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Having played the game for a long time, most of us can’t comprehend that someone hasn’t faced enemies of Super Earth enough not to know what works and what doesn’t. There’s a great honeymoon period when you try out all sorts of different combos against enemies to see what works. Yet at some point, you’ll hit a wall and feel like nothing’s working. Terminids can be considered the “weaker” of the two enemy factions in Helldivers 2, but that can be deceptive at times. With that, one player ventured online to seek advice on what to use against pesky bugs (besides bug-spray).
Which weapons do HD2 players suggest to use against bugs?
Amateur_guitarist_69 had to resort to Reddit to find the answer to their woes. In their opening thread, they explained: “ I need ideas on which loadout to use against Terminids. I’ve been experimenting with a bunch, but so far haven’t found anything that doesn’t have drawbacks. I’ve tried Heavy Machine Gun + Supply Pack, but it has way too much recoil. I’ve tried Grenade Launcher + Supply Pack, but it bounces off heavy Armor. Flamethrower + EAT was the most effective one, but one EAT (that is, 2) almost never kills a Bile titan on its own. Flamethrower is very effective though. I’m open to suggestions.”
It’s great to see that a large number of players flocked with their suggestions on how to deal with bugs. Faust_8 had a comprehensive list of good points: “First, divorce yourself of the idea that you can, or are meant to, be a one-man army with no weaknesses. You only have to carry 25% of the weight, not 100%. This is a team game. It’s ok to have a weakness if someone else in your squad covers that weakness up. For example, EAT is dogs**t against swarms of small enemies. But that’s ok, because you have both your other gear (primary, stratagems, etc) for that and also allies. What if your buddy has a machine gun? That means you can kill the heavies and he can kill the swarms. Sure it’s good to have at least some diversity in your loadout, but no loadout is an expert at everything. There is no perfect loadout that works all the time, every time, alone. Second, there [are] many potentially viable loadouts, it just kinda depends on what you want, and what your squad has. For example, I’m not going to pick an anti-tank weapon if there’s already 2 anti-tank weapons being taken by my squad mates, and the same applies to ‘crowd-clearing’ support weapons like machine guns. As long as the squad can handle anything, you’re good. You don’t personally need to handle everything unless you insist on being a lone wolf.”
Advice is nice, but is there a cheat-sheet?
The OP then asked for specific combos, with the commenter and another player coming up with suggestions. Here’s what they pointed out: “Just for simplicity I’ll just stick to primary-secondary-support weapon because there [are] just too many parts of a “full loadout.”
- Punisher/Cookout+Grenade Pistol+MG43
- Punisher/Cookout+whatever+Grenade Launcher
- Crossbow+Verdict/Senator+Stalwart
- Tenderizer+Grenade Pistol+Arc Thrower
- Punisher/Cookout+Grenade Pistol+whichever anti-tank I feel like
And I bet there’s more, and I’m switching things up a lot (even if it’s just my other stratagem choices). It honestly depends on my mood, the planet, and the mission, and also what my allies are using.”
Sudden_Lunx_5390 added their own take as well: “Crossbow, Senator, Thermite. Medic armor. Light preferably Arc Thrower, 110m Rocket Pods, Airburst Strike for breaches, Orbital Railcannon or 500kg Bombs. Arc Thrower is the top-tier crowd control for bugs, even stun locks chargers. 110 Pods for heavies. [One] usually takes out Chargers and Impalers (when their face is exposed), [two can] take out Titans. Thermites [grenades] for in between. Airburst is hands down the best for breaches, especially since the last patch. Crossbow is great for spewers and bug holes.”
Many more have come out with additional suggestions, all revolving around dealing with bugs while remaining an effective team member. It pays to specialize and communicate with your teammates, especially early on while learning about weapon effectiveness. That should be the takeaway here – you can play many different types of loadouts, just be aware of what your team brings and what you’re going to face. It applies as much against Terminids, as it does against Automatons. What is your favourite loadout to go against the bugs?