“The bots have AT-ATs now”: New Helldivers 2 update sneaks terrifying Automaton Factory Strider walkers and gunship swarms past the patch notes
Helldivers 2’s Automatons just got some big upgrades.
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What you need to know
Less than 24 hours afterHelldivers 2 players started to spot huge cloaked warships orbiting over Automaton planets, the bot menace has begun calling in the cavalry. Following the release of a new patch early on Tuesday morning, Super Earth forces have started encountering two new stealthily added enemy types: heavily armed and armored walkers and lethal gunships that rain fire from the skies.
The former are massive four-legged walking fortresses called Factory Striders, and while theHelldivers 2community is colloquially referring to them as “AT-ATs” from Star Wars, they’re much closer to Republic AT-TEs from the prequel era. Like the Clone Wars tank, Factory Striders attack with a massive laser cannon up top as well as rapid-fire blasters in the front. Oh, and in case you’re wondering where the “factory” part of their name comes from, they periodically deploy Devastator shock troops from their undercarriage. Sweet Liberty,save me.
Like Automaton Hulks and Annihilator Tanks, Factory Striders have extremely thick armor and can only reliably be damaged with heavy stratagems like the Eagle 500kg Bomb or anti-armor support weapons like rocket launchers and thenewly addedQuasar Cannon. According to initial reportslike this onefrom u/CappedPluto, the walkers have “no easy to find vents” for weak point damage, though they’re extremely susceptible to being flanked if you’re able to use cover to get close. Still, with space marines like u/Dwokimmortalussayingthey “killed one with two orbital lasers, but it took the full cycle of each,” you can expect a tough battle whenever one of these stomps your way.
Then there are the gunships, which have now been deployed following a recent report from Super Earth High Command that the Automatons were broadcasting blueprints for the aircraft to a hidden location beyond the borders of the galaxy map. These close air support craft spam missiles and laser fire at Helldivers from above, though they can be reliably taken down with any support weapon capable of decent armor penetration. That means all the heavy duty stuff will get the job done no problem, as will more “medium” options like the Autocannon that have more ammo and uptime.
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Gunships are likebug Shriekersand Stalkers in that their presence indicates there’s a fabricator “nest” spawning them in a base somewhere nearby, with each individual factory able to deploy up to three of the craft into the air at any given time. These will continue to field gunships as you destroy them until you blow them up with a Hellbomb, so finding them should be your top priority.
The gunships are reportedly fairly mobile and move around frequently, thoughaccording to u/Bigglettt, “they hover in place for a few seconds” periodically, which should help you line up your shots. If you can, hit their engines, as they take extra damage here just like regular Automaton dropships do.
Both new unit types seem pretty terrifying to fight against, though Patch 01.000.200 has included a few balance changes that help players out. Specifically, medium and heavy armor got some buffs that improve their overall protection by 5 and 10% respectively, and Automaton rockets were also indirectly nerfed thanks to a fix for a bug that was causing players to take damage from these explosives multiple times. Backpacks for anti-armor rocket launchers like the Recoilless Rifle and Spear also now get an extra rocket from resupply pickups, so keeping these fed with ammo should be easier than it was before.
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A number of other weapons got adjustments — notably, the Slugger shotgun got a somewhat controversial nerf to stagger and damage — and the level cap got raised from 50 to 150, too (the official Helldivers 2 account on Xjokedthat “Super Earth is now recruiting Skull Admirals”). For a full list of the patch notes, check the section below.
Helldivers 2 Update 01.000.200: Patch notes
Here are the full patch notes for the 01.000.200, taken directly from theHelldivers 2 news page on Steam. Comically, they don’t include any mention of the new Factory Strider walkers or gunships.
Overview
This update includes:
Gameplay
Planetary Hazard additions
Increased level cap
Balancing
Missions
Operation Modifiers
Primary, Secondary, & Support Weapons
Stratagems
Enemies
Balancing adjustments have been made to:
Helldiver
Balancing adjustments have been made to:
Fixes
We have improved the system that prevents hellpod steering close to large or important objects.
Ballistic Shield changes
Tutorial
Known Issues
These are issues that were either introduced by this patch and are being worked on, or are from a previous version and have not yet been fixed.
Various issues involving friend invites and cross-play
Helldivers 2 is available now for $39.99 on both PS5 and PC, and so far, it’s one of thebest PC gamesof the year. Notably, the game also supports cross-platform play between PS5 and PC.
Helldivers 2 —$39.99 at GMG (Steam)Battle aliens, robots, and other beasts in humanity’s quest to spread democracy through an unforgiving galaxy. It’s 4-player co-op at its absolute best, and its most refined.
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Brendan Lowry is a Windows Central writer and Oakland University graduate with a burning passion for video games, of which he’s been an avid fan since childhood. He’s been writing for Team WC since the summer of 2017, and you’ll find him doing news, editorials, reviews, and general coverage on everything gaming, Xbox, and Windows PC. His favorite game of all time is probably NieR: Automata, though Elden Ring, Fallout: New Vegas, and Team Fortress 2 are in the running, too. When he’s not writing or gaming, there’s a good chance he’s either watching an interesting new movie or TV show or actually going outside for once.Follow him on X(Twitter).
