How to Beat Terminids in Helldivers 2 – Terminid Strengths and Weaknesses

Do you need assistance in fighting these space bugs? This article will explain how to beat Terminids in Helldivers 2.

Every sci-fi worth its salt has a bug-like race. Starship Troopers have Arachnids, Warhammer 40.000 has Tyranids, Starcraft has Zerg, and Helldivers has Terminids. It seems that sci-fi fans enjoy seeing swarms of giant bugs, bent on destroying and consuming everything, especially our protagonists. In Helldivers 2 you are in the thick of it and fighting the Terminid menace with everything you got. These bugs range from small Scavengers to the enormous Bile Titans, and each has its strengths and weaknesses. Now, let’s see how to beat Terminids in Helldivers 2.

How to Beat Terminids in Helldivers 2

Terminids are usually the first enemies new Helldivers encounter. In fact, you have your first taste of them in the tutorial. As one can expect, Terminids follow the space-bug tradition of having swarms upon swarms of smaller bugs, followed by some truly enormous ones. To beat Terminids in Helldivers 2 may seem like a breeze, but there is more to it.

Terminids are predominantly a melee-focused faction (opposite to the more shooty Automatons), mostly relying on the sheer number of lightly armored bugs to do most of the work. But, as you increase the difficulty levels, you realize there is more to Terminids than you expected. You’ll encounter heavily armored beasts, and usually more than one. Getting chased by 3 Chargers will ruin anyone’s day. And not to mention Bile Titans, the largest and most powerful Terminid bio-form. But, let’s start from the beginning.

The greatest weapon that Terminids have is the ability to summon Bug Breaches.

Bug Breaches

Bug Breaches happen when one of the smaller or medium-sized bugs (explained below) makes a “distress call” and summons a whole bunch of its friends. When fighting a group of Terminids, you will usually notice that one of them stops, gets on its back legs, and starts spewing an orange mist in the air, while producing a croaking sound. You may have a second to react and take it down, and thus prevent a Bug Breach from happening. If not, a notification “Bug Breach Detected” will appear, and at the same orange mist will spew forth from the ground nearby. This is where the Bug Breach is happening.

A swarm of different Terminids will emerge from there and your chosen difficulty level determines the type. It consists of Scavengers and Warriors predominantly. But, if you’re on the Medium difficulty, chances are that Chargers and Bile Spewers will emerge from the Breach. On Challenging difficulty and higher, you may see Bile Titans emerging from Breaches.

The best tactic against a Bug Breach is to deploy Sentries as soon as they appear. Remember to throw them far enough away, to be a safe distance from the Breach itself. Another good tactic against Bug Breaches is to call in a Napalm or a Gas Strike on it so that new Terminids start taking damage as soon as they emerge.

There is no way to close a Bug Breach. If will close itself when it finishes spawning new bugs. Note that spawned bugs can call new Breaches, so either deal with all of them as soon as possible or run away. Every Terminid, from a lowly Scavenger to the mighty Brood Commander, can summon a Bug Breach. Only the larger Terminid strains are unable to do so.

Small Terminids

Naturally, the most numerous of them all, smaller-sized Terminids do not have any notable armor on them and can be easily dispatched with practically any weapon. Weapons with a high rate of fire (Machine Gun, Stalwart, Flamethrower) or a large area of effect (like the Frag Granade, found on the first page of the free Helldivers Mobilize! Warbond) are ideal for these. They can even die from a single melee strike.

Scavengers

The Terminid strain you’ll see most often, these small, brown-orange guys are nothing special on their own. Their strength lies in their numbers, as they are usually all over the place. They can pack a punch if any actually manage to get close, but their main purpose is to distract you from real threats and call in Bug Breaches.

Pouncers

Pouncers are the fastest Terminids, able to jump out of the way when you try to shoot them. They are small, pale-colored bugs, with yellowish wings. But, their most important feature is the pounce, as they can leap over great distances and attack you that way. This leap deals more damage than you might expect from such a small bug, so be ready to either move out of the way or shoot them down mid-flight.

