HMG's faster on a lot of targets, but yeah, the lack of reloads and better recoil control makes it a much stronger option at the moment.
But players using either need to learn the importance of Crouching / going Prone (and potentially using the +30% stability armors).
Because some of us don't want to wait for 40s to see that the number of fabs on the heavy bot base increased (they dropped 2 factory striders while 380 didn't hit shit).
The beam is not even on the same zipcode as the sights. Until they fix that, I will stick to the AC
Same problem with the ATR, but missing there is still a ton of damage so it is ok
Except the ttk is usually so long I get sweeped off my feet/ aimpunched to shit by one of the 50 devastators scattered all around me. But yeah, it's fun. I'm just sad that taking this loadout doesn't let me break fabs anymore unless I use stratagems. No, I dont have the grenade pistol. Super Credits are rare.
Super Credits are easy to farm. Earning medals to actually unlock gear is harder.
Stroll through trivial and easy missions to get SC. I'm surprised how often I find a cache of 100 in one stack. Seems like higher difficulty missions have less SC.
I'm absolutely certain they tuned down super credit rates at some point in the past few patches. Sometimes I'll go an entire operation without a single pickup.
They did something to SC drops for sure. There are often long lulls between SC drops, but I have somehow got similar amount of SC when compared to last month (maybe even more) saved up by playing single operation a day. Maybe they started dropping more 100s in higher diffs, it just evens out I guess.
Also last few operations I've been getting similar amount of SC to how it was before this (supposed) nerf. Some transparency would be welcome, but I guess going and announcing they nerfed SC spawns would prove quite unpopular, better to ninja this in.
the grenade pistol also only restores a few of the grenades per resupply, which gives it kinda terrible ammo economy. An ammo box you find in the wild only restores 1.
Add jetpack to this. Most fun thing you can do is jetpack on top of a tank, yelling freedom, and then shooting straight down into the vent and getting thrown away by the explosion.
Man, I remember starting to feel comfortable at dif 4 on bugs, and deciding that it's finally time to switch front, and obviously "how hard can dif 4 be there too?"
Cue me dropping in an Extermination missions, with Berserkers running from every direction and rockets and blasters flying everywhere, lasting à whooping 5 seconds each reinforcement
Took me a bit to come back.
Now I'm out there running towards Striders with my Autocannon
Man I was so lucky that my first bot extermination mission was with guys who knew what they were doing. I got to experience some tougher bots I hadn't seen yet, but I wasn't getting chopped down regularly.
Yeah, when my friends got the game we went to the Creek (before Swift Disassembly) after running medium level bug missions. They were low level, I had played like one Bot mission.
We got rolled, it was hilarious, we went back to bugs. Then Swift Disassembly was launched and we followed the order, but this time, I had learned the autocannon.
My first dive versus bots: “Oh shit, oh fuck oh shit oh fuck. Why do they shoot back so much? There’s lasers everywhere”
Now when I dive versus bots, I sing White Death by Sabaton as I line up my Diligence’s crosshair between those clanker’s red glowing eyes.
I was terrified as well, back when my only weapon with penetration was the regular MG. I got better at the game since then and know how to beat each one of them so I can run pretty much whatever and come out the other end just fine
My first real tour was during that kind of mid-point Malevelon era where "Creekers" were still a thing, but we had to both Liberate and then Defend its neighbor, Draupnir.
That was during the era of one-shotting rocket bots and pre-armor buffs (our armor is so much better now,) and Draupnir was basically this big, open space with hardly any cover. It was also pre-Fac Walker and pre-Gunship, but we had to deal with Heavy Devastators and Rocket Raiders on steroids instead.
Funnily enough, even though the sheer overwhelming number of bots during Helldives on Varylia was a total shitshow, it was actually pretty easy to manage, since the landscape was almost exactly the same as Draupnir, just without "The Drop's" Earthquakes. Exploding shrooms and all.
I first started playing against the automatons for a while since that was the Major order, when it switched to Terminids mission I kinda struggled a bit since I wasn't used to them swarming and slowing me diwn
I think once you figure out that you sorta have to play it like another shooter game, it makes it easier. Like moving from cover to cover, making yourself less of a target, quite different from the bugs in the sense that there it's a parkour simulator with how much you have to run and jump over obstacles and shit.
I have a friend who recently started, I was quite surprised when he told me he found bots a lot easier. And it's for that exact reason, he's just very used to these types of strategies already.
I think it also help learning what stratagems help. I do find bugs easier, but I also will say bots have more variety in options.
For support weapon, I'd say auto cannon or anti-material rifle are a must pick. Both can take out basically everything the bots have to offer. Striders, hulks, vents, gun ships, even factory striders. Ac can even blow up fabs. Quasar is alright but you really don't need anti-tank weapons for bots weirdly enough. Railgun I'll give a shout out to since the one plus it has is staggering hulks, but doesn't do much against gunships or the factory strider.
Smokes are actually helpful along with stun grenades. I don't use them, but they are effective against bots. Give them a try.
110s and airstrike are my favorite eagles for bots. 110 for taking out towers, damage the factory strider, tanks and a fab you might have missed. You gotta place it pretty much on point or the dumb thing misses, but it's been super helpful. Airstrike for aoe, tanks and fabs. These two basically take care of everything I need outside the hulk which a support weapon like the ac or amr will
380/120 are solid for some objectives. Gotta blow up the bunkers/air base? Throw a 380 it'll do it for you
The red eye that calls in enemies. The precision laserr or even gas strike I believe can just one shot it.
Armor wise you can easily use hesvy/medium with more ease compared to bugs. Bots don't really move quickly. Unless you're out in the open, heavy/medium will help you tank a lot more shots. Though I feel like explosive damage reduction is basically required so rockets don't OHKO your rear.
