Really good advice. Funny how most people play this game as disposable cannon fodder going in guns blazing and getting torn apart. But your playstyle is very much that of a special operations commando, really cool dude.
Additional tip, enemy aggro. The aggro is shared between enemies if they make contact with each other. So if a patrol does trigger alarm, you can quickly kill the patrol before the dropships arrive and go back to stealth mod. The drop ship enemies won't know where you are and will simply investigate the area.
I did this a few times. It's great advice. Naturally, works best on the bots. It's near impossible to clear a bug patrol that called a breach before the breach opens and spews out bugs.
as a guy who's trying my best as a solo, I can assure that clearing something fast is crucial but using one or two minutes to get intels on the objective make things way easier and easier means less time so yeah, reco is important to be efficient in this game
@@Dinamit0_Bomb3rThe idea of slow is smooth is to not be pressured to go faster than you can handle effectively because rushing causes you to make errors. If you feel overwhelmed, it's a pretty good indicator that you're moving too fast and you need to slow down and assess your situation.
@@TechnoMinarchist that's kind of what I meant going too fast will take 2 minutes of objective and 6 minutes of mess but taking the time it requires will take 3 minutes of objective and like 0 to 1 minute of mess technically the "too fast" won't make that long to handle the mess, cause sometimes it just work, but its way to random for solo players to take the risk
I feel like playing these team-centric games solo is a sort of sub-genre, like speedrunning. And honestly, I live for it. Those long, lonely meanderings through the caves of Hoxxes sealed it for me.
One tip if you're running the autocannon - you can destroy bot factories if you deflect the shot off the vent flaps. This can be done from a pretty far range.
A second tip if you're using autocannon. Enemies are attracted to loud noises, and you have 60 shots worth of ammo. As long as you dont get spotted, it may be worth using a round or two to lure an enemy patrol away from somewhere you want to go (excluding the booty patrol, of course...).
If you run out of time, an automatic emergency extraction comes down two minutes later and, for whatever reason, it doesn't attract waves of enemies, so running the clock out might be the safer bet to get out safely sometimes.
I love that this game shows friendly fire damage, so when my friends say that they only killed me once on accident we can now see that they did 7k damage to me and "accidentally killed me" 3 times
Hahaha Had the same thing happen last night. *Me and I3 immediately blow up out of spawn* "I think F2 hit us with an impact again." "No way." 1700 Friendly Damage at Stat Screen
@@doubledaredangames my friend will constantly place the damn mines everywhere. Worst part is, he fully believes they kill enough enemies to be deemed justified... we're just numbers to him 😭😭
Also remember, the mission trumps all. Extracting just gets you a bit more XP, taking out your objectives and the nests or factories will net you more. Not every soldier comes back from battle. There is no shame in completing the mission at the cost of extraction. I treat extraction as a surprise, not a given.
I have never seen such a comfortable, calming guide to a crazy, adrenaline filled, panic inducing game. Thanks you good sir. Nice background music, nice voice, nice tone, and great advice.
Wonderful video, this was some diamond level solid advice. Arguably the best piece of advice here, though, is the last. “Once you’ve extracted, get some water.” I find that we often neglect our basic needs when gaming, and even sometimes when we’re not. Taking care of ourselves is incredibly important, even for the game. Dehydration, a lack of physical activity, poor sleep, and poor eating all mean you won’t be operating at full mental capacity, so your performance will be negatively impacted. Remember, take care of yourself first, so you can be the best that you can possibly be in the fight for DEMOCRACY!
@@5amura115many think it’s cool to stay really late. Wake up super late or early. Having an irregular schedule. Honestly I think that’s all very stupid and going to bed early and waking up early, w a consistent schedule, is very healthy
id like to add that tanks can be killed with 2 high explosive grenades if landed right (near vents, but turret should be close enough) since airstrikes have long cooldowns, i think this is worth a mention
@@casualbydefault my only issue with the impacts is how difficult it is to use them on bot factories. I know its possible, but its much harder than on bug holes
@@Karak971 Yeah, if you're using impacts vs bots, you've gotta have a different solution for bot factories. I like banking autocannon shells into them, but you can also just use a destructive strike, or drop any pod at their door (like supplies, sentries, low CD EATS, etc).
One of my first missions with randoms was shutting down a bugsymp propaganda broadcast on some backwater ice cube. We got to the objective and I was getting ready to do some Hacker Hero, when one of my teammates just halted us outside the perimeter and dropped a bomb on the place. Mission complete. It's fun to learn new things. 🙂
I naturally gravitated towards this exact mindset of play, being objective-focused and annoyed with prolonged firefights. After finding that most random teammates have no situational awareness and are willing to drop on me while I'm deep in the middle of a heavy outpost then start firing like madmen, I stopped playing in teams. A 10 minute dive would take 20-30 instead due to teammates clumping up nowhere near objs and dying to the onslaught they attracted until they rage quit, leaving me with no reinforcements while I had to complete the rest of the mission alone. I get the fun behind run-n-gun, but the least people can do is not sabotage the one guy trying to wrap up a mission for everyone else.
Something you might want to try is joining low difficulty SOS missions. There's no pressure to perform, people are thankful for the help, no real risk, and you get those standard samples that EVERYONE needs more of. I started doing that last night. I've made no joke 800 credits and a couple hundred medals from POI loot.
I've started using them as distractions while I go after objectives. Breaches and drops can only be on one section of the map if I remember correctly. We win, they got to shoot shit. Win win.
Playstyles are a huge setup for most. Thanks for adding that. Me and my bro are completly different when it comes to loadouts. He loves the slugger, I love the Scorcher. My bro loves his Autocannon, and I like running MG-43 with supply pack. He likes mortar turrets. I like railcannon strikes. I often compliment all the others in a squad so I'm more of a support.
