Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 Horde

Scripted and random both exist

Developers: encounters are a bit of both — sometimes a set-piece, sometimes the randomizer. Aliens dodge and take different approach angles instead of one path. That is why a single doorway camp fails more often than it did in the first game’s tighter maps. If your Fireteam Elite 1 habit was one ammo box and a funnel, unlearn it on Standard before you add cards.

Solo is legal; Insane is not the teaching step

Empty seats fill with Seegson combat synthetics Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. You can run Horde alone. Devs called high-difficulty solo with bots “totally viable” with the caveat of a high-level Marine, skill, and a little luck. Start the map on a difficulty you already clear in Campaign. Intense and above turn friendly fire on — the same crouch gunline as the story drops.

Once the five-wave clock is clear, pick a layout. The three maps do not play the same.

No single magic corner

The preview team did not find a spot where you hide in a corner and hold one choke. With planning you can still make a defensive stand — it is a called hold, not a closet. Four Marines stacked on the same crate is how an Exploder or a Synth grenade ends the round.

Campaign vs Horde geography

Crash Landed’s processor silhouette is why people confuse it with a campaign mission. It is not one of the 15. Preview copy also said Horde unlocks after the main story — confirm that gate on the live Endeavor; treat the exact unlock as TBA until captured.

Naming the map is not holding it. The next section is what each layout actually asks the Fireteam to do.

Crouch is a Horde tax too

From Intense up, friendly fire is on and abilities can hit allies. The Marine closest to the swarm drops profile so the pulse rifles behind them are not a wipe. Machinist sentries are called out as dealing no friendly fire; your Blast Cannon is not that exception. Two players can revive a downed Marine or combat synth at once, which speeds the pickup — still revive before you chase. Tips owns the habit list.

Class is a hold kit, not an S-tier

Machinist if you want extra guns on a lane. Marauder if the map is a corridor of trash — watch FF. Medic if vertical Crusher already eats downs. Duelist if you just need two primaries for a faction re-roll (thermal + piercing). Specialist after the five kits have parts. Scene builds: builds.

Cards change the legal hold. Read them before you plant.

Cards are a difficulty slider you opted into

Pair high-risk cards with a difficulty you already clear without cards. If the Fireteam cannot finish Crash Landed on Standard, do not add four modifiers and call it practice. Preview players also hoped cards might someday let you pick the faction; at preview time the faction was still a roll — treat selectable-faction-via-cards as wish / TBA.

Do not farm a fake list

When card names are captured in-game they land here or on a P1 `/horde/blacksite` child. Until then, the useful object is the all-apply rule and the four-card cap.

The roll that actually changes magazines is the faction. That is next.

Sirens still print the wipe

The new Siren emits a screeching rattle, calls Xenos, and tries to run. Previews: they can spawn in pairs. That is a mad dash, not a “low threat” skip. Warden still wants focused fire. Exploder still leaves acid. Full type list: enemies. Ammo chart: elements.

Do not restart only for Xenos

Preview players restarted matches because they wanted Xenomorphs. Legal. Slow. If your kit cannot handle Synths, the fix is piercing on a seat — not a queue dodge forever.

Between rounds the vending machine is the other decision. Skip it and the next five waves dry you out.

Ammo boxes are a map resource

On higher difficulties, ammo boxes have a finite supply and force you to rotate to another box if the squad leans on one. They eventually respawn. Fight the hold near a box, then rotate. The infinite sidearm exists so you are never unarmed during that walk. New melee stun baton in this sequel can swat enemies bunching on you — it is a panic tool, not a solo Insane plan.

What to read after a hold you can already finish

Next: difficulty before you raise the tier or stack cards. Then builds for Campaign vs Horde kits. Priority kills stay on enemies.