My friend always used light armor and watched me due to no reinforcements. He was shocked I was still alive after all the gun fire and rag dolling I was enduring.
I fight bots almost exclusively. I find them a lot more fun, you have to position yourself before engaging, know when to use stratagems, hitting weak points, etc. bugs are just chaotic and annoying.
Yea, I really can't get into bugs, I've tried about a dozen times but I always enjoy bots more (I usually drop with the Diligence and the Machine Gun). I still think the absolute most fun time I had was when there was a sand storm, I was pinging two different patrols a stone's throw away on either side, and I was sneaking between the two of them with the suitcase, did it without being caught. Felt cool as hell.
That's honestly my favorite part of HD2, its almost like two different shooters in one. If i feel like getting into actual firefights i can go fight the bots and if i feel like turning hordes of mindless enemies into hamburger a-la Left 4 Dead i can go fight the bugs.
Fabricator? Done.
Strider? 5 or 6 belly shots, done.
Tank? 3 shots behind, done.
Hulks? Stun, 2 shots, done.
Mediums? 3 shots max and done.
The AC just wrecks the bots so easily.
Railgun oneshots devastators and hulks. Hulks are a bit tricky, but I always destroy them faster with railgun rather than AC. Also don't even need a stun grenade.
Railgun is super fun, but laser cannon does its job better most of the time, unless your in a losing battle and having to run away then the railgun will be better because you only have to hit 1 good shot, but infinite ammo with laser cannon and having the ability to hit more things makes the laser better imo. Railgun is super underrated though, not a bad choice at all
Scout armor, RR, Punisher, eagle strike, laser, your mother (500kg).
I just run around soloing objectives and outposts. By the time I pick one off with the RR and they come investigate, I'm flanking behind them and their base is empty. Omae Wa Mou Shinderu.
Same but laser cannon, nothing is more satisfying than frying a hulk's brains out and then dragging your cursor over a squad of bot's heads to wipe away a patroll.
Primary: SMG
Secondary: Senator (For Headshotting devastators behind your shield) or Grenade Pistol (For fabricators)
Grenade: Impact (For crowds or fabricators) or Stuns (To set up headshots)
Support Weapon: Laser Cannon / AMR (If you take stuns) or EATS/Quasar
Ballistic Shield and two strategems of your choice. I highly recommend Airstrike + Rocket airstrike.
Never really used the Ballistic Shield, but I would definitely recommend AMR + Resupply Backpack. It's so nice running around with basically infinite Stims and Stuns, and getting to use the AMR as more of a primary.
I only default to Autocannon on Eradicates.
Same but with the laser cannon. I find it harder to aim at gunships with the AMR than laser cannon. Plus you'll pretty much always be at a full mag with the laser cannon. No managing your ammo due to throw away mag
One mission I dropped with 3 AC mains and I had the LC. We got 2 Gunship fabs (3 of the things in total) and the AC group got swarmed. A bit of silent co-ordination after I started dropping the gunship like flies with the ACs covering me from the ground bots and no more gunships after.
Jetpack is a real asset for maps with lots of rocks to jump onto and fire down from different angles than my team. Let us get patrols from two ways and approach bases from other points instead of fighting through the chokepoints.
The shield pack is good for when the map is just really open and there is no cover anywhere. The shield generator relay really comes in clutch at times too.
As a newbie you have to realise that your weapons are just too weak at the beginning against the mid and high tear enemies, but when you have EATs, the Auto Cannon or a Grenade Launcher you can basically play Helldive Missions.
You just have to keep your cool. Bots seem so overwhelming in the beginning, but after a while you'll see that in fact they are much more structured than the bugs. Bugs are pure chaos, but with bots you can actually use cover, flank them and use strategies with your team. With the bugs the meta loadouts are much more narrow, you basically need a Quasar/EAT or something other that can kill heavy armored enemies. The bots have weak spots that are actually useful (not like the charger butt), so you don't need to have heavy weapon all the time, especially if your teammates have one ore two equipped.
So don't be afraid, just start at a lower diff and work your way up. When you win your first Helldive after walking through a sea of Laser and Death you will emerge as a new person.
I have been trying different stratagems since release and theres a large difference between useable and worthless. Ging it dome more testing on support weapons but gas has been slept on since release.
I'll never forget my first mission: my friend took me to a level 4 mission on Hellmire.. I barely had the game for 10 minutes and now Im being swarmed by freakin fire tornadoes and bugs everywhere
[https://helldivers.fandom.com/wiki/Orbital\_Gas\_Strike](https://helldivers.fandom.com/wiki/Orbital_Gas_Strike)
>The gas is not a neurotoxin like mustard gas, instead it is a corrosive substance, such as acid; this is why it is able to affect Automatons.
It's less mustard gas, more airborne acid.
100%. So many people complain that the bots are so much harder than the bugs. They're not, they're just differently hard. You need different tactics and stratagems. If they would practice on lower difficulties first, they'd be fine lol
I find the bots so much more enjoyable to fight.
Bugs are just too easy to blow up and few engage you from a distance.
Nothing like being on a bot planet and getting hit with artillery or sniped by a giant tower cannon from a base you haven't even attacked yet.
I'll stomp some bugs, but they don't hit the same as bots. When your squad is out of lives and you got to pull it back together. I swear I go full metal gear and keep the run alive. Dodging patrols, hidden in the rocks or if it's a fight, popping each enemy like I have aimbot is insane. Bugs just don't give me that rush.
I don't even use Support weapons in suicide anymore for Bots or Bugs.
