Kingdom Rush 6 hardest enemies and how to beat them

The enemies that wreck a defense do it one of three ways: armor that shrugs off arrows and shells (4 of them), magic resistance that blunts mage towers (4), or running straight past your soldiers (2). The mini bosses are here too, for their health and abilities alone. Each one below is paired with the towers whose damage gets through. Health is on Impossible, where they are at their toughest.

Heavy armor

Physical damage mostly bounces off. Bring Arcane Forger, Light Priestess, Scholar Mage, Sunray Master.

Magic resistance

Mage towers struggle. Archers and artillery do the work.

Cannot be blocked

Soldiers do not stop them, so they must die inside your towers’ range. Slow them and stack damage early on the path.

Swamp Thing

Mini boss · 3,500 health · armor None · magic resistance None · speed Medium (24) · 120 gold

Health regeneration. It regenerates 4 health every 0.33 seconds once it has gone 2 seconds without being hit.

No armor or magic resistance to work around. Every damage type hurts it, so the trick is volume: block it where several towers reach, and keep hitting it so it cannot heal back.

In the campaign: Castle Blackburn, Golden Grove.

Frost Brute

Mini boss · 3,400 health · armor Immune (100%) · magic resistance Medium (60%) · speed Medium (24) · 260 gold

Freezes units with its breath. Every 35 seconds (16 on Impossible), if a unit is within a radius of 110, it breathes frost on units within a radius of 110, dealing 20-30 physical damage every 0.5 seconds for 1 second and freezing them for 6 seconds.
On death: patch of ice. On death, it leaves an ice patch with a radius of 70 that lasts 16 seconds; units standing on it move 50% slower.
Faster on ice. It travels at 1.2x speed while on ice.
Immune to physical damage while unblocked. While walking, its armor is 100%, but once blocked in combat with a soldier, its armor falls to 0 for the rest of that fight.

Armor immune (100%): magic or true damage gets through best

Explosive damage still hurts it, at a reduced rate

Block it first. Its armor drops to nothing while a soldier holds it, so once it is blocked your archers and artillery hurt it too.

In the campaign: Abominable Lair, Ha'kraj Village, Stormcloud Halls.

Magma Elemental

Mini boss · 3,200 health · armor High (80%) · magic resistance None · speed Slow (20) · 110 gold

Burning area attack. Its slam strikes up to 6 units and ignites them, dealing 8-12 true damage every 0.5 seconds for 3 seconds.
High armor. It takes 80% less physical damage and 40% less explosive damage; against the Royal Catapult, Dwarven Culverin and Ironbark Treant basic attacks, and against the Perfected Formula blast with the Shrapnel upgrade, the explosive reduction is 60% instead.

Armor high (80%): magic or true damage gets through best

Explosive damage still hurts it, at a reduced rate

In the campaign: Vez'nan's Tower.

Ogre

Mini boss · 2,800 health · armor None · magic resistance None · speed Medium (24) · 120 gold

No armor or magic resistance to work around. Every damage type hurts it, so the trick is volume: block it where several towers reach.

In the campaign: Three-Side Ambush, Fortress of Acaroth.

Troll Crusher

Mini boss · 2,400 health · armor Medium (50%) · magic resistance None · speed Medium (24) · 130 gold

Stuns nearby towers. Every 30 seconds (20 on Impossible), it pounds the ground, dealing 40-60 physical damage to units within a radius of 70 and stunning towers within a radius of 150 for 6 seconds.
Health regeneration. It regenerates 10 health every 0.5 seconds once it has gone 2 seconds without being hit.

No armor or magic resistance to work around. Every damage type hurts it, so the trick is volume: block it where several towers reach, and keep hitting it so it cannot heal back.

In the campaign: Path of Peril, Ha'kraj Village, Stormcloud Halls.

Dark Slayer

Mini boss · 2,000 health · armor Immune (100%) · magic resistance None · speed Medium (24) · 160 gold

Chance to instakill player units. Every 10 seconds, it has a 30% chance (40% on Impossible) to instantly kill the soldier it is fighting; heroes are immune to this.
Reflects damage back to attackers. A unit blocking it receives back 30% of the damage it inflicts on this enemy.
The stage 17 tunnel. In stage 17, each Dark Knight passing through the tunnel exits onto the other path transformed into a Dark Slayer.

Armor immune (100%): magic or true damage gets through best

Explosive damage still hurts it, at a reduced rate

In the campaign: Paladin Enclave, Vez'nan's Tower.

