Terminids Tactical Combat Guide

Situation: Your team triggers multiple patrols or a Breach spawns and suddenly thirty-plus bugs charge from multiple directions. The swarm threatens to surround and divide your squad.

🟢 Difficulties 1-3: Basic Kiting

Recognize encirclement before it completes. The moment bugs approach from more than one hundred eighty degrees, initiate coordinated movement in one direction to break the encirclement. All four players move together toward the thinnest part of the swarm, shooting through them to create a gap, then continue moving past that position. Never stop moving during a swarm event.

Shotguns and automatic weapons mow down the bugs directly in your path. Once clear, the swarm must turn and chase, which buys seconds for reload and healing. Continue this running gunfight, always staying ahead of the mass, until numbers thin to manageable levels or reinforcements arrive.

The key mistake at this difficulty level is panicking and having players run in different directions. The swarm splits and catches isolated players easily. Move as one unit.

🟡 Difficulties 4-6: Controlled Retreat with Area Denial

Swarms at this level have more health and recover from stagger faster, making pure kiting less effective. You need area denial tools to slow pursuit while maintaining mobility.

As the swarm converges, immediately call out the retreat direction and designate one player to drop area-denial stratagems or throwables in your wake as you move. Drop an Incendiary grenade or Gas grenade directly in the swarm’s path. They charge through it, taking damage and slowing. Follow immediately with an Eagle Cluster Bomb or Orbital Airburst timed for when the leading bugs enter the affected zone.

Maintain formation while moving. Front player leads and clears the path ahead. Rear player watches behind and calls threats. Side players protect flanks. Rotate these roles continuously so no one runs out of ammunition watching one direction too long.

If you have a Flamethrower support weapon, the rear player uses it to create a wall of fire behind the formation during movement. Bugs charging through flames die before reaching you. This technique, called “fire kiting,” becomes essential for higher difficulties.

🔴 Difficulties 7-9: Offensive Repositioning

At these difficulties, swarms include multiple Chargers, Bile Spewers, and tougher Warriors that require significant ammunition to kill. Pure defensive kiting burns through resources too quickly. You need to eliminate priority targets during the kite to reduce pressure rather than just delaying the inevitable.

Initiate the controlled retreat as before, but now coordinate target focus. Call out “Bile Spewer, left rear” and have two players turn simultaneously, dump damage into it, then resume movement. The Spewer dies in seconds of coordinated fire, removing its ranged threat permanently rather than just avoiding it temporarily.

For Chargers that charge through the formation, one player with Thermite or anti-tank weapons explicitly focuses them while others handle the swarm. A dead Charger is one less thing pressuring you. A wounded Charger still charging accomplishes nothing.

Use terrain aggressively. Kite toward high ground, through narrow passages, or around large obstacles that funnel the swarm into chokepoints where your area weapons achieve maximum effect. A swarm forced single-file through a canyon entrance loses its numerical advantage. Pour explosives and flamethrower fire into that chokepoint and the bugs burn themselves clearing it.

The discipline required here is maintaining formation while still allowing individuals to focus priority targets momentarily. Communicate constantly. “Turning left for Spewer, cover me” lets teammates adjust positions to compensate for your momentary distraction.

⚫ Helldive+: Emergency Dispersion and Rally

Helldive swarms occur with such frequency that you cannot kite indefinitely. Eventually you run out of map, resources, or patience. The advanced technique involves controlled emergency dispersion followed by coordinated rally.

When the swarm becomes truly overwhelming despite all the above techniques, call for emergency dispersion. All four players break in different directions intentionally. This seems counterintuitive to previous advice, but the swarm AI cannot chase four targets simultaneously. It splits, chasing whoever is closest or most threatening.

Each player leads their portion of the swarm away for exactly ten seconds while using movement abilities, stims, and terrain to survive. After ten seconds, all players converge on a pre-designated rally point—typically an elevated position or defensible terrain feature identified before the engagement.

As players arrive at the rally point, they have brief moments where only their portion of the swarm has caught up while others are still in transit. This creates a staggered engagement where you face twenty-five percent of the swarm for a few seconds, then fifty percent, allowing you to thin numbers before the full force reconvenes.

