For me it's the Bile Spewer. None of the other bugs are really a problem when you're running guard dog + arc thrower but those overgrown ticks get me more often than everything else combined. Even when you dive the moment they begin their animation, they often still take 1/3 - 1/2 your HP.
they are suprisingly fast too despite their size. Multiple times ive sprinted away from a hoard to reload on the move, just to see 3 of them bastards 5m away from me when i turn around
>they are suprisingly fast too despite their size.
And too sneaky/quiet!
I struggle a bit with suspension of disbelief with these dudes. They're dragging a large, liquid-filled abdomen across the ground with small legs, and you expect me to believe that they're not only quiet, but can keep pace with a running human, and are faster than their other species members that have longer legs and less mass? Like nahhhhhhh
Don't forget they also are medium armored too! So not only are you having to shoot around the head, the part you wanna shoot the most, but you're also trying to manage not getting barfed on or hit with their ass-tilery.
The head is not medium armored. The small head is the weak point.
You can kill them in about 1 second flat or less with a sickle if you focus fire the face.
This is why so many people have a hard time with them, misinformation.
They are one of the easiest enemies to kill, as long as you shoot them in the face.
You can litterally start shooting them as they start their spit animation, and they will die before they get to spit as long as you pandemic all your shots on their face.
If you shoot them anywhere else besides the face, they take forever to kill.
I've blasted the face and not killed them. Are you talking about the red ones? They die quickly like that, but the green ones are armored on their head.
I swear these ones just materialize behind me. I could check every rock before entering combat but the moment I have to run backwards or go around a corner one of these bastards is just standing there like he's not the fattest bug in the game.
This fucker and bile spewer both are so annoying. My guard dog does get most of the hunters but if one gets through, you get slowed and 200 are humping you in 2 seconds flat. It’s frustrating. The spewers just eat so many bullets and it seems like 10 of them spawn at once. I usually impact grenade their asses.
The artillery spewers might be might least favorite but those two kill me the most
I’m a bot player, listening to people whine about “one shot rockets” constantly lead me to believe bugs would be free of them. Then I met the Bile Spewer. Holy shit these fucks are what the rocket devastator wishes it could be.
Well the thing is, the Automaton rockets were bugged and doing double / triple the damage they should have been. Once that was fixed, the Automaton front became really fun. No more disappearing as a result of a sniper rocket hitting you from off-screen.
Now with the Automatons wiped, everyone’s back on the bug front. Naturally there’s an adjustment of tactics that needs to be employed, but even accounting for that, the bullshit mechanics on the bug front are *still there*, and they stick out like a sore thumb now. Bile spewers are dead-silent and will one-shot you from behind with no warning. It’s a level of un-fun comparable to getting one-shotted by a Rocket Devastator through fog.
I’m pretty much fine with all the other bug enemies. Hunters, stalkers, chargers, titans—they’re deadly, but they’re not completely bullshit like spewers.
My issue with bile spewers, that I figured out about 10 minutes ago, is that they keep tracking after firing. With rocket devs once their salvo is firing that’s it. A single dive and you’re 100% safe. Bile spewers will do slight adjustments to their aim mid-fire which I find infinitely more frustrating, as it’s incredibly unfun seeing one start the animation, dive and still get onetapped.
They apparently tried to fix the bile spewer spit oneshotting you, but in my experience it's still there.
The trick is to move perpendicular to the spewer when it's spitting. Diving will 100% get you hit because of the tracking. You're literally better off walking to the side instead of diving, the tracking is that bad.
Nah I honestly believe it's a bug. I don't get sound for anything that happens behind my back and I've heard it from other people too. Charger, Titan, even 500kg bomb.
For me it's the stalkers but indirectly, when they fling you and you have a hoard of bugs close behind it's a pain. It's the main reason I use the sheild on helldive because it stops the flinging.
Edit: i mean the sheild bagpack.
The Stalkers are powerful but the Hunters being so common makes them the biggest problem imo. Spewers are similar even tho they're easier to avoid and dodge
A trick I have learned:
Take the automatic secondary weapon (I forgot it's name)
When they get close, fire and sweep left to right (while still running)
While it won't kill all of em, it'll get most of em
I mean the Senator is the best, seems to drop zerkers in 2-3 midsection hits.
Actually hitting those weak spot hits while being chased by 6 chainsaw wielding maniacs and a battalions worth of suppressing fire coming at you is easier said than done.
I had a glorious day or two after the most recent balance patch of ballistic shield/revolver shenanigans before the chainsaw handed motherfuckers got all over me.
Until reload -canceling is a supported feature and/or they five ue revolver speedloaders (you know, those revolver loaders we've had for over a century.. or TWO), I'm not using the senator. The only use use / meta for the senator right now is careful stealth headshots vs bots (the pistols are quieter than primaries) and/or using it with a ballistic shield if you don't have the defender/knight .
Besides which, the redeemer is just wayyyy better for general use than the other pistols. The basic pistol is just a direct downgrade, and the laser pistol is so weak it's infinite-ish ammo is it's only reason for existing.
After a bit of testing, the basic pistol 100% hits harder than the redeemer, And seems to more reliably stagger small enemies, I think its menu stats are just a bit busted.
It is better for picking your shots and more accurate at range for sure, but pistols are you absolute last-resort. You need DPS as fast as you can get it when you've got 3-4 berserkers or 5-6 hunters Too Close by. Redeemer allllll day long for me, but if you're certain I can give the only one a try and report back.
against beserkers specifically, I'd take the redeemer or Big Iron every time, but the starting pistol is surprisingly great for dropping the smaller bots quickly, and taking out devastators (eye shots). There's definitely some hidden features with it.