I love and appreciate how slow and melow the vibe of the is and not fast and just yelling in my face. I like how you are talking to us as adults slow and took your time, I truly appreciate it
I also highly recommend getting a turret of some kind, can do wonders to distract enemies or help with crowd control when youre own. Being chased by a group you dont have the ammo to deal with? Drop a sentry and keep running, if youre still being chased then take out whatever stragglers remain. Alternatively, drop an orbital on a compound then immediately throw in a sentry after, really thins down the number of enemies
Personally I don't use turrets, but that's on account of not being in the same place long enough. I've seen a lot of people underestimate a simple gatling turret though.
I typically use a minigun turret to clear out small bases. Im pretty sure turrets cant trigger bot drops since its not a player, either that or it just hasnt happened to me. But funnily enough, the turret either handles all the enemies itself, or it gets destroyed and the enemies go back to low alert. Pretty useful even for stealth, despite being so fn loud lol.
@@JebblesJunior When you are in a squad defending extraction or really any prolonged fight, the EMS mortar sentry is pretty nice to just slow all the enemies down and let everything else you're doing wreak havoc. It just stuns things all over the place and you mop them up. The downside is that it is harder to bail yourself out with like a red strategem because the enemies will kill it immediately if they're swarming you
I adore how positive and supportive large parts of the Helldivers community are. Do what you can handle, don't feel bad if that doesn't feel like much. Just great life advice in general.
A small tip for being sneaky is that not all guns were created equally in how loud they are. Sidearms in particular don't immediately give your location away to every nearby enemy once fired, but it will cause them to come investigate the noise (and the dead bot you likely just created). This includes the Senator revolver despite how loud it sounds. It's very good at quickly and somewhat quietly subduing small bots that normally might have called for reinforcements were you to just start storming an outpost with your primary/support weapon.
From the music, to the advice, to something as simple as his voice, this video is not only very informative but just beautifully made. Thank you fellow Helldiver. ✊🏽
Arc thrower is also an excellent choice for cracking heavy armor. Takes more shots than some of those other weapons at times, but if you master it and it's quirks, it's hard to beat. Also excellent for dealing with things like walkers and devastators, since it'll arc between them. It kills hulks, it kills tanks, it kills turrets.... With the exception of factories, it kills basically everything, whether targeting weak spots or not (but obviously weak spots are preferred if possible). It also has infinite ammo so you never need to worry about running dry. I usually run solo and it's been my go to ever since the railgun nerf.
I'm starting on the lower difficulties and going up slowly over time. Did the same in Deep Rock Galactic! Plus, it helps to learn about the enemies alone rather than having all my teammates bombard everything with stratagems.
If you're not running a backpack I would highly recommend the autocannon as a support weapon for solo bots. You can direct bots with it as they will investigate where your shot hits instead of where you fire from. You can destroy bases from range by shooting the vents. Take out hulks with 1 or 2 shots to the eye, tanks with 2 shots to the vents, devastators with 2 shots to the body. Plenty of ammo, no charging up, and reload is pretty quick as long as you've only fired 5 to 9 shots.
IMO the Autocannon is almost mandatory. If you find another weapon mid-match, like a Railgun, switching to it can be a fine idea. But for the early game, being able to destroy a Stratergem Jammer from a distance by hitting the vents is a godsend.
I accidentally (mostly) and sometimes intentionally followed this advice because I solo'd my first few missions. Best Helldivers 2 vid I've seen so far. Great sense of humor, too. Dry & deadpan.
For people who are not confident in doing full missions solo on 7 and up for the super samples, 2 things: 1. All you need to do is the main objective, if something becomes too bothersome (like Stalkers) then you can take it out, otherwise just ignore it and get the job done. 2. find the Super Samples, grab 'em and get out. You do not NEED to do anything other than the main mission, hell, sometimes you don't even need to do the main mission if you run out of time all you need to do is get your ass on the dropship. You'll get the experience and requisitions for any sidequests you did and you'll get the samples. Sometimes that's all you need, do not worry. There are plenty of guides on how to find the Super Sample Rock easily, so don't you worry. If you pick your fights carefully (i.e only the ones you NEED to, like objectives or a Patrol that spots you) and have your loadout tailored to any situation, you'll do fine. Hell, if doubt still clouds your mind just remember - running is always an option (unless you're wearing Heavy Armour). Got a Titan you have no way of dealing with? Run Away. Got a horde of stuff that you can't kill all of? Run away and kill the shit that managed to keep up (usually Scavengers, Hunters and the occasional Brood Commander or Charger, for Bots it's the Commisars and Berzerkers that tend to keep up), that will DRASTICALLY lower the number of things you need to deal with for the time being. Watch where you're going though, don't blunder right into a hive or factory or right into an Acid Mine which will slow you down and allow things to keep up. Play your cards right and you will very quickly get new Personal Records on how low your kill count was - and that's a good thing in most cases!
Legit this vid was great man. Simple advice, Iterate on tactics until success and build skills. Its the nicest "Git Gud" you could have made but included all the basics we need to build on. very nice.
Hulks and commander’s can call for reinforcements as well. Also 90% of the call-ins will land too late to stop a patrol from calling in said reinforcements, lob a grenade and back it up by targeting the commissars (gun and 1 sword) or regular orange micro bugs. Also, manned or enemy turrets of ANY kind are NOT your friend. Avoid them entirely or get the drop on their weak points before engaging anything else around. I’d rather take in hulks backed up by tanks screened by berserkers than a single enemy tower turret.
I was speaking on the bot grunts my bad. Personally, out of a couple hundred missions I've yet to see a hulk call one in. When it comes to stopping reinforcements, bots I can stop pretty regularly. Bugs on the other hand, I can never stop those damn call ins. In regards to turrets, I'm not half bad about hitting the manned ones. The cannons though, ever since the railgun nerf I resent them wholeheartedly. I need my rocket pod throws to get more accurate.
