Heavy Worm
Fight the Pathogenic Heavy Worm elite in Intestine: energy burst patterns, kiting range, intestine terrain synergy, and post-launch balance notes.
What the Heavy Worm Is
The Heavy Worm joined Pathogenic in Biweekly Update 07 alongside intestine enemy rebalances. Aberrant Labs describes it as a resilient Intestine adversary that attacks with bursts of energy—functionally a ranged elite worm distinct from segmented Diphyllobothrium-style rival parasites that require head-focused melee.
Heavy Worms punish face-tank melee builds that worked on early Skin macrophages. Their energy bursts track at medium range while intestine spike terrain limits safe dodge lanes, forcing Flagella repositioning or Secretor burst during Overcharge peaks.
Codex discovery unlocks full tooltip text after first kill. Collection runners hunting missing enemy entries should route optional Intestine elites before pushing Stomach acid mechanics.
Attack Patterns and Tells
Heavy Worms telegraph energy bursts with a brief charge animation and audio cue similar to ranged macrophages but with wider splash radius. Dodge perpendicular to the burst vector with Space—backward dodges into villi spikes or corridor walls convert chip into lethal contact stacks.
Between bursts the worm advances slowly, allowing kite builds to maintain mouse-aimed pressure. Multi-hit melee must commit during wind-down windows; Tri-Phase third hits and Gyrase spins excel when Mitochondria Overcharge aligns with burst cooldowns.
When dendritic supporters or helper T-cells accompany a Heavy Worm, kill support first per adaptive immune priority—shielded worms waste Overcharge if you DPS the tanky body while buffs remain active.
Counters by Build and Co-op
Ranged artillery and Chromatophore laser builds stay at maximum mouse range, using explosive Secretors to clear add waves before focusing the worm. Ballistic Flagellum kiting herds worms into open intestine chambers away from spike lanes.
Minion swarms—including capped Nidublast armies—body-block bursts while you snipe from safety, though post-launch aggro changes mean minions may not permanently taunt the worm; keep dodge ready.
Co-op Diatom assigns focus fire callouts: one player clears terrain elites while another bursts the worm during stagger windows. Remote Play Together sessions suffer if latency hides burst telegraphs—lower Antibiotics when learning the pattern online.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Heavy Worm a boss?
No. It is an Intestine elite enemy. Organ bosses like Kupffer Cell are separate multi-phase fights.
Does melee work against Heavy Worm?
Yes with burst windows and dodge discipline. Ranged kiting is safer until you know burst cadence.
Which organ spawns Heavy Worm?
Primarily Intestine after Update 07. Later organs use different elite pools.