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. 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 or Airdropped Anti-Tank Mines), 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; the IFV can still shoot at any Helldivers or other valid targets within range.

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.