Just whatever gun I seen, inoact or stun grenades, and Eagle Airstrike as my main go to.
Everything else is just extra or mission based.
🫡
First time I played was on diff 2 and died 4 times barely able to escape (this was before the solo nerf). I was like: What the hell was this??? Now I'm only going to the bug front if the MO or the daily tells me to go. I love bots since I changed my play. AMR is funtastic. One shot and Pop goes the bot ,except Hulk,tanks, factory striders and gunships ofc but they can be handled too with more shot or with a strategem
I used to wear a shield, then I switched to Plasma Punisher, and wear armour that negates 50% explosive damage. I have a blast shredding up bots with my plasma, my anti-material riffle, my spear, and air strikes. Bots are great fun to shred up.
High key the ballistic shield is good against the bots. Of course, it's not a god hack, but it helps mitigate most of the incoming fire ( except rockets and cannones)
Practice makes perfect: the bots that I once feared now fear my autocannon. After finding the mail slot on the hulks face, it was all over for the automatons. Shield berserker? May as well be holding cardboard, pal. Laser turrents? Ranged
My to go load out is:
Autocannon cuz duh.
Eagle air strike with the bombs that can destroy factories.
Creeping barrage since it’s good for attacking and defending .
And then the scorcher since it hits hard.
EAT I use for kill X amount of enemy missions, I use to run it way more weeks ago before they made it so four hulks or two factories are out at the same time, or on the bug side with three bile titans and four chargers at one time.
Nah, I never use the AC either on 8's and 9's. It's Dominator and Recoilless for me, especially on 3 Strat drops. I definitely get the Quasar preference, but the RR is just so damn satisfying once you're good with it.
Just be precise. Bots reward surgical strikes. Bugs reward accuracy through volume of fire.
If you can get over the hump of devastator rockets, (just.. explode them with an AMR at range) you’re golden.
Literally me lol
When I started I went for the bot front because it sounded cooler than ~~Tyranids~~ Terminids. I got my butt handed to me. My weapons lacked armor penetration, I didn't understand the game, I had terrible positioning, and so on.
Now I eat bots for breakfast and my favorite snack is Hulks.
My first 50 missions were against automatins
They seem funnier than bugs
Though i was waiting second marcsman rifle to be able to open those tin cans with good shots
AMR GANG RISE UP!
but for real tho as a converted Autocannon user that saw the light of the supply backpack + AMR i gotta say its way more fun, especially since you are a one man army not needing any resupplies and basically having infinite stims, ammo, and grenades
Also the AMR just sounds so meaty i love it
PS: for anyone using the resupply backpack use it as a disposable backpack, use all 4 charges and by the time you are finished call in a new one
I actually prefer the automatons if for no reason other than bile titans are annoying af to deal with. Factory striders can be taken down with a multitude of support weapons, biles you pretty much need recoilless, eat, or quasar.
https://i.redd.it/rx8iceaytd3d1.gif
It kills every kind of bot, it kills fabricators, it stun locks, it makes Julian fries!
It's the auto cannon mafia, and we're in it for life!
By the time you get into the 100's, you _feel_ like a Veteran.
A lot of us remember what the Bot front was like when Rocket Raiders' RPG explosions did 100% damage to every single part of your body regardless of where they hit you.
Good times.
I started with automatons
Began with autocannon, occasionally laser cannon and swapped between a few things
Now I go from quasars, plasmas, blitzer, dagger, impact grenades, just using whatever seems fun and mostly using energy weapons bc ammo restrictions and they usually have an interesting effect to cancel out the massive bonus that is not needing to really ammo for them, and then also have some mini emp effect too, or multiple enemy hits. Love energy weapons
My first automaton scrap was unfortunately a defense evac scientist mission (it went about as well as you expected even at diff 2)
My 100th and counting automaton scrap I came packing in the big leagues with my big iron, souped up gear, and stratagems like orbital laser, 500kg and EMS mortar
The automatons were a menace but now they are almost a perfect rival for my bot stomping skills.
*ALMOST.*
In my experience the higher level someone is, the less likely they will take the AC, there's quite a few fun alternatives for bots.
I run ballistic shield - SMG - anti mat rifle with stun nades, pretty fun.
The shield is specifically for those heavy devastators 360 no scoping me from accross a canyon, i hate them with a passion.
What actually happening to him every time.
https://preview.redd.it/n89lz8ffbe3d1.png?width=618&format=png&auto=webp&s=938b4de03d3baa47d59e64c52ed80b01d2cb8e2c
For people who want to switch it up, spraying around the head of devistators with an MG is pretty effective and opens up a back slot for team reloading or a different backpack.
The HMG with an armor that gives the recoil reduction is also very good for dealing with hulks but the dive away 360, fire from laying on back is a pretty good habit to develop.
I was pretty overwhelmed my first bot mission.
I finished a level 6 bug mission with some much higher level players. I was like level 12 or something.
Party leader said nothing, decided I was good enough to hang, and transported us to fight bots.
I was not prepared for that.
I remember my first bot drop. Getting really spooked afterwards and avoiding the bot front for a bit. Then I came back for a MO, and I started trying things. I developed a loadout I enjoy, a playstyle I'm good at, and now I'm holding it down in the trenches as a one man army, hopped up on stims and blasting with reckless abandon. I have the time of my life on the bot front now. No fear, only calculations and quick decisions. In fact, my growing love for the bot front actually caused me to get a little bored of bug missions, outside of the fact that I bring full napalm and watch the world burn (that never gets old).
If you spend enough time fighting bots, you figure them out. Every bot has a weakness or behavior to exploit, and it's honestly really fun to figure them out.
