Between hordes of Skaven, Chaos worshipers, and Beastmen, there are plenty of enemies to hack and slash your way through in Warhammer: Vermintide 2. We will focus on one category of enemies today: the Elite enemy variants. In Vermintide 2, Elites are enemies who are typically more difficult to kill and hit harder than regular infantry.
Elites make up the backbone of Vermintide’s combat by introducing bigger threats amongst dozens of infantry. Elites are designed to be imposing and won’t go down easily, making them priority targets. If you don’t defeat them quickly, they will overwhelm you with their deadly attacks and shrug off any non-precise blows.
We will go over all the Elite enemies in Vermintide, how they influence combat encounters, and how to defeat them.
What is the Difference between Special & Elite Enemies in Darktide?
Both Special and Elite enemies serve vastly different roles in combat. Elites are designed to get into the thick of a fight and act as highly armored or dangerous melee threats. Elites break your formation and demand immediate attention because of their overwhelming melee power. They are harder to kill, damage, and stagger than your typical cannon fodder units. Elites can be highly armored like the Shield Vermin or Chaos Warrior. Yet, Elites can also be unarmored and deadly melee fighters like Plague Monks or Savages.
Special enemies in Vermintide, aside from the Packmaster, Gutter Runner, or Life Leech, like remaining in the backline or fighting in mid-ranged combat to support any melee units. Special enemies act as reinforcers or disruptors that can separate players from your team or act as ranged threats. Specials typically have average HP like the Gutter Runner or the Poison Wind Globadier, but they can deal tons of damage to your team if they aren’t immediately dealt with.
Players can ping both enemy types to alert the team to their presence, and most Special and Elite enemies in Vermintide have voice lines or callouts that give players a warning before they enter the fray.
Before we dive into our guide on how to beat every elite enemy, if you are a new player, you may want to check out our top 10 Vermintide 2 tips for beginners.
Elite Patrols
Elite enemies can also form Patrols that roam around certain locations of the mission. Patrols can be avoided or attacked, but you can anticipate them due to their chanting or marching. On greater Vermintide 2 difficulties, the number of Elites per patrol increases, which makes them harder to fight unless you are a skilled fighter or have the resources to dispatch them.
All Elite Enemies in Vermintide 2
1. Storm Vermin
- Range: Melee
- Weapon: Halberd
- Warning: None
- Armor: Armored
Storm Vermin are common, but they are still formidable foes if clanrats are surrounding you or if there are multiple of them. They are the most common enemy type of Vermintide 2 elite enemies.
Storm Vermin are also called “Blackfurs” by the heroes, and they typically carry halberds or a sword and shield for melee attacks. These elites are easy to spot since their armor is decorated with red cloth, and they are much taller than typical clanrats.
Storm Vermin have a longer reach due to their halberd. This gives them a slow, powerful overhead slam that will deal massive damage and can remove half of your health bar on higher difficulties. Still, they are the easiest Elites to eliminate since they lack head protection. One or two strikes to the head will typically bring them down, but spamming attacks at their weak point without landing the killing blow will cause them to retaliate or shove you away.
We recommend striking them first to eliminate Storm Vermin before they establish a good range to hit you. Close the cap so they can’t use their halberd to their advantage. Alternatively, you can pick them off at range with one or two headshots.
2. Shield Vermin
- Range: Melee
- Weapon: Sword and Shield
- Warning: None
- Armor: Armored
Shield Vermin are a variant of Storm Vermin. Both have red/orange armor, but as their name implies, they are equipped with shields. Shield Vermin don’t deal as much damage as Storm Vermin. Yet, their shields make it more difficult to dispatch them quickly.
Shield Vermin are harder to kill because their metal shields are unbreakable, unlike those of Shielded Clanrats. Both variants of this Elite are hard to stagger unless one’s weapon or career is proficient in Staggering, such as the Handmaiden or FootKnight. If one has any Shield-Breaking weapons, they can open a Shield Vermin’s guard for an easy headshot. Otherwise, we recommend baiting out its attack before striking.
Our recommendations for eliminating Shield Vermin are similar to those for taking out Storm Vermin. It is best to eliminate them with ranged weapons or strike first before they can get their shield up, which is a great way to dispatch them quickly. Otherwise, have a high amount of Stagger to force open their guard. Alternatively, if you have access to Fuse Bolts, they completely ignore shields, making them the ideal weapon for killing Shield Vermin.
3. Mauler Elite Enemies in Vermintide 2
- Range: Melee
- Weapon: Two-handed Axe
- Warning: None
- Armor: Helmet but no Body Armor
The Mauler is another common enemy Elite, making up the second most common Elite next to the Storm Vermin. Maulers are taller than their Chaos worshiper brethren and can be identified by their iron helmets or the skulls they boast on their shoulder pads. They carry a slow but mighty two-handed axe and love to use overhead slams.
Maulers are often confused with their more powerful brethren, Chaos Warriors. Yet, they are significantly easier to take down. Maulers have no body armor but have decided they would rather wear a helmet. This makes defeating them easier since one needs to strike them in the body rather than the head, despite the latter still being regarded as their weak spot.
Since you aren’t striking their weak spot, this does result in Maulers living longer than Storm Vermin; however, if you have an armor-piercing weapon, you can ignore their iron helmet and go for the eyes. Additionally, we recommend watching out for their overhead slam since this attack easily breaks through your Stamina bar. It’s better to dodge these blows rather than attempt to power through them.
