Every Enemy in Helldivers 2 and How to Defeat Them

Helldivers 2 sets you on a journey of liberation to conquer the hostile galaxy in the name of Super Earth and spread managed Democracy. However the fight for liberty is never easy and as such 2 deadly factions hell bent on destroying liberty stand in your way. These are the Ravenous Bug faction called Terminids and the Mindless Robots called the Automatons.

The tactics for dealing with each of these types of enemies vastly differ from each other and you must familiarize yourself with every type of bug and bot in the Galaxy to succeed in the Galactic War in Helldivers 2. This guide is for that specific reason and will enlist every known enemy you can face in all difficulties of Helldivers 2 and how to defeat them effectively.

Terminids – All Bug type Enemies in Helldivers 2

If you have arachnophobia, this will be a fuel for your nightmares. Terminids are giant bugs that tend to overwhelm players with their numbers and mindlessly charge with an intent to kill. Terminids are relatively less armoured than the Bots but they operate in hives and have designated roles such as Hunters, Chargers and Brood Commanders. They are not to be taken lightly but they are generally weak to fire and can be crippled by shooting at their limbs.

Scavenger/ Warrior

Weak point: Limbs

When to Expect: Any Difficulty

These lowliest of the bugs are not to be underestimated. They are not especially a threat on their own but their strength lies in their sheer numbers. The Scavengers are easy to deal with and have no armor so try to shoot them as soon as you see them or they will alert the nearby bugs.

The Warriors are slightly armored but can be easily handled if you prioritize shooting their limbs.

Hunter

Weak point: Everything

When to Expect: Medium Difficulty and higher

Hunters are slightly larger than the regular bugs but have no armor. They tend to go for melee attacks so it is better to shoot them from a distance. However, be careful as they will try to get the jump on you, literally by leaping onto you to close the distance. It will serve you well to have a shotgun for these pesky crawlers.

Stalker

Weak point: Limbs/ Nests

When to Expect: Any Difficulty

Creepy, agile, hard to spot, and whip attacks that can stun you. These creepy mantis-like bugs check all the blocks in the annoying bingo list. They move fast and can turn semi-invisible making them hard to keep track of. The best way to deal with them is to set them on fire or destroy their nest to stop them from spawning. You can also try to shoot their legs if you are confident in your aim

Bile Spewer

Weak point: Head/ Abdomen

When to Expect: Medium Difficulty and higher

Bile Spewers are large bugs in Helldivers 2 that can shoot corrosive jets of acid. Even though they move slowly try not to let them get close as they also explode upon death, dealing large splash damage. The best way to take them out is by shooting their heads or the acid sacks in their abdomen. They can also fire acidic artillery on higher difficulty and have armored front sections, forcing you to shoot them from behind.

Charger

Weak point: Exposed Posterior section

When to Expect: Medium Difficulty and higher

Annoying as the Stalkers might be, they pale in comparison to these walking abominations that will recklessly charge at you. Their Limbs are armored and will hardly receive any damage from a frontal assault. Their only weak spot is the exposed bit of flash in their backs or you could shoot their legs if you have armor-piercing weaponry. The best way to deal with Chargers in Helldivers 2 is to dive to the side as they charge at you and shoot at their unarmored backs.

Bile Titan

Weak point: None

When to Expect: Challenging difficultyand higher

Bile Titans will only spawn in Bug Missions with Challenging Difficulty or higher. These towering monsters that can shoot acid and stomp on Helldivers, are often the focal point of your Helldives. With no natural Weak points on their bodies, they are a headache to kill.

To successfully defeat a Bile Titan, you must stay out of its attack range and use Orbital Stratagems to do any significant damage. You can also use armor-penetrating weapons to break off a chunk of its armored exoskeleton to create a weak point. Another way to deal with them is to use the reinforcement stratagem to get the fallen players to land on top of the Bile Titans. This can be a bit hard to pull off but is worth the style points and a dead Bile Titan, it will net you.

