Elemental & Special Ammo — when bullet types win fights
Special ammo is how you answer crowds and armor. What's documented comes from official feature coverage (DSOGaming) and hands-on reporting (GamingBolt).
What's confirmed
Official feature coverage for Horde mode explicitly lists the tools you'll need: stun batons for up-close melee, and pyro and electric ammo to whittle down the Xenomorph front before it overruns your squad (DSOGaming). GamingBolt's reporting on the Hunter kit also documents cryo technology in the arsenal — the class can modify its Particle Pulse into a Cryo Pulse.
| Type | Documented use |
|---|---|
| Pyro (fire) ammo | Whittling down waves — area pressure against the swarm (DSOGaming) |
| Electric ammo | Wave control alongside pyro (DSOGaming) |
| Cryo | Cold-based crowd control; Hunter's Cryo Pulse variant (GamingBolt) |
| Armor-piercing | The conventional answer to armored targets like Crushers and synthetics (see synthetic intel) |
Matching ammo to faction
Hive waves: fire and electric are your horde-clearing pair (DSOGaming) — pair with a Marauder's ordnance for maximum wave denial. Pathogen mutants: cryo control buys the seconds a Harbinger fight demands. Synthetics: armor-piercing pressure plus flanking beats raw spray against cover-using androids (GamingBolt).
Ammo economy on high difficulty
On Extreme and Insane, ammo crates are limited (GamingBolt) — special ammo becomes a resource decision, not a default. Save elemental loads for defense objectives and evac waves, and lean on efficient primary fire between them. See the difficulty guide for the full modifier list.
Sources: DSOGaming — official feature coverage, GamingBolt — 15 Things, GamingBolt — 10 New Details.