A surprise patch has dropped for Helldivers 2, bringing new enemies and a new gameplay feature to the cooperative shooter. The Automaton faction has been bolstered with the addition of aerial gunships and quadruped tanks, which can be taken down with heavy weaponry.
On this Helldivers 2 patch, it states that Automaton enemy constellations that preferred to spawn more of certain Devastators types did not work and are now functioning as they should. This means that sometimes when playing against the Automatons you will face more Devastators instead of other enemy types. This new patch is a welcome addition to Helldivers 2, giving players new challenges to overcome and a more immersive gameplay experience.
However, one of the things that really caught my attention was our face-off with a mechanical giant that resemble the Imperial AT-ATs from Star Wars: the Factory Strider.
This massive four-legged siege engine killed me and my fellow Helldivers with its powerful cannons. It shrugs off damage from weapons like the Expendable Anti-Tank and Quasar Cannons, and we were not able to destroy it with Orbital Barrages, nor were we able to penetrate its thick armor even with an Eagle Airstrike. One Reddit user said that even a 500KG Bomb won’t do. One of the most dangerous things about the Factory Strider is that its cannons can shoot from a great distance down on us.
Much like the Terminid’s Bile Titan, massive rocket attacks and coordinated strikes will be our only hope to bring these Factory Striders to their knees. My team were finally able to take it down using an Orbital Laser Stratagem.
Note that we were only playing the game on Difficulty 7, also known as Suicide Mission against Automatons for a Launch ICBM Mission in Malevelon Creek. It is still unconfirmed as to which difficulty these Factory Striders spawn, but safe to say that it spawns on difficulty 7 and above.
This surprise deployment of the Factory Striders can be a major setback for the Helldivers. These mechanized giants present a new and significant threat to our planetary defenses. Stay frosty, Helldivers. The fight for freedom continues!