I play a lot of solo missions, mostly against the bots, and this is all good advice, but I have a few things to add. First, know the stratagems and weapons your bringing inside and out. I'm a big fan of the autocannon because the partial reload mechanic makes it possible to fire all of your ammunition almost uninterrupted. But it also requires you to stop moving to reload, and it's easy to forget those things in heat of battle. Which leads me to point number two: plan on things going wrong. You may get slowed down by a tank, or have to detour around a patrol. If you take out the main objectives first (not completely, that dials up the patrols, so stop at the last button push) it's an inconvenience. If you save them until the end, it could mean a failed mission. My last point was covered in the video, but I wanted to emphasize it. You should have two modes "quite as a mouse" and "throw open the gates of hell". Most of the time, draw as little attention as possible. When you actually engage, though, you want to do so with maximum firepower and maximum efficiency. Get in as close as possible, then open with a large air stratagem like a bombing run or a 500kg. With practice, you can knock out all the objectives in medium and small bases with a single pass. If so, make a quick dash through the base, snag a sample or two and get out. If not, finish it fast. Support weapons, grenades, stratagems, whatever it takes, but prioritize the objectives, not the bots themselves. Killing bots is both satisfying and patriotic, but liberty is only spread by completing objectives.
Great video with really good tips. I have also been playing solo against bots for the past days and it is interesting to see that 70% of the strategies you mention in the video I have learned too the hard way. Stealth, proper equipment and patience is the key. Also, I think the grenade launcher is quit the good alternative to the railgun as it can chew up bots with easy, including tanks and turrets if you hit them in the weak spot, but not against the hulks, just drop a 500kg on him and hope for the best.
The railgun took a bit of a hit with the patch. I'm poking around to see some new alternatives. I'll be giving the arc thrower and grenade launcher a second chance. I have to find these patch notes to know more.
The rail gun really took a hit after the patch, not being able to one shoot walkers and barely being able to take down chargers. I never though about using the arc thrower but I might give it a look.
@@rolin0243 After using it for a day, it can still hold its own. It's definitely not what it once was. If you run it in unsafe it one shots weak points as big as hulks. The armor penetration feels like I'm using a squirt gun if I miss the weak spots though. I've seen the laser cannon start to get more play, but I'm not convinced it's there yet.
A video I saw on weapons claimed that the grenade launcher could kill Hulks if you shoot between their legs. IIRC, the goal was to hit the weak spot on the back with the explosion damage from the grenade.
There's a steam achievement for completing a mission on extreme or higher with no one dying. I ended up having to do that mission solo (ICBM) as it was near impossible to rely on others to not Leroy Jenkins every map!
Highly recommend the jetpack. Lets you hide atop buildings and landmarks. Lets you jump water or barbs. And it really comes in handy when you get caught out. Jump off something high and ler it create massive distance
S tier advice. Seeing how you use them and hearing your reasoning has convinced me to give the laser and railgun a shot. Another strong contender for me is the 110mm rockets. They’ve done decently for me against hulks and cannons. Good to hear another diver who appreciates fighting bots! I find fighting a proper army to be way more fun than a stampede of animals.
Great video! One thing I would respectfully suggest to change based on some recent community research: Do the side objectives, POIs, and outposts first. Leave the main objective for last, since when you complete the main objective, it significantly affects the patrol spawn timer, more than anything else, making them spawn at a much greater pace. By doing the main objective first, you make the rest of the mission harder for yourself.
I always solo and have been playing in a similar way, but this video had some really good tips I didn’t think about such as weather conditions and stealthing extract! Hopefully I can get up in difficulty soon!
i love this guide, i just started getting into hell divers 2 and wanted to take on the robots and now ive got a solid idea of how to approach every single mission
I think it should be noted, if you know you have time, you absolutely should do the optional side missions before the main objective. Completing the main objective quadruples the frequeancy of patrols.
This is a really good guide! I’ve playing solo on Medium for a good chunk of my playtime and I’ve benefited from having to work smarter, not harder as I level my way up. Ever since reaching level 10, I’ve always brought the Rover with me to help thin swarms of weaker bugs in conjunction with my other weapons, shoot at chasing enemies as I run from point to point, and act as an early warning system that makes it less likely I’ll be ambushed. It’s like having a second teammate to always cover your ass. Hopefully I’ll become good enough to take on higher difficulties on my own.
This was one of the most relaxing and affirming tutorials I have ever seen. That reminder near the end to lower the difficulty and work your way up as you get better is so important. I found myself in difficult situations that I put myself in at higher difficulties and you don't end up learning much when you're that panicked. Really excited to take the tips that you provided and have some fun solo. :)
For once, the algorithm suggested a treasure. I appreciate the video, the pointers, the spirit. I'm a filthy casual but I hope I meet you one day on a mission.
Good advice, i like to run engineer armor’s for the extra grenades, that way i can sprint through medium nests and completely wipe them alone. I usually eagle strike a nest to clear it out, then just blaze through em quick before moving in to try to lose the agro or find an advantageous position. It also lets me quickly wipe multiple striders or devastators if i dont have a loaded autocannon or something like that.
I'm a newbie cadet still so I can't say for sure but: - 1. This felt like great advice 2. The way you worded it all just felt.... very nice. You sound like you COULD have a drill sergeants voice if you wanted to, yet you wield it much more like a kind teacher. And the over all effect came over... very cool my dude.
