Helldivers 2 Best Automaton Loadout (Patch 7.0.0): Stratagems, Weapons & Weak Points

Quick answer: the best Automaton loadout in Helldivers 2 (Patch 7.0.0)

The bot front is a range-and-armor problem, not a horde problem. Against the Automatons you win by killing heavies fast and never standing in the open, so the strongest general-purpose anti-bot loadout on the current Devoid of Liberty (7.0.0) patch looks like this:

• Support weapon: Autocannon (versatile) or Anti-Materiel Rifle (precision) — Quasar Cannon or EAT-17 if you want dedicated anti-tank.
• Backpack: Shield Generator Pack — it eats the ranged chip damage that actually kills you on the bot front.
• Two red stratagems: Orbital Railcannon Strike (auto-kills the biggest heavy) + Eagle 500kg Bomb or Orbital Laser (for Fabricator bases and Factory Striders).
• Primary: Diligence Counter Sniper, Adjudicator, or Scorcher — anything that pops Devastator heads at range.
• Armor: medium armor with the extra-padding or fortified passive, so a stray rocket doesn't one-shot you.

There is no single "best" list — the Automatons demand a different answer than the Terminids or the Illuminate, and your picks shift by difficulty. Below is the role-by-role breakdown, the weak points that make every gun feel stronger, and three ready-to-copy loadouts for low, high, and Super Helldive difficulty.

A note on the patch: Helldivers 2 is balanced constantly — Arrowhead shipped 13 numbered patches between January and July 2026 alone. Everything here is written for Devoid of Liberty: 7.0.0 (released 12 August 2026). Arrowhead's per-weapon 7.0.0 balance numbers are still settling, so this guide leads with roles and weak points, which survive patches, rather than stat lines that don't. (store.steampowered.com)

Why the Automatons need their own loadout

The Automatons ("bots") fight nothing like the bugs. Terminids swarm you at melee range; the bots shoot back from distance, ragdoll you with rockets, and punish anyone standing in the open. As the community-maintained Helldivers Wiki's Automaton loadout guide puts it, a top-tier anti-bot build "focuses on killing Reinforced Scout Striders, Hulks and Gunships" — the heavies that delete a defended position in seconds. (helldivers.wiki.gg)

That reshapes every slot:

• Cover beats mobility. Most bot deaths come from being caught in the open by Devastators and Cannon Turrets. Your loadout should let you fight from behind rocks and ridges.
• Medium armor penetration is the floor. Half the bot roster wears armor a basic assault rifle can't crack. You need at least one gun and one stratagem that punch through it.
• Anti-tank is mandatory, not optional. Hulks, Tanks, and Factory Striders will appear from difficulty 5 upward and cannot be chipped down with your primary.

Automaton weak points every loadout should exploit

Aiming for the right spot doubles the effective damage of any weapon you bring. These weak points are stable across patches:

Unit	Weak point	Best tools
Hulk (Bruiser/Scorcher)	Glowing red eye on the face; orange heat vents on the back	Anti-Materiel Rifle, Autocannon, Railgun, Laser Cannon to the eye
Devastator (Heavy/Rocket/Berserker)	The head — pop it and the unit dies	Scorcher, Dominator, Diligence CS, any headshot weapon
Rocket Devastator	Shoulder rocket pods (destroy them to defang it)	Autocannon, Grenade Launcher
Factory Strider	Chin miniguns, the eye, then the exposed belly underside	Sustained anti-tank; run under it to hit the belly
Tank / Cannon Turret (Annihilator/Shredder)	Glowing vent on the rear of the turret	500kg, EAT/Quasar, orbital, or a grenade in the vent
Gunship	The four engines/thrusters	Autocannon, Laser Cannon, rockets
Scout Strider	Exposed pilot at the front (armored on Reinforced variant — flank it)	Any medium-pen primary; flank the reinforced type
Fabricator (structure)	The vent — or just blow it up	Hellbomb, Eagle 500kg/Airstrike, throw a grenade in the vent

The takeaway: a Hulk that takes half a magazine to the chest dies in two shots to the eye. Learn the vents and eyes before you ever change your loadout.

Best stratagems for the Automaton front

Anti-tank (bring at least one)

• Orbital Railcannon Strike — the highest-value pick against bots. It auto-targets the largest enemy on the field, so it reliably deletes a Hulk or Tank the moment it appears. Patch 6.3.0 buffed its damage from 7,500 to 10,000, letting it one-shot targets it used to leave wounded. (helldivers.wiki.gg)
• EAT-17 (Expendable Anti-Tank) — a free, low-cooldown disposable launcher. Call it in on top of a Hulk and you get two anti-tank rockets every ~70 seconds with no backpack cost.
• Quasar Cannon — no backpack, infinite ammo, charges before each shot. Excellent for Gunships and Hulks from cover.
• Recoilless Rifle — the highest single-shot punch if you want a dedicated Factory Strider killer and don't mind the reload.

Base and crowd clear

• Eagle 500kg Bomb — closes Fabricators and flattens a Factory Strider with a direct hit. Two charges make it the workhorse red stratagem.
• Orbital Laser — a roaming beam that melts bases and multiple heavies with almost no aiming. One of the strongest "panic button" picks on the bot front.
• Eagle Airstrike — fast cooldown, clears Fabricators and Devastator packs in a line.
• 380mm HE Barrage — for large bot outposts when you can throw it and leave.

