Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide – How to Fight Rat Ogres

Ever wondered why some people just don’t get hit by them?

Guide to Fight Rat Ogres

Please note: all credit goes to K1llalalala!

Introduction

Fighting the ogre can be tricky when you just started to play the game. As I originally posted this on Reddit some time ago and started to edit it multiple times afterwards, I thought I should post it separate here too so more people can see it.

The first thing I should mention are these basic rules: Keep moving. Don’t stop, even if that means you run backwards in circles. Don’t be afraid of the ogre, don’t panic. If you know how to fight it, it’s rarely the ogre that kills you – it’s often the rats that surround him or a special your teammates didn’t kill. You sometimes can even let the ogre kill the other rats before you kill it, but as a general rule: The one who kites the ogre(s) should not have to bother about the rats around him/her. For that you have your team.

Statistics

The ogre has 800 HP on Easy, 1000 HP on Normal, 1200 HP on Hard, 1400 HP on Nightmare and a whopping 2000 on Cataclysm. Just for the record: All heroes have a maximum of 150 HP on Easy, Normal, Hard and Nightmare and only a maximum of 100 HP on Cataclysm.

The ogre’s strongest regular attack is also the easiest to avoid / block, the Bitchslap. It does 15 damage on Easy, 20 on Normal, 30 on Hard, 40 on Nightmare and 60 on Cataclysm. The other 2 main attacks, both Ground Pounds, do 8/15/20/25/40 damage each. If a Ground Pound is blocked with a Shield, it’s damage is reduced to 4/5/7/9/12.

Wait: The ogre has multiple attacks? Yup, and here they are.

The 4 Attack Types

  • The Bitchslap: The main attraction. The ogre only uses it when it runs towards you. The attack hits all rats and all heroes in it’s way, even Stormvermins and other specials. It does damage, but not very much. All targets it hits go flying. Rats fly only a few metres / feet, whereas our heroes can fly across half a map of Last Stand. If you hit stairs while flying, you will slide even further. This can kill you if you fly over a cliff or into the water, but it’s the easiest attack to defend against. Just hold block with your melee weapon. You will fly away, yes, but you won’t take damage at all. It always depletes your whole stamina, regardless if you have 2 or 7 stamina to work with. Reading the ogre: If you see one of his arms swinging out far, immediately hold block and dodge backwards. Sometimes the attack misses. You won’t fly away from the ogre then, negating you time to attack it with ranged weapons, but you also won’t get slammed into a corner or down a cliff, so there’s that.
  • The two-handed Ground Pound: Welcome to the jam. This is the ogre’s main attack if it stands still. It uses it against heroes it trapped in a corner, against unconscious heroes and sometimes while turning. If you stand in front of it when it uses this attack, you will take damage. Simply holding block won’t help, although you take way less damage if you block with a shield – it doesn’t work with regular weapons. So you have to dodge backwards to avoid taking damage completely, as far away from the ogre as you can. Remember that you can dodge backwards to the sides too, meaning you can dodge even further away if you do it right. Reading the ogre: If it throws both arms in the air like it just doesn’t care, dodge backwards. It is the single reason why you want to keep moving as it’s the hardest attack to avoid, by far. It requires the most amount of practice and even then it sometimes gets you. I would guess Fatshark built it in to make sure an ogre does damage at all, as it’s nearly impossible to avoid with high ping.
  • The one-handed Ground Pound: It’s a different version of the regular ground pound. The ogre mainly uses it while running slowly. Again blocking doesn’t work – you only take less damage, and only if you’re using a shield. You have to dodge this attack too. Try to dodge backwards to the side that gets you further away, as usual. Reading the ogre: If you see the ogre swinging it’s one arm behind and then up in the air, dodge. It’s much easier to avoid if you keep moving. Also, it’s area of effect seems to be smaller than that of the two-handed version, but it’s the same radius. So the same things apply here: Much easier to avoid if you don’t have lag or are the host.
  • The Jumpslam: Here the ogre leaps at you to bridge big distances. It’s a variant of the Bitchslap, meaning it’s possible to just block it and not take any damage. You will be often sent flying a bit though, but you won’t take damage. This attack only breaks your stamina or damages you if the ogre lands right on top of you – otherwise you just fly away, as it’s effect radius is quite big. So it’s highly possible to not get damaged even without blocking if he lands right near you. Because you should see it coming, it’s easy to avoid. Just block with your melee weapon and move away from it or dodge to be sure. Don’t stand near ledges. Reading the ogre: It jumps. Not hard to see. There’s a new bug in version 1.5: Killing an ogre while it’s in the air causes the corpse to trigger the ogre landing sound in a fast loop until the ogre corpse disappears. It’s ear-breakingly annoying, but don’t lose your concentration.

