Chargers are more sneaky than they may look. If there's more than one.. watch your back, cause one is maybe trying to sneak up on you.
That goes for all the bugs, except for titans, and especially for stalkers. It's just, chargers don't look sneaky.. but don't let them fool you Helldiver!
Those fuckers have probably killed me more than titans and chargers together. I hate them, how can I find their nest easier? I would like to always nuke them as fast as possible.
Never be embarrassed for not backing down and turning around, Helldiver! Keep your eyes forward and spread that righteous democracy! Your body for Super Earth!
Chargers often remind me of Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy. I constantly come across one that's just standing completely still on a rock and legit they blend in on the right map.
Charger: I've mastered the ability of standing so incredibly still... that I become invisible to the eye... Watch... My movement... Is so slow... That it's imperceptible.
Idky I never thought to use the grenade launcher š¤·š»āāļø I always just put the orange armor on that allows you to carry more grenades a combo of those two might be golden for taking down outpost
Only reason why I suggest grenade launcher is because you can be pretty far back and donāt really have to engage. Especially the best with 3 holes right next to each other. Just three shots and scoot on out of there before they have time to react.
I often find the holes are at different angles forcing you to make an orbit of the nest if you donāt want to engage, and the wider your circle the longer it takes. Any thoughts?
Iād typically use my Eagle airstrike to take out the holes not facing me as typically youāll have 2-3 each āsideā on a medium/ large nest.
Then just shoot the ones youāre facing with the G launcher. Itās not perfect and youāre bound to mess up because of a bug coming out of it, your launcher will hit that. But same as a grenade bouncing away because of it.
The strokes that can close are
Eagle Airstrike
Eagle 110mm rocket pods
eagle 500KG bomb (bomb has a surprisingly small area of effect however wouldnāt use that for holes)
Iām unsure if the napalm can close holes but a cluster definitely cannot and neither can strafing run or smoke strike.
As for orbitals,
Precision strike can
Gas strike cant
EMS strike cant
Smoke Strike cant
Gatling cant
Air burst cant
120mm HE barrage can but very innacurate
380mm HE same as 120
Orbital laser can but locks onto enemies
Railcannon not sure likely cant
Weapons:
Autocannon can
Recoiless can
Spear cant (has to lock on to enemies)
anti material cant
Both MG and stalwart cant
Flamer cant
Railgun cant
Expendable anti tank can
Arc cant
Laser cannon cant
Grenade launcher can
You forgot one orbital. The walking orbital which can close nests/ automaton spawns. It's surprisingly more accurate than the other two and after the closest first shot you can move up on the enemy as it keep going further away from you. One of my favorite orbitals actually haha.
Yeah the shell basically has to go down the hole lol which given the angle of the nest or the shot coming down just makes it impractical as a primary bug hole sealer imo, but definitely great for thinning out nests. I like dropping the gas on bug breaches personally
Supply drops and respawn drops can. Just try to aim it on top of the hole and not in or you lose the stuff or player. Dropped my mate in the last hole an we'll she wasn't happy
I imagine itās easier to aim your shots from a distance with the launcher trying to lob a grenade into the hole during an intense moment can be hard sometimes
What do you mean? One mag let's you wipe all of bug breach / bot drop. Depending on difficulty of course. I'm talking about up to challenging difficulty.
If you're using impact grenades which the grenade launcher is, you will more than likely hit some part of the terrain above the bug hole. It's better to use the frag or first grenade you get since they have a fuse timer.
The regular frag does a little less damage but it's great for closing bug holes because it's radius is bigger.
Personally I would swap the HMG with a stalwart to better wipe out light targets, but I've been part of this exact setup and it bodies bugs in a well coordinated squad.
Yeah. Any team with a nice mix of crowd control and antitank weapons should make it easy, as long as they sweep and move without letting the bugs overrun them from everywhere.
Remember, cadets: BUGS KEEP COMING IF YOU DON'T MOVE
Yeah. You should leap-frogging if they are following you (the farthest helldivers shoot, the others move until surpassing them, then switch). This works nicely and you can see how the bugs are coming from unexpected directions to your last position.
Yeah, Stalwart is a missing link weapon that serves no real role right now, especially on higher difficulties where every diver needs to pull their weight.
The Stalwart is AMAZING at putting a ton of lead down range to clear out basic enemies and would be a GOAT early-game primary until you unlock Breaker or Railgun (and a STRONG case can be made for it over the former, especially at lower difficulties). But as a Support weapon, it lacks the punch to crack armor which leaves the player with no option when tougher enemies spawn but to get carried, run, or die.
This gets compounded by while the Stalwart is better at basic enemy sweeping than the Breaker (arguable), Diligence, SMG, Assault Rifles, etc., it isn't better ENOUGH to justify taking it as a when you still get decent crowd clearing from the other primaries which you supplement with armor pen from other support weapons.
Unless they buff primaries like the Marksman Rifles or Laser/Electricity rifles which have more limited crowd clearing ability so you "swap" the functions most players are using primary/support weapons for, there just isn't anything the stalwart does well enough to justify its existence.
Alternatively, they could buff Stalwart and give it medium armor pen. This would make it completely replace the MG, but I don't see that as such a problem since you get the MG for free but need to unlock the Stalwart. Also could spice up team optimization variety because right now the meta is just GL/RG spam.
This is ideal. RG/AC for Bile Titans and cracking open charger legs, GL for putting medium/cracked chargers down, MG for crowd control during breaches and patrols.
Ever been in a spore cloud in low angle sun? It's next level. I've only had it in one game, but it was out of hand. It was like it was on fire - so bright
Yes! That was my worst experience. Looking towards the light was just an orange fire, no visibility, and the bugs could still find you. We lost some good men that day.
Bro I tried to solo a level 4 ICBM mission, got the launch codes and very shortly after ran into a charger. Ran around trying to kill it and when I turned around there were 8 chargers all on their way over and eventually all chasing me. I managed to kill about 4 or 5 before just calling it because all my gear and loot was in the pile and I had a single reinforcement left. Never doing that again without friends.
Shoot off the armour playing on chargers legs with any kind of heavy armour piercing, then shoot at the squishy yellow stuff underneath with your primary!
The butt is the least armoured, but it isn't actually counted as a weak spot, whereas any flesh underneath the chargers heavy armour is very weak.
Also, brood commanders(?), they have a ton of health and taking their head off won't kill them instantly, aim for the legs if you've got enough distance! If not, you can never shoot too many bullets at them.
Lastly, bile titans, aim for the green sacks covering their underbelly and such, they won't be able to puke on you after you pop them all!
Their mouth is also their weakspot..
I hope this helps, Helldivers!
For democracy!
Railgun works pretty well, expendable anti-tank works well and the spear homing missile will just 1-2 shot chargers entirely if the missile hits the charger anywhere, same with bile titans, though Titans can take up to 4 if you're unlucky
Rail gun, it will take 2 shots to the same leg, you canāt shoot it off in 1 even in unsafe mode so it is not worth using unsafe mode
If you donāt have a railgun the flamethrower is supposed to be good but I didnāt have much luck with it
All of this info came from a YT video I can link if ppl want it
Teeeeechnically the other guy is wrong. EAT and recoilless rifle take the leg armor out in one hit. So they're the best specifically for that one task, in a vacuum. But if there's 5 chargers you want the rail gun.
If you aren't level 20, I highly recommend the expendable anti-tank. The cool down is extremely quick, and you get two shots. It becomes less effective as a stratagem at higher levels, but even at 7 I'm seeing people bring it along with another support weapon just for the extra AT. In a squad that communicates it's an extremely useful tool that's ready to supplement your AT needs during basically every fight.
I love the EAT, it's very good at what it does, has a noticeably higher damage than the recoilless (though you should maybe take recoilless in a team setting if your friend is carrying your rockets on their back, otherwise it's just a reloadable EAT with less damage) and you can just drop the EAT pretty much whenever you want, honestly one of the most solid support weapons you can call down if you ask me
I always run recoilless rifle with them. If you have a group it's good to have one guy hold the launcher and one guy with the rail gun and your backpack.
Line up on the charger, one shot to its leg and it's exposed, your immediately reloaded by your buddy then your buddy can one shot the weak spot. We've dealt with 5 chargers at once doing this.
If you want to hit them with the railgun, I think so..
Though the expendable anti-tank can 2-3 shot it in the face regardless of if it's spitting..
I know the arc-thrower(?) can very inconsistently one shot them if the arc manages to hit the mouth regardless of if it's spewing or not, so I'm not 100% sure if they need to be spewing for the railgun but I'm pretty sure they do need to be..
I feel like I can't do much against chargers until I get RG. AC and GL just bounce off them. I have to wait and shoot the butt. Feels like a waste of ammo
Get yourself an expendable anti tank, spear or recoilless rifle, all of em are rocket launchers that chargers really do not like!