Bro when this man hit us with the slow is smooth, smooth is fast i immediately had a flashback to one of the drill sergeants i knew from fort moore who always said the same thing
For solo terminids, on middle difficulties because I have skill issues, I often run: - scout armor, since you don't need as many stims if you don't get spotted, data recovery & ICBM missions can often be done with stealth, and the radar ability is good for assassination missions; light armor with servo assist is surprisingly good too, since you get fewer limb injuries and can yeet strategems into a base from far enough away to have a good head start on kiting the reinforcements and survivors or breaking contact. No medium or heavy armor, being able to kite for days by running in circles around a terrain obstacle is the best way to not get swarmed. - SMG, you can kite hunters by shooting directly behind you while sprinting, and use it on data recovery missions, and it seems to have a low sound profile so it doesn't alert enemies from far away; or Punisher, since knockback is good at dealing with Brood Lords and Stalkers. - Grenade launcher, one of the few crowd control weapons you can reload while running, and good for nests with more holes than you have hand grenades; or disposable AT, for chargers, I haven't unlocked railgun yet; and impact grenades for throwing at chargers' backsides. Sadly, grenade launcher doesn't seem to work well on chargers, even on weak spots, because the Helldivers universe doesn't have HEDP I guess, but it two-shots hive guards and bile spewers, and takes out Brood Lords pretty fast. - Minefield, it baits location guards, extraction swarms, as well as the booty patrol that always knows where you are, so you can have more than 30 seconds without having to run away from them but doesn't cause alerts, and reinforcements can be kited into the minefield easily. It lasts until all the mines are expended, which is much more in terms of both time and enemies killed than a turret. The hard part is not "doing a skill issue" right into your own mines, then you have to retrieve your samples from a minefield. - AOE call-in like airstrike or walking barrage for larger bases and rebel research base side objectives, or orbital laser for chargers. - Stamina or injury resist booster, you need to maintain mobility to not die.
I prefer this kind of slow but methodical play style. My coolest moment in this game was when my entire team died early into an icbm mission. I was alone making my away around the map with the massive horde my team attracted on my trail. It took me three passes to pump the fuel and another few to launch the icbm. Of course whenever I'd call in a teammate they would decide to take on the horde of bile titans and chargers, which helped take the heat off of me doing the obj. Unfortunately I died waiting for extract but that honestly made the story even better. Such a good game when it isn't bugging tf out
The EXO suit is really good for last stands, so long as youre able to maintain the high ground or better yet fortify a good position. It may not be as tough as people like, but those mounted guns can destroy pretty much everything as long as you aim good. I've been in a couple of situations where im the last man standing on Evac and we've exhausted our reinforcements, all i had was the Patriot. And those situations were in the Creek as well. I think a big factor is alsp remaining calm and not relying as heavily on Strategems but thats kind of a given and was pretty much already said in the video lol
If you watched, sub. This guy is great and we need to help him to encourage content creators to be like him. Straight to the point. No fluff.great content.
Been playing solo whenever my buddies aren't online, and it's been fun in a different way, kind of like playing a different flavor of Metal Gear Solid V. Thanks for all the tips! I'll keep these in mind next time I dive in!
The orbital gas strike is surprisingly good for clearing out trash mobs and dealing damage over time to Devastators. I once took out an entire patrol with one well-timed strike, and they were more than eager to run into the deadly green cloud.
You're right, it's still manageable. I posted on their Twitter, highlighting that the issue wasn't that the railgun was OP, it was that there weren't alternative viable tools to achieve the same goals. That's why everyone was using a meta build.
I gotta say, meeting random teammates is part of the fun of the game, you never know whether the next team is good or bad, which kinda surprises you a little bit. Playing solo just feel lonely and boring.
I usually play a similar style myself when I play alone I mix tactical stealth with guerrilla tactics to run around taking out fabricators then use quick attacks like eagle runs and using what's around me to either funnel them thru small spaces to take out a lot of them or run and stealth my out of combat then either stealth the rest or use the same tactics depending on objectives or if I get caught then sneak to extraction and have at least on fortification to king of the hill for 2 minutes
I recently did a solo evacuation mission and I ended doing most of it all like you said. I'm still new and low level so I I've onky have the sniper rifle to deal with the robots, but it makes do. Running away is fine and encouraged.
Love the tone and attitude you have in the video, and the voice as well. I could you see you as being a good narrator for a game like Borderlands or this game.
Enemy perception is a lot more nuanced than most people think. You can get out of a lot of tough situations if you just break line of sight and get out silently. Also, enemies will investigate blue stratagems when they notice them, but will aggro on red ones. They don't have to see you to aggro. If you throw a Minefield on an open field near a patrol and the patrol don't see you, they will aggro on the minefield, and actively shoot and charge. As a solo Helldiver, you should get your popcorn and watch as they blow themselves. If you call in an orbital strike, they will aggro on the place you called the airstrike from. I usually throw an airstrike to blow up factories, then stealth away as they shoot at where I was, then throw a gas strike or minefield to take care of them.
Anti-Material Rifle, Jump-pack, Airstrike, and Rocket Pods are my go to for bot-fighting. The jump back is really handy for quick escapes, attacks, or getting nasty sniping positions
Really good advice. Funny how most people play this game as disposable cannon fodder going in guns blazing and getting torn apart. But your playstyle is very much that of a special operations commando, really cool dude.
I appreciate that comparison, it makes me feel way cooler than I am.
Hi, that's me. I'm cannon fodder. I take out an outpost and a side objective every time, though😅
I disagree, guns blazing, nukes, democracy through destruction babyy that's the fun way to play even if suboptimal
@@zenks5883 I understand the inclination.
@@zenks5883 Oh yea, don't get me wrong if your in a squad go full on rip and tear baby! I just unlock napalm, man its satisfying.
Additional tip, enemy aggro.
The aggro is shared between enemies if they make contact with each other.
So if a patrol does trigger alarm, you can quickly kill the patrol before the dropships arrive and go back to stealth mod.
The drop ship enemies won't know where you are and will simply investigate the area.
I guess I never thought about it, but now that you bring it up you're right. Good advice.
I did this a few times. It's great advice. Naturally, works best on the bots. It's near impossible to clear a bug patrol that called a breach before the breach opens and spews out bugs.
Ohmygod, finally someone else that gets the very simple concept of "slow is smooth, smooth is fast"
as a guy who's trying my best as a solo, I can assure that clearing something fast is crucial
but using one or two minutes to get intels on the objective make things way easier
and easier means less time
so yeah, reco is important to be efficient in this game
@@Dinamit0_Bomb3rThe idea of slow is smooth is to not be pressured to go faster than you can handle effectively because rushing causes you to make errors.
