How to find and take out Factory Striders in Helldivers 2
Factory Striders are one of the newest Automaton Units. These monstrosities rival the Bile Titans of the Terminids and, as such, are not to be trifled with in Helldivers 2.
Let's review where to find Factory Striders, along with various tips and tricks to help defeat the game's latest addition to the army of Automatons.
Where to find Factory Striders
Click to enlargeFactory Striders are part of the Automatons, and with that, you'll find them exclusively on planets under the control of the Automatons. Furthermore, because they are so deadly, it's believed that Factory Striders only appear on Level 7 (Suicide Mission) difficulty and higher.
Even on high difficulties, Factory Striders aren't always part of the Automatons' defences, and when they are, you'll only ever run into one at most per Mission. Factory Striders typically pop up at Main Objectives, Bot Outposts, Minor Points of Interest, and, most often, Extraction Points.
How to defeat Factory Striders
Click to enlargeFactory Striders are heavily-armoured machines that, as the name suggests, serve as mobile factories for Automatons. Not only are Factory Striders extremely durable, but they're armed with some of the most powerful weapons available to the Automatons. Plus, they can produce Automaton Units, such as Devastators.
When first encountering a Factory Strider, your priority should be to disable the cannon turret atop its back and the gatling turrets attached to the front of it. The gatling turrets, especially, will make quick work of any Helldivers caught in their sights, but if you can put them out of action, the Factory Strider will be rendered defenceless. You can hamstring the Factory Strider's ability to birth Automaton Units, too, but the Automatons it fabricates are nowhere near as threatening as its cannon and gatling turrets.
The FAF-14 SPEAR Launcher is the perfect tool for blowing up the cannon turret on top of a Factory Strider. If you can get this Supply Weapon to lock on, it'll automatically seek out and destroy the cannon turret. As for the gatling turrets, both the AC-8 Autocannon and the LAS-98 Laser Cannon are well suited for the job.
With the Factory Strider's defences crippled, it's basically just a giant, slow-moving target. To finish it off, you can nuke it with Eagle 500kg Bombs, Eagle 110mm Rocket Pods, and Orbital Precision Strikes, or focus its weak spots with the appropriate Support Weapons.
You probably don't need a whole lot of instruction on how to use Offensive Stratagems to demolish a Factory Strider. Work with your fellow Helldivers to call in any combination of Eagle 500kg Bombs, Eagle 110mm Rocket Pods, and Orbital Precision Strikes on top of the metal beast to destroy it.
If your Stratagems are on cooldown or you lack the necessary Stratagems, you can still defeat a Factory Strider. Factory Striders have weak points all over, but the one that's easiest to hit is right under its face. Even with its armour fully intact, there's an exposed opening beneath its face that you can strike with the proper Support Weapons to collapse the behemoth into dust.
The Recoilless Rifle, Expendable Anti-Tank, Quasar Cannon, Heavy Machine Gun, HMG Emplacement, Anti-Material Rifle, and Autocannon Sentry are all super effective against weak spots on the Factor Striders.
So, that's how you find and take out Factory Striders in Helldivers 2. Factory Striders are one of the fiercest foes the Automatons can throw at you, but with some preparation and the right strategy, even these gargantuan dreadnoughts will succumb to managed democracy.
Are the Automatons still giving you issues? Learn how to find and kill Annihilator Tanks. For more on the cooperative third-person shooter game, check out our Helldivers 2 homepage at GGRecon!
