Gears of War: E-Day: How to Unlock Chainsaw Executions and Lancer Weapon Mods
Gears of War: E-Day ties its chainsaw bayonet to a named prototype Lancer, Active Reload bonuses and a trackable achievement. Here's how to unlock executions, slot the right supply cache mods and farm them safely.
A squad of COG soldiers holds the line against Locust forces in Gears of War: E-Day. Image: The Coalition.
Gears of War: E-Day launched today, October 6, on Xbox Series X|S, PC and day one on Xbox Game Pass. The Coalition's prequel drops Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago into the first days of the Locust invasion, and it brings back the series' most famous piece of hardware in an unfinished state: a field-modified Lancer that soldiers are still bolting a chainsaw onto in the middle of a war. The result is a specific, trackable mechanic worth understanding before you push deep into the campaign, because getting it right changes how you handle close-range fights for the rest of the game.
What the prototype Lancer actually is
E-Day is set before the chainsaw bayonet became standard Gear issue, and the campaign treats that as a real story beat rather than a cosmetic detail. The bayonet you get early on is a prototype: a field improvisation welded onto a standard Lancer rather than a factory part. It carries a faster fire rate and a deeper magazine than the stock rifle, and The Coalition's own campaign preview confirms it ties into the returning Active Reload system, so timing your reloads around it matters more than it did with the plain Lancer.
The story framing matters because it explains why the weapon feels unfinished in your hands: wobbly sights, a loud attach animation, and a chainsaw that chews through a target rather than slicing cleanly. That's intentional. Treat it as a weapon you're still testing, not the polished tool from the original trilogy.
Active Reload and the chainsaw-kill bonus
Active Reload returns unchanged in its basics: tap reload again when the gauge hits the highlighted zone for a faster reload and a temporary damage buff, or miss it and eat a jam. What's new is how it stacks with the chainsaw. Supply caches scattered through each level let you slot weapon mods onto the prototype Lancer, and one of the mods specifically rewards a chainsaw kill with a bonus on your next Active Reload. Stack the two together — chainsaw a target, then land a Perfect Active Reload on the follow-up magazine — and you get noticeably faster time-to-kill against anything that survives the first encounter.
Weapon mods at supply caches
Supply caches are the game's upgrade stations: small crates, usually just off the main path, that let you spend scavenged parts on Lancer mods rather than a generic skill tree. Expect a mix of flat damage buffs and the chainsaw-kill reload bonus described above. None of them are permanent story unlocks — they're closer to a loadout choice you revisit at the next cache — so there's no wrong order to try them in. If you're planning to farm chainsaw executions anyway, prioritize the reload mod first; it's the one that pays off every single kill instead of just raw damage numbers.
- Check every supply cache you pass — they're easy to miss in the smoke and wreckage of the early levels.
- The chainsaw-kill reload mod compounds with Active Reload, so it scales better the more often you're in melee range.
- Damage-buff mods are the safer pick if you're playing on a higher difficulty and want fewer risky melee engagements.
Farming executions for the achievement and cosmetics
Gears of War: E-Day tracks chainsaw kills as a specific action, not a side effect of combat. The "Chainsaw Go Brrrrrrrrr" achievement asks you to use a chainsaw against a Locust in either Campaign or Horde Siege, worth 15 Gamerscore, and the pre-launch open beta tied a cosmetic reward to performing five chainsaw executions with the prototype Lancer. Expect the full game to keep a similar threshold for any launch-window cosmetics.
The fastest way to farm these safely is to isolate a single Wretch or Hammerburst Drone before you commit — the execution animation locks you in place for roughly a second and a half, and anything else nearby will close the distance while you're stuck in it. Clear the stragglers first with a few Lancer bursts, then walk the last enemy into the chainsaw rather than sprinting at a group.
Which enemies are worth the risk
Early encounters mix Wretches and Hammerburst-wielding Drones, both light enough that a chainsaw execution is low-risk once you've thinned the group. Boomers and the larger underground Locust that show up later hit hard enough that committing to the chainsaw animation against them is a gamble — you're better off softening them with gunfire and saving the chainsaw for the smaller Locust mixed in around them. If you're still working out which fights are safe to engage at all, our beginner tips for E-Day's difficulty and early mistakes covers that groundwork in more detail.
Quick checklist
- Pick up the prototype Lancer early and get comfortable with its Active Reload timing before relying on the chainsaw.
- Hit every supply cache and slot the chainsaw-kill reload mod if you plan to execute often.
- Isolate targets before committing to an execution animation — don't chainsaw into a group.
- Save Boomers and bigger Locust for gunfire; reserve the chainsaw for Wretches and Drones.
- Track progress toward "Chainsaw Go Brrrrrrrrr" and any cosmetic thresholds as you go, rather than grinding it in one sitting.
Full details on this week's launch, including price, editions and Game Pass availability, are in our Gears of War: E-Day launch coverage. For the official word on the weapon and Active Reload systems, see Xbox's campaign preview, the game's own listing on the Xbox store page and the Steam store page for PC specs and pricing. Background on the series and its prequel setting is on Wikipedia.