Anthem guide: Colossus javelin

The Colossus is the tankiest Javelin in Anthem. It’s a little unwieldy when you try to fly it around or move quickly. But no Javelin is more useful to the overall success of a team.

All Javelins have their own ability to support a team, but no other Javelin can hold enemy focus the way this big guy does. Protecting your allies with your shield and drawing enemy fire is a big responsibility and puts you in a lot of danger. However, it also affords your squishier allies a great opportunity to deal damage while a Colossus draws fire.

Before you jump in and start setting stuff on fire or bashing enemies with your shield, there are a couple of tips we’d like to impart.

Keep your shield out, not broken

Instead of a dodge ability, the Colossus gets a big shield strapped to its arm, like Reinhardt in Overwatch or a SWAT shield in Rainbow Six: Siege. This shield can take some serious damage as long as you’ve built for it.

However, the shield can break when it takes too much stress. This can be a serious problem for you, the Colossus holding the shield. Not only does it open you up to tons of damage, but it also stuns you the moment it cracks. It’s worth keeping in mind that damage doesn’t carry over from the attack that breaks the shield — at least from our testing — so you can take a massive hit for an ally as long as you can survive the upcoming stun.

Learning what you can and can’t defend against will take time and will change depending on your gear. But it’s still something that you can control as you play Anthem. The shield is your greatest tool as the Colossus. Using it right and making sure you have it when you need it is key to finding success.

Stay grounded when you can

The Colossus’ air game is not very good. The rocket boost is very helpful for getting onto ledges and traversing the environment, but hovering and flying shouldn’t be your go-to combat maneuver.

There are a couple of reasons for this. Most of your abilities take time to set up, or they involve standing with a shield for long periods. Doing this in the air can get you in trouble, as you’ll open yourself up for damage when you land. Save your rocket juice for quickly reaching your allies in need, rather than flying around to reach sneaky positions. Out in the open is where you thrive.

While you’re in the air, you can use your shield in front of you to keep you safe. This is actually a great way to get somewhere dangerous and set up shop. Get in the air, fly over with your shield out, land, and unleash hell.

Bioware/EA

Your shield is an offensive tool, too

Just because you have a big brick wall that protrudes out of your arm doesn’t mean it’s only good for blocking bullets. You can hit enemies with it, too.

Your melee shield attack seems to be more powerful than just using your fists to slam the dirt around you. This is handy in a couple of different scenarios. First, you can use it to quickly kill — even one-shot — low health enemies without shields. Second, you can run forward with it to charge enemies in a group. Running with your shield out will stun enemies you run into, which can be powerful crowd control.

Don’t let the basic ideas of what a shield can be limit you. Think of it as a melee weapon as well, and you’ll get work done in Strongholds.

Take advantage of your big weapons

The Colossus is the only Javelin that can wield heavy weapons like miniguns and grenade launchers. These guns physically large and quite impactful.

These weapons are both great for crowd control damage. Use the miniguns to quickly deal with a large group of enemies all at once. Use the grenade launcher to blow up groups. These tools are powerful and unique to your Javelin. Consider the situation you’re going into, and always remember that you have these at your disposal. You may not always end up taking one with you, but you should always consider it.

Take your ultimate aerial

The Colossus’ ultimate is essentially a miniature nuclear missile launched from a cannon three times. This can deal serious burst damage to bosses or completely eliminate enemies in a small group. But to use it well, we’re going to have to break one of our other rules.

When your ultimate becomes available, you want to fly into the sky as high as you can, or position yourself where you can see multiple groups of enemies. The ultimate deals a lot of damage at once, and wasting it on targets can be easy if you aren’t positioned well. Give yourself as many targets as you can, so you can activate your rockets and fire them in three different locations instead of nuking one group of enemies.

List of Colossus abilities

Here’s a rundown of all of the currently-known abilities for the Colossus. More are likely to be added over time.

Ordnance Launcher

• High Explosive Mortar - Blast a group of enemies with a long range bomb
• Burst Mortar - Sends a barrage of bombs to an area
• Firewall Mortar - Creates a dangerous wall of fire on impact
• Lightning Coil - Fires random pulses of electricity (can be used alongside shield and other abilities)
• Shock Coil - Pulses electricity around the Colossus, dealing damage to nearby enemies

Heavy Assault Launcher

• Siege Artillery - Launches a large rocket in a straight line
• Flame Thrower - Sets nearby enemies on fire
• Flak Cannon - Short-range shotgun-like blast from the wrist
• Railgun - Long range cannon that can be charged for extra damage
• Venom Spitter - Poison enemies with acid, causing them to take additional damage

Support Gear

• Battle Cry - Taunt nearby enemies into attacking you
• Shield Pulse - All Javelins nearby take less damage for a short period of time

Melee Ability: Heavy Smash

Slam the ground with the Colossus’ two giant fists, dealing damage in an area around the mech.

Ultimate Ability: Siege Cannon

Fire three giant missiles that explode in flames and cover a massive area. These are essentially three mini-nukes and deal high damage to single target enemies or large groups.

The Colossus is truly a bipedal tank. Play like you’re a wall for your allies and a barricade against your enemies. You’ll not only keep your allies from harm, but you’ll bowl through groups of foes with flames and mortar shells.