Best Helldivers 2 loadouts for the Illuminate, Terminids, and Automatons

Bringing the best Helldivers 2 loadouts for the Terminids, Illuminate, or Automatons, can make a massive difference to how a mission goes, especially at the highest difficulties. Thankfully, there are lots of good options in Helldivers 2, but since each enemy faction has its own quirks, some weapons are much better than others against certain foes, so you'll need to tailor your build appropriately with the right weapons.

And with so many primary, secondary, support weapons, and Stratagems spread across Warbonds and level unlocks, assembling a solid loadout can be quite overwhelming. So, to help you fight for Super Earth with maximum effectiveness, I've detailed some of the best Helldivers 2 loadouts for all three enemy factions that will see you through any mission, no matter the difficulty.

Best Helldivers 2 Terminid loadout

The Helldivers 2 Terminids mainly use swarming tactics against their prey, overwhelming teams of Helldivers with slowing venom, ferocious claws, and sheer numbers. Compared to the Illuminate and Automatons, they’re less resilient, with only the largest bugs having heavy armor and their organic nature means they’re susceptible to fire. Still, there are lots of viable options when it comes to assembling a loadout for killing Terminids in Helldivers 2:

• Primary: Breaker Incendiary shotgun, Cookout shotgun, Sickle/Double-Edge Sickle, or Adjudicator
• Secondary: Grenade Pistol or Crisper
• Grenade: Gas Grenade
• Armor: Any light or medium armor (the passive perk is up to you)
• Stratagems:
  • Flamethrower or Machine Gun
  • Personal Shield Generator, Jump Pack, or Warp Pack
  • Orbital Napalm Barrage, Orbital Laser, Orbital Precision Strike, or Orbital Gas Strike
  • Eagle 500kg Bomb, Eagle Strafing Run, or Eagle Napalm Airstrike

Fire is highly effective against the Terminids so being the ultimate bug barbecue-r is a good way to kill as many of them as possible. The Flamethrower support weapon is an excellent choice, capable of incinerating swarms and even larger Terminids like Helldivers 2 Chargers, but be careful when using it in caves on hive worlds. Alternatively, rapid-fire weapons like the Sickle and Machine Gun are solid choices, the latter being especially useful for its medium armor penetration. Round off your loadout with the Helldivers 2 Chemical Agents Gas Grenade to confuse and melt large groups of bugs and the Grenade Pistol to easily close nest holes.

As for other Stratagems, I recommend packing either the Personal Shield Generator if you feel like you need the protection or the Jump or Warp Packs if you favor mobility. To bolster your firepower, the Orbital Napalm Barrage can be exceptionally powerful when placed well and is enhanced by several Helldivers 2 Ship Modules, and the Eagle Strafing Run is a surprisingly good Stratagem to quickly chuck in front of you to thin an approaching horde.

Variety is key, however, so this Helldivers 2 loadout shouldn't be used by all four team members – four Flamethrowers would be horrible for all involved. Other players can then use dedicated anti-armor weapons, such as the Autocannon, Quasar Cannon, Commando, and Airburst Launcher to take down the largest of the Terminids, such as Impalers and Helldivers 2 Bile Titans on foot.

Best Helldivers 2 Illuminate loadout

The mix of fleshy, armor-plated, and energy-shielded units that the Helldivers 2 Illuminate deploy on the battlefield means making an all-rounder loadout can be a bit tricky, but the fact that they can’t bring much heavy armor is a big help. In short, anything that spews bullets or explodes is nice to have, so here's one of the best Helldivers 2 Illuminate loadouts you can pick based on our experiences fighting the Squids:

• Primary: Scorcher/Purifier energy weapon, Sickle/Double-Edge Sickle, Punisher Plasma, or Adjudicator
• Secondary: Grenade Pistol, Loyalist, or Crisper
• Grenade: Gas Grenade
• Armor: Any light or medium armor (the passive perk is up to you)
• Stratagems:
  • Machine Gun, Anti-Materiel Rifle, Autocannon, or WASP Launcher
  • Jump Pack or Warp Pack (if backpack slot is available)
  • Orbital Laser, Orbital Precision Strike, Orbital 120mm HE Barrage, or Orbital 380mm HE Barrage
  • Eagle 500kg Bomb or Eagle Strafing Run

While the Illuminate appear to be all about powerful alien tech, you’ll actually spend most of your time cutting down Voteless hordes and that’s why I recommend the things like the Machine Gun and Sickle and Gas Grenade as you can essentially treat them like the Terminids. As a bonus, the Machine Gun and Sickle are also great for destroying shields on Harvesters and warp ships! Pack the Grenade Pistol too and you can easily destroy warp ships by yourself.

