Super Earth HELLDIVER Covert Operation Manual [a.k.a How to Solo a Helldive Planet]

Introduction

Greetings everyone, and let's get to the point.

This guide will show you what you need to know when soloing a planet, even a Helldive one, with a stealthy approach.

To solo a level 12 plannet requires some luck, but still, it is easier than you think.Much easier than playing with a full team. Period.

If everything goes smoothly, you'll be able to finish the whole plannet unscratched, while bringing destruction to hundreds of aliens.

Just follow this guide and you'll do fine. Also you can obtain these achievements and some cool capes.

p.s. English is not my 1st language, please pardon my poor spelling and grammar, if any.

Why Soloing?

You get 3 huge advantages when playing solo:

Much easier to stay hidden.

Plan and execute everything under your control, play the game in your pace.

You will always stay in the center of camera, and you are able to see anything that tries to approach your location.

Which are three key elements to a successful solo run,

STEALTH, CONTROL and AWARENESS

Let me further explain this.

Just as those hints in loading screens already told you, you are always outnumbered as a helldiver. It is impossible to completely eliminate the opposition since your enemy has infinite number. No to mention you are also severely outguned on higher level runs.

For how many times you and your team dies because you cannot handle all those tanks, and for how many times you and your team struggles against hordes of enemies, spamming reinforce stratagems, fighting for over 10 minutes, barely keeping yourselves alive yet not able to finish any objective?

All of these can be avoided by killing patrols on sight while staying low. Stealth makes your life easier, it is no secret.

Also, EAT-17 and mechs are NOT meant to be your instrument of total destruction, they are your FAIL-SAFE in case anything goes south and some tanks pop-up.

Actually if you are teamed up with decent players, even helldive planets are easy-mode since they understand the importance of stealth. However since we are playing with random players, there is a pretty good chance that the alarm is always triggered throughout the game.

There are mainly two reasons.

One of your teammate were trying to fetch a sample but ran into patrols instead and you failed to help killing them [Losing Control due to unpredictable / dumb actions of others]. Or,

You triggered it because you cannot see your surroundings (e.g. you and your teammates are positioned on the opposite sides of the screen) thus unaware of enemy patrols nearby. [Losing Awareness due to game mechanism]Which will never happen if you are playing solo. And that's why we are playing solo.

Patrol Mechanism

Here are what we know about enemy patrols - the only target you should actively engage if you choose to,

By deault, only patrols will spawn when the alarm is not triggered.

There are two types of patrols: Ambushers (Cyborg Hounds, Illuminate Hunter and Bug Stalker), and Alarmers(Cyborg Squadleader, Illuminate Observer/Watcher and Bug Scout/Vanguard).

Ambushers will not sound the alarm. Their purpose is to hinder your movement. (Hounds - Knock-down, Stalkers - Slow effect, Hunters - Forcing you to dodge their shots since they deal ultra high damage.)

The composition of patrols varies according to difficulties. Higher difficulties results in tankier enemy patrol units, and they sound the alarm faster.

Even on the highest difficulty, most patrol units are squishy and extremely easy to kill.

Ambushers can sense you from very far away. Alarmers won't notice you unless you are too close.

You will hear distinctive noises should any Alarmer units spawn or approach. Ambushers also make special noises should they sense you and decide to engage.

When you kill a member of a patrol, the others will turn to your direction immediately, but the alarm will not be triggered right away.

Interacting with mission objectives will cause several patrols to spawn. They will head directly to touched objectives (NOT YOU). The amount of patrol spawned may vary depending on the level of planet.

Certain items may also trigger the alarm, like unpiloted mechs.

If the alarm is triggered, certain amount of enemy units will spawn on site. Their number may vary but usually less than a dozen.

When the alarm is triggered, it will result in more patrols to be spawned near you, and they will actively look for you. After they see you they also trigger the alarm, leading to more units to be spawned. This chain of alarms can easily generate hundreds of enemy in a matter of seconds, and is the main factor of any failed run.

When a patrol shows up in your screen, it might just walk off. It is not necessary to engage every patrol you see.

Even though you cannot eradicate patrols completely, they take time to respawn. Killing several patrols in quick succession can leave you some room and valuable time to perform other tasks.

Gears, Perks And Etc.

A Typical Solo Run Set-up

Recommended Weapons:

Lower Level Planets (level 1-6):

Fully upgraded Liberator and Peace Maker.