What Is Best in Life?

Face the ogre, hold block and dodge backwards simultaneously if the ogre launches any attack, as that helps in 95% of the situations you will find yourself in. Try to remember the place you’re in: Never run backwards into a wall! Remember: All ogre attacks are possible to avoid if you don’t get stuck at objects while running backwards (this is the reason some people like to fight the ogre while running mostly sideways) and most important, if you can read the ogre.

Fighting even multiple ogres without taking damage at all is possible, but you’ll need a lot of practice. Last Stand is known for throwing multiple ogres simultaneously at you (3+) so practice there. Practice, practice, practice.

General Tips

  • An ogre can spawn in every map except Man the Ramparts (there used to be a possible ogre spawn, but it was removed because of balancing reasons), so be sure to prepare for it. A total of 6 maps have a fix ogre spawn, and in pretty much every other map there are only a few spots where the ogre will spawn. Play all maps often – you will eventually learn where ogre spawns are common. Always save strength potions and bombs for the ogre fight, don’t waste them on patrols if you don’t have to use them or even don’t have to engage the patrol. It’s possible that there is no ogre fight at all, yes (for example on Garden of Morr & Engines of War no ogre spawn is quite common in fact), but you shouldn’t count on that. Let a possibly incoming ogre fight influence the decision whether to take grims with you or not. If it’s possible you’ll run into an ogre soon, maybe you want to leave that second grim where it is for now or altogether. A slightly worse chance for good loot is better than no loot.
  • Kill other rats first, especially Gas Rats and Packmasters. They will wreck you. It’s rarely the ogre that kills you, it’s often the horde that it brings along. The ogre just puts the final nail in the coffin. I know an ogre is big and it catches your eye, but it’s not that hard to deal with if you have more space to maneuver. So kill the other rats first – except for the guy/girl that has the ogre aggro of course. He or she has to try to not take any damage but keep the ogre’s aggro while doing so.
  • I had to remove this whole paragraph here, because due to the medkit nerf with 1.5, medkit ogre kiting is no longer possible. Since 1.5 you get only half a shield of stamina (instead of 2) and reduced run speed when you block with a medkit. So now you have to use your regular weapons to block and kite. Here I recommend 1H weapons like 1H Swords, 1H Axes or pretty much all Elven weapons. The dodging distance is bigger with some 1H weapons, so use that to your advantage.
  • The best weapons against an ogre are Hagbane Swiftbow, Volley Crossbow, Trueflight Longbow, 1H Axe & Falchion with Backstabbery, Brace of Pistols, Repeater Pistol, Beamstaff, Drakefire Pistols, Grudge Raker, Repeater Handgun and the OG Handgun. Always aim for the head, it’s hitbox is pretty easy to hit. Regular bombs work too – try to aim for the ground the ogre is on and not for the ogre itself so you won’t miss your throw. Regular bombs stun the ogre for 2-3 seconds and push it a bit back, so it’s possible to bomb an ogre into an abyss or a river on maps like Enemy Below, White Rat, Black Powder, The Fall, etc. This may sometimes require multiple bombs. Don’t