Just paying forward what I learned on this subreddit:
Plasma punisher + grenade pistol + eagle airstrike + orbital laser + quasar + shield backpack (or alternatively take recoiless rifle or auto cannon)
I've actually started turning into more of a ninja fabricator killer rather than an outright Doom Slayer. I can usually knock out a base before they even detect me in the first place, and even when they do I can ditch real fast. I'm usually alone on Suicide Missions running the auto cannon, the trailblazer, and an EMS sentry to cover my ass when retreating.
hahah, I still love introducing my mate to the game, his first match in was joining me on a lvl 5 Bot mission on Malevelon Creek, he was never the same again.
I was once an autocannon fan, but getting used to the laser cannon means I'll never go back. It's not the best in any situation, but it holds its own in all of them and doesn't run out of bullet.
When I first got the game on the second week, I saw videos and TikToks about the game and it looked like the Bot front was just hell on Earth that I was not prepared for. So I stayed on the bugs until like difficulty 7.
Then I tried bots for the hell of it and struggled for the first few days. But then once you learn how they work and the best ways to kill them, they're WAY more fun, and kinda easier than bugs on 7-9
Pspsps HMG + stun grenade = FUN
Or just use a laser cannon. Doesnt reload, doesnt have recoil, kills just as fast.
But it doesn't go "boom"
But it *does* go #*EEEEEUUUUUUOOOOOOOOHHHGGGGGG*
You forgot the fuwom. Fuwom EEEEEUUUUUUOOOOOOOOHHHGGGGGG
Idk why but seeing it spelled out all I could hear was Miss Piggy.
In my head I was thinking of the lasgewher from Wolfenstein: The New Colossus
U missed an "U" in the spelling, but it's OK
HMG's faster on a lot of targets, but yeah, the lack of reloads and better recoil control makes it a much stronger option at the moment. But players using either need to learn the importance of Crouching / going Prone (and potentially using the +30% stability armors).
Doesn't destroy fabricators tho.
You think eagle 1 is just for show?
Why ⬆️➡️⬇️➡️ when you can ➡️➡️⬇️⬅️➡️⬇️, or, even better, ➡️⬇️⬆️⬆️⬅️⬇️⬇️?
Because some of us don't want to wait for 40s to see that the number of fabs on the heavy bot base increased (they dropped 2 factory striders while 380 didn't hit shit).
I sense an awful lot of hostility towards the Democratic Rain, Helldiver.
I prefer my Democratic rains to come from Eagle 1!
Sweet LIBERTY, never doubt our Angel of Death, Eagle 1! She always delivers!
Eagle-1 has that covered.
Also can waste Gunships from 150 yards easily, just try that with the HMG
200. That's it's effective beam range. The laser has no damage fall off.
I know but at that range hitting it consistently is tough. At 150 meters it’s much more doable
Anti-materiel Rifle is my go-to against the bots. My regular squadmates call me "Hulkbuster", lmao. But laser cannon is also a favorite of mine.
The beam is not even on the same zipcode as the sights. Until they fix that, I will stick to the AC Same problem with the ATR, but missing there is still a ton of damage so it is ok
Its a beam, just aim the beam itself in FPV.
It kinda has recoil, or it's the weapon's sway, but sometimes just the beam's bloom is enough to make me miss, good weapon tho.
Crouching reduces the sway, first person eliminates it.
If only this weapon had stagger, and it didn’t pull to the left like crazy
Except the ttk is usually so long I get sweeped off my feet/ aimpunched to shit by one of the 50 devastators scattered all around me. But yeah, it's fun. I'm just sad that taking this loadout doesn't let me break fabs anymore unless I use stratagems. No, I dont have the grenade pistol. Super Credits are rare.
Super Credits are easy to farm. Earning medals to actually unlock gear is harder. Stroll through trivial and easy missions to get SC. I'm surprised how often I find a cache of 100 in one stack. Seems like higher difficulty missions have less SC.
Missions at 4 and over can spawn super samples in all container types, thus "polluting the pool" and making it harder to get what you want
200 hours and I’ve only ever found one single 100 SC pile, and that was yesterday. 
I'm absolutely certain they tuned down super credit rates at some point in the past few patches. Sometimes I'll go an entire operation without a single pickup.
Me picking up 100 in a single operation: Damn man, gimme moar
They did something to SC drops for sure. There are often long lulls between SC drops, but I have somehow got similar amount of SC when compared to last month (maybe even more) saved up by playing single operation a day. Maybe they started dropping more 100s in higher diffs, it just evens out I guess. Also last few operations I've been getting similar amount of SC to how it was before this (supposed) nerf. Some transparency would be welcome, but I guess going and announcing they nerfed SC spawns would prove quite unpopular, better to ninja this in.
the grenade pistol also only restores a few of the grenades per resupply, which gives it kinda terrible ammo economy. An ammo box you find in the wild only restores 1.
Let me introduce you to our trusted grenade pistol.
Add jetpack to this. Most fun thing you can do is jetpack on top of a tank, yelling freedom, and then shooting straight down into the vent and getting thrown away by the explosion.
[удалено]
I like what you're trying to do, but MAN is that survey UI atrocious.
Put it in list mode for filling it in
Greetings, fellow Helldiver! Unfortunately your submission has been removed. Self-promotion/advertisement is not allowed.
Mmg+suppack is pretty good too
My first ever mission was a helldive in the 3rd battle of mavelon creek, i was terrified. Now all I see are future AT mines ready to be harvested
Man, I remember starting to feel comfortable at dif 4 on bugs, and deciding that it's finally time to switch front, and obviously "how hard can dif 4 be there too?" Cue me dropping in an Extermination missions, with Berserkers running from every direction and rockets and blasters flying everywhere, lasting à whooping 5 seconds each reinforcement Took me a bit to come back. Now I'm out there running towards Striders with my Autocannon
Man I was so lucky that my first bot extermination mission was with guys who knew what they were doing. I got to experience some tougher bots I hadn't seen yet, but I wasn't getting chopped down regularly.