If you feel overwhelmed, it's a pretty good indicator that you're moving too fast and you need to slow down and assess your situation.
@@TechnoMinarchist that's kind of what I meant
going too fast will take 2 minutes of objective and 6 minutes of mess
but taking the time it requires will take 3 minutes of objective and like 0 to 1 minute of mess
technically the "too fast" won't make that long to handle the mess, cause sometimes it just work, but its way to random for solo players to take the risk
My motorbike training is paying off 😂
That's Jiu Jitsu mentality right there
I feel like playing these team-centric games solo is a sort of sub-genre, like speedrunning.
And honestly, I live for it. Those long, lonely meanderings through the caves of Hoxxes sealed it for me.
The contrast between the chill music and the mental shit happening on screen is hilarious
One tip if you're running the autocannon - you can destroy bot factories if you deflect the shot off the vent flaps. This can be done from a pretty far range.
If youre at the right angle shooting dead center into the red light also does it, can be done with the grenade laucher too
A second tip if you're using autocannon. Enemies are attracted to loud noises, and you have 60 shots worth of ammo.
As long as you dont get spotted, it may be worth using a round or two to lure an enemy patrol away from somewhere you want to go (excluding the booty patrol, of course...).
I knew you could destroy factories with autocannon, didn't know how, lol
@@mackylolzgaming Big brain strats!
@@NathanTrubythe booty patrol?
"You can do it too, I'm not that smart". Genius.
If you run out of time, an automatic emergency extraction comes down two minutes later and, for whatever reason, it doesn't attract waves of enemies, so running the clock out might be the safer bet to get out safely sometimes.
And if you call in the dropship, you have an unseen magnet on your cheeks. Gotta do circles in the evac zone to even hope avoiding detection
Thanks for the tip!
If you take out the outposts, you'll have fewer enemies on you at extraction
Good call, just a longer wait time
When the timer hits zero im pretty sure you receive less xp tho, id say this is a good last resort but shouldnt be your goal
+1 for hydration. A dehydrated helldiver is an ineffective helldiver.
I love that this game shows friendly fire damage, so when my friends say that they only killed me once on accident we can now see that they did 7k damage to me and "accidentally killed me" 3 times
Hahaha Had the same thing happen last night.
*Me and I3 immediately blow up out of spawn*
"I think F2 hit us with an impact again."
"No way."
1700 Friendly Damage at Stat Screen
@@doubledaredangames my friend will constantly place the damn mines everywhere. Worst part is, he fully believes they kill enough enemies to be deemed justified... we're just numbers to him 😭😭
Also remember, the mission trumps all. Extracting just gets you a bit more XP, taking out your objectives and the nests or factories will net you more. Not every soldier comes back from battle. There is no shame in completing the mission at the cost of extraction. I treat extraction as a surprise, not a given.
Anything’s for Super Earth, even though it causes my life !
It warms my heart to hear common sense advice from someone who ISN'T a damn elitist troll. This was some solid strategy here. Thanks!
The chillest advice for spreading democracy I've ever seen. Great content man.
I have never seen such a comfortable, calming guide to a crazy, adrenaline filled, panic inducing game.
Thanks you good sir.
Nice background music, nice voice, nice tone, and great advice.
Wonderful video, this was some diamond level solid advice. Arguably the best piece of advice here, though, is the last. “Once you’ve extracted, get some water.” I find that we often neglect our basic needs when gaming, and even sometimes when we’re not. Taking care of ourselves is incredibly important, even for the game. Dehydration, a lack of physical activity, poor sleep, and poor eating all mean you won’t be operating at full mental capacity, so your performance will be negatively impacted. Remember, take care of yourself first, so you can be the best that you can possibly be in the fight for DEMOCRACY!
I've been really struggling with sleep and it's taking a toll. Sleep is so important bro.
@@5amura115many think it’s cool to stay really late. Wake up super late or early. Having an irregular schedule. Honestly I think that’s all very stupid and going to bed early and waking up early, w a consistent schedule, is very healthy
Me: I wanna get in shape
Friend: Why's that
Me: To get better at Helldivers
@@reaperraider999 getting gains for democracy lol
“ just airstrike the damn thing” 😂😂
id like to add that tanks can be killed with 2 high explosive grenades if landed right (near vents, but turret should be close enough) since airstrikes have long cooldowns, i think this is worth a mention
@@DausBlaustI suggest the impact grenades, usually hitting the side of the turret kills the tank in 2 hits
@@casualbydefault my only issue with the impacts is how difficult it is to use them on bot factories. I know its possible, but its much harder than on bug holes
@@Karak971 Yeah, if you're using impacts vs bots, you've gotta have a different solution for bot factories. I like banking autocannon shells into them, but you can also just use a destructive strike, or drop any pod at their door (like supplies, sentries, low CD EATS, etc).
One of my first missions with randoms was shutting down a bugsymp propaganda broadcast on some backwater ice cube. We got to the objective and I was getting ready to do some Hacker Hero, when one of my teammates just halted us outside the perimeter and dropped a bomb on the place. Mission complete.
It's fun to learn new things. 🙂
I naturally gravitated towards this exact mindset of play, being objective-focused and annoyed with prolonged firefights. After finding that most random teammates have no situational awareness and are willing to drop on me while I'm deep in the middle of a heavy outpost then start firing like madmen, I stopped playing in teams. A 10 minute dive would take 20-30 instead due to teammates clumping up nowhere near objs and dying to the onslaught they attracted until they rage quit, leaving me with no reinforcements while I had to complete the rest of the mission alone. I get the fun behind run-n-gun, but the least people can do is not sabotage the one guy trying to wrap up a mission for everyone else.