consider it cheating, just embrace the cheese. Ogres just can’t swim. Incendiary Bombs don’t push the ogre though and only stun them half a second or so. And because the ogre is often right between your team members and won’t take much damage from Incendiary Bombs anyway, they are way worse on NM and Cata against ogres. So please only use firebombs for trash rats and hordes on NM and Cata. Remember that strength potions work with bombs and ranged weapons! Strength potion + Hagbane Swiftbow or Volley Crossbow will kill an ogre very fast. Also, the Rack of Vials (potion share) trinket helps tremendously against ogres in general.
  • There’s a bug with ogres and regular bombs in Vermintide, even in version 1.5 on PC: Ogres can die instantly if a regular bomb pushes them too hard into a wall while they are in tight corridors. The ogre overlaps with the wall, so it just dies. There will not always be a “X killed a Rat Ogre” notice, but the ogre always counts as killed for a contract. It’s exploitable, but this bug is extremely hard to abuse as the ogre spawn is random and even when it’s not, the bug not always works. I saw it happen on Summoner’s Peak, Enemy Below, White Rat (the tight space down the stairs near the first chain), Wizard’s Tower, Horn of Magnus, Smuggler’s Run, Castle Drachenfels, Chain of Fire (right before the bridge) and other maps. But don’t count on it. When it happens, you probably just got lucky. It’s possible to get somewhat consistent with this exploit, but it will be fixed in the upcoming version 1.6.
  • Play as a team. The ogre rarely attacks one player until he or she is completely dead, but often switches targets. This depends on which player did how much damage to it. It only keeps the same target if no other hero is in range. So one or two players kite the ogre(s), the other players kill the normal rats and then attack the ogre(s) with melee from behind or simply with ranged weapons. Kill other specials first, as they can mess up your plan. Don’t feel stupid if you don’t attack the ogre immediately when it spawns! Every killed normal rat helps fighting the ogre, especially on Cata & Heroic. I fought a lot of ogres where I didn’t even attack the ogre once. Always be aware who has the aggro, even during hordes. Help your mates up if someone’s on the floor if you don’t have the aggro. Make it your top priority. It’s rarely possible to pick up your teammates if you have the ogre’s aggro, as it will often kill you in the process. It is possible though to help up downed players while the ogre attacks them, as long as you don’t stand in the ground pound area. The Bone Saw of the Medicus (faster reviving) trinket is very helpful here.
  • Killing the ogre is important to proceed in the level, but don’t risk a teamwipe while killing it. On a few maps it’s possible to outrun the ogre and finish the level without killing it (Waterfront is the best example, but it’s also doable on Engines of War, Black Powder, Chain of Fire and White Rat). It’s also possible to de-spawn the ogre if you’re too far away from it. Chain of Fire is a good example for that.
  • Fighting multiple ogres alone is hard. Try to focus 1-3 on one player anyway. For this player it’s all about running away from them while keeping the aggro (stay in their attack range). Do your best to not sync them. If 2+ ogres do a bitchslap simultaneously, you can’t block that.

