Hello Helldivers, welcome to the Helldiver Super Eath Super Maximum Elite Training Regimen...or more practically, how to solo helldive and do it perfectly.

http://i.imgur.com/fVnychV.gifv

Actually, I feel like as I have completed this, it's more based around concepts and applying strategies to those concepts than it is specific strategies that cover all your bases. Meaning while focused around how to solo missions on your own, the concepts can still apply to 2-4 player matches just as easily.

One other important note, I was quite inspired by 'Flowey the Flower's' (or whatever his name is now) guide for Solo Helldiving. It's a great read for anyone, and especially those looking to to do just such a solo helldive. I recommend it as a prerequisite to mine here, so some things don't have to be said a million times over. My goal with this guide however, is more specific tactics that will not only help you survive the hardest missions, but beat them with a perfect score and get the most out of them.

Here it is: http://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=574792570

One last Disclaimer: We don't plan for failure here. That's worse than regular planning!

By that I mean everything here is focused around doing things right and well the first time and not about getting you out of a situation where you messed up. Many things here can indeed get you out of a mess, but their intent is to keep you from getting in them in the first place.

For instance, I usually see the Mech as a highly recommended solo strategem to use. It definitely packs the firepower and has good movement speed, but if you're good about not sound alarms and having to fight masses of enemies where the Mech is truly needed, why bring it at all? That wastes a slot for something that can help you get an objective done faster (obviously extermination objectives might be good for a Mech, but you only ever have one of those anyways). Or another example, bringing a weapon like the Knight SMG along, because "it's great to one hand when downed or carrying a blackbox". Okay, cool for blackbox, pistol isn't horrible though, and about the only situation where you would need your pistol for a prolonged time, so may as well use it then. But useful when downed? That's failure. We don't plan for failure!

In any case, most strategems can be useful on any mission, though in specific situations only. While I will go over any use that any strategem or perk has, anything about getting you out of a mess is really just extra and lucky utility. Everything we use here is for speedy and/or perfect mission completion with zero screw-ups because our goal is all the rewards possible.

And on that, my final note is that I have tried to build this around things you can use without any DLC. While there are certainly some DLC weapons/perks/strategems that are quite worth it, I won't 100% assume you have it and require you have it to do this. Most strategems used are in the game by default, and the only thing I really use extensively and consistently that is DLC is the Sickle (which is likewise probably my most recommended DLC weapon to get). So while there are definitely some DLC things that are worth it and can do the job just as well as what is mentioned here, the focus of this guide defers to non DLC things where it can.

At first, soloing sounds crazy for the hardest missions. But there are a few things that make solo missions actually easier in a few key areas.

• 1) Camera control - The camera is centered on you and you only. You have complete control. No more multiple people aiming in different directions or doing badly at staying together closely enough and completely screwing over your vision in one direction or the other and getting boned by alarms. That, and you can run anywhere unhindered by camera restriction caused by multiple players.
  
• 2) Stealth - It's just simply much easier for one guy to be sneakier than it is for 4. The loss of firepower is really not a huge loss overall when compared to this.

For further explanation and depth to these points, read the other guide I mentioned in the intro. For now though, you need to understand these two points alone, but most especially #1 and why that is so damn helpful.

So, let's just start from the beggining, and for us that's at mission selection. If you're reading this, you're probably already just ready to dive onto a level 12 difficulty mission. Hopefully, that isn't a retalitory strike mission though, because those are generally harder solo. So let's stick to regular missions, shall we? That assumption is made for the rest of this guide.


First off, what is your goal?

Are you here for the experience or the samples for research? Or both? Or maybe just influence?

It is feasible to attempt to go for perfect mission score as well as all samples. But do not expect to finish missions quickly this way. If you are doing this for more experience, then don't give a second glance to any samples. Pick up only ones that you accidentally come across when not under pressure. Otherwise, spare no effort for them.

Sample Runs - If you do want the samples though (Helldive level 12 provide 20 samples on regular maps, 22 on special double XP event missions), it can be done fairly easily too. You just need to go out of your way a lot more and spend more time collecting them while also completing objectives. If samples is your only concern, missions with failable objectives (which we will go over in mroe detail soon) are your best bet so you can intentionally fail them if you want to speed things up and focus just on samples. Bring a UAV fully upgraded if you have it from the DLC, and you will have a much easier time getting samples quickly.

If you really want to try for a perfect match and all samples, a UAV is still recommended, but realize that is taking up a strategem slot that could be otherwise used for more utility against tanks. You need to be confident in your ability to make up for this by being hyperaware and hyper-reactive. Cardio Accelerator is almost a must in this case too (or boots on snow, if you have them).

