Finding Scout Striders can be tricky, especially if a desolate fog or spores cover your map. Killing them is even more complicated. In Helldivers 2, you’ll defeat many enemies while you raise your rank, but sometimes the game will ask you to kill specific targets, such as the Scout Striders. While you don’t have to complete the Daily Orders, it’s best to do that; the extra Medals are worth the trouble.
If you don’t have any experience battling Automatons, they’re a whole different breed of enemy. Spraying your bullets isn’t practical here; you must aim at certain spots to kill them. That said, Scout Striders can give you a hard time if you don’t know where their weakspot is.
What Are Scout Striders?
Scout Strikes are imposing mechanical enemies that you might think bear a striking resemblance to Star Wars’ AT-STs. They put up a good fight and have strong armor at the front to protect the pilot. They can make quick work of you when you’re surrounded by multiple of them.
Since Scout Striders are Automaton enemies, they only reside in systems controlled by Automatons, and thus, you won’t find them in Terminid territory. The Galactic War map marks the Automaton territories in red. Any planet or sector under their control has the same set of enemies.
Besides dealing with the Hulk, Scout Striders are aplenty in Extreme to Helldive-difficulty missions. But with the proper knowledge and equipment, you can stop the approaching Scout Striders or take them out before they become a problem.
Helldivers 2 Scout Striders Location: Where to Find Them
How frequently you’ll encounter them lies in the difficulty of your chosen mission. Scout Striders only appear on Medium and higher difficulty. If you’re just starting to make a name for yourself as a Helldiver, you’ll need to complete a Trivial and Easy-difficulty mission first to unlock Medium. That can take 30 minutes more or less if you don’t spend time doing optional objectives or destroying outposts.
As for where they are on the map specifically, notice those small and large red dots on your map? Those are outposts. They come in three different sizes: small, medium, and large. The bigger the outpost, the more enemies you’ll have to deal with—the same applies to Terminids. For example, you’ll only encounter the small fry in Small Outposts. These include Raiders, Troopers, Marauders, and Scout Striders. But when you destroy a Large Outpost, expect the security to be top-notch. Besides encountering the Scout Striders, other deadlier Automatons like the Devastator and Hulk can be found there. And, if you’re doing Hard to Helldive-difficulty, you might even have to take down a tank.
How to Defeat Helldivers 2 Striders
Defeating Scout Striders takes a bit of strategy. They’re armored enemies, and while they’re not as “thicc” as the Hulk, no amount of bullets or lasers from normal and energy-based weapons will pierce the Scout’s front plates. However, they’re just bipedal vehicles piloted by weak enemies at the end of the day.
Do Headshots From Afar or Use A Support Weapon
If you spot a Scout Strider before it sees you, get into position to aim and take out the Automaton pilot with a headshot. Some missions also give you support weapons like the Anti-Materiel Rifle or Autocannon to launch deadly rockets, which will destroy them instantly. If you do not have any of those, you must attack it from behind.
Scout Striders are dangerous when they stay on top of you, and you can’t find any cover from their laser cannons. It’s best to try and stay far away from them and fire from defensive positions, like in pieces of high ground.
Compared to a Heavy Devastator or an Annihilator Tank, Scout Striders are deceptively simple. They’re a low-threat enemy as long as you position yourself correctly. It’s not wise to waste too much of your ammo and resources on these Automatons unless there are multiple of them or they are backed by other forces.
Aim for the Legs
Once a Scout Strider notices your presence, they can be challenging to take out from the front, especially at lower levels. You can shoot at the pilot’s head as it pokes up to the top, but it’s a tricky shot. Helldivers 2’s realistic aiming mechanics and the chaos that ensues often make it hard to aim down your sights during firefights. With that in mind, if a Scout Strider moves towards you, you’re better off aiming at its legs than its more protected part.
Weapons you unlock early in the game can have a tough time chewing through their armor, and while you do have Autocannons and Railguns for that, they only have a limited amount of ammo. However, with a strong gun, you can shoot out their legs and render them useless. Since they’re pretty large, you can also lob a grenade on them. Aim a few feet in front of where they’re walking and watch its pilot fly off. They don’t move as quickly as other Automatons, so they have less chance to outrun a grenade.
Use Stratagems to Call Down Orbitals and Eagles
If you find yourself in a desperate situation, explosive Stratagems like Orbital Precision Strikes and Eagle Airstrikes can be used to take out the Scout Striders. We don’t recommend doing this since you’d typically want to use Stratagems for big groups of enemies, but if the Striders are with other units, you can consider dropping one Eagle or Orbital.
When In Doubt, Crouch
While crouching doesn’t do much when you’re killing Terminids, it’s a helpful strategy when facing off against Automatons. As long as you crouch behind a cover—like a tall rock—while you gun down the Scout Striders, their lasers won’t hit you as much compared to running around like a headless chicken.