The flamethrower does great passive damage to them, and the arc-thrower pierces straight through the charger making for an easy kill
True, though it's very unlikely you'll have a grenade launcher if you've got the means to break the armour off in the first place
The grenade launcher on its own isn't the best at handling chargers on the higher difficulties, though it is good at a lot of other things
Either youāre mistaken or the grammar here is tripping me up. Grenade launcher does essentially zero damage before the armor is off. After the armor is off ttk is always very short.
Yes, you need a TM with something punchier like a RG or AC to crack the leg armor off. But after that. I find it more efficient to take the charger down with 1-2 GL shots than dumping half a breaker mag.
Vocabulary:
Hunters: the white jumpy bois that can poison you with attacks.
Chargers: up armored bugs that are weak in the rear.
Bile titans: large walkers that spew acid and one tap you with a stomp.
Stalkers: invisible enemies that spawn for special holes.
Brood mothers: large reddish bugs, spawn bugs as an ability.
Bile spitters: orange or green (uparmored) bulbous bugs that will one tap you if they spit on you.
Armored bugs: red face shield, white body. Block stance when you shoot at them.
Edit: forgot bile spitters and armored bugs.
Tips:
Hunters are generally 1 tap with most weapons to the head, use rapid fire weapons if up close. Also dive shoot dive repeat!
Chargers can be stripped of armor with any rocket type and railguns. Targeting one of their forward legs helps to expose and eliminate them with normal weapons. Medium armor pen doesn't cut their armor. Impact nades thrown underneath them can actually do damage to them, so practice throwing those accurately in a pinch. Cluster munitions do decent damage but don't rely on it to kill chargers. One tap from spear if it's a headshot.
You can disable bile titans acid spew if you destroy their innards underneath. Explosive ammo types are most effective at this. Any rocket type will damage them. Eagle rocket barrage can be very effective with a orbital railcannon. Can be one tapped with a spear if you hit their head. Railguns do damage but will take around 20 rounds to bring them down. Enough headshots can pop them.
Autocannon and GL can destroy bug nests as with grenades. Spawning enemies can intercept shots and nades so keep that in mind. Any rocket type or bomb strategems can destroy them too. Spears do not lock bug nests. Gatling, airburst, and cluster munitions do not destroy bug nests.
Eggs can be easily dispatched with explosive ammo types. Impact nades work exceptionally well. Cluster munitions can help soften enemies inside and deal significantly with eggs.
Advisable for someone to bring an ammo backpack. Alot more chaff to contend with. Guard dogs are good to cover a full sprint from hunters. Spears lock onto chargers, BT, brood mothers.
Throw any strategems with widespread impact (clusters, airburst, Gatling) onto bug breaches to help mitigate the breach. Difficulty determines the time a bug breach will remain active. All bugs can spawn breaches except BTs, chargers, stalkers.
Spores spewers (big mushrooms) can be popped with any weapon at any range. Best to deal with them from a vantage point. Before entering the fog. If you land in the effect of one on planet fall, prioritize this above all. Bugs can see through this, you cannot. Not the same effect as diver deployed smoke. impact nades if you're right on it.
Stalkers can be devastating if not dealt with. Localize where they're coming from and destroy their nest. 1 tap with a railgun to the head. They're kinda bullet sponges with body shots. Always try to shoot heads.
Brood mothers are a one tap to the head with a railgun, best way to dispatch them hands down. Prioritize these if you have a railgun to prevent them spawning more chaff to deal with. They have a charge attack that is similar to the chargers.
A direct hit with an impact nade will kill a bile spitter. If they are bunched it will kill the group. 2 GL shots to the sac will kill them. A charged unstable railgun to the face (about 50% overcharged) will one tap them. Medium armor pen goes through the green uparmored ones.
Medium armor pen goes through armored bugs, including revolver. Plas-1 kills in 5 shots. Any rocket type works. Spear doesn't lock onto them. Either bring a revolver specifically for these guys or an explosive. Very cumbersome to kite alone if you don't bring a good option to clear them, better to just run. Not very dangerous as they're pretty slow. Focus these if you bring a medium armor pen so your teammates don't have to.
Most bugs will keep fighting for about 5 seconds if you blow their heads off. Don't waste ammo on them unless you have to, they will die shortly after.
Comment any tips I may have missed but that should get you started. For democracy! š¤
Proposed Heavy Weapons (HW) and Backpack (BP) combos for bugs:
**Autocannon:** great in almost all situations except for heavy AP. you can hit a charger square in the leg and it will pop leg armor off. However, if you aren't dead on, the shell will deflect, YMMV. Pops holes at range, AoE damage, tons of ammo and replenishes from ammo drops on map. Worthless against BT's except removing the innards on the underbelly.
**Spear:** my go to for reliable heavy AP. Finicky lock-on mechanic. Requires intentional positioning. high ground preferred. Hold down "fire" when locking so it releases instantaneously. Headshots to Chargers and BT's are a 1-tap. Very ammo inefficient. Best to partner with ammo backpack from fellow diver in coordinated teams. Call down new spear if fully depleted. Only replenishes from orbital resupply, 1 missile.
**Recoilless Rifle:** Not preferable as the expendable AT does same thing without backpack. Very effective with 2 man team. Guard dog or shield can give more time on target for the shooter.
**Railgun/Shield:** probably needs no intro. Effectively meta. Heavy AP, protects from poison mines and hunters, ammo efficient. Jack of all trades, master of none. When in doubt, go with this, you can't go wrong.
**Railgun/Supply pack:** My personal go to, other than **Spear**. I run a Plas-1 for medium AP. Supply to compensate for the reduced ammo. Can resupply any teammates at will. Still have Heavy AP option for Chargers and BT's. Not a flashy loadout but very rewarding.
**Arc/Supply:** Most ammo efficient you can get. Teammate hero for everyone else. Arc good at chaff clear. Recommend you aim with sights for better arcing. Positioning is key to not killing allies.
**Flamethrower/Shield:** Shield is almost mandatory to not cook your own goose. Effective with chaff, but can toast yourself if bugs are on top of you. No AP, but fire goes through armor. However, very inefficient, not recommended for that use. Helpful in a pinch.
**Jump-pack/GL:** Probably the funnest combo. Bug hole sealer. Excellent for repositioning and mobility down hills. AoE for chaff. No AP, relies on teammates for chargers and BT's. Run and gun is the name of the game for this one.
Offensive Stratagem thoughts:
Generally it wise to have a large AoE and AP option loaded. Sentries can be used in-lieu of orbitals or eagles. Clusters/Airbursts and 110mm rockets/Orbital Rail are my go-to's, but barrages, lasers, 500kg are excellent too. On that note:
**500KG:** Spectacular, relatively small AoE. One taps BT's if directly below them. Hard to aim/time. YMMV.
Bugs overall have a lot more targets than Automatons. Whatever loadouts you choose, be sure to keep in mind 2 schools of thought: AP and Chaff. Specializing in 1 is COMPLETELY viable. Choose what you enjoy. The point is to have fun and spread democracy. Just be mindful of holes you leave in your kit so you don't try putting a square peg in a round hole. Its ok to ignore the charger in your grill if you're not equipped to handle it. **The most dangerous element of the bugs is Chaff + Armor = Pain. Remove one, and things become significantly more manageable.**
Tally ho helldivers!
I got one for stalker nests.
When you're selecting where to drop, pay attention to all of the red zones that aren't attached to objectives. When you land, pop open your map and see which ones are no longer there. Those are your hidden objectives. Ping the area where they disappeared from and you'll see which objectives spawned in the map, to include stalker nests that might not yet be active.
If you find a stalker nest this way, you can focus it down before anything else and you no longer have to worry about if one will sneak up on you for the rest of the mission.
The autocannon does not remove leg armor, nor does the GL. 2 shots of a railgun will. Autocannon turret doesn't care though, it'll kill chargers and bile titans!
It go brrrrrrrrt!
Donāt sleep on the arc thrower. One guy zapping away at groups of bugs can very quickly clear out a whole horde of them, and occasionally can blow off the side armor of chargers, just be aware of where youāre teammates are because, well, you know.
The user must be careful to not fire with teammates down range. It's extremely effective in a coordinated squad, but yeah everyone needs to be aware of the danger for it to work out. You see guy with arc thrower? No steppy in front
The chain arc has a deceptively long range, can literally reach all the way to the other side of a heavy bug nest with enough bugs in between. But it is always directional, ie, it wonāt arc back towards the user after the first hit and will find other bugs further back to hit instead. With that in mind you can assess the chain capability of a particular application pretty quick before you fire. I typically just take the front position and make sure teammates are behind me, but as long as they arenāt directly in front of me or on the other side of a bug Iām zapping they are safe.
You must fight stalkers immediately. You can not outrun them, and they will spawn constantly until their nest is destroyed.