Small Spewers

While lacking an official name, these are informally called Small Spewers, as they resemble Bile Spewers, but are the size of Scavengers. You can recognize them by their glowing green abdomens, and the ability to shoot green projectiles at you. These projectiles are not that powerful but will slow you down (depicted by blurring your vision), thus making you an easy target for other bugs.

Shriekers

Shriekers are the first flying enemy in Helldivers 2. They resemble Scavengers, but with wings. Unsurprisingly, they can fly, which makes them tough to hit with most weapons. But, thankfully, they do not have a lot of HP and will fall pretty easily. They dive-attack Helldivers, so getting into cover or dropping on the ground can save you from these flying bugs. Bear in mind that a Shrieker that has been shot down will still deal damage (and a lot of it) on anything that it falls on.

Shriekers are found only on maps that have Shrieker Nests as a Secondary Objective. Nests look like three huge mushroom-like structures that can take a lot of punishment before they are destroyed. If you somehow get close enough, you can call in a Hellbomb.

Medium-Sized Terminids

The medium-sized Terminids usually have stronger frontal armor or just a bunch of hit points, and are, unsurprisingly, larger than the ones we discussed above. They all deal considerably more damage than their smaller cousins and require more powerful weapons to be brought against them. They can all be killed by the humble Liberator, but that will deplete your ammo pretty fast. We have found that Autocannons work wonders against any of these.

Warriors

You will encounter Terminid Warriors on any difficulty. They do not have any armor but can take a lot of small-arms fire. As with all bugs, shooting the head is your best option, but beware. Warriors will still charge at you, even if their head is removed. One of the best tactics against Warriors is to take out a couple of their legs, as that way, they are unable to charge at you. We found that the Punisher shotgun can take out a Warrior in one point-blank shot, and a Machine Gun/Stalwart is the best weapon against them.

Hunters

Hunters are pale-colored bugs with long limbs, the larger cousin of the Pouncer, with orange wings. They are also able to jump out of the way as you try to shoot them but they trade the ability to leap with a significant increase in damage. Shotguns are great against them as they will dispatch a Hunter in one well-placed shot.

Hive Guard

The armored version of the Warrior is colloquially named Hive Guard, probably a homage to their Warhammer 40.000 counterpart. They resemble Terminid Warriors but with strong frontal armor plates. If you see the icon depicting a ricocheting shot, that is probably a Hive Guard. They are slower than Warriors and will curl up when shot at, thus protecting themselves from all shots from the front. Your best bet is to strike from behind, where their flesh is exposed, or to throw a grenade between their legs before they get the chance to curl up.

Stalkers

The larger variant of the Hunter, Stalkers exchanges agility with invisibility. That’s right, Stalkers can become practically invisible and then sneak up on you. If they get close, they will make a couple of quick strikes, able to bring down a slow-reacting Helldiver. Stalkers do not have any armor so any weapon is effective against them, but some that can deal a lot of damage and stagger with a single shot, like the Punisher, are the best. They are always a part of a Secondary Objective, that requires you to destroy a Stalker Nest, usually found nearby.

Brood Commanders

The first “boss” you’ll encounter in Helldivers 2, Brood Commanders resemble larger versions of Warriors, usually red in color. They behave almost the same as Warriors, albeit more dangerous. They will also continue fighting even if their head is gone. But, thankfully, they can easily be brought down by a Machine Gun, or a single Gatling Gun Sentry. A couple of close-range shotgun blasts will kill a Brood Commander if you want to risk it by getting close to them.

Large Terminids

Larger Terminid strains are either heavily armored or can take an incredible amount of punishment. Any anti-tank weapon is great against these, as shooting them with your primary weapons will deplete your ammo supply. Strikes from these will usually injure your limbs if not straight-up one-shot you.

