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You fight a Galactic War inHelldivers 2against the mighty bugs known as Terminids and mechanized foes called Automatons. Doing offense on all fronts is as important in the game as maintaining a defensive front.
You can select certain stratagems in the game to make the best defensive build that can withstand insurmountable odds. With this build, you can create choke points to squash bugs or shred bots into pieces, helping your squad survive even on the Helldive difficulty. This guide breaks down all the defensive build elements you need to become the ultimate helldiver in the team.
The Best Stratagems For A Defensive Build
Stratagems are the essence of combatin the game. Selecting the optimal ones for the mission will give you an upper hand while clearing out the objectives. Awrong choice of stratagems will end the life of even the most skilled soldier.
Themain goal of the defensive build is to hunker downin a certain area or toassault a position without letting the enemies overwhelm you. After thorough testing, we selectedthe following best stratagemsin the game for the build.
A/M-23 EMS Mortar Sentry
This is agood “offense starts with an excellent defense” strategy.A/M-23 Ems Mortar Sentryis an effective stratagem to halt the enemy’s advance. This works both with bugs and bots.
The best way to defend a certain position is bydeploying the EMS Mortar Sentry in a safe spot away from the enemy’s melee or ranged damage. The landing shell from Mortar Sentry does not deal physical or explosive damage, so none of your squad mates will die from friendly fire.
Deploying the EMS Mortar Sentry at a height is idealwhenever you assault or defend a certain location.
If you do not find a suitable position, communicate with your teammates andplace the EMS Mortar Sentry behind you to protect it from any incoming threat. The shells will slow enemies from coming at you, giving you enough time to kill them using the guns.
MD-6 Anti-Personnel Minefield
TheMD-6 Anti-Personnel Minefieldis the best stratagem for creating choke points. Regardless of an offensive or defensive tactical attack, you canuse this tool to seal an entrance while focusing the rest of the firepower on another point.
Enemies that rush youfrom the choke point will beblown into smithereensby the explosive landmines.
Light to Medium enemies will get destroyed by each mine. Heavy vehicles such asChargersandBile Titanswill get little to no damage from the landmines.
E/MG-101 HMG Emplacement
HMG Emplacement is the manned turret that at least one diver needs to usein the game. This is one of thehighest damage-dealing stratagemsfor a defensive build, as itpacks heavy firepower, very fast RPM, and a large ammo reserve.
Even though the official description in the stratagem buy menu suggests the weapon iseffective against Light Armored vehicles, HMG Emplacement does much more. Itcan shred a Hulk in a few seconds if you focus fire.Firing briefly at a Charger’s back will shred its weak spot into pieces, killing it quickly.
The onlydownside of using HMG Emplacement is the slow turn speed. This will put you at a severe disadvantage if enemies come at you from multiple directions simultaneously.
AC-8 Autocannon
From a long list of stratagems, you should not rely only on defensive ones.AC-8 Autocannonis one ofthe best weaponsin the game thatfalls under the support stratagem category. Whenever you are on the run using the defensive build, and your defensive stratagems are on cooldown, AC-8 Autocannon will become a lifesaver.
This massive gunhas very high Area of Effect explosive damage. Even aBile Spewer will implode into pieces by firing two roundsonly. Fire two rounds of the Autocannon weapon on either the left or right leg of a Charger and you will kill it instantly, unlike Railgun, which breaks a Charger’s armor after two rounds.
An Autocannoncan reload much faster than a Recoilless Rifle and Spear.
The Best Weapon Choices
SG-225 Breaker
Any weapon that has the potential to one-shot a Light Armor enemy will be effective for a defensive build. However, we recommend you onlypick theSG-225 Breaker.
Even though thebest part of this weapon is very high damage, the300 rate of fire is the highlight feature. SG-225 more easily shreds any medium-sized enemies, such as Brood Commander and Devastator.
Hunters, Marauders, and other grunts from either faction are easily one-shot if you hit the critical weak spot.
P-4 Senator
TheP-4 Senatoris an excellent sidearm or secondary gun that complements the defensive build.This pistol has by far the highest damage per bulletyou can get in the game.
You can manually reload the rounds of P-4 Senatorinstead of waiting for the whole clip to run out of bullets, and then you can reload the gun. This makes you prepared for any situation, and you can run with a fully loaded gun that has the potential of taking down targets in half the mag.
The onlydownside of carrying a P-4 Senator is the limited bullet capacity. Make your shots count, as the weapon comes with a six-round chamber.
Grenade: G-16 Grenade
The defensive build requires immediate action against an approaching swarm of bugs or bots in the game. TheG-16 Grenadeis the only explosive throwable with a zero-second fuse. This means that thehand grenade explodes when it touches a target.
You cannot rely on grenades with a few-second delay. An incoming threat will go right past the spot where you throw a grenade with a higher fuse.
Best Armor: SA-12 Servo Assisted
The role of a defensive build player is to protect the squadmates. This cannot be achieved with a lower Armor Rating body Armor with a weaker Armor Passive.SA-12 ServoAssisted is the best Armor for defensive build because it gives 50 percent limb health.
Limbs on the field are easily broken by ranged fire from Automatons, rushing attack of a charger, or getting hammered by Brood Commander. Abroken limb reduces speed and depletes health over time, immediately making the defensive build character useless.
That is why having SA-12 Servo Assisted is the only safe way to ensure the survival of the most important teammate in the squad.
Booster Selection: Vitality Enhancement
Vitality Enhancementis the Booster that complements the SA-12 Servo Assistedand the overall defensive build. It does not increase the overall health pool of divers, butit gives them extra protection from injuries.
Most injuries break the limbs and make your diver weak. AVitality Enhancement Booster is vital for survivalin a squad of four,especially if you play on the Helldive difficulty.
Best Defensive Build Playstyle
Knowing the stratagems, guns, grenades, Armor, and Booster for the defensive build is the first step to making a powerful tanky character. Without playing the build tactically, you may only go so far.
Always look for openings that enemies can use to approach you while playing defensive positions.Place EMS Mortar Sentry far away from these points and block any approaching point with the Anti-Personnel Minefield.
Always place HMG Emplacement along with EMS Mortar Sentry when your team attacks a certain location.You must find a vantage point from where you can shoot down enemies from a distance using the manned turret.
You shouldnever place HMG Emplacement in a tight spot. This manned turret has a very high RPM and can shoot great distances. Use it in an open space.
Whenmoving from point A to point B, use Autocannon and SG-225 Shotgun generously. Enemies like Bile Spewers, Chargers, Devastators, and Hulks are team killers. Take these out immediately to increase the chances of squad survival.