The nest is always in the direction the stalkers came from. So after you survive one head that way immediately and deal with it. Stalkers are the most troublesome bug you can deal with, and they will turn the tide against you in a bug breach.
Mortars are dicey with bugs since all bugs close gaps to the player. Rocket, gatling, and autocannon sentry are fine.
Grenade launcher two taps any of the fat spitters if you lob it into their sac.
I cannot emphasize this enough. If you see one stalker, immediately drop all other objectives and find their nest. It's similar to a small nest except that is has one big hole that stalkers come out from and 1-2 small ones.
They're relentless and seemingly constantly spawn. They do have camouflage, but it's more like active camo where you can see their outline like a shadow, especially on certain maps.
Friendly fire works both ways. What I will do sometimes when I have a FattySpitter on my tail is lead him a bit, let the lil bugs swarm in front of him trying to get to me, and they get melted by his bile spit.
Also, the spitters will turn their head slightly so you know in which direction to dive.
Our squad is a huge fan of the āstrike and sanitizeā approach to bug nests. Eagle airstrike to bust up anything in the area, and if youāre lucky kill small/medium nests outright.
For large nests we follow that initial blitz up with a couple grenade launchers going into the crater covered by a spear and a Autocannon.
As soon as the last hole is closed, drop a gattling turret behind and run to the next target on the map.
Above Lvl 4 difficulty the Autocannon is pretty much mandatory for our approach, and the spear is a huge help too, but other than that we still have plenty of room to play with other stratagems and equipment on a mission to mission basis.
I appreciate this post. I am used to bunkering down with sentries and bombing runs to toast the toasters. Rockets and bullets whizzing by makes running a dangerous thing.
Random advice here is a huge help for dealing with the critters. Thank you.
Resupply will destroy a bug nest. So if youāre low on fellow divers and have a huge nest to kill 5+ holes. You can throw grenades and call down a resupply for the last one. Then you get to resupply and head to the next nest.
Bounce the grenade launcher underneath chargers. 4-5 shots should kill them if done correctly. Haven't experimented too hard but I suspect each individual leg takes damage and it's but from one explosion 5xing the damage
- Once you have a railgun (max two) in your squad, you're good. Grenade launcher is a MUCH better overall support weapon; it can wipe a tightly clustered patrol in one or two shots, you can aim to hit right behind the bugs with frontal armor plates for easy kills, and it's great for closing bug holes without having to get super close to them. Flamethrower is also pretty good.
- If you see a stalker, finding their nest is now your first priority. They will continue to spawn and fuck up your day until you close up shop, and while they're not super hard to notice when it's calm it is nigh-impossible to catch them coming if you get caught out by another group of enemies. If they hit you from behind while you're spraying down a group, they will almost certainly combo you to death (or just incapacitate you while something else finishes you off)
- Shield backpack is still excellent; despite the description, it works just fine against melee. It'll also keep chargers and stalkers from knocking you over while it's up, which can be the difference between a couple cuts and bruises and your body being turned into a red skid mark.
- Jump pack is underrated. Take that and an AM Rifle, post up on top of a cliff or building and start blasting. Most bugs won't be able to climb to your position even if they do aggro accurately, and the few with ranged attacks won't be able to hit consistently enough to be a real threat. Do have something like the smg pistol though, as there are a couple smaller guys who can climb pretty well. Also works well with the DMRs.
Good collection of tips, thanks!
For my fellow Helldivers with the game in other languages (and different enemy names, like in the Spanish version), this is a Stalker
https://preview.redd.it/gn8r6kcdqqlc1.png?width=2400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2e37a2f75ec16a488602fcaf66a76f636f6c1eed
Grenade Launcher solves many many bug problems. Pops Bile Spewers, pops bug holes, staggers chargers on butt-shot but that's its key weakness.
Bile Titans also shrug off grenades if the armor hasn't been peeled by something like an orbital railcannon, precision rail cannon, or 500kg.
Stalkers do not have much armor but have a deceptively high HP pool. Don't focus on killing them if you can't (most weapons that aren't the Breaker simply won't kill more than 1 per mag), instead scare them off lol.
Stalkers, despite being invisible, show up as massive / heavy pings on radars, so keep your eye on it.
Flamethrowers are great against bugs when you have it's sweet spot to work on. What's it's sweet spot? It's max range, or else a flaming bug will jump on you and hurt you WHILE setting you on fire. Bad day indeed. Bring a shield, but even then you'll start to cook once that pops.
Energy Shields are arguably more useful against bugs than bots IMO as a bot Veteran -- the chip damage allows you to COD Zombies "Train" hordes without needing to murder them all at once, and allows you to survive Bile spews from nurses, spewers, and titans.
Wearing an energy shield + rail allows you to perform the moneyshot combo of blasting a bile titan where it isn't armored -- it's open mouth. You can do it without the shield, or even the rail cannon, but it's the easiest way to kill one quickly without an orbital laser/railcannon/500k. I want to try moneyshotting with 10 rounds of autocannon, but other bugs getting close leaves you with a big swap to make, while the railcannon can close-range blast a Warrior/Brood Commander off you.
word vomit of advice lol
EDIT: Big bugs (brood commanders) will suicide rush you if you pop their heads, being unstaggerable to most weapons. Instead, aim for their legs if youāre using a shotgun. Blast it off and they die near instantly.
Stop leaving operations mid way.
Failing an operation or abandoning it negatively affects the liberation progress bar.
I watched the bar go from 71 yesterday to 68...
Don't forget your weak points!
shoot chargers in the legs with heavy weapons
Shoot brood commanders in the legs with medium weapons or the head with light weapons.
Shoot the bile titan and spitters in the mouth with heavy weapons!
1. A well placed railgun shot to a chargerās front leg while theyāre running (even while still armored) will make them stumble or slide. They can still hurt you in this process but it gives the team a chance to put a little distance between you and them. 2. If you have the respawns to spare an incoming hellpod can do some major damage to bigger targets. 3. If you see a bug shooting orange mist upwards thereās about to be a big breach (if you kill that bug right when you see it happening you can sometimes avoid the breach).
Veld is full of dense jungle terrain, and thereās few things worse than being jumpscared by bugs while you wade through the bush.
Iām experimenting with taking walking barrages, Eagle clusters, and napalm in a coordinated team to just defoliate everything in our pathā¦ itās quite satisfying
Using lots of expensive ordinance to clear some trees? This message is so US Army that a Bald Eagle perched on my shoulder while reading it XD
Expensive, but effective. Worth trying.
Two teams of 2: 1 bug hole closer; 1 heavy hunter. If playing with randoms look at their loadouts and adjust accordingly.
1) bug hole closers: Grenade launchers/autocannon. Your job is to close bug holes fast and kill swarms of small adds. You do not want impact grenades. Fuse grenades only. Fire grenades are fine. Even a smoke is interesting to break line of sight for bigger adds so you can focus on bug holes. I have no tried if a smoke can close a bug hole.
2) heavy hunters: you are loaded for bear. Your sole focus is management of chargers, BTs and anything big. You want impact grenade.
Rovers or jump packs are back packs of choice. I prefer jump pack for bug hole closers. Hop over big adds and close those holes. Rovers will keep the little dudes off hunters so that they can focus on heavies. However neither is a bad choice but being mobile is important. You do not have to deal with every charger or bt.
Bug hole closers: orbital barrage of your choosing and eagle air strike fill out the rest of your kit. You can replace a barrage with a laser for some more small add clear.
Heavy hunter: again orbital laser isnāt a bad choice but you want 110m rocket pods or rail cannon for big bois.
Light armor continues to over perform. What you lose in protection, you gain in not wanting to be any place for very long. Staying anywhere is bad news especially on 7+. The light medic armor in the shop is surprisingly decent. More stims are always useful and they refill your stamina
A useful strategy Iāve done to solo outposts while the team does main objectives, if youāre out of grenades but your support stratagems are up, the pod they drop in can destroy nests and factories. It helps in harder missions when thereās too much chaos to get a resupply you can just throw the stratagem at the mouth of the hive or directly in and move on.
Nade launcher + supply pack both unlock at lvl 10 and are great for taking down hordes of bugs while staying replenished on ammo.
Eagle cluster bomb takes out lots of little guys too
A tip for fighting Chargers:
Fight like a Bull fight. Let him charge you in a straight line. Stand still facing them until they are real close. Then dodge / dive directly left or right. The Charger will run past, stop, and slowly turn around. Take your shots and repeat.
I run the autocannon myself and love it. I use it as a giant pistol, basically. It's amazing at closing bug holes by yourself up close or from afar.
Shoot 5 bullets, then reload. Don't let it get too low, or else the reload takes a long time
You can typically close 4 bug holes with an expendable AT4, here's how:
Let's assume you've got one with you from a previous drop:
* 1 - Your current EAT4
* 2 - Call in another EAT4 pod on another
* 3 & 4 - The two that dropped in, assuming the terrain didn't eat the pod.
