Space Marine 2 Zoanthropes: Two Shields, One Window

What makes it hard

The shield. It absorbs damage, so a squad firing at the shielded one is doing nothing visible and concluding the game is broken. The pairing. Two Zoanthropes cover each other. The one you are shooting is protected by the other, and the one protecting it is protected in turn. The range. They hover, which means melee classes cannot reach them and the two classes without a primary weapon are spectators.

The answer

Shoot the unshielded one. In a pair, one is always the vulnerable target. Alternate as the shield swaps — that is the entire fight, and it is why a squad needs a ranged class present. Concentrate, do not spread. Two players firing at the same target break a shield faster than four players firing at different ones. Prioritise immediately. Every second a pair is alive is damage the squad takes from something it cannot parry. This is a target that outranks the horde. Do not send melee. An Assault or Bulwark jumping at a Zoanthrope contributes nothing and usually dies to the escort.

Why composition matters here

This is the clearest example of the class-lock problem. A squad of three melee classes cannot kill a Zoanthrope pair, regardless of skill — which is why the class overview recommends always having a ranged answer in the group. If you are the ranged player, say so and take the target. If you are not, your job is keeping the horde off whoever is.

The ammunition note

Concentrated fire on the correct target is cheaper than panic-firing at both. And a Krak grenade is a real contribution against a floating Extremis, which is the argument the grenades page makes for carrying them above Substantial. The enemy list places Zoanthropes with the Extremis tier, and the Neurothrope variant behaves the same way with more of everything.