Something you might want to try is joining low difficulty SOS missions. There's no pressure to perform, people are thankful for the help, no real risk, and you get those standard samples that EVERYONE needs more of. I started doing that last night. I've made no joke 800 credits and a couple hundred medals from POI loot.
I've started using them as distractions while I go after objectives. Breaches and drops can only be on one section of the map if I remember correctly. We win, they got to shoot shit. Win win.
@@paradocks23 *if* they're on the other side of the map, but when the distraction keeps following you around, it gets annoying
@@paradocks23all fun and games till you die and get dropped on the other side of the map in the shit storm they've created
@@finleyhobbs8821TRUUEEW
Playstyles are a huge setup for most. Thanks for adding that.
Me and my bro are completly different when it comes to loadouts. He loves the slugger, I love the Scorcher.
My bro loves his Autocannon, and I like running MG-43 with supply pack.
He likes mortar turrets. I like railcannon strikes. I often compliment all the others in a squad so I'm more of a support.
I love and appreciate how slow and melow the vibe of the is and not fast and just yelling in my face.
I like how you are talking to us as adults slow and took your time, I truly appreciate it
I also highly recommend getting a turret of some kind, can do wonders to distract enemies or help with crowd control when youre own. Being chased by a group you dont have the ammo to deal with? Drop a sentry and keep running, if youre still being chased then take out whatever stragglers remain. Alternatively, drop an orbital on a compound then immediately throw in a sentry after, really thins down the number of enemies
Personally I don't use turrets, but that's on account of not being in the same place long enough. I've seen a lot of people underestimate a simple gatling turret though.
I typically use a minigun turret to clear out small bases. Im pretty sure turrets cant trigger bot drops since its not a player, either that or it just hasnt happened to me. But funnily enough, the turret either handles all the enemies itself, or it gets destroyed and the enemies go back to low alert. Pretty useful even for stealth, despite being so fn loud lol.
@@JebblesJunior When you are in a squad defending extraction or really any prolonged fight, the EMS mortar sentry is pretty nice to just slow all the enemies down and let everything else you're doing wreak havoc. It just stuns things all over the place and you mop them up. The downside is that it is harder to bail yourself out with like a red strategem because the enemies will kill it immediately if they're swarming you
Me at level 4 with nothing unlocked: “yeah, I can do helldives too”
I adore how positive and supportive large parts of the Helldivers community are.
Do what you can handle, don't feel bad if that doesn't feel like much.
Just great life advice in general.
This is probably the closest we will get to a Helldivers special operations handbook.
It really is haha!
You just inspired me to write an unofficial tactics book
A small tip for being sneaky is that not all guns were created equally in how loud they are. Sidearms in particular don't immediately give your location away to every nearby enemy once fired, but it will cause them to come investigate the noise (and the dead bot you likely just created). This includes the Senator revolver despite how loud it sounds. It's very good at quickly and somewhat quietly subduing small bots that normally might have called for reinforcements were you to just start storming an outpost with your primary/support weapon.
And this guide right here is how I was able to survive my first two deployments as a cadet at Malevelon! Thank you, sir!
From the music, to the advice, to something as simple as his voice, this video is not only very informative but just beautifully made. Thank you fellow Helldiver. ✊🏽
I like your style. Your content is down to earth and no nonsense...slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
New sub here!
Keep up the good work!
Arc thrower is also an excellent choice for cracking heavy armor. Takes more shots than some of those other weapons at times, but if you master it and it's quirks, it's hard to beat. Also excellent for dealing with things like walkers and devastators, since it'll arc between them. It kills hulks, it kills tanks, it kills turrets.... With the exception of factories, it kills basically everything, whether targeting weak spots or not (but obviously weak spots are preferred if possible). It also has infinite ammo so you never need to worry about running dry. I usually run solo and it's been my go to ever since the railgun nerf.
I'm starting on the lower difficulties and going up slowly over time. Did the same in Deep Rock Galactic!
Plus, it helps to learn about the enemies alone rather than having all my teammates bombard everything with stratagems.
If you're not running a backpack I would highly recommend the autocannon as a support weapon for solo bots.
You can direct bots with it as they will investigate where your shot hits instead of where you fire from.
You can destroy bases from range by shooting the vents.
Take out hulks with 1 or 2 shots to the eye, tanks with 2 shots to the vents, devastators with 2 shots to the body.
Plenty of ammo, no charging up, and reload is pretty quick as long as you've only fired 5 to 9 shots.
I used to do this until I got the railgun, but that was prior to the nerf. Maybe I go back to it now.
IMO the Autocannon is almost mandatory. If you find another weapon mid-match, like a Railgun, switching to it can be a fine idea. But for the early game, being able to destroy a Stratergem Jammer from a distance by hitting the vents is a godsend.
and the backpack saves ammo laying around if emty enough
I similarly love the autocannon, as well as the grenade launcher for bugs. Once I unlocked the shield generator though, it's hard to let go of it
@@JebblesJunior What are your railgun thoughts post nerf? I do mostly play bugs but I found it worse against chargers primarily
I accidentally (mostly) and sometimes intentionally followed this advice because I solo'd my first few missions. Best Helldivers 2 vid I've seen so far. Great sense of humor, too. Dry & deadpan.
"IM DOING MY PART!"
great tips thanks !
For people who are not confident in doing full missions solo on 7 and up for the super samples, 2 things: 1. All you need to do is the main objective, if something becomes too bothersome (like Stalkers) then you can take it out, otherwise just ignore it and get the job done. 2. find the Super Samples, grab 'em and get out. You do not NEED to do anything other than the main mission, hell, sometimes you don't even need to do the main mission if you run out of time all you need to do is get your ass on the dropship. You'll get the experience and requisitions for any sidequests you did and you'll get the samples. Sometimes that's all you need, do not worry. There are plenty of guides on how to find the Super Sample Rock easily, so don't you worry.
