How to Defeat Gunships in Helldivers 2 Guide
Even the skies aren't safe from the Automatons.
Helldivers 2 has made a name for itself among fans of shooter games. With an engaging premise, a simple gameplay loop, and a lot of content for players to engage with, the game has taken the live-service world by storm, even as it was marred by controversy surrounding its cross-platform requirements on PC.
Among the many factors that keep Helldivers 2 players coming back for more are the different enemy types they can find when they are out on missions. While the bug-like Terminids are a major threat to Democracy, the Automatons require entirely different strategies to take down. Their sheer firepower comes from their weaponry – and the kind of support that they bring to each fight.
Raining Down Terror From the Sky
Gunships are an important part of the Automatons’ arsenal, acting as their aerial support and raining down barrages of fire at your squad in Helldivers 2. Originating on the planet Tibit during Operation Swift Assembly, they resemble Automaton Dropships but without the arms that carry troops for deployment. They are usually found in packs patrolling the Gunship Facilities that produce them.
Gunships are aggressive when they detect any hostile presence, aiming to eliminate them in order to protect the Gunship Facility that produced them. What’s worse, light ammunition is entirely ineffective against them, forcing you and your squad to rely on other weaponry and tactics to take them down. While taking on these flying monstrosities is certainly daunting, they can and must be brought down for your mission – and for Democracy!
How to Defeat Gunships in Helldivers 2 Guide
Defeating Gunships in Helldivers 2 requires coordination and patience. Their plasma lasers come at a high rate of fire, and their rocket barrages are devastating if you are unfortunate enough to be caught in them. As mentioned earlier, you will need heavy weapons to take a Gunship down and a lot more to deal with the others that inevitably show up.
For starters, it can be important to know what the Gunships protect in order to be effective at taking them down without wasting too much ammunition. They hunt in packs to protect the Gunship Facility that spawned them. When a Gunship is taken down, the corresponding facility aims to manufacture a replacement as soon as possible but is vulnerable to attacks while it does so.
Thus, taking down every Gunship in the area is the first step towards removing them off the board completely. Explosive weapons like the Anti-Tank LAS-99 Quasar Cannon can tear through its thick armor and cause some damage. However, targeting the ship’s nose and engines with Stratagems like the AC-8 Autocannon, A/AC-8 Autocannon Sentry, or the APW-1 Anti-Material Rifle can bring it down with a few well-placed shots.
It’s important to run coordinated attacks against Gunships, with other squad members drawing their fire to give you enough time to take aim and fire off a few shots at their engines. The FAF-14 Spear is a great choice in addition to the above-mentioned weapons, as its homing missiles remove the need for you to anticipate each Gunship’s path while it also has improved lock-on times against them.
However you choose to take out a patrol of Gunships, the next crucial step is to identify the location of their manufacturing facility and take it down. In general, a Gunship patrol signifies the presence of a nearby Gunship Facility with a corresponding mission objective to take it down. You are given a Hellbomb to take it out.
The reason it’s important to take out Gunship patrols first is due to the fact that they can easily take out the Hellbomb once it is armed, wasting its use while the Facility remains in play to keep producing more Gunships to hamper your progress. In a pinch, deploy the FX-12 Shield Generator Relay first and then call down the Hellbomb to protect it from suppressing fire from the Gunships.
Gunship Facilities can either be standalone units or form groups of two or three, with each Facility having up to three Gunships in the air at any given time. Try placing your Hellbombs precisely between two or more facilities in order to take them down all at once. Each Facility also has a blind spot towards the rear where you can take your time to prepare a perfect attack.
Conventional weapons are as ineffective against the Gunship Facilities as they are against the Gunships themselves. Bring your best heavy weapons to the fight and prepare to avoid heavy fire as you take your shots. A coordinated effort is the most important tool in your squad’s arsenal against both the Gunships and their Fabricators.
Another important part of this strategy is to never attack a Gunship from the front. They blind you with their red lights, making it nigh impossible to target important components or weak points. Attacking them from either side offsets this challenge and makes bringing them out of the sky a lot easier. It’s also important to get out of the way of a crashing Gunship if you don’t want to be crushed to death!
With the right weapons and strategy, taking down Gunships in Helldivers 2 becomes a piece of cake. Their main threat comes from their tendency to hunt in packs and their aggressive attack patterns, which you must counter with skill and precision to take them down.
If these flying enemies are giving you more problems than they should, you might want to check out the best Stratagems in the game in order to give your squad an edge. For anything else you may need in Helldivers 2, our guides are sure to help.
