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Helldivers 2 how to destroy Scout Striders

Learn how to effectively defeat one of the Automaton's armoured units.

Josh Mckenna avatar
Guide by Josh Mckenna Contributor
Published on

Learning how to defeat Scout Striders in Helldivers 2 - one of the Automaton's most pesky units - is a process you'll need to go through as you begin to work your way through the game's higher difficulties.

The Automatons in Helldivers 2 have many units that are challenging to face, posing a much different and more offensive threat than the Terminids due to their focus on ranged attacks.

In this guide, we'll be running through how to destroy Scout Striders, as well as explain what Scout Striders are and where to find Scout Striders.

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What are Scout Striders in Helldivers 2?

Scout Striders are one of the many units that make up the Automaton army, and have an appearance similar to that of the AT-STs from Star Wars - essentially tall, piloted machines equipped with strong weaponry that can attack you from afar.

One of the Automaton's Scout Striders.

Whilst from the front they appear to be potentially automated or controlled from within, they are actually piloted by an Automaton themself, with the pilot exposed when the unit is flanked.

How to defeat Scout Striders in Helldivers 2

While they function similar to other armoured units that you'd often use explosive damage to take down, Scout Striders are actually incredibly susceptible if you flank them.

This means if you're behind or to either side of one, you can take out the pilot controlling the machine very easily with a few well-placed shots from any weapon to defeat Scout Striders in Helldivers 2, without the need for explosives or any of your strongest tools.

Left: You can see the pilot sat at the top of the Scout Strider. Right: Using just the standard assault rifle, the AR-23 Liberator, to take out the pilot.

Of course, if that's not a viable strategy in the moment, calling in a Stratagem or throwing a few grenades works pretty well too!

Where to find Scout Striders in Helldivers 2

When facing the Automaton forces, you'll encounter a variety of enemies just like you do with Terminids, and the array and strength of these combatants only goes up as you increase the difficulty.

Scout Striders in particular are an enemy you'll need to increase the difficulty for to encounter - this means that you won't see them on easier difficulties, at least from our testing.

To start seeing them pop up in your battles, you'll need to be playing on the Tier 3 difficulty 'Medium' or higher, and then you'll begin to see these populate the world much more.

The difficulty of the missions you complete can be toggled via the planetary map onboard your ship. You can see this at the lower end of the image, where the difficulty also shows what kind of changes are in effect when playing on the elected level.

Once you encounter them, this is where you'll want to employ those flanking tactics to put a stop to this Automaton menace!

For more on Helldivers 2, be sure to check out our other guides to learn how crossplay works, how to unlock all of the game's weapons, as well as what the best Stratagems are.

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