If you pick your fights carefully (i.e only the ones you NEED to, like objectives or a Patrol that spots you) and have your loadout tailored to any situation, you'll do fine. Hell, if doubt still clouds your mind just remember - running is always an option (unless you're wearing Heavy Armour). Got a Titan you have no way of dealing with? Run Away. Got a horde of stuff that you can't kill all of? Run away and kill the shit that managed to keep up (usually Scavengers, Hunters and the occasional Brood Commander or Charger, for Bots it's the Commisars and Berzerkers that tend to keep up), that will DRASTICALLY lower the number of things you need to deal with for the time being. Watch where you're going though, don't blunder right into a hive or factory or right into an Acid Mine which will slow you down and allow things to keep up. Play your cards right and you will very quickly get new Personal Records on how low your kill count was - and that's a good thing in most cases!
Legit this vid was great man. Simple advice, Iterate on tactics until success and build skills. Its the nicest "Git Gud" you could have made but included all the basics we need to build on. very nice.
Hulks and commander’s can call for reinforcements as well. Also 90% of the call-ins will land too late to stop a patrol from calling in said reinforcements, lob a grenade and back it up by targeting the commissars (gun and 1 sword) or regular orange micro bugs.
Also, manned or enemy turrets of ANY kind are NOT your friend. Avoid them entirely or get the drop on their weak points before engaging anything else around. I’d rather take in hulks backed up by tanks screened by berserkers than a single enemy tower turret.
I was speaking on the bot grunts my bad. Personally, out of a couple hundred missions I've yet to see a hulk call one in. When it comes to stopping reinforcements, bots I can stop pretty regularly. Bugs on the other hand, I can never stop those damn call ins.
In regards to turrets, I'm not half bad about hitting the manned ones. The cannons though, ever since the railgun nerf I resent them wholeheartedly. I need my rocket pod throws to get more accurate.
I play a lot of solo missions, mostly against the bots, and this is all good advice, but I have a few things to add. First, know the stratagems and weapons your bringing inside and out. I'm a big fan of the autocannon because the partial reload mechanic makes it possible to fire all of your ammunition almost uninterrupted. But it also requires you to stop moving to reload, and it's easy to forget those things in heat of battle. Which leads me to point number two: plan on things going wrong. You may get slowed down by a tank, or have to detour around a patrol. If you take out the main objectives first (not completely, that dials up the patrols, so stop at the last button push) it's an inconvenience. If you save them until the end, it could mean a failed mission. My last point was covered in the video, but I wanted to emphasize it. You should have two modes "quite as a mouse" and "throw open the gates of hell". Most of the time, draw as little attention as possible. When you actually engage, though, you want to do so with maximum firepower and maximum efficiency. Get in as close as possible, then open with a large air stratagem like a bombing run or a 500kg. With practice, you can knock out all the objectives in medium and small bases with a single pass. If so, make a quick dash through the base, snag a sample or two and get out. If not, finish it fast. Support weapons, grenades, stratagems, whatever it takes, but prioritize the objectives, not the bots themselves. Killing bots is both satisfying and patriotic, but liberty is only spread by completing objectives.
Great video with really good tips. I have also been playing solo against bots for the past days and it is interesting to see that 70% of the strategies you mention in the video I have learned too the hard way. Stealth, proper equipment and patience is the key. Also, I think the grenade launcher is quit the good alternative to the railgun as it can chew up bots with easy, including tanks and turrets if you hit them in the weak spot, but not against the hulks, just drop a 500kg on him and hope for the best.
The railgun took a bit of a hit with the patch. I'm poking around to see some new alternatives. I'll be giving the arc thrower and grenade launcher a second chance. I have to find these patch notes to know more.
The rail gun really took a hit after the patch, not being able to one shoot walkers and barely being able to take down chargers. I never though about using the arc thrower but I might give it a look.
@@rolin0243 After using it for a day, it can still hold its own. It's definitely not what it once was. If you run it in unsafe it one shots weak points as big as hulks. The armor penetration feels like I'm using a squirt gun if I miss the weak spots though. I've seen the laser cannon start to get more play, but I'm not convinced it's there yet.
A video I saw on weapons claimed that the grenade launcher could kill Hulks if you shoot between their legs. IIRC, the goal was to hit the weak spot on the back with the explosion damage from the grenade.
@JebblesJunior Laser Cannon is fun but I dont think it would be great for solo runs. Autocannon, Anti Material Rifle, or Recoilless Rifle maybe?
There's a steam achievement for completing a mission on extreme or higher with no one dying. I ended up having to do that mission solo (ICBM) as it was near impossible to rely on others to not Leroy Jenkins every map!
Gonna totally pack a glass of water next time I'm Helldiving. Water is S-Tier. Water is META.
Highly recommend the jetpack. Lets you hide atop buildings and landmarks. Lets you jump water or barbs. And it really comes in handy when you get caught out. Jump off something high and ler it create massive distance
S tier advice. Seeing how you use them and hearing your reasoning has convinced me to give the laser and railgun a shot. Another strong contender for me is the 110mm rockets. They’ve done decently for me against hulks and cannons.
Good to hear another diver who appreciates fighting bots! I find fighting a proper army to be way more fun than a stampede of animals.
Great video! One thing I would respectfully suggest to change based on some recent community research:
Do the side objectives, POIs, and outposts first. Leave the main objective for last, since when you complete the main objective, it significantly affects the patrol spawn timer, more than anything else, making them spawn at a much greater pace.
By doing the main objective first, you make the rest of the mission harder for yourself.
I always solo and have been playing in a similar way, but this video had some really good tips I didn’t think about such as weather conditions and stealthing extract! Hopefully I can get up in difficulty soon!
i love this guide, i just started getting into hell divers 2 and wanted to take on the robots and now ive got a solid idea of how to approach every single mission
Really solid advice. I've been soloing for most of my 24 levels but still learned some things here. Thanks!
I think it should be noted, if you know you have time, you absolutely should do the optional side missions before the main objective. Completing the main objective quadruples the frequeancy of patrols.
