG forces when you act as a healer for your team. It’s preferable to do this with a large wall between you and the enemy—your scream can heal friendly forces some distance away.

The Kantus is a vital team member. Once you unlock it, at least one teammate should play as a Kantus at all times. The Kantus, combined with the Mauler in tier two, is the backbone of the early rounds. Plus, the Kantus remains useful all the way into the late rounds, thanks to its ability to heal and to use Ink Grenades to take down turret operators or Silverback pilots.

Bloodmount

The Bloodmount is an unusual Beast. It comes with an armed Beast Rider Locust mounted atop it, but you control the mount, not the rider. You can attack enemies or their fortifications with a powerful melee strike. You can also call out targets for your rider by marking them. Any marked target becomes the focus for all of your rider’s fire. Whenever you can, be sure to pick out enemy targets that are exposed. Your rider isn’t accurate enough to dispatch enemies behind hard cover at long range.

The Bloodmount works best by supporting other ‘core’ Beast team members. You can assault fortifications well, but you lack the direct firepower to engage in effective ranged combat. You also make a good distraction when you play the Bloodmount, as it has good movement speed, and you can duck in and out of cover, drawing fire for your teammates. This is especially effective if you have a Kantus nearby to heal any incidental damage you take. The Bloodmount can mantle low cover, so it’s possible to break into a base early. Be wary of doing this alone, as you can be taken out easily if you’re caught unsupported.

Mauler

The Mauler is the first heavy siege-breaker unit for the Beast forces. Unlocked in the second tier of units, the Mauler is equipped with a Boomshield and a powerful explosive flail. The flail causes a huge explosion when it impacts the ground, killing weaker enemy forces instantly and dealing heavy damage to enemy fortifications in a wide area.

Use cover and the Boomshield to get into range of enemy fortifications. Then pound them into dust with your flail. Be wary of pushing toward a heavily defended position with your Boomshield raised unless you have friendly backup. The shield blocks most shots, but not all. If you go for a flail swing when you’re already the focus of enemy fire, you are usually exposed long enough to be killed. The flail’s explosive strike can damage enemies and fortifications directly through cover. So, if you can get behind hard cover with targets in range, you can deal damage without presenting yourself as a target.

The Mauler works extremely well with a Kantus providing support. It has enough health to take advantage of the heal, particularly with the Boomshield blocking a decent portion of damage at all times, even when it isn’t raised. Be sure to have one or more of your team members playing a Mauler in the middle rounds. They are vital for quickly destroying fortifications and blazing a trail for the rest of the Locust forces to follow.

Third Tier

Serapede

The Serapede is one of the strangest Beasts, a mutant centipede with an armored shell and a shocking electric bite. The Serapede is nearly immune to damage anywhere except for its exposed and glowing tail. If you keep your tail behind hard cover, you can march into gunfire without worry. The Serapede’s bite is most useful against fleshy targets—it is poor at breaking fortifications.

If possible, try to sneak through a high-level barrier by baiting a COG trooper into coming near it while your tail is out of range. When the barrier drops, you can get inside the base and proceed to assassinate as many targets as possible. You can occasionally use the Serapede as a ‘tank’ of sorts to draw fire for your teammates. However, remember that because the Serapede has a very low profile, not all COG forces can see you from anywhere in a given base.

If you can’t get past a barrier and into the COG base, the Serapede is very ineffective. Be sure to either follow a fellow Beast that can break fortifications, or locate a high-level barrier with a nearby COG trooper that you can trick into opening a path for you.

Corpser

The ‘mini’ Corpser is still a lethal force on the battlefield, retaining its larger brethren’s ability to burrow into the ground and avoid damage. It also boasts a massive, multi-limbed ground crush.

You can burrow into the ground when you play the Corpser. While you’re burrowed, you regenerate health. This is the only Beast that can recover health naturally. Emerging from the ground with a COG trooper above you causes cringing, which can stun nearby troops for your teammates to engage. Take advantage of the abilities to block shots and to burrow and regenerate by acting as a tank for your team. You can distract a lot of COG forces, as you are a large and visible target. You also have the tools to avoid or recover from damage, giving your teammates time to get into position.

Despite its appearance, the Corpser’s ground smash is not a great attack against fortifications. Save it for when you get into range of COG troops. It delivers damage to an area, so smashing clustered COG forces works well. Remember that you can mark targets while you’re burrowed. Use this to call out dangerous targets while you regenerate your health.

Savage Grenadier

The Savage Grenadier is armed with a Gnasher and a single Frag Grenade. Because ammo regenerates for Beast troops, this makes the Savage Grenadier a true grenadier. You can repeatedly lob Frag Grenades at COG forces. The Gnasher is more problematic. Getting close enough to deal damage with it is always risky, though it certainly does the job once you are within range.

