Helldivers 2: How to kill a Charger

As you climb the difficulty ladder of Helldivers 2, you come face-to-face with some pretty nasty beasties. The Charger can be described as a Terminid skill check, mowing down novice divers. Here’s how to kill a Charger in Helldivers 2, the fast and Democratic way.

The best way to kill a Charger in Helldivers 2 is to aim for its weak points: its legs and head. You may be now asking, “But what about its big, fleshy butt?” Well, that’s also an option and an obvious one. For many facing the Charger for the first time, dodging and blasting is a good strat. But it’s surprisingly not the quickest way to put the beast to bed.

How to kill a Charger in Helldivers 2

The Charger is classified as a ‘Heavy’ enemy in Helldivers 2, meaning it’s big, mean, and armored. Taking weapons not built to crack something like the Charger’s shell will barely tickle the thing. Bullets and grenades plink right off its gray carapace.

Since this enemy falls under the umbrella of old-school charging enemies, it will rush you down. And you can dodge. Use the leap move before it reaches you, then blast away at its fleshy hindquarters with the best weapon you have on hand. Tricking it to run into something also seems to daze it, but I haven’t been able to experiment enough to draw a conclusion.

Eventually, and with teamwork and some light sobbing, the Charger will go down. But as you up the challenge, you start facing more than one Charger at a time. Have you thought about what it’s like to fight five at once? For those situations, you need to kill them much faster. Here’s how.

Use the EAT-17 and Quasar Cannon against the Charger

As you unlock additional Support Weapons, look for the ones that can penetrate or destroy armor. Early on, one of the best anti-Charger weapons to get is the EAT-17 Expendable Anti-Tank (EAT). The EAT can easily kill a Charger instantly with a headshot. Its cooldown time is a mere 70 seconds, allowing you to drop one at just about every objective area. You also get two per drop, meaning you can end up with three during a fight.

A key weak point of the Charger is its legs. It’s easy to use the EAT, Recoilless Rifle, or Quasar Cannon against the front legs of a Charger since it’s always barreling toward you. If your aim is true, one EAT rocket should peel away the armor, leaving the leg exposed and looking like a deep-friend chicken wing.

Next, you and your team should swap to their primary weapons and magdump the exposed leg. When things go smoothly, killing a Charger in Helldivers 2 can be done in less than five seconds.

The Quasar Cannon is also an ideal weapon to bring along. It has an infinite supply of ammo, and hits about as hard as the EAT. But keep in mind that if you miss, you’ll need to wait a short while for the weapon to cool down.

Another powerful Support Weapon to use against the Charger is the Flamethrower. The weapon dishes out an immense amount of damage. Aim at one of the Charger’s legs and watch it crumple.

For mech fans, the EXO-45 Patriot Exosuit is ideal against Terminids and especially their heavies. One or two rockets from the Patriot is enough to silence a Charger for good.

Best Support Weapons you can also use against the Charger:

• EAT-17
• Quasar Cannon
• Flamethrower
• Anti-Materiel Rifle
• Autocannon
• Grenade Launcher
• Railgun
• Spear
• Arc Thrower

Best Defensive Stratagems you can use:

• Mortar Sentry
• Rocket Sentry
• EMS Mortar Sentry
• Autocannon Sentry

Throw your sentries a good distance away from the Charger. It will focus all its attention on them the moment they hit the dirt, and they don’t last long against its attacks.

Primary Weapons and grenades to use against the Charger

Most Primary Weapons in Helldivers 2 don’t hold up very well against the Charger, but not all. Consider taking the Eruptor if you have access to the Democratic Detonation Warbond. Think of the Eruptor as a primary autocannon. It fires slowly but hits like a truck. The round it fires explodes on hit, sending shrapnel in all directions. Seriously, I love this damn thing.

The Eruptor can dish out serious damage to a Charger’s hind end. However, you can also hurt the beast as it’s rushing you down. Aim the gun at the ground between its front two legs. The shrapnel should damage the Charger, allowing you to fight it like a bull until it collapses. You know you’re doing it right if you see a white or red damage marker.

As far as grenades go, the most damaging is likely the Impact Grenade, but it’s not the only useful one in your arsenal. The Charger can be instantly stopped with the G-23 Stun Grenade, available in the Cutting Edge Warbond. Use it as a way to either escape the bug or halt it long enough to get some shots in.

Best Stratagem to use against the Charger in Helldivers 2

If you don’t like doing things the hard way, there are some Stratagems you can deploy to make your pest problem disappear. Keep note that the Stratagem descriptions give you a good idea of their effectiveness. For a heavy like the Charger, don’t use a Stratagem that doesn’t work well against heavy armor. The Airburst Strike and Gatling Barrage are such examples. Be sure to read the descriptions.

For the most part, the best Stratagems that work against the Charger tend to be the most expensive. The majority of Stratagem strikes — Eagle or Orbital — are effective against smaller targets. You should use what Stratagems you can until you’re able to unlock something that specializes in killing heavies and elites.

Stratagems that work best against the Charger:

• Eagle 500kg Bomb
• Eagle Airstrike
• Eagle 110mm Rocket Pods
• Orbital Precision Strike
• Orbital Laser
• Orbital Railcannon Strike

The Orbital Laser is my personal favorite of the bunch to take against heavies. The other two will strike hard and be finished, but the laser will continue blasting other foes after its initial target is dead.

You can also try a Rocket or Autocannon Sentry, but they need to be thrown at a distance. The Charger will focus its attack on sentries and can easily destroy them.

FROM THE TOP ROPE WITH A STEEL CHAIR

Four Helldivers, working together, can kill a Charger in less than five seconds. But how many do you need to kill it instantly?

Just one.