Advanced Gameplay Techniques

This page is a work in progress and will be updated in the near future.

Melee Assisted movement
Using a melee attack can force a lot of movements that would not be possible otherwise. Melee attacks are executed by default 'Q' on Keyboard. It is normally used to damage an enemy in melee range, or cancel a reload or panel. However there are a lot of other uses for it that are not immediately evident.

Video trainers explaining the execution of advanced melee techniques
BTS Bayonet Training By KOR_Lune - Detailed information on using advanced melee techniques on gamepad Helldivers - How to Melee Dodge By Lein - General information on the execution of advanced melee techniques Helldivers How to dodge hounds (Bayonet) by kimcorpuz - One of the earliest known demonstrations Helldivers - Melee Dodging by Mikasa - Demonstration and Application of Melee Dodging

Melee Dodging / Spindashing / Bayonet swipe
Whenever the player is sprinting, using a melee attack will give the player a very short burst of speed. This burst is longer if the player is using a weapon equipped with a bayonet. A melee dodge exploits this burst of speed. It is only necessary to be sprinting "shift" and then hit melee to perform. It may not be practical to use the default keyboard button 'q' to execute this, as it can be difficult to exploit the movement with default tank controls (w,a,s,d) after hitting "q" and it may be much easier to bind either a different key further from the tank keys that wouldn't use the same fingers as controls, or bind the key to a mouse button.

Execution on Controller
The sequence needed is Sprint, then interrupt with Melee. The example posted for KOR_Lune above (on PS4, in the Korean region) has Sprint bound to L3 and Melee bound to 'X'; in many other regions Melee is bound to 'O'. If you are beginning to learn the technique and find this uncomfortable or awkward, note that it is possible to use the technique without either remapping or using a so-called 'claw' grip, but this may affect execution speed very slightly. On Steam, one easily possible remapping is to swap Melee onto the right top shoulder button (R1 on a DS3 or DS4); while it is not possible to do so in the game controls on PS4, it is possible to set up custom mapping if desired via the Accessibility settings. In any case, once performed correctly, the right stick is then used to control the melee motion - circular spins or arcs for circles and swipes, forward and back for a rocker motion, etc. The left stick is used for the actual baseline movement during the animation - this distinction is important for things like snap-aiming with slow turn-rate weapons.

View animated image Lein executing a bayonet swipe.

Execution on Keyboard / Mouse
A player simply hits shift, and then quickly after presses the melee button. After the melee animation is complete a player hits shift again to get back into a sprint.
 * A melee dodge is performed simply by pressing melee from a sprinting position and moving away from the enemy or hazard the player is avoiding.
 * A Spindash is performed by hitting melee from a sprinting position and tracking the mouse around the player while holding down the aim button (Default RMB), the player will spin without losing any forward momentum, a bayonet is probably required to spindash a full 360 degrees.
 * A Bayonet Swipe is similar in all ways to a spindash or melee dodge, with the exception that the player is trying to aim the bayonet at a nearby enemy. It is performed by hitting melee from a sprinting position and then aiming at the desired target during the melee animation, a player can also use w,a,s,d to move himself towards the target or away while swinging. If performed correctly the player can strike an enemy with his bayonet without that enemy being able to reciprocate the attack.

Melee-Assisted Aiming Technique: Snap-Aiming
Many of the heavier weapons have slow aiming speeds, one way to get around this is Snap-Aiming. This can be coupled with melee dodging for weapons that do not allow a player to move and aim in order for a player to get into a satisfactory firing position and have his weapon directed at the enemy much more quickly than if he were to move to position and aim in a standard way. Snap-Aiming can also be used if a player wants to aim at a position that is not in front of him without losing his forward momentum.

Execution on Keyboard / Mouse

 * In order to get a faster aiming speed a player hits melee from any position and aims during the melee animation. The player will be able to direct the weapon towards the intended target much faster than standard aiming.
 * In order to Snap-Aim and get into a firing position at the same time player hits melee from a sprinting position and uses w,a,s,d during the animation and at the same time aims the weapon towards its' intended target.

The versatility of the NUX-223 Hellbombs as an offensive tool of destruction and makeshift distractor to manipulate enemy spawning and pathfinding
Enemies will treat the Hellbomb as a threat that needs to be destroyed. However, they will move towards Helldivers or objectives that are closer in proximity to them. (Except for specific enemies which will always move to finish off a downed Helldiver). A full squad that has not completed a destroy objective has four Hellbombs at their disposal, to be called in as often as the short cool down is up.


