There are loads of Helldivers 2 enemies to be aware of that threaten Super Earth and its colonies, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. The Terminids and Automatons - the two Helldivers 2 factions - have a huge (and growing) range of forces at their disposal, from small infantry and chaff to hulking beasts and war machines armed to the teeth, not to mention unique variants too. If you're to lay down your life for liberty, you should at least know some tips for taking down your enemies in Helldivers 2 and exploiting the weaknesses of each enemy type.
All Terminid bug enemies in Helldivers 2
The Terminids are a faction of big bugs that, at the time of writing, are swarming in from the eastern side of the Galaxy. As a rule, the Helldivers 2 Terminids are weak to fire and generally less armoured than the Automatons are, while largely favouring melee attacks over ranged. It's also a good idea to aim for the legs of most medium-sized enemies as these are less armored and slow down the bugs.
Most Helldivers 2 players tend to find the bugs a little easier overall, but that doesn't mean that they're actually easy - especially when the bigger ones come thundering out of a Bug Breach, or when a Bile Titan suddenly blocks out the sun above you…
Basic Bug enemies: Scavengers, Pouncers, Hunters, and Warriors
The basic rank-and-file bugs all focus on melee combat, attempting to swam or overwhelm the players, sometimes suddenly leaping at you and crossing long distances. They come in four distinct types:
- Scavengers: Very small orange and red flea-like bugs that scurry around and appear in clusters. Very easy to kill but can clog up areas. There are also Bile Spitter variants that are bright green and can spit blobs of bile at you to slow you down.
- Pouncers: Very small bugs that are pale with light-green frills. They slightly more deadly than Scavengers thanks to their ability to, as the name suggests, pounce at you.
- Hunters: These bugs are like much bigger and far deadlier versions of Pouncers. Helldivers 2 Hunters can leap great distances to deliver lethal melee attacks. At higher difficulties, their bite attacks also briefly apply a slowing effect.
- Warriors: The largest and most resilient of the basic bugs, Warriors can dish out lots of damage if you let them get up close but are quite slow by comparison. Look out for Bile Warriors on higher difficulties, which are very noticeable thanks to their bright green coloring. When they die, they explode, showering bile everywhere, so make sure you're not too close. Both types can also continue fighting for a few seconds after you blow their head off before dying.
Tips and weaknesses: Shotguns, machine guns, SMGs, any of the Helldivers 2 best weapons that are suited to hordes will help cut through the basic bugs, whereas single-shot weapons will struggle to keep up. If you see any of them stop moving and start spewing orange gas while marking a strange chirping noise, they're trying to summon a Bug Breach - kill them immediately!
Hive Guards
Slightly higher up the ladder than Warriors, Hive Guards are darker-coloured bugs with medium armor-covered heads and front legs.
Tips and weaknesses: When attacked from the front, they tend to hunker down and use their armor protectively. Armor-piercing weapons can punch through the front, but if you've not got any of those, you need to hurt them from behind to kill them.
Shriekers
The Helldivers 2 Shriekers are flying bugs that swoop in from above to hit you with force. Though rather fragile, their mix of speed, caution, and sheer numbers mean you need to be careful about them.
Tips and weaknesses: Shriekers spawn from specific nests that look like glowing mushroom trees - find and destroy them ASAP to cut them off at the source. Until then, shoot them down before they swoop in or just after they've flown past you. Shooting them mid-swoop often results in their corpses smashing into you, dealing surprising damage.
Stalkers
Stalkers are nasty pieces of work - white, mantis-like insects that can turn semi-invisible and are highly agile, prioritising ambush tactics. They do massive damage up close and can easily knock you over or send you flying.
Tips and weaknesses: If you see a Stalker, mark it for your teammates to help keep track of it, and set it on fire if possible to make it clear. Furthermore, the presence of Stalkers means a Stalker Lair is nearby, so do your best to find and destroy it, as demonstrated in our Helldivers 2 Stalkers guide.
Bile Spewers and Nursing Spewers
Helldivers 2 Bile Spewers are big, armored, green bugs with huge abdomens that move slowly, but can spit lethal jets of acid, explode when killed, and even fire acid artillery in higher difficulties. There are also Nursing Spewers, which are a weaker variant identified by their brown and orange coloring. Nursing Spewers are less armored and generally appear on lower difficulties too.
Tips and weaknesses: Do not get caught in the spit - dive to the side the moment you see it coming. Target their mouths with precision weapons or their abdomens with explosives to take them down quickly, though destroying their abdomen results in a bile explosion that will deal splash damage. Later Helldivers 2 difficulties will see Bile Spewers fire massive bile blobs like a long-range mortar too, turning them into artillery units.