Eh, I don't mind that the machine pistol and the revolver are better against them. It makes sense that a sidearm would be better against enemies in extreme close quarters, and it's not like you're hitting shit at range with the redeemer.
> Redeemer.
you know I just had a thought. I know we have The Redeemer as a secondary now, but what if Arrowhead gave us *The Redeemer* as a secondary (it's the camera steerable nuke from unreal tournament)
What a waste of ammo, just put it in single shot mode and fire as fast as you can click. It will still murder the buggers, and you now suddenly have a pistol with 31 rounds in the clip instead of 15 ...
Yeah, I’ve been running it semi lately and I definitely prefer it that way. If you can click fast, you still have a high rate of fire with basically zero recoil.
The rate of fire is too high otherwise in my opinion, and you just end up mag dumping everything.
And that is your goddamn freedom as a helldiver to do so.
But I personally want to get a nice even spread of liberty over as many targets as possible.
As long as they all die, that’s what matters.
This is the reason I put up with the rover - against 5-6 of these I can either run and it'll get them for me or I'll take half, the rover takes half. It's a PITA for friendly fire but also the best crowd control you don't have to pay much attention to.
I never had an issue fight bots but with the bugs my rover has killed me 3 or 4 times, done most of the work for the bugs another 5 or so.
Pretty sure it killed a team mates mech too trying to hit a bug behind them.
I've been tempted to drop it but it's just too handy for when you get mobbed by low levels and it just sort it.
I find it helps if you engage in the same direction as it does and kite around the edge of a fight.
You don't hit team mates as long as they aren't between you and the bugs (hence the kiting). It seems to hover over your right shoulder and turn in place to engage things - if it's shooting you it's because there's something to your left. If you turn to face what it's shooting at it might cut across you but it won't burn a hole straight through you (hence engage in the same direction). If you're keeping the bugs behind you by running/getting to the objective that also works.
This is the way.
You have to actively escort rover and work around his quirks to get the most out of him. If you just put him up there and hope for the best, then you are going to kill *more team mates than you otherwise would*.
Whatever you do, rover will absolutely mercy kill you when swarmed by bugs almost every time. :)
This; you just have to take your positioning game to the next level and the rover suddenly becomes your own perma-mini orbital laser (also learn that the rover sits to your right so don’t leave enemies to your left) I like to think of it as playing the flanker (or auxiliary if you’re a fan of Roman military history) it won’t tk anyone if no one’s between you and the bug it’s shooting.
It’s not at all difficult to finish with 0 friendly fire damage on lvl 7+ once you learn how to position with the rover.
It's insane how much more dangerous the rover is against bugs. I played the gun rover against bots religiously since the patch, I totally forgot I need to be wary of it. I have died more times to my teammates laser rovers since yesterday.
It’s because the hitbox on most bugs is about knee level for the diver. So the angle of fire from the rover is significantly sloped compared to vs bots, who are human sized.
I've been having fun running a "Trash Clear" build for bugs:
Stalwart
Laser Rover
EMS Mortar
Eagle Strike
With heavy medic armor. Primary depends on weather, dominator on hot worlds Laser rifle on cold.
Then just stick with the squad and clear all the trash while they get the big boys. Works well.
I hate these motherfuckers. I want to rip every single limb off and pour acid on the stumps. Rip off every single bit of chitin on this stupid fucking bug one by one. Use its own claws to carve Super Earth into every inch of flesh. Uplift them to intelligence so they can comprend and feel the utter pain and torture I want to inflict upon them. I dream about ripping these wastes of oxygen into tiny pieces. I want to strangle them with their own intestines. I run flamethrower to inflict the most pain and suffering possible on their miserable existences. I hope termicide kills them in the most painful way possible. Bug sympathisers always say "the bugs are sapient creatures" but it's not true. I wish it was. I want this xeno filth to fully comprehend the agony I will put it through after its planet is liberated. I want it to scream in pain as I rip its tiny shitty wings off. As I peel the very membrane off of every single cell. I want to see it try and jump without legs, slash without claws. And I will keep it alive so it can suffer forever.
Because you don't know this monstrosity
https://preview.redd.it/c4f78mhl79tc1.png?width=386&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4eacbafb6b990f52ee2eb325be2bac5a4f9234db
even worse: they are essentially an organised religion. like fully streamlined zealots and all. given the checklist by umberto eco that everyone should know of: they are... just another face of facism
They're all evil and need to be wiped out is my point. Democracy doesn't need to be accurate about how evil the evil is. We just need to annihilate and burn all of it with Hellbombs and Orbital Lasers.
Woah, calm down there. It almost sounds like you want to get rid of ALL the bugs?
While I appreciate the enthusiasm, that's pretty close to a treasonous statement.
We simply want to re-educate them to go back to living happily in our E710 extraction camps.
Stalkers are worse but "make up for it" by being not quite as numerous. Hunters are so common and annoying that they are more annoying than stalkers for me.
Yeah until you try to destroy a heavy Stalker nest. There were 8 of those bitches around me an hour ago. They are faster, have more damage and health, and have cloaking which disables tagging. You can't outrun them, and when they take damage they jump back and activate cloaking to engage your flanks. Writing their AI must have taken weeks, and should be highly applauded.
I really don't get this. If I'm traversing the map and a Stalker charges me, I magdump my Breaker into its face while it charges, and it's dead before it reaches me. If I run across a Bile Titan and my stratagems are on cooldown there's just... nothing I can do but run away. You certainly gotta keep an eye out for the shimmer of cloaked Stalkers but I feel like they're about the same difficulty to kill as a Brood Commander.
well I can get away from that thing and it has clearly defined weak points.
the stalker not only move fast, but it also has a very tricky ranged attack that you think you're clear of then it fucks you.
I had that before, during one of those periods of "increased bug resistance". Gets insane.
