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The key to a successful Boltgun 2 Dauntless run is route discipline. Alternating chapters are selected once per playthrough, and some decisions can open optional secret chapters. Choose your character before planning combat: Ultramarine Malum Caedo favors a heavier Space Marine approach, while Sister of Battle Nyra Veyrath is faster and uses a different arsenal. Follow the navigation guide or map to limit backtracking, but search every side path for hidden collectibles and power-ups.
This guide covers the verified campaign structure, character-specific tactics, route planning, secret-hunting routine, upgrade priorities, and ways to approach difficult enemies and bosses. It does not invent room coordinates, upgrade prices, boss phases, or Dauntless damage values: no authoritative level-by-level database for those details has been published.
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What Boltgun 2’s campaign structure means for a Dauntless walkthrough
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 launched on October 14, 2026. Steam lists Auroch Digital as developer, Big Fan Games and Devolver Digital as publishers, and a listed price of $24.99 at the time of publication. The price is region-dependent and can change. Steam showed 93% positive user reviews from 250 reviews in a 2026 snapshot; that percentage is not a permanent score.
The campaign is single-player and branches across several worlds. You play as either Malum Caedo or Nyra Veyrath, and the two protagonists are not cosmetic swaps: their movement, abilities, weapons, and preferred engagement distances differ. The story follows a race to cleanse the corruption powering Vashtorr the Arkifane’s daemonic machine. The developer has also described four Chaos factions and a larger scope than the first game.
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- Also included are 38 Orks: 20 Ork Boyz, 10 Gretchin, 1 Warboss, 1 Bannernob, 1 Bigboss, 1 Painboy with 1 Grot Orderly, 1 Weirdboy, 1 Wartrakk, 1 Big Mek Dakkarig
- One 114 page hardcover Armageddon: Operation Imperator book, 88 Page Core rules booklet, Chapter Approved 2026-27: Mission Deck 88 cards, 89 Cards Dominatus Narrative Campaign Deck,
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For walkthrough purposes, the most important structural rule is that alternating chapters can be selected once during a playthrough. A choice may also unlock an optional secret chapter. That makes a first run a route-planning exercise rather than a simple linear clear. Decide whether the current save is for progression, secrets, or a speed-focused finish before committing to a chapter.
Three practical run types
- First clear: choose the route that lets you learn the character kit and campaign flow. Take side paths when they are visible, but do not risk a run-ending fight solely to test an unexplained branch.
- Completion run: mark every unexplored branch, locked-looking door, elevated ledge, and dead-end arena. Revisit the route with the map open and compare your notes against chapter-selection options.
- Replay run: select the alternate chapter choices and deliberately pursue optional secret chapters. Do not assume a collectible missed on one route appears on the other.
Malum Caedo and Nyra Veyrath: choose tactics before weapons
Universal advice is unreliable because each character changes how you survive a room. The table below is the safe planning baseline supported by the game’s character descriptions.
| Character | Core identity | Movement advice | Combat planning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malum Caedo | Heavier Ultramarine approach | Use deliberate positioning and let the armor-and-firepower profile carry sustained exchanges. | Preserve high-value ammunition for elites and bosses; chainsword and shotgun pressure are useful when enemies collapse into close range. |
| Nyra Veyrath | Faster Sister of Battle movement with a distinct arsenal | Keep moving through the room, use lateral routes, and avoid being pinned against cover or a wall. | Exploit mobility to choose engagement distance. Switch weapons before an enemy group closes rather than trying to absorb damage. |
Malum: control space instead of chasing every target
Malum’s heavier profile rewards a stable firing position with an escape route. Enter an arena by identifying the two exits or traversal lanes you can use when melee enemies arrive. Use the shotgun or chainsword when a target has already crossed the safe distance; do not spend all of your ammunition on minor enemies if the room has not revealed its reinforcement pattern. The flamer is most valuable when several hostile bodies occupy a narrow approach, but the exact ammunition economy depends on the weapon state and difficulty selected.
His weight can tempt you to stand still. That is dangerous in a game with varied enemies and bosses. After each burst, make a short repositioning move, check the edges of the arena, and keep one route open. The goal is not constant sprinting; it is preventing a crowd from turning your strongest weapon into a panic button.
Nyra: make speed a defensive resource
Nyra’s faster movement changes the meaning of cover. A pillar or doorway is not only protection; it is a pivot point that lets you break line of sight, circle a threat, and re-enter from a better angle. When several enemies appear, move through the room’s perimeter rather than backing into its center. Reserve a clean lane for retreat before starting a close-range attack.