Fix Ogre Spawn Points

Ogres always spawn in the same location on some maps. This makes planning possible and yes, you should preserve bombs for these spots. There are 7 maps that do that:

  • Black Powder: A difficult ogre to kill. It always spawns when you cleared the first horde after you reach the barrel section, regardless of how many barrels you put into the boat yet. Try to fight it in the open or at the stairs to the left, as the ogre needs time to climb up and down between the floors. Beware of the hordes coming from the chest area to the left on the ground floor. In version 1.5 there are multiple spots in the level where the ogre can’t hit you, and some of them are going to be fixed with version 1.6.
  • Dungeons: One of the hardest ogres, as it always spawns at the finale. Hide in the right back corner with the torches stuck on both pillars there, and when the ogre spawns, try to not get hit by the normal rats. Good luck. It’s possible that another random ogre spawns in the darkness section or at the beginning – try not to use any bombs as this level is stingy with them. Be careful: This map can throw this random ogre right in the beginning and even in the darkness section at you. The ogre in the finale is a fix spawn, it always spawns in the left behind corner. Just throw a torch near the last pillar back there, the other one onto the pillar on the right of the altar and defend there. I highly recommend either STR-Potions plus regular bombs or a Witchhunter in the team with a good Volley Crossbow with Hail of Doom, Extra Capacity and a third trait of your choice. I prefer Skullcracker. Pop the STR-Pot and go to town, use 1-2 regular bombs if necessary. Do NOT use Firebombs here! The ogre will just run around the firepatch, avoiding all bombs and other stuff you shoot at it. The ogre should die before it even reaches you! Save your firebombs for the regular rats afterwards, or to clean up the horde if the ogre is still alive at this point.
  • Summoner’s Peak: One ogre always spawns at the second generator, one always at the third. The first ogre should be easy: Either take it out with ranged weapons (stay at the ammo crate) or bomb it over a cliff. It’s also possible to bomb the ogre into the portal (version 1.5 only). Try to save 1-2 bombs for the second ogre. This one spawns right with a horde when the third generator thingy is about 3/4 red, so the ogre should be taken out quickly with bombs and everything you have left – the level is pretty much over afterwards, so give it all you got. Be aware of the Stormvermins there. Try to make your bombs count, this ogre fight can be a ♥♥♥♥♥. It’s possible to bomb it into a wall using the bug, but you shouldn’t count on that. It’s possible to hide behind the giant stone obelisk and bomb the obelisk when the ogre is near to bomb it into the abyss there, but that requires practice.
  • Supply & Demand: There used to be a fix ogre fight at the end when you collect the 6 sacks, but it was removed with a patch, probably because of balancing reasons. Now there’s only one ogre somewhere in the map which not always spawns. Often you fight it in the beginning, in the streets in front of the first destroyed Inn – there’s enough space to maneuver which makes it easy. Don’t forget to pick up the bombs / potions on the bridge before the Inn. It used to be possible to trigger the ogre by running to the gate at the end of the first street, but this glitch got patched. Now you often have to fight the ogre in the garden which gives your team plenty of space.
  • Waterfront: The ogre always spawns after the second warehouse, regardless of which warehouse you do first. Just go to the big area with the ammo crate. The crate alone makes it easy to kill the ogre there. Kill the normal rats first and shoot the ogre when you have time. The player with the aggro should just kite the ogre around and avoid the other rats. It’s possible to finish the level with the ogre still alive (even on Cata) – just kite the ogre until the boat arrives, then go for it.
  • Wheat & Chaff: The ogre always spawns after a few minutes, often when you already have 2 sacks (I recommend going for the left 2 sacks first) in the coach. If you go for the 4 sacks in the right first, the ogre spawns after the 4th sack is in the coach. Don’t ask me how this map works, I have no idea. Anyway: Try to fight it in the open area to the left or the open area to the right of the coach. It should go down pretty easily, so kill it before you proceed to the other sacks. Beware of pack masters and regular rats sneeking up through the high grass!
  • White Rat: The ogre always spawns when you reach the top floor right in front of the chest there. Just go back down to the barrel section and fight it the hordes and the ogre there. Focus on the SVs first, then the normal rats, then the ogre. One player can kite the ogre around in the meantime. It’s possible to bomb the ogre into a wall near the stairwell to the top floor (killing it instantly) or into the abyss there. Don’t feel cheesy doing that, be glad it happened. It’s also possible to drop further down from the second floor where the wooden ramp is – there are some platforms to drop down without taking fall damage. Another tactic is that just one player kites the ogre back to the ground floor, while the others head up and cut the chains ASAP. The level ends when the cutscene starts, even if the ogre is still alive. So even if the ogre kills the kiting player, it needs time to go back up to the other three. There used to be spots in the level where the ogre can’t hit you – it seems they do not work anymore. On Nightmare and if you have a good Witchhunter in your team (with Volley Crossbow), I prefer killing the ogre on the left side of the third floor, near the chest. Use the stairs and jump over the destroyed bridge to the left. For Cataclysm I recommend not doing that, as this tactic lives and dies with your Witchhunter.
Egor Opleuha
About Egor Opleuha 8075 Articles
Egor Opleuha, also known as Juzzzie, is the Editor-in-Chief of Gameplay Tips. He is a writer with more than 12 years of experience in writing and editing online content. His favorite game was and still is the third part of the legendary Heroes of Might and Magic saga. He prefers to spend all his free time playing retro games and new indie games.

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