Gears of War: E-Day Horde Siege Guide

How Horde Siege works

The Coalition revealed Horde Siege in its July 2026 multiplayer deep dive as the series' biggest PvE mode: three squads of four share a map that spans several city blocks of Kalona. Each squad runs its own mission, but paths cross, squads can fight the same boss and some rewards pay out only when squads cooperate.

• Players: up to 12, in three squads of four.
• Maps: three at launch, including Golden Quarter.
• Win condition: finish the objectives, then reach the King Raven. Only one squad member needs to board for the mission to count, but a missed extraction window loses the ride.
• Crossplay: Xbox and PC players matchmake together — see crossplay rules.

The four classes compared

Each class levels to 30 at launch, and class choice is separate from your character skin. The Coalition has said a squad of four of the same class is valid, so treat the table as a starting point rather than a rule.

Which class should you pick first?

Guides disagree, and the right answer depends on how you play:

• Medic if you queue with strangers. Revives decide most failed runs, and the Stim Vaporizer can pick up players from other squads too.
• Assault if you want the most forgiving solo choice: mid-range, strong in cover and useful on every objective type.
• Breacher if you already play aggressively with a Gnasher in the campaign.
• Marksman once you know the maps, since its value comes from tagging and hitting weak points at range.

For a duo, Assault plus Medic is the most commonly recommended pairing. For a full squad, one of each class is the safe default.

Playlists and difficulty

Higher difficulties pay more, but the launch build made Commander, Allfather and every Invasion Event harder than they were in the August beta. Do not jump straight from Rookie to Commander with a low-level class.

Energy, Supply Caches and Squad Perks

• Energy comes from kills and objectives. It fills a shared pool, but each player spends it individually.
• Supply Caches sell equipment and grenades (which share one slot), let you buy a weapon mid-fight and upgrade Squad Perks. What you can buy depends on class and class level.
• Turrets are bought and upgraded with Energy at fixed spots, and can be picked up and carried like heavy weapons.
• Squad Perks are squad-wide buffs that last until the mission ends. Perk Caches on the map give the best perk to the first squad to arrive.

Invasion Events, Poisons and bosses

Invasion Events drop a Corpser or a Brumak onto the map with an escort. While it lives, a map-wide penalty applies, such as blocked extraction or disabled Supply Caches, so all three squads have a reason to help. Poisons make the Locust your squad faces tougher after each boss wave you clear.

• Corpser: once it retreats into its hole, it takes five Breach Charges to kill. Several players throwing within a second or two of each other stack them.
• Brumak: mark it with a Marksman's Pulse Drone so all three squads can focus the same target, and keep close-range Breachers from standing in front of it.
• Emergence Holes: close them with grenades as soon as they open, or spawns will overwhelm a Defend objective.

Death, revives and extraction

1. When you die you drop your COG tags. A squadmate can carry them to a Supply Cache to bring you back, or a player from another squad can pick them up to revive you on the spot.
2. If the whole squad goes down, it loses a Squad Life. Losing every Squad Life fails the mission, though you keep partial XP.
3. Weapon Parts earned during the mission are kept only if your squad extracts. Leaving early or missing the Raven forfeits them.

Weapon Parts buy Weapon Mods, and a weapon's mods and cosmetics are shared across every class that equips it — so parts earned on a Medic still improve the same rifle on your Assault.

Tips that save runs

1. Play Onboarding once. It teaches objectives, Energy and extraction without the risk.
2. Stay with your squad. Most wipes happen when one player chases a secondary objective alone.
3. Pick up other squads' tags when it is safe; they will return the favour.
4. Use secondary objectives (defusing explosives, carrying a Power Core to another squad's R.I.G.) for free perks and parts, but not when extraction is open.
5. Keep Active Reload habits from the campaign — our beginner tips cover the basics that carry over.

If Horde Siege matchmaking fails or the game drops during a run, check the October 14 update notes and the crash guides for PC and Xbox.