Drop your heavy stratagems at the rally point just before full reconvergence. The swarm clusters as it pursues multiple converging players, creating the perfect target for Orbital Laser or 500kg Bomb. Time it correctly and you eliminate half the swarm in one strike, turning certain death into manageable cleanup.

This technique requires trust in your teammates to survive their ten seconds and reach the rally point. Practice it on lower difficulties before attempting on Helldive under real pressure.

Situation: A Bile Titan or Charger appears among the swarm. These heavily armored boss bugs require specific tactics and cannot be simply out-DPSed with standard weapons.

🟢 Difficulties 1-3: Basic Heavy Response

The appearance of a Charger at lower difficulties is manageable with standard anti-tank options. One player immediately switches focus to the Charger while others handle swarm threats. Call out “I’ve got the Charger” so teammates know they can ignore it and focus on clearing the small bugs that might interrupt your attack.

For Chargers, avoid its frontal armor entirely. Circle strafe around it while shooting exposed rear and side plates. Shotgun blast its legs as you pass. If you have Thermite grenades, one or two to its rear legs will quickly cripple it. Alternatively, use Expendable Anti-Tank (EAT) rockets or Recoilless Rifle shots aimed at its vulnerable points.

Bile Titans at this level are rare, but the tactic is similar. Never stand still when one appears. Mobility is your defense against its acid mortar. Watch for it rearing back, which signals an incoming spit. Dodge perpendicular to the attack vector at the last second. Forward or backward dodges still get hit by splash radius.

Bile Titans have too much health for small arms. Immediately call for anti-tank stratagems. An Orbital Precision Strike or Eagle 500kg Bomb targeted at its position will kill or severely wound it. Multiple Thermite grenades work if you coordinate throwing them in sequence rather than all at once—stagger the throws so continuous burning occurs.

🟡 Difficulties 4-6: Coordinated Heavy Elimination

Multiple heavies now appear simultaneously or in rapid succession. Your team needs explicit anti-armor roles assigned. At least two players should carry Thermite grenades or anti-tank weapons specifically for these encounters.

When a Charger appears, the designated anti-armor players immediately engage it with Thermite or railgun fire while the other two players aggressively push forward against the swarm to create space. This prevents the swarm from reaching the anti-armor players while they focus on the heavy. The swarm handlers use flamethrower or automatic fire to create a barrier between the Charger kill zone and the team.

For Bile Titans, positioning becomes critical. Spread out immediately upon detection to minimize the chance of one acid glob killing multiple players. Designate one player as “bait” who maintains the Titan’s attention through consistent fire while staying mobile. The Titan tracks that player, making its movements predictable.

The other three players use this predictability to flank and attack from sides or rear with anti-tank weapons. A Bile Titan focused on Player One does not immediately turn to face Player Three launching rockets at its side. This divided attention lets you pour damage into vulnerable spots while the bait keeps it occupied and dodging.

Always kill priority before engaging the heavy if multiple Terminids are present. A Bile Spewer behind you will kill you while you focus the Titan. Have one player assigned as rear security who handles any ranged threats that appear during the heavy engagement.

🔴 Difficulties 7-9: Pre-Planned Heavy Response

At these difficulties, heavies appear frequently enough that you need prepared responses rather than improvised reactions. Before the mission, designate heavy kill roles and stratagem allocation explicitly.

Player assignments might be: Player One carries primary anti-armor (Thermite plus Recoilless Rifle), Player Two carries secondary anti-armor (Railgun plus Orbital Precision), Players Three and Four handle swarm control (flamethrowers, area stratagems) and bait duties.

When a Charger appears, Players Three and Four immediately aggro it and begin kiting in one direction, drawing it away from Players One and Two. This gives the anti-armor team clean shots without worrying about melee swarm interference. The kiters use stims and mobility stratagems to survive the charge attacks while anti-armor eliminates it from a position of safety.