Demon Lord

1,500 health · armor None · magic resistance High (80%) · speed Medium (32) · 20 gold

Shields nearby demons. Every 6 seconds, it grants a shield to up to 4 Demon Spawns, Demon Hounds, or Demon Flareons within a radius of 180, each shield absorbing the next 4 hits.
Shielded demons cannot be cursed. While shielded, a demon is cleansed of any curses and can't receive new ones until the shield is gone.
On death: blast. On death, units within a radius of 60 take 90-120 physical damage.

Magic resistance high (80%): use physical or explosive damage, soldiers included

In the campaign: Vez'nan's Tower.

Frost Herald

1,350 health · armor None · magic resistance High (80%) · speed Medium (32) · 80 gold

Casts icicles over units. Every 15 seconds (10 on Impossible), it drops 4 rows of 3 icicles onto units 50 to 150 away, each icicle dealing 20-40 magic damage within a radius of 25.
On death: patch of ice. On death, it leaves an ice patch with a radius of 55 that lasts 16 seconds; units standing on it move 50% slower.
High magic resistance. It takes 80% less magic damage.

Magic resistance high (80%): use physical or explosive damage, soldiers included

In the campaign: Path of Peril, Abominable Lair, Ha'kraj Village, Stormcloud Halls.

Dark Knight

1,200 health · armor High (80%) · magic resistance None · speed Medium (28) · 60 gold

The stage 17 tunnel. In stage 17, a Dark Knight entering the tunnel emerges on the other path transformed into a Dark Slayer.
High armor. It takes 80% less physical damage and 40% less explosive damage; against the Royal Catapult, Dwarven Culverin and Ironbark Treant basic attacks, and against the Perfected Formula blast with the Shrapnel upgrade, the explosive reduction is 60% instead.

Armor high (80%): magic or true damage gets through best

Explosive damage still hurts it, at a reduced rate

In the campaign: Paladin Enclave, Vez'nan's Tower.

Death Rider

890 health · armor None · magic resistance None · speed Fast (52) · 70 gold

Plague aura that deals area damage. Units within a radius of 50 suffer 8-16 magic damage every 0.25 seconds.
Gallop. Every 10 seconds, if a unit is within a radius of 70, it gallops at 1.923x its normal speed for 1.8 seconds.

Soldiers cannot block it. Put your damage where it enters and slow it down; heroes and spells like Reinforcements buy time but will not hold it.

In the campaign: Golden Grove, Paladin Enclave.

Dark Disciple

625 health · armor None · magic resistance High (90%) · speed Slow (20) · 30 gold

Binds and disables towers. It flings its grimoire at a nearby tower (within 240, or 300 on Impossible), binding it so the tower is unable to attack until either the Dark Disciple dies or it gets farther than 240 (300 on Impossible) away.
High magic resistance. It takes 90% less magic damage.

Magic resistance high (90%): use physical or explosive damage, soldiers included

In the campaign: Castle Blackburn, Golden Grove, Paladin Enclave, Vez'nan's Tower.

Orc Shaman

250 health · armor None · magic resistance High (80%) · speed Medium (32) · 12 gold

Heals enemy units. Every 8 seconds, if at least 2 enemies within a radius of 100 have fallen below 70% health, it conjures a healing aura with a radius of 100 lasting 1 second, restoring 60-80 health per second (135-180 on Impossible) to enemies inside it.
High magic resistance. It takes 80% less magic damage.

Magic resistance high (80%): use physical or explosive damage, soldiers included

In the campaign: Western Wall, Silveroak Village, Lozagon Tower, Three-Side Ambush, Fortress of Acaroth.

Broom

armor None · magic resistance None · speed Slow (20)

Transformed by Nivus. In stage 6, Nivus transforms up to 5 enemies into Brooms for 10 seconds before they revert. A Broom retains 60% of the original enemy's current and maximum health, has speed 20 (22 on Impossible), and drops the original enemy's gold reward when defeated.
Cannot be blocked. A Broom cannot be blocked by soldiers, and a flying enemy that gets transformed becomes a flying Broom.

Soldiers cannot block it. Put your damage where it enters and slow it down; heroes and spells like Reinforcements buy time but will not hold it.

Before the hard stages

The tower stats page ranks every tower’s damage per second and shows its damage type, and the loadout planner lets you pick five towers that cover both armor and magic resistance. Every other enemy, with its full stats, is on the enemy list; the six bosses have their own page.

Next in the codex

All enemiesEvery enemy's stats in one sortable table.
Tower stats comparedDamage per second and damage type at level IV.
BossesThe six boss fights.
All 18 stagesWhere each enemy shows up.