Brood Commanders
As the name suggests, these high-ranking, spiky, red and brown bugs lead the charge with other bugs, even being able to summon several Warriors from the ground directly around them. They deal significant damage with their melee attacks and can charge at you, causing you to get briefly blinded and knocked to the ground if you're hit.
Tips and weaknesses: Stay out of melee range and get rid of it before it can bring in allies. You should also be aware that destroying the head doesn't kill them instantly - they can still try to kill you for a few seconds afterwards, and they can also become very fast and aggressive while headless. Shooting their poorly armored legs can be an effective way of dealing with them too.
Chargers
Helldivers 2 Chargers show up on medium and higher difficulties, and are feared for their heavy armor, speed, and highly lethal charges. They look like big, armored beetle rhinos, and - surprise, surprise - charge at you. On Medium difficulty, you may find Charger Behemoths as part of objectives, which are more heavily armored versions of regular Chargers.
Tips and weaknesses: Use our guide for more info, but a quick bit of advice - dive to the side when they charge and shoot the unarmored section at the back. Explosives and heavy-duty weaponry can crack the armor plating on its body and legs to expose vulnerable sections that you can target with regular weapons.
Bile Titans
The most powerful of the Terminids, these towering kaiju spit lethal acid while also trying to stomp on Helldivers - if you so much as touch their legs, you can get killed. They're the focus of some mission objectives from Challenging Difficulty onwards, but will also just wander around the map or rise up from Bug Breaches on the highest difficulties, sometimes a few at once.
Tips and weaknesses: Where to begin? Keep a long distance and try to break a section of its armor to create a weak point, using either powerful weapons or Stratagems. When it kills one of you, make sure that revived player smashes their Hellpod into it to do extra damage, and dive to the side when it spits poison. For a more detailed summary, check out our Helldivers 2 Bile Titans guide.
All Automaton bot enemies in Helldivers 2
The other big enemy faction in Helldivers 2 are the Automatons, referred to generally as the bots, an arguably more lethal faction hitting the northwestern side of the Galaxy. Bots plenty of medium and heavy armor to protect themselves, have a greater focus on ranged combat, and are generally weaker to energy weapons and armor-piercing attacks.
If you see a Bot sending up a Flare, it's about to call in a Dropship or three, which deposits an assortment of bots nearby. These can be destroyed with well-placed explosives focusing on the thrusters, but it's quite tricky to pull off as these Dropships don't hang around.
Basic bot enemies: Troopers, Raiders, Marauders, Commissars
The basic Helldivers 2 Troopers are actually several types of humanoid soldiers produced en masse by their fabricators. Each type looks pretty similar with their weapon being the main thing that distinguishes each one. Troopers are equipped with basic laser blasters, while Brawlers have white-hot blades fixed to each arm. Other variants, such as Rocket Raiders have pack heavier weapons, while some come with jetpacks for added mobility.
The main basic Automaton foot soldier to be aware of are the Commissars. They're equipped with a pistol and a blade but the main issue is that they can also fire flares up to call in reinforcements via Dropships.
Tips and weaknesses: The versatility of bots means you want to stay on your toes and keep them at a distance. They won't swarm in the same way that bugs do and don't have much health, but they throw grenades, fire rockets, and more. Avoid fighting them in the open, using cover where you can, as their volleys of laser fire can be very strong in large groups.
Berserkers
Berserkers are spiky robots with chainsaws for arms - yeah, you need to be wary of them. They're melee-only and have a bit of armor to protect them, but all they tend to do is charge the player, making them easy to shoot at least.
Tips and weaknesses: Aim for the head and glowing sections in the midriff while also running away as fast you can - those are the weak points, and Berserkers die pretty fast once they're destroyed. You can also shoot their arms off to get rid of their chainsaws. They'll still chase you, but won't be able to do nearly as much damage.
Scout Striders
The Helldivers 2 Scout Striders are the two-legged vehicles piloted by infantry robots that use armor plating to protect themselves from the front, firing shots with surprisingly powerful laser cannons at those ahead of it. They're fast in a straight line so they're tough to outrun but can't turn very quickly.
Tips and weaknesses: Destroying a Scout Strider's pilot is the easiest way to bring one down but since they're protected from the front, you need to find a way around. Their slow turning means you can easily juke them and get behind them to shoot the very weak and vulnerable pilot. If you can't get close, the Railgun in unsafe mode is great for quickly blasting through the armored section at the front, but if you're pinned down or can't get the angle, just toss a grenade between the Strider's legs to take it out. A Stun Grenade will cause the Strider to tilt down, giving you a good opportunity to hit the pilot's head too.