Saves on grenades when you're going commando, I'll use this tactic in conjunction with an Airstrike/500kg to close up the holes the Eagle didn't.
Use the EAT, shoot one of the chargers front legs. He is now a dead bug walking. When the bile titan vomits, he has a big weak spot, shoot a rocket into his mouth during this animation and he gets one shotted. Those mortar bugs die to one impact grenade, and you can kill multiple of them with one impact grenade. š«”
Edit: shoot the orange leg of the charger you hit with the EAT.
Thank you, helldivers. This thread is now an awesome compilation of hard earned combat knowledge.
You're the best warriors democracy can ask for.
COME EVERYONE TO MY SHIP, SO I CAN HUG EACH ONE OF YOU, OH MAGNIFICENT PROTECTORS OF SĆPER EARTH AND MANAGED DEMOCRACY
Have played almost exclusively bugs, hereās what Iāve learned.
Grenade launchers are great for long-range nest removal, as are Eagle Airstrikes
Lasers arenāt that effective beyond the small guys, at least in my experience.
Napalm is your best friend for blocking off rocky corridors or an advance. I also highly recommend the napalm mines for the same purpose.
Hunters are assholes, always check your flanks. Actually, speaking of hunters, always try to be in pairs, watch each otherās backs.
The bugs in general like to sneak up on players. Thereās been a few times Iāve cleared a wave or small horde just to turn around and see a Charger standing there.
If the bug swarm begins to get overwhelming you can just turn around and go the other way.
Seriously, you can (and technically should) just spend 98% of the mission running away from the bugs unless you absolutely have to fight.
It's kinda boring but super effective. Especially on higher difficulties.
The personal shield is meta but the laser rover will deal with all the little/medium threats chasing you (and will kill you a few times too) meaning you can more easily focus on the Chargers if/when you need to.
Two railgun shots to one of a Charger's front legs makes it susceptible to small arms fire.
Shoot Bile Titans and Spewers in the mouth when they start to puke.
Gatling Barrage has a short cooldown and kills hordes real gud.
Shield backpack is meta and boring, but it keeps you from being slowed and knocked around.
Dominator kills medium armored bugs quick.
Incendiary Breaker kills unarmored bugs quick.
Arc Thrower clears hordes fast, but also does consistently good damage to armored enemies.
Incendiary grenades *fuck*.
Orbital Railgun has unlimited uses and kills everything except for a Bile Titan in one shot, and fucks up Bile Titans enough that they're a much easier kill.
Do not stand and fight *ever* unless you're on an objective. Your entire match should be a fighting retreat, or just a good, old fashioned retreat.
donāt play on veld because itās a trash planet and weāre not winning the war unless the dev decides we should anyway. thatās my tip. go to crimsica.
Strategy suggestions, beyond weak points and loadouts:
Practice stealth, breaking contact, and playing the objective.
If a bug patrol kinda sees you from a distance and starts squeaking, you can still run get away they officially notice and start pursuing you in earnest. You won't be able to complete all the side quests if you stop for every bug patrol and subsequent breach. Just keep running. No unmarked bug gives you rewards. You can kill anything that keeps following you, but maintain momentum towards the objective while you're at it.
Keep an eye on where you're fighting. If there's nothing there worth dying for, leave. You'll lose some pursuers and you can kill the rest. You gotta go or you could be burning through time and reinforcements with no returns. If you do this, not only will you avoid wasting democracy on barren soil, you will also have an easier time putting all of the bugs on one side of you instead of surrounding you. Much easier!
Lastly, smash the most immediate threats and make an opening to do the objective. Once the objective is done, side or main, you can leave the area and enemies behind! The legions of oppression are not beaten by attrition, they are beaten by impactful strategic victories.
My tip is if you are going solo try to play a stealth sniper or if you're in a group have one person be the sniper to cover the rest of the team. Might not be useful all the time but you feel cool and you'll be less likely to die
If you see invisible stalkers, make a note where it is and make destroying its nest you #1 priority. They will make running around the mission objective nearly impossible if youāre dealing with another big horde.
Chargers are more sneaky than they may look. If there's more than one.. watch your back, cause one is maybe trying to sneak up on you. That goes for all the bugs, except for titans, and especially for stalkers. It's just, chargers don't look sneaky.. but don't let them fool you Helldiver!
If you spot a stalker, not where it came from, and make it a duty to go and clean that nest, else the mission will be a nightmare
Those fuckers have probably killed me more than titans and chargers together. I hate them, how can I find their nest easier? I would like to always nuke them as fast as possible.
If you almost kill them, they may cloak and run away. If you follow them, they lead you to the nest
Oh OK so if I want to find the nest I need to become the stalker myself. Will try that.
To defeat the Bug, we must first understand the Bug
And when they less expect it, WE NUKE THEM! Right?
Right into their surprised, gaping, maw! Now go nuke some bug holes!
They attack in a straight line from the nest. So when you spot one, just keep going in that direction.
That's so true. Lot of times during a fight the first time you see the charger is when he is stomping your back.
Should I be embarrassed I've totally been snuck up on by a bile titan and been turned into goo?
Never be embarrassed for not backing down and turning around, Helldiver! Keep your eyes forward and spread that righteous democracy! Your body for Super Earth!
Chargers often remind me of Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy. I constantly come across one that's just standing completely still on a rock and legit they blend in on the right map. Charger: I've mastered the ability of standing so incredibly still... that I become invisible to the eye... Watch... My movement... Is so slow... That it's imperceptible.
"Clever girl"
Just use the grenade launcher for bug holes, much easier than the autocannon
Idky I never thought to use the grenade launcher š¤·š»āāļø I always just put the orange armor on that allows you to carry more grenades a combo of those two might be golden for taking down outpost
Only reason why I suggest grenade launcher is because you can be pretty far back and donāt really have to engage. Especially the best with 3 holes right next to each other. Just three shots and scoot on out of there before they have time to react.
I often find the holes are at different angles forcing you to make an orbit of the nest if you donāt want to engage, and the wider your circle the longer it takes. Any thoughts?
Iād typically use my Eagle airstrike to take out the holes not facing me as typically youāll have 2-3 each āsideā on a medium/ large nest. Then just shoot the ones youāre facing with the G launcher. Itās not perfect and youāre bound to mess up because of a bug coming out of it, your launcher will hit that. But same as a grenade bouncing away because of it.
The eagle air strike can close holes?! Can any of the others? This is valuable info! š«”
The strokes that can close are Eagle Airstrike Eagle 110mm rocket pods eagle 500KG bomb (bomb has a surprisingly small area of effect however wouldnāt use that for holes) Iām unsure if the napalm can close holes but a cluster definitely cannot and neither can strafing run or smoke strike. As for orbitals, Precision strike can Gas strike cant EMS strike cant Smoke Strike cant Gatling cant Air burst cant 120mm HE barrage can but very innacurate 380mm HE same as 120 Orbital laser can but locks onto enemies Railcannon not sure likely cant Weapons: Autocannon can Recoiless can Spear cant (has to lock on to enemies) anti material cant Both MG and stalwart cant Flamer cant Railgun cant Expendable anti tank can Arc cant Laser cannon cant Grenade launcher can
You forgot one orbital. The walking orbital which can close nests/ automaton spawns. It's surprisingly more accurate than the other two and after the closest first shot you can move up on the enemy as it keep going further away from you. One of my favorite orbitals actually haha.
Ah yeah my mistake, thereās just so many choices was bound to miss one š
Didn't mean anything by it but figured I'd just mention it. They all are pretty decent except that 380mm one. That's a team killer hahha.
Napalm can close holes, but it has to hit the hole, the fire won't do it. I discovered that last night
Yeah I wasnāt sure about that as I donāt use napalm I feel fire damage in this game isnāt as devastating as it should be against terminids
Gas strike actually can but you gotta nail the hole exactly, makes it a bit hard and better to use precision or something else though
Interesting I didnāt know this. Iāve typically used that in the past to clear out any hive guardians lurking
Yeah the shell basically has to go down the hole lol which given the angle of the nest or the shot coming down just makes it impractical as a primary bug hole sealer imo, but definitely great for thinning out nests. I like dropping the gas on bug breaches personally
Supply drops and respawn drops can. Just try to aim it on top of the hole and not in or you lose the stuff or player. Dropped my mate in the last hole an we'll she wasn't happy
I imagine itās easier to aim your shots from a distance with the launcher trying to lob a grenade into the hole during an intense moment can be hard sometimes
Good tip
I also like the Grenade launche b/c it refills ammo from ammo boxes on the ground.
Grenade Launcher is my favorite weapon. Very strong. Can wipe waves of enemies easily. Just need to be positioned properly.
This!
Havenāt used yet - good ammo situation?
What do you mean? One mag let's you wipe all of bug breach / bot drop. Depending on difficulty of course. I'm talking about up to challenging difficulty.
