In Helldivers 2, the Automatons are the new kids on the block when it comes to waging a galactic war. Where they come from and what they want are unknown. But what’s certain is the cold fact that they are programmed to stomp out human life wherever they go. Must like the scenes of the future in any Terminator movie. Only these bots sing robot shanties while out on patrol.
Helldivers 2 already includes over 30 different enemy types, and this guide will focus on the Automaton faction. I’ll tell you what you need to know about them and how best to take them down in the most efficient way possible.
How to beat all Automaton Enemy Types in Helldivers 2
There are 18 different variations of Automatons that we know of in the game right now ranging from small bipedal bots to Baneblade-level tanks and Dreadnaughts. Buckle up divers, we’re in for a wild ride!
Raider/Marauder, MG Raider
The most common type of enemy you will see on the battlefield. The Raider/Marauder are the foot soldiers of the Automaton force. Don’t be fooled by their Stormtrooper aim, they are more than capable of dispatching Helldivers after saturating the air with blaster fire.
The MG Raiders might output more in terms of DPS, but they are even more inaccurate compared to the rifle-wielding Raiders. Still, even they can’t miss from close range. Their purpose is to apply pressure to the squad, leaving them open to attack from heavy hitters.
Raiders/Marauders go down with a single headshot and a few body shots. If confronted by a squad of bots, use the terrain and cover to your advantage. They tend to clump together while closing in on their enemies. When that happens, chuck a grenade and you should take out an entire group of them.
Personal shields and smoke bombs greatly reduce their effectiveness. The riot shield is effective to an extent but shots can still go through even when you’re crouched.
Rocket Raider
Rocket Raiders are the true threat in the Raider ranks. The rocket launchers they carry can outright kill a Helldiver with a direct hit. If that’s not enough, splash damage from the rocket is enough to knock you down, leaving you vulnerable for a few seconds.
Rocket Raiders are high priority targets. If you see one, do not hesitate to destroy it. They may miss the first or second shot, but if left alone long enough, one of their rockets will surely land.
Brawler
The Brawlers are a Raider variant equipped with dual heat blades and modified to move faster than their Raiders cousins. They will relentlessly pursue any Helldiver that enters their line of sight.
Prioritize taking out the Brawler first before dealing with the Raiders. They go down with a few shots so you can dispatch them quickly before turning your attention to the ranged threat.
Assault Raider
These Raider variant uses a jump pack to quickly close the gap between and their targets. They are usually armed with a heated blade and a pistol and shouldn’t be expected to deal crazy amounts of damage. They are more for surprise than anything else.
Since their jump packs launch them in a high arc, it is possible to shoot them either on their way up or on the way down. Just make sure to stay away from a dying Assault Raider. Their jump packs tend to explode when damaged, potentially killing any Helldiver close to them. A good trick is to dive backward as the Assault Raider drops on top of you and then destroy them. It’s a good way of ensuring that are at least away from the resulting jump pack explosion.
Commissar
The Commissar is one of the most troublesome units to encounter out in the field. At first glance, it may only look like a Raider with a pistol in one hand and a heated blade in the other, but this enemy type can call in reinforcements. It does so using a flare gun that then summons a dropship carrying additional units to fight.
This unit seemingly blends in with other Raiders, so weeding it out and destroying it becomes a top priority. You know a Commissar is near when a grenade drops near you. They are the only unit so far that does that and is a dead giveaway that one is among a scouting group. Look for the bot that’s aiming at the sky and take it out ASAP.
At higher levels, a single Commissar can call in 3 to 4 dropships. If you don’t want to spend the next 10 minutes fighting for your life, remove them from the equation.
Scout Strider/Trooper
The first real threat in the Automaton army, the Scout Striders are bipedal scout walkers armed with a heavy cannon. They possess strong frontal armor that is virtually immune from small-arms fire. One hit from their cannons can knock down a Helldiver. In worst cases, they can even kill divers outright.