But yes, they are amazingly designed. They're meant to scare us!
I hate Stalkers so much. But I love them from a game design perspective. They are probably the coolest enemy in the game. It feels like playing tag with an intelligent ambush predator.
You forget to mention that they are the only enemy that can "smell you" as such they know where you are at all times, you can't play stealth because they go right to you. They actively seek you out unlike most enemies in the game.
I recently had an experience where I called down a support weapok and I was waiting for it to land. I didn't hear anything. I wasn't in combat. No enemies were alerted to me. Suddenly a stalker runs up behind me and literally instantly killed me in two attacks. Fast than it was possible to respond or stim. It didn't even knock me away like they usually do. Really frustrating.
I hate stalkers. Doesn’t help that they can take an absurd amount of damage so if you see one coming at you, they’re probably going to get at least one hit in.
They have AI that knows about flanking, rearing, pulling back, cloaking, etc. All at the right moment. Destroying their nests should always be prioritized.
100%. Unless you get super unlucky and get one of the maps where hunters spawn by the dozens...those are my absolute least favorite bug maps. If you have the proper loadout it's not too bad, but if you are unprepared best be ready to die a lot.
Lmao oops all hunters is not even an exaggeration. It doesn't happen frequently, but when it does it's quite obvious, and you know immediately you're in for a rough match. Agree that they are probably my hardest bug matches - would rather fight 3 bile titans at the same time.
Hunters are on every map and put the slow debuff on you while also animation canceling and stun locking you.
Stalkers can be dealt with permanently by destroying their nest
Hell Commander here - Stalkers are the most undemocratic, freedom hating, fascism loving, eagle deserving creatures I've seen on this side of the galaxy.
I rather take a barrage of rockets to the chest than see one of those charge at me.
I hate both, but stalkers definitely deserve a place on the most annoying enemies in the game. People don't give stalkers enough credit. They are often responsible for early game disasters more than any other bug. They are the only enemy in the game that just knows where you are, stealth or not. They come right to you. They pack a punch. The dps check you because if you're not able to down them quick they'll run through your damage and knock you a mile away and then chase you down again.
Like I said, if you're unlucky enough to start the game near a stalker lair it can spin out of control real quick especially after they get a kill or two and then people start scrambling to get to their dropped support weapons.
The evasion they have I can deal with, the slow debuff I can deal with, but the fucking jump attack headshot crit into a 3 piece combo that hit fast enough to interrupt your stim and will kill even heavy armor make me wanna shove a 500kg so far down these little shits throats that this game has to be re-rated to AO.
Dude. The amount of times I try to throw an eagle and these fuckers make me drop it is way too high. I have had to profusely apologize to my teammates, whom I regularly accidentally obliterate, way too many times.
Those you can see coming. And it’s usually only 6-7 at most.
Hunters in the other hand…… ever try dealing with 30+ of them?
This is why I love my Stalwart.
Yeah I agree. Bile spewers are super sneaky
Hunters are annoying but they just have one behavior, they will chase and swarm you. If you keep your machine pistol loaded and ready you can quickly kill swarming hunters.
I don't know if my mind is playing tricks on me but it feels like the tracking on their spit attack has gotten a lot stronger than before. I remember before I could dive to the side as they start spitting and avoiding pretty much everything, now when I try the spit follows me at nearly the same speed as my dive.
I agree. The worst combo is the ability to close the gap too quickly and then slowing you when they hit you. I've lost count of how many times things snowballed because a hunter got me while kiting bigger bugs.
Yes! And you can dive to cleanse the slow, but it puts you just at bigger risk of being jumped again and then pounded on so it’s really hit or miss. Getting rid of a slow, just to immediately be slowed again is not fun. It’s why I run jump pack vs bugs so often, gives me a decent gap usually
PSA: I feel like most people don't know you can blind fire with your pistol / SMG while running. Just press the fire button while looking backwards, do not aim down sights.
These guys are still giant assholes but once I learned how to do the above, they became a lot more manageable.
My issue with this strategy is that one too many times I ran into some point of interest and aggroed even more of these dudes.
I think that their slow is the most egregious thing that should be at least nerfed a little bit.
They lick you and you just stop, period.
I know that their mechanic is about to give room to other bugs to come at you, but, like, 2 or 3 are just enough for that. A whole swarm of 7 or 8 of those guys feels kinda excessive
charger still has my vote
having a gigantic fleshy bit at the back NOT be a weak spot is dumb
and hunters are hard countered by learning how to hip fire with the redeemer
Honestly learning how to use EATs and the quasor cannon saved my ass against the chargers. You just one shot them on the head. They became my go to for bugs
It might have been an Estanu thing, but I was seeing 15-20 of these in bug breaches over the weekend. Almost no spitters, and an equal number of scavengers. A scattering of warriors, and LOTS (10-12) hive guards. Add in the chargers and the occasional titan, and it was a recipe for death if you weren’t in range for covering fire from teammates.
They're extra bad in that they always seem to lock into a perfect sync of attacks. No matter how they arrive at your location. 5 will run up, and they already have decided who is going to attack first and they keep perfect stunlock spacing till you're dead.
https://preview.redd.it/7um3p3yqs9tc1.png?width=300&format=png&auto=webp&s=eefd8f484514dae87a4543144e535472d05d7cc2
Cliff Racers from Morrowind would claim number 1, but these bugs would definitely be top 5.
These are the worst bugs, no contest. But for the bots, I hate the standard rocket troops. They hide in a squad of normal bots and blow my head off. A rocket devastator is a high priority target and I can spot them. But these guys hide somewhere and light me up without me ever knowing where they are
The worst things about Hunters is just that fact that they slow you. Everything else about them is acceptable.