Experience - Experience is gained through completing objectives, extracting, and not dying a whole lot. Extraction is easy points, as if you don't extract when solo, you fail everything anyways. Not dying a lot can be trouble though, so put your survival above almost everything else. You can die a couple time and still get some points, but no deaths is of course your highest experience possible. Objectives is the trouble point, as you may encounter many failable objectives. Or you may encounter nothing but objectives you cannot fail, which means guaranteed experience...but you absolutely have to complete them to extract.

Don't do Retalitory Strikes on the harder difficulties solo. They are indeed possible, but still pretty tough and hardly worth the effort for their reward, especially if it is a Helldive where your only reward is a cape. Assuming you are doing this for experience or samples, Retalitory Strikes are useless for samples and way too much of a pain in the ass for the same, if not less experience, than a regular mission. If you do these, it's for the challenge alone.

Planetary Rewards - You probably at some point want to get half the strategems and weapons everyone raves about right? Or just for the sake of collecting them all. If just getting the planetary conquest reward is your only goal, then it should be overall pretty easy...in theory. It really depends on the mission types and objectives that are generated for you. Don't do retalitory strikes again if you can avoid it. If you have missions with failable objectives, intentionally failing them will speed along the mission completion. Ignore all samples (or at the very least just don't go out of your way to grab them) and focus on just completing objectives that require full completion and get to the extraction asap. Your loadout should be focused on survival primarily, speed second.

Influence - The last goal you may have for yourself is gaining influence points, whether it's solely to contribute your most to the war effort, or just quickly get enough to unlock the enemy master assault. If this is the case, you basically need to play to complete objectives (so just like you would for experience points essentially), but with perhaps more caution to avoid deaths and ensure extraction. All objectives must be completed for the star, and only a couple deaths are allowed before you lose the star for that. Since you're solo, you have to extract to complete the mission anyways, so that should be a given star.

Primary - I personally swear by the Sickle on any given day. For me, it has a better feel than the Scythe, while not sacrificing the range the Tanto does for the same effect. It is a DLC gun though, so if you don't have it and don't want it, the Scythe is a fine substitute. The Sickle however is probably one of the best DLC guns you can get, it's extremely versatile and with no need for ammo, always frees up a slot from having to bring Resupply strategem.

If you truly don't want a Scythe/Sickle, bring something that won't chew through ammo on patrol killing alone. The Double Freedom, while awesome, is pretty useless for taking out patrols at range, which you will need to do often, and even if it was, won't have the ammo to last a whole mission without need for resupply.

You can always forgo bringing ammo even if you have a weapon that needs it and just hope you run into extra ammo on the level, but I would never bet my money on that.



Pistol - Your pistol should be fully upgraded. Don't even think about helldiving a level 12 without it, especially if you have triple blackboxes to deal with. Honestly though it is possible without it upgraded, but those blackbox missions will be harder without it.

As long as you are not on a Snow planet, you should be taking Cardio Accelerator. Simply put, you can outrun everything except Cyborg hounds with it. Behind them, only the bug patrol alarmers can really almost keep up with you if dashing full speed (Behemoths as well, only if charging). With this speed comes both extra maneuverability, and the ability to just run away when things go south quick.



Strategem Priority may be tempting, but I still would never recommend it for this. Speed is too valuable, and if you do use a few strategems and are on cooldown but still need them back...well, then RUN. Run away and let them cooldown while you move somewhere else. Extraction is the only place you need to sort of stay around the general area, but even then, it is possible to just run away, let things cool down and recall the shuttle later. While we want speedy completions here, time does not matter in the end, only survival does. Most strategems I recommend have the lower cooldowns anyways, so lowering them even more is not a huge necessity.


The only other perk worth taking when solo is All Terrain Boots when you are on a Snow planet. They are useful on Forest planets with lots of water too, but because there is totally plenty of solid land to run on, Cardio is still going to be your better option. These boots are DLC, so if you don't have or don't want them, just stick to Cardio. (The jetpack is an alternative maneuverability choice on Snow/Forest, though it takes a strategem slot and not this perk slot)

First things first, everything you bring should be fully upgraded, and that is an assumption we will have from here on.

This is determined almost entirely by who you are fighting.
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Who are we fighting?

