Warhammer Survivors Malum Caedo Guide: Chainsword Opening and Ally Recruits

Start as Malum Caedo, clear the first waves with his starting Chainsword, rescue Trooper Bartosz Kozlowski from the question-mark event on the map, then pick the Lasgun on your next level-up to recruit him as a fighting ally. Leveling the Lasgun adds more Astra Militarum troopers to your squad instead of just raw damage, which is the snowball that carries Caedo through the demo, as of the demo (October 2026).

• Starter: Malum Caedo, Sternguard Veteran from Boltgun, begins every run with the Chainsword.
• First recruit: Rescue Kozlowski from his enemy ring, then take the Lasgun to add him to your squad.
• Snowball rule: Lasgun levels add extra troopers, so one weapon slot becomes a whole firing line.

Who Malum Caedo Is in Warhammer Survivors

Malum Caedo is the protagonist of Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, and he opens the 40,000 side of Warhammer Survivors as its demo-tested starting character. He is a Sternguard Veteran of the Imperium, and his signature weapon is the Chainsword, which the game hands you at the start of every Caedo run. Both facts are officially confirmed on the Steam store page and repeated across launch coverage.

Official source: Warhammer Survivors on Steam

The table below keeps only what sources have actually named. The full game advertises 40+ playable characters as an officially announced count, but nobody has published the full roster, so this page does not guess at it. For the named cast announced so far, see the characters roster.

Caedo fits an aggressive opening because the Chainsword fights at close range. If the opening feels rough, the beginner guide covers kiting basics that pair well with this page.

Chainsword Opening: Surviving the First Five Minutes

Move in short arcs, clip the edge of the swarm, and keep walking toward the next experience pickups instead of stopping to finish stragglers. Demo runs last anywhere from five minutes to over twenty, and the first two minutes decide whether you reach the rescue strong or arrive too weak to break the ring.

Prioritize movement and pickup collection over perfect dodging in minute one. Experience gems feed your first level-ups, and the first weapon or passive you add matters more than squeezing out a few extra kills. Grab a ranged option early, such as the Boltgun or Lasgun, because Caedo starts with no way to hit distant priority targets.

Watch for green-highlighted elites. These tougher enemies drop chests on an RNG basis, and a lucky chest can upgrade up to five weapons or passives at once. Do not chase an elite across the map with a level-one Chainsword, though. Clear the chaff around it first, then commit.

One honest warning from preview coverage: the early game can drag, since base movement is sluggish before passives arrive. Plan your route to the rescue marker early.

How Ally Recruitment Works

The ally system is the mechanic that separates this game from a straight genre clone. When you pick up a weapon that your current character would not conventionally carry, the character who owns that weapon joins your party as an NPC ally and fights beside you. Only your chosen character has a health bar, and each ally acts on its own targeting rather than mirroring your aim.

Official source: Auroch Digital on Warhammer Survivors

That independence cuts both ways. The Arbites Vigilant fires a close-range arc shotgun in one direction while the cyber-mastiff orbits and clears enemies behind you, but you do not control where the mastiff drifts. Similarly, when Malum Caedo joins somebody else's squad as an ally, he wanders and fires freely. Plan around that looseness, and read the full breakdown in the ally squad system guide.

Step by Step: Rescuing Kozlowski and Taking the Lasgun

Kozlowski is a Cadian Shock Trooper, an Imperial Guardsman, and the first ally most Caedo players will meet. The sequence has two halves, and skipping the first half breaks the second: you must rescue him on the map before the Lasgun can recruit him.

Step 1: Find the question mark. Head toward the nearest question-mark marker once your Chainsword has two or three levels or you have one supporting weapon. Kozlowski waits inside a ring of enemies, and breaking the ring unlocks him as a playable character.

Step 2: Break the ring cleanly. Circle the pack and shave down its outer edge before diving in. Tyranid Warrior packs carry Synapse Emitters that strengthen nearby enemies, so charging the center at level one gets you surrounded fast.

Step 3: Take the Lasgun at the next level-up. Once Kozlowski is rescued, choosing the Lasgun adds him to your crew as a follower who shoots las bolts at the nearest enemy. Rescue first, Lasgun second, ally third.

