The original Helldivers contained a bestiary to help players study their enemies between missions. Helldivers 2 has no such compendium for players to look learn from, so we did what any loyal soldier would do and compiled our research for others to learn from.
In Helldivers 2, players are thrown into a galaxy-wide war against enemies they don’t know anything about. For the most part, they know the foes they face consist of giant bugs and machines, but little else is explained to them. This means that players must butt their heads against steel and carapace until they understand their foes and what their weak points are. That’s why we’ve compiled our own guide for every enemy we’ve faced here, so players can jump into the game and know how to kill everything that attacks them a little more efficiently.
Related: 5 Helldivers 2 Trophies That Make Us Afraid to Go for The Platinum
Note that we will continue to add to this article as we battle with more enemies.
All Terminid Enemies in Helldivers 2
The Terminids are the most well-known Helldivers 2 enemy. They’re a race of colossal insects that burrow underground and burst up onto the surface to create nests or just make life generally unpleasant. Below, we’ve listed every creature in the Terminid scum’s roster and how best to take them down.
Scavenger
The Scavenger is the smallest footsoldier of the Terminid swarm. Each one is an insect roughly the size of dog. While their attacks are weak, they can annihilate even the most loyal of soldiers if they get together and all chew at once.
Weaknesses
Scavengers are weak to anything. A pistol or submachine gun bullet is more than enough to put them down. We always keep our secondary weapon equipped while running between objectives because it’s easy to decimate a gang of these bugs as they roam without ever having one of them get close.
Flying Scavenger (Name to be Confirmed)
The Flying Scavenger (name to be confirmed) is a version of the Scavenger that can fly and launch itself at players. There’s nothing more to it than that.
Weaknesses
The Flying Scavenger, much like its flightless friend, is weak to all bullets. Shoot it with a secondary weapon to take it down quickly and avoid getting swarmed by too many of them.
Hunter
The Hunter is a quick Terminid enemy that can launch itself at players from a distance. These bugs can slash and have a huge attack range that even makes diving out of their way impossible.
Weaknesses
The best way to kill Hunters is from afar and as soon as they’re visible. They like to dodge out of the way of the crosshair before diving at players, so it’s best to spray and pray. If they’re clustered together with other enemies, grenades will always work, but they don’t take many bullets to be killed. A pistol or submachine gun will do the trick.
Secret Hunter (Name to be Confirmed)
The Secret Hunter (name to be confirmed) Terminid is a larger version of the Hunter that can hide in plain sight. It has active camouflage, so it’ll sneak up on players and then rip them to shreds with one or two attacks in an instant. This enemy is the bane of our entire Helldivers 2 experience, and we are genuinely terrified when we see it lurking.
Weaknesses
These enemies go down pretty quickly to shotgun or assault rifle fire. The issue is seeing them to kill them. Their camouflage shows up well in smoke, but everywhere else, they’re practically invisible. Placing mines is a great way to avoid them getting near a squad, and watching the horizon while exploreing will help avoid them sneaking up on anyone.
Warrior
Warriors are the smallest of the large Terminids that will attack players in Helldivers 2. While they’re big, they don’t do anything special, unlike their counterparts. Their role in the swarm is to attack anything that’s deemed a threat, which is why they’re so abundant.
Weaknesses
To kill Warriors, players need to shoot them with whatever they have. We’ve found that shotguns are the most effective weapon. Since Warriors are slightly tougher than their Hunter and Scavenger cousins, they take a few more shots to go down. Two rounds from a shotgun at mid-range will blow their heads off, though.
Brood Warrior (Name to be Confirmed)
The Brood Warrior (we will confirm the true name as soon as possible) is the slightly larger version of the Warrior that’s often covered in the toxic green gunk some Terminids spit. They’re bigger than Warriors, take more damage, and are much nastier in temperament.
Weaknesses
The best way to kill a Brood Warrior is with a shotgun or grenade. They have slightly more armor than Warriors, so it takes more than a few shots to go down. We’ve found that a machine gun works really well on them because it’s got more power than most primary weapons and can deal with these big bugs in a few seconds.
Taking these enemies down head-on should be no problem as long as players deal with them as a priority. Letting them get close is a disaster that will see players thrown around the map and, ultimately, eaten alive.
Hive Guard
The Hive Guard is the largest variant of the Warrior Terminid. Players will know it in every mission in Helldivers 2 because it’s got a massive armored crest on its head. This armor is no joke, and makes this an incredibly scary foe.
Weaknesses
The only way to take out Hive Guards is with heavy weapons such as the machine gun or railgun. One shot from the railgun kills them deal, while the machine gun takes a few more. Grenades and an Orbital Strike work, but players may struggle to set them up while the enemy moves.
