Helldivers 2’s Quasar Cannon Helps Reinforce a Critical Automaton Meta

Helldivers 2 may not be receiving giant content updates as quickly or as noticeably as other live-service games but part of what makes its new content engaging is how it sneakily adds it into players’ missions before officially launching it. This is how players knew the Patriot Exosuit would be added, for example. Players have known since launch that Automatons are a terrible threat to democracy and that was never clearer than the fall of the Creek—a day that shan’t be forgotten in the Helldivers 2 community.

Players have also been learning new ways to thwart Automatons before they can amass a large enough horde and overwhelm them, even if it’s fairly difficult to accomplish alone or uncoordinated. Helldivers 2 recently released the Quasar Cannon supply stratagem and while it’s quite unwieldy, its stopping power is ideal for halting Automatons at the root: the dropships that appear briefly to occupy a planet with more Automatons, and which more players are attempting to annihilate before they have a chance to do so.

Helldivers 2’s Quasar Encourages Players to Take the Fight to Automatons at the Source

Automatons are much more difficult than Terminids in virtually every regard imaginable, but the fact that they’re robots that can’t spawn out of thin air has implicated its own advantages and disadvantages when considering how Helldivers are meant to eradicate their soulless forces. Terminids spawning from random bug breaches create a sense of urgency anywhere, for instance, while Automatons needing to spawn from bunkers or be dropped in by carriers creates a sense of expectancy.

Bot drops appear as spontaneously as bug breaches, though players arguably have a split-second longer to visualize what enemies are being dropped onto them from above and scramble to prepare thereafter.

Helldivers 2’s Malevelon Creek Didn’t Idly Fall

Likewise, these dropships can be blown out of the sky if players react fast enough and consequently eliminate whatever Automatons were nearly released from them, while Terminids can continue to flood out unchecked from indiscrete plumes of orange smoke on the ground. Obliterating dropships isn’t a simple task and wiping them all out on missions as claustrophobic or hectic as “Eliminate Automaton Forces” is impossible—still, even one dropship cut down is one less Tank or group of Hulks players need to contend with. Now that gunships and factory striders—Helldivers 2’s take on AT-ATs—have also been glimpsed in Automaton-occupied planets, this strategy could become more vital than ever.

That’s why the Quasar feels less OP and more like a necessity. Indeed, the Quasar takes a long time to recharge and an equally long time to fire a single shot, so careful timing and precision are fundamental because any missed shots with the Quasar can be the difference between success and failure, much less life and death (thankfully, players can usually be Reinforced shortly after, though not with the Quasar equipped).

Automatons Require Strategy and Cunning in Helldivers 2

Terminids can be overwhelming at times, too, but Automatons are on a whole other level. On most occasions, players can get away with dropping into Terminid missions with whatever stratagems they’d like in a hodgepodge of abilities and weapons that fit their playstyle. In Automaton missions, however, players would be wise to adhere to specific strategies and stratagems that are best suited for the kind of onslaught they’re about to confront.

Energy shields are seemingly paramount against high-artillery Automatons, for instance, while EMS static fields are essential in slowing hordes. The Quasar Cannon seems like a perfect tool now when it comes to putting heavily armored enemies down, though with new Automaton threats it’ll be interesting to see how the meta continues to shift regarding Helldivers 2’s most intimidating enemy faction.