Save your Frag Grenade for the most dangerous targets, particularly the Silverback, turrets, and sentries, in that order. Once you deal with those threats, you can use your Frags on any remaining COG troops. Try to use a grenade very early as you approach the COG base, so a second one regenerates by the time you get closer. A single Frag tag can take down a Hero instantly, though getting into range to land the tag is always risky.

Due to the Gnasher’s short effective range, the Savage Grenadier can actually be a worse option than the basic Savage Drone in some situations. However, you can usually use the Frag Grenade to hit targets for which you would otherwise need the Retro Lancer. The Savage Grenadier typically does well in the middle rounds. It’s a good option if you want some explosive firepower without dropping the cash for a Boomer.

Boomer

The Boomer is your first real power monster. An infinite-ammo Boomshot is a serious threat, although both the reload and the ammo regeneration are slow. On almost all maps, you can keep your distance and simply shell the COG base. Even if you don’t kill COG troops, the fortification damage is usually enough to keep the timer stalled…or in the positive!

Two Boomers can work in concert to down Heroes from a distance. The one first downs, and the second one kills. Boomers are powerful and valuable, so don’t throw away your life if you drop the cash for one. Stay behind cover, let the other Locust forces get into close range, and continuously lob Boomshot fire into the COG base. From the midgame all the way to the endgame, Boomers are a strong option. Try to have one or two on your team at all times in the later waves.

Final Tier

Berserker

The mighty Berserker requires little explanation. A manifestation of rage, she is the most powerful of all Locust forces, and can usually rip through an entire wave almost singlehandedly. The Berserker does have a few downsides. A very high cost and late availability render her unusable in the early waves, barring many failures. Her vision is impaired, causing an intense blurring on your long-range vision. Use Tac-Com and friendly unit spotting to guide you to your targets—once you’re in range, little can stop you. Her only in-combat vulnerability is fire, and only a few opponents use Scorchers, notably some of the Onyx Guard. This renders the Berserker nearly unstoppable once it’s deployed.

Save your cash to use the Berserker in the last round. Or, if you can manage it, have multiple players use the Berserker in the last two to three rounds. Doing so can make completing a Beast session a breeze.

The Berserker’s standard attack smashes the ground near her, instantly downing any COG Hero caught in range, and dispatching any non-Hero unit or downed Hero. Holding the Roadie Run button causes the Berserker to charge forward in an enraged rampage, crushing any COG forces and fortifications in her path. Even laser barriers cannot stop the Berserker, and you can charge through turrets and sentries as well. The charge stops once you hit a wall or other immovable object, causing a momentary recoil. As the charge takes a second to pick up speed, don’t use it in close-quarters combat. The smash is more effective in those situations.

Armored Kantus

The Armored Kantus is a late-game upgrade to the Kantus. Equipped with a powerful suit of armor, this Kantus is nearly immune to small arms fire, and it can join the fight against enemies in the later rounds. The Armored Kantus can still heal allies, just like the regular Kantus. It trades out Ink Grenades for dual Gorgon SMGs and the ability to do a combat roll that inflicts heavy damage to infantry. The Armored Kantus’ twin SMGs are also powerful anti-personnel weapons, and you can down infantry at short range very easily.

There’s one catch to playing the Armored Kantus. While it is both armored and has greater close-range damage potential than the Kantus, you run the risk of playing too much offense and not doing enough healing if you focus on its attack capabilities. Don’t forget that you may be the only person on your team who can heal! As a rule, don’t take the Armored Kantus if you only want to heal—the Kantus can do the same job for less cash. Take the Armored version instead if you know you must be exposed to incoming fire in order to heal, or if you want to provide a mix of combat support and healing for your team.

SAVAGE BOOMER

The Savage Boomer is armed with a Digger Launcher, has more health, and reloads ammunition more quickly than its standard counterpart. As a result, the Savage Boomer is almost a direct upgrade for the Boomer. Once you can afford it, replace the Boomers on your team with Savage Boomers.

However, a few points are worth noting. While the Digger is just as powerful as the Boomshot, and you get to reload more quickly, it purposefully detonates on fortifications, guaranteeing most shots to add time to the clock and giving you better accuracy at range. To ensure hits, launch the Digger into the air toward your target so it has minimal travel time in the ground.

The Digger actually has very good range if you launch it far into the air and line it up well. It travels in a straight line for a good distance. So, while you can’t quite shell a base from long range like the Boomer, you can still easily keep your distance and provide suppressive explosive support, just like the Boomer can. Nailing a direct hit on a Hero with the Digger is an insta-kill!