Support and survival

• Shield Generator Pack — the single best backpack against bots. It absorbs the ranged chip damage and small-arms fire that whittles you down between cover.
• Sentries — Autocannon and Rocket Sentries got their health doubled in patch 6.3.0, which made them far more durable on the bot front where they used to get sniped instantly. (helldivers.wiki.gg)

Best primary and secondary weapons vs Automatons

Your primary's only job on the bot front is killing Devastators at range and cracking medium armor. The standouts:

• Diligence Counter Sniper — precise, high-damage marksman rifle that pops Devastator heads across the map.
• Adjudicator — a battle-rifle with medium penetration; handles Devastators and Scout Striders.
• Scorcher — explosive rounds that stagger and kill Devastators and damage strider legs.
• Dominator — heavy-hitting, high-stagger; slow but brutal on heavy Devastators.
• Purifier / Punisher Plasma — stagger-heavy plasma options that keep bots off you.

For your secondary and grenades: the Grenade Pistol is close to mandatory — it closes Automaton Fabricators from range, freeing a stratagem slot. Bring Thermite or Impact grenades; the 6.3.0 grenade pass bumped most grenade carry counts to 5 (from 4), so you have more to throw. (helldivers.wiki.gg)

Three ready-to-run Automaton loadouts by difficulty

Helldivers 2 has exactly 10 difficulty levels — Helldive is 9 and Super Helldive is the true max at 10 (not Helldive, the single most common mistake). Medal rewards scale from 1 to 15 across those tiers, so the heavies you face — and the loadout you need — change as you climb. (helldivers.wiki.gg)

Difficulty band	Support + Backpack	Two red stratagems	Primary	Why it works
Trivial–Hard (1–5)	Autocannon + no backpack	Eagle Airstrike · Orbital Precision Strike	Adjudicator	You mostly face Troopers, Devastators and Scout Striders. The Autocannon handles all of them and closes Fabricators.
Extreme–Impossible (6–8)	Quasar Cannon + Shield Generator Pack	Orbital Railcannon · Eagle 500kg	Diligence Counter Sniper	Hulks and Tanks arrive in numbers. The Railcannon auto-deletes the biggest threat while the shield keeps you alive in the open.
Helldive–Super Helldive (9–10)	Recoilless Rifle + Shield Generator Pack	Orbital Laser · Eagle 500kg	Scorcher	Factory Striders and stacked Hulks demand dedicated anti-tank and a base-clearing laser. Play from cover, kite, and let the orbitals reset heavy pushes.

How to use the table: pick the row for your difficulty, then swap the primary for whatever you're most accurate with. The stratagem shape matters more than the exact gun.

Leveling into the bot-front meta

Many of these picks — the Autocannon, Quasar, Shield Generator Pack, and the better bot primaries — sit behind Requisition Slips, Ship Module upgrades, and Warbond pages you unlock with Medals. That grind is the real cost of a Helldive-ready loadout, and on the current patch the level cap runs all the way to 300. If you'd rather skip the samples-and-Medals grind and jump straight into the bot-front meta, a Helldivers 2 leveling and carry service can shortcut the progression — just remember there's no item trading or currency marketplace in Helldivers 2, so any legitimate help is a time-saving carry, never a "buy currency" shortcut.

For the sibling factions, see our best Illuminate loadout guide, and if you're still stockpiling for these unlocks, our Super Credit farming guide and level cap 300 breakdown cover the progression side.

FAQ

What is the best Automaton loadout in Helldivers 2 right now? On the Devoid of Liberty (7.0.0) patch, the strongest general-purpose anti-bot loadout is an Autocannon or Anti-Materiel Rifle plus a Shield Generator Pack, with Orbital Railcannon Strike and an Eagle 500kg Bomb as your red stratagems, and a Diligence Counter Sniper primary. Adjust the anti-tank pick — Quasar or EAT-17 — based on how many Hulks and Factory Striders you're seeing.

How do you kill a Hulk fast on the bot front? Aim for the glowing red eye on its face or the orange heat vents on its back. An Anti-Materiel Rifle, Autocannon, Railgun, or a single Orbital Railcannon Strike will drop a Hulk in one or two well-placed hits — far faster than dumping rounds into its armored chest.

Is the Autocannon or the Quasar Cannon better against Automatons? The Autocannon is the better all-rounder: it kills Devastators, Gunships, and Scout Striders and closes Fabricators, but it needs a backpack. The Quasar Cannon frees your backpack for a Shield Generator Pack and never runs out of ammo, which makes it stronger at higher difficulties where survival matters more than raw versatility.

Do I need anti-tank stratagems for the Automatons? Yes, from difficulty 5 upward. Hulks, Tanks, and Factory Striders cannot be reliably killed with a primary weapon, so at least one anti-tank option — Orbital Railcannon, EAT-17, Quasar, or Recoilless Rifle — is mandatory for Extreme (6) and above.

Is Helldive the hardest Automaton difficulty? No. Helldive is difficulty 9. The true maximum is Super Helldive (difficulty 10). On both, expect stacked Hulks and Factory Striders, so bring dedicated anti-tank, a Shield Generator Pack, and fight from cover.

Did patch 7.0.0 change the best bot loadout? The core roles are unchanged — anti-tank plus survival plus a base-clearer still wins. Devoid of Liberty (7.0.0) shipped weapon and stratagem tweaks alongside the new Void content and the level-300 cap, but Arrowhead's exact per-weapon 7.0.0 numbers weren't fully settled at the time of writing, so verify the current patch notes before chasing any specific stat change.