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Out of the six playable Operation missions inWarhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2,Decapitation is arguably the hardest. Set in the middle of an Imperial Fortress, the Astartes must fight through swarms of Tyranids to reach and eliminate their leader. It’s a short mission once you have a grasp of each encounter, but the final fight has sent many squads back to the Battle Barge empty-handed.
If you want to defeat the Hive Tyrant on your first go, you’ll want to bring the right squad. This guide will cover the best class compositions for the Decapitation mission and give some tips for beating each combat encounter, including the Hive Tyrant fight.
Recommended Classes
Heavy, Tactical, Vanguard
Decapitation is aTyranid-only mission that involvesa final boss: the Hive Tyrant. This is arguably the toughest mission in the game, featuring tons of close-quarters combat spaces and a difficult final boss that can wipe your entire team if you aren’t careful.
You’ll want to bring a group that can clear hordes of Tyranids from a safe distance. TheHeavyis your best bet, melting entire groups ofHormagauntsand Warriors with their Multa-Melta.TacticalMarines can then use theirAuspex Scannerto debuff Extremis units and the Hive Tyrant boss, drastically increasing your team’s DPS.
The final class is down to preference. If your team struggles to stay alive, aBulwarkcan be invaluable with itsChapter Banner. For speedrunning, use theVanguardinstead. And if you need even more damage against the Hive Tyrant, you can’t go wrong with aSniper.
Proceed To The Bridge Tower
The start of this mission requires you to climb up a building and fight through the industrial jungle of the Imperial City to reach the bridge tower, the proposed ambush point for downing the Hive Tyrant. Reaching the ambush point is simple enough.Climb up the building to your right, run across the debris, then fight through the outskirts until you reach the explosives stockpile.
There aren’t any mechanics you’ll need to worry about here, andno boss encounters can spawn during this part.Keep your eyes peeled forServo-Skulls with Armoury Data, and restock on ammo whenever possible. Focus on Hive Warriors first to stun the Hormagaunt swarm, then kill any stragglers. A well-coordinated group shouldn’t have much trouble.
Locate And Deploy Explosive Charges
Captain Acheran believes that your best method of killing the Hive Tyrant is to level an entire structure on top of the beast. You’ll need torig a bridge’s support structure to explode, which you’ll do by planting melta charges. Three charges will be laid out on a nearby table. Depending on the difficulty, your squad will need todeploy 3-5 charges. On our Ruthless run, my squad needed to deploy five charges.
An ammo restock crate will always spawn in this building. Be sure to grab ammo before you pick up a melta charge.
Once you pick up a charge, Tyranids will begin to swarm you from the adjacent levels of the building. As before,focus on the Tyranid Warriors first.Killing one of them will stagger all the swarm units, giving you a second to reposition or throw a grenade.An Extremis-class enemyis likely to spawn during this section. If it does, focus on killing them as quickly as possible.
Now that the trap is set, it’s time to group up with the local Guardsmen. Run through the hallway attached to the building and use the elevator to reach the upper floor. Beware that many Tyranids will be guarding the elevator. Check the corners for any Armoury Data before you head up.
Detonate The Charges
Luring the Hive Tyrant to the bridge is fairly easy.Tyranids will spawn from the nearby rooftops or the bridge itself. Most of the enemies will be Hormagaunts, but quite a few Warriors will appear roughly halfway in the wave. Stay back and eliminate the Warriors first. Some grenades should be nearby if you need help with the Minoris-class foes.
After you’ve shed enough Tyranid blood, the Hive Tyrant should be enraged and appear on the bridge. Go ahead and detonate the charges. Titus will inform you that the plan didn’t work and that the Hive Tyrant is still alive. Looks like it’s time to go face-to-face with a Hive Tyrant.
Pursue The Hive Tyrant
The Hive Tyrant is making its way through the underground sewers.Fight through the hordes of Tyranids to reach the sewer elevator.There aren’t any ammo boxes in this section, so be mindful of your reserves. Extremis-class enemies can also spawn in the tunnel, although we’ve yet to encounter a boss in this section.
If you’re getting swarmed, retreat outside the tunnel and fight the enemies outside. There isn’t much cover, but it funnels them into a tight line.
Hive Tyrant Boss
Decapitation ends with a difficult boss fight against aHive Tyrant, a massive Tyranid with a wide range of melee slashes and some psychic ranged attacks. This fight is broken up intotwo phases.In the first phase, the Tyrant will stick with melee and whip attacks throughout the fight. It will focus on one player at a time, unleashing one or two combos before switching to someone else.Most of the Tyrant’s attacks are unblockable; get comfortable dodging.
The Hive Tyrant spawns adds when it hits 50% HP. This applies to both stages of the fight.
Lowering the Hive Tyrant’s HP down to zero willnotend the fight. Instead, the boss will kneel down, regenerate all its HP, and thenunleash three delayed energy blasts.You need to dodge just before the blast hits you to avoid incoming damage. Most of the boss' attacks are now imbued with psychic energy, including anenergy wave from melee attacks, lightning strikes, and the triple pulse scream.In essence, if you see green, it’s time to dodge.
You’ll want to juggle who’s shooting the boss, as the Tyrant seems to bias whoever previously damaged them. Grab ammo from the nearby restock cache when you aren’t being targeted, then deal as much damage as you can. The Tyrant’s scream attack is when it’s most vulnerable; just beware of the incoming waves. Lower the Tyrant to zero HP one more time to finish the mission.