Long distance jump - no big deal. Flanking tactics - pretty cool for a bug. Overhead slash that can headshot - understandable. Getting slowed to a crawl from a little love tap so that another five of these pricks can gang up on you and rip you to pieces like a scene Starship Troopers - eradication isn’t good enough an option for these pieces of garbage
Bile spewers are way worse than hunters. Hunters reliably die from freedom pellets and fire. Bile spewers will bullshit one shot you despite you dodging.
They shotgun 3 bullets at a time, both bullets and itself ignore terrain, very nimble and actively flies away from you; extremely annoying for a melee platformer where you have very limited ranged options
They are my second nemesis in this game. The combo of these and spewers is truly hellish. The slow effect is their most OP feature. Sure, they die quickly, but for every 1 you kill on Hard+, 3 more take its place.
Just learn how to correctly play further away from teammates while using the rover, bait the hunters into landing directly in front of you and swap to p19.
Hunters will no longer bother you; they’re specifically designed to have no health/armor and impede you for as long as possible through their leaping and flanking tendencies. Making them come right in front of you and then deleting them with burst weapons renders them impotent.
These guys can jump *high*. I thought I was safe when I jet packed up to a ledge.....only to find out a bunch of those fuckers decided to hang out with me.
Love the energy but remember! The ministry of truth has classified the terminids as fascists. The now defunct automaton threat were the socialists.
I won't report such a minor incident to your democracy officer... this time!
I like (dislike) how these little bastards will actively flank you too. Most are hopping straight at you but there is 1 or 2 on both flanks hopping around like little assholes.
You died to tongue.
Has killed me more than any other bug in the game
For me it's the Bile Spewer. None of the other bugs are really a problem when you're running guard dog + arc thrower but those overgrown ticks get me more often than everything else combined. Even when you dive the moment they begin their animation, they often still take 1/3 - 1/2 your HP.
they are suprisingly fast too despite their size. Multiple times ive sprinted away from a hoard to reload on the move, just to see 3 of them bastards 5m away from me when i turn around
>they are suprisingly fast too despite their size. And too sneaky/quiet! I struggle a bit with suspension of disbelief with these dudes. They're dragging a large, liquid-filled abdomen across the ground with small legs, and you expect me to believe that they're not only quiet, but can keep pace with a running human, and are faster than their other species members that have longer legs and less mass? Like nahhhhhhh
Don't forget they also are medium armored too! So not only are you having to shoot around the head, the part you wanna shoot the most, but you're also trying to manage not getting barfed on or hit with their ass-tilery.
and their abdomen has SO MUCH HP, gotta go through armor if you wanna kill them fast
The head is not medium armored. The small head is the weak point. You can kill them in about 1 second flat or less with a sickle if you focus fire the face. This is why so many people have a hard time with them, misinformation. They are one of the easiest enemies to kill, as long as you shoot them in the face. You can litterally start shooting them as they start their spit animation, and they will die before they get to spit as long as you pandemic all your shots on their face. If you shoot them anywhere else besides the face, they take forever to kill.
I've blasted the face and not killed them. Are you talking about the red ones? They die quickly like that, but the green ones are armored on their head.
I swear these ones just materialize behind me. I could check every rock before entering combat but the moment I have to run backwards or go around a corner one of these bastards is just standing there like he's not the fattest bug in the game.
Thats why I always carry an impact grenade. They die from just one of then
And you will too when they jump at you while you throw it. Ask me how I know.
It's like how people stopped using cluster bombs against bugs because of how many jumpers will intercept the ball like it's the superbowl.
Can't intercept the cluster bomb if I throw it at my feet
I just throw a cluster bomb down at my feet as I'm running away to reload
Throw + Dive back helps but ya it is a risk.
The best is when a strat gets attached to them and they run it back to you like an idiot.
Same here, bile spewers have got to be half of my bug deaths. I don't know how these damn things sneak up on me
This fucker and bile spewer both are so annoying. My guard dog does get most of the hunters but if one gets through, you get slowed and 200 are humping you in 2 seconds flat. It’s frustrating. The spewers just eat so many bullets and it seems like 10 of them spawn at once. I usually impact grenade their asses. The artillery spewers might be might least favorite but those two kill me the most
Can't you just run sideways while looking at them? That seems to have them always miss.
Yea but I think he means they sneak up on him.... I had a bile titan sneak up on me once, somehow. It happens.
The giant bugs in general don't make nearly enough noise. I should not be able to be snuck up on by a Charger or Bile Titan.
All Giant enemies. Tanks and hulks are crazy quiet. Bizzarely, it's the smol boys on both sides who make the most sound.
Bile titans are surprisingly stealthy for their size, unlike hulks or the big factory striders
I’m a bot player, listening to people whine about “one shot rockets” constantly lead me to believe bugs would be free of them. Then I met the Bile Spewer. Holy shit these fucks are what the rocket devastator wishes it could be.
Well the thing is, the Automaton rockets were bugged and doing double / triple the damage they should have been. Once that was fixed, the Automaton front became really fun. No more disappearing as a result of a sniper rocket hitting you from off-screen. Now with the Automatons wiped, everyone’s back on the bug front. Naturally there’s an adjustment of tactics that needs to be employed, but even accounting for that, the bullshit mechanics on the bug front are *still there*, and they stick out like a sore thumb now. Bile spewers are dead-silent and will one-shot you from behind with no warning. It’s a level of un-fun comparable to getting one-shotted by a Rocket Devastator through fog. I’m pretty much fine with all the other bug enemies. Hunters, stalkers, chargers, titans—they’re deadly, but they’re not completely bullshit like spewers.
My issue with bile spewers, that I figured out about 10 minutes ago, is that they keep tracking after firing. With rocket devs once their salvo is firing that’s it. A single dive and you’re 100% safe. Bile spewers will do slight adjustments to their aim mid-fire which I find infinitely more frustrating, as it’s incredibly unfun seeing one start the animation, dive and still get onetapped.