Check out more Tips and Tricks to improve your Helldivers 2 experience.

Brood Commander

Weak point: Limbs

When to Expect: Easy Difficulty and higher

Brood commanders are the large brown bugs in Helldivers 2 that can call in reinforcements and charge at you with a swarm of regular bugs. They are found near Bug Hives and points of Interest. To deal with them effectively, shoot off their legs to cripple them before going for the finishing blow. Do note that they can still move for a few seconds after having their heads destroyed.

Automatons – All Bot type Enemies in Helldivers 2

If you’re here, you’ve probably heard about the Massacre of Malevelon Creek, and want to avoid a similar fate. Trigger-happy novices accustomed to easy victories against the bugs were overwhelmed when met with bots who used the same medium as them to wage war.

Now that we have established that the Automatons are a much more formidable enemy than Terminids as almost all of them are armored and capable of shooting you. Creating distance and constant movement just won’t cut it, throw in good aim, well thought-out loadout, and you might have a shot at completing the mission, even extraction if you’re lucky. Knowing is half the battle, in addition to solid aim and gear, you must have information on exactly where to hit each type of bot, and with what type of caliber, unless of course, you want to run out of ammunition halfway through the mission. This guide is designed to give you just that.

Trooper/ Raider/ Marauder

Weak point: All parts of the body

When to Expect: Bot planets, all difficulties

This is the Automaton’s cannon fodder class; they are the most numerous and most expendable. There are three variants to this bot type, Trooper, Raider, and Marauder, the difference among them lies in what weapons they use, i.e., machine guns, grenade launchers, and rocket launchers. Troopers and like are fast and constantly try to close the gap as they shoot at you. They are however quite easy to take down, one headshot or a couple of shots from your primary or secondary anywhere else will suffice. They shouldn’t give you too much trouble, however, do not let a large number of them get near you or you’ll get overrun, and kill the ones with grenade launchers first.

Commissar

Weak point: All parts of the body

When to Expect: Bot planets, all difficulties

Pretty much the same as Trooper, Raider, and Marauder in terms of resilience. The key difference is that they can call in reinforcements, so if you let them stick around for too long then expect a Dropship visit. They can use jet packs to quickly close the distance and have a sword as their distinctive feature which makes them good at melee attacks and more likely to chase you. Avoid getting overrun by multiple commissars as their melee attacks are quite powerful, fortunately, you can dispatch them with a single headshot or a couple of shots anywhere else on the body.

Scout Strider

Weak point: Automaton on the back, Legs

When to Expect: Bot planets, difficulties past medium (level 3)

The scout strider is the Helldivers 2 spin on the AT-DT (All Terran Defense Turre) from StarWars. This walking turret is tougher to deal with than regular infantry bots as it can use its large legs for melee attacks, has a powerful gun, and is armored from the front so straight shots will take a long time to kill it. If you have a primary with armor-piercing capability, straight shots will take it down eventually.

Dealing with enemies fast and efficiently is key at higher difficulties, so to dispatch this one quickly, try to get behind the Strider and shoot the smaller bot operating it from behind the armor plates, your primary will suffice for this technique. If you can’t get behind the Scout Strider for any multitude of reasons, aim for its legs or throw a grenade under it to immobilize it. Autocannon is the bane to the Strider’s existence, shoot it with an autocannon from wherever you get an angle, doesn’t matter, it’ll only take a couple of shots.

Berserker

Weak point: Head, Arms, and glowing parts on Chest 

When to Expect: Bot planets, difficulties past medium (level 3)

These dual chainsaw-wielding bots look scarier than they are. They have chainsaws so their attacks are melee only, which is good since the majority of bot types have ranged attacks as well. Berserkers will always try to charge towards you and will bunch up at higher difficulties. A few shots to the head or a clip to the glowing bits in the chest will be enough to dispatch them. You could also shoot off their arms first to make them ineffective in combat, but it’s just faster to quickly unload a mag at their chest and move on. Grenades are also effective against Berserkers.

