Maneater: Apex Predators List and Guide

In Maneater, each sector of the map is dominated by its own Apex predator, from the murky bayou to the open ocean.

You cannot simply stumble across the Apex of a region by chance: you must complete the Apex missions before the boss battle is triggered.

These missions will always call for you to eat a designated number of sea creatures in set areas of that region. Once you’ve completed these, you’ll then get the Apex encounter mission marker.

All you need to do is swim towards the mission marker to lure out the Apex.

Below, you’ll find a list of all of the Apex predators in Maneater, followed by some strategies to best the beasts.

Maneater Apex Predators list

Here are the locations and rewards for each of the Apex predators lurking around the game:

As you can see in the table above, conquering each region’s Apex predator is the path to unlocking the powerful Bone Set.

General tips for defeating an Apex

While each Apex predator behaves differently, there are some tricks that you can use across all Apex creatures.

The first is to press evade whenever you see them square-up to you, and the golden ring lights up to indicate an incoming attack.

The sheer amount of evading that you’ll want to do makes the Bone Fins a useful evolution as they inflict damage to nearby creatures when you evade.

You would also want to consider utilising aspects of the Bio-Electric Set as the ability to stun your foes can help you get an edge, even if you’re being dominated by a tougher, higher level predator.

As you have to get the Bio-Electric Body (by defeating Butcher Boy Brady) before leaving Sapphire Bay, you can make good use of it in later Apex battles – particularly the Lightning Burst ability.

Or, you could go down the route of applying negative effects and damage over time by using the pieces from the Shadow Set which inflict poison damage.

Easily the most helpful evolution in Maneater for Apex battles, though, is the organ evolution Hearty. Applying and upgrading Hearty will greatly boost your maximum health, which can prove to be invaluable.

Apex Barracuda

Due to the point in the game that you’ll likely first encounter the predator, the Apex Barracuda can prove to be quite a tricky competitor.

Its main asset is speed, which allows it to be on your shark and dealing heavy bite damage quickly. The key is always to be locked on (press R3 to target lock), and evade when it surges forward.

Once it has attacked, it’ll enter a cooldown period. So, after evading an attack, chase down the Apex Barracuda and keep biting until it starts to lock on to you again.

Apex Mako Shark

The Apex Mako is very much an upgraded version of the Apex Barracuda; only it’s much more difficult to track.

With its figure-eight movement before its super-fast strikes, powerful bite, and defensive tailwhip, the Apex Mako can be a fierce shark to defeat.

Try to lure the Apex Mako to shallower areas or onto one of the nearby banks as it seems to get a bit stuck when it can’t easily turn to face your shark.

Until you can pin it and chomp away, tap evade as much as you can when the golden ring shows for its impending attack, and then look to counter when the Apex Mako comes to a stop.

Apex Alligator

The main danger when battling the Apex Alligator is its tailwhip and its ability to thrash if it catches your flank. However, it is relatively slow.

After it has performed its lunge and likely crashes into some of the foliage, lunge in, chomp a couple of times, and then swim back as it will try to tailwhip you.

The tailwhip is very strong, so when it’s on its last, or even without, its legs, still just chip away with a couple of bites before getting some distance.

You’ll want to keep your bull shark facing the Apex Alligator, as if it surges and catches your side, it will thrash and do a substantial amount of damage.

Apex Hammerhead Shark

One of the biggest challenges of battling the Apex Hammerhead Shark is fighting in open water, with the predator being mobile enough to catch you from any side if you’re not quick to evade.

A good way to keep agile enough to watch the Apex Hammerhead at all times and be ready to strike is not to hold down lunge, even though doing so makes you swim faster.

You’ll may also have to contend with other aggressors in the area, such as Blue Marlin, so try to keep the encounter closer to the ground, but not so close that you’re always up close to the Apex.

Its bite is deceptively strong, but it also has a powerful tailwhip, so try to pester it with quick bites when you get the opportunity.

Apex Great White Shark

Like the Apex Hammerhead, you’ll likely end up battling the Apex Great White Shark in a very open area, so you’ll want to keep it target locked (R3).

As you would assume, the Apex Great White’s bite is its most potent weapon, but as it’s so fast, you’ll need to get crafty with your strategy.

Using the ability of a high-tier Bio-Electric Body can be very useful here, allowing you to stun your foe and deal a lot of damage.

As there are plenty of smaller creatures near the Apex Great White’s home, you’ll be able to recharge to perform the ability again quickly.

Apex Orca

To find the Apex Orca, you need to venture through the tunnels to the show pool of the aquapark. En route, you may end up triggering the encounter before you reach the more open space.

As the Apex Orca is so big and powerful, you don’t want to try to battle it in the tunnels.

Try to evade its attacks, stun the mammal, or drag it deeper into an open area of the tunnels to then get past it, leaving the tubes the way that it came in to reach a more favourable battleground.

If you can get into the more open show pool, you can use surging attacks, coming in from range to damage the Apex Orca before it has a chance to react.

Apex Sperm Whale

The Apex Sperm Whale is huge and can deal tremendous amounts of damage, kickback, and stun with its tailwhip – which it telegraphs by doing a forward flip.

Unlike the other open water Apex predators, your best bet with the Apex Sperm Whale is to keep the fight close to the ground.

There are far too many strong, aggressive creatures in the space above, and you don’t want to draw them into the bout.

After performing attacks, and if kept close to the ground, the Apex Sperm Whale is quite slow, with there being ample time to lunge in and perform bite and tailwhip attacks.

There are many ways to take down Apex predators, and a lot of the time, improvising will work. However, if you’re stuck, the strategies above should help.

For more Maneater content, check out our Landmarks guide and more below.

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Maneater: Bio-Electric Evolution Set List and Guide

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Maneater: Tail Evolutions List and Guide

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