Helldivers 2: How to find and kill Scout Striders

In Arrowhead’s new third-person co-op PvE shooter Helldivers 2, one of the most common support units you’ll encounter while fighting the Automatons is the Scout Strider. Though they’re not as plentiful as regular infantry robots, they make up for that with improved armor, firepower, and speed. As such, taking them out as soon as you can is important.

In this quick guide, I’ll go over everything you need to know about Scout Striders. This includes what they are, what they look like, and which difficulties they start to spawn in, as well as how you can take them out consistently and effectively while on missions.

What are Scout Striders in Helldivers 2?

A Scout Strider standing in an extraction zone. (Image credit: Windows Central)

The Automatons of Helldivers 2 often deploy armored units to support their infantry, and the Scout Strider is the one you’ll encounter the most. Scout Striders are two-legged walkers controlled by a robot riding on it, and attack with twin laser guns. It’s similar to the AT-ST and AT-RT “chicken walkers” from Star Wars, and is pretty much impossible to miss once you know what to look for.

Notably, Scout Striders are lightly armored, so most primary weapons, anti-infantry support weapons, and anti-infantry stratagems won’t damage them. Some other things to know are that they’re surprisingly fast and can do a lot of damage quickly, so they’re difficult to run away from or fight while in the open.

In our experience, Scout Striders generally won’t appear much until Medium or Challenging difficulty. In every difficulty after that, though, they’ll be a common sight on the battlefield.

How to find Scout Striders

While most Scout Striders will be encountered as random units in the Automatons’ army, two always seem to accompany infantry deployed from dropships. You can get these to spawn by alerting an Automaton unit on patrol and waiting for them to shoot up a flare, which will initiate a “Bot Drop.”

How to kill Scout Striders in Helldivers 2

The Autocannon is one of the most effective support weapons to use against Scout Striders. (Image credit: Windows Central)

Scout Striders are at their most dangerous when they’re able to stay on top of you and you don’t have any cover from their laser cannons, so try and stay far away from them and fire at them from defensive positions like torso-high pieces of cover and pieces of high ground.

As for what you should shoot them with, you’ll generally need a support weapon that’s capable of piercing light armor. My favorite support weapon for this is the Autocannon, which has lots of ammo, can fire quickly, and is effective against most other Automaton units, too. Other options that’ll work include the Expendable Anti-Tank and Recoilless Rifle rocket launchers, as well as the Anti-Materiel Rifle and the Railgun.

Notably, you can also defeat Scout Striders by shooting the robot piloting it. This is near-impossible to do from the front, but if you or an ally flank the Scout Strider while it’s distracted by another target, you’ll have a clear shot.

If things are getting desperate, explosive stratagems like Eagle Airstrikes and Orbital Precision Strikes can be used to take Scout Striders out, too. I don’t recommend doing this unless there’s a lot of them or the Scout Strider is with lots of other units, though, as these stratagems are best saved for big groups of enemies and outposts.

Helldivers 2 is available now for $39.99 on both PS5 and PC, and so far, it’s one of the best PC games of the year. Notably, the game also supports cross-platform play between PS5 and PC.

Helldivers 2 — $39.99 at GMG (Steam)

Team up with friends to fight aliens across PC and PS5. Hordes are attacking, and humanity needs defenders. This third-person shooter appears to evolve the formula of the original arcade-like experience, and crossplay ensures players can stay together.

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