How to kill a Hive Lord in Helldivers 2

Helldivers 2 Hive Lord spraying bile on helldiver with arms wide — (Image credit: Sony)

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Overview and attacks
Tips, weaknesses, and best weapons

The Helldivers 2 Hive Lord is a new Terminid creature of colossal proportions, a gigantic, bile-spewing worm that can be killed, but not without massive effort and firepower. For that reason, it's more of a hazard to avoid than an enemy worth defeating. Lords have so much health and armor that killing one takes ages and is only feasible if you have access to Hellbombs and the most powerful weapons and Stratagems available in Helldivers 2.

Hive Lords also pack a massive punch themselves too, capable of crushing Helldivers with their bulky bodies or dissolving them with their acidic vomit. Below, I've laid out everything I've learned so far about Hive Lords, including how to kill one if you're that kind of crazy.

Helldivers 2 Hive Lord overview

Helldivers 2 Hive Lord getting hit with orbital laser stratagem — (Image credit: Sony)

The Helldivers 2 Hive Lord is an absolutely massive worm beast that you might encounter if you're playing against the Terminids on one of their hive worlds from the Helldivers 2 Into the Unjust update and at a high enough difficulty – based on my encounters, it seems like Suicide Mission or higher is needed.

What makes a Hive Lord appear is a bit of a mystery, however. When I encountered one, it was during a mobile extraction mission using the all-terrain extraction rig vehicle. Maps for this mission always have large, open spaces so that you can actually drive the rig and it seems like Hive Lords can only appear in these large areas too. Other missions that emphasize spelunking in deep cave networks likely won't be able to accommodate a Hive Lord.

When one does appear, it can use several attacks to obliterate Helldivers directly or can be quite disruptive thanks to its hazardous presence, so here's what you need to watch out for:

Ground ripples: These massive waves of sand let you see where the Hive Lord is going as it burrows underground, but if you're in the way, they will knock you over.
Ground eruptions: Hive Lords can burst out of the ground while burrowing, either to be a nuisance while repositioning or to properly attack pesky Helldivers. Either way, you'll want to be far away from it when it does to avoid getting hurt or crushed.
Falling debris: When a Hive Lord rises up to attack, massive rocks fall off it which can land on you, dealing damage and knocking you over.
Bile spray: Hive Lords can spew lethal bile over a massive area, putting Helldivers 2 Bile Titans to shame.
Flatten: If you're near a Hive Lord and aren't moving very much, they won't hesitate to crush you by flopping over. Keep moving and be prepared to dive.

Can you kill a Helldivers 2 Hive Lord?

Helldivers 2 Hive Lord getting hit with commando rocket — (Image credit: Sony)

It is possible to kill a Hive Lord in Helldivers 2, but I wouldn't recommend trying unless you're with a full team of like-minded Helldivers out for worm blood. Here are some tips for dealing with a Hive Lord if one happens to interrupt your mission:

Simply avoid it: Hive Lords have an immense amount of health and take ages to kill, so I think it's best to treat them more as obstacles to avoid than a foe to bring down. The best thing is to escape it. They're too big to follow you into caves, so those are safe spots, but be aware that you will then be facing most other Terminids and sometimes strafing Helldivers 2 Dragonroaches.
Bring Portable Hellbombs and anti-tank weapons: But if you really want to kill a Hive Lord, bringing Portable Hellbombs from the Helldivers 2 Servants of Freedom Warbond (which we also reckon is one of the best Helldivers 2 Warbonds anyway) is essential. You should also bring any anti-tank weapons like the Commando, Expendable Anti-Tank, and Recoilless Rifle as seemingly nothing else can damage it.
Target its fleshy mouth: While the body of a Hive Lord is covered in incredibly durable heavy armor, its head and mandibles have plenty of fleshy parts that can be hit, though don't expect it to care much. You'll be getting a lot of white hitmarkers when hitting a Hive Lord, which means it's mitigating a lot of damage.

Overall, there isn't really much point to killing a Hive Lord anyway. There don't seem to be any rewards for doing so (sadly no spice to be found here), aside from personal glory and you're likely to waste a lot of time better spent on mission objectives and reinforcement lives because of how unbelievably strong they are.

You might also want to know how to destroy a Helldivers 2 Hive Lung as these also require big bombs. Otherwise, make sure you know how to deal with the rest of the Helldivers 2 Terminids.