A PvE game is only as good as its enemy selection, and Helldivers 2 has proven time and again that it’s not lacking at all in that category. Complete with three entire enemy factions to square off against, Arrowhead’s unexpected smash hit has managed to keep players engaged, due in no small part to the extremely varied enemy types on offer. From the teeming hordes of insect-like terminids, to the unending battalions of Automatons, to the recently revealed Illuminate that look like something out of H.G. Wells’ worst nightmare, the enemies of Super Earth are all equally undemocratic. But not all of them are equally dangerous.
The Automatons are the first new faction when it comes to Helldivers 2’s lore. Though they are clearly a replacement for the similarly fashioned cyborgs of the first game, the bots still come with a few unique tricks up their sleeves that have kept veterans on their toes. When it comes to danger, they run the full spectrum; some automatons are pure cannon fodder while others are good enough to easily outgun less coordinated teams on their own. This list seeks to rank the Automaton enemies based on how difficult they are to take down.
Helldivers 2 Terminid Enemy Type Tier List
There will always be room to introduce new enemy units, though Helldivers 2 already has a satisfying variety of Terminid opponents to face.
S-Tier Automaton Enemies
- Factory Striders
- Gunships
Factory Strider
One of the first added hostile units to the game, the factory striders are still among the toughest enemies in the game to take down. Strapped on all sides with the heaviest heavy armor in the game, these monstrosities are capable of even tanking orbital rail cannon blasts, making them the toughest Automaton unit by sheer hitpoint value. These walkers evoke imagery of the Imperial AT-ATs of Star Wars fame, and much like their inspiration, they drop troops off in battle while being a terrifying force all their own. If the massive back cannon and gatling lasers don’t do the job, the four devastators it drops will.
Factory striders require specialized tactics and weapons to efficiently take down. Sustained fire on the cannon and lasers will eventually destroy them, and the walkers’ eyes and underbellies are weak to armor-piercing rounds. And although they won’t be oneshot by the heavy-duty stratagems, 500kg bombs, 380mm barrages, rail cannon strikes, and other high-impact explosives will soften the striders up over time. Killing the drop-ship that shuttles them in will kill them before they have a chance to wreak havoc. These behemoths demand attention once they touch the ground, so prepare loadouts accordingly when loading onto the bot front.
Gunships
While nowhere near as physically tough as a factory strider, these units give the Automatons a level of air superiority no other faction comes close to rivaling. Automaton gunships are big targets, but they’re fast and heavily armored. It takes more than armor-breaking weaponry to deal with these birds, as it also requires better than average aim.
They have a tendency to overwhelm helldivers who aren’t careful about positioning, and with finding cover so critical during bot missions, it’s easy for these air-based enemies to pin down any players ducking for cover. Sustained fire on the cockpit or one of the thrusters will take them down, as will eliminating the gunship factories that are littered across the map.
A-Tier Automaton Enemies
- Hulks
- Tanks
Hulks
Hulks come in a few different variants: Scorcher, Bruiser, and Obliterators. Despite this, the prevailing strategy remains the same against all three permutations. Stay behind automaton hulks and fire into their red glowing heat sink, and failing that, stay far out of range of their deadly primary weapons.
Hulks are one of the most devastating enemies the bots have at their disposal for the simple fact that they’re essentially more mobile tanks: heavily armored, bipedal, and armed to their metal teeth. While mag dumping into the heat sink on its back is better than nothing, it’s not the most effective way of dealing with these metal monsters. Anti-tank support weapons like the EAT rockets, recoilless rifle, quasar cannon, Commando, and the Spear all work excellently at breaking down the heavy armor. They’re most effective when fired at the aforementioned heat sink or the tiny forward-facing “eye” on the front of the hulks’ chassis.
But an even easier protip for dealing with hulks lies in the humble thermite grenade. While these grenades suffered at their introduction to the game and still make very poor tools for destroying bot fabricators, they have been buffed into nearly essential tools for the automaton front. Sticking just one thermite grenade to a hulk or a tank is enough to kill them instantly. They’ve been dealt a lower carrying capacity due to this enhanced utility, but smart players should be able to manage their grenade stores and ammo resupplies to negate this minor hindrance.
Tanks
Perhaps unsurprisingly, tanks round out the A Tier of the list. Like hulks, they also come in three variants: Annihilator, Shredder, and Barrager. The Annihilator acts in much the same way as real world tanks do, with a long-barreled cannon on a swivel. The Shredder replaces the artillery cannon for a rapid fire machine gun capable of ripping a helldiver apart in seconds. The Barrager opts for a long/short range missile launcher.
The further a tank is away, the bigger a threat it becomes. Players should run up close to them to take advantage of their inability to quickly adjust aim. Much like the hulks, there is another massive, exposed heat sink on the back of each tank that can easily be exploited with the appropriately named anti-tank armor. Unlike the hulks, tanks are incredibly slow, and most often have very horizontal body shapes. This makes them prime targets for precision orbital strikes and 500kg bombs, which are more than capable of one-shotting every tank variant in the game.