For multiple Chargers or a Bile Titan plus Chargers combination, stack your anti-tank stratagems rather than using them individually. Drop an Orbital Precision Strike on the Bile Titan, immediately followed by Player Two’s Orbital 120mm Barrage. The combined damage ensures the Titan dies even if your first strike only wounds it. Simultaneous strikes prevent the Titan from moving out of subsequent attack zones.

Chargers die to focused Thermite application. Each anti-armor player throws one Thermite at a different Charger rather than both throwing at the same target. This simultaneous damage splits your pressure across multiple threats rather than overkilling one while the other rampages freely.

Advanced technique: Use Charger charges against them. When a Charger charges, sidestep at the last moment and throw Thermite at its now-exposed side or rear as it passes. The charge momentarily makes it vulnerable and creates distance from the swarm, giving you the window to apply anti-armor damage safely.

⚫ Helldive+: Sacrifice Plays and Stratagem Efficiency

Helldive presents scenarios where multiple Bile Titans or five-plus Chargers appear simultaneously. Traditional tactics fail against this density. You need unconventional approaches.

Sacrifice plays become valid tactics. If a Bile Titan pins the team in a bad position, one player with a Reinforce stratagem cooldown available can deliberately draw it away and die, leading it far from the team. The player respawns via Reinforce at the team’s position thirty seconds later, and the Titan is now far enough away that objectives can be completed before it returns. This trades one temporary death for mission progress.

Stratagem efficiency means using multi-purpose strikes. An Orbital Laser does not just damage the Bile Titan you aim it at—its sweep damages everything in the path. Call it perpendicular to both the Titan and the swarm’s approach vector. The laser kills the Titan and carves through dozens of small bugs simultaneously, solving two problems with one cooldown.

The 380mm Barrage, while random in its impact pattern, excels in multi-heavy scenarios. Drop it in an area with two Chargers and a Bile Titan. The sustained barrage over thirty seconds will hit all three multiple times, likely killing or crippling all of them without requiring precise aiming. Accept that players might need to evacuate the barrage zone and regroup afterward.

Resource management extends to life and death. If someone goes down during a heavy engagement and the Reinforce cooldown is available, sometimes reviving them immediately is less efficient than using Reinforce to drop them back in fully armed and healthy. The Reinforce pod’s impact can damage or kill enemies near the landing zone, adding tactical value beyond just respawning the player.

Situation: Mission requires holding a location while completing an objective—launching ICBM, conducting Geological Survey, protecting upload terminals. Bugs continuously spawn and assault your position.

🟢 Difficulties 1-3: Basic Perimeter Defense

Form a loose circle around the objective with all players facing outward. Space yourselves far enough apart that one acid glob or explosive cannot hit multiple people, but close enough to provide mutual support. Each player watches roughly ninety degrees of approach.

Call out threats in your sector. “Bugs coming from north” alerts teammates to the threat’s direction so others can assist if their sectors are clear. Reload timing becomes critical—stagger reloads so at least two players always have loaded weapons ready to fire.

Use the objective itself as partial cover if possible. Position yourself so the objective structure blocks one approach vector, forcing bugs to come from predictable angles. This simplifies defense by reducing the directions you must watch simultaneously.

Light area denial helps even at this level. Throw a few mines or grenades at likely approach paths before the timer starts. When bugs trigger them during the defense, you get free kills without expending ammunition or attention.

The key is maintaining the perimeter until the objective completes rather than trying to push out and kill every bug. You do not need to eliminate all enemies, only prevent them from reaching the objective and your squad until the countdown ends.

🟡 Difficulties 4-6: Layered Defense with Stratagems

Bug density and frequency at mid-difficulties requires stratagem support to maintain the perimeter. Before activating the objective, have the team drop defensive stratagems in a layered pattern around the position.

First layer: Deploy automated sentries (Gatling Sentry, Autocannon Sentry) facing the most likely approach vectors. These provide early warning and initial attrition as bugs enter range. Position them fifteen to twenty meters from the objective so they engage threats before bugs reach you.

Second layer: Drop mines and barbed wire fences between the sentries and the objective. Bugs charging past the sentries hit these obstacles, slowing them and taking damage. This buys you reaction time to shoot wounded bugs before they reach point-blank range.

