Gears has always had executions (finishing moves), and E-Day has 74 named ones. Until now this site had no write-up of them. Each one is defined by who attacks, with which weapon or method, what the victim is, and from which side the move is made: left, right, front or back.
Two states let you finish a Drone
Almost every weapon-specific execution requires the target to be in one of two states:
| State | What it means |
|---|---|
| DBNO | Downed but not out. The enemy is on the ground, still alive, and can be finished from the left, right, front or back. |
| Vulnerable | Stunned or in a hit-reaction, but still standing. Only front and back positions are covered for this state. |
The chainsaw ignores both. It can execute a Drone, a Boomer or a Wretch while they are simply standing and alive, with no downing and no stunning required first. Every other weapon-specific execution needs the enemy to be DBNO or Vulnerable before it triggers.
Five weapons, their own animation
| Weapon | Works on | States covered |
|---|---|---|
| Prototype Lancer Chainsaw | Drones, Boomers, Wretches | Standing (all three) · DBNO (Drones only) |
| Lancer Mk1 Bayonet | Drones | DBNO, Vulnerable, or a roadie-run charge into a standing Drone |
| Breechshot Bladed grip | Drones | DBNO, Vulnerable |
| Incinerator Bladed grip | Drones | DBNO, Vulnerable |
| Torque Bow Bladed grip | Drones | DBNO, Vulnerable |
The other seven (Gnasher, Hammerburst, Longshot, Snub, Striga, Ripper and Gut-Puncher) have no execution animation of their own. Downing an enemy with any of them still lets you finish the kill; it plays the generic knife animation below rather than a weapon-specific one.
The two universal options
Knife. A combat knife in the melee slot, usable regardless of which of the other seven weapons you’re carrying. It covers the most ground of any execution: 24 entries split evenly across three grip types (rifle, heavy and pistol), so the animation changes slightly depending on what is in your hands, even though the execution is not tied to any one gun.
Curbstomp. Unarmed, and the only execution that needs nothing equipped at all. Four positions against a downed Drone.
Struggle Rescue: the co-op counter-play
A Drone can grab a standing player into a struggle rather than downing them outright, and a teammate has a short window to pull them out. Four Rescue executions cover all four approach positions. This is the same “Struggle” system the campaign difficulty page covers. Its duration and counter window both shrink at higher difficulty, so the rescue window gets tighter as difficulty rises.
Several Locust have their own finisher on a downed Marcus. Brumak and Vraahk (called Vrak in some Horde Siege text) both have a confirmed grab execution, and Boomer and Wretch have a finisher that is less certain. Vraahk alone has four curbstomp variants, one per position. The basic Drone’s equivalent is the Struggle grab above, not a separate finisher. Each one is now noted on that enemy’s own page: Brumak, Vraahk, Boomer, Wretch, and Flooder, which has its own maul execution despite not appearing in the melee table above.