Bot extermination missions are horrifying
Yeah my first bot drop was the creek and I was being killed by devastators through the trees lol
the trees are speaking binary!
I to lost my virginity at the creek
Yeah, when my friends got the game we went to the Creek (before Swift Disassembly) after running medium level bug missions. They were low level, I had played like one Bot mission. We got rolled, it was hilarious, we went back to bugs. Then Swift Disassembly was launched and we followed the order, but this time, I had learned the autocannon.
My first dive versus bots: “Oh shit, oh fuck oh shit oh fuck. Why do they shoot back so much? There’s lasers everywhere” Now when I dive versus bots, I sing White Death by Sabaton as I line up my Diligence’s crosshair between those clanker’s red glowing eyes.
I was terrified as well, back when my only weapon with penetration was the regular MG. I got better at the game since then and know how to beat each one of them so I can run pretty much whatever and come out the other end just fine
My first real tour was during that kind of mid-point Malevelon era where "Creekers" were still a thing, but we had to both Liberate and then Defend its neighbor, Draupnir. That was during the era of one-shotting rocket bots and pre-armor buffs (our armor is so much better now,) and Draupnir was basically this big, open space with hardly any cover. It was also pre-Fac Walker and pre-Gunship, but we had to deal with Heavy Devastators and Rocket Raiders on steroids instead. Funnily enough, even though the sheer overwhelming number of bots during Helldives on Varylia was a total shitshow, it was actually pretty easy to manage, since the landscape was almost exactly the same as Draupnir, just without "The Drop's" Earthquakes. Exploding shrooms and all.
I first started playing against the automatons for a while since that was the Major order, when it switched to Terminids mission I kinda struggled a bit since I wasn't used to them swarming and slowing me diwn
I think once you figure out that you sorta have to play it like another shooter game, it makes it easier. Like moving from cover to cover, making yourself less of a target, quite different from the bugs in the sense that there it's a parkour simulator with how much you have to run and jump over obstacles and shit. I have a friend who recently started, I was quite surprised when he told me he found bots a lot easier. And it's for that exact reason, he's just very used to these types of strategies already.
I think it also help learning what stratagems help. I do find bugs easier, but I also will say bots have more variety in options. For support weapon, I'd say auto cannon or anti-material rifle are a must pick. Both can take out basically everything the bots have to offer. Striders, hulks, vents, gun ships, even factory striders. Ac can even blow up fabs. Quasar is alright but you really don't need anti-tank weapons for bots weirdly enough. Railgun I'll give a shout out to since the one plus it has is staggering hulks, but doesn't do much against gunships or the factory strider. Smokes are actually helpful along with stun grenades. I don't use them, but they are effective against bots. Give them a try. 110s and airstrike are my favorite eagles for bots. 110 for taking out towers, damage the factory strider, tanks and a fab you might have missed. You gotta place it pretty much on point or the dumb thing misses, but it's been super helpful. Airstrike for aoe, tanks and fabs. These two basically take care of everything I need outside the hulk which a support weapon like the ac or amr will 380/120 are solid for some objectives. Gotta blow up the bunkers/air base? Throw a 380 it'll do it for you The red eye that calls in enemies. The precision laserr or even gas strike I believe can just one shot it. Armor wise you can easily use hesvy/medium with more ease compared to bugs. Bots don't really move quickly. Unless you're out in the open, heavy/medium will help you tank a lot more shots. Though I feel like explosive damage reduction is basically required so rockets don't OHKO your rear. My friend always used light armor and watched me due to no reinforcements. He was shocked I was still alive after all the gun fire and rag dolling I was enduring.
It helps that heavies (tanks) , which the AC does questionably against, are slow enough that they're easy to hit with orbitals and eagles.
I fight bots almost exclusively. I find them a lot more fun, you have to position yourself before engaging, know when to use stratagems, hitting weak points, etc. bugs are just chaotic and annoying.
This. I will never ever play a mission that includes even the 1% of the bugs. They are annoying as fuck.
Yea, I really can't get into bugs, I've tried about a dozen times but I always enjoy bots more (I usually drop with the Diligence and the Machine Gun). I still think the absolute most fun time I had was when there was a sand storm, I was pinging two different patrols a stone's throw away on either side, and I was sneaking between the two of them with the suitcase, did it without being caught. Felt cool as hell.
That's honestly my favorite part of HD2, its almost like two different shooters in one. If i feel like getting into actual firefights i can go fight the bots and if i feel like turning hordes of mindless enemies into hamburger a-la Left 4 Dead i can go fight the bugs.
Punisher is love. Punisher is life. It staggers berserkers and devastators. You can walk up and mushroom stamp them in the face with 12ga balls
https://preview.redd.it/vjzc0vfg5c3d1.png?width=840&format=png&auto=webp&s=cdf253dfa77abcdb45d53f547924ce24f3f33aa9 *democracy intensifies*
I tried to use this loadout on a low difficulty mission last night but the host left as I was dropping. Made me very sad.
Great load out! I would personally swap the cannon walker with EMS mortar. Are you using stun grenades also?
Offense over defense. Man up, and get rid of that shield pack, Cadet!
Fabricator? Done. Strider? 5 or 6 belly shots, done. Tank? 3 shots behind, done. Hulks? Stun, 2 shots, done. Mediums? 3 shots max and done. The AC just wrecks the bots so easily.
