Helldivers 2 // No Decoy, No Problem - Rescue Science Teams - Automaton Coop Helldive

Coop Helldive, Max Difficulty Lvl 9
Modifiers: N/A
Planet: Aesir Pass
Patch version: 1.000.305

So the conventional wisdom is, for the Rescue Science Teams missions on the Automaton front, use the decoy method (   • Helldivers 2 // Rescue Science Teams ...  ) or you're going to get rekt. While we have done it the vanilla way before by holding the base, that was back when the bots didn't have Factory Striders to break through our lines, and you could pretty much lock everything down with EMS Mortars.

This time round we went for a stand-up fight instead, and...it worked! Just about. With 2 runners focussing on the doors, and 2 floaters moving to where extra firepower is needed, it is possible keep the bots at bay for the scientists to evac. I won't lie and say this isn't a significant difficulty spike, especially given the mission's frequency on defence planets, but for anyone saying it isn't doable without decoy 'cheese', well - it is.

Kudos to my teammates for this one, ‪@originalSPECTER‬, Tiberius and especially Seeker - this was apparently his first time completing the mission, on any difficulty! If you're looking to join us for some coop games, or do runs with other like-minded players, check us out on Warrior's discord:   / discord  

___________

Build:

Autocannons / AMRs / Laser Cannons are invaluable for their ability to take on all threats from your basic Troopers all the way up to the Factory Striders - with our setup, we have 2 runners focussing on the doors, and they should definitely be rocking these generalist support weapons, with Stun nades for easy Hulk kills.

For your other 2 teammates floating, you could go with either more allrounders to provide more firepower wherever needed, or you could try bringing dedicated AT such as your RR/EATs/Quasar/Spears, to try and take out dropships and also get rid of Tanks and Strider turrets from afar. In either case, having a Dominator/Scorcher means you can defend yourself against most threats even when your Support weapon needs reloading.

EMS Mortars are still very valuable, but we decided to forgo that this time for pure firepower. I've gone with 500kgs for fast Factory Strider deletion (2 direct hits required) if the underside kill is too risky, and Eagle 110mm Rocket Pods for quick Tank deletion. Orbital Precision Strike means I still have an AT option when my Eagle is rearming, though we saw some success with the Autocannon Turret as well, which could punch right through Factory Strider armour to take them down given enough time.

Heavy Armour with explosive resistance and recoil reduction on crouch is my pick for this one, since we won't be moving too much the extra survivability is more useful.

_____________

00:00 Intro
00:40 Insertion, Evacuation / They've got us surrounded, the poor bastards
15:00 Extraction / Who rescues the rescuers?
18:15 Mission Stats