• Bugs: I recommend Railcannon Strike, Machine Gun Turret (MK3 Minigun Turret), Vindicator Dive Bomb, and an interchangeable 4th slot of a Shredder Nuke if there are MULTIPLE Bug Hole objectives (more than one, or one with a group of 5 bug holes to destroy), or a Distractor Beacon if not. You can also bring Resupply if you need it. The Railgun Strike will deal with your larger enemies, it will NOT kill the Behemoths in one hit now because they have more armor, but will the other guys. The Vincidator Dive Bomb can be useful taking out the 2-3 groups of bug holes, but only if you can throw it directly into the bug hole. The Thumper is of great help in distracting enemies and giving you breathing room on objectives that require direct attention. The Turret helps in the same way, but most especially on defend objectives, to help you cover an extra angle or two. The Shredder Nuke isn't totally necessary, but at times against 5 bug holes or just multiple bug hole objectives, can be a quick and easy way to finish the objective without ever really stopping. If you don't want it, bring a 4th strategem of your choice. Honestly if you have the other 3, you can definitely get away with any other strategem of your choice with little consequence.
  
  
• Cyborgs: Railcannon Strike, Machine Gun Turret (MK3 Minigun Turret), Vindicator Dive Bomb, and another anti tank option of some sort (I generally bring 2 Railgun Strikes, but an EAT-17 or Recoiless Rifle is fine too). Cyborgs bring more heavy armor to the field, and unique to them is how their tanks can spawn without an alarm triggering them, meaning you will always have a good amount of enemy armor to deal with. Plan accordingly here. I prefer Railgun Strikes because of their precision and no collateral damage that could kill me, though you still have to throw pretty close to the tank to guarantee it locks onto it. They also have one of the best cooldown timers, so bringing two gives you pretty good constant coverage. A Vindicator bomb can also harm their armor a bit, but should not be relied upon and is supplemental only against heavy armor. Use it more on the smaller guys if needed to cover your escape a bit, or to just put extra damage on anything that needs it. The Turret serves the same purpose in covering extra angles for you in defense objectives.
  
  
• Illuminates: Railcannon Strike, Vindicator Dive Bomb/Shredder Nuke, Personal Shield/Jetpack, Distractor Beacon. Once again, the Railcannon Strike is for heavy targets, which should rarely be anything beyond Obelisks here. They will be stationary while putting up a wall so they are very easy to hit with the railgun. The Vindicator is again a good way to put down extra damage easily, quickly, and with low cooldown, but otherwise has less utility here than against Bugs since many Illuminates have a sheild it won't penetrate and do as much damage against. The Shredder will do well against Beacons and in general can do well against a large grouping of these guys, since most Illuminate move quite slow.
  
  The Turret does not do as well against Illuminate, especially the alarmer patrols (Overseers and Watchers), as they are stealthed until they spot you, so the turret will not target them while stealthed. There are unfortunately few other options to make up for this in a similar capacity, as the Tesla Tower is easily targeted from afar by the Hunters and killed quickly, and Static fields are not big enough to make a difference in a large enough area to matter on defense objectives, but if you're comfortable with them they can still be useful. The Distractor Beacon is more reliable here though. The Personal Shield allows you to survive a direct hit from the Hunters if at full shield cappacity, so it's a useful tool to have with you just incase, but again, we don't plan for failure! It does not stop the Bunkers wall forcefield from instantly killing you either. The Jetpack is another choice here, as you can jump over the Obelisk walls with it.
  
  

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Overall, you will notice 2 constants: The Railcannon and the Vindicator. Why? Simply put, they have good bang for their buck on top of some of the best cooldown times for offensive strategems, on top of the Vindicator having a very easy keypress sequence to call in.


While others are more powerful, the Railcannon is reliable, powerful against armor, and has a quick enough cooldown. As long as you are not encountering heavy armor every 10 feet and are good about not allowing alarms to go off, you should never need more than 1-2 Railcannons. Assassination objectives are also much easier with a Railcannon strike on your target.

The Vindicator has utility against bug holes (and some against beacons/AA, though those require more special attention than just lobbing a ball into a bug hole), and if you are good with aiming it, its direct hits are good supplemental damage to enemy armor. I can usually Railcannon a bug Behemoth then dive bomb him to kill him. Vindicator is also good for in general any enemy, and puitting extra damage down, as it's activation time is also extremely fast. When solo, if you have a bunch of long cooldown strategems, and they either miss or are not enough to clear your ass for you, then you have no options left for a good while. These two offensive strats are more forgiving for small mistakes and most rewarding when used right.

The Turret is not useful in all situations, but when solo, is damn effective at defense objectives. Those we will go into more detail for soon, but suffice to say, it's easier to allow the turret to cover 90-180 degrees than for you to cover 360 degrees all on your own. When completing objectives is your goal, this can be vital.