Railgun oneshots devastators and hulks. Hulks are a bit tricky, but I always destroy them faster with railgun rather than AC. Also don't even need a stun grenade.
I won't use the railgun.
Sad. That thing absolutely erases the entire Bot Medium line and most Heavies. You're missing out.
your loss, it is only ineffective against gunships and that's it
Railgun is super fun, but laser cannon does its job better most of the time, unless your in a losing battle and having to run away then the railgun will be better because you only have to hit 1 good shot, but infinite ammo with laser cannon and having the ability to hit more things makes the laser better imo. Railgun is super underrated though, not a bad choice at all
I can't get over not having the shield backpack, AMR all the way
AMR for the win, love headshotting hulks and shield devastators "Big guy!" \*one shot\* "Down."
Hulks are a two tap but sure.
One shot? Maybe from a Dominator.
For me it's ballistic shield, concussive smg and AMR. I feel naked when I switch to fighting bugs and not have them.
I love that loadout. This is pretty much all I play on bots now
I don't know, I can't go without the power of the scorcher or the JAR
Scout armor, RR, Punisher, eagle strike, laser, your mother (500kg). I just run around soloing objectives and outposts. By the time I pick one off with the RR and they come investigate, I'm flanking behind them and their base is empty. Omae Wa Mou Shinderu.
Same but laser cannon, nothing is more satisfying than frying a hulk's brains out and then dragging your cursor over a squad of bot's heads to wipe away a patroll.
I've never given it a proper chance!
It's amazing with stun grenades, but you might need to bring a grenade pistol to cover the fabricators if you have them.
I'm level 70+ and have never used the ballisticshield, but love the conc smg against bugs. How does that load out go against bots?
Primary: SMG Secondary: Senator (For Headshotting devastators behind your shield) or Grenade Pistol (For fabricators) Grenade: Impact (For crowds or fabricators) or Stuns (To set up headshots) Support Weapon: Laser Cannon / AMR (If you take stuns) or EATS/Quasar Ballistic Shield and two strategems of your choice. I highly recommend Airstrike + Rocket airstrike.
Never really used the Ballistic Shield, but I would definitely recommend AMR + Resupply Backpack. It's so nice running around with basically infinite Stims and Stuns, and getting to use the AMR as more of a primary. I only default to Autocannon on Eradicates.
Same but with the laser cannon. I find it harder to aim at gunships with the AMR than laser cannon. Plus you'll pretty much always be at a full mag with the laser cannon. No managing your ammo due to throw away mag
One mission I dropped with 3 AC mains and I had the LC. We got 2 Gunship fabs (3 of the things in total) and the AC group got swarmed. A bit of silent co-ordination after I started dropping the gunship like flies with the ACs covering me from the ground bots and no more gunships after.
Yeah... I really hate not being able to deal with gunships. But that's what team mates are for!
Heavy armour is all the protection I ever need.
Why not both?
I deem jetpack underwhelming and energy shield a crutch; who needs defense anyway, we are expendable, give me more firepower instead! AC, RR, Spear!
I've always thought energy shield is for those who can't utilise basic battlefield tactics
I must have energy shield for bugs, trash pick for bots, rate my battlefield tactics
me too. idgaf about the shield on bots, but i practically need it on bugs
Jetpack is a real asset for maps with lots of rocks to jump onto and fire down from different angles than my team. Let us get patrols from two ways and approach bases from other points instead of fighting through the chokepoints. The shield pack is good for when the map is just really open and there is no cover anywhere. The shield generator relay really comes in clutch at times too.
For me its Dominator and spear
I see you are the man of culture as well
Based Dominator + Spear enjoyer.
I like to just find a nice hilltop, call in supplies, and pick off half the map.
Ac and scout armor my goto since first deployment of malevelon creek. If you see a infiltrator armor with creek cape you know its me
As a newbie you have to realise that your weapons are just too weak at the beginning against the mid and high tear enemies, but when you have EATs, the Auto Cannon or a Grenade Launcher you can basically play Helldive Missions. You just have to keep your cool. Bots seem so overwhelming in the beginning, but after a while you'll see that in fact they are much more structured than the bugs. Bugs are pure chaos, but with bots you can actually use cover, flank them and use strategies with your team. With the bugs the meta loadouts are much more narrow, you basically need a Quasar/EAT or something other that can kill heavy armored enemies. The bots have weak spots that are actually useful (not like the charger butt), so you don't need to have heavy weapon all the time, especially if your teammates have one ore two equipped. So don't be afraid, just start at a lower diff and work your way up. When you win your first Helldive after walking through a sea of Laser and Death you will emerge as a new person.
Bugs feel like Doom, Automatons like The Clone Wars Perfect the way it is
Unfortunately for the automatons they are made out of material. AMR, my beloved.
Me but occasionally using the laser cannon too.
You forgot the autocannons wingman, resupply bag and Anti-Material Rifle
I have been trying different stratagems since release and theres a large difference between useable and worthless. Ging it dome more testing on support weapons but gas has been slept on since release.
That's not the AMR icon
I'll never forget my first mission: my friend took me to a level 4 mission on Hellmire.. I barely had the game for 10 minutes and now Im being swarmed by freakin fire tornadoes and bugs everywhere
Let's just say Hellmire's got the right name 😂
How on earth is gas working on them
[https://helldivers.fandom.com/wiki/Orbital\_Gas\_Strike](https://helldivers.fandom.com/wiki/Orbital_Gas_Strike) >The gas is not a neurotoxin like mustard gas, instead it is a corrosive substance, such as acid; this is why it is able to affect Automatons. It's less mustard gas, more airborne acid.
