by Hald Twinpack

March 16, 2024

How to Beat Terminids in Helldivers 2: Quickly and Easily

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How to beat Terminids in Helldivers 2? Here comes a quick and easy guide to lighten your loads!

In this guide, you’ll learn about Helldivers 2 Terminid types, their strengths and weaknesses, and what loadouts to use against which Terminids. 

How To Beat Terminids in Helldivers 2: General Tips

Despite the recent leak about The Illuminate, players currently have two types of enemies in Helldivers 2: Automatons and Terminids. The latter are also simply called Bugs. Their main strategy is to attack players in a large swarm, and their melee attacks are especially troublesome. For this reason, the defensive strategy against most of them is to kite the Terminid hordes and occupy high ground. It’ll slow down the Terminids and prevent many of them from attacking you.

Bug Breach 

To defeat Terminids in Helldivers 2, you need to keep an eye on the orange mist. One of the Terminids you fight can start producing orange pheromones. It can be done by any Bugs except Charger and Bile Titan. You’ll have a couple of seconds to kill the Terminide shrouded in orange fog. Otherwise, an unstoppable Bug Breach will begin.

A large red “Bug Breach Detected” warning window will appear at the top of the screen before a pillar of orange gas coming out of the ground. Hordes of new Terminids will spawn from there and rush at you.

Watch out as some of them may also begin the process of Bug Breach triggering. Thus, a good solution might be to purge the spawn spot with fire using a powerful AoE stratagem. For example, the Eagle Napalm Strike that’ll burn new enemies immediately after they spawn. This way, you’ll demolish most of the enemies and prevent another Bug Breach.

Terminid Types

Small

Scavenger

Scavengers are fast and always attack in large numbers. You can defeat them with one to two shots of any weapon. They can take you down in five or six bites. However, in practice, they’ll rarely reach you. Their main goal is to annoyingly distract your attention from more dangerous foes. 

The best tactic against this Terminid species is to simply control the space. You and your teammates should stay loose and kite the crowds of Scavengers. In most missions, you’ll take them down along with other Bugs using mass destruction stratagems and explosive weapons. To take them out directly, any Assault Rifle is a good choice.

Bile Spitter

Bile Spitter is a subspecies of Scavengers with ranged attacks. They quickly spit acid dealing AoE damage. They deal more damage than melee Scavengers and, therefore, should be targeted as a priority. At the same time, they move slower and can be one-shot as well. It’s better to use weaker weapons to fight them so as not to waste valuable ammo. 

Pouncer

Pouncers are little versions of Hunter Terminids. Their distinctive feature is the ability to attack players using leaps. They pounce from a very long distance. However, any weapon will one-shot them.

Shrieker

Flying Terminids called Shriekers were added to the game recently. They spawn in pairs from special mushroom-like nests once players notice them. They rush from the skies trying to assault players in melee. It’s crucial to dodge them as there’s a chance of them one-shotting you if your head is attacked. 

The best strategy is to strike them with slash hits while they’re in the skies. Any Assault Rifle can be good here, as Shrieker’s HP is very low. Sentry stratagems may quickly do all the work for you. However, be sure to track where your enemies came from and destroy their nests ASAP. 

Medium

Warrior

Warrior Terminids are much slower than Scavengers. However, they speed up as they get closer to the player. They also attack in packs. The Warrior is easily defeated with five to six Assault Rifle shots or one Shotgun shot. Headshot is the fastest way to defeat it.

Beware: with its head shot off, Warrior can still move and fight for a while. Therefore, it’s recommended to move back a little after a successful headshot. Or, put an additional shot at the Bug’s corpse to stop it. However, the last option causes you to waste valuable ammo.

Some players point to this bug’s frontal legs as their weakness. Striking them causes the enemy’s quick death and prevents its further movement. But this strategy usually makes you spend much more ammo.

Hunter

Hunters are very fast and attack in groups. On Challenging difficulty and higher, the strikes of their poisonous tongues slow down players. These hits also inflict Damage over Time effect. A slowed player in the middle of crowds of enemies is at great risk of dying. In addition, it becomes more difficult to shoot back at Hunters and other Bugs.