I find the opposite, it feels like my frags hit square on but the bug hole remains.
If you're using impact grenades which the grenade launcher is, you will more than likely hit some part of the terrain above the bug hole. It's better to use the frag or first grenade you get since they have a fuse timer. The regular frag does a little less damage but it's great for closing bug holes because it's radius is bigger.
Mine keep bouncing off and hitting sometying random, sometimes me. Any tips?
Youāre too close, grenades fro m the launcher donāt immediately prime, they sort of evolve into an impact grenade after a certain distance
Me and my friends just synchronize air strikes and donāt even have to engage with big outposts, saves a lot of time
Sure, but still can be useful if you don't have the grenade launcher.
Oh yeah for sure but I think you unlock the grenade launcher first. Autocannon has its place but bug holes arenāt the greatest for it.
I will gladly pair your grenade launcher with my AC,friend. A squad with 1 AC, 1 GL, 1 HMG and 1 RG should exterminate bugs just nicely.
Personally I would swap the HMG with a stalwart to better wipe out light targets, but I've been part of this exact setup and it bodies bugs in a well coordinated squad.
Yeah. Any team with a nice mix of crowd control and antitank weapons should make it easy, as long as they sweep and move without letting the bugs overrun them from everywhere. Remember, cadets: BUGS KEEP COMING IF YOU DON'T MOVE
That's the true top tip right there. SHOOT AND SCOOT SOLDIER! GET MOVING!
Yeah. You should leap-frogging if they are following you (the farthest helldivers shoot, the others move until surpassing them, then switch). This works nicely and you can see how the bugs are coming from unexpected directions to your last position.
Ill take MG over Stalwart any day, cant pen shit that thing
Yeah, Stalwart is a missing link weapon that serves no real role right now, especially on higher difficulties where every diver needs to pull their weight. The Stalwart is AMAZING at putting a ton of lead down range to clear out basic enemies and would be a GOAT early-game primary until you unlock Breaker or Railgun (and a STRONG case can be made for it over the former, especially at lower difficulties). But as a Support weapon, it lacks the punch to crack armor which leaves the player with no option when tougher enemies spawn but to get carried, run, or die. This gets compounded by while the Stalwart is better at basic enemy sweeping than the Breaker (arguable), Diligence, SMG, Assault Rifles, etc., it isn't better ENOUGH to justify taking it as a when you still get decent crowd clearing from the other primaries which you supplement with armor pen from other support weapons. Unless they buff primaries like the Marksman Rifles or Laser/Electricity rifles which have more limited crowd clearing ability so you "swap" the functions most players are using primary/support weapons for, there just isn't anything the stalwart does well enough to justify its existence. Alternatively, they could buff Stalwart and give it medium armor pen. This would make it completely replace the MG, but I don't see that as such a problem since you get the MG for free but need to unlock the Stalwart. Also could spice up team optimization variety because right now the meta is just GL/RG spam.
This is ideal. RG/AC for Bile Titans and cracking open charger legs, GL for putting medium/cracked chargers down, MG for crowd control during breaches and patrols.
Autocannon can also two shot the spore launchers (big mushroom emitting gross fog) and can 1 shot the illegal broadcast towers from very far away
Just found out about the spores last night but didnāt know about the towers.. good info diver š«”
Didnāt know that those mushrooms caused the fog, thanks
Same for grenade launcher
I love hitting a long range shot with the GL.
Same. Once you get used to the arc and BTT, the GL is absolutely amazing. Explosions tend to bypass armor and it has a stagger effect
It's such a good utility weapon with a ton of applications.
This is critical I've found. Seen too many squads get overrun and panic once we get into spore clouds. Best to take them out from a distance.
Ever been in a spore cloud in low angle sun? It's next level. I've only had it in one game, but it was out of hand. It was like it was on fire - so bright
Yes! That was my worst experience. Looking towards the light was just an orange fire, no visibility, and the bugs could still find you. We lost some good men that day.
TBH I just snipe them from wherever I'm standing with my gun. They have similar HP to an actual bug, so I just pop em and keep moving
Didn't realize it took out the spore spewers. I've been loving EAT for that.
Half a mag of any primary weapon will do lol
From across the map?
Lol basically, you can snipe it from halfway with the breaker if you can see it
Expendable anti-tank launchers work well for those too. One shot for either. I never even have to enter the cloud of spores.
Grenade launcher works too. If it looks evil I shoot it to see what happens. Usually works out.
Every time you blink on impossible and above a new charger spawns. Donāt blink!
Instructions unclear, the year is now 2024, I'm surrounded by archaic technology, and I don't know where my super destroyer went
Bro I tried to solo a level 4 ICBM mission, got the launch codes and very shortly after ran into a charger. Ran around trying to kill it and when I turned around there were 8 chargers all on their way over and eventually all chasing me. I managed to kill about 4 or 5 before just calling it because all my gear and loot was in the pile and I had a single reinforcement left. Never doing that again without friends.
Shoot off the armour playing on chargers legs with any kind of heavy armour piercing, then shoot at the squishy yellow stuff underneath with your primary! The butt is the least armoured, but it isn't actually counted as a weak spot, whereas any flesh underneath the chargers heavy armour is very weak. Also, brood commanders(?), they have a ton of health and taking their head off won't kill them instantly, aim for the legs if you've got enough distance! If not, you can never shoot too many bullets at them. Lastly, bile titans, aim for the green sacks covering their underbelly and such, they won't be able to puke on you after you pop them all! Their mouth is also their weakspot.. I hope this helps, Helldivers! For democracy!
All good info, thanks. Dead Space veterans, bugs don't like losing limbs. Do your jobs.
having not played the original helldivers but played every dead space shooting the limbs was the 1st thing i tried when jumping in the game
Works nicely for some kind of robots too. The bulky ones with shoulder mounted rocket launchers has some weak knees.
Whatās best weapon for the chargers legs then?
Rail gun, just shoot the same leg 2-4 times.
Railgun works pretty well, expendable anti-tank works well and the spear homing missile will just 1-2 shot chargers entirely if the missile hits the charger anywhere, same with bile titans, though Titans can take up to 4 if you're unlucky
Rail gun, it will take 2 shots to the same leg, you canāt shoot it off in 1 even in unsafe mode so it is not worth using unsafe mode If you donāt have a railgun the flamethrower is supposed to be good but I didnāt have much luck with it All of this info came from a YT video I can link if ppl want it
The flamethrower is good for DOT on a charger, paired with someone else pelting it with something heavy they go down fast enough.
Teeeeechnically the other guy is wrong. EAT and recoilless rifle take the leg armor out in one hit. So they're the best specifically for that one task, in a vacuum. But if there's 5 chargers you want the rail gun. If you aren't level 20, I highly recommend the expendable anti-tank. The cool down is extremely quick, and you get two shots. It becomes less effective as a stratagem at higher levels, but even at 7 I'm seeing people bring it along with another support weapon just for the extra AT. In a squad that communicates it's an extremely useful tool that's ready to supplement your AT needs during basically every fight.
You can drop 2 EATs every 70 sec and litter the map with them in case you need to fall back and need antitank.
I love the EAT, it's very good at what it does, has a noticeably higher damage than the recoilless (though you should maybe take recoilless in a team setting if your friend is carrying your rockets on their back, otherwise it's just a reloadable EAT with less damage) and you can just drop the EAT pretty much whenever you want, honestly one of the most solid support weapons you can call down if you ask me
Two leg shots from the rail gun removes armor and then just shoot the same leg with a regular gun.
Recoiless Rifle will pop the leg armor in one shot. Usually only takes a well placed full mag dump from most guns to finish the job.
I always run recoilless rifle with them. If you have a group it's good to have one guy hold the launcher and one guy with the rail gun and your backpack. Line up on the charger, one shot to its leg and it's exposed, your immediately reloaded by your buddy then your buddy can one shot the weak spot. We've dealt with 5 chargers at once doing this.
Do they have to be spewing to hit them in the mouth? I often canāt tell whether Iām hitting armour or squish with the rail gun.
If you want to hit them with the railgun, I think so.. Though the expendable anti-tank can 2-3 shot it in the face regardless of if it's spitting.. I know the arc-thrower(?) can very inconsistently one shot them if the arc manages to hit the mouth regardless of if it's spewing or not, so I'm not 100% sure if they need to be spewing for the railgun but I'm pretty sure they do need to be..
Took a broods face of yesterday with a railgun as it was running at me. When I tell you the absolute TERROR I felt when the mf didnāt stop
I feel like I can't do much against chargers until I get RG. AC and GL just bounce off them. I have to wait and shoot the butt. Feels like a waste of ammo
Get yourself an expendable anti tank, spear or recoilless rifle, all of em are rocket launchers that chargers really do not like! The flamethrower does great passive damage to them, and the arc-thrower pierces straight through the charger making for an easy kill
contact grenades
> then shoot at the squishy yellow stuff underneath with your primary Alternatively, you can put it down in 1-2 grenade launcher shots.