The Distractor Beacon (AKA The Thumper) is also good in any situation, though not always necessary to succeed. You can definitely take it on any mission, just make sure you throw it in a good area and at a good time. Throw it too far from where you want to be working (like on an objective or extracting), it won't have much effect distracting enemies as it does have a limited range. Throw it too early and you just waste time you could have had some peace and quiet.

Here is my usual loadout for Bug Missions. Again, only a few things changed based on planet terrain, objective type and enemy type.

Honorable Mentions

SH-20 Shield Pack is still recommended mainly for Illuminate missions, but as it is a personal shield...well, it really is a useful failsafe in any situation. It can stop Cyborg hounds from destroying your hopes and dreams in one pass. It can allow you to survive a lot more than your normally would without it, it won't completely protect you from some insta-death things (like hellpods or Obelisk walls) but others it will stop, and is esspecially useful if you want a speedier mission completion and have to disarm ordanance along the way. So it has utility for just about anything. I only don't take it on non-Illuminate missions regularly because I prefer extra anti tank against Cyborgs, and don't find it very necessary against bugs.

Recoiless Rifle & EAT-17 are good candidates for anti tank damage as well as the bug hole/beacon/AA missions. Against AA especially, you won't have to worry about disabling the console to call in strategems, as long as you call it in outside the no comms area and bring it from there. They're also good for any armor that pops up and gets in your way unexpectedly. I usually do not take these though as they are one use and gone until I can safely call them in again (EAT-17s) or take too long to reload unless completely safe (Recoiless). I find it better to make use of the Railcannon and/or Vindicator, and if those don't work, run and try again later (or just run really far away). It's usually pretty easy to use the Shredder or if you are very lucky and diligent use the Hellbomb on the destruction objectives, and usually much quicker too.

The JumpPack, or jetpack, is an alternative to using All Terrain Boots when you don't have them. It does have good utility in its mobility just about anywhere, but overall Cardio will be better to use since it won't take a strategem slot and isn't lost upon death. I would generally only bring this solo when on Snow or Forest with lots of water and do not have or want to run All Terrain Boots.

Usually, it's best to start somewhere that allows you to tackle all objectives in a row and not have to double back for anything. Ideally you won't have to double back to any objective, so try to plan for that.

If you want samples mainly, you can drop just about anywhere, though the same concept applies of dropping somewhere you won't have to double back to.

Generally it's a bad idea to drop directly onto an objective. Patrols are almost always waiting there and may alarm before you are fully ready from your hellpod. Occassionally I drop directly on Capture objectives, since those can go quickly if you get lucky. But even then, it can backfire quickly, so don't ever count on dropping directly on objectives as a good idea.

These objectives are all ones that you can fail and lose the chance at getting experience for their completion. Keep in mind with all of these that moving too far from the objective in question will immediately fail them, even if there are no enemies attacking them. To complete them, you MUST be close enough.


Defend Missile Launch Facility
This one has given me the most trouble overall. Defending this launch site for 90 seconds is tough when it is just you and you have to cover all angles. This wouldn't be so bad if patrols didn't sound the alarm just from seeing the launch pad. Yes, patrols will do that, and it can screw you over royally when more enemies get called in and they never even really saw you. This is why covering all angles is paramount and difficult here; you must kill patrols before they get close enough not just to see you but to see the launch pad as well.

This is where having the turret comes in very handy. Place it just about anywhere and you will cover at least one angle, and instantly it becomes easier for you to cover the rest because you don't have to move around as much and worry about that last angle. Generally, you want the turret to cover at least 120 degrees around the launch site though, to be the most efficient. But I have been able to defend these without turrets at all and no alarms triggered, so even a turret in a bad place covering barely one angle or path is better than nothing. Place it wisely, but don't spend too much time pinpoointing the absolute best spot. Just place it, activate the launch, and get things rolling quick. When the turret is up, place yourself opposite of it with the launcvh pad in between to avoid it spinning and shooting you. With this setup, all angles should be covered and you should easily kill all patrols so no alarms go off and the objective is successful.

Geological Surveys
Yet another difficult defense objective, if not more so than the launch sites. Arguably it is harder as it require user input throughout the process, distracting you from shooting things, but surprisingly I have had less trouble with these ones than with the missile launch facilities.

Even so though, the same concept from the launch facilites applies here as well. Covering anles is paramount. You have the added challenge though of needing to be at the console to press buttons while also defending that drill at the same time. This is another great place for the turret to help you out. Generally, placing it in front of the drill, so that the drill is between the turret and the console, is best. This way you can stayt near the console and cover the angles on that side of it while tyhe turret defends the opposite side.

