How to rescue science teams in Helldivers 2 & evacuate civilians

So, you want to help Super Earth’s war effort and rescue those science teams back from the Automaton-patrolled planets in Helldivers 2? It’s a noble endeavour, but a tough one.

These tricky missions require you to escort civilians, three at a time, from one point in a base to another, all while taking heavy Automaton fire. They're the hardest missions I've encountered in the game so far, but here's how I managed to beat them.

Where to find scientists and civilians

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These rescue missions are obvious from the Galactic War map. They can be found on Terminid and Automaton planets and have small operational areas, so you’ll instantly spot the large cluster of buildings in the middle of the map.

Run in, clear out any enemies, and look for two buildings with a light above the door and a console with a button next to it. Just hit the button and the door will open, letting out three VIPs at a time. They’ll run to a third building that has a glowing door - that’s the safe zone, once they’re in there they can’t be killed.

To win these rescue missions, you have to save the number of civilians noted on the side (normally 20-40) and then extract. Extracting is optional, you’ll still succeed as long as all the scientists are safe, but it’s a nice bonus. 

How to protect scientists and civilians

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Helldivers have armour, stratagems, and autocannons. These civilians have nothing but their belief in democracy and you at their side. The best strategy for completing these missions is to have one Helldiver on each of the two consoles that lets civilians out, and two between the consoles and their safehouse. This ensures maximum coverage of the area the civvies will be in, meaning you can take out Automatons quickly, before they can kill the VIPs. 

This is easier said than done, especially on harder difficulties. The Automatons almost all have armour, so I’d advise you bring weapons with at least medium armour penetration, as well as precise but explosive stratagems.

Sentries are good for keeping areas secure, but don’t place them directly in your VIPs path, as they can and will cut them down. A small price to pay for freedom, but a nuisance nonetheless.

Wear Heavy armour with explosive resistance so that you can survive the Automatons and your own danger close stratagems. You can also better help the squishy civilians by literally standing between them and the bullets trying to cut them down.

If you're sick of waiting to get into a match, then you could try some other games like Helldivers 2 instead. If you're a freedom-hating coward, that is.

For more helpful Helldivers 2 guides, keep reading GGRecon. We've also covered every title and how to get them, how long it will take to reach max level, how to emote, and even how well it runs on Steam Deck.