Bile Spewers

The ranged threat of the Terminids, Bile Spewers resemble ticks, with small heads and huge sacks of acidic bile taking up most of their body. They spew bile at you, as the name suggests, which can easily one-shot you if you do not jump out of the way. Their bile sacks are not armored from the sides, and placing enough shots there will eventually kill them. But, there is a better way. Their small heads are a weak point, and even a single Anti-Material Rifle shot can kill one. A couple of shotgun headshots will also make quick work of a Bile Spewer. Note that their sacks can explode after taking a lot of shots (especially explosive ones), so it’s best to keep your distance if you plan to take them down that way.

On higher difficulties, a more armored version will appear, that also functions as artillery. They will dig in and will use their sack like a Mortar Sentry, firing shots into the air, before they come crashing down on you. Long-distance, high-power weapons, like an Autocannon or a Recoilless Rifle, are great against them. 

Chargers

The most infamous Terminid, Chargers are the armored behemoths of the group. They have armor plates almost over their whole body. Their only unarmored areas, depicted in a fleshy orange color, are their lower backside, belly, and small joints, connecting their limbs to their bodies. They, unsurprisingly, charge at you and upon impact will usually injure some of your body parts, in case you survive that. Upon collision, they will stun you, making you an easy target for other bugs. Using a stim right away is the most sensible thing to do.

There are two primary ways of dealing with Chargers. You can use powerful armor-piercing weapons, like the Expandable Anti-Tank or a Recoilless Rifle, to destroy some of their armor plates, thus exposing their vulnerable flesh. The other way is to stand in front of a cliff face or a similar unbreakable feature, like a huge boulder (note that buildings are usually destructible, do not make the same mistake we did), and let them charge you. Jump out of the way at the last moment and they will collide with the wall/boulder and be stunned by that. That will only last for a short while, so be sure to unload everything you have at their now-exposed orange backside.

As for Stratagems, we have found the Eagle 110mm Rocket Pods extremely effective against Chargers, as they will usually open up at least one segment of its armor. Autocannon and Rocket Sentries are also fantastic choices, but remember to deploy them far away, to prevent the Charger from destroying them easily. Orbital Laser is also a good choice.

Now, let’s see how to beat the largest of all Terminids in Helldivers 2.

Bile Titans

The largest and most powerful of all Terminids, a Bile Titan is a force of nature. It is so large that you can easily walk underneath it (and risk getting crushed by its legs, but that is another matter). A Bile Titan can either stomp you with its legs or spew forth an acid stream, just like a Bile Spewer, just more powerful. It has two distinct weak spots: the mouth (when it prepares to spit acid) and the underbelly. 

You can either unleash all you got at its weak points or destroy its armor, just like for the Charger. But, the bane of every Bile Titan is the Railgun (on unsafe mode). Any Stratagem that deals with armored opponents is good against a Bile Titan, but the most effective one is the Eagle 500Kg Bomb, as it can easily one-shot everything, even a Bile Titan.

Best Weapons Against Terminids

When fighting Terminids, you will usually be overwhelmed by the mass of small but fast bugs. You will need weapons that can quickly deal enough damage, either with a high rate of fire or with a larger area of effect. For Primary Weapons, we would recommend:

• SG-225 Breaker
• LAS-16 Sickle
• SG-225IE Breaker Incendiary
• R-63 Diligence
• SG-225SP Breaker Spray&Pray

As for Support Weapons, when dealing with chaff, the Flamethrower is the best option out there. The humble Stalwart also excels in dealing with small bugs. Laser Cannon can be great if you have some breathing room so it can cool down. The best “mid” option is the Autocannon, as it can deal with Terminids of all sizes. As for the largest bugs, the usual batch of anti-tank weaponry (EAT, Quasar, Spear, etc) works well.

We hope this article helps you in defending Democracy from the vile bug menace, and that you have found some new ways to beat Terminids in Helldivers 2.