Helldivers 2 players have come up with a new strategy that pairs a newly added Stratagem with nothing more than a pistol to defeat the Factory Strider, one of the most feared enemies in the game. Added during the Helldivers 2 Escalation of Freedom update, Factory Striders are among the mightiest units fielded by the robotic Automaton faction.
As a live service game, Helldivers 2 is no stranger to having an update shift the in-game "meta," but Arrowhead Game Studios' hit cooperative shooter stands out in the way that its monetization can tie into the way that meta shifts. Thanks to the regular introduction of "War Bond" premium DLC packs, players can expect a consistent flow of new weapons and items into the game. This doesn't typically raise concerns about "balance" as Helldivers 2 doesn't have a competitive mode. That said, the addition of new Stratagems, such as those included with the latest Control Group War Bond, has the potential to upend old strategies and even trivialize once-fearsome foes.
After Helldivers 2’s Control Group, One Warbond Tradition Should Be Dead and Buried
Helldivers 2 has stuck to an agreeable formula for Warbonds thus far, but it's due for an improvement regarding their exclusive resource.
That could be the case for the Factory Strider, if a new strategy demonstrated by YouTuber OhDough spreads far and wide. In a clip from OhDough's stream shared by Reddit user WhiteRaven_M, OhDough shows off the power of pairing the Warp Pack trick with the P-72 Crisper sidearm. Using the Warp Pack to rapidly get under the legs of a walking Factory Strider convoy, he unloads on the Striders' vulnerable belly bays with the Crisper's flame. Each Strider goes down in a matter of seconds, and the entire convoy of three is destroyed in less than a minute.
YouTuber Destroys Helldivers 2 Factory Strider Convoy With Just A Pistol
Players expressed amazement at the sheer speed of the Factory Strider convoy's annihilation at OhDough's hands. This is thanks to the balance changes introduced with Helldivers 2 Patch 1.001.100. After Arrowhead restored the armor-piercing power of flame weapons, flamers can effectively ignore the armored doors that protect a Factory Strider's belly, causing it to take the same damage as if the doors had been blown off prior to attack. Though flame weapons are preferred against enemies like the Terminids, in close-range situations they can do deadly damage even to Automatons. Additionally, the one-handed nature of the Crisper allows players to fire it while running, keeping themselves safe from enemy fire.
Normally, Factory Striders are among the biggest threats the Automatons are capable of deploying, since they pack rapid-firing laser gatling guns, a massive top cannon, and continually produce groups of Devastator medium enemies to overwhelm Helldivers. This potent long-range defense typically kept them safe from players with flame weapons. Unfortunately for them, the tricks enabled by the new Helldivers 2 Warp Pack upended the dynamic, allowing players like OhDough to bypass the Striders' main defenses and approach them from behind. Convoys are also particularly vulnerable to rear attack as their Striders do not change course, while solo Striders will turn to engage approaching enemies.
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
- Engine
- bitsquid
- Genre(s)
- Third-Person Shooter, Extraction Shooter, Action, Science Fiction