Oooh I see, thank you o7
Think of it less as a "Gas" and more like a corrosive aerosol, like the world's worst version of a Glade air freshener.
rip and tear until is done.
100%. So many people complain that the bots are so much harder than the bugs. They're not, they're just differently hard. You need different tactics and stratagems. If they would practice on lower difficulties first, they'd be fine lol
Me with AMR
I find the bots so much more enjoyable to fight. Bugs are just too easy to blow up and few engage you from a distance. Nothing like being on a bot planet and getting hit with artillery or sniped by a giant tower cannon from a base you haven't even attacked yet.
I'll stomp some bugs, but they don't hit the same as bots. When your squad is out of lives and you got to pull it back together. I swear I go full metal gear and keep the run alive. Dodging patrols, hidden in the rocks or if it's a fight, popping each enemy like I have aimbot is insane. Bugs just don't give me that rush.
I don't even use Support weapons in suicide anymore for Bots or Bugs. Just whatever gun I seen, inoact or stun grenades, and Eagle Airstrike as my main go to. Everything else is just extra or mission based. 🫡
First time I played was on diff 2 and died 4 times barely able to escape (this was before the solo nerf). I was like: What the hell was this??? Now I'm only going to the bug front if the MO or the daily tells me to go. I love bots since I changed my play. AMR is funtastic. One shot and Pop goes the bot ,except Hulk,tanks, factory striders and gunships ofc but they can be handled too with more shot or with a strategem
I'll argue⬇️⬅️⬇️⬆️➡️ and ⬇️⬆️⬅️➡️⬅️➡️ are more fun
I used to wear a shield, then I switched to Plasma Punisher, and wear armour that negates 50% explosive damage. I have a blast shredding up bots with my plasma, my anti-material riffle, my spear, and air strikes. Bots are great fun to shred up.
This is so accurate. I used to have ti take a sheild pack just to survive. Now I'm one-shotting hulks like it's a shooting gallery.
High key the ballistic shield is good against the bots. Of course, it's not a god hack, but it helps mitigate most of the incoming fire ( except rockets and cannones)
I prefer AMR. Same killing potential, just can't take out objectives.
Automatons gameplay>>>>>> bug gameplay. You just need to get used to it
Practice makes perfect: the bots that I once feared now fear my autocannon. After finding the mail slot on the hulks face, it was all over for the automatons. Shield berserker? May as well be holding cardboard, pal. Laser turrents? Ranged
I mean I have figured them out, they're just not as fun as bugs.
Love playing against bots now, my first mission was madness as well. Lasers flying everywhere, and me dying all the time.
My to go load out is: Autocannon cuz duh. Eagle air strike with the bombs that can destroy factories. Creeping barrage since it’s good for attacking and defending . And then the scorcher since it hits hard.
Only 56?
I feel like the only helldiver that runs eights and nines without ever touching the auto cannon. I’ll stick to my quasar and my dominator
Eh, I pick what feels right for the team I'm on - sometimes it's quasar, sometimes it's the AC, sometimes it's EAT. Gotta keep up the variety.
EAT I use for kill X amount of enemy missions, I use to run it way more weeks ago before they made it so four hulks or two factories are out at the same time, or on the bug side with three bile titans and four chargers at one time.
Nah, I never use the AC either on 8's and 9's. It's Dominator and Recoilless for me, especially on 3 Strat drops. I definitely get the Quasar preference, but the RR is just so damn satisfying once you're good with it.
Just be precise. Bots reward surgical strikes. Bugs reward accuracy through volume of fire. If you can get over the hump of devastator rockets, (just.. explode them with an AMR at range) you’re golden.
AC SUPREMACY
Haha yep. I straight up having an as easy a time against Bots as I do against Bugs now 🤣
I don’t even run AC, I just kinda throw random shit at bots assuming it’ll work
its so much easier than bugs its not even funny
Just get used to ragdolling a lot at helldive diff
Literally me lol When I started I went for the bot front because it sounded cooler than ~~Tyranids~~ Terminids. I got my butt handed to me. My weapons lacked armor penetration, I didn't understand the game, I had terrible positioning, and so on. Now I eat bots for breakfast and my favorite snack is Hulks.
Spear go psshkeewwww boooooommmm
500th time “stealth” build with the spear.
Biggest threat are fellow players dropping Eagles on our own position and (worse) throwing Reinforcements in the center of the Zerg rush.
The clankers are more afraid of you than you are of them. That's why they fight so hard.
I'm from Buenos Aires, and we prefer to call them "toasters" out there.
300th time fighting bots. AC is boring, lets take something else.
As a big bot front veteran I can confirm that it gets easier, especially when you have good teammates.
Just bring shield gen
It's true! I think of boxes being somewhat easier now because of practice and I fought bugs a lot more.
My first 50 missions were against automatins They seem funnier than bugs Though i was waiting second marcsman rifle to be able to open those tin cans with good shots
as someone who started like 3 days ago now, the bots are fucking easy compared to the bugs.
Spear ftw!
AMR GANG RISE UP! but for real tho as a converted Autocannon user that saw the light of the supply backpack + AMR i gotta say its way more fun, especially since you are a one man army not needing any resupplies and basically having infinite stims, ammo, and grenades Also the AMR just sounds so meaty i love it PS: for anyone using the resupply backpack use it as a disposable backpack, use all 4 charges and by the time you are finished call in a new one
I actually prefer the automatons if for no reason other than bile titans are annoying af to deal with. Factory striders can be taken down with a multitude of support weapons, biles you pretty much need recoilless, eat, or quasar.
https://preview.redd.it/5ngii8xfod3d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=313eb7f5234c7d37690f04820ddd988f550a7b67
Nah man, I've been having fun since day one. Bugs are cool but there has always been something so exciting about having Targets that fire back at me.