Devastators
These big, armored robots cut an intimidating figure and you can expect to see them on medium difficulty onwards. They also come in three distinct flavors:
- Devastators: The basic Devastator comes equipped with a laser cannon only. They also have brutal punches in melee combat.
- Rocket Devastators: This Devastator variant swaps out the lasers for two shoulder-mounter rocket pods that can fire a rapid volley of unguided rockets.
- Heavy Devastators: These Devastators are well protected with a large shield on one arm and a rapid-fire laser cannon on the other.
Tips and weaknesses: Strategies will have to vary depending on what the Devastator is equipped with, but you should aim for either the little head or the midriff area where you can see it's spine and cables. You can shoot the arms or rocket pods on Helldivers 2 Devastators to disable their weapons, making them far less deadly too. Stun Grenades are also really effective against Heavy and Rocket Devastators, giving you a good opportunity to shoot their heads to kill them in no time at all.
Hulks
The Helldivers 2 Hulks, literal absolute units, start coming into play around the Challenging Difficulty. They're solid as rocks, and not easily dispatched unless you've got the knowhow, but will explode when they are eventually cracked. There are also three variants to be aware of:
- Scorchers: Equipped with an extremely dangerous flamethrower and a buzzsaw hand, these fast-moving Hulks incinerate or eviscerate Helldivers.
- Bruisers: Slower Hulks packing a rocket launcher and laser cannon.
- Obliterators: A seemingly rare variant packed with rocket pods only.
Tips and weaknesses: The big vulnerability of Hulks are the exposed glowing heat sinks on their backs. If you can pour enough damage into those, they explode, doing high damage to it and causing constant bleed over time that will eventually finish it off. Otherwise, use powerful bombs or precise armor-piercing attacks specifically targeting the red eye slit if possible.
Gunships
Adding some aerial power to the Automaton legions are the Helldivers 2 Gunships. These will hover around the map shining bright targeting lasers and firing volleys of laser cannon fire and rockets at Helldivers. Importantly, they just keep coming back unless you take out the nearby Gunship Facility.
Tips and weaknesses: While their armor means a relatively narrow selection of weapons can deal with them, you won't need much to actually destroy one. One shot from a Spear, Quasar Cannon, or Recoilless Rifle is enough to shoot one out the sky, and even a few Autocannon shots focused on the thrusters can be enough. Use as much cover as possible and keep moving to avoid getting a face full of rockets and lasers, then set off a Hellbomb at the facility to get rid of them for good.
Tanks
Perhaps the deadliest of the robot forces, the Helldivers 2 Tanks come into play more frequently around Hard difficulty and up, and are exactly what they sound like - huge rolling tanks made of dark metal that are surprisingly good at blending into the night. They're very slow, but highly lethal. The Helldivers 2 Annihilator Tank variant comes with a couple of laser blasters and a huge heavy cannon, while the Shredder variant features only a massive rapid-fire laser cannon but can turn a lot faster.
Tips and weaknesses: Like the Hulks, Tanks have an exposed vent at the back that needs to have damage poured into it, and even then you have to hit that vent with some powerful armor-piercing weapons - perhaps an Anti-Material Rifle. Failing that, grab some rocket launchers or just bomb it from space. While setting this up, your best bet is actually to stay too close to shoot and circle around it - or even climb onto its roof, if you're feeling bold.
Cannon Turrets
Should we count these as an enemy? I guess it's no less deadly or any less sentient than anything else the Automatons have to offer, so if you see a tall, square tower with a rotating turret at the top, be careful! These are basically just static Annihilator Tanks, slowly swivelling to fire at players in the mid-to-long range.
Tips and weaknesses: Use cover and speed to close the distance - it won't be able to shoot at you if you're standing near it. Once you're close, like the Tank, there's an exposed vent at the back that requires armor-penetrating shots to damage - though frankly, we just recommend calling in airstrikes to deal with these; they're pretty hard to hurt without heavy artillery, even if you have the shot on the vent.
Factory Striders
Helldivers 2 Factory Striders are the biggest bots the Automatons have to throw at Super Earth's forces. These hulking, four-legged fortresses plod around and harass Helldivers with powerful shots from its back-mounted cannon turret and brutal machine gun fire from its head. They can also deploy squads of Devastators to ruin your mission even more.
Tips and weaknesses: Factory Striders are so heavily armored that they don't actually have many obvious weaknesses, so you essentially just need to give them everything you've got with Stratagems (we've found the Orbital Laser to be quite effective), armor-penetrating weapons, and explosives. Be sure to disable its weapons and Devastator factory by shooting them enough too.
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