How to find and kill Devastators in Helldivers 2

Helldivers 2 Devastator
(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

You're likely looking to kill Devastators in Helldivers 2 so you can complete your daily Personal Order and get a hefty dose of Medals to spend on your Warbond. The problem is, Helldivers doesn't really tell you enemy names—unless you get murdered by them that is. Similar to Scout Striders and Chargers in previous Personal Orders, you might need a little pointing in the right direction.

If you want to take down 15 Devastators quickly, it'll make sense to be using the best weapons and the best Stratagems, especially since these bot enemies are pretty well armoured. Either way, here's how to find and kill Devastators in Helldivers 2 so you can get those Medal rewards.

How to kill Devastators

Since Devastators are Automaton enemies, you'll find them on the left side of the big galaxy map where all the red sections are. If you've been fighting Terminids this whole time and not paying attention to the broader strokes of galactic domination—the Automatons are invading, and we have to defend a series of planets, otherwise retake them once the bots are dug in. 

The best way to find and kill this enemy in-particular is via Planet Defense missions, particularly Eradicate Automaton Forces. They'll also appear in the Retrieve Essential Personnel missions, but these are a lot harder. As I highlighted when talking about farming XP and Medals from the former, there are lots of bot enemy types in these missions that are very easy to kill, including Devastators. You can set up Mortar Sentries and chuck down airstrikes as the bots drop from their ships, and chances are you'll rack up those Devastator kills in a few missions without even realising it.

That said, if you want to know what Devastators look like, you can check the screen above—they are big armoured robots around the same size as the dual chainsaw-wielding Berserkers, but these just have regular ranged weapons. There are two variants; the normal Devastator, and the far more dangerous Rocket Devastator, which as the name suggests has a couple of rocket pods on its shoulders. Worth noting you can shoot these off, though.

Besides airstriking, throwing grenades, or using the Grenade Launcher to spam grenades at them, the best way to kill Devastators is to shoot them in their tiny heads. The rest of their body is armoured, but they have a little head peeking out in the centre you can blast to take them out more efficiently.

Helldivers 2 weaponsHelldivers 2 stratagemsHelldivers 2 loadoutsHelldivers 2 armorHelldivers 2 medals

Helldivers 2 weapons: Best guns of Super Earth
Helldivers 2 stratagems: Understand the ordinance
Helldivers 2 loadouts: Finest kits for bug-killing
Helldivers 2 armor: Which suits to wear
Helldivers 2 medals: Where to claim more currency

Sean Martin
Senior Guides Writer

Sean's first PC games were Full Throttle and Total Annihilation and his taste has stayed much the same since. When not scouring games for secrets or bashing his head against puzzles, you'll find him revisiting old Total War campaigns, agonizing over his Destiny 2 fit, or still trying to finish the Horus Heresy. Sean has also written for EDGE, Eurogamer, PCGamesN, Wireframe, EGMNOW, and Inverse.

Read more
Helldivers 2 best weapons - A diver in the Freedom's Flame armour
The best Helldivers 2 weapons
A screenshot of Helldivers 2, depicting a Helldiver saluting while wearing an anthropomorphic facemask
Helldivers 2's latest warbond adds a stratagem I've craved since the galactic war started, a portable hellbomb
A Helldivers 2 soldier readies to draw his rootin' tootin' wild west pistol on some foolish automaton.
Helldivers 2's next warbond'll let you be a real space cowboy, and draw on those Automaton scum with a lever-action rifle
Helldivers 2
Helldivers 2 galactic war timeline: Every major event that's happened so far
Still image from "found footage" of Helldivers 2 game master Joel.
Helldivers 2 game master Joel offers a look back on the first anniversary of the galactic war
The Biovore, a beetle-like alien with an artillery cannon on its back, in a desert environment.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2's latest update leads with a fancy datavault for your battle-barge, but I'm far more interested in the new tyranid unit with a cannon on its back
Latest in Action
assassin's creed shadows protector's armor
Assassin's Creed Shadows hits 2 million players, putting it on track to be the series' most successful game yet
Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer still - woman in the front seat of a car, looking out the back window while holding a wad of cash
The specter of a GTA 6 delay haunts the games industry: 'Some companies are going to tank' if they guess wrong, says analyst
Western outlaws with masks and guns
'Players don't explore': former Grand Theft Auto 6 and Red Dead Online designer lays out the perils of 'open world fatigue'
Monster Hunter Wilds palico
Monster Hunter Wilds' first free update will feature 'a whole host of new additions' and a majestic water wyvern for players to blow sky high
Ichiban Kasuga goes divekicking in the Dave The Diver crossover DLC
Ichiban Kasuga makes like a dragonfish and joins Dave the Diver’s latest DLC on April 10th for some fisticuffs and a few rounds of karaoke
Assassin's Creed Shadows Tea Ceremony answers - Naoe about to sip tea from a bowl.
All Assassin's Creed Shadows Tea Ceremony answers
Latest in Features
Fragpunk
Somebody finally figured out casual Counter-Strike
Dean Hall at GDC 2025.
Outer space inspired DayZ's Dean Hall to become a modder and game developer, and now he's making a Kerbal successor called Kitten Space Agency
An image of a corpse with the text "You've been re-educated."
I played the lost videogame sequel to 1984, and came away more nostalgic than ever for gaming's awkward adolescence in 1999
Bears in Space
I downloaded this bear-obsessed comedy FPS to kill time before Doom: The Dark Ages and discovered the most underrated shooter on Steam
Fallout 76 ghoul screenshots
Getting to level 50 in Fallout 76 to become a ghoul actually isn't as daunting as it seems, which is why I created a new character
A man turns away from an open window while monsters gather in the dark
Look Outside is a survival horror RPG where you absolutely should not look outside