Starship Troopers: Extinction is a new cooperative FPS from Offworld Industries based on the 1997 cult classic film, Starship Troopers. Like the original film, the game puts players, occupying the role of United Citizen Federation soldiers, against hordes of arachnid enemies as they attempt to complete objectives on an alien world. While the game is still in early access and a work in progress, it has proven to be a hit with fans of the franchise.
The primary threat that players will face upon jumping into the game is the arachnid enemies or "bug menace" as they're also known. These bugs come in several shapes and sizes, with different methods of attack, and have varying degrees of toughness. It pays to be able to tell the difference between them and learn how to effectively combat them, so here is a ranked list of each arachnid class in Starship Troopers: Extermination.
5 Drone
Every alien army needs its cannon fodder class—just ask the Covenant from Halo. Drones in Starship Troopers are that exact type of enemy. They're extremely weak to simple gunfire but make up for this in numbers. In other words, they're easy to kill but if there are too many of them they can quickly become a problem. Drones are also quite small and nimble, which acts as a trade-off for their lack of armor and health.
Drones are the lowest level of arachnid enemy in the game currently, and as such only grant a measly 1 XP per kill. Fortunately, there's always a ton of them running around so that 1 XP stacks rather easily.
4 Warrior
Warriors are the next class up from Drone but are many times more formidable. Though there are fewer of them at any given point than drones, they make up for it with their aggression and plentiful health. Depending on the weapon and difficulty it can take more than a full magazine to bring one down, which means that teamwork is essential when dealing with just one Warrior, let alone several. They can be easily identified by their size, which is larger than a Drone but smaller than a Tiger Elite.
Like Drones, Warriors grant only 1 XP per kill, but the player always ends up killing a lot of them, so they have a habit of comprising a large percentage of the player's total XP. Warriors can often make reviving teammates or going after special bugs like Gunners or Plasma Grenadiers more difficult due to their swarm tactics, so it's recommended that players pay much attention to their positioning and try not to get boxed in.
3 Gunner
The bane of many players' existence (especially on veteran difficulty), Gunner Arachnids are one of two ranged-based enemies in the game and are extremely adept in that role. In particular, players who like using the jump jet will find themselves targeted by Gunners often, especially during the later stages of a match when things start to get hairy.
They have a wider, crab-like body that features a prominent fire-red glow in certain spots. If the player pays attention they will also be able to see a Gunners line of sight and use that to track its location. This can often be the key to taking one out either personally or by calling them out to teammates who happen to be packing some heavier artillery.
2 Plasma Grenadier
Plasma Grenadiers are the tanks of the bug army. In fact, it would not be far off to compare them to Halo's Wraiths (which were likely inspired by the original Starship Troopers film). These blue giants are one of the rarer enemy types in the game and really only spawn toward the end of a match when the arachnid threat level is maxed out.
Grenadiers are the slowest arachnid enemy, but they make up for it by having a potentially devastating plasma mortar attack that can wipe out multiple players at once. They also do quite a bit of damage to player defenses, refineries, and ARCs, which means it's better to call them out and address them so that they don't compromise the mission. Explosives are the best way to take Grenadiers out, so keep a rocket or grenade launcher handy.
1 Tiger Elite
As their name would suggest, Tiger Elites are perhaps the deadliest of all the arachnid forces currently in Starship Troopers: Extinction. While they lack Plasma Grenadier's ranged explosive ability, Tigers are much more maneuverable and will continually hammer away at defenses with their massive spear-like appendages until they're destroyed. Once down, they will begin attacking things like refineries and ARCs, which they can easily take out single-handedly.
Tigers are recognizable by their humongous size (they sort of look like a bigger and meaner Warrior), which rivals that of the Plasma Grenadier. Killing one net 50 XP, which is less than a grenadier, but there are also more of them at any given time. Tigers almost always make their way towards walls so a good strategy would be to mine the area and use grenade launchers and rockets just to be sure.
Starship Troopers: Extermination was released on Steam Early Access on May 17th, 2023, and is currently only available on PC.