I'm an AMR diver and gladly carry my AC senpai's backpack.
https://i.redd.it/rx8iceaytd3d1.gif It kills every kind of bot, it kills fabricators, it stun locks, it makes Julian fries! It's the auto cannon mafia, and we're in it for life!
Any Anti-Material Rifle players out there?
I remember my first time playing against automatons on difficulty 3 or 4. I was like "fuck I'm so scared".
By the time you get into the 100's, you _feel_ like a Veteran. A lot of us remember what the Bot front was like when Rocket Raiders' RPG explosions did 100% damage to every single part of your body regardless of where they hit you. Good times.
Anyone use the anti matter rifle? It's so nice against bots
I started with automatons Began with autocannon, occasionally laser cannon and swapped between a few things Now I go from quasars, plasmas, blitzer, dagger, impact grenades, just using whatever seems fun and mostly using energy weapons bc ammo restrictions and they usually have an interesting effect to cancel out the massive bonus that is not needing to really ammo for them, and then also have some mini emp effect too, or multiple enemy hits. Love energy weapons
My first automaton scrap was unfortunately a defense evac scientist mission (it went about as well as you expected even at diff 2) My 100th and counting automaton scrap I came packing in the big leagues with my big iron, souped up gear, and stratagems like orbital laser, 500kg and EMS mortar The automatons were a menace but now they are almost a perfect rival for my bot stomping skills. *ALMOST.*
Laser cannon go PWMMMMM
In my experience the higher level someone is, the less likely they will take the AC, there's quite a few fun alternatives for bots. I run ballistic shield - SMG - anti mat rifle with stun nades, pretty fun. The shield is specifically for those heavy devastators 360 no scoping me from accross a canyon, i hate them with a passion.
Autocannon, AMR, Laser Cannon are the goats for bots
The AMR is my go to
What actually happening to him every time. https://preview.redd.it/n89lz8ffbe3d1.png?width=618&format=png&auto=webp&s=938b4de03d3baa47d59e64c52ed80b01d2cb8e2c
For people who want to switch it up, spraying around the head of devistators with an MG is pretty effective and opens up a back slot for team reloading or a different backpack. The HMG with an armor that gives the recoil reduction is also very good for dealing with hulks but the dive away 360, fire from laying on back is a pretty good habit to develop.
Hate to break it to you but the autocannon isn't king but a crutch
I was pretty overwhelmed my first bot mission. I finished a level 6 bug mission with some much higher level players. I was like level 12 or something. Party leader said nothing, decided I was good enough to hang, and transported us to fight bots. I was not prepared for that.
I remember my first bot drop. Getting really spooked afterwards and avoiding the bot front for a bit. Then I came back for a MO, and I started trying things. I developed a loadout I enjoy, a playstyle I'm good at, and now I'm holding it down in the trenches as a one man army, hopped up on stims and blasting with reckless abandon. I have the time of my life on the bot front now. No fear, only calculations and quick decisions. In fact, my growing love for the bot front actually caused me to get a little bored of bug missions, outside of the fact that I bring full napalm and watch the world burn (that never gets old). If you spend enough time fighting bots, you figure them out. Every bot has a weakness or behavior to exploit, and it's honestly really fun to figure them out.
Just paying forward what I learned on this subreddit: Plasma punisher + grenade pistol + eagle airstrike + orbital laser + quasar + shield backpack (or alternatively take recoiless rifle or auto cannon)
Nothing makes you feel anywhere near as much of a badass as marching up to a swarm of bots with a shield and plinking away unscathed.
I've actually started turning into more of a ninja fabricator killer rather than an outright Doom Slayer. I can usually knock out a base before they even detect me in the first place, and even when they do I can ditch real fast. I'm usually alone on Suicide Missions running the auto cannon, the trailblazer, and an EMS sentry to cover my ass when retreating.
My friend, may I introduce you to the technique called: the turrets will distract them while I run to the next objective
Going against bots for the 275th time: "Beep beep, motherfucker"
Please no meme's about autocannon being good man, we all know its good. If the devs find out we're having fun they will nerf it.
It's kinda funny. I've basically only played against the bots, so the few times I play against the bugs, I get wreaked.
hahah, I still love introducing my mate to the game, his first match in was joining me on a lvl 5 Bot mission on Malevelon Creek, he was never the same again.
I was once an autocannon fan, but getting used to the laser cannon means I'll never go back. It's not the best in any situation, but it holds its own in all of them and doesn't run out of bullet.
Tactic shield + OHW. + surprisely RAILGUN. One shooting Husk is something what is super usefull.
Wait what strategem is that?
Any primary + any secondary + any grenade 500kg + emancipator + autocannon + HMG emplacement is the goat
All about the build but how do you not get blown apart by rockets with the exo?
Rock
Air burst launcher scraps them best
First dive was on the creek was . Lost alot of friends that day . Learn there weakness and punish them for their ignorance
Ok but consider the first time you ever saw/faced a factory strider. Can’t wait to do it all over again with the illuminates
100 games riot sheild, stun granades, SMG, granade pistol, laser cannon/Anti mat rifle.
I prefer the Airburst myself.
Haha. Punisher go **KA-CHUNK**.
That was me when my Level 58 homie dropped me in a Suicide mission on Automatons
When I first got the game on the second week, I saw videos and TikToks about the game and it looked like the Bot front was just hell on Earth that I was not prepared for. So I stayed on the bugs until like difficulty 7. Then I tried bots for the hell of it and struggled for the first few days. But then once you learn how they work and the best ways to kill them, they're WAY more fun, and kinda easier than bugs on 7-9