Helldivers 2 - Illuminate Tips and Tricks Every Helldiver Should Know!

[@SwanyPlaysGames]

Slight correction: I forgot to include that the melee based overseer CAN shoot you with a ranged attack. They just seem to prefer melee.

[@T3rr4T3rr0r]

They only melee when you get close to them

[@theelmozusflame3015]

Shield backpacks and a melee weapon with peak physic armor...... WE WILL FIGHT BACK AGAINST THESE SQUIDS IN AN EPIC CLOSE QUARTER BATTLE

[@warmonger165]

Another correction for you... some energy weapons are very efficient at taking out shields. Especially the faster firing ones. The Sickle is very effective at melting shields at no ammo cost.

[@slade355]

They use whatever you arnt using if you shoot them they melee if you charge them they run away and shoot (from my experience I mainly use melee though)

[@AlphaOfCrimson]

You mentioned taking down the shield of those big walkers but never actually told us HOW to do it.

[@michellegessner8373]

The fact that the tripod ones are babies, and that this is only the vanguard of the illuminate is terrifying.

[@LuxO2__]

W h a t.

[@CuteDeadlyBunny]

@@LuxO2__oh you haven’t been reading up on your democratic history of the first galactic war??? Shame. BUT yup! Just like the automaton force at first, this is a very small limited slice of what we can expect from these dirty anti democratic squids.

[@userfromtheinternet]

W o t .

[@Ottstop]

Its only the vanguard, but the entire vanguard is focused on one planet. And we're winning.

[@TheCHEESEG]

Im sorry, what?

[@luciddre4m]

The name Voteless makes me laugh every time

[@redrum_bd1036]

I mean, they didn’t get a vote on weather or not to mutated or die, so…

[@CryptanalystDigitalSolutions]

So... the ones that DIDN'T win the election?

[@huntcringedown2721]

Its amazing. It sounds sinister and zombielike, but makes a lot of sense in their culture

[@ashtondavis7360]

Note that the standard melee based overseers do have a ranged option that they can shoot out of the tops of their hammer/staff/club/thingy

[@SwanyPlaysGames]

Yes I forgot to include that. They just don't seem to use it very often which is why it slipped my mind.

[@ashtondavis7360]

@SwanyPlaysGames thought I'd throw it in there. Love the videos, keep em coming!!

[@DrBusiness9]

@@SwanyPlaysGamesthey love partially melting off my limbs with those heavy shots when they do fire though

[@praxisshadow1599]

Fire and gas works wonders against the voteless. the three leg walkers eye is a critical weak point now to remove the shield. It is easy, arc or laser knocks it out, and I haven't tried plasma yet. Now the melee weapons are a going to be your best friend buy the stun baton it's a fast and stuns quicker that the lance but the lance can be aimed at the head and crit kill enemy now if you have the the new shield pack it will make you a walking shield wall

[@RoulicisThe]

You sure about gas ? I tried it, and it didn't do shit to them

[@JulietNovember9]

​@@RoulicisThehe's right, gas nades totally melt them. Great in the city with choke points

[@gamerdude7481]

Rate of fire is king against voteless and shields especially

[@jebes909090]

​@@RoulicisTheya gas doesnt do anything

[@Pericles1992]

I think the Leg joints on the Tripod next to the head are also weak points. Hit it with a single rocket from a mech right after the shield went down and it just crumpled.

[@Orca4135]

The watcher? Oh that’s what they’re actually called? Me and my pals were just calling them “the snitch”

[@SickBoyKD]

Nah for fucking real 😂

[@CryptanalystDigitalSolutions]

flying rats

[@MinneapolisSucks]

Neighborhood watch

[@johnermactavish1162]

Seekers

[@LegoJangoFett0716]

We just call them the cops lol

[@cody1570]

Honestly as a wannabe self-sufficient helldiver. Commando rockets, strafe railstrike and 500. Primary is the blitzer cause it kills EVERYTHING that doesnt have a shield, and with the new armor man. It fires faster, and now with a melee weapon for true sneak kills. The game is perfect and the illuminate are perfect. 10/10 arrowhead needs to get praised for their hard efforts with this community being so hard on them. They killed it with this update

[@thread_astaire]

The blitzer fires faster with the new armour you say?

[@leroyengels9597]

Makes sense reload speed is increased by 30% ​@@thread_astaire

[@Wooreal23]

And this isn’t even the start we still have the ghouls and the council members that can mess up your stratagems

[@MrPanggs]

And the buff behemoth guys

[@Chasm9]

It's so atmospheric to play against the Illuminates. The score, eerie sound effects, screams, visual effects, their lights look so spooky.. all great. 😃

[@dakotahernandez6920]

You can permanently disable tripod sheilds by destroying the protruding chin and horn on the face next to the eyeball

[@chip5941]

That explains a few things. I’ve clipped the horn a few times with a Spear and the shield didn’t return. Cool!

