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Helldivers 2: Hardest Enemies, Ranked

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Split image with evacuate civilians mission objectives and an orbital laser over a civilian door

Highlights

  • Rocket Troopers are easy to kill in Helldivers 2, but their rockets can catch players off guard if not taken out quickly.
  • Jetpack Troopers explode upon death, causing damage to nearby players, so it’s best to create some distance before finishing them off.
  • Terminid enemies like Pouncers and Hunters can be annoying with their leaping and surrounding tactics, so watch out for them in missions.

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Helldivers 2 is by no means an easy game, even on the easier difficulties. These bugs (AKA Terminids) and robots (AKA Automatons) are absolutely dedicated to wiping Helldivers off the face of their respective planets and it shows with the vast array of enemy types both factions throw at Super Earth’s finest.

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So, let’s go over some of the most difficult (and annoying) enemies from both factions in Helldivers 2 and talk about just what makes them so hard to deal with in their respective missions.

10 Automaton Rocket Raider

Automaton Basic Enemy

Helldivers 2 - Automaton Rocket Raider

First up are the Rocket Troopers from the Automaton side of things and this is technically talking about one specific ‘type’ of Automaton Trooper, as this basic mob can have those laser swords, a standard laser gun, a cannon, or of course a Rocket Launcher.

These guys are incredibly easy to kill, even for new players. However, Helldivers 2 players always seem to pick them out of a group just a second too late and die from their Rocket (or are at the very least launched by it) as a result. By far the easiest to kill on this list, but if they get their attack off it’s a real pain.

9 Automaton Trooper

Automaton Basic Enemy

Helldivers 2 - Trooper 2

Next up are the Jetpack Troopers and one might think these enemies are even easier to kill than the Rocker Trooper and ‘technically’ they are.

These enemies will literally jumpboost right up in the player’s face which makes them an easy target, but the problem is the explosion from after they’re killed up close is usually enough to kill said player unless they have a Shield Generator Pack on. If these things manage to jump up close, remember to back off a bit before actually killing them.

8 Pouncer & Hunter

Terminid Basic Enemies

Helldivers 2 - Hunter

Hopping over to the Terminid side of things, let’s take a look at two Terminid enemies, the Pouncers and the Hunters. Some players may not have even realized these two were separate enemy types, as their designs are so similar, but the Pouncers are a lot smaller, deal less damage, and are known for leaping great distances to literally ‘pounce’ on a Helldiver.

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Meanwhile, the Hunter is a bit bigger, will actively hop to either side to avoid incoming gunfire, and loves to try and surround a Helldiver before a group of them stab the player to death. Both enemies are annoying to deal with at the very least, so make sure to take out the Hunters especially before they close the distance.

7 Rocket Devastator

Automaton Basic Enemy

Helldivers 2 - Rocket Devastator

Keeping up the pattern of ping-ponging between the two factions, back on the Automaton’s side is the Rocket Devastator, another specific variant of an overall enemy type (AKA Devastators) which can also come in a standard double gunner variant or a riot shield variant.

However, the Rocket Variant is by far the most deadly, as the rockets they launch out of those ‘shoulder-mounted’ rocket pods are absurdly accurate, and can easily take out even a Shielded Helldiver who’s caught unaware. Players can technically specifically shoot their rocket pods to disable them, but that ammo is better spent hitting these Devastators right in their face weak spots to take them out entirely.

6 Stalker

Terminid ‘Special’ Enemy

Helldivers 2 - Stalker

Moving on to the ‘jumpscare’ enemy of the Terminids, the Stalkers. As far as killing potential goes, Stalkers technically aren’t all that dangerous on their own. But, they’ll often sneak up on a player while they’re distracted with a wave of Terminids, send them flying with an attack, and said player will get finished off while getting up off the ground by another enemy.

As soon as players see one of these (or see their ‘invisible’ silhouette), try and pin down the direction they came from. Nearby should be a Stalker Lair (marked by a question mark on the compass when close) that players can run up to and use an explosive to close the exposed entrance and stop these enemies from spawning.

5 Nursing Spewer & Bile Spewer

Terminid ‘Special’ Enemy

Helldivers 2 - Bile Spewer

Technically this next enemy type is actually two enemy types, the ones with the orangish-yellow behinds are called Nursing Spewers while the ones with the bright green behinds are called Bile Spewers.

However, both of these enemy types have essentially the same weaknesses and abilities, both of which come from their incredibly deadly acid. Nothing feels worse in this game than seeing one of these enemies run up, diving out of the way just in time, only for their acid to literally ‘clip’ the player’s heel and insta-kill them as a result. To take care of either Spewer enemy type easily, just hit them a couple of times in the skull from a distance, use explosive Stratagems if there are multiple, or rely on Impact Grenades (or any grenade really) if necessary.

4 Hulk

Automaton Elite Enemy

Helldivers 2 - Devastator

Hulks, for as terrifying as they are to see in Helldivers 2, are probably one of the most balanced enemy types in the game. Don’t get things twisted, these Elite Automatons are absolutely powerful and the Scorcher variant in particular is a walking death machine if they get close enough with those flamethrowers.

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However, these things have a very obvious weakness, the bright glowing heatsinks on their back. Players can either use grenades to hit this heatsink from the front, they can simply aim for the Hulk’s weak spot on their exposed ‘head’ instead (especially with the Railgun), or have a friend bait the Hulk to chase them and shoot their heatsink while their ally is bravely running interference.

3 Tank

The Automaton’s Top Elite

Helldivers 2 - Tank

While it feels like the Automaton Tanks show up much less often than Bile Titans do on Terminid planets, this doesn’t seem to be because they’re harder to deal with. Automaton Tanks are powerful, heavily armored, and have great aim, but that’s it. These enemies are slow to move, slow to turn, and slow to reload, meaning they’re only truly scary if players keep letting them get shots off unchallenged.

2 Charger

Terminid Elite Enemy

Helldivers 2 - Charger

It was difficult to decide whether to put the Chargers first or second on this list. While Bile Titans are absolutely harder to kill on average, the amount of difficulty that Terminid Chargers add to any mission is immense.

These things are such a pain to deal with, even though the tactic for avoiding their attacks is so simple (dive to the side). And yes, while players have figured out a pretty consistent process to kill them by using the Railgun to peel off their leg armor and then unload their primary into said leg, on the higher difficulties the Chargers still end up overwhelming the Helldivers due to the sheer number of them.

1 Bile Titan

The Terminid’s Top Elite

Helldivers 2 - Bile Titan

Last up and first on the list for ‘hardest to fight’ is the Bile Titan. These things are walking monstrocities that can make it feel like completing a nearby objective or actually managing to extract is hopeless.

Their acid is deadly, they’ll quickly step on players who get too close, and they’re very tanky. However, as long as players focus on their loadout and bring at least one elite-specialized Stratagem such as the Orbital Laser or an armor-piercing weapon like the Railgun, fighting multiple Bile Titans at once is actually pretty doable.

Helldivers2GameCover

Helldivers 2

Franchise
Helldivers

Released
February 8, 2024

Developer(s)
Arrowhead Game Studios AB

Genre(s)
Shooter

Multiplayer
Online Co-Op

 
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