Step 4: Feed the Lasgun levels. Every Lasgun upgrade can put another Guardsman on screen beside Kozlowski. Preview coverage describes a run with Kozlowski plus four extra troopers plus a Malum all pouring fire into a Tyranid swarm.

Snowballing the Squad After the Rescue

Once Kozlowski is on board, your job changes from solo survival to squad management. Keep moving in wide loops so your firing line stays spread. Because allies aim independently, a moving Caedo drags the whole squad's fire across fresh targets.

Spend experience with a plan: one more Lasgun level means one more rifle, while a scattered spread of unleveled weapons means several weak effects. Push the Lasgun until the trooper count feels self-sustaining, then add a second damage source such as the Whirlwind Battery or the Boltgun for elites and buffed packs.

Two tabletop-flavored weapons deserve attention once your squad is stable. Nuln Oil splashes groups with flammable oil that makes victims more susceptible to fire damage, and the D6 Dice hurl giant dice that explode based on the number they land on. Neither is tied to a confirmed Caedo recruit in published testing, so treat them as squad support rather than recruitment tools. The weapons list tracks every officially named weapon plus the oil-and-fire interaction.

Respect the enemy mechanics that punish a lazy squad. Tyranid Warriors project Synapse auras that make nearby enemies stronger, so kill the Warrior first. The Skaven Bell of Doom plays a similar army-wide buff role, and the answer is the same: find the source and smash it.

Close out runs by chasing elites and their RNG chests. Each chest can push up to five weapons or passives forward, and leveled gear is the gateway to evolutions. The weapon evolution guide covers the confirmed recipes.

What the Demo Does Not Confirm Yet

Honesty matters more than padding here. No published preview gives a Weapon-plus-Passive evolution recipe for the Chainsword or the Lasgun, so any page claiming one is guessing. The three confirmed recipes in public testing belong elsewhere: Tempest Axes plus the Sabaton movement passive, the Fidelis Heavy Bolter line, and the Rope and Grapnel line.

Meta progression stays broad in the demo: gold carries across runs toward unlocks of characters, weapons, abilities, and relics. Exact costs, unlock orders, and the full roster remain unpublished ahead of the November 10 launch. Grab the demo download guide to test this yourself while the demo is live on Steam and Xbox.

FAQ

How do I rescue Trooper Bartosz Kozlowski in the demo? Follow a question-mark objective on the map, break the ring of enemies around him, and he unlocks as a playable character with a join splash screen. After the rescue, pick the Lasgun on a level-up to add him to your squad as a follower.

Which weapon recruits Kozlowski to my squad? The Lasgun. Choosing it after the rescue brings Kozlowski in, and further Lasgun levels add more Astra Militarum troopers to the screen. Previewers verified a squad of Kozlowski plus four extra troopers from committed Lasgun upgrades.

Does Malum Caedo have a confirmed weapon evolution? No. As of the demo (October 2026), no published preview or official post names a Chainsword or Lasgun evolution recipe. Confirmed recipes cover other lines, such as Tempest Axes with Sabaton. Treat any Caedo evolution claim without a source as unconfirmed.

Is Malum Caedo the best starter for new players? He is the natural first pick for the 40,000 campaign because the demo starts you in his armored shoes and his recruit path is the best documented. His melee opening is slower than ranged alternatives, though, so players who dislike close-range starts may prefer unlocking Kozlowski quickly or sampling the Age of Sigmar side.

Related Guides

• Beginner guide with tips for the first five minutes - Kiting and elite-chest priorities that make the Chainsword opening far safer.
• Ally squad system and recruitment rules - The full squad rules, including the Arbites and cyber-mastiff example.
• Weapons list and evolution overview - Every officially named weapon and the three demo-tested evolution recipes.
• Demo download guide for Steam and Xbox - Where to play the demo before the November 10 launch.

External references: Warhammer Survivors on Steam, IGN hands-on preview, Rock Paper Shotgun squad interview, Auroch Digital official page, PlayStation Blog launch announcement.