How to Beat Horde Mode

In Horde mode players must work together to take on waves of enemies. Regardless of which difficulty setting you are on you will be attacked by 50 total waves which includes after every 10 waves a special boss round where you will need to defeat the boss. Bosses you will encounter include a Flock, a Warden, and a Swarmak. If you manage to defeat the boss and their minions a new difficulty modifier will be introduced which will include increased enemy health, damage, and accuracy, and all of them stack on one another. Check out our How to Beat Horde Mode guide to find out what you can do to increase your chances of survival.

When you begin Horde mode you will have a choice of several characters that each belong to class. Below is a list of the characters along with the class they belong to:

Kait:

Scout

J.D., Fahz, Emile:

Offense

Marcus, Sarah Connor:

Tank

Del, Kat:

Engineer

Jack:

Support.

Regardless of their class each Horde character starts out with two main weapons, and one sub weapon. Although all the characters can switch these weapons with those from fallen enemies the three weapons that a character begins the game with are the only three weapons that they can purchase from the Fabricator. Listed below are each of the playable characters in Gears 5 Horde mode and their skills.

Kait:

Passive Ability: Power from kills increased by 25%.

Ultimate Ability: Camouflage - Hidden from enemies while active

Del:

Passive Ability: Fortification builds are discounted, and you can carry fortifications faster.

Ultimate Ability: Reinforce - Summon Deebee trackers that target enemies

J.D:

Passive Ability: Every sixth headshot kills drops ammo.

Ultimate Ability: Ultimate Ability: Artillery Strike - Drops 5 artillery rounds on a deployed marker

Marcus:

Passive Ability: Damage taken recharges your Ultimate Ability.

Ultimate Ability: Living Legend - Automatically fire at the heads of enemies in sight

Fahz:

Passive Ability: Every sixth critical hit drops ammo.

Ultimate Ability: X-Ray - See and shoot enemies through walls and cover

Jack:

Passive Ability: Enemies that die with your mark reduce your Ultimate Ability cooldown.

Ultimate Ability: Hijack - Take control of enemies for a short time

Emile-A239:

Passive Ability: Every sixth headshot drops ammo.

Ultimate Ability: Drop Shield - Deploys a shield that obstructs projectiles

Kat-B320:

Passive Ability: Fortification builds are discounted, and you can carry fortifications faster.

Ultimate Ability: Hologram - Deploys a holographic decoy that moves forwards.

Sarah Connor:

Passive Ability: Damage taken recharges your Ultimate Ability.

Ultimate Ability: Heavy Hitter - All hits with ranged weapons knockback and stun enemies.

The character you choose will determine what Fortifications if any they can build. Offense and Engineer can build Fortifications like barriers and turrets while Tank, Scout, of Offense class are unable to build any, they will though still be able to purchase new weapons from the Fabricator. The currency used to either build Fortifications or weapons at the Fabricator and the only way you can earn Power is by killing enemies. Listed below is what you can get at the Fabricator along with the cost of Power needed to purchase it.

Repair Tool

Cost: 10,000 Power.

Incendiary Grenade

Cost: 500 Power.

Shock Grenade

Cost: 500 Power.

Frag Grenade

Cost: 500 Power.

Retro Lancer

Cost: 2,000 Power.

Gnasher

Cost: 2,000 Power.

Talon

Cost: 2,000 Power.

Overkill

Cost: 2,000 Power.

Enforcer

Cost: 2,000 Power.

Lancer

Cost: 2,000 Power.

Hammerburst

Cost: 2,000 Power.

Barrier

Cost: 2,000 Power.

Decoy

Cost: 3,000 Power.

MG Sentry

Cost: 5,000 Power.

Shock Barrier

Cost: 4,000 Power.

Weapon Locker

Cost: 5,000 Power.

Forge

Cost: 10,000 Power.

Your main focus while playing Horde mode is to earn as much Power as possible. Keep an eye on the top right of the screen, the number there indicates how much Power is still left on the battlefield and will help to ensure you and your team don't miss any. When a new wave of Horde begins all the Power that is left on the ground will disappear so you need to move quick to collect it before another wave of Horde starts again.

The accumulated Power you and your teammates earn is taken back to the Fabricator where you press X at the Fabricator menus to deposit it where it can then be shared and used to purchase the items listed above.

Check out our How to Get Relic Weapons Guide to see how you get these 17 weapons that are rare versions of existing weapons which have unique skins and capabilities.