B-Tier Automaton Enemies
- Devastators
- Berserkers
Devastators
Early on in Helldivers 2’s lifecycle, devastators, particularly rocket devastators, would have easily made the A tier of this list, possibly even S Tier. Not because they were particularly tanky, but because they spawned in massive numbers and were able to keep players in a ragdoll state much easier. They’ve since been toned down by folks at Arrowhead, but they’re still not pushovers by any means.
Devastators and their rocket/shield-wielding variants require one of two things to effectively deal with: armor-piercing weaponry or exemplary aim. The former is obvious, but these automatons' arms (and weapons) can be blasted off at the joints by players with a steady enough hand. And for serious sharpshooters, a few well-placed shots to their tiny heads will take them out of the fight wholesale. Autocannons offer a happy medium between accuracy and power, as one powerful shell to the body will stagger them and allow for a quick and easy headshot kill.
Berserkers
Skull-faced and with chainsaws for hands, berserkers look like something straight off of a heavy metal album cover. And anyone who's played the game can admit they do look pretty awesome until there’s a horde of these nightmares marching toward them with murderous intent. Berserkers are the first enemy on the automaton roster that opt for swarm tactics over heavy armor, and the only enemy on the automaton roster to favor melee over ranged attacks.
Players will rarely ever encounter a single berserker, especially on harder difficulties. They’ll tend to come in large waves that compensate for their relatively weak armor. Focus fire on their torsos, arms, and legs, just like the devastators. They can easily be disarmed (or de-legged), making them trivially easy to clean up after the fact. All the core stratagems and support weapons work wonders on them as well.
C-Tier Automaton Enemies
- Scout Striders
- Troopers
Scout Striders
Scout striders have never been a particularly threatening enemy, even after their glow-up in Escalation of Freedom. The modern Scout Strider has a heavily armored body with twin rocket launchers on its chassis atop a pair of spindly little legs. While they’re still not particularly threatening, at least the automatons were finally smart enough to add enough armor to protect the bot operating the walker from all angles.
The rockets are, admittedly, pretty dangerous and pack more of an individual punch than most other rockets the bots have at their disposal. But they move so slowly that even the most rookie players won't have a hard time dodging them. And while these enemies have since fortified the armor on their backs, they’ve replaced that weak spot with the rocket turrets on their sides, as well as the aforementioned weakly armored legs.
Troopers
The lowest of the low, the humble Automaton trooper. The foot soldiers of the faction’s fighting force, these are the most populous enemies in almost any bot mission. Boasting incredibly weak weapons and almost no armor, these humanoid-looking robots are among the easiest to dispatch in the entire game. They really only make any sort of impact when deployed in massive numbers or when used as a tar pit to bog players down while more effective units deal big damage. Almost anything can easily mop the floor with these chaff units.
The only variant of troopers worth writing home about are the automaton commissars, notable only for their energy sword weapons and flare guns capable of signaling for additional drop-ships and reinforcements. It behooves a squad to eliminate these enemies first to prevent a larger mob from spawning, but even then the danger doesn’t come directly from the commissars, but the additional enemies they can call into a fight.
Helldivers 2
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 83 /100 Critics Rec: 91%
- Released
- February 8, 2024
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Arrowhead Game Studios, Nixxes
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Interactive Entertainment, PlayStation Publishing
WHERE TO PLAY
The Galaxy’s Last Line of Offence. Enlist in the Helldivers and join the fight for freedom across a hostile galaxy in a fast, frantic, and ferocious third-person shooter.
URGENT BROADCAST – SUPER EARTH ARMED FORCES
Freedom. Peace. Democracy. Your Super Earth-born rights. The key pillars of our civilization. Of our very existence. But the war rages on. And everything is once again under threat.
Join the greatest military force the galaxy has ever seen and make this a safe and free place to live.
BECOME A LEGEND
You will be assembled into squads of up to four Helldivers and assigned strategic missions. Watch each other’s back – friendly fire is an unfortunate certainty of war, but victory without teamwork is impossible.
LOADOUTS
Rain down freedom from above, sneak through enemy territory, or grit your teeth and charge head-first into the jaws of combat. How you deliver liberty is your choice; you’ll have access to a wide array of explosive firepower, life-saving armor and battle-changing stratagems… the jewel in every Helldiver’s arsenal.
REQUISITION
Super Earth recognises your hard work with valuable Requisition. Use it to access different rewards that benefit you, your squad, your destroyer ship and our overall war effort.
THREATS
Everything on every planet wants you dead. That’s what we’re dealing with. Each enemy has distinct and unpredictable characteristics, tactics, and behavior – but they all fight ferociously and without fear or morality.
THE GALACTIC WAR
Capturing enemy planets, defending against invasions, and completing missions will contribute to our overall effort. This war will be won or lost depending on the actions of everyone involved.
We stand together, or we fall apart.
- Engine
- bitsquid
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
- All platforms
- Franchise
- Helldivers
- Number of Players
- 1-4 players (online)
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- Genre(s)
- Third-Person Shooter, Extraction Shooter, Action, Science Fiction
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