The third stage of this has you holding E to insert the next pipe for a good few seconds. Do not do this if patrols are coming at you and you can see them clearly. IF any take you by surprise, stop and kill them. At this stage it is not worth finishing the key press and risking the alarm, as you have time yet left ot wait before completion.

Once on the final stage, it can potentially be safe to forgo shooting patrols to just gather the data and run away. The final stage always has 4 key presses, one in each direction (i.e. up down left right), so expect that.

Escort Survivors
We all love escort missions, right? Well, don't fear these too much. While definitely not a fun mission, these actually have proven to be fairly easy to successfully complete overall compared to what most people may think on the basis of it being an escort mission alone.

These can be really easy or really hard though depending on the location of the survivors relative to the bunker you need to bring them to. Keep in mind that either way though, you ONLY NEED ONE TO MAKE IT TO THE BUNKER TO FINISH THIS OBJECTIVE! Don't get yourself into deeper ♥♥♥♥ trying to save all of them when one or two are being idiots and not keeping up. Let a few of them act as meatshields or distractions if necessary. If multiple patrols are closing in from behind or from an angle blocked by a survivor, do your best to shoot around them but don't let multiple alarms be triggered because of this. Shoot him and clear those patrols if absolutely necessary. If the last guy in line is being picked on by the ambushers, leave him be as a sacrifice unless there is nothing else around and you can afford to take a second to save him.

While these guys are notoroiously slow, you can still make good ground and good time with them if you just KEEP MOVING. Seriously, don't stop moving towards the bunker unless you absolutely have to. In fact, occassionally sprinting ahead will make them also get a small speed boost to catch up to (albeit a short, not extremely fast boost). If you have to leave one behind as a sacrifice, let him be, run ahead a bit, and the the other should keep up fairly well as long as nothing else impedes them.

Generally, I will let 2 survivors go down as sacrifices without much thought and just keep moving. But if there is still some good distance to the bunker, try to keep 2 alive as long as possible, just incase. With just 2 guys, you have two less things blocking your aiming angles so hitting patrols behind you is easier. Only let that 3rd guy die if absolutely necessary while very close to the bunker, then defend that last guy most vehemently.

Now, everything said above is really for worst case scenarios. Using a Thumper in the right place at the right time can help a lot, and activating the survivors also doesn't trigger extra patrols to spawn and come at you in the first place. So if you play your cards right here, you actually should not have too much resistance in bringing these guys to the bunker. Many, many times I manage to get all 4 to the bunker safely. I've even gotten two groups (8 total) while carrying a blackbox at the same time to the bunker with no trouble. Having impeccable awareness, and just by never stopping your movement towards the bunker, go a longer way here than micromanaging your survivors.


Escort Resource Convoy
This one can be one of the harder ones since you have to cover the convoy as it moves along. This one can also cause patrols to trigger the alarm from just seeing the convoy, even if they don't see you. Since this objective is moving, this complicates keeping the camera in a good spot to see all directions well at once.

The same defensive concepts apply here though, in keeping good camera discipline and playing your angles well. You just have to do it while constantly moving, and will occassionally have to sprint to cover certain angles that the terrain or convoy blocks temporarily at the worst possible moment. Like in all things though, you just want to avoid alarms being triggered. The Turret will not help you much here since the convoy will move well past it quite quickly. If you really want you can place one halfway down the track or thereabouts before even triggering the convoy, but overall it isn't worth the trouble. There are few strategems that will specifically help you here. Again, this one is just about speed, awareness, and dem angles.

These are objectives that have no way to fail specifically. You can die a lot while trying to complete them, but aside from that, you are forced to finish these successfully or you cannot extract. This is good in that you know you will succeed these objectives and get the experience points for them at the end of the mission. It also allows you to bail on the objective if things get too hectic and come back later, with the only consequence potentially being the keypress sequences reverting a few stages.

Activate Sam Sites
One of the easier ones overall, as it has only two stages. The first stage ALWAYS has the same keypress combo - down up up down. Get used to it so you can quickly activate the first stage on all the same sites.

The second stage will be a longer, random keypress sequence. Try to do this quickly of course, but take your time to make the right keypress. Unless something big is about to chew your ass, you can usually spare the extra second or two.