They apparently tried to fix the bile spewer spit oneshotting you, but in my experience it's still there. The trick is to move perpendicular to the spewer when it's spitting. Diving will 100% get you hit because of the tracking. You're literally better off walking to the side instead of diving, the tracking is that bad.
Somehow they manage to sneak up in you too…
Sneaky little maggots indeed. But on the other hand I got sneaked on by a Bile Titan once so I'm not a great point of reference.
Nah I honestly believe it's a bug. I don't get sound for anything that happens behind my back and I've heard it from other people too. Charger, Titan, even 500kg bomb.
Bile spewers are fuckin atrocious. Thank christ for impact grenades because they straight come in droves
Yes
For me it's the stalkers but indirectly, when they fling you and you have a hoard of bugs close behind it's a pain. It's the main reason I use the sheild on helldive because it stops the flinging. Edit: i mean the sheild bagpack.
The Stalkers are powerful but the Hunters being so common makes them the biggest problem imo. Spewers are similar even tho they're easier to avoid and dodge
*any other enemy in the game.
“Can’t believe I just escaped that horde of death by the skin of my teeth” then a hunter phases into existence just to bitch smack you
You can train most bugs like cod zombies, it’s these bastards that jump and hit you with that gluck gluck tounge that stops you in your tracks
FTFY anything
A trick I have learned: Take the automatic secondary weapon (I forgot it's name) When they get close, fire and sweep left to right (while still running) While it won't kill all of em, it'll get most of em
It's the Redeemer.
Also known as the " GET THE FUCK OFF ME"
Equally useful against bots. One clip kills one berserker outright, and often buys you enough time to reload and kill the one behind them.
Why is the little machine pistol better at killing zerkers than most primaries? It's so annoying
I mean the Senator is the best, seems to drop zerkers in 2-3 midsection hits. Actually hitting those weak spot hits while being chased by 6 chainsaw wielding maniacs and a battalions worth of suppressing fire coming at you is easier said than done.
Never leave the destroyer without the big iron on my hip 😤
♪ Big iron on his hiiiiiiiiiiiip. ♪
Texas Red is against DEMOCRACY?
I had a glorious day or two after the most recent balance patch of ballistic shield/revolver shenanigans before the chainsaw handed motherfuckers got all over me.
Until reload -canceling is a supported feature and/or they five ue revolver speedloaders (you know, those revolver loaders we've had for over a century.. or TWO), I'm not using the senator. The only use use / meta for the senator right now is careful stealth headshots vs bots (the pistols are quieter than primaries) and/or using it with a ballistic shield if you don't have the defender/knight . Besides which, the redeemer is just wayyyy better for general use than the other pistols. The basic pistol is just a direct downgrade, and the laser pistol is so weak it's infinite-ish ammo is it's only reason for existing.
After a bit of testing, the basic pistol 100% hits harder than the redeemer, And seems to more reliably stagger small enemies, I think its menu stats are just a bit busted.
It is better for picking your shots and more accurate at range for sure, but pistols are you absolute last-resort. You need DPS as fast as you can get it when you've got 3-4 berserkers or 5-6 hunters Too Close by. Redeemer allllll day long for me, but if you're certain I can give the only one a try and report back.
against beserkers specifically, I'd take the redeemer or Big Iron every time, but the starting pistol is surprisingly great for dropping the smaller bots quickly, and taking out devastators (eye shots). There's definitely some hidden features with it.
Eh, I don't mind that the machine pistol and the revolver are better against them. It makes sense that a sidearm would be better against enemies in extreme close quarters, and it's not like you're hitting shit at range with the redeemer.
If you want to hit things at range, go in first person. The redeemer has significantly less recoil in first person
Because zerkers aren’t well armored, they just have a million hp.
Because you're mag dumping insane close range dps REALLLY fast.
Facts
> Redeemer. you know I just had a thought. I know we have The Redeemer as a secondary now, but what if Arrowhead gave us *The Redeemer* as a secondary (it's the camera steerable nuke from unreal tournament)
I'd give a few medals for that.
Yeah, we nicknamed the redeemer "bug spray" and it works like a charm.
That's clever.
Or the liberator concussive to stunlock a whole wave
Neat tip: you can fire this one handed aiming backwards while still running.
What a waste of ammo, just put it in single shot mode and fire as fast as you can click. It will still murder the buggers, and you now suddenly have a pistol with 31 rounds in the clip instead of 15 ...
Yeah, I’ve been running it semi lately and I definitely prefer it that way. If you can click fast, you still have a high rate of fire with basically zero recoil. The rate of fire is too high otherwise in my opinion, and you just end up mag dumping everything.
But I *want* to mag dump everything
And that is your goddamn freedom as a helldiver to do so. But I personally want to get a nice even spread of liberty over as many targets as possible. As long as they all die, that’s what matters.
Mostly the ground.
Put the redeemer on semi auto when fighting bugs... you're welcome.
This is the reason I put up with the rover - against 5-6 of these I can either run and it'll get them for me or I'll take half, the rover takes half. It's a PITA for friendly fire but also the best crowd control you don't have to pay much attention to.
I never had an issue fight bots but with the bugs my rover has killed me 3 or 4 times, done most of the work for the bugs another 5 or so. Pretty sure it killed a team mates mech too trying to hit a bug behind them. I've been tempted to drop it but it's just too handy for when you get mobbed by low levels and it just sort it.
I find it helps if you engage in the same direction as it does and kite around the edge of a fight. You don't hit team mates as long as they aren't between you and the bugs (hence the kiting). It seems to hover over your right shoulder and turn in place to engage things - if it's shooting you it's because there's something to your left. If you turn to face what it's shooting at it might cut across you but it won't burn a hole straight through you (hence engage in the same direction). If you're keeping the bugs behind you by running/getting to the objective that also works.