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- Extensive Miniature Collection: Includes 61 plastic push-fit miniatures to build Space Marines and Orks armies with 501 components that can be assembled without glue
- Space Marines Force: Contains 23 Space Marines including 1 Captain with Relic Shield, 1 Librarian, 1 Chaplain with Jump Pack, 1 Ancient, 10 Intercessors, 5 Vanguard Veterans with Jump Packs, 3 Eradicators with Heavy Bolters, and 1 Land Speeder
- Orks Army: Features 38 Ork miniatures including 1 Warboss, 1 Bannernob, 1 Bigboss, 1 Painboy with Grot Orderly, 1 Weirdboy, 20 Ork Boyz, 10 Gretchin, 1 Wartrakk, and 1 Big Mek Dakkarig
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Because her arsenal is distinct, do not copy Malum’s ammunition priorities. Test each weapon on ordinary enemies early in a chapter, note which targets it handles efficiently, and reserve the most reliable option for elites. Mobility is an advantage only while you can see where you are going, so avoid blind dashes into unexplored side rooms during a fight.
How to plan chapter choices and optional secret chapters
Alternating chapters are a one-selection-per-playthrough commitment. Treat the chapter screen as a strategic checkpoint, not a menu choice you can casually undo.
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- Check for a route you have not played. If the chapter list presents two alternating options, assume the unchosen one may require a replay unless the game explicitly indicates otherwise.
- Look for prerequisites. A newly available option may be an optional secret chapter. Note what you did immediately before it appeared, but do not infer an unlock condition the game does not state.
- Commit only after deciding your goal. For a story clear, take the route with the equipment and arena flow you understand. For completion, choose the branch you have not cleared and keep a separate secret checklist.
- After the chapter, compare your map notes. Record collectibles found, unexplored doors, and any power-up locations by room description rather than guessed coordinates.
This process prevents the most common route mistake: finishing a branch and discovering that the desired optional chapter was tied to the other selection. A second playthrough is the dependable way to see alternate content when the game does not provide chapter replay within the same save.
Secrets and collectibles: a reliable search method
Hidden collectibles and secret power-ups are central completion goals. The navigation guide or map is your main anti-backtracking tool, but it should be used as a framework, not as a reason to sprint past suspicious geometry. No complete, authoritative list of every secret location is available in the published material, so a responsible walkthrough cannot provide verified room numbers or coordinates.
Search every room in a repeatable order
- Clear the immediate threat. Searching while enemies are active causes missed corners and unnecessary damage, especially on a high difficulty.
- Trace the perimeter. Walk the full outer edge of an arena, checking alcoves, behind large props, and around entrances you used to enter.
- Check vertical routes. Look above normal eye level for ledges, platforms, ramps, and alternate jump or movement lines. A fast character may reach a path that is easy to overlook when playing a heavier one.
- Inspect dead ends. A dead-end corridor is often where a secret makes exploration worthwhile. Record it even if it contains nothing, so you do not repeat the search on a later pass.
- Return after arena changes. If a fight opens a door or changes access, revisit the newly exposed side of the room before advancing.
- Mark the result on the map. Use a simple code such as C for collectible, P for power-up, and ? for an unchecked branch. Keep route notes separate for Malum and Nyra.
Do not assume that a secret power-up is always placed beside a collectible, or that a missed item can be recovered from the next chapter. Until a chapter-specific guide confirms otherwise, treat each branch as self-contained and search before crossing a one-way transition.
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Upgrade priorities without inventing costs or tiers
The available information confirms upgrades and secret power-ups, but it does not establish a complete upgrade tree, prices, tier names, or the effect of every item. You can still make sound choices by matching upgrades to the way you lose fights.
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- If bosses outlast your ammunition: favor damage efficiency, magazine or reserve improvements, and weapons that let you keep a safe distance.
- If ordinary enemies consume all resources: improve the weapon you use for routine targets and stop spending premium ammunition on enemies that can be handled by chainsword, shotgun, or another lower-cost option.
- If secrets are your goal: choose upgrades that increase survivability during exploration rather than taking a marginal damage option that only helps in a short duel.
Read the exact in-game description before spending a resource. Save the game, if the platform’s normal save system allows it, before a major purchase or route commitment. Because costs and upgrade effects can vary by progression state or patch, a guide that supplies universal numbers without an in-game source is not reliable.