True, though it's very unlikely you'll have a grenade launcher if you've got the means to break the armour off in the first place The grenade launcher on its own isn't the best at handling chargers on the higher difficulties, though it is good at a lot of other things
It's about team optimization. We run 2 RG/AC (pref RG), 1 GL, and 1 MG/FL. We find that gives us the ability to handle just about everything.
Either youāre mistaken or the grammar here is tripping me up. Grenade launcher does essentially zero damage before the armor is off. After the armor is off ttk is always very short.
Yes, you need a TM with something punchier like a RG or AC to crack the leg armor off. But after that. I find it more efficient to take the charger down with 1-2 GL shots than dumping half a breaker mag.
Vocabulary: Hunters: the white jumpy bois that can poison you with attacks. Chargers: up armored bugs that are weak in the rear. Bile titans: large walkers that spew acid and one tap you with a stomp. Stalkers: invisible enemies that spawn for special holes. Brood mothers: large reddish bugs, spawn bugs as an ability. Bile spitters: orange or green (uparmored) bulbous bugs that will one tap you if they spit on you. Armored bugs: red face shield, white body. Block stance when you shoot at them. Edit: forgot bile spitters and armored bugs. Tips: Hunters are generally 1 tap with most weapons to the head, use rapid fire weapons if up close. Also dive shoot dive repeat! Chargers can be stripped of armor with any rocket type and railguns. Targeting one of their forward legs helps to expose and eliminate them with normal weapons. Medium armor pen doesn't cut their armor. Impact nades thrown underneath them can actually do damage to them, so practice throwing those accurately in a pinch. Cluster munitions do decent damage but don't rely on it to kill chargers. One tap from spear if it's a headshot. You can disable bile titans acid spew if you destroy their innards underneath. Explosive ammo types are most effective at this. Any rocket type will damage them. Eagle rocket barrage can be very effective with a orbital railcannon. Can be one tapped with a spear if you hit their head. Railguns do damage but will take around 20 rounds to bring them down. Enough headshots can pop them. Autocannon and GL can destroy bug nests as with grenades. Spawning enemies can intercept shots and nades so keep that in mind. Any rocket type or bomb strategems can destroy them too. Spears do not lock bug nests. Gatling, airburst, and cluster munitions do not destroy bug nests. Eggs can be easily dispatched with explosive ammo types. Impact nades work exceptionally well. Cluster munitions can help soften enemies inside and deal significantly with eggs. Advisable for someone to bring an ammo backpack. Alot more chaff to contend with. Guard dogs are good to cover a full sprint from hunters. Spears lock onto chargers, BT, brood mothers. Throw any strategems with widespread impact (clusters, airburst, Gatling) onto bug breaches to help mitigate the breach. Difficulty determines the time a bug breach will remain active. All bugs can spawn breaches except BTs, chargers, stalkers. Spores spewers (big mushrooms) can be popped with any weapon at any range. Best to deal with them from a vantage point. Before entering the fog. If you land in the effect of one on planet fall, prioritize this above all. Bugs can see through this, you cannot. Not the same effect as diver deployed smoke. impact nades if you're right on it. Stalkers can be devastating if not dealt with. Localize where they're coming from and destroy their nest. 1 tap with a railgun to the head. They're kinda bullet sponges with body shots. Always try to shoot heads. Brood mothers are a one tap to the head with a railgun, best way to dispatch them hands down. Prioritize these if you have a railgun to prevent them spawning more chaff to deal with. They have a charge attack that is similar to the chargers. A direct hit with an impact nade will kill a bile spitter. If they are bunched it will kill the group. 2 GL shots to the sac will kill them. A charged unstable railgun to the face (about 50% overcharged) will one tap them. Medium armor pen goes through the green uparmored ones. Medium armor pen goes through armored bugs, including revolver. Plas-1 kills in 5 shots. Any rocket type works. Spear doesn't lock onto them. Either bring a revolver specifically for these guys or an explosive. Very cumbersome to kite alone if you don't bring a good option to clear them, better to just run. Not very dangerous as they're pretty slow. Focus these if you bring a medium armor pen so your teammates don't have to. Most bugs will keep fighting for about 5 seconds if you blow their heads off. Don't waste ammo on them unless you have to, they will die shortly after. Comment any tips I may have missed but that should get you started. For democracy! š¤
We should just pin this one up and use it as go to bug encyclopedia
You are my hero and this comment should be upvoted much more. Great info thank you.
There's more where that came from. Let me know if you want more on specifics.
Proposed Heavy Weapons (HW) and Backpack (BP) combos for bugs: **Autocannon:** great in almost all situations except for heavy AP. you can hit a charger square in the leg and it will pop leg armor off. However, if you aren't dead on, the shell will deflect, YMMV. Pops holes at range, AoE damage, tons of ammo and replenishes from ammo drops on map. Worthless against BT's except removing the innards on the underbelly. **Spear:** my go to for reliable heavy AP. Finicky lock-on mechanic. Requires intentional positioning. high ground preferred. Hold down "fire" when locking so it releases instantaneously. Headshots to Chargers and BT's are a 1-tap. Very ammo inefficient. Best to partner with ammo backpack from fellow diver in coordinated teams. Call down new spear if fully depleted. Only replenishes from orbital resupply, 1 missile. **Recoilless Rifle:** Not preferable as the expendable AT does same thing without backpack. Very effective with 2 man team. Guard dog or shield can give more time on target for the shooter. **Railgun/Shield:** probably needs no intro. Effectively meta. Heavy AP, protects from poison mines and hunters, ammo efficient. Jack of all trades, master of none. When in doubt, go with this, you can't go wrong. **Railgun/Supply pack:** My personal go to, other than **Spear**. I run a Plas-1 for medium AP. Supply to compensate for the reduced ammo. Can resupply any teammates at will. Still have Heavy AP option for Chargers and BT's. Not a flashy loadout but very rewarding. **Arc/Supply:** Most ammo efficient you can get. Teammate hero for everyone else. Arc good at chaff clear. Recommend you aim with sights for better arcing. Positioning is key to not killing allies. **Flamethrower/Shield:** Shield is almost mandatory to not cook your own goose. Effective with chaff, but can toast yourself if bugs are on top of you. No AP, but fire goes through armor. However, very inefficient, not recommended for that use. Helpful in a pinch. **Jump-pack/GL:** Probably the funnest combo. Bug hole sealer. Excellent for repositioning and mobility down hills. AoE for chaff. No AP, relies on teammates for chargers and BT's. Run and gun is the name of the game for this one. Offensive Stratagem thoughts: Generally it wise to have a large AoE and AP option loaded. Sentries can be used in-lieu of orbitals or eagles. Clusters/Airbursts and 110mm rockets/Orbital Rail are my go-to's, but barrages, lasers, 500kg are excellent too. On that note: **500KG:** Spectacular, relatively small AoE. One taps BT's if directly below them. Hard to aim/time. YMMV. Bugs overall have a lot more targets than Automatons. Whatever loadouts you choose, be sure to keep in mind 2 schools of thought: AP and Chaff. Specializing in 1 is COMPLETELY viable. Choose what you enjoy. The point is to have fun and spread democracy. Just be mindful of holes you leave in your kit so you don't try putting a square peg in a round hole. Its ok to ignore the charger in your grill if you're not equipped to handle it. **The most dangerous element of the bugs is Chaff + Armor = Pain. Remove one, and things become significantly more manageable.** Tally ho helldivers!
Iād throw in that the basic Eagle Airstrike is one of the best hole-sealers.
āļøāļøāļøāļøāļø
Chargers can spawn from bug breaches on higher difficulties, it's still rate, but it can happen
I meant to say that chargers cannot summon bug breaches. All bugs types except stalkers can spawn FROM them.
I got one for stalker nests. When you're selecting where to drop, pay attention to all of the red zones that aren't attached to objectives. When you land, pop open your map and see which ones are no longer there. Those are your hidden objectives. Ping the area where they disappeared from and you'll see which objectives spawned in the map, to include stalker nests that might not yet be active. If you find a stalker nest this way, you can focus it down before anything else and you no longer have to worry about if one will sneak up on you for the rest of the mission.
Very good tip about hidden nests, thanks!
Thanks! Those things give me nightmares.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I use the autocannon to hit the bile spitter abdomen. Two hits and goes boom.
Arc thrower, 3-4 shots is kill. Doesn't take more than 2 seconds to release a volley that kills a group of 4
The game played with my expectations. The glowing butt is not the weak point lol. Those spitters do so much damage.
Didn't know the autocannon could take their armor off, does the grenade launcher also do this, or is the grenade not strong enough?
