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Of all the monstrous foes you’ll face inWarhammer 40,000: Darktide, none are more feared than the Daemonhost. This possessed horror is responsible for countless failed missions, and is best avoided at all costs if you want to have any chance of survival.
Surviving a Daemonhost onslaught requires coordination, sacrifice, and a bit of luck. Whether you’re hunting the game’s most dangerous enemy for a Penance or you need to be prepared for an accidental awakening, this guide has everything you need to know to beat the walking manifestation of Chaos.
How To Avoid The Daemonhost
The best way to deal with a Daemonhost is tomake sure it never wakes up in the first place.As you make your way through a mission, be sure tolisten for its possessed whispersto know when it’s near. The Daemonhost’s voice has anotherworldly echo, different from the mutterings of standard cultists, and they usually say things like “I don’t know who I am.”
Playing the game with headphones makes it much easier to pinpoint a Daemonhost’s location via sound.
The Daemonhostremains stationary until disturbed, so when you hear the whispers, move in the opposite direction! Stick to the outer edge of the room and move as slowly as you’re able to, carefully checking around corners to ensure that you don’t walk into the monster. If you see the Daemonhost,mark it so that your teammates know to avoid it.
What Happens If You Wake Up The Daemonhost?
If a playergets too close to the Daemonhost, or hits it with an attack, it will awaken. If you see the Daemonhost’s health bar appear at the top of the screen, that means that it’s awake and angry. The Daemonhost deals heavy damage andinflicts Corruptionon its victims, so even if you get out of the fight alive you’ll probably need to visit a Medicae Station sooner rather than later.
Upon awakening, the Daemonhost selects a target - usually the player that disturbed it - andrelentlessly pursues that player until they are dead.When the Daemonhost’s target is downed, the boss begins an attack thatautomatically kills the Operative. The only way to stop this attack is to kill the Daemonhost first, but given the boss’s high HP and defenses, this is easier said than done.
When the Daemonhost wakes up, you should expect that one or more members of the Strike Team will die, starting with the one that disturbed it.
The Daemonhost typically vanishes after killing one or two Operatives, leaving the survivors weakened via Corruption. While it’s possible to recover from a Daemonhost attack, you’ll need to be very careful until you can rescue your teammates and heal up.
How To Defeat The Daemonhost
The only reason to actively seek out combat with a Daemonhost is for the Penance you get for killing one. If you’re going to do this,make sure your teammates are all on board with the idea.
Your team should consist of one tank to draw the Daemonhost’s attacks - preferably thetoughest Ogryn build you can come up with- and three DPS players who willrelentlessly attack the bosswhile it focuses on the tank. One of these players should be able to switch to crowd control when necessary; aZealot’s Stun Grenadesare useful for this, since you can just toss one out then go back to smiting the Daemonhost. Alternately, aPsyker’s Bio-Lightningoffers more efficient crowd control but requires more time and focus on the part of the player, drawing them away from the boss.
The Daemonhost is considered anUnyielding enemy, so look for weapons with high damage against that type. This means ahigh base damage, but don’t worry too much about Penetration, since it won’t matter. Chainswords, Eviscerators, and Chainaxes are usually good selections.
Tech-Priest Hadron can give your weapons a Perk that increases their damage against Unyielding foes - be sure to have that Perk if you’re going host-hunting!
When you encounter a Daemonhost, have your tank wake it up; ideally with a solid Heavy Attack to start off with some damage. Once it’s awake, the tank shouldback up against a wall, or preferably a corner, andparry as many attacks as possible.The rest of the team should thenattack the Daemonhost from behindwith everything they have. Dropping a Medkit can help, but its overall usefulness is limited due to the Corruption the party will gain over the course of the fight.
Have your crowd control teammate periodically check the room for hordes and either stun them or destroy them; the team has enough to deal with!
Once the Daemonhost is dead, everyone on the Strike Team who didn’t already have the Penance for killing one will earn it -you don’t need to be the one who struck the killing blow.
