Summary

• Brood Commanders can quickly snowball bug breaches with their armored presence and large crowds of bugs.
• Beware of Berserkers' heavy damage at close range, requiring coordinated efforts to take down.
• Scout Striders with heavy armor from the front pose a challenge that may require squad coordination to defeat.

With (currently) two distinct factions spanning several planets at a time, Helldivers 2 has plenty of enemies to fight, some of which require specialized strategies or weapons, and all of which can pose a deadly threat if taken too lightly. Among the game's roster of enemies, however, a select few particularly stand out for being difficult to deal with and, especially on higher difficulties, requiring good squad coordination and well-put-together loadouts.

While the first few difficulty levels of Helldivers 2 won't pose much of a challenge even to inexperienced or solo players, any difficulty higher than Medium will begin to introduce more powerful enemies, many of which are covered in armor that completely deflects the rounds fired by most weapons and have hard-to-hit weak points. Many of these enemies can cause major problems for the squad if left alive, and all but require specialized weaponry to take down in a timely manner - especially on the highest levels of difficulty, where even the most challenging enemies can become common spawns.

10 Brood Commanders (Terminid)

Can Quickly Cause Bug Breaches

Brood Commanders might not seem very threatening on their own, especially since they're distinctly slower than other Terminids, but they come with large crowds of bugs, which can very quickly end up snowballing into a full Bug Breach. Additionally, while Brood Commanders are fairly slow, they're also more heavily armored than any of the other common Terminid enemies, making them difficult to take down from the front, and they can easily catch up to players occupied with other enemies.

9 Berserkers (Automaton)

Deal Heavy Damage At Close Range

Part of the common spawns for Automatons, Berserkers are more heavily armored than the basic Commissar enemies and can spawn in great numbers - so, while they won't be shooting like most other Automaton enemies, their durability and numbers can make them difficult to deal with, especially for players using weapons with less damage or armor penetration. While Berserkers have easily identifiable weak points in their heads and arms, which can all be blown off, they can easily overwhelm squads occupied by other enemies and deal great damage once they're within melee range.

8 Stalkers (Terminid)

Stealthy And Mobile

Although camouflaged Stalkers are easy to spot in isolation, they can very quickly become dangerous in combination with other Terminids and can easily get the drop on unsuspecting players. Stalkers deal serious damage and are much more mobile than most other enemies, making them deadly if they can get in close, and they will continuously spawn to harass players until the specialized nest that they spawn from is destroyed. Furthermore, in low-visibility conditions, Stalkers become incredibly deadly to isolated squad .

7 Scout Striders (Automaton)

Heavily Armored (From The Front)

Heavily armored from the front, Scout Striders are particularly hard for any single player to deal with on their own, an issue that can be exacerbated by the great numbers that they can spawn in on higher difficulties. Most of the time, beating Scout Striders in Helldivers 2 will involve coordinating with squad mates, having one player draw their fire, and others circle around to shoot the vulnerable pilot of the Striders from the back or side. Explosive weapons, like grenades or launchers, will also do the trick but will cost more limited resources.

6 Bile Spewers (Terminid)

Tanky And Deal Heavy Damage

Although Bile Spewers are slow and mostly unarmored, the acid that they spit can kill players within seconds, making them especially deadly once they get within range. Moreover, although Bile Spewers have little armor and can be hit with any weapon, especially on their exposed sides, they still have relatively high health, which makes them hard to take down before they get within range of threatening the squad. On higher difficulties, Bile Spewers become a very common spawn, and groups of them will often require the use of Stratagems or grenades.

On higher difficulties, Bile Spewers have armor in the front.

5 Devastators (Automaton)

Can One-Shot Characters From Range

The highest tier of "basic" Automaton unit, Devastators come in three types - a base version that's relatively easy to deal with, one that uses a gun and holds a shield, and another that makes use of rocket pods on its shoulders. Of the three, rocket Devastators present a much more immediate threat, as their missile barrages can be shot from a long range and can very quickly kill unsuspecting players who don't have explosion resistance, making them a high-priority target.

Shooting a rocket Devastator's shoulder-mounted rocket pods will explode the rockets inside, preventing it from shooting them and dealing some damage to the Devastator itself.

Shielded Devastators are less immediately threatening but can spawn in larger groups and are easily capable of overwhelming players once they close in on a squad's position.

4 Chargers (Terminid)

Heavily Armored And Fast

Heavily armored and fast, Chargers are incredibly hard to take down for any player who lacks the weaponry to penetrate or destroy armor and will relentlessly chase down the squad once aggroed. Chargers are hard to outrun in a straight line but can't turn well when charging and baiting them into walls or other obstacles will briefly stun them and allow players to get shots in at their more vulnerable backside. For quickly killing Chargers, however, a more reliable strategy is to blow the armor off of one leg using heavy explosives and then focus small arms fire on the exposed leg.

3 Hulks (Automaton)

Bring Heavy Weaponry

Hulks are among the heaviest units that players might encounter when fighting Automatons, and they present an extreme threat, being heavily armored, fast, and only vulnerable to normal weapons fire from the heat vents on the back. Some Hulk variants encountered on higher difficulties will also carry flamethrowers, making them capable of killing players within seconds of getting in range, and one higher difficulty, it's not uncommon to have to deal with multiple Hulks at the same time. Coordinating with teammates to shoot at their backs or using heavy explosives or armor-penetrating weapons is best.

Shooting at a Hulk's arms can destroy them, preventing it from using its weapons.

2 Tank (Automaton)

Can Occupy Multiple Characters At Once

Like Hulks, Tanks are heavy units deployed by Automatons that are extremely well-armored and deadly, capable of shooting in multiple directions and effective at longer ranges than Hulks. Also like Hulks, Tanks have vulnerable heat ports behind their guns, but since the gun can turn independently of the main body of the Tank, it can be harder to target. A Tank in the immediate vicinity of the squad means that players will have to find cover, and they all but require armor-penetrating weapons or heavy explosives to deal with. On high difficulties, at least one Tank will commonly spawn in each Bot Drop.

1 Bile Titans (Terminid)

Helldivers 2's Most Difficult Enemy

Finally, Bile Titans in Helldivers 2 are by far the largest enemies in the game among either faction, heavily armored and capable of both fast movement and fairly long-range acid spit. Though technically more vulnerable on their undersides, Bile Titans are incredibly hard to take down with common weapons and almost require either sustained fire from weapons like the Recoilless Rifle or Spear or highly damaging Stratagems to take down. Especially on higher difficulties, where multiple Bile Titans can be encountered at once, they can be the most difficult enemy in Helldivers 2 to deal with.

Since Bile Titans are usually easy to spot from a distance, the best way of cleanly dealing with them is often to get the drop on one before it notices squad.