 * NUX-223 Hellbombs are great for keeping dogs, scouts, vanguards, Squadleader soldiers, or initiates at bay, if the hellbomb is at the edge of the screen these enemies will move towards it first, and won't sound the alarm if there are no helldivers in range.


 * NUX-223 Hellbombs are very useful for putting in front of defend objectives, as enemies will move to destroy the hellbomb before they move on the objective, this will give the squad a few more seconds to do something about enemies approaching objectives.


 * NUX-223 Hellbombs are also useful to throw out while players are grabbing their gear at the beginning of a mission, as patrols will prioritize the hellbomb, letting the players pick up their gear. If players dropped in away from an objective they can then detonate these bombs after they are all ready to move on, eliminating enemies that would otherwise follow them to their first objective.


 * NUX-223 Hellbombs can also be useful after the distraction is no longer necessary or if a small nuclear explosion is more necessary by being detonated.
 * Like every other piece of equipment, NUX-223 Hellbombs are launched at high velocity from orbit, making them a form of AT.

Manipulating enemy pathfinding: dance around heavy enemies (Dances With Hulks / Warlords / IFVs)
Enemy movement and behavior after they have appeared on screen is based solely on the position of Helldivers, objectives, vehicles, and other things that they can destroy. Cyborgs seem to have the most complex behaviors, but they aren't too difficult to manipulate.

Video Guide about manipulating enemy movement
Helldivers Advanced Tactics Volume 4 - Posture : By Gazing Pete General information about manipulating enemy movement

Dances with Hulks / Warlords
Hulks and warlords have a very slow turn radius, and will aim and shoot at about the same range as each other. (It's about jetpack or obliterator range) A player can completely avoid damage from either of these enemies indefinitely by exploiting their slow turn radius and staying away from the areas they are shooting at. It is entirely possible to manipulate them to fire where the player wishes them to by that player getting into firing range and quickly moving either around or away from the area they are firing at as soon as they begin to plant their right foot. It is also possible to manipulate them to follow the player by staying just outside of melee range, causing them to move in for a melee attack. It is also possible to spin either of these by getting in melee range and running in circles around them.

Kiting IFVs
IFVs will generally not fire if a player is within a range that the splash damage from their own shot would hurt them, this can be exploited to keep an IFV at bay while it is on the screen. The technique is simple enough and simply involves a player getting within range of the IFV and avoiding being run over by it. IFVs will stand still to unload grotesques, at any other time they will try to run over Helldivers that are in too close a range for them to shoot at. (Except if there is a downed Helldiver on screen, in which case the IFV will aim and move towards the downed player, and the IFV's cannon will actively try to shoot that player, regardless of if there is a Helldiver kiting it or not) This can be useful in a number of scenarios including but not limited to:
 * A team that has no AT, or all AT is on cooldown or locked down due to Helldivers dying and enemies swarming their gear.
 * An IFV that is getting dangerously close to an objective and needs to be diverted in order to use AT against it without damaging the objective.
 * A player not having AT but being closest to the IFV and attempting to keep it from becoming a menace.
 * Attempting to use hellpods (gear or reinforcements a player has called in) to destroy the ifv.

If an IFV is disabled but not destroyed this technique of getting within range will still prevent it from firing, with the added bonus of the Helldiver locking it down not having to worry about being run over. It can also become a difficult obstacle for enemies to navigate around, and will block warlord / hulk weapons. The downside of using an IFV as a makeshift bunker is that it can still unload grotesques and patrols can fire grenades over it.

Downing friendly players in order to distract enemies from destroying vulnerable objectives
Many of the enemies that are the most devastating to objectives also prioritize finishing off downed Helldivers above anything else, sometimes if a hulk or warlord is spawned on top of an objective that needs to be defended or makes it to that objective, the only way to prevent them from destroying it either by damaging it enough or by being killed close enough to it that when they explode they finish it off is to down yourself or a teammate.
 * If a player is using suppressor or plasma he can easily knock himself down to divert enemies away from the objective.
 * Using melee without a bayonet, or a standard sidearm is an easy way to knock down a teammate without risking killing them.
 * Generally, if teammates are not aware of this strategy or do not know a player is trying to use it, teammates will pick that player up, making the strategy useless.

