Infantry Fighting Vehicle



Cyborgs from time to time deploy Infantry Fighting Vehicles to carry Grotesques into battle, these war machines are equipped with a powerful cannon and extremely tough armor. The armor is tough enough to shake off everything but dedicated anti-tank weapons, and even then, it may be possible for them to survive a direct hit from certain angles.

Tactics
Predominately found on medium to high level planets, Infantry Fighting Vehicles patrol the battlefield individually, following semi-random patterns while searching for Helldivers. Their patrols are more densely clustered around mission objectives and they are also attracted to Stratagem beacons.

Soon after spotting Helldiver troops, IFVs will launch an alarm flare to call for help from other Cyborg units before engaging the player in combat. Their cannon is extremely powerful, has a moderate area-of-effect and just one hit is enough to down a Helldiver. Fortunately, it also has a fairly slow rate of fire and a visible laser sight - meaning it can be dodged, or, with careful positioning, players can even bait the IFV into firing on other Cyborg units. Furthermore, the IFV can not fire at targets in close proximity, making it entirely possible to stand very close to it without the IFV being able to fire. Also, IFVs will often attempt to run over nearby Helldivers or drive directly into mission objectives (such as Geological Surveys), resulting in almost instant death and destruction.

As noted above, IFVs can also release groups of around five Grotesques onto the battlefield, giving them a wide range of offensive capabilities. However, the hatch that Grotesques climb out does create a noticeable weak spot in the IFV's otherwise highly formidable armour, allowing Helldivers to engage and neutralize IFVs with weapons that may lack the power to punch through its front or side armour.

Infantry Fighting Vehicles are immune to 'slow' effects (such as Static Field Conductors) or 'stun' effects (such as Airdropped Stun Mines) and can only be damaged using dedicated anti-tank weapons or stratagems (such as the RL-112 Recoilless Rifle, EAT-17, Railcannon Strike, Airdropped Anti-Tank Mines, fully upgraded 'Vindicator' Dive Bomb, etc.), meaning it can often be very difficult to destroy them before an alarm has been raised. However, they have poor maneuverability and clearly telegraph their attacks which should allow experienced players to avoid danger for long enough to initiate an appropriate counter-attack.

Their dual role as both Tank and Scout results in IFVs spawning in large numbers on higher difficulties and makes anti-tank weaponry a priority when fighting against the Cyborgs.

IFVs are amongst the toughest enemies in the game in terms of overall durability, with significant frontal armour. Damaging attacks can also immobilize an IFV by damaging its tracks, which can allow Helldivers to retreat more easily, though it is important to note that the turret remains functional in this state. Although the IFV can still shoot at any Helldivers or other valid targets within range, it is possible to stand next to an immobilized IFV and use it as cover due to the IFVs targeting mechanism locking onto the nearest target. This targeting behaviour effectively permits a lone Helldiver to single-handedly pacify a disabled IFV by simply standing next to it while the rest of the team can focus on other tragets, retrieve gear and regroup. The IFV does however prioritze incapacitated Helldivers and will fire indiscriminately at them for as long as they are in downed state.

If the Helldivers wish to avoid/bypass some IFVs instead of engaging all of them (to proceed at greater speed and conserve anti-tank ammo and stratagems), note that the IFV has quite a long sight range and will trigger the alarm from a significant distance if the Helldivers are standing. However, it has great difficulty spotting prone Helldivers, which means it can quite easily be crawled past even at close range. Going prone reduces a Helldiver's visibility by all scout enemy types, but the contrast between detection range of standing and prone Helldivers appears to be even greater than usual for the IFV.

It should be noted that in most missions there is never more than one IFV on the screen at the same time and that upon destroying an IFV the game will always spawn a new IFV near the edges of the screen (this only applies to regular missions and not to Retaliatory Strike missions). This means that there are few occasions, especially when defending objectives, where it is actually beneficial to not destroy or even engage it at all: Remember: every IFV you destroy leads to a new IFV coming for you, so if you can keep control of the IFV you have on screen (or near the edges of the screen) for as long as possible, then that is how long you can also conserve your ammo and ensure that you don't get surprised by a new IFV spawning in somehwere you didn't expect.
 * IFVs that may patrol near the edges of the screen, facing away from the team and objectives
 * IFVs that get stuck on or behind rocks and other terrain
 * disabled IFVs that are either out of firing range or are unable to fire due to being used as cover by one or more Helldivers

Disabled IFVs despawn when left behind after ca. 1,5 - 2 screens distance.