Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 Enemy Dossier
Every Xenomorph role, Pathogen threat, and synthetic crawler — and the fireteam answer for each.
Cold Iron published a Xenomorph dossier before launch, and the official showcase trailer walks the same roster: Drone, Facehugger, Warden, Exploder, Crusher, Siren, Praetorian, plus Pathogen threats like the Harbinger and Striker, with a Queen appearing in late footage. This page turns that roster into fight advice. Pair it with How to Play for elemental rules and with Horde strategy when the same types stack in waves.
How to read threat
High threat in the dossier is not the same as “shoot this first.” Sirens are rated Low because they barely hurt you — and they will still wipe a room if they finish a call. Facehuggers are Low until one is on a teammate’s visor. Crushers and Praetorians are High because a head-on fight is a losing proposition, not because they have the largest health bar.
Thermal burns through Xenomorph tissue. Electric is the wrong first pick into chitin and the right one into synthetics and crawler turrets. Pathogen creatures sit between those rules and often carry gas or freeze-state tricks; Patch 1 fixed Facehuggers and Poppers ignoring electric and thermal reactions, so those elements now behave as the tooltips imply.
Xenomorph roles
Drone. The stalker baseline. Fast, numerous, and happy to take a marine’s back while you ADS a heavy. Treat packs as a suppression problem: Marauder explosives, Machinist lanes, or a Duelist who does not stop firing. Do not turn your back on a cleared corridor — Drones path through vents and doors you already opened.
Facehugger. Floor crawler, lighter flesh, pounces and latches. Watch the ground near eggs. Where there is one, there are more. A flamethrower or tight hip-fire clears them; if one latches, a teammate can shoot it off. Melee is a last resort because the animation leaves you open to the next pounce.
Warden. Stockier than a Praetorian, sudden speed, ranged acid, melee knockdown. It is a frontline brawler and zone controller. Split the fireteam so it cannot acid the whole stack. Do not bunch on a doorway it has already spat into.
Exploder. The name is the tactic. Kill it at range before it reaches the clump. If it is already in the room, spread — one detonation should not down three marines. Hunter slow and Machinist turrets buy the distance you need.
Crusher. Armoured runner that bashes and immobilises. Frontal armour makes a head-on duel a waste of ammo. Flank. Call the angle. Heavy weapons and grenades from the side or rear, not into the plate.
Striker. Heavy brute, relentless pursuit, sweeping arms. This is what rockets, grenades, and heavy machine guns exist for. Expect it to soak more than a Drone pack. Do not kiting-circle into a second Striker.
Praetorian. Grappler, among the tallest Xenomorphs in the game, fast, brutal in melee. Take cover, stay out of grab range, and dump sustained heavy fire. Meleeing a Praetorian is how highlight reels become wipe screens. Patch 1 fixed several grapple tracking and “lost the ability to fire after repeated grabs” bugs — still dodge early.
Siren. Low personal damage, kick attacks, summons. Kill the Siren before the call finishes. Burst drones summoned by a Siren were over-loud in audio; that scream was patched, but the spawn is still the real danger.
Queen. Shown in the showcase as a late, large encounter. Treat her like a phase boss: do not dump every cooldown on the first scream, keep a Medic stim for the collapse window, and clear adds before you tunnel the monarch. Exact phase scripts belong in the campaign walkthrough for Final Endeavor.
Pathogen, synthetics, and automatons
Harbinger. Pathogen creature. Patch 1 fixed Harbingers freezing in a T-pose or refusing to move after certain spawners — if you still see a statue, it is a leftover bug, not an invulnerable unit. Burn and move; do not stand in the miasma.
Striker (Pathogen). Listed alongside Harbinger in the showcase as a Pathogen heavy. Same rule as Xenomorph Strikers: commit burst, do not nibble.
Bulwark. Armoured synthetic crawler. Electric and focused fire, not wild sprays. Crawler turrets were patched for aiming into cover and wrong fire offsets — they should actually shoot at you now, which is worse for camping and better for fairness.
Combat automatons and Weyland-Yutani synthetics. They do not flinch like bugs. Shields and accurate return fire. Smartguns and coordinated bursts beat panic hip-fire. Headhunter achievement now counts Synth headshots after Patch 1.
Prowlers. Patch 1 removed a stun-lock that let players tap-fire them forever. You cannot cheese them that way anymore.
Fireteam answers
| Threat | First job | Best tools |
|---|---|---|
| Drone packs | Suppression and 360 awareness | Duelist rifles, turret lanes |
| Facehugger | Ground watch, flamer | Volcan, hip-fire SMG |
| Warden | Split stack, dodge acid | Mobile DPS + Medic |
| Exploder | Distance | Hunter slow, rockets |
| Crusher | Flank the plate | Marauder, grenades |
| Praetorian | No melee, heavy dump | Titan Rockets, smartgun |
| Siren | Interrupt the call | Anyone with burst |
| Harbinger | Leave the gas | Thermal, reposition |
Achievements ask for 10,000 Xenomorph kills, 1,000 Pathogen, 1,000 synthetics, and 1,000 combat automatons. That is Horde and campaign repeats, not a single story run. Track them on the achievements page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the most common questions about Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2.
What should I shoot first in a mixed room?
Sirens and Exploders, then Wardens that are locking the floor, then Crushers if they are charging the stack. Drones are numerous but they do not rewrite the fight the way a finished Siren call does.
Does fire always beat Xenomorphs?
Thermal is the default into chitin. It is not automatic into synthetics. Pathogen enemies want you to respect gas and still apply the element that the dossier flags for that type.
Can I ignore Facehuggers to DPS a Praetorian?
Not if they are in the same room. A latched marine is a down waiting to happen, and the Praetorian will punish the revive.
Is the Queen in Horde?
The showcase frames her as a large late encounter. Campaign Final Endeavor is the reliable place to learn her. Horde can still throw Praetorian-scale heavies; do not assume every huge silhouette is the Queen.
Did Patch 1 change enemy behaviour?
Yes. Grapple tracking, Prowler stun-lock, Harbinger spawn freezes, crawler turret aim, and elemental reactions on Facehuggers and Poppers were all touched. Old preview tricks may no longer work.