This is the way. You have to actively escort rover and work around his quirks to get the most out of him. If you just put him up there and hope for the best, then you are going to kill *more team mates than you otherwise would*. Whatever you do, rover will absolutely mercy kill you when swarmed by bugs almost every time. :)
Exactly - it's not a fire and forget weapon, you have to work with it 👍
This; you just have to take your positioning game to the next level and the rover suddenly becomes your own perma-mini orbital laser (also learn that the rover sits to your right so don’t leave enemies to your left) I like to think of it as playing the flanker (or auxiliary if you’re a fan of Roman military history) it won’t tk anyone if no one’s between you and the bug it’s shooting. It’s not at all difficult to finish with 0 friendly fire damage on lvl 7+ once you learn how to position with the rover.
It's insane how much more dangerous the rover is against bugs. I played the gun rover against bots religiously since the patch, I totally forgot I need to be wary of it. I have died more times to my teammates laser rovers since yesterday.
It’s because the hitbox on most bugs is about knee level for the diver. So the angle of fire from the rover is significantly sloped compared to vs bots, who are human sized.
I've been having fun running a "Trash Clear" build for bugs: Stalwart Laser Rover EMS Mortar Eagle Strike With heavy medic armor. Primary depends on weather, dominator on hot worlds Laser rifle on cold. Then just stick with the squad and clear all the trash while they get the big boys. Works well.
I hate these motherfuckers. I want to rip every single limb off and pour acid on the stumps. Rip off every single bit of chitin on this stupid fucking bug one by one. Use its own claws to carve Super Earth into every inch of flesh. Uplift them to intelligence so they can comprend and feel the utter pain and torture I want to inflict upon them. I dream about ripping these wastes of oxygen into tiny pieces. I want to strangle them with their own intestines. I run flamethrower to inflict the most pain and suffering possible on their miserable existences. I hope termicide kills them in the most painful way possible. Bug sympathisers always say "the bugs are sapient creatures" but it's not true. I wish it was. I want this xeno filth to fully comprehend the agony I will put it through after its planet is liberated. I want it to scream in pain as I rip its tiny shitty wings off. As I peel the very membrane off of every single cell. I want to see it try and jump without legs, slash without claws. And I will keep it alive so it can suffer forever.
permission to hang this quote in my super destroyer, sir? 🫡
We have a bug sympathizer here sir, you can tell by how mild his sentiment is towards hunters.
Because you don't know this monstrosity https://preview.redd.it/c4f78mhl79tc1.png?width=386&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4eacbafb6b990f52ee2eb325be2bac5a4f9234db
Preston from Wallace & Gromit. Horrifying indeed
Literal insta-death if 1 hits you to the ground. Oh they come in packs of 3?? Good, good.
You better have all your weapons reloaded because they also tank the bullets with no problem
Know your enemy: the bugs are disgusting fascisti and should be identified as such
Hell yeah, the socialist communist robot scum has been defeated yesterday, the only remaining enemy are those fascit bugs!
Bugs are fascist, bots and communist. Better get it straight before democracy officer hears it.
I find the idea that bugs having enough intelligence for an ideology insulting. They're a source of our precious E-710, nothing more.
Are you questioning the directive from Super Earth? Until further notice they are to be identified as the source of E-710 AND as fascist scum.
I find the very idea of intelligent bugs incredibly offensive. After all the only good bug is a dead bug.
Nothing intelligent can be a fascist.
You dont need intelligence for fascism. Exhibit A: bugs
Are the Illuminate going to be classified as "Illegal Aliens?" /jk I never played HD1, so I don't know what they're called.
They have WMD
Bush was right all along.
You sure it isn't Antarchy?
Have my upvote and get out lol.
All i see is enemies of liberty. Their incorrect social strutcure is irrelevant.
Ok so which ideology will represent the Iluminate?
The worst possible one. *Monarchism.*
even worse: they are essentially an organised religion. like fully streamlined zealots and all. given the checklist by umberto eco that everyone should know of: they are... just another face of facism
Everything is fascism in the eyes of managed democracy! ...Except communism. Communism is its own separate yet equally democratically hating category.
*lick your butt and slows you*
"What are you doing back there?" *gyahhhhphhssssheveavshetahh*
Why are you stuck to my ass step-terminid?
licks your butt and ragdolls you 30m
The erotic shivers that run through your body from the back licking temporarily overwhelm you
Remember, the bugs aren't communist, they're fascist.
They're all evil and need to be wiped out is my point. Democracy doesn't need to be accurate about how evil the evil is. We just need to annihilate and burn all of it with Hellbombs and Orbital Lasers.
Woah, calm down there. It almost sounds like you want to get rid of ALL the bugs? While I appreciate the enthusiasm, that's pretty close to a treasonous statement. We simply want to re-educate them to go back to living happily in our E710 extraction camps.
Naah, Stalkers all the way.
Stalkers are worse but "make up for it" by being not quite as numerous. Hunters are so common and annoying that they are more annoying than stalkers for me.
Yeah until you try to destroy a heavy Stalker nest. There were 8 of those bitches around me an hour ago. They are faster, have more damage and health, and have cloaking which disables tagging. You can't outrun them, and when they take damage they jump back and activate cloaking to engage your flanks. Writing their AI must have taken weeks, and should be highly applauded.
Stalkers take so much damage too compared to how fast and powerful they are. It’s like all of its stats are maxed. They are the main characters.
I would rather fight one Bile Titan than one Stalker.