One thing to keep in mind on this (and other similar objectives) is that enemies on the opposite side of the SAM launcher from you will NOT trigger the alarm right away. They sort of have LOS to you, but the launcher itself seems to block this enough for them not to trigger an alarm, even though they know you are there and activly move towards you. Some enemies, especially bugs, easily can get stuck on the opposite side from you and be completely harmless because of it, and that is usually enough time to let you get off those keypress sequences and then just run. Always use caution and don't tempt fate here though of course, but usually you should be able to utilize this behavior of theirs to finish the sequence just fine.

You can use a Thumper or even a Turret here if you want to cover your back and make it easier, but honestly SAMs are the easier objectives of this type and you should always be able to get away with not using these strategems on them.


Assassination
These ones are usually pretty easy to complete. Expect to use your anti tank strategems on these though, mainly to just speed along the kill and not dally about. Your best bet with these is to catch the target as alone as possible, with few to no patrols near them so you can quickly concentrate all firepower on them. They all can be outrun with cardio easily if need be, but you should only have to run if patrols come in and sound alarms, just creating more enemies for you to fight. The Illuminate target is probably the worst to have to fight alongside a bunch of his friends, so do your best to catch him alone and/or kill him very quickly.

These guys roam around the map, and sometimes stray pretty far from their starting positions. They could find you first and attack you while you are occupied with something else, and if you're doing another objective or already swarmed, they can really ruin your day quickly.

Extermination Objectives
Extermination objectives are usually pretty easy. They are definitely straightforward. JUST KILL THINGS.

My only recommendation here is to not worry about these until very last on your list of objectives. Do everything else normally and you should usually kill enough enemies by the time you finish the other main objectives that you won't have to go out of your way to just find things to kill. If you absolutely have to though, let a few enemy patrols sound the alarm and kill whatever spawns. But don't let yourself get overwhelmed or carried away.

Activate Oil Extractors
This mission is unique to Bug worlds. It can appear on the map as one objective with 2 separate extractors sometimes, requiring both to be finished to complete just the one objective.

The first stage is easy and takes less than a second to complete. Activate this as soon as you get there. Only something about to chew your ass off should take priority over starting this.

The second stage is a short keypress sequence. You should be easily able to do this even with a few patrols around, but prioritize killing them first unless they are on the uttermost edge of your vision, and/or on the opposite side of the extractor from you. Just like the SAM sites, if they are on the other side and have direct LOS blocked to you, you can buy some time to press buttons while they figure out how to get around the extractor.

The third stage is the most difficult, as it requires you to stand still for 4-5 seconds holding down E, and by this point in the activation all patrols will be heading towards you unless a thumper is down somewhere. Always prioritize killing patrols you see immediately, even if it means stopping this stage to do so. If you try to go through with this when patrols are nearing you, the alarm will sound, guaranteed. You may be able to get away with an alarm at this point if it happened late in this cycle or they spawn on the opposite side of the extractor, but this is taking quite the risk nonetheless.

The final stage is a long keypress sequence. Again, take your time to do it right, but you may be hard pressed to do it quickly if an alarm was sounded last stage. If there was none last stage though, usually you can safely just concentrate on finishing this up and letting an alarm go off now, since you will be done and can just run afterwards.

You can come back to these as well if things get too heated. They will likely reset all the way, but that is better than dying and losing out on some extra XP.

Destroy Illuminate Beacons/Cyborg AA Guns/Bug Nests
While similar goals, their faction uniqueness also requires slightly different approaches. All of these can be destroyed by anything anti-tank in your inventory, so things like EAT-17s or anti armor strategems can take them out.

For Bug Holes, nukes are usually the best bet, but only for the groups of 5. Drop in a hellbomb if you want to defend it for a bit, otherwise if you brought the Shredder, just drop that in the middle and move along. If the holes only spawn in groups of 2 or 3, you can easily throw a Vindicator Dive Bomb strike into the hole itself, and that will kill it. Only a direct hit will do the trick though, so make sure to know how to aim these in there properly. Otherwise, you need to use some other anti tank weapon, or the bomb/nuke. I personally always use the Vindicator on these 2-3 bug hole groups, with it's low cooldown you can kill them in just a little more time than dropping a Shredder will.

For Illuminate Beacons, you have to take down their shield before anyything can damage and destroy them, with the exception of a well placed Shredder Nuke. If you bring in a hellbomb, shoot the shields away first on all beacons before you activate it, just to be sure. If you have to drop a Hellbomb though, be extra wary of the Snipers, as they can and will target the hellbomb, and since they usually do this from afar, you cannot always get an angle on them and stop them from shooting it. They will one hit kill it too (in my experience at least), only forcing you to have to waste more time to wait for another hellbomb and defend it. And then as you wait more, the beacon shields recharge. Because of this, you should really only use the Hellbombs when you have no other choice.

