The Hemocyte is the big boss you need to defeat on the Plains of Eidolon during Operation Plague Star in Warframe. In this guide we run through what you need to know to kill it.
The Hemocyte is back to bother us on our peaceful strolls around the Plains of Eidolon in Warframe. This also means a special bounty that we can run for Konzu and great loot that we can grind for. The Hemocyte is a massive Infested boss that you will meet on the last stage of the Plague Star bounty.
How To Kill The Hemocyte
The first thing to do is decide how many Hemocytes you want actually to fight. In a public lobby, this is harder to control, but if you are playing with friends, you should decide before starting the Plague Star bounty. If you want to increase the Standing you earn form the mission; you can choose to use up to four Infested Catalysts on the Mixer to fight four Hemocytes. If that is all sounding like new information to you, read the full Plague Star guide here.
The Hemocyte is very similar to the Lephantis, which you should have fought already in your time as a Tenno. It consists of the main body and three different heads that all represent different enemy factions in the game. You need to fight each head a little differently, so I will list the details below.
- A square head with green energy, and a closed vertical “mouth”. You need to wait for the mouth to be open (this will happen as it shoots at you) then damage it by shooting it right in the center.
- A long, snouted head, with small wing-like features on the torso. The wings will open when it attacks, and you need to shoot it in the chest/neck area.
- This head has a screaming mouth, and the body holds a gigantic scythe. You need to hit it either in the mouth or a small, weird face on its chest when it is swinging the scythe.
The annoying this about fighting the Hemocyte is not that it will take no damage unless you hit the weak spots, it is that all attacks against it have a cap. You can only do so much damage to it in a single shot. As such, you want to bring a weapon that can hit hard, but can also fire pretty fast. Personally, I am a huge fan of the Rubico Prime, as it will rip these enemies to pieces due to the fast fire rate.
You need to destroy all three heads to defeat the Hemocyte, so it is best to focus them down one at a time if you are a newer player.
Hemocyte – Best Damage To Deal
Every enemy in Warframe has a different weakness and buffs to or against certain damage types. The Hemocyte consists of Fossilized materials and is weak to Slash, Blast and Corrosive Damage. It is resistant to Cold, Toxin, and Radiation damage. As such, you want to mod whatever weapon you choose to fight it with for one of the first three, or whatever combination suits you the most.
As I already said, I like to use a Rubico Prime, modded for Corrosive, and just slam rounds into the various heads until the whole beast explodes. While you normally wouldn’t use a hard-hitting weapon like this against this type of enemy, due to the damage cap this boss gets, you also want to be able to avoid all the ads, and the ooze on the ground.
Important Things To Know When Fighting The Hemocyte
- Remember the damage cap when deciding on your loadout. Something like an Opticor sounds great; the fast firing Opticor Vandal is actually a better option. Reasonably hard hitting, fast firing snipers are also great. I’m gonna mention the Rubico Prime one last time for the folks in the back of the class.
- The Hemocyte can do a massive slam attack, so keep your distance. This will mess you up pretty badly if you get caught in it.
- Don’t get lost aiming down-sights at the beast; those other Infested are still going to be flooding the area. Having one person deal with adds is not the worst idea in the world.
- The damage the Hemocyte can dish out gets a bit excessive if you are new, maybe bring a healing Warframe to keep yourself in the fight.
- Rhino’s stomp is my secret weapon against the Hemocyte. It will completely freeze the beast, and if you land it while the Hemocyte is attacking and vulnerable, it can buy you a long window to throw damage at it.
- Don’t fight on the Boil! The boil will damage you if you stand on it, and can eventually kill you. Just avoid fighting on it to avoid this particular complication.