4. Bestigor Beastmen Elites
- Range: Melee
- Weapon: Two-handed Axe
- Warning: Roar before Charging.
- Armor: Armored
Bestigors are the only Elite Beastman enemy included in the Winds of Magic DLC. These Vermintide 2 elite enemies are among the toughest and most skilled of the Beastmen, who love to charge headlong into battle.
Bestigors have a unique attack, which leads them to charge into battle and ramming into a single player. This charge is one of the deadliest attacks a Bestigor has and will break a player’s Stamina while knocking them back, leaving you dangerously exposed to follow-up attacks.
Aside from their standard light and heavy attacks, Bestigors are easy to deal with once you can predict their charge. If you manage to dodge their headbutt, they will clash into a nearby surface, rendering them vulnerable for a quick headshot. Skilled Vermintide 2 players can sever their heads while avoiding their charge, so it is possible to eliminate them before they hit a wall.
You can also easily headshot them during their charge since they lower their head to ram into you. However, Bestigors become far more dangerous if there are multiple of them, or they charge in the middle of battle since it’s difficult to prepare for their charge in the middle of cleaving through weaker Beastmen.
5. Chaos Warriors in Vermintide 2
- Range: Melee
- Weapon: Greataxe
- Warning: Deep Battle Cry or Loud Stomping
- Armor: Fully Armored
Chaos Warriors are enormous champions of the Chaos Gods. These brutes wear full plate heavy armor and have superhuman strength, making them the toughest and most dangerous Elite enemy. Chaos Warriors are also known as Rot-Helm due to their fully armored physic, which makes them incredibly easy to spot at a distance.
Typically the heroes will make callouts for most Elites, sometimes before they enter your sightline. However, you can hear when a Chaos Warrior starts to chase a player since they announce a taunt directed at one of the heroes before they begin to stomp toward them.
Chaos Warriors typically require charged heavy attacks to get through their thick plate armor on the head and neck. Since they wear full plate armor, they are highly resistant to all non-armor piercing damage, and light attacks will bounce off it. Even if they pack enough power to cut you down in a few attacks, it is preferred to fight them in melee since it’s harder to land reliable ranged headshots.
Certain weapons or Career Abilities can make quick work of Chaos Knights like Bounty Hunter, Grail Knight, or Shade landing a backstab. If your squad doesn’t have a character who can dispatch Chaos Warriors efficiently, aim for the head and carefully evade their strikes, especially the slow overhead slam.
Chaos Warriors are some of the stronger enemies in the game and are also incredibly difficult to stagger. However, if you have a Bomb, a high staggering weapon, or a Career Ability like Foot Knight, you can briefly stun a Chaos Warrior for easier follow-up attacks.
6. Savage Berserker Elite Enemies in Vermintide 2
- Range: Melee
- Weapon: Dual Hand Axes
- Warning: Frantic Yelling
- Armor: Berserker
Savages are one of the two Berserker enemies in Vermintide 2. Sometimes called “Frothers” by the Heroes, Savages love the thrill of combat, disregard any defense, and charge headlong into the frontlines. Savages are somewhat hard to identify because their pasty white tattooed-covered skin blends in well amongst their Marauder brethren, but they wear no armor and hold their weapons over their heads during their charge.
Once these Savages get into melee, they start unleashing a flurry of strikes, which is extremely difficult to interrupt. Because they are a Berserker, they have increased Stagger resistance during their flurry of attacks, but it’s possible to interrupt them during their charge or after their combo ends.
When facing a Savage, it’s highly recommended to block and dodge backward while waiting for their combo to finish before striking at their head, or else they might take severe chunks out of your HP.
If you spot a Savage in the distance, you can easily pick them off with a few ranged attacks to their weak points since they don’t attempt to cover their head or any part of their body during their charge. These enemies should be prioritized over Storm Vermin, Maulers, or Bestigors since their damage output rivals a Chaos Warrior.
7. Plague Monk
- Range: Melee
- Weapon: Dual Knives
- Warning: Loud Screeching
- Armor: Berserker
Plague Monks are the other Berserker enemy in Vermintide 2 and operate similarly to the Savage we previously mentioned. These enemy elites are easy to identify in Vermintide 2, unlike Savages, due to their green robes and hoods. Plague Monks also fight like Savages, charging wildly into battle, and will unleash a flurry of attacks.
They also have high stagger resistance while attacking. They are extremely dangerous, and it’s highly recommended to deal with them before they close the distance or wait for their combo to end. However, Plague Monks are often more deadly than Savages due to their tendency to spawn in groups of at least two or four.
Plague Monks also won’t scream or give any additional warning about their approach until they are almost within melee range, so keep an eye out or listen to one of the character’s callouts.
Last Thoughts on How to Defeat All Elite Enemies in Vermintide 2
That’s our guide on how to defeat all Elite enemies in Vermintide 2. Remember that you can also find these Elites roaming in Patrols, and they tend to spawn in groups when playing on greater difficulties like Legend or Cataclysm. Also, never underestimate the power of pinging Elites and Special enemies because it gives your team an indication of where they are in a horde of enemies.
If you enjoyed our guide and want to learn more about the game, check out our picks for the best classes you can play on our Vermintide 2 tier list.
For now, Happy Hunting!