Third layer: Your defensive position around the objective. Now when bugs arrive, they have already taken damage from sentries and obstacles, making them easier to finish with small arms fire.

Coordinate stratagem rotations. When your first wave of sentries gets destroyed or runs out of ammunition, immediately drop the next set. Do not wait until you are being overrun to call replacements. Proactive replacement maintains pressure on the swarm rather than reactive replacement after you have lost defensive advantage.

For defend-until-timer missions, use Orbital Barrages or Eagle Strafing Runs in front of your position in continuous sequence. Call one strike to hit the swarm at thirty seconds into the defense, another at sixty seconds, another at ninety seconds. This staggers your heavy firepower throughout the entire defense rather than dumping everything immediately and having nothing for the final push.

Assign one player as the objective “babysitter” if the objective requires interaction. That player does not participate in perimeter defense except in emergencies. They watch the objective terminal, complete interaction prompts when required, and serve as last-line defense if bugs breach the perimeter. This prevents the common disaster where everyone focuses on shooting bugs and misses critical interaction windows.

🔴 Difficulties 7-9: Dynamic Defense and Controlled Abandonment

Traditional static defense fails at these difficulties when Bile Titans, multiple Chargers, and dense swarms converge simultaneously. You need flexibility to temporarily abandon the position when pressure exceeds defensive capability, then quickly return once the wave passes.

Establish a rally point near the objective before starting—typically a piece of elevated terrain or building thirty to fifty meters away. This gives you a fallback position when defense becomes untenable.

Monitor the situation constantly. When you see two Chargers plus a Bile Titan plus swarm approaching simultaneously, call for controlled abandonment. All players disengage from the objective, moving to the rally point together. Let the enemies swarm over the now-empty objective area.

From the rally point, use heavy stratagems on the clustered enemy mass at the objective. They bunch up around the empty position looking for targets. An Orbital Laser or 500kg Bomb into that cluster eliminates most threats. Once the stratagem detonates, immediately move back to the objective and resume defense. The timer pauses when you leave the objective zone on some mission types, or it continues but you survive rather than dying pointlessly.

This technique requires discipline. Newer players panic when abandoning the objective, thinking it means failure. It does not. Temporary repositioning to survive beats dying at the objective and failing the mission. The objective does not take damage from bugs swarming it—only player death causes mission failure.

Advanced defensive positioning uses terrain height. If you can defend from elevated ground overlooking the objective rather than at ground level, do so. Bugs charging uphill arrive staggered rather than all at once, and you gain sight line advantage to shoot them before they reach melee range.

Split your defensive formation into two groups rather than a circle. Have two players defend one approach heavily while two defend the opposite side heavily. This concentrates firepower and mutual support while accepting that sides will be weakly defended. Bugs that come from the sides get caught in crossfire from the front and rear groups.

⚫ Helldive+: Rotation Defense and Zone Control

Helldive defense scenarios last longer with more intense pressure. Static positions become death traps as ammunition depletes and stratagems remain on cooldown. You need rotation defense tactics.

Instead of defending one position for the entire objective duration, establish three defensive positions in a triangle around the objective, roughly thirty meters from it at each point of the triangle. Number these positions One, Two, and Three.

Start defense at Position One. When the swarm pressure becomes intense, call for rotation to Position Two. All players move together to Position Two and engage from there. The bugs that were pushing Position One now must reorient and charge toward Position Two, buying you time to reload and resupply.

Continue rotating every sixty to ninety seconds or whenever pressure peaks. Position One → Position Two → Position Three → back to Position One. This rotation confuses bug AI slightly as they continuously chase your changing position, and it allows you to use each position’s defensive stratagems before moving to fresh ones.

Drop your automated defenses at each position before you start the objective. Position One gets two sentries, Position Two gets two more, Position Three gets the final two. As you rotate, you always have active automated support because the sentries remained in place while you moved.

Zone control becomes critical at this level. Use area-denial stratagems not just to kill bugs but to create “no-go zones” that force them into preferred approaches. Drop Napalm Strikes on one side of the objective to block that approach entirely. Bugs path around the fire, concentrating them on the other approaches where you are prepared and aiming.