Weapon and resource management
Official descriptions highlight chainsword, shotgun, and flamer combat, while coverage of the sequel describes a broader weapon selection than the first game. Build a three-layer loadout: a dependable weapon for ordinary targets, a close-range answer for enemies that breach your space, and a high-impact or area option for groups, elites, and bosses.
Chainsword
Use it when a weakened enemy has already entered melee range or when ammunition conservation matters. Starting a chainsword exchange in an open arena against multiple threats is a poor trade; isolate the target first.
Shotgun
The shotgun is a close-range control tool. Fire when the target is committed to an approach, then move immediately rather than waiting to confirm a second hit. Its value rises when a doorway or narrow route limits the enemy’s ability to surround you.
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Flamer
The flamer is suited to clustered enemies and constrained approaches. Avoid wasting its area effect on a lone minor target. Before igniting a group, check whether the fire will block your own escape lane.
For both characters, reload or swap weapons during the quiet seconds after a wave, not while an elite is entering the arena. Keep one emergency option available; an empty magazine at the start of a boss transition is often more dangerous than a slightly slower clear.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Handling difficult encounters and bosses
The sources establish tougher enemies and bosses, but not exact Dauntless tuning, health totals, attack damage, phase order, or arena coordinates. The safest approach is behavior-based: identify what the enemy is asking you to do, then choose the character-specific response.
Fast melee pressure
These enemies punish backing up in a straight line. Circle around open space, remove the fastest threat first, and keep a door or ramp behind you. Malum should use controlled bursts and a close-range finisher only when the lane is clear; Nyra can use her speed to pull the pack through a longer route and split it.
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Ranged crossfire
Do not focus on the nearest shooter if another enemy has a clean angle on you. Move from one piece of cover to the next, break one firing lane, then finish the exposed target. If a side path exists, use it to attack from an angle rather than trading damage in the center.
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Armored or elite targets
Elites are where resource discipline matters. Clear minor enemies that can flank you, then spend the appropriate high-impact ammunition on the elite. If the target’s behavior changes, stop firing long enough to identify the new tell; blindly repeating the opening attack wastes resources.
Boss arenas
On entering a boss room, make one reconnaissance circuit if the encounter allows it. Identify health or ammunition pickups, corners that trap movement, and the route back to the entrance. Start with a conservative weapon, learn the attack rhythm, and commit premium ammunition only after you know when the boss is vulnerable. Malum should value stable firing lanes; Nyra should preserve a continuous movement loop. When reinforcements arrive, treat them as a separate survival problem before returning to the boss.
Dauntless difficulty: what is known and what is not
Boltgun 2 offers multiple difficulty settings, and “Dauntless” is the difficulty named in this walkthrough request. Publicly available information does not specify its exact health multipliers, incoming-damage values, resource rates, or enemy behavior changes. Therefore, a trustworthy Dauntless guide should describe decisions that remain valid across patches rather than claim unverified numbers.
- Use the map to avoid entering an optional branch with depleted ammunition or health.
- Clear threats before searching for secrets; exploration deaths erase the time saved by rushing.
- Keep an escape route in every arena and avoid spending the last area-control resource on a single enemy.
- Record failed attempts by cause: surrounded, crossfire, missed boss tell, or empty ammunition. Change one variable on the next attempt.
A complete first-playthrough checklist
- Select Malum or Nyra based on the movement and weapon style you can execute consistently.
- At every alternating chapter, record the choice and decide whether this save is for story progress or completion.
- Open the navigation guide or map before leaving a major room.
- Clear enemies, then sweep perimeter, vertical paths, dead ends, and newly opened areas.
- Mark collectibles, secret power-ups, and unresolved branches without guessing their effects or costs.
- Match upgrades to your actual failure pattern instead of copying a universal build.
- Reserve area damage and high-impact ammunition for clustered threats, elites, and bosses.
- After finishing the route, replay the alternate chapter choices to pursue optional secret chapters and anything your map marks as missing.
This checklist gives you a repeatable route even where a verified room-by-room collectible database does not yet exist. It also keeps the two characters’ different strengths intact instead of forcing one build onto both.
What this walkthrough can and cannot verify
Verified facts support the branching campaign, the two playable characters, hidden collectibles, secret power-ups, navigation guidance, multiple difficulties, tougher enemies, bosses, and optional secret chapters. They do not support exact collectible coordinates, a complete upgrade catalog, upgrade costs, boss phase charts, or Dauntless-specific damage values. Use in-game descriptions and your map for those details, and treat any third-party list that supplies precise numbers as version-specific unless it identifies the patch and test conditions.
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