Video Guide demonstrating multiple techniques to distract enemies from objectives
HELLDIVERS| How to distract enemy Tips&Tricks By Zecorax

Using Jump packs to jump on top of the shuttle or other stationary objects
There are a few different game objects that get introduced into the game that become stationary objects that the player is not able to move through. These are : The shuttle, The extraction beacon, the Geological Survey Probe. If a player is using the jump pack, it is possible for him to jump before that object has appeared as an impassable object and land after it exists in the game, if executed correctly the player will land on top of these objects. The easiest of these to exploit and most common is the shuttle. In order to execute this a player needs to be at the right distance that a jump will land at the point that the new object appears, and then jump right before it becomes impassable. If a player jumps too soon he can get crushed by the object, if too late the object will already register as impassable and the player's jump distance will be modified to land either in front of or past the object. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98Z7sQjyjYE Video executing a successful jump on top of the geological survey. ]

Detonating Unexploded Ordinance without taking damage
Unexploded Ordinance objectives can be very troublesome, first because they virtually disable one player in order to sweep for them. Secondly, because the squad has to keep a much larger region protected in order to look for the ordinance. And Thirdly, because inputting a wrong code will detonate the ordinance and can kill the player. However, ordinance can be detonated intentionally in order to make inputting the codes much faster.

Precautions when using this strategy

 * A player always has to enter the first part of the code correctly.
 * If there are other players in range of the ordinance when it is detonated they can also be killed / take damage. If you are planning on detonating ordinance and another player is standing close using the "move" voice chat (Default F4 / D-pad Right) might be a good idea to let other players know to keep their distance.
 * If using a jump pack and attempting to jump in a direction that won't be possible the player will be killed by the ordinance.
 * If attempting to dive away from the ordinance and there are obstacles in the way or not enough screen space the player will be killed by the ordinance.

Video Guide demonstrating detonating ordinance successfully
HELLDIVERS - Unexploded Ordinance : How to Detonate a Shell (Without Dying) By Lein

Summary of techniques
There are 3 ways to detonate ordinance without dying, They are:
 * Diving away from the ordinance (does not depend on gear or perks)
 * Jumping when the ordinance is about to explode (requires jet pack)
 * Allowing the ordinance to detonate, but having gear that mitigates the damage (requires displacement field or SH-20)

Diving away from the Ordinance
This requires no special gear or perks. A player approaches the ordinance slowly, attempting to activate it from as far away as he or she possibly can. The player then inputs the first part or the code sequence and then a wrong one (It is usually best that the wrong input be the direction the player is going to attempt to dive away) The player then immediately hits the direction he or she is trying to jump in and duck simultaneously while the code sequence is red. If executed correctly the ordinance will detonate but the player will have dived away from it and won't take damage.

Jumping when the Ordinance is about to Explode
This requires a jet pack, a player activates the ordinance (The players proximity to the ordinance does not matter for this technique), the player then enters the first part of the code and then sends a wrong input (usually best if the wrong input is the direction the player plans to jump in) then quickly while the code is red the player hits the dive / jump button and the direction he or she wishes to jump in. If executed correctly the player will jump before the ordinance detonates, taking no damage.

Mitigating the damage
The easiest to execute is to simply have sh-20 or displacement field and mitigate the damage. All this requires is that the bubble be active or the displacement field cool down to be up. A player simply walks up to ordinance, enters one correct and then one incorrect input. If executed correctly the ordinance will detonate on the player and the shield will pop, or the player will teleport taking no damage.

To Be expanded:

 * Save Event Missions on your Ship indefinitely
 * Access Galactic Campaing Map for Stratagem Rewards during Homeworld Assault Events
 * Using Jump-Packs to avoid damage or death from collision with aerial projectiles
 * Using SH-32 to deflect projectiles
 * Manipulating enemy spawning
 * Using high-speed vehicles (APC and Hammer) to traverse otherwise impassable terrain
 * Movement-Assisted aiming to increase aiming speed and "fanning" Rumbler-shots
 * Movement-Based Throwing Technique: Increasing Throwing Range of Grenades and Stratagem using forward momentum / spinning
 * Using Vehicles as makeshift Distractors