However, if you want a slightly more generalist loadout, the explosive power of the Scorcher, Purifier, or Punisher Plasma is great against almost all Illuminate enemy types. You can even opt to call in the Autocannon or WASP Launcher for some heavier firepower but bear in mind you'll be sacrificing your backpack slot to do so – and I think the Jump or Warp Packs are worthy considerations as they can help you get out of sticky situations, whether that's a Voteless mass, Overseers, or a Stingray closing in.

Regardless of your approach, it’s still vital to bring some powerful Eagle and Orbital Stratagems, helping you level structures as well as clear groups of Illuminate of all types. If you've not got much to help you destroy energy shields, then the Eagle Strafing Run is a great option, but if you want to demolish an entire area, you've got plenty of Orbital and Eagle options for the team to bring along.

Best Helldivers 2 Automaton loadout

Dealing with the armored Helldivers 2 Automatons requires hard-hitting weaponry that can be fired at a variety of ranges. Thankfully, there are many options when it comes to effective bot-killing weapons, but energy weaponry is a good place to start. Here's what I recommend for the best Helldivers 2 Automaton loadout:

• Primary: Scorcher/Purifier energy weapon, Sickle/Double-Edge Sickle, Explosive Crossbow, or Eruptor
• Secondary: Senator, Grenade Pistol, Loyalist, or Ultimatum
• Grenade: Thermite, Stun Grenade, or Gas Grenade
• Armor: Any light or medium armor (the passive perk is up to you)
• Stratagems:
  • Commando, Quasar Cannon, Railgun, Anti-Materiel Rifle, or Expendable Anti-Tank
  • Personal Shield Generator
  • Eagle 500kg Bomb, Autocannon Sentry, Rocket Sentry, or Autocannon Emplacement
  • Orbital Laser, Orbital Precision Strike, Orbital 120mm HE Barrage, or Orbital 380mm HE Barrage

Except for the regular Sickle, all the above primary and secondary weapons come with medium armor penetration (heavy penetration for the Eruptor and Senator and anti-tank for the Ultimatum!) and most deal explosive damage, making them all excellent against the bots. If you want to go all-in on anti-tank power with your basic loadout, Thermite will serve you well, but I think a bit of crowd control in the form of either the Stun or Gas Grenades makes the Automatons more manageable.

Your support weapon must have good armor penetration as well to make dealing with the largest bots, such as Helldivers 2 Hulks and Factory Stiders, as easy as possible, so weapons like the Commando and Railgun are good choices. Arguably the most important aspects of these weapons is that they don’t take up a backpack slot, which means you can still use the Personal Shield Generator for more protection from Automaton guns and explosives, but if you can do without it, consider packing the Spear, WASP, Recoilless Rifle, or Autocannon – the first two being great against Helldivers 2 Gunships due to their lock-on missiles.

Best Helldivers 2 loadout for beginners

Some of the best Helldivers 2 loadout options are either unavailable until level 15 and above or are locked behind Warbonds. With that being said, there are still plenty of powerful options if you’re still trying to level up fast in Helldivers 2.

I’ve created this loadout using only weapons and Stratagems unlocked before level 10 and no premium Warbonds:

• Primary: Liberator assault rifle
• Secondary: Redeemer
• Grenade: High-Explosive
• Armor: Any medium armor
• Stratagems:
  • Machine Gun, Anti-Materiel Rifle, Grenade Launcher, or Expendable Anti-Tank
  • Jump Pack
  • Eagle Strafing Run, Eagle Airstrike, or Machine Gun Sentry
  • Orbital Precision Strike, Orbital 380mm HE Barrage, or Orbital 120mm HE Barrage

Obviously, you should consider which of the Helldivers 2 factions you’re facing when choosing from the above options, but there are still plenty of weapons and Stratagems that will see you through the to the higher difficulties. Once you've amassed enough Super Credits, look at our best Helldivers 2 Warbonds page so that you can spend your Medals on the best gear and enhance your loadouts.

Make sure you modify your guns with Helldivers 2 weapon customization, adding attachments to improve their performance. Helldivers 2 Boosters are another crucial pre-mission choice, but since you’ll have to coordinate with your team, we’ve got a separate guide for those.

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