Devastator

Weak point: Head, Arms

When to Expect: Bot planets, difficulties past medium (level 3)

The Devastator has three variants, differentiated by equipment carried. A Devastator may have arm canons, shoulder-mounted rockets, or a shield. They are also heavily armored and don’t offer many weakpoints, unlike the Berserkers. The head is the only real weakpoint where you can shoot and expect to cause damage with conventional primary and secondary weapons, you could use them to shoot at and disable its weapons. To quickly and reliably take out Devastators, you should use explosives, preferably stratagems such as the Autocannon, Grenade Launcher, and Railgun or Eagle Strikes like the Cluster Bomb or Airstrike.

Hulk

Weak point: Vents on the Back

When to Expect: Bot planets, difficulties past hard (level 5)

Automaton Hulks are, as the name correctly implies, metallic hulks and these too come in three variants depending on the kind of gear carried. There is the Scorcher with flamethrowers, Bruiser with a heavy armor-melee build, and Obliterator with rockets and a rapid-fire gun. Hulks are heavily armored and headshots don’t work on them. They do have Vents on their back which are a weakpoint, shoot at those long enough and they’ll overheat and explode but you’ll probably die before that happens.

If you see this metallic behemoth, forget about using your rifle, and call in the big guns. Support weapons like the Railgun, Recoilless rifle and Autocannon are effective against them, though they will take a considerable amount of time and ammo to take Hulks down. To get rid of Hulks quickly, use explosive stratagems such as Eagle Cluster Bomb, Eagle Airstrikes, and Orbital Railcannon Strike. The Spear support weapon is also a good choice against hulks.

Tank

Weak point: None

When to Expect: Bot planets, difficulties past hard (level 5)

Automaton Tanks, sound exactly as it is, they are heavily armored rolling hunks of metal and are extremely lethal thanks to a huge canon and machine guns. They operate just like a real tank does, they are slow, have a lot of firepower, and can crush you under their tracks. You can avoid its attacks by staying close and behind the tank so that its guns cannot acquire you. If you do end up in its sights, find cover immediately as its canon can one-shot you. As far as destroying tanks is concerned, ever seen a real soldier try shooting a tank with a rifle? Me neither so don’t go for your primary.

Explosive support weapons such as Anti-Material rifle, Expendable Anti-Tank rifle, Autocannon, and Recoilless rifle are effective against tanks, however, go for these if the rest of the battlefield is less chaotic and you have some time. If you need the tank gone quickly, forget about support weapons and call in the big guns like Eagle Cluster Bomb, Eagle Airstrikes, and Orbital Railcannon Strike or Laser Strike.

Dropships

Weak point: One of the Four Thrusters

When to Expect: Bot planets, all difficulties

Dropships are responsible for bringing in a random group of different bots, except for the very heavy ones like Hulks and Tanks. Dropships come soon after reinforcements are called and are extremely quick in reinforcing the enemy. The last thing you want to see happen on higher difficulties is one of these successfully dropping a dozen more bots while you’re mopping up some stragglers after an exhausting battle. It is a good idea to take down the dropship before it can unload its bots by taking out any one of its four thrusters.

You could use Eagle or Orbital stratagems to do this but this is not recommended as these things drop very quickly and will probably complete their drop before your Eagle or Orbital Strike gets deployed. The Best options against dropships, which allow you to act almost instantaneously, are explosive support weapons like the Recoilless rifle, Railgun, Autocannon, and Spear.

To survive against the Automatons at higher difficulties, you must stop fighting head-on like a soldier, even if it allows you to kill more bots and feels more in line with your love for mayhem and spreading managed democracy. Instead, you must operate like an insurgent, hit the bots with exactly the right weapons and exactly where it hurts them most. Ideally, your team should take out all members of a bot party simultaneously so that they can’t call for reinforcements. Knowing where to hit and what to use will augment your ability to handle bots at even the highest difficulties.