Helldivers 2 players have been wasting Stratagems - dev confirms the new bot Gunship factories can only be destroyed with Hellbombs

Helldivers 2 Warbond
(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

Helldivers 2 players have seemingly been wasting their Stratagems in an attempt to destroy the new Gunship factories since, as it turns out, their only weakness is Hellbombs.

Helldivers 2 Gunships have been a plague on the co-op shooter's skyscapes since their addition earlier this week as the Automaton drones have been raining terror down on grunts. Players need to destroy the factories that spawn Gunships to rid the planet of these pesky metal birds, which is easier said than done.

Setting up a Hellbomb can feel like an exorbitantly long task when Gunships are blasting away, so Helldivers previously experimented with almost every explosive Stratagem there is in the game. Orbital Lasers, Precision Strikes, 500kb Bombs, countless Quasar Cannon shots. Nothing seemed to work, and it's now been confirmed that there's only one solution to the factories.

One player jumped to the game's Discord channel on April 4 to ask for "tips on taking out the Gunship factories other than going right up next to it and Hellbombing?" Community manager Spitz then responded: "Currently, Hellbomb is the only thing that can destroy them." I suddenly had war flashbacks of all the wasted Stratagems that could've been better spent spreading democracy to space crabs. 

Those tricky Gunship factories have been a major thorn in the war effort's side as Helldivers 2 players are currently struggling to complete the new Major Order to finally eradicate the Automaton threat. Even if the assault on the Automaton home planets ends in failure, divers can still look forward to an all-new Premium Warbond that's adding explosive weapons and an explosive-resistant armor next week. 

Find out how to get Super Credits in Helldivers 2 fast so you can afford the new Warbond.

Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.