That's right. You don't need anything else besides basic weapons. These well-rounded armaments are fairly accurate and deals moderate damage in a few bursts. Remember, ideally the only enemy you should engage is the patrol, and they are far from tanky.

Higher Level Planets (Level 7-12):

Fully upgraded Justice / Patriot / MG-105 "Stalwart" and Peace Maker.

On higher difficulties Liberator proves to be inefficient when facing a large quantity of tankier opponents (like Cyborg Squad Leader). Weapons of higher DPS are preferred. Justice is highly recommended since it is one of the best guns in game. Patriot deals enough damage but drains ammo at an alarming rate, still it is usable and obtained fairly early in the game.

MG-105 is a superior version of Liberator, comes with Demolisher DLC. This gun proves to be reliable under any circumstances.

Fully upgraded shotgun/ Beam Weapon is also viable. Notably Breaker and LAS-16 The Sickle. SMG has limited range which is bad. Railgun is not recommended since it is unforgiving.

Recommended Stratagems:

All Levels:

Fully-upgraded Machinegun Turret, Fully-upgraded standard Mech and Ammo Drop.

Once again, all we need are the basics. All vehicles reacts too slow when patrols show up from multiple directions. As for those fancy Air Strikes and Railgun Strikes, we won't be needing them 'cause ideally we'll meet no tank. Distraction Beacon is unstable and hard to master. Mines may accidentally kill you when you maneuver.

Meanwhile machinegun turret rules. Firstly turrets never trigger the alarm. Secondly it provides consistant fire support and more effective than railgun turret when dealing with bunches of low level mobs. Thirdly, it requires minimal efforts to upgrade since it is a standard item.

Standard Machinegun Mech can be useful when you are at the extract point and need more firepower and survivability. Fully upgraded "Stomper" can even hold off tank units for a few seconds. Be careful though as even unpiloted mech will trigger the alarm. Summon it only when you need to.

In tight spot your mech can be used as a decoy. Just jump out of your mech and there is a good chance that your pursuers will focus the unpiloted mech instead.

When fighting Cyborg you may run into a tank patrol on higher level planets. In that case bring a Recoilless Rifle or EAT. That's all you need.

Recommended Perks:

Cardio Accelerator

All Terrain Boots

Cardio Accelerator enables you to run forever. With it you can save time on transit, juke enemy patrols with ease and lose enemy reinforcements easily if you f*cked up. Just like a ninja.

All Terrain Boots is a dlc content. It is highly recommended on Snow / Jungle Planets.

MD-99 Autoinjector is worthless. If you get caught on a higher difficulty planet and you are knocked down, you are dead meat.

Enemies Of Democracy - Cyborg

I'm putting Cyborg first because they have the most dangerous patrols of all three factions. They have both the quickest and the tankiest patrol units in this game. The variety of their patrol units requires you to constantly swap weapons and reposition.

Hounds [Ambusher]

These mutts are troublesome as they will knock you down if they run into you. Being knock down is the most dangerous state as you are not able to fight back for a few seconds, during which time other enmeies may get the chance to approach and finish you off. Even if they may show up with other alarmers, you always kill them first.

They always spawn as a pack of 3.

If you have upgraded your assualt rifles with bayonet, you can press Q to execute a melee attack and onehit a hound. This is a good way to save ammo.

When they sense you you can hear running and growling voices. Stand your ground.

A hound can take 2 bullets from Justice, 2-3 from Liberator. A fairly easy opponent to be dealt with.

Initiates [Early Game Patrol Unit]

You can kill these weaklings with one shot from any weapon.

They cannot sound the alarm. Prioritizing other enmey units is recommended.

Squad Leader [Alarmer]

Fairly tanky and able to shrug off damage if been fired upon from a bad angle.

On higher level planet Liberator cannot kill these guys fast enough. Justice highly recommended.

On higher level planet, they will spawn as a pack of 4. On lower level planet there will only be 2 in each patrol, which is a number Liberator can handle.

Their alarm sounding speed is quite slow. Stay calm and tap them down.

Infantry Fighting Vehicle [Alarmer]

This is the reason why you have to take rockets on high level Cyborg planet.

Upon seeing you they trigger the alarm instantly without any animation. Approach with caution.

You can oneshot IFV with a EAT-17, but only from a perpendicular angle. Recoilless Rifle is more forgiving, but if the firing angle is too bad you may have to shoot twice. (I don't know but it seems the final upgrade of Recoiless Rifle doesn't work.)

