Automatons

The are mindless, bloodthirsty robots, coded for nothing but murder and violence. Their origins are a mystery, but their unthinking hatred of Freedom makes them a threat to all citizens of Super Earth.

They are one of two factions Helldivers can currently fight against in Helldivers 2, with the other being the Terminids.

Automaton Origins
According to the information provided by a decrypted message from the official Helldivers Twitter account, the Automaton are descendants of the Cyborgs fought in the first game, created to continue fighting against Super Earth and one day liberate the Cyborgs from their enslavement on Cyberstan.

"'We, the collective from Cyberstan, unanimously assert our independence from Super Earth. We have the right to defend our home from the brainwashed Helldivers. Our children, the automaton will not suffer as we have under the oppression of Super Earth!'"

The Automaton are the next step in the evolution of the Cyborgs. As entirely mechanical beings, they no longer require traitors from Super Earth or corpses of fallen Helldivers to create new troops. Automaton all have similar characteristics like dark metallic bodies, digitigrade legs, skull-like heads, armor plates and a pair of red glowing red eyes.

Tactics
Battling Automatons requires Helldivers to adapt a drastically different approach compared to battling the Terminids. They are not as numerous, but are equipped with a vast array of projectile weaponry. Thus, Helldivers need to find a good balance between offense and defense, seeking cover whenever possible and focus on scrapping the Automaton's heavy hitters before they can unleash their devastating attacks.

While many Automaton models are well armored, their humanoid structures possess a very notable weakness in their heads. Precise shots to the head even on heavier enemies like Devastators can stagger and destroy them with ease.

Automatons can be rapidly deployed in large numbers of reinforcements via Dropships which are called in by signal flares, which are possible to prevent by eliminating the Trooper or Commissar readying to launch them. If reinforcement is called Helldivers can disrupt their deployment by shooting down the dropship using heavy anti-armor weapon such as the Recoilless Rifle, Expendable Anti-Tank, Quasar Cannon or Anti-Materiel Rifle. (it should be noted that this may not damage / kill all of the bots on board the dropship).

Automatons can also be produced on site via Fabricators set up in their numerous outposts. Destroying the Fabricators can be done in a similar fashion to demolishing bug hives, by serving a fresh hot cup of liber-tea down their exhaust vents or simply level the entire area using Eagle strikes or orbital bombardments. Be warned that a Fabricator will explode rather violently when destroyed, so Helldivers are to keep their distances when making their deliveries.

Automaton Outposts are often defended by Troopers manning machine gun emplacements; therefore, it's advised to approach them as sneakily as possible. On higher difficulties, outposts may be guarded by Cannon Towers which are only vulnerable from behind.

Stealth Tactics

 * Any Trooper variant can be stealthily eliminated with two melee strikes, taking Troopers out with melee does not make noise and will not alert nearby Automaton, granted you are out of their line of sight.
 * The Elite Trooper variants can be taken out the same way, just with three melee strikes instead.
 * When spotted by any Automaton the player has a chance to dive, crouch or move behind any cover for a couple seconds. This will not alert Automatons into calling for Dropships, but they will usually investigate the area the player was spotted so the player must move to stay hidden.
 * If Automaton are taken out from a distance any remaining Automaton will investigate the area the Automaton was killed before searching in the direction the gunfire came from. This can be used to bait Automaton out of cover, but they will spot the player eventually by tracking the gunfire.
 * For some reason, Impact grenades do not alarm Automaton if the explosion is out of their line of sight.