For Cyborg AA, you only have to disable the signal blocker so you can call in strategems near the AA. This is necessary only for your call ins though, so only really if you are using a Hellbomb or the Shredder. Even then, these both cannot be called in before entering the blocked signal zone and then thrown once you get to the right place. The comms blocker stops all strategems. You need to almost always disable the blocker, and call in a a Hellbomb or Shredder. Otherwise, the only way around it is anti tank you carry (EAT-17 or RR).

Retrieve Black Box/Power Core
I have heard that this is an objective you can fail, but have not confirmed that yet. Never have failed these ones. EDIT: Apparantly you can fail these if you are carrying the box/core and fall off a cliff. So...don't do that unless you really don't want to finish these!

They are simple and straightforward at least. Bring the thing to the bunker. Picking them up does not trigger patrols in your direction. Like escorts, just keep moving when you have this. Stop to shoot only ambushers that try to hinder you, and alarmer patrols that you have an easy shot at. Usually you can outrun patrols and most things they bring in from alarms, and yes, this is even while carrying the box/core. You would be surprised how far you can get if you just don't stop for anything.

Of course though, you may get unlucky a few times, or just have no other choice but to drop the box and run or take out threats. You don't want to use all your pistol ammo on this alone, so stop yourself form using it with 2 mags left to save for emergencies. You can always come back for these boxes/cores when things cool down. Just be sure to drop it somewhere where you won't be losing ground towards the bunker. If you stop along the way for other objectives, don't bring it with you right there, keep it along your best path to the bunker.

Activate Truth Transmitter (Cyborg only)
Unique to Cyborg missions. This is pretty similar to the Oil Extractors though, so treat it basically the same. The platforms these are on though are raised slightly and can sort of screw with your aim if standing on them right next to the panel. You may have to move off of it for reliable aiming and angles.

Again, this is pretty similar to the Oil Extractors. An easy first stage, with 4 total and each one taking a little more time to successfully execute. I find this one tougher than the Oil though simply because it's against Cyborgs, where random tanks and dogs require more immediate attention than bugs normally do. They can easily take your attention away from the objective and force it to take much longer overall to complete each stage. A Thumper is usually a good thing to use before starting this.

Repair and Fire Artillery
This is one of the more simple objectives, one which you can stop from losing stages if done correctly. Thankfully this is pretty easy. Each artillery station has 3 shells you have to load onto it, and all 3 shells are nearby, usually scattered behind it (conveyor belt side) in a somewhat triangular fashion (though not always exactly because of terrain). When you first reach this objective, bring all shells to the conveyor FIRST. Do NOT ACTIVATE the first stage before doing this. That will be what triggers patrols towards you. As far as I can tell, just picking up the shells does not. Besides, if you have so much aggro on you that you can't even get the shells to the conveyor, you will have a harder time activating the artillery anyways.

You can get all shells on the conveyor before starting the process. What this does is on the third stage allow all shells to load into the cannon immediately (as long as you put them all on the conveyor), and further speed along the process. Furthermore, at this stage, the shells are loaded, and won't just automatically be unloaded if you take to long to finish the last sequence. If things get hot right as you finish the second stage, you can run and come back to this sitting happily on stage 4. The final stage is a longer keypress sequence though, so while it will not revert back any stages, it still requires a couple seconds of focus to finish. Just don't let any hounds or hunters hit you here!

Disarm Unexploded Ordanance
You cannot actually faily this objective, though it may seem like it at first. It does not matter if you successfully disarm all bombs, or they all blow up in your face, the objective will complete successfully either way. If you have the personal shield, you can actually survive the bomb blast should you fail the disarming. Otherwise though, you should complete these successfully, as there is no way to avoid instant death otherwise.

For these, if possible try to get the minesweeper called down and picked up early when you have some downtime to do so, even if it's not the first objective stop on your path. This way when you do come across it, you can get right to work. Again, there are always 5 bombs to be disarmed on level 12 planets. It is usually a good idea to just focus on sweeping the area and finding all the ordanance first before disarming them, as you may be interrupted by patrols occassionally, forcing you to switch to your weapon to avoid an alarm going off. If you are in the middle of disarming a bomb and this happens, you pretty much have to finish the disarm sequence and risk the alarm going off (which it almost always will if you are taken by surprise like this), because the bomb will definitely kill you if you mess up, but you can run away from the alarm. If you have the shield you can intentionally mess up the sequence to focus on enemies, but this of course depletes your shield too.