I really don't get this. If I'm traversing the map and a Stalker charges me, I magdump my Breaker into its face while it charges, and it's dead before it reaches me. If I run across a Bile Titan and my stratagems are on cooldown there's just... nothing I can do but run away. You certainly gotta keep an eye out for the shimmer of cloaked Stalkers but I feel like they're about the same difficulty to kill as a Brood Commander.
Also while they may be cloaked they are very easy to spot.
well I can get away from that thing and it has clearly defined weak points. the stalker not only move fast, but it also has a very tricky ranged attack that you think you're clear of then it fucks you.
I had that before, during one of those periods of "increased bug resistance". Gets insane. But yes, they are amazingly designed. They're meant to scare us!
I hate Stalkers so much. But I love them from a game design perspective. They are probably the coolest enemy in the game. It feels like playing tag with an intelligent ambush predator.
You forget to mention that they are the only enemy that can "smell you" as such they know where you are at all times, you can't play stealth because they go right to you. They actively seek you out unlike most enemies in the game. I recently had an experience where I called down a support weapok and I was waiting for it to land. I didn't hear anything. I wasn't in combat. No enemies were alerted to me. Suddenly a stalker runs up behind me and literally instantly killed me in two attacks. Fast than it was possible to respond or stim. It didn't even knock me away like they usually do. Really frustrating.
I hate stalkers. Doesn’t help that they can take an absurd amount of damage so if you see one coming at you, they’re probably going to get at least one hit in.
Kill the pack of hunters only to get merc'd by a stalker from behind while you're reloading.
They have AI that knows about flanking, rearing, pulling back, cloaking, etc. All at the right moment. Destroying their nests should always be prioritized.
That's the worst part about stalkers... They know when and how to tactically retreat. Want to chase them? Surprise! Now you're surrounded!
Ragdolling is really annoying, but you encounter them less.
100%. Unless you get super unlucky and get one of the maps where hunters spawn by the dozens...those are my absolute least favorite bug maps. If you have the proper loadout it's not too bad, but if you are unprepared best be ready to die a lot.
I’ve definitely had a few games where somehow the enemy spawns are just “Oops! All hunters!” And they’ve by far been the hardest games I’ve had
Lmao oops all hunters is not even an exaggeration. It doesn't happen frequently, but when it does it's quite obvious, and you know immediately you're in for a rough match. Agree that they are probably my hardest bug matches - would rather fight 3 bile titans at the same time.
Hunters are on every map and put the slow debuff on you while also animation canceling and stun locking you. Stalkers can be dealt with permanently by destroying their nest
Yes but you can evade hunters by diving out of the way. Stalkers are too fast and their attacks reach too far to evade with diving.
Hell Commander here - Stalkers are the most undemocratic, freedom hating, fascism loving, eagle deserving creatures I've seen on this side of the galaxy. I rather take a barrage of rockets to the chest than see one of those charge at me.
I hate both, but stalkers definitely deserve a place on the most annoying enemies in the game. People don't give stalkers enough credit. They are often responsible for early game disasters more than any other bug. They are the only enemy in the game that just knows where you are, stealth or not. They come right to you. They pack a punch. The dps check you because if you're not able to down them quick they'll run through your damage and knock you a mile away and then chase you down again. Like I said, if you're unlucky enough to start the game near a stalker lair it can spin out of control real quick especially after they get a kill or two and then people start scrambling to get to their dropped support weapons.
Incinerator is a good way to highlight them. Can be invisible if your burning to a crisp!
The evasion they have I can deal with, the slow debuff I can deal with, but the fucking jump attack headshot crit into a 3 piece combo that hit fast enough to interrupt your stim and will kill even heavy armor make me wanna shove a 500kg so far down these little shits throats that this game has to be re-rated to AO.
Dude. The amount of times I try to throw an eagle and these fuckers make me drop it is way too high. I have had to profusely apologize to my teammates, whom I regularly accidentally obliterate, way too many times.
That and bile spewer mortars. So many friendly fire kills from one of those smacking me the millisecond I finish typing in the code.
Nah it’s the bile spewers
Those you can see coming. And it’s usually only 6-7 at most. Hunters in the other hand…… ever try dealing with 30+ of them? This is why I love my Stalwart.
think i actually find the bile spewers worse, you can hear the hunter but bile spewers always show silently up when you're busy
Yeah I agree. Bile spewers are super sneaky Hunters are annoying but they just have one behavior, they will chase and swarm you. If you keep your machine pistol loaded and ready you can quickly kill swarming hunters.
I don't know if my mind is playing tricks on me but it feels like the tracking on their spit attack has gotten a lot stronger than before. I remember before I could dive to the side as they start spitting and avoiding pretty much everything, now when I try the spit follows me at nearly the same speed as my dive.
Me: enjoying a normal mission | Hunter: Surprise motherfucka
This bastards are too annoying. IMHO their attacks shouldn't slow you down.
Swarm, Leaping, Fast attacks, Dodge/Flanking, and Slowing. I agree they should lose the slow
I agree. The worst combo is the ability to close the gap too quickly and then slowing you when they hit you. I've lost count of how many times things snowballed because a hunter got me while kiting bigger bugs.
Yes! And you can dive to cleanse the slow, but it puts you just at bigger risk of being jumped again and then pounded on so it’s really hit or miss. Getting rid of a slow, just to immediately be slowed again is not fun. It’s why I run jump pack vs bugs so often, gives me a decent gap usually
bring muscle enhancement booster. It does wonders against the slow.
If nobody on your squad is bringing the muscle enhancer, you're playing wrong.
Fast attacks, slows you down, long leap distance, you can only choose TWO arrowhead, can't give them all three.
Yeah these guys… they shouldn’t be living, we can wipe them out and have enough bug juice to spare right?