Continuous communication is mandatory. Call out “Rotating to Two, mark it” and actually use the ping system to mark Position Two so everyone knows the destination. Call out “Gas grenade blocking west approach” so teammates know that approach is temporarily sealed and they can focus other directions.

The mental shift required for Helldive defense is accepting that you will not kill every bug. Your goal is survive and complete the objective, not achieve maximum elimination count. Sometimes the correct action is ignoring the ten small bugs crawling around and focusing the Bile Titan about to mortar your position. Let the small ones live temporarily while eliminating actual threats.

Situation: You spot a Terminid emitting orange cloud (Breach Summoner). Within seconds, a Breach occurs—multiple tunnels open and swarms pour out unless you interrupt it.

🟢 Difficulties 1-3: Immediate Interruption

The moment any player sees orange mist emanating from a bug, everyone immediately shoots that bug. Call it out loudly: “Breach bug, focus!” Speed matters more than accuracy. Even one hit interrupts the summon and the orange cloud dissipates.

At lower difficulties, Breach summons occur rarely and are often single-bug events. The threat is manageable if you react quickly. The danger is tunnel vision during combat—you focus on shooting the bug in front of you and miss the Breach summoner behind your teammate.

Train yourself to scan for orange clouds constantly during Terminid engagements. It becomes a pattern recognition check: see orange, shoot immediately, return to previous target. This three-second interruption prevents a thirty-second crisis.

If you fail to stop the Breach, prepare for swarm response tactics. The Breach spawns ten to twenty additional bugs from underground tunnels. Treat it as a swarm attack scenario and implement the basic kiting tactics discussed previously.

🟡 Difficulties 4-6: Predictive Breach Response

Breaches at these difficulties occur more frequently, sometimes with multiple simultaneous summoners. You need more sophisticated detection and response.

Sound cues become important. Breach summoners emit a distinct audio signal before the visual orange cloud appears. Train your ear to recognize this sound—a kind of high-pitched chittering different from normal bug noises. When you hear it, immediately start scanning for the source even before visual confirmation.

Positioning prevents Breaches more effectively than reaction speed. During combat, maintain formation where everyone covers different sight lines. One player always watches the rear specifically for flanking threats and Breach summoners that spawn behind you. Rear security is that player’s primary job during engagements.

When Breaches occur despite prevention efforts, respond with area-denial stratagems immediately. The bugs spawn from specific tunnel locations marked by dirt eruptions. Drop Orbital Airburst or Incendiary strikes directly on these tunnels as bugs emerge. You catch them clustered at the spawn point, potentially killing the entire Breach wave before it spreads.

Advanced prevention: Some community testing suggests that killing bugs extremely quickly can reduce Breach spawn rates. If you eliminate a patrol completely within seconds of engagement, the game may not trigger Breach reinforcement because the AI never escalated the threat level. This is unconfirmed but supports the general principle that faster kills mean fewer complications.

🔴 Difficulties 7-9: Breach Acceptance and Mitigation

At high difficulties, Breaches occur with such frequency that preventing every single one becomes impossible. The tactical shift is accepting that Breaches will happen and preparing mitigation rather than prevention.

Your team needs at least two players with instant-activation crowd control tools ready at all times. Gas grenades, stun grenades, or EMS Mortar strikes. When a Breach occurs, immediately deploy crowd control at the breach site while you reposition to a better fighting position.

The key insight is that newly spawned bugs require two to three seconds to orient and engage after emerging. They do not immediately charge. This lag gives you a window to either dump damage into the spawn point or evacuate to better terrain before they activate.

If multiple Breaches occur simultaneously, priority-triage them by location. A Breach behind you demands immediate attention because bugs will surround you. A Breach to your flank is less critical because you can angle your formation to address it while continuing to move. Never stand still trying to kill every Breach wave—continue moving while fighting them or you enable additional Breaches through extended combat duration.

Heavy stratagems are Breach insurance. Keep one heavy strike available rather than using all of them immediately in combat. When multiple Breaches cascade and the situation deteriorates toward squad wipe, having an Orbital Laser or Eagle Cluster Bomb ready to drop as an emergency reset matters more than having used them earlier for routine kills.