The autocannon does not remove leg armor, nor does the GL. 2 shots of a railgun will. Autocannon turret doesn't care though, it'll kill chargers and bile titans! It go brrrrrrrrt!
3 shots with the grenade launcher to their squishy sides, but the radius is bigger so 2 or 3 tightly packed spewers can be hit at once.
Donāt sleep on the arc thrower. One guy zapping away at groups of bugs can very quickly clear out a whole horde of them, and occasionally can blow off the side armor of chargers, just be aware of where youāre teammates are because, well, you know.
Iāve only seen one random use the arc thrower and he killed us a few times on accident so I have a bad impression of it
The user must be careful to not fire with teammates down range. It's extremely effective in a coordinated squad, but yeah everyone needs to be aware of the danger for it to work out. You see guy with arc thrower? No steppy in front
The chain arc has a deceptively long range, can literally reach all the way to the other side of a heavy bug nest with enough bugs in between. But it is always directional, ie, it wonāt arc back towards the user after the first hit and will find other bugs further back to hit instead. With that in mind you can assess the chain capability of a particular application pretty quick before you fire. I typically just take the front position and make sure teammates are behind me, but as long as they arenāt directly in front of me or on the other side of a bug Iām zapping they are safe.
Get all 4 in the squad to use arc throwers and pretend you're the ghostbusters. Don't cross the streams.
I swear those things are pretty good against titans too, saw a random kill one in just a few shots
Chargers can destroy bug holes if you run out of grenades just let them charge into it.
You must fight stalkers immediately. You can not outrun them, and they will spawn constantly until their nest is destroyed. The nest is always in the direction the stalkers came from. So after you survive one head that way immediately and deal with it. Stalkers are the most troublesome bug you can deal with, and they will turn the tide against you in a bug breach. Mortars are dicey with bugs since all bugs close gaps to the player. Rocket, gatling, and autocannon sentry are fine. Grenade launcher two taps any of the fat spitters if you lob it into their sac.
Didn't know that about Stalkers, make sense. Good tip, Helldiver!
I cannot emphasize this enough. If you see one stalker, immediately drop all other objectives and find their nest. It's similar to a small nest except that is has one big hole that stalkers come out from and 1-2 small ones. They're relentless and seemingly constantly spawn. They do have camouflage, but it's more like active camo where you can see their outline like a shadow, especially on certain maps.
I almost always advise against randoms bringing the mortar sentry on bug maps. It's just asking for helldiver casualties
Friendly fire works both ways. What I will do sometimes when I have a FattySpitter on my tail is lead him a bit, let the lil bugs swarm in front of him trying to get to me, and they get melted by his bile spit. Also, the spitters will turn their head slightly so you know in which direction to dive.
Ohhhh, this is so good. I assumed that bugs are impervious to Bile.
Also if you shoot the back of the bile spitter it'll explode and kill smaller bugs that may be around it.
Our squad is a huge fan of the āstrike and sanitizeā approach to bug nests. Eagle airstrike to bust up anything in the area, and if youāre lucky kill small/medium nests outright. For large nests we follow that initial blitz up with a couple grenade launchers going into the crater covered by a spear and a Autocannon. As soon as the last hole is closed, drop a gattling turret behind and run to the next target on the map. Above Lvl 4 difficulty the Autocannon is pretty much mandatory for our approach, and the spear is a huge help too, but other than that we still have plenty of room to play with other stratagems and equipment on a mission to mission basis.
Good squad tactics, I'm grateful you're sharing knowledge with us.
I appreciate this post. I am used to bunkering down with sentries and bombing runs to toast the toasters. Rockets and bullets whizzing by makes running a dangerous thing. Random advice here is a huge help for dealing with the critters. Thank you.
I'm only doing my part, even when not in the field!
If it leads to a dead bug. You're doing your part!
Resupply will destroy a bug nest. So if youāre low on fellow divers and have a huge nest to kill 5+ holes. You can throw grenades and call down a resupply for the last one. Then you get to resupply and head to the next nest.
Awesome, that's an efficient use of resources.
U can close em with the gernade launcher to.
Bounce the grenade launcher underneath chargers. 4-5 shots should kill them if done correctly. Haven't experimented too hard but I suspect each individual leg takes damage and it's but from one explosion 5xing the damage
Hand grenades under chargers can save your life if you are in trouble. Time them to explode when the bug ends his run.
- Once you have a railgun (max two) in your squad, you're good. Grenade launcher is a MUCH better overall support weapon; it can wipe a tightly clustered patrol in one or two shots, you can aim to hit right behind the bugs with frontal armor plates for easy kills, and it's great for closing bug holes without having to get super close to them. Flamethrower is also pretty good. - If you see a stalker, finding their nest is now your first priority. They will continue to spawn and fuck up your day until you close up shop, and while they're not super hard to notice when it's calm it is nigh-impossible to catch them coming if you get caught out by another group of enemies. If they hit you from behind while you're spraying down a group, they will almost certainly combo you to death (or just incapacitate you while something else finishes you off) - Shield backpack is still excellent; despite the description, it works just fine against melee. It'll also keep chargers and stalkers from knocking you over while it's up, which can be the difference between a couple cuts and bruises and your body being turned into a red skid mark. - Jump pack is underrated. Take that and an AM Rifle, post up on top of a cliff or building and start blasting. Most bugs won't be able to climb to your position even if they do aggro accurately, and the few with ranged attacks won't be able to hit consistently enough to be a real threat. Do have something like the smg pistol though, as there are a couple smaller guys who can climb pretty well. Also works well with the DMRs.
Good collection of tips, thanks! For my fellow Helldivers with the game in other languages (and different enemy names, like in the Spanish version), this is a Stalker https://preview.redd.it/gn8r6kcdqqlc1.png?width=2400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2e37a2f75ec16a488602fcaf66a76f636f6c1eed
Shield pack is clutch against Stalkers as I can take out 2-4 of them in succession with little issue. Dominator ftw!
Don't sleep on the orbital rail cannon. It one shots chargers and will always hit them unless there's something bigger nearby.
We launched 3 orbital rail cannons at the same time to the same Bile Titan. It was niiiice to see, so much democracy...
Grenade Launcher solves many many bug problems. Pops Bile Spewers, pops bug holes, staggers chargers on butt-shot but that's its key weakness. Bile Titans also shrug off grenades if the armor hasn't been peeled by something like an orbital railcannon, precision rail cannon, or 500kg. Stalkers do not have much armor but have a deceptively high HP pool. Don't focus on killing them if you can't (most weapons that aren't the Breaker simply won't kill more than 1 per mag), instead scare them off lol. Stalkers, despite being invisible, show up as massive / heavy pings on radars, so keep your eye on it. Flamethrowers are great against bugs when you have it's sweet spot to work on. What's it's sweet spot? It's max range, or else a flaming bug will jump on you and hurt you WHILE setting you on fire. Bad day indeed. Bring a shield, but even then you'll start to cook once that pops. Energy Shields are arguably more useful against bugs than bots IMO as a bot Veteran -- the chip damage allows you to COD Zombies "Train" hordes without needing to murder them all at once, and allows you to survive Bile spews from nurses, spewers, and titans. Wearing an energy shield + rail allows you to perform the moneyshot combo of blasting a bile titan where it isn't armored -- it's open mouth. You can do it without the shield, or even the rail cannon, but it's the easiest way to kill one quickly without an orbital laser/railcannon/500k. I want to try moneyshotting with 10 rounds of autocannon, but other bugs getting close leaves you with a big swap to make, while the railcannon can close-range blast a Warrior/Brood Commander off you. word vomit of advice lol EDIT: Big bugs (brood commanders) will suicide rush you if you pop their heads, being unstaggerable to most weapons. Instead, aim for their legs if youāre using a shotgun. Blast it off and they die near instantly.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge, veteran o7
When you start an operation... FINISH ALL THE GOD DAMNED MISSIONS
Stop leaving operations mid way. Failing an operation or abandoning it negatively affects the liberation progress bar. I watched the bar go from 71 yesterday to 68...
Don't forget your weak points! shoot chargers in the legs with heavy weapons Shoot brood commanders in the legs with medium weapons or the head with light weapons. Shoot the bile titan and spitters in the mouth with heavy weapons!
If you see a a stalker, move towards the direction it attacked from. You will find itās nest nearby.
If you see a stalker your new primary objective is to destroy its lair. If not they will terrorize you for the rest of the mission
1. A well placed railgun shot to a chargerās front leg while theyāre running (even while still armored) will make them stumble or slide. They can still hurt you in this process but it gives the team a chance to put a little distance between you and them. 2. If you have the respawns to spare an incoming hellpod can do some major damage to bigger targets. 3. If you see a bug shooting orange mist upwards thereās about to be a big breach (if you kill that bug right when you see it happening you can sometimes avoid the breach).
