The Helldivers 2 community has rallied impressively for the latest Major Order, efficiently liberating both Clasa and Zefia to carve the path toward Mintoria. Now comes the real challenge: dismantling the Automatons’ stolen mining technology in the planet’s rocky highland terrain.
Those “secretive” mining operations won’t dismantle themselves, and Mintoria’s misty peaks present unique challenges for any squad dropping into this industrial espionage operation. Here are five battle-tested strategies to maximize your squad’s contribution toward crushing these metal thieves:
1. Play Your Weight Class, Know Your Limits
You can’t liberate planets by failing missions. Sounds obvious, but half the community keeps jumping into difficulties they can’t handle, burning through reinforcements before they’ve even found the first objective. Your squad doesn’t need a hero who dies every three minutes.
So, pick a difficulty that you can actually survive in. The liberation meter only cares about successful extractions, not how many times you called in a 500kg bomb before getting obliterated by a squad of Berserkers.
2. Pack Medium+ Armor Penetration or Go Home
Light armor penetration weapons that worked against squishy bugs won’t cut it against Automaton armor plating. These clankers require serious firepower to punch through their reinforced chassis, making medium penetration your “minimum” viable loadout.
That said, a light penetration marksman rifle like the R-63 Diligence can work if your aim is surgical and you can consistently hit weakpoints, but weapons like the AR-23P Liberator Penetrator, BR-14 Adjudicator, and even the new AR-2 Coyote truly shine in the heat of battle.
3. Bring the Right Anti-Tank Toys
Fire-based stratagems like Eagle Napalm Strikes that work beautifully against bugs are practically useless against your present metal opponents.
The LAS-99 Quasar Cannon and the ol’ reliable GR-8 Recoilless Rifle remain top-tier Support Weapons for destroying everything from Hulks to dropships with a single well-placed shot, though selecting the latter means letting go of your backpack slot. As for air support, the Eagle Strafing Run offers excellent spam potential, while a single Orbital Laser can clear entire bot settlements all on its own.
4. Don’t Sleep on Sentry Support
Sentry stratagems shine against Automatons, and most notably, the AC-8 Autocannon Sentry and MLS-4X Rocket Sentry absolutely demolish robots in extended fights. If you’re not using sentries against Automatons, you’re making the game harder for no reason. Invest some samples toward their upgrades and watch them carry your squad through mining facility assaults.
Position them smart, though. Sentries shoot whatever they see, including teammates who wander into their firing lanes. Warn your squad or watch them get shredded by your own support.
5. Master the Three C’s of Bot Warfare
You should be well aware by now that these robots can snipe you from across the map with their rockets and lasers. Unlike bugs that need to get close, Automatons excel at long-range murder. The three Cs against bots are Cover, Courage, and more Cover—it all comes down to actually using Mintoria’s natural terrain and industrial structures to your advantage instead of running around like a maniac.
Plan your routes between objectives. Avoid open ground. Think about where you’re going before you go there. Robot warfare isn’t about charging in guns blazing. It’s about not giving them clear shots at your face!
What loadout have you been running on Mintoria, and have you discovered any tricks for handling bots with ease that others should know about? Drop your wisdom in the comments below!