Some missions have higher Breach rates than others based on proximity to bug nests or map type. If you notice frequent Breaches within the first few minutes, adjust your tactics to assume continuous Breach pressure for the entire mission. This mental preparation prevents panic when the fifth Breach triggers—you expected it and are ready.

⚫ Helldive+: Breach Baiting and Spawn Manipulation

Advanced technique for confident teams: intentionally triggering controlled Breaches to dictate spawn locations rather than letting them occur randomly at inopportune moments.

The theory is that the game’s spawn system has cooldowns on how frequently Breaches occur in a given area. If you deliberately trigger a Breach in a good location for you—open ground with sight lines and no swarm currently present—you force the spawn there and reset the cooldown, potentially preventing a Breach later in a worse location.

To bait a Breach, deliberately prolong combat with a small patrol near good defensive terrain. Keep a few bugs alive longer than necessary, giving the spawn system time to decide a Breach is warranted. When it triggers, you are already positioned in optimal fighting terrain and prepared with stratagems ready.

After the Breach completes and you eliminate the wave, immediately move to the next objective. The spawn cooldown means that area is less likely to Breach again soon, giving you a temporary safe zone for resupply and planning.

This technique is high-risk and should only be attempted by teams with strong communication and tactical discipline. Poorly executed Breach baiting creates crises instead of preventing them. But mastered, it gives you agency over spawn events rather than being purely reactive.

Spawn manipulation also includes intentionally destroying bug holes in specific patterns. Community theory suggests that destroyed holes increase spawn pressure at remaining holes, creating predictable spawn vectors. If you destroy all holes except those north of the objective, spawns will likely concentrate from the north, allowing you to prepare defenses facing that direction specifically.

Situation: Primary objectives complete. Shuttle called. Ninety-second countdown active. Bugs pour from every direction toward the extraction point.

🟢 Difficulties 1-3: Basic Extraction Hold

Form a circle around the extraction beacon as discussed in defensive tactics. The shuttle touchdown zone is clear—do not stand directly on the beacon or the shuttle landing will kill you.

Call out shuttle arrival timing. “Thirty seconds to shuttle” lets everyone prepare. At fifteen seconds, check ammunition and ready sprint toward the shuttle when it lands. At five seconds, watch for the shuttle’s approach and be ready to board the instant it touches down.

Do not try to kill every bug. The mission objective is board the shuttle, not eliminate all enemies. If the shuttle lands and a clear path exists, sprint to it immediately and board even if bugs remain alive nearby. Every second spent killing unnecessary targets is a second closer to someone getting grabbed and left behind.

If someone goes down during extraction countdown, evaluate revival priority. If shuttle arrival is imminent (under ten seconds), use Reinforce to respawn them directly at the shuttle rather than exposing yourself to revive them manually and risk a second player death. The pod landing provides momentary safety as bugs recoil from the impact.

🟡 Difficulties 4-6: Phased Withdrawal to Extraction

Bug density at this level makes the extraction zone dangerous well before the shuttle arrives. Arriving early lets you set up defenses, but staying too long depletes resources fighting continuous waves.

Advanced extraction timing: Move toward the extraction zone and call the shuttle when you are thirty seconds away from it. This synchronizes your arrival at the extraction point with the shuttle’s ninety-second countdown. You arrive with sixty seconds remaining, set up quick defenses, fight one wave, then board. This minimizes total time spent holding the extraction zone.

Phased withdrawal technique: The entire team does not move to extraction simultaneously. Two players (the anchor team) move to extraction first and begin setting up defenses. The other two players (the rear guard) remain at the objective location or between it and extraction, holding off pursuing bugs.

The anchor team calls “Anchors set” when basic defenses are established. Rear guard then sprints to extraction, deliberately leading the chasing swarm toward the prepared defenses where the anchor team and deployed stratagems are ready. This controlled kiting delivers the swarm into kill zones rather than letting bugs arrive randomly.