The key to effectively taking down a Scout Strider is the Trooper Automaton that rides it. If you can destroy them, the Scout Strider will just tip over and destroy itself.
The backs of Scout Striders are completely open, allowing you to assassinate the Trooper controlling it. You can either outflank the walker to get at the Trooper, thankfully the Strider turns like a truck, or get the high ground and head-shotting the driver.
Weapons like the Autocannon and Railgun can destroy the Scout Strider at the front in one to two shots. An Arc Thrower can get past the frontal armor if you aim the weapon at the strider’s feet. The arc has a high chance of traveling through the leg and then the Trooper. If you do not have a heavy weapon equipped, you can throw an Impact Grenade to the side of the Strider and the force of the explosion is more than likely to kill the Trooper.
Berserker
The Berserker is classed as a medium-sized enemy that is equipped with chain swords on both arms. Whatever you do, do not engage this unit in close-quarters combat. Many a foolish Helldiver lay dead on the ground as a result of challenging one with the butt of their rifles.
The Berserker’s weak spot is its arms. You can use small arms fire to quickly dispatch both arms. This will render the Berserker useless, and more importantly, defenseless. Alternatively, shots to the head or midsection using a machine gun or an autocannon have the potential to instantly destroy a Berserker. A couple of grenades are also known to knock out groups of bunched-up Berserkers.
Gunner Devastator
The Gunner Devastator is the first proper armored unit most new Helldivers will encounter at the start of their service. They are equipped with a blaster cannon on one of their arms, usually the right one. They are relentless enemies that will quickly close the gap to their target while firing their weapons.
This standard Devastator is relatively easy to take down if you know where to aim at. The arms can be damaged from small arms fire. In a pinch, you can quickly destroy the arms before dealing the finishing blow. The most effective way to take them down is with bursts from the Breaker shotgun to its midsection. They are surprisingly weak at that joint and will split in half after a few well-placed shots.
If you have a precision weapon, you can also quickly destroy Devastator with a few shots to the head. Just aim for the glowing eyes and you’ll make quick work of it. Semi-automatic rifles and the Railgun fit the bill perfectly.
Heavy Devastator
This Devastator variant carries a heavy shield on its left hand and a Gatling laser on its right. This is a major step up from the standard Devastator and Helldivers should respect its firepower despite its slow movement speed.
The best way to take down a Heavy Devastator is to shoot the shield with a Railgun shot. This will stagger the heavy long enough for you to make a follow-up shot to the head. You can also shoot a couple of shots through the shield in the general area of its head. One precise headshot is enough to destroy it.
Other options include 3-4 grenade launcher direct hits to the body or the Devastator’s backpack. You can also use small arms fire at the right shoulder joint to disarm the Devastator. When disarmed, the Heavy Devastator will walk forward and try to shield bash its target.
Rocket Devastator
The Rocket Devastator is a priority one target in any group of enemies. This rocket barrage specialist will stay in the very back of any engagement, raining rockets on top of our Helldiver squad. Do everything you can to avoid its rocket barrage as a direct hit from one of these rockets will kill a Helldiver. A clear tell that the Rocket Devastator is about to unleash its salvo is when it starts planting its feet and lowering its profile.
One might think that destroying the shoulder-mounted pods is the smart thing to do. Far from it. The pods have a surprising amount of health to them. You are better off shooting off its head with a precision weapon like the Railgun.
In really bad situations, you can use a smoke grenade or a smoke stratagem to disrupt its tracking and force it out of its ready state. If you are truly unlucky, the rocket devastator might just blindly shoot a salvo into the smoke and kill you by accident.
Hulk Bruiser
This is the first variant of the intimidating Hulk class enemies you’ll see once you start taking Difficulty 4 missions. The Hulk Bruiser is armed with two very powerful laser cannons on either arm. It is classed as a heavy armor enemy and is practically immune to all forms of small arms fire save for the heat vents on its back.