Enemies Of Democracy - The Illuminates

Soloing planets of The Illuminates requires precision, calculation and concentration. They are tough enemies despite their inferior numbers. Turrets are ineffective against them, but they can still be useful sometimes.

Meanwhile, mechs are super effective for The Illuminates. Consider bring 2+ Mechs to battle.

None of The Illuminates units are heavily armored, all of them can be burst down by miniguns.

The Illuminates lacks the sheer firepower to quickly bring down a mech, unless you get a direct hit from that walling unit.

Overseer [Alarmer]

This unit has a cloak field, but it cannot cheat you if you are paying attention to the screen.

However, your turrets cannot engage this unit until it reveals itself. Keep that in mind.

Overseers have the smallest hitbox of all units. Aim before you shoot.

To deal with multiple overseers, tap them one by one. NEVER SPRAY.

Wacher [Alarmer]

Basically identical to the overseer.

Weapons of higher DPS are recommended for elimination efficiency.

Hunter [Ambusher]

Dodge his beam. It can oneshot you if you are not wearing heavy armor or equiped with a shield.

They will try to engage your turrets, and your turrets cannot fight back since hunters outrange them. Consider protect your turret by actively seeking hunters, but don't expose yourself to overseers.

You should position your turret against a wall or obstacles, thus preventing hunters from sniping your turret from the wall's direction.

They also will try to target your hellbomb and snipe it. You have to either set the bomb off the moment it hits the ground or keep hunters at bay. Consider using rockets as alternative to complete missions.

When they are outside your screen and trying to snipe you, you can try to estimate their positions and burst them down. This would be quite easy to execute for experienced players.

The more chaotic the battlefield, the more deadly they are. Fighting a group of Illuminates without frequent repositioning is extremely dangerous. Retreating is always a better option.

4-5 bullets from Liberator, if the angle is right, can effectively eradicate a hunter.

Enemies Of Democracy - Bugs

Bugs are the easiest faction to solo in my opinion. They do have some of the tankiest units in game, but they can't do anything if they are not spawned. You may want to solo Bug planets first for practice.

They only thing annoying about them is that they have the highest patrol spawn rate and their giant sense range. Be ready to be swarmed, and always keep your guns loaded.

Scout [Alarmer]

Extremely weak. Can be oneshot by any weapon.

Always spawn in a pack of 3.

Their number is great, but given their fragility a single turret can eliminate hundreds of scouts.

Vanguard [Alarmer]

Basically identical to the Scouts.

They may attempt to jump to your position, in the meantime dodging your bursts. To prevent this, kill them when they just show up on the edge of screen.

Stalker [Ambusher]

Somehow tanky, able to withstand 3-4 shots from Justice.

They use camouflage to approach you, but they can't fool you anyway.

They may also attempt to jump on you. Kill them after they land.

Upon sustaining damage they will often try to retreat, hide somewhere near you with camo and attempt to strike again. Don't give them that chance.

Their attacks slow you down while doing moderate damage. Kill them if they approach, but prioritize alarmers first. Kill them first if you are escaping from a horde of bugs.

They have a tendency of jumping onto your turret, only to find their death. But still they can damage your turret in the process, you may have to assist your turret if a large quantity of Stalkers are coming.

General Tips

Before you begin

You need to take a look at the planet of your choice. If there is a Retaliatory Strike Mission on a planet of level 4 and above, skip this planet. I'm not saying it is impossible to solo this kind of mission (You CAN solo a lvl 12 planet retaliatory mission), but it simply doesn't worth the trouble.

Remember to equip All Terrain Boots for Snow planet. As for jungle planet, it is optional.

Where to Spawn

Usually it is the opposite side of the extraction point so we don't need to go back and forth for objectives. Stay away from objectives as there are always patrols waiting.

After Hitting the Ground

Tap TAB key, see if there is any patrol nearby. Eliminate anything near your landing site.

Call in an ammo drop / Anti-Tank weapons. Stratagems attract patrols, so we use it when the enemy number is low, and resupply as fewer times as possible.

Keep an eye on the map. Kill any patrol that is attracted by beacon, then move to the nearist objectives.

Tranveling between objectives

The edge of the map is always safer than the center.

Do not stand in open. Move alongside the walls / jungles / rocks.

Spam TAB key, know anything that is coming to get you.

If near an enemy patrol, stay slow and take aim. Kill anything that enters your sight.

If you hear noices, tap TAB and take aim. The enemy will show up themselves.

When shooting just play it like you are playing CS:GO with an AK-47 / M4 in hand. Always tap, only spray in tight spot.