[@SUPERBABYyg]

Walking barrage is amazing for taking out groups of the little spawn ships. One direct hit will destroy it while the shield is up. Also it looks cool

[@zarlsalamandersspacemarine302]

Also clears out a decent chunk of the city opening up sight lines for you to mow down the voteless. Watch for harvesters though

[@Killabear-en2xq]

Noted! Thanks!

[@Urrelles]

Sickle is ultimate shield killer and voteless killer. Arc Blitz and Thrower are overall best weap. Any high rate of fire weapon deals with shields best.

[@markluna0300]

For the cognitive disruptors, you don't actually have to memorize the correct input for the stratagem. What happens is the input will change every few seconds. You have to put in the current input displayed to call your strat in. Sometimes the disruptor actually helps like making a 380 barrage a 3 button input, other times it makes your smaller inputs like the 500kg into a lengthy input.

[@danielwills5387]

They also stop changing once you start an input.

[@Killabear-en2xq]

The Arch Armor is a HUGE help against these guys.

[@edwinrosario3849]

Just finished dealing with these enemy units. The Purifier works great, two shooting the overseers. The commando can take out an illuminate ship with three or four rockets directly to the middle while two commando shots will take down the shield of a harvester and so long as the last two rockets hit at the joint between the three legs, it will take one down no problem.

[@darkdude9248]

this is such a glow up from their version in the first game. SO GLAD theres no giant laser walls that will just magically smoosh you into a wall

[@kurtis3670]

.....yet

[@Odie1057]

6:10 dude the first time me and my friends got in the vehicle. I was in the gunner seat, and my buddy was going to mock Jesus and hit a wall and I was sent flying forward. I was not expecting those kinds of physics It was the funniest fucking thing ever. I haven’t left that hard in years.

[@johnnybgoode8104]

wish we had those gas mines now😅

[@DA-pb5yl]

The harvesters are almost a carbon copy of the War of the worlds ones. Very cool update, based on leaks there's gonna be more enemy types. I do wish we had a new variety of mission types tho, right now mission types in the game are all very repetitive and we need more mission types.

[@IWatchYouTubez]

That's the name of the movie! I kept trying to describe it to a friend while playing and failed miserably lol

[@MrPanggs]

I bet there will be a war of the worlds tripod and audio mod released soon

[@salvadormuro7346]

Im about to hop on :) this is sick!

[@thehilltopsamurai1295]

Raise hell, Helldiver!

[@AuGTN01]

3:38 from my 2 drops yesterday, Orbital Railcannon Strikes can 1-shot the ships! its way easier than using another stratagem and throwing a grenade/shooting a Quasar into the ship door

[@DrBusiness9]

Yeah but then you have to wait for another rail cannon… also what’s a single thing the rail cannon doesn’t blow up in one shot? I prefer recipes rifle and eagle strafing run. Strafing run drops harvester or ship shields in one burst and then the recipes blows up whatever’s left vulnerable.

[@Eyecyou64]

Ops bruh

[@Wayfarer109]

the orbital precision strike is good too, just throw it under the ship and it'll kill the ships pretty easily

[@ShadwRavn]

1 ship ever 4 min doesn t sound that good

[@halfwaybrooks4202]

Yeah every 4 mins is awful use the 70 second precision strike

[@Skylikesavation]

1:02 I found the jump pack great in this regard, especially if your solo and get snuck up on while already fighting one group. Additionally it's great to get around the urban environment

[@monk639]

The fact that my helldiver yells "SQUIDS" when reinforcments arrive is hella funny

[@CryptanalystDigitalSolutions]

My usual go-to kit/build works perfect for the Illuminate. Scythe or Sickle, laser rover, laser cannon or Quasar cannon, basically unlimited ammo if you play smart. Haven't finished a round with less than 600 kills. I anticipate this build to be nerfed.

[@CryptanalystDigitalSolutions]

Arc thrower seems to be a great alternative. Also someone suggested the Blitzer which I'm going to try out now.

[@kacheechang4667]

Something that sticks out to me is the one shot electric arc from the watcher. I swear I've been hit by that multiple times without the arc resistance armor and took no damage from it, only a slow. Perhaps it has to hit you directly for it to deal actual damage. Also shoot the joints of the legs for the harvesters. It saves you a lot of time.

[@IWatchYouTubez]

Blitzer also works really well. There's no charge up time, and it has a wider range, so it's great for taking out voteless and staggering mediums. That frees up a strategem slow for something else, and I've found myself using OPS to take our the warp drives (illuminate version of bot fabs); just throw the ball onto the ramp, and it'll go through the shield and structure, destroying it

[@Fiishe]

They're honestly a pretty fun enemy to fight against especially when paired with the new environment. I don't feel like I'm bulldozing through them but I also don't feel like I'm being bulldozed through either. A healthy balance of both range and melee that I'm excited to see what's past the vanguard we see now.

