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Factory Striders are four-legged behemoths inHelldivers 2similar to the iconic AT-AT Walkers from Star Wars. They are heavily armored on all sides with large health pools and enough armaments to win the Galactic War on their own. This makes Factory Striders one of thehardest enemies to beat inHelldivers 2.
They have a massive cannon that can pick off targets at long range, while a pair of dual turrets shred anyone foolish enough to come in close. What makes them truly unique, though, is their ability to continuously manufacture and deployDevastators on the battlefield. If left unchecked, a single Factory Strider can amass an entire army within a few minutes.
Where To Find Factory Striders In Helldivers 2
There is a small chance that an Automaton Dropship drops a Factory Strider in level 4 missions. That spawn chance, however, starts increasing exponentially as you playhigher-difficulty missions inHelldivers 2. They can even be dropped in pairs in level 7+ missions.
Automaton-controlled planets can also havemission objectives to destroy Factory Striders. Keep an eye on their mission icon while browsing the red planets on the left side of the Galatic Warfront.
Factory Strider Weaknesses In Helldivers 2
Factory Striders have several weak points that can be exploited for different results. You can silence them by disabling their weapons, remove armor from specific points before landing the kill shot, go for the legs to reduce their mobility, or stop them from dropping their payloads. Your positioning also determines how to approach Factory Striders inHelldivers 2because the giant Automaton unit hasweak points on every side of its body.
1. Main Cannon (On The Hump)
The mounted cannon on the back is an improved version ofthe Annihilator Tankwith faster rotation speed and higher damage thatcan kill you in a single shot. It has an insane range, similar to the Automaton cannon turrets, so always be behind cover.
For obvious reasons, the main cannon is clad in heavy armor. Your normal weapons will not even scratch it. What you need are rockets and explosive damage.
The Orbital Railcannon will always target the main Cannon. If you want to save that damage for the main body, disable the cannon with your weapons before using the Orbital Railcannon Stratagem.
2. Mini Turrets (Under The Chin)
The frontal mini-guns scan for targets similar to theGunships inHelldivers 2. You can disable them from afar or gain aggro so that another player can safely shoot from the side. They have medium armor, so you can use various main weapons to easily destroy them.
Factory Striders cannot do stomp attacks likeBile Titans. You can remain under its belly after disabling the mini-guns.
3. Eye Visor (Face)
The open horizontal strip that appears like an eye visor is a major weak point. Shooting this from the front willfully destroy a Factory Strider inHelldivers 2. It takes around 6 rockets from a Recoilless Rifle, or fewer shots with a Quasar Cannon if you have steady hands.
4. Underside Door (Abdomen)
Factory Striders have a large double door under their bellies that periodically opens to drop astandard Devastator inHelldivers 2. When the doors open, fire rockets inside the abdomen to do massive damage.This is another way to completely destroy a Factory Strider.
The undercarriage doors of Factory Striders are heavy armor. Either wait for the doors to open or blow a hole with armor-piercing weapons like theRailgun in unsafe mode.
5. Heatsinks (Back & Sides)
Factory Striders have four large heat sinks behind the main cannon and two small heat sinks on top of the front arms. These areas are heavily armored, butdestroying them will reveal medium armor underneaththat can be used to deliver the kill shot.
The problem is that these heat sinks are always moving, making it difficult to target them. If you do get a chance, it takes two rockets from an EAT-17 or Recoilless Rifle to destroy a single heat sink, then another rocket on the exposed weak points to permanently take down the Factory Strider.
The heat sinks on the back are like batteries. They will start moving up and down once the Factory Strider is ready to produce another Devastator.
6. Legs
Similar to theleg joints of Scout Striders, all four legs of Factory Striders have two destructible armored plates that can be destroyed to reduce movement speed. You only need two rockets for this. You will still need to deal with the main cannon, turrets, Devastators, and other enemies. Hence, spending time on the legs is not really efficient.
Best Ways To Destroy Factory Striders
Factory Striders are designed to be taken apart systematically, almost like a raid boss. They require immense communication and strategy among players, which is not always possible with random matchmaking. The quickest way to take Factory Striders down will always be tounleash several of your powerful stratagemson the walking fabricator. Below are some of the best stratagems that can destroy a single Factory Strider.
If you manage to land on the back of a Factory Strider, start calling in any support weapons or turrets.5-6 Hellpods landing on the back of a Factory Strider will destroy it.
If you want to save your stratagems, the most effective way of beating a Factory Strider is toblow up the underside door. Disable the mini-guns and then sprint under the walking behemoth. Wait until the doors open and fire away like you would todestroy a normal fabricator inHelldivers 2.
If you would rather maintain distance, use anti-tank weapons (Autocannon, EAT-17, Recoilless Rifle, Quasar Cannon) to remove the heavy armor plating on one side of the Factory Strider. Once the weak point is exposed, blow up the Automaton unit with explosives or weapons.
Unless there is a Major Order or secondary mission objectives to complete, Factory Striders areoften not worth fightinginHelldivers 2. They cost a lot of resources. When playing on higher-difficulties, you will never want to spend all of your stratagems on a single enemy — especially when multiple Factory Striders might be arrayed against you at the same time.