Hunters have no armor, little HP, and can be one-shot. However, they have a unique Dodge mechanic. Hunters automatically jump to the side when you start aiming at them. Against these Terminids, it’s better to pick quick-firing weapons. Grenades and other explosives will help against hordes of Hunters. FLAM-40 Flamethrower is also very effective since its recent 50% DPS buff.

Be sure to hit in melee if you’re cornered. Melee attacks stun Hunters. During the stun, you can run away to a safe distance while taking down immobilized Bugs.

Hive Guard

Hive Guard usually appears when you attack Terminid Nests. It serves primarily as a shield for the Terminid swarm and can enter a defensive stance, making it harder to damage the Guard and Terminids behind it.

During a “shield stance,” the Guard can be defeated by hitting flesh between the frontal shields and legs. In case of face-to-face combat against its armor, the SG-8 Punisher will be useful. Shotgun shots will be followed by microstuns. They’ll take the Guard out of the defensive stance. Keep shooting roughly between the head and legs, and it’ll be dead quickly.

Also, your ally can bypass the enemy and hit open areas from behind. Finally, you may burn it with any explosive weapon. Without a “shield stance,” only the Hive Guard’s head and legs are armored. Its armor is medium and thus can easily be pierced with AP-23P Liberator Penetrator.

Stalker

Stalker is an assassin-type Terminid. It’s basically a giant Hunter with stealth, but it’s nearly twice as fast. There’s no point in running away from the Stalker as its speed outperforms players’ sprint. It begins to non-stop painfully beat the player it reached. In addition, it can grab a player with its tongue and throw it far forward. This attack can cost half of your HP.

Then, how to kill a Stalker? A basic advice is to start eliminating it once it’s seen. The gray silhouette of the invisible Terminid isn’t hard to spot. Smoke Grenades can help reveal its invisibility. With a mighty support weapon like Grenade Launcher or Autocannon, you can destroy Stalker in a couple of seconds. It’s better to aim for the head or legs if a regular weapon is equipped.

A crucial tip is to control this mob’s spawn. Try to note where the Stalker is coming from when it charges you. This way, you can track down Stalker’s Lair. Destroy it to prevent its kin from spawning. It can be blown up with a grenade or stratagem. At higher difficulty levels, you may need to destroy several lairs.

Brood Commander

Brood Commanders look like greater Warriors. Their melee attacks hit further. They can summon Terminids by doing a kind of their own Bug Breach. Usually, two to four Warriors come to their call. Summon can be repeated endlessly until the Bug is dead.

Brood Commander also has its own charge attack. You’ll notice it preparing a charge when it suddenly stands upright. A charge helps it dangerously quickly reduce the distance to the player. This attack may slam the player into a wall. It’s an almost guaranteed death as the player gets stunned.

Brood Commanders are faster and tougher than Warriors. It’s harder to strike them down with headshots. Destroying their heads requires quite a lot of ammo. You may not make it in time due to the enemy’s speed and its charge attack. Needed damage can be dealt quickly to the head of this Helldivers 2 enemy only with Railgun or Autocannon. Besides, they continue to move for a few seconds without heads too. That’s why it’s highly recommended not to aim for the head if it’s too close to you.

More regular ammo is much more effective against the Brood Commander’s frontal legs. Destroying its legs causes it to start crawling and slow down. Damage the crawling Commander until it’s dead.

Nursing Spewer

Nursing Spewer is an orange lesser version of Bile Spewer. They do a ranged bile attack in the form of a jet. Before attacking, this Bug turns its head in the direction where the jet will be released. 

Here your task is simply to dive to the right or to the left. Never dive in the direction of the bile jet hoping to avoid damage underneath it. You’re guaranteed to take damage this way. Always dive perpendicular to the attack. Beware of the damaging acid puddle that remains at the end point of the attack.