It is possible to find and disarm each bomb as you find them, but may not always be easy. Using a Thumper before starting your sweep can buy you the time to do all or most of the disarms with no interruption though, so this is a good place to use one.

Extraction
This is your final objective each mission. Generally it is a good idea to save a Turret for this, as it can cover many angles in most extraction zones and take a lot of weight off your shoulders for covering all angles from the plethora of patrols coming your way. You can also still use a Thumper just before extracting, and a successful one will keep most, if not all, enemies off you for nearly the entire waiting period.

If you're lucky, you may have the extract zone bordered closely by a wall/edge of the map. If that is the case, put your turret on the side most opposite of that, and place yourself up near the edge, back to the wall, and aim towards wherever you need to (usually in the direction of your turret). This allows you to eliminate one direction of the enemy appearing, as it is possible for them to spawn pretty damn close to the extract zone and on the side of these edges of the map. You also are able to focus the camera in the only other directions the enemy can come in, on top of your turret covering your angles for you pretty well already. Illuminates pose the biggest challenge here really since the turret won't kill many, or any of their stealthed drones before they get to you, but back to the wall still at least helps with one less angle and spawn point to worry about.

Otherwise, treat this like any of the defend objectives like above, with a turret and thumper if possible, and you should do fine. When the shuttle arrives, get on it quickly - but if you are a real badass, make sure you throw some sort of airstrike (shreddder nuke if you have it ready) before getting on the shuttle, because ♥♥♥♥ those guys you were just fighting. If you don't airstrike your shuttle area as you leave, then you didn't truly earn that mission completion.



This was my first successful solo helldive. At level 17. See? Not so hard.

In no particular order.

• Don't ever stay and fight if things get out of hand. Alarms can have a dominoe effect if you don't kill patrols quickly enough and a ♥♥♥♥ ton of hurt can spawn on you very rapidly. You will never have enough firepower and maneuverability to kill everything on screen consistently AND do your objective while doing so.
  
  
• Again, when in doubt, RUN. You can outrun pretty much anything ingame with Cardio Accelerator, except for hounds, so if you have to, just run. Run far enough away from an area with lots of alarms triggered, and most, if not all, of those new enemies will soon despawn, and make the area safe agian.
  
  
• While solo you have supreme camera control, it is good practice to never aim where you do not have to. Aiming in one direction stretches the camera in that direction but can shorten the opposite side. This can lead you to not see something very close to you. This isn't a huge deal solo, but if you are careless easily can be. 2-4 player helldiver missions are almost always made FUBAR because of this though, where players do not try to exercise even some camera control and aim discipline to maintain the best centralized camera and awareness. More patrols are missed, more alarms triggered, and that dominoe effect just happens way more often.
  
  
• Hug walls and buildings and large, impassable cover whenever possible, but most especially when completeing objectives. The bugg behemoths for instance will not start charging you when there is something in between you and them. Use this to your advantage to either run away or bring something down to kill them. This also works on LoS for alarmers. Even if they are headed towards you and do know your location, if they don't see you, they won't alarm. I have been able to sit on the opposite side of SAM Sites from Cyborg tanks without them shooting or alarming just because the SAM was in between us. This works on most objective buildings. Enemies will still try to work their way around these obstacles though, but if you manipulate this enough you can almost always buy yourself a little time.
  
  
• Alarmer patrols always take priority over Ambushers, with the exception of Cyborg Hounds. Hounds will mess up your day royally if you allow them to run you over, so always prioritize them unless you can confirm they are stuck and not quite charging you yet. This may lead to some alarms inevitably, but if you let the hounds run you down it's only a stroke of luck that you will survive that still standing, and most often you will at least be knocked down and have to spend time getting up, in which time any number of things can go even more wrong. You can run from enemiies spawned by the patrols, but the dogs you cannot outrun. Bug ambushers do little damage and only slow you with sticky goo ♥♥♥♥, but also run away if they take a little damage, so they are easy to deal with and even can be ignored for a second or two if they are actively hurting you. Illuminate Hunters show you where they are about to shoot all the time so are very easy to dodge when on their own. Simply move out of the way of their shot, kill any other alarmers nearby, then worry about hunters.

Hopefully you learned a thing or two here. The two things you should always keep in mind though:

1) When in doubt, RUN. Your survival is paramount in all scenarios. While we want to push the limits here for maximum rewards, none of that matters if you die and fail.

2) Always airstrike/nuke your extract shuttle.

Now go kill some bugs for the Federation, Trooper!