The Shriekers are the first aerial threats encountered by our brave Helldivers. These flying rats are a slight annoyance in small numbers and insufferable in large numbers. If there’s one secondary objective you’d want to avoid actively, it should be this one. But if you happen to land close to one and are forced to fight, it’s not the end of the world.
This guide will tell you everything you need to know to survive an encounter with Shriekers and how to destroy their nests wherever found on the map effectively. As much as possible, you’d want to destroy these nests as far away as possible before the Shriekers come out to hunt.
All information in this article is relavant as of Patch 01.000.201. We will update this article when a paradigm shift inevitably shakes up everything we thought were the best practices.
How to Defeat Shriekers in Helldivers 2
What makes an encounter with Shriekers so different compared to other Terminids is the fact that Shriekers are nimble fliers that are not always so easy to hit. Shriekers tend to hover over a target for a while before swooping in and dealing damage. This is their primary way of attack and we are grateful that’s all they can do for the moment.
But all that mobility comes at a cost. Shriekers are relatively fragile and can be downed with a few bullets. The only problem is getting your shots to hit aerial targets.
A Shrieker is known to have two weak spots: its head and the base of its wings. A single shot from anything bigger than a pistol on the head will most likely kill the Shrieker. The same goes if it is shot on the shoulder. When hit on the shoulder, the wing pops off and the Shrieker dies. You can shoot the wings all you want, and holes will appear on a Shrieker’s wing, but shooting the wings is equivalent to body shots. You will kill it eventually but it’ll take more bullets than you’d want.
You can kill a Shrieker mid-swoop before it reaches you and you should be relatively ok. Before Patch 01.000.201, a dead Shrieker’s hitbox was notorious for instantly killing Helldivers. I’ve had instances when the tip of a wing would touch my toe and I would die of mysterious causes. Thankfully, the hitbox has been toned down since.
Generally, you’d want to use spam weapons like the Breaker Shotgun to get the job down. Since fire damage has been greatly buffed in this latest patch, the Incendiary Breaker has become a go-to option against the Terminids.
When using the Incendiary Breaker, you’ll want to pepper the air until your target gets set on fire. Shriekers don’t last long when set on fire and they will die before the fire goes out. You need only know that the Incendiary rounds are slow-ish projectiles that take their sweet time traveling through the air. Since this is the case, you may want to lead your shots to where you think your target might go.
Remember, your goal isn’t to outright kill the target, though you can opt to do so. What you want is to set them on fire. They are guaranteed to die once set on fire.
If the Breaker isn’t your speed, you can use a hard-hitting weapon like the Dominator to snipe Shriekers in the air. One body shot and that bad boy will go down like a sack of potatoes. If there’s one line of weapons I don’t recommend using, that may be the Arc line of weapons. I find them too inconsistent to deal with mobile threats… unless it is a target-rich environment.
How to Destroy Shrieker Nests in Helldivers 2
Shriekers spawn from the Shrieker Nest optional objective on the map. These hive structures first appear in Difficulty 4 missions, or wherever difficulty you see Stalker Nests.
The Shrieker Nest functions almost exactly like Stalker Nests but there are three nests per cluster and one Shrieker spawn from each nest per cooldown. The good news is that Shrieker Nests are highly visible on the ground, unlike Stalker nests. This is an aspect they share with the Spore Spewers if only Spore Spewers are visible from a distance.
Shrieker nests are vulnerable to explosive damage. You can destroy one nest with two direct hits from the disposable anti-tank rocket or the recoilless rifle. Two shots from the Quasar Cannon are enough to knock out one of these nests. If you are using the Autocannon, know it takes roughly 7-9 shots to destroy one nest. Amazingly, the nerfed Railgun can also destroy one but it would take around 10-12 shots in unsafe mode to get the job down.
A 500 KG bomb or an air strike are also good options if you don’t want to get closer to the nest.
If you manage to fight your way to the center of a Shrieker Nest, you have the option to call in a Hellbomb if you want to get rid of the hive structure in one fell swoop. Pun intended.
The problem with this approach is that you have to make sure that there are no enemies left in the area before arming the bomb. A swooping Shrieker can destroy the bomb before it can detonate, and the same goes for any Terminid melee unit that manages to touch the bomb while it arms.
Now, I’m not saying you should babysit the bomb until it goes off. But it would help if there were no enemies in the immediate area before arming the dang thing. As much as possible, you’d want to be done with the place before any patrols stumble upon you while you work.
And that’s everything I’ve got for this Shrieker guide in Helldivers 2. Look, I know they can be intimidating at first but believe me when I say they are more of a hassle than anything else. These guys don’t hold a candle to the Automaton dropships, and those guys are taking a long dirt nap right now. Keep your cool and you will be 100% fine. If Helldivers can dodge Chargers all day, they can deal with a few flying rats.