Stay calm. If it is just 2 or 3 patrols approaching you simutalneously, you have enough time to wipe them all out before they can do anything.

If Ambushers and Alarmers show up at the same time, ALWAYS TARGET THE ALARMERS.

...unless the ambushers are cyborg hounds and they are getting close. Kill hounds first in that case.

If you can't take them all out before they see you, retreat.

If you f*cked up and the alarm is triggered, a) kill anything that spawns if you are playing a level 5 planet or below otherwise b) RUN. Usually when you run there will be some other alarmers standing in you way, stop briefly and kill them then keep running. When the battle music dies down, you are safe. With Cardio Accelerator this should be quite easy to do.

Objectives Analysis

One objective at a time. Do it slow.

Interacting with Blackbox, Energy Core and survivors will not trigger any patrol spawn. Just do it nice and slow.

Don't run too fast when survivors are following. Any survivor that is too far away will be lost.

If you get spotted, throw away the box and run. As for the survivors, they are your meatshield.

ALWAYS VALUE YOUR LIFE OVER OBJECTIVES. F*CK OBJECTIVES.

Interacting with terminals (Sam sites, Launch sites, Truth Broadcast, etc.) will surely trigger patrol spawn. On higher difficulties they will emerge in huge quanitity on multiple directions.

Secure the site first by eliminating anything near the objective.

Put a turret down before you touch anything. A single turret can completely secure one side of the screen. Put two down if this is a Geological Survey mission. If you are confident with your reflection and aim you can try do it without turrets, it will be hard though.

If the objectives have multiple stages of activation, you can leave briefly after completing a stage. Take that time to kill anything heading your way. Leaving for too long will cause the objective to lose stages, but the break you got should be enough for you to fend off patrols.

The missile launching site / Geological Survey Site / Resource Convoy itself will also trigger the alarm upon being seen, causing combat units to be spawn. They will focus on destroying your objectives, after that, you. You may want to prevent this from happening by sealing passage with turrets. On higher difficulties if enemy spotted your targetable objectives it is pretty much lost.

If you are detected and the alarm is sound, see the last section of Travelling between objectives.

You can always come back later to try again after the alarm is off. However, if you are detected during a Missile Launching Mission or Geological Survey Mission, move on to the next.

Once again, F*CK OBJECTIVES.

When you approach Bug Nests, Illuminate Beacons, Capture Site, etc, patrols will spawn automatically, but usually in small number except for the Capture Site mission.

Hellbomb is recommended for Bug nests. Illuminate Beacons have shields that neglect bomb's damage. Take them off before setting off the bomb.

Upgraded Shredder Missile is way better than Hellbomb.

25 seconds is a long time to wait, and the bombsite is usually a bad place to fight. After calling down the bomb you may want to retreat a little, eliminating any patrol on better terrain.

As for Cyborg AA guns, don't bother using the ternimal to enable the stratagems. Use Recoilless Rifle instead. It's easier since touching the terminal will cause a huge wave of Squadleaders to swarm you.

Bring Anti-tank weapons for your assassination missions. Railgun strike works too.

For mine sweeping, just play it like Capture Area mission. Be ready to switch to your assault rifle at any moment though.

Extraction

Activate the terminal, throw a turret stratagem, and move to the other side of the site and resupply yourself.

If anything could foil your no-detection run, this is it. Keep track on every patrol that moves in your way and shoot them down with precision.

If you triggered the alarm, call down your mech and fight by the edge of extraction point.

If too many tanks are spawned, abandon your mech as a distraction and run away. Come back later to try again.

A successful solo run. Was perfectly smooth until I died twice during the extraction of the last mission. I called down my mech too soon, it was spotted and swarmed by tripods.

Conclusion

Soloing or not, the core of playing HELLDIVER, is to run away when you should.

This game is not a simple trigger-happy shooter. It requires you to assess the situation correctly, knowing when to keep fighting and when to let go. Just keep this in mind, and you'll do fine on any helldive planets out there.

Stay vigilant, helldivers.

Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=574792570					

More HELLDIVERS guilds

• All Guilds
• HELLDIVERS Guide 10
• Guide 9
• HELLDIVERS Guide 8
• HELLDIVERS: Lone Wolf Solo Guide
• Helliquette - a gentleman's guide to the galaxy
• Gun Comparison: Which Gun Should I Use
• "Should I buy this DLC" Guide
• HELLDIVERS - Mission Planning Guide
• HELLDIVERS - How to Use Distractor Beacon