What are Hunters in Helldivers 2?

Be sure to hunt them first.

Helldivers 2 Hunter enemy
Screenshots and remix by Dot Esports

Among the myriad enemy types in Helldivers 2, Hunters may be the most infamous of the lot.

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For the uninitiated, Helldivers 2 features two enemy factions: the Automatons, an army of mindless machines, and the Terminids, a race of bug-like aliens. Hunters belong to the latter faction and, despite being one of the earliest enemies you encounter, they can be surprisingly difficult to deal with. Many players consider Hunters their most hated enemy type in Helldivers 2 because of the sheer number of times they’ve been killed by one.

Helldivers 2: Hunters explained

It shouldn’t be difficult to spot a Hunter. Aside from being slightly larger than the basic Scavenger enemies, you can recognize them by their pale appearance and agility. You can encounter Hunters on any of Helldivers 2’s difficulty levels, and they can even be a pain on Trivial difficulty, especially for a newbie.

What makes Hunters tricky to deal with is their speed. They’re fast and boast great mobility, making it difficult to target them. Plus, not only can they leap at you from afar, they also have a tongue attack that can hit you from a distance. If you’re really unfortunate, they can stunlock you in place, leaving you vulnerable to further attacks from the Hunter or other enemies.

How to kill 25 Hunters fast in Helldivers 2

A group of Terminids shooting bile in Helldivers 2.
Keeping your distance is good advice for any enemy encounter. Screenshot by Dot Esports

One of Helldivers 2’s potential daily missions tasks you with killing 25 Hunters. Thankfully, this is one of the easier daily missions you can get. Hunters are quite commonplace and aren’t very sturdy; you can kill them with just two bullets. Plus, unlike Warrior enemies, they lack armor, so you don’t need to carefully aim at specific body parts to deal the most damage. The only real issue is their speed, so if you’re having trouble hitting them, wait for them to lunge at you then open fire.

Hunters aren’t so difficult that you’ll need to resort to Stratagems to kill them, but they can still be dangerous if they show up on tougher missions. While you can play Helldivers 2 solo, Hunters are a perfect example of why it’s best to run through the game with teammates, especially if you want to clear those higher level missions.

Author
Image of Michael Beckwith
Michael Beckwith
Staff writer at Dot Esports covering all kinds of gaming news. A graduate in Computer Games Design and Creative Writing from Brunel University who's been writing about games since 2014. Nintendo fan and Sonic the Hedgehog apologist. Knows a worrying amount of Kingdom Hearts lore. Has previously written for Metro, TechRadar, and Game Rant.