If players are running low on ammo, a great tactic we employ is throwing a Resupply Stratagem onto the back of a Hive Guard. This is where all that time spent playing Stratagem Hero pays off. When it lands, it will crush the bug and provide a niche cache of ammo. The only disadvantage to this strategy is having to get close to the Hive Guard.
Charger
The Charger is one of the biggest Terminids players will fight in Helldivers 2. They’re huge, have armor plating everywhere but their lower abdomen, and they rush at players and throw them around the map to kill them. Hence their name.
Weaknesses
There are two ways to deal with Chargers. First, players can throw grenades in the path of one to cause it to run over them as they explode, injuring it multiple times. Then, they can dive away from its charge and shoot its lower abdomen to deal damage and, hopefully, kill it. This also works with throwing an Orbital Strike on the Charger’s back.
However, we have found that the railgun is a much more effective weapon against the Charger. When shot head-on, it’ll take more shots, so try to aim for the exposed abdomen or the side. Each shot will blow off armor plating, making the next one deal more damage. The bottom line with any Charger is to kill it from a distance because if it gets close, everyone is in trouble.
Spewer (Name to be Confirmed)
The Spewer (name to be confirmed) is a small green Terminid that packs a punch. It won’t rush players to bite them like the Scavenger. Instead, it stays at a distance and fires toxic green sludge at them. This bile will burn players and cause them to slow down, allowing more hits to get them as other Spewers sneak up.
Weaknesses
Spewers (name to be confirmed) are weak to bullets, so killing them with any weapon is advised. Shoot them as soon as possible from any distance, and they’ll pop. It’s better for players to stay away from them because of their toxic spit attack, so using anything that’s to hand is necessary instead of waiting to get a melee attack in for ammo conservation.
Large Spewer (Name to be Confirmed)
The Large Spewer (name to be confirmed) is what the small green bugs grow into. They’re big, have a huge green abdomen, and sound like a cow. They get into range of a player and spray a stream of toxic spit that deals a tonne of damage. We’ve died to this enemy more times than we’d like to admit.
Weaknesses
The best way to take this enemy down is with a machine gun or railgun. An Orbital Strike Stratagem or grenade works too. The key is to kill them before they get close. Heavy weapons make short work of them and keep them from damaging anyone, but explosives will bring them down fast when placed well. Using Super Credits to buy a more powerful primary weapon will help make these enemies a piece of cake. Shooting their sides is the best place because players aren’t exposed to their damaging spit.
Bile Titan
The Bile Titan is an absolutely massive Terminid enemy that towers over everything on the battlefield. It resembles a Warrior, though its limbs are longer, it’s much better armored, and it sprays a long stream of toxic spit on anything that moves.
Weaknesses
The Bile Titan is a mission in itself, so players will have to kill one at some point. To do this, the best method is to have one player distract it and draw it away from where it was stationed. Then, other players can throw grenades and Stratagems in its path. These will slow it down.
Using any weapon, but heavy ones are the best, to damage the Bile Titan by shooting its underside is the only way to kill it. The monster can really take a beating, so players must ensure they have all the ammo and Stratagems they need to battle it before they start an encounter.
This enemy summons others to its aid, including Chargers. That’s what makes fighting it so difficult. However, a squad of experienced Helldivers using tips from this article will know how to take anything down fast, so this shouldn’t be a problem.
All Automaton Enemies in Helldivers 2
The Automaton faction in Helldivers 2 is made up of deadly machines that want to rip players limb from limb. They’re intelligent and feel like they hit harder because they’re made of metal, which is obviously a lot more brutal than a bug bite. Below, we’ve outlined every Automaton enemy we’ve faced so far and our findings on their weaknesses and how to best deal with them.
Hulk
The Hulk is a large bipedal Automaton that packs a lot of firepower into two arms. One, as can be seen above, spews fire, while the second focuses on other attacks to keep Helldivers at bay. These enemies can take a lot of hits and must be put down with Stratagems, grenades, or anything that deals a lot of damage very quickly.
Weaknesses
As with most large enemies in Helldivers 2, the Hulk can be taken down most effectively from a distance with a high-powered weapon such as the Railgun. Failing that, explosives and Stratagems such as the Orbital Strike will bring it down quickly. We’ve found that having one player distract it and draw its fire while others get behind it to deal damage is the most effective strategy.
It’s possible to shoot the arms off of a Hulk while battling it, even leaving it alive without them. This can take precious time and result in a dead Helldiver, though. So players must weigh up how they want to take a Hulk down before they pick a fight with one.