How to beat Nursing Spewer Terminids? You can try to aim its egg-like abdomen at the back. It’ll cause the Terminid to explode and deal damage to surrounding Bugs. But it’s faster and more economical to shoot at the unarmored head. One accurate shot will be enough. Unlike Warriors, Nursing Spewer doesn’t move without its head.

Bile Spewer

Bile Spewer is green and has the same HP as the Nursing one. However, its bile jet has a wider cone. It has a longer range and deals much more damage. It often one-shots the player. Besides, Bile Spewers spam green mortar attacks if the players they spot are far away.

Diving perpendicular to the attack is the best tip in any Bile Spewer walkthrough. However, sometimes you’ll be dealing with many Bile Spewers at the same time. Dodging the attack can be difficult. The SH-20 Shield Generator Pack stratagem may be your salvation. Currently, it’s reported to resist a significant portion of their damage.

Green Spewers can’t be one-shotted with a headshot from any weapon. Their heads are armored. Use Armor Penetrating weapons or some Explosives against them. Grenade Launcher is a great choice. Its two shots are guaranteed to destroy Spewer. 

It’s recommended to gather two or three Spewers and launch a few grenades among them. Destroying them this way also triggers explosions, damaging surrounding enemies. Besides, the Grenade Launcher is effective against many other Bugs. This way, you can defeat two or more birds with one stone.

Large

Charger

Charger is a Terminid behemoth that attacks only with charges. Those who don’t dodge them receive huge damage and are stunned. A Charger will rarely counter you solo. At high difficulty levels, getting its stun often results in death.

The Charger Terminid is armored from head to toe, with a single unarmored spot on the lower part of its back. Any weapon can damage it, reducing the Charger’s HP. After three to four successful shots at this spot, the Terminid soon bleeds out. Beware: it’ll run after you for a while before death. It’s always better to deal extra damage so that the Bug’s last charge doesn’t last long.

Typically, players force the Charger to crash into a stationary obstacle, stunning it and giving the team some time to damage the unarmored spot. But focusing on it can be too difficult in the chaos of battle with many Terminids.

It’s recommended to concentrate on the Charger’s legs instead. Shoot them with a Recoilless Rifle or FLAM-40 Flamethrower to remove the armor. Don’t count on Railgun for this purpose as it was nerfed, while Flamethrower was buffed. Don’t use a Grenade Launcher here. Grenades may simply bounce off the armor. A charged Railgun is the best choice because it staggers the enemy a bit. This makes dodging Charges easier. Once its legs are unarmored, destroy them with primary weapons.

Attention! There’s a rumor that after the fresh patch, Chargers can be one-shotted in the head with a Recoilless Rifle or EAT Stratagem. We hope it still works this way when you test it.   

Bile Titan

Bile Titan attacks in melee by stepping on the players with one of its four sharp legs. Being near its feet is always dangerous. Simple steps this Terminide takes while walking can cause damage too. Sometimes they’re difficult to distinguish from Titan’s directed melee attacks.

Its ranged attack is a long and wide bile jet. Titan spews it out of its mouth a few seconds after it opens. The acid jet deals huge damage to players and slows them down. To dodge it, it’s best to be in cover or prepare to quickly run perpendicular to the attack’s direction. You can only pierce a Titan’s armor with a high-piercing weapon. For example, shoot the same spot on the leg with the FAF-14 Spear several times.

Bile Titans are completely armored except for the green sacs on their belly. Destroying them weakens and deprives said bugs of ranged attacks. But then you’ll still need to damage their mouth with a Recoilless Rifle. These are the only ways to slay a Titan without using powerful mass destruction stratagems. Sometimes they’re complicated to carry out. Therefore, players prefer to simply demolish Titans with the Eagle 500kg Bomb or Orbital Railcannon Strike stratagems.

Conclusion

This article aimed at covering the main Helldivers 2 Terminid fight strategies. We hope it has answered your question of “How to beat Terminids in Helldivers 2,” serves you well and helps to enlighten every game’s bug with democracy!