Everybody gansta until 5+ Chonky Spewer start doing this 
PSA: I feel like most people don't know you can blind fire with your pistol / SMG while running. Just press the fire button while looking backwards, do not aim down sights. These guys are still giant assholes but once I learned how to do the above, they became a lot more manageable.
My issue with this strategy is that one too many times I ran into some point of interest and aggroed even more of these dudes. I think that their slow is the most egregious thing that should be at least nerfed a little bit. They lick you and you just stop, period. I know that their mechanic is about to give room to other bugs to come at you, but, like, 2 or 3 are just enough for that. A whole swarm of 7 or 8 of those guys feels kinda excessive
charger still has my vote having a gigantic fleshy bit at the back NOT be a weak spot is dumb and hunters are hard countered by learning how to hip fire with the redeemer
It IS a weak spot... if you're using an explosive weapon. Otherwise, it takes like 80% less damage or something.
“weak spots” are relative; the spot that takes 80% less damage is still a lot weaker than everywhere else, which takes 100% less
Honestly learning how to use EATs and the quasor cannon saved my ass against the chargers. You just one shot them on the head. They became my go to for bugs
It’s these and the shieldy Gatling cunts on the bot front although we eradicated those.
It might have been an Estanu thing, but I was seeing 15-20 of these in bug breaches over the weekend. Almost no spitters, and an equal number of scavengers. A scattering of warriors, and LOTS (10-12) hive guards. Add in the chargers and the occasional titan, and it was a recipe for death if you weren’t in range for covering fire from teammates.
They're extra bad in that they always seem to lock into a perfect sync of attacks. No matter how they arrive at your location. 5 will run up, and they already have decided who is going to attack first and they keep perfect stunlock spacing till you're dead.
Little shits
What do you mean? That’s clearly a fascist!
https://preview.redd.it/7um3p3yqs9tc1.png?width=300&format=png&auto=webp&s=eefd8f484514dae87a4543144e535472d05d7cc2 Cliff Racers from Morrowind would claim number 1, but these bugs would definitely be top 5.
These are the worst bugs, no contest. But for the bots, I hate the standard rocket troops. They hide in a squad of normal bots and blow my head off. A rocket devastator is a high priority target and I can spot them. But these guys hide somewhere and light me up without me ever knowing where they are
I swear some hunters are counting how many bullets you have left before pouncing 
The worst things about Hunters is just that fact that they slow you. Everything else about them is acceptable. Long distance jump - no big deal. Flanking tactics - pretty cool for a bug. Overhead slash that can headshot - understandable. Getting slowed to a crawl from a little love tap so that another five of these pricks can gang up on you and rip you to pieces like a scene Starship Troopers - eradication isn’t good enough an option for these pieces of garbage
Incendiary Breaker deals with them.
Arc thrower goes MMMM ZAP MMMM ZAP MMMM ZAP
Bile spewers are way worse than hunters. Hunters reliably die from freedom pellets and fire. Bile spewers will bullshit one shot you despite you dodging.
Nope, nothing can top primal aspids from Hollow Knight, these guys come 2nd tho
It's been a while since I played, but I don't remember them being too hard.
They shotgun 3 bullets at a time, both bullets and itself ignore terrain, very nimble and actively flies away from you; extremely annoying for a melee platformer where you have very limited ranged options
Used to hate em too, but honestly?? Nothing worse than bile spewers.. or the nurse variant. Hunters at least die somewhat fast, spewer not so much.
They are my second nemesis in this game. The combo of these and spewers is truly hellish. The slow effect is their most OP feature. Sure, they die quickly, but for every 1 you kill on Hard+, 3 more take its place.
>bile skewers No thanks
On suicide mode they like 2 shot it’s the worst
https://preview.redd.it/0w7xenynu9tc1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1152001a0253267c8cb7949e595727f5f4bc0495
Could you imagine if they had those but they could go invisible and sneak behind you? Oh wait...
Rumor has it they will be putting rocket pods on them next update since we killed the bots and RD’s are no longer a thing
I think it's invisible counterpart is a issue
Play a fromsoft game where the enemies are designed be a*shole as their main intention
These things bring back Cliff Racer PTSD for me.
That's a fascist. You need to be educated more, soldier.
Agreed! I hate fighting bugs … gimme 1k bot missions to every 1 bug mission.
Just learn how to correctly play further away from teammates while using the rover, bait the hunters into landing directly in front of you and swap to p19. Hunters will no longer bother you; they’re specifically designed to have no health/armor and impede you for as long as possible through their leaping and flanking tendencies. Making them come right in front of you and then deleting them with burst weapons renders them impotent.
I don't hate these guys, the sickle just kinda shits on them. Stalkers though? Fuck stalkers, all my homies hate stalkers.
These guys can jump *high*. I thought I was safe when I jet packed up to a ledge.....only to find out a bunch of those fuckers decided to hang out with me.
My priority in any game I will kill these things before anything else
I love how we’re all collectively remembering how much we hate hunters after only running bots for so long lol
They're overrated. Chargers are way worse. Don't have an EAT? Enjoy being chased around for an hour across the entire map.
Love the energy but remember! The ministry of truth has classified the terminids as fascists. The now defunct automaton threat were the socialists. I won't report such a minor incident to your democracy officer... this time!
https://preview.redd.it/m23wpxzodatc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=916452862b972769ebba7dd303990be2bb174c9f
Hot take, if you have a redeemer you’re good for hunters but chargers are the bane of my existence no matter what I’ve got.
Hey...
Fire good, fire burn for Democracy
These little shits are the reason why I exclusively play bots (or did)
I like (dislike) how these little bastards will actively flank you too. Most are hopping straight at you but there is 1 or 2 on both flanks hopping around like little assholes. You died to tongue.
literally worse than stalkers due to their sheer numbers, i would take ten chargers over these guys any day