[@palpatinedoit]

The sycle is very good and the yellow pistol that shoots a beam is good

[@oldschooldos6850]

Very helpful, thank you. I almost brought the arc thrower last night but took the commando for a spin instead, have to give the old zapper a try.

[@Killabear-en2xq]

The Arch thrower is amazing. You can stop multiple chargers mid charge with that thing. It stun locks ALL.

[@julianfeo1995]

Something has happened to my game since the update, I can't matchmake with anyone and in mission audio is completely gone so frustrating I've been so keen for this

[@DinoCopRulezTheWORLD]

One more tip for you. New Emote THIS IS FREEDOM! is doing dmg. So you can Sparta kick everything.

[@jamespierson9472]

DOT damage from gas and fire can keep shields from refilling and kill the horde quickly, but gas especially stood out to me as being great against the illuminate.

[@AlphaOfCrimson]

I was really hoping for a weak-point and armor rating breakdown but this was still helpful.

[@Scholar_Nation]

The orbital strike can one shot Illuminate spawners too if you need another alternative. Great video though!

[@back2ukraine1]

Thanks for the useful info!

[@TheHouseAlwaysWins123]

Overseers also have a ranged attack where they shoot a heavy blue laser from their spear that usually 1 or 2 taps you

[@thatchanguy]

Laser cannon applies damage over time (DOT) damage to Voteless (not sure about other enemies) plus its range helps me kill Harvesters as well as flying Overseers as long as I can get a bead on them. Paired with the Sickle, I was mowing down trash mobs pretty handily - and not running out of ammo.

[@TheCHEESEG]

We got the new update AND a new warbond the very next day, divers are eating good this week

[@wolfe8035]

Running under a harvester to fire a recoilless rocket right into its underside was the first time I 1 shotted em. It was bad ass imo.

[@SaltySparrow]

Has anyone noticed that the vehicle is much worse outside the city area? Almost feels like you are on ice.

[@Sgtnolisten]

Honestly I favor the nade launcher more than the arc thrower. And dealing with ship shields I’m still testing, but cluster bombs have been seeing me through 9/10 times.

[@TehCakeIzALie1]

worth noting that plasma seems to do *greatly* reduced damage to shields had a ship shield survive a full mag of the Scorcher when a mag from the Liberator Carbine can pop it easily.

[@hostradomis8732]

Thank you, now I know what I’m up against after work. Can’t wait

[@christianulrick1221]

I thought super helldive automatons were difficult, and now I don't think they're so bad XD

[@slade355]

I’ve been running spear+shield and it’s amazing any kind of sheild works well but my favorite is the directional shield because I can act as cover for my gun using teammates.

[@RobbieVanGone]

Hell yeah. Will be playing tonight after work! IIxxMONSTERxxII

[@nclrwntr144]

i found a recon vehicle without tires. you can live tokyo drift in helldivers now people

[@Burr2]

Blitzer works really well gas grenades arc thrower for heavy

[@TheDamnCook]

Stakset and guard dog are absolutely op against Illuminates: The stalwart eaily Deals with Crowds and takes shields down super quicky and the guard dog kills overseers quick. For the harvesters just use a 500kg After their shield is down

[@captshavers]

1 word, "Plasma." It seems that all plasma weapons are really good against the illuminate, along with arc weapons (Not sure about blitzer, but the arc thrower seems good)

[@rageaholic5318]

The scorcher punishes the squids, try it out.

[@markola]

The baton works wonders on any close range mobs.

[@Watch_Point]

The scorcher and supply pack shreds everything

[@havoc-ado]

Stun Baton is so satisfying. I don't know if it's 200sc justified, but it is a great weapon. MORE MELEE

[@evictor99]

The ships tanking recoilless rockets gave me flashbacks to the nerf

[@UnrealStew]

I like how you can destroy the tripods with 2-3 hits with a railgun but the jetpack dudes take 5 hits.

[@camper5579]

I find gas to be really good against them and i use orbital precision now since it one hits those ships. Now i just need to find a nice primary against them.

[@sullivanworkshops710]

I have found the cookout to be pretty great against the hordes and overseers

[@justaliteralgoat5639]

I like to call the elevated overseers "cowards" The standard ones are a good brawl

[@dalej4241]

the tesla mines are so sneaky they kill me more than anything as soon as you spot them they shock one shot you before you can do anything

[@maxzeecoolguy]

Thanks for the tips! The only thing that I've found to be "meh" with the squids so far is the music. I've only played one level though, so maybe it'll grow on me.