For the final thirty seconds before shuttle arrival, use your remaining heavy stratagems without reservation. You will not need them after extraction, so expend everything. Drop the Orbital Laser, throw remaining grenades, activate any unused support weapons. This burst expenditure thins the final waves significantly.

Shuttle landing priorities: The shuttle will crush enemies underneath it when landing. Position yourself so enemies are between you and the incoming shuttle approach vector. They get splattered, clearing the immediate boarding path. Then board swiftly.

🔴 Difficulties 7-9: Extraction Kiting and Pod Armor

Static defense at extraction becomes nearly impossible at these difficulties due to sheer enemy density and the appearance of multiple heavies during the final countdown. You need mobile extraction tactics.

Kiting circle extraction: Rather than defend a static position around the beacon, your team forms a moving circle that runs loops around the extraction point at thirty to forty meters distance. The bugs chase you in a massive conga line. You lead them in predictable paths that keep them away from the beacon while waiting for the shuttle.

This requires cardio conditioning and situational awareness. Every player uses stims liberally during the kiting phase to maintain speed. Watch your stamina bar constantly and pop another stim before it depletes completely. Being caught mid-kite with zero stamina is usually fatal.

Call out heavy threats during the kite. “Bile Titan northeast” alerts everyone to adjust the kiting path to avoid that threat zone. The circle flexes and adapts to terrain and enemy positions but maintains continuous movement.

When the shuttle arrives, the entire team sprints toward it simultaneously from different points on the kiting circle. This forces the swarm to change direction to pursue, buying precious seconds. Board immediately—do not stop to shoot unless someone goes down at the shuttle ramp.

Personal Shield Generator becomes extremely valuable at this difficulty for extraction insurance. If you have one, save it for extraction. Pop it at the shuttle ramp if you need those two seconds of invulnerability to board while bugs claw at the shield.

If one player goes down, the decision tree is strict: If they are at the shuttle, revive immediately because you are all there already. If they are away from the shuttle, evaluate whether Reinforce pod can drop near the shuttle before boarding is impossible. If Reinforce is available, use it and let them respawn. If not available and shuttle boarding window is closing, you must board without them. Three survivors beats four deaths.

⚫ Helldive+: Sacrifice Lines and Sequential Boarding

Helldive extraction presents scenarios where ensuring everyone boards becomes impossible. Advanced teams prepare sacrifice lines—predetermined roles where certain players accept death to enable others’ survival.

Sacrifice line concept: One player is designated the “objective carrier” who holds all samples or mission-critical items. This player boards first regardless of situation. A second player is the “carrier escort” whose job is ensuring the carrier reaches the shuttle. The other two players are expendable in the sense that mission success does not depend on their survival, only their actions enabling the carrier’s survival.

Sequential boarding execution: Carrier and escort reach extraction first and set up temporary defense. The other two players arrive later, leading the main swarm. As the shuttle lands, the two expendable players form a physical barrier between the swarm and the carrier, using their bodies and suppressive fire to buy the carrier those three seconds needed to board.

Once the carrier is aboard, the escort boards. The remaining two players attempt to board if possible, but accept that the swarm may overwhelm them. Two successful extractions beats zero extractions, and mission success only requires one Helldiver aboard with the samples.

This sounds grim, but remember that death during extraction is not permanent—you simply do not receive the end-of-mission bonuses for surviving. The mission still succeeds and you keep your XP and sample rewards if at least one player boards.

Alternative technique for confident aimers: Overwatch extraction. Three players board immediately when shuttle arrives. One player remains outside with a high-ground position and long-range weapon. That player provides covering fire and picks off priority targets while the shuttle prepares takeoff. At the last possible moment (usually five seconds before departure), the overwatch player sprints to the shuttle and boards.

This works because the shuttle has a brief window where doors are open but not yet closing. The overwatch player uses this window, providing those extra seconds of fire support that can mean the difference between the other three being overwhelmed before boarding versus staying safe long enough to get inside.

The risk is mistiming the sprint—if you miss the boarding window, you die alone and the mission succeeds without you. But for teams that consistently fail extraction by narrow margins, having one expert player stay outside providing suppression for those critical seconds improves overall success rates.