It seems that the liberating hordes of Helldivers stepping foot into Automaton territory were right to look up, because an update to Helldivers 2 has revealed that our efforts to rid the universe of the mechanical killing machines has resulted in them bringing out the big guns.
And some of these guns are VERY big, and also have legs – introducing, the Factory Strider:
🚨 Helldivers 2 Alert 🚨 The Automatons have unleashed a giant deadly machine: The Factory Strider #Helldivers2 pic.twitter.com/1KK8K6YaOx
— Rebs Gaming (@Mr_Rebs_) April 2, 2024
The Helldivers 2 subreddit describes it best, in a panicked post that lays out the horrors that await all Divers that set foot in Automaton space:
NEW ROBOT ENEMY, it has a cannon, laser mini guns and spawns devastators under it. Its called a Factory Strider and it is one heavy boy with no easy to find vents.
What a feature list. The big ticket here (aside from the myriad of death dealing devices) is the fact that it is called a factory for a reason, the big bad dog-looking thing actually SPAWNS units underneath it – dropping Devastators (the big armoured boys) as it travels. So if the barrage of death coming your way doesn’t paste you, it’s offspring may just finish the job.
Then, in a beautiful twist – this isn’t even the only new addition to the robot front. Other players (myself included) have encountered a smaller, but no less terrifying new menace that takes to the AIR.
These are Gunships – the airborne terror that a previous major order warned us about:
🚨 Helldivers 2 Alert 🚨 The Automatons have unleashed Gunships! #Helldivers2 pic.twitter.com/ygt3l3eeew
— Rebs Gaming (@Mr_Rebs_) April 2, 2024
The robot equivalent of the horrible flying bugs, these terrifying Terminator-esque hunter killers spawn from a special factory in the map, and scan for fleshy bodies to explode. Because as if flying robot lasers aren’t bad enough, these guys actually fire rockets – everyone’s favourite Diver slaying device in the Automaton’s arsenal. People have even seen up to three of them at a time, so if you are hiding behind cover from one of them you may well have a friend hovering behind you also.
At least these guys can be knocked out reasonable quickly, and a Hellbomb call-in can take care of the factory – but prospective bot bashers better keep their head on a swivel, and don’t neglect the skies in future.
Thankfully, the update also did some work to make the Helldivers a bit more effective at both killing robots – as well as weathering their storm of incoming fire, by amending how heavy armour types work and also providing a change to the Arc thrower to actually stagger the mechanised menaces more effectively:
- Heavy and medium armor protects better and you now take about 10% less damage than before while wearing heavy and about 5% less when wearing medium armor. Fortified commando and light armor is unchanged.
- Arc Thrower: increased stagger force.
There are two of the tastier changes, a less thrilling set of changes saw the beloved Slugger take a beating in regards to its killing power:
- Slugger: reduced stagger.
- Slugger: reduced damage from 280 to 250.
- Slugger: reduced demolition force.
A full list of the changes can be read on the Helldivers subreddit, and it may be worth pouring your eye over it before you drop in to take on the new big baddies, but I can at least say that the Slugger is the only real victim of this update.
That, and the countless Helldivers that are about to be pasted by an AT-AT walker and its flying friends.
Are you excited for new things to destroy, and possible be destroyed by? Let us know in the comments or on social media.
Known throughout the interwebs simply as M0D3Rn, Ash is bad at video games. An old guard gamer who suffers from being generally opinionated, it comes as no surprise that he is both brutally loyal and yet, fiercely whimsical about all things electronic. On occasion will make a youtube video that actually gets views. Follow him on YouTube @Bad at Video Games