[@thechipsik4361]

You can damage Overseers without taking out it's shields. My grandpa was a Helldiver, so am I now. Their shields letting you go in under them and go out without any trouble, standing under it, and damage/destroy those squids's robots In fact you can try to use one Overseer to damage shield of another one.

[@thechipsik4361]

Run in circle to not get hit by those arch throwers.

[@ajaycease6542]

I mean with the large number of enemies, mobility and high rate of fire should be priority in my opinion.

[@joshy3302]

I mostly use laser cannon against them since it has heavy armour penetration, I find it useful

[@joslarcor3535]

Gas granades can destroy the ships too

[@spenozazockt4260]

To unlock vehicle, we need democracy driver's license first 😆

[@bluntlyhonest6803]

And here i thought cutting edge couldnt get better as a warbond. Now even the armor is great. Granted, only against one enemy type but i digress.

[@Ereshkigal616]

This is the Vanguard........ what horrors are still to come,.... only Liberty can know.

[@Auvas_Damask]

Ah and you drive the vehicle exclusively with the left stick and R2, and a gearshift. Yes, you heard right, if you want to drive backwards you have to put the car in reverse.

[@brycesmcintyre8725]

The ark shotgun is also incredible

[@zachgrim7416]

Only took like half a year but now we know that a bunch of the warbonds that were useless were basically there for the Illuminate unfortunately they weren't in the game yet.......

[@thegameace87]

funny eravin said these guys are the easiest and any fast shooting weapon is the best, but anything works well

[@nicolasalcala8318]

Laser cannons are very effective againts almost every illuminate unit

[@alessius42]

Even a direct hit from the gas stratagem can destroy the ship in one hit

[@ShadwRavn]

Plasma gun will take near to 3 mags to get the shields

[@ThePartisan13]

5:46 Useless? No. Situational? Yes.

[@jlstruyde]

It will be hilarious if we get a future update with overseers with energy swords... like halo lol

[@ayaanfiza7561]

Thx man :)

[@skylerspurlock4755]

Good info. How do you get the truck? I’ve been at work all day

[@base7400]

Spawns randomly around the map from what I've heard, u just gotta find it

[@skylerspurlock4755]

@ thx

[@huntcringedown2721]

You can easily kill tripods by shooting their leg joints, even with medium armor pen primary

[@JamesKoji-f6j]

Did they take over sectors yet or did they take over a single planet yet

[@nilsingvar7319]

Forgot to mention the stunbaton :D

[@I_like_Potat0es]

"Algorithm chan, don't touch me there!"

[@Dagger1Echo]

Just think about it this is only the gauging force that we're fighting they are taking notes and studying

[@raresandrei7205]

I expected confusion to also invert your movement buttons like in hd1 but using it in tower is just broken. Maybe the master can invertbyour controls too

[@Clamp581]

Arc blitzer is great as well

[@marooner-martin]

I really thought this day was coming in February, For freedom, FOR DEMOCRACY

[@TheStevenfernandez]

Unfortunately cant even play the update on ps5 got no sound what so ever , not even on headphones hope they fix issue soon

[@Senor_Torque]

Change audio in settings to Dolby

[@camper5579]

I didnt have that problem but i couldnt join anyone through quickmatch

[@ronin_the_gamer]

I think we'll beat this strike force and the illuminate will disappear for maybe a week or two. Then they'll come back in full force.

[@ChaosTheKing1337]

Nice they are using epilepsy as a weapon

[@patchesgaming9139]

Gas is also good against them.

[@knightfall_2398]

Am I the only only one that hears Owen Wilson when he talks

[@malguskerensky]

I hope the community enjoys the update! As someone that used to sole up to t5 missions...I just do not find this enjoyable; I struggle with t3 missions since the Illuminate drop. Yes, yes its not a sole game, drop with pugs etc... not my personal thing and with all my friends gone, just not much I feel I can do with the new content. Add to the fact almost ever melee hit against a diver seems to break an arm, its just not enjoyable for me.

[@Talsedoom]

Also turrets are pretty much useless agains tripods. They simply oneshot them.

[@x5x]

Is the Arc Thrower better or is the Arc-12 Blitzer as good?

[@classikbat8214]

Do frags and incindieraies not work on the warp ships? I've thrown them into he doors after the shield goes down, but those ships don't blow up.

[@FIR3F7Y]

I really hope they don’t get nerfed cause I guarantee they will be complained about

[@George-go8zt]

Ok, i have just one question. Does gas affect them?

[@Hkphooey2007]

Im not sure but it seems like uou can destroy the shield on the Harvester by shooting the pointy bits on the top and bottom of the head, i broke them and the sheild completely disappeared even though it was full health and it never came back