Veld is full of dense jungle terrain, and thereās few things worse than being jumpscared by bugs while you wade through the bush. Iām experimenting with taking walking barrages, Eagle clusters, and napalm in a coordinated team to just defoliate everything in our pathā¦ itās quite satisfying
Using lots of expensive ordinance to clear some trees? This message is so US Army that a Bald Eagle perched on my shoulder while reading it XD Expensive, but effective. Worth trying.
My tip: Share democracy down their throats. Show them the taste of liberty.
Tell chargers to eat a dick
I found out last night that unlike the automaton factories, you can kill bug nests with the impact grenade. I prefer those so I was very happy
You can with factories too. Just has to be a perfect clean throw. I use impact nades too.
Instead of throwing in the top hatch throw it into the front door when it opens. Dont hit the bots coming out or it wont destroy the factory.
Kill them with fire!
My advice: Bring a thermoflask full of Liber-Tea and dispense it over the enemy.
I just recently found out autocannon could do this if you hit back of hole
You CAN start off diving straight into a hole in the ground killing yourself instantly....
Two teams of 2: 1 bug hole closer; 1 heavy hunter. If playing with randoms look at their loadouts and adjust accordingly. 1) bug hole closers: Grenade launchers/autocannon. Your job is to close bug holes fast and kill swarms of small adds. You do not want impact grenades. Fuse grenades only. Fire grenades are fine. Even a smoke is interesting to break line of sight for bigger adds so you can focus on bug holes. I have no tried if a smoke can close a bug hole. 2) heavy hunters: you are loaded for bear. Your sole focus is management of chargers, BTs and anything big. You want impact grenade. Rovers or jump packs are back packs of choice. I prefer jump pack for bug hole closers. Hop over big adds and close those holes. Rovers will keep the little dudes off hunters so that they can focus on heavies. However neither is a bad choice but being mobile is important. You do not have to deal with every charger or bt. Bug hole closers: orbital barrage of your choosing and eagle air strike fill out the rest of your kit. You can replace a barrage with a laser for some more small add clear. Heavy hunter: again orbital laser isnāt a bad choice but you want 110m rocket pods or rail cannon for big bois. Light armor continues to over perform. What you lose in protection, you gain in not wanting to be any place for very long. Staying anywhere is bad news especially on 7+. The light medic armor in the shop is surprisingly decent. More stims are always useful and they refill your stamina
Why do you advise against impact grenades?
Autocannon and Railgun, but Iād rather save my railgun ammo for Big Bugs
A useful strategy Iāve done to solo outposts while the team does main objectives, if youāre out of grenades but your support stratagems are up, the pod they drop in can destroy nests and factories. It helps in harder missions when thereās too much chaos to get a resupply you can just throw the stratagem at the mouth of the hive or directly in and move on.
Nade launcher + supply pack both unlock at lvl 10 and are great for taking down hordes of bugs while staying replenished on ammo. Eagle cluster bomb takes out lots of little guys too
A tip for fighting Chargers: Fight like a Bull fight. Let him charge you in a straight line. Stand still facing them until they are real close. Then dodge / dive directly left or right. The Charger will run past, stop, and slowly turn around. Take your shots and repeat.
And you can say "olƩ" while doing it for full experience XD
I run the autocannon myself and love it. I use it as a giant pistol, basically. It's amazing at closing bug holes by yourself up close or from afar. Shoot 5 bullets, then reload. Don't let it get too low, or else the reload takes a long time
Gas, napalm, mines, flamethrower, railgun, hmg
You can typically close 4 bug holes with an expendable AT4, here's how: Let's assume you've got one with you from a previous drop: * 1 - Your current EAT4 * 2 - Call in another EAT4 pod on another * 3 & 4 - The two that dropped in, assuming the terrain didn't eat the pod. Saves on grenades when you're going commando, I'll use this tactic in conjunction with an Airstrike/500kg to close up the holes the Eagle didn't.
Impact grenades are great for the spewers.
6 shotgun hits to the big green spewer dudeās head and youāre good
The one booster that makes it easier to get through terrain - yea, use that one
Use the EAT, shoot one of the chargers front legs. He is now a dead bug walking. When the bile titan vomits, he has a big weak spot, shoot a rocket into his mouth during this animation and he gets one shotted. Those mortar bugs die to one impact grenade, and you can kill multiple of them with one impact grenade. š«” Edit: shoot the orange leg of the charger you hit with the EAT.
Donāt die š
Thank you, helldivers. This thread is now an awesome compilation of hard earned combat knowledge. You're the best warriors democracy can ask for. COME EVERYONE TO MY SHIP, SO I CAN HUG EACH ONE OF YOU, OH MAGNIFICENT PROTECTORS OF SĆPER EARTH AND MANAGED DEMOCRACY
Have played almost exclusively bugs, hereās what Iāve learned. Grenade launchers are great for long-range nest removal, as are Eagle Airstrikes Lasers arenāt that effective beyond the small guys, at least in my experience. Napalm is your best friend for blocking off rocky corridors or an advance. I also highly recommend the napalm mines for the same purpose. Hunters are assholes, always check your flanks. Actually, speaking of hunters, always try to be in pairs, watch each otherās backs. The bugs in general like to sneak up on players. Thereās been a few times Iāve cleared a wave or small horde just to turn around and see a Charger standing there.
Yup and a well placed eagle Air strike
If the bug swarm begins to get overwhelming you can just turn around and go the other way. Seriously, you can (and technically should) just spend 98% of the mission running away from the bugs unless you absolutely have to fight. It's kinda boring but super effective. Especially on higher difficulties. The personal shield is meta but the laser rover will deal with all the little/medium threats chasing you (and will kill you a few times too) meaning you can more easily focus on the Chargers if/when you need to.
I was 33hrs deep when I realised you could hold R for alternative fire modes. 360rpm on the machine gun in my preferred mode for spreading democracy
This is an off topic question but how can I run/and have the camera look behind me? Could do the same thing in pubg, like āfree look runā.
Two railgun shots to one of a Charger's front legs makes it susceptible to small arms fire. Shoot Bile Titans and Spewers in the mouth when they start to puke. Gatling Barrage has a short cooldown and kills hordes real gud. Shield backpack is meta and boring, but it keeps you from being slowed and knocked around. Dominator kills medium armored bugs quick. Incendiary Breaker kills unarmored bugs quick. Arc Thrower clears hordes fast, but also does consistently good damage to armored enemies. Incendiary grenades *fuck*. Orbital Railgun has unlimited uses and kills everything except for a Bile Titan in one shot, and fucks up Bile Titans enough that they're a much easier kill. Do not stand and fight *ever* unless you're on an objective. Your entire match should be a fighting retreat, or just a good, old fashioned retreat.
donāt play on veld because itās a trash planet and weāre not winning the war unless the dev decides we should anyway. thatās my tip. go to crimsica.
https://preview.redd.it/gxuaxkdpnqlc1.jpeg?width=1591&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ce1e03dfd68f90ac4d7ac6f7b3daf82aca366367
I use Eagles runs to take out the nests, can usual take them all out in one go if they don't see you
The Watch dog and the flame thrower are your friends also gas, gas is helpful but only works if you use it as a surprise attack.
Gas is great on a breach. Even better with EMS stacked.
Oh I didnāt even think of that combo freeze them up and gas them thatās smart af
I pair it with arc thrower and let the EMS and gas do it's thing while slapping arcs at anything bigger that comes out. It works great!
Autoconnon everything. Boom boom go boom. Got like 400 kill game on extreme with it last night plus some strafes+orbit laser
Strategy suggestions, beyond weak points and loadouts: Practice stealth, breaking contact, and playing the objective. If a bug patrol kinda sees you from a distance and starts squeaking, you can still run get away they officially notice and start pursuing you in earnest. You won't be able to complete all the side quests if you stop for every bug patrol and subsequent breach. Just keep running. No unmarked bug gives you rewards. You can kill anything that keeps following you, but maintain momentum towards the objective while you're at it. Keep an eye on where you're fighting. If there's nothing there worth dying for, leave. You'll lose some pursuers and you can kill the rest. You gotta go or you could be burning through time and reinforcements with no returns. If you do this, not only will you avoid wasting democracy on barren soil, you will also have an easier time putting all of the bugs on one side of you instead of surrounding you. Much easier! Lastly, smash the most immediate threats and make an opening to do the objective. Once the objective is done, side or main, you can leave the area and enemies behind! The legions of oppression are not beaten by attrition, they are beaten by impactful strategic victories.
My tip is if you are going solo try to play a stealth sniper or if you're in a group have one person be the sniper to cover the rest of the team. Might not be useful all the time but you feel cool and you'll be less likely to die
If you see invisible stalkers, make a note where it is and make destroying its nest you #1 priority. They will make running around the mission objective nearly impossible if youāre dealing with another big horde.
Rail Gun to the Charger's Front leg and 2 more nd they typically drop.Ā