The best way to take out a Hulk is to shoot a railgun shot directly into its head. A single shot is usually enough to take it down. Other effective weapons are the disposable anti-tank launcher or autocannon shots to the heat vents. The Orbital Railcannon strike should prove most effective against it in a pinch.
If you are out of options, you can somewhat damage a Hulk Bruiser if you throw impact grenades somewhere close to its back. The explosion from the grenades causes a lot of damage to the vents. However, it’ll still take around 3 grenades to kill a Hulk this way. Aim carefully.
Hulk Obliterator
The second variant of the Hulks seen on the battlefield, the Hulk Obliterator is equipped with a couple of rocket pods on top of the laser cannons on both arms. For some reason, they appear to possess thicker armor than the Hulk Bruiser. As with all rocket users, avoid the salvo at all costs.
Since it possesses all the weaknesses of the Hulk Bruiser, all of the counters above apply to the Obliterator as well. Stratagems like the Rail Cannon Strike are especially effective against it. And since it prefers to stay in the back, the SPEAR homing missile is a great counter at long distances.
Hulk Scorcher
The sight of a Hulk Scorcher strikes fear into the hearts of even seasoned Helldivers. This Hulk variant is designed for close-range encounters. It is far faster than the other Hulk variants and will use its circular saw arm at first chance. It is programmed to obsess over a single target and will not stop until they are ‘terminated’. Do not allow this enemy to get close. At mid-range, its flamer arm has the potential to instantly kill a Helldiver in under a few seconds. Half cover does little to help against a full flame blast.
Do not mess around with this one. Shoot its head off with a Railgun or take it out from long range with a stratagem. If you are working with a team, draw its attention and have the others shoot the heating vents in the back before it has a chance to ignite its flames. The best thing you can do is jump dodge backward the moment it swings its saw arm. Stay one ahead of the flamer arm if you don’t want to get cooked.
Annihilator/Shredder Tank
The Annihilator Tank is good for one thing and one thing only. To control large areas of the battlefield and deny Helldivers from freely running around. It has the most armor out of all the enemies in the Automaton faction. Both versions of the tank have a front-facing machine gun that shoots in a small cone. It is easy to avoid but you don’t want to be standing in front of this thing. The real threat comes from the main cannon turret and its quad anti-air turret on top of the main body.
The Annihilator Tank may be intimidating but the slow-turning turret is easy prey for autocannons and railguns. Simply run around until you see the heating vents on the back of the turret. It takes around 3 to 4 autocannon shots to destroy a tank. The railgun can do the job in 4 shots to the vent. The railgun comes with the added benefit of being able to destroy a tank in 6 shots to the main turret as railgun shots have such high penetration. The Shredder Tank’s turret turns a little too fast. One Rail Cannon Strike is enough to destroy the turret and main body.
At long range, it is advisable to use the Spear homing missile to quickly disable either tank variant. The disposable rocket launcher works too if you can sneak in a couple of shots at range on the heating vents.
Dropship
If you are in the right place, at the right time, you can blow up the dropship before it has a chance of delivering its payload. Highly unlikely. Better to use the grenade launcher and destroy the bots hanging on the underside before they have a chance of getting on the ground.
The best way to take out a dropship is with a direct hit with a Recoilless Rifle to one of its four thrusters. It’s going to take one or two shots, but if you’re fast enough, you can take one down before it has a chance to unload any transported units. It should be noted that any transported units still on board the dropship will be destroyed instantly when the dropship goes down.
Additionally, if you happen to find the SEAF SAM-Site optional objective and activate it, you can have a decently sized area that will be denied any drops.
And that’s all the Automatons types in Helldivers 2 and how to quickly dispatch them. As a bonus, I’ll tell you how quickly destroy an Automaton Fabricator with an Impact Grenade.
Common knowledge says that you should arc your throw perfectly so that the impact nade goes off on the way down the top vents. But that’s not going to work all the time. Instead, wait for the doors and open, kill the newly minted robot, and then throw the grenade into the open doorway. Quick and easy once you have the timing down pat.