“Once you’ve extracted……..get some water. It’s important to stay hydrated.”
Best tip in the whole vid. Feels like I’m back in the army. 😂👌
"Just airstrike the dam thing"-Facts 👍🏽
I love playing this way and this is how I play most often lately. But I prefer to hunt bugs in a group
Ive followed your guide excessively, now im level 50 Helldive solo pro. Thank you
If only all videos were this much to the point. And a summary as well! This guy dives.
"Do not lie to yourself" is a good way of saying it's ok to take it easy. Also I like your voice and calm tone ❤️
This is a really good guide! I’ve playing solo on Medium for a good chunk of my playtime and I’ve benefited from having to work smarter, not harder as I level my way up. Ever since reaching level 10, I’ve always brought the Rover with me to help thin swarms of weaker bugs in conjunction with my other weapons, shoot at chasing enemies as I run from point to point, and act as an early warning system that makes it less likely I’ll be ambushed. It’s like having a second teammate to always cover your ass. Hopefully I’ll become good enough to take on higher difficulties on my own.
This was one of the most relaxing and affirming tutorials I have ever seen. That reminder near the end to lower the difficulty and work your way up as you get better is so important. I found myself in difficult situations that I put myself in at higher difficulties and you don't end up learning much when you're that panicked. Really excited to take the tips that you provided and have some fun solo. :)
For once, the algorithm suggested a treasure. I appreciate the video, the pointers, the spirit. I'm a filthy casual but I hope I meet you one day on a mission.
Good advice, i like to run engineer armor’s for the extra grenades, that way i can sprint through medium nests and completely wipe them alone. I usually eagle strike a nest to clear it out, then just blaze through em quick before moving in to try to lose the agro or find an advantageous position. It also lets me quickly wipe multiple striders or devastators if i dont have a loaded autocannon or something like that.
I'm a newbie cadet still so I can't say for sure but: -
1. This felt like great advice
2. The way you worded it all just felt.... very nice. You sound like you COULD have a drill sergeants voice if you wanted to, yet you wield it much more like a kind teacher. And the over all effect came over... very cool my dude.
Your voice reminds me of Tex from blackpants legion. Those controlled but intense baritones are really perfect for soldier of fortune IPs.
The bit about staying in cover is golden advice against bots: it's amazing how effective crouching or going prone is against them.
Bro when this man hit us with the slow is smooth, smooth is fast i immediately had a flashback to one of the drill sergeants i knew from fort moore who always said the same thing
For solo terminids, on middle difficulties because I have skill issues, I often run:
- scout armor, since you don't need as many stims if you don't get spotted, data recovery & ICBM missions can often be done with stealth, and the radar ability is good for assassination missions; light armor with servo assist is surprisingly good too, since you get fewer limb injuries and can yeet strategems into a base from far enough away to have a good head start on kiting the reinforcements and survivors or breaking contact. No medium or heavy armor, being able to kite for days by running in circles around a terrain obstacle is the best way to not get swarmed.
- SMG, you can kite hunters by shooting directly behind you while sprinting, and use it on data recovery missions, and it seems to have a low sound profile so it doesn't alert enemies from far away; or Punisher, since knockback is good at dealing with Brood Lords and Stalkers.
- Grenade launcher, one of the few crowd control weapons you can reload while running, and good for nests with more holes than you have hand grenades; or disposable AT, for chargers, I haven't unlocked railgun yet; and impact grenades for throwing at chargers' backsides. Sadly, grenade launcher doesn't seem to work well on chargers, even on weak spots, because the Helldivers universe doesn't have HEDP I guess, but it two-shots hive guards and bile spewers, and takes out Brood Lords pretty fast.
- Minefield, it baits location guards, extraction swarms, as well as the booty patrol that always knows where you are, so you can have more than 30 seconds without having to run away from them but doesn't cause alerts, and reinforcements can be kited into the minefield easily. It lasts until all the mines are expended, which is much more in terms of both time and enemies killed than a turret. The hard part is not "doing a skill issue" right into your own mines, then you have to retrieve your samples from a minefield.
- AOE call-in like airstrike or walking barrage for larger bases and rebel research base side objectives, or orbital laser for chargers.
- Stamina or injury resist booster, you need to maintain mobility to not die.
I really liked the advice and the pacing of this video. You deserve more subscribers, hopefully you can keep making Helldivers 2 guides and the like.
love the part, "if they're a tank, just airstrike the damm thing don't waste your time." Got me laughing @3:09
I prefer this kind of slow but methodical play style. My coolest moment in this game was when my entire team died early into an icbm mission. I was alone making my away around the map with the massive horde my team attracted on my trail. It took me three passes to pump the fuel and another few to launch the icbm. Of course whenever I'd call in a teammate they would decide to take on the horde of bile titans and chargers, which helped take the heat off of me doing the obj. Unfortunately I died waiting for extract but that honestly made the story even better. Such a good game when it isn't bugging tf out
Dudes voice is amazing you get my subscription from this video alone.
You earned a subscriber, this was a fantastic video!! Straight to the point, no bs, good advice, good gameplay, satire. I love it
Hardest part of this guide is not lying to myself about my skill level
I feel SO much more confident for my next dive now. Thank you
I clicked on this video and I was not expecting such an IMMACULATE VOICE
his voice alone makes me want to spread managed democracy
This was awesome also the get water tip sounds like the most important to me
I'll be wondering why I have a headache then I realize. Oh yeah, I haven't had anything to drink in two hours.
Great advice and lovely to hear it from a voice that's only two steps away from H Jon Benjamin/Archer.
LANAAAAAAAAA
Woah, what a perfect guide for a lonely guy of myself.
Thank you, Keanu
The EXO suit is really good for last stands, so long as youre able to maintain the high ground or better yet fortify a good position. It may not be as tough as people like, but those mounted guns can destroy pretty much everything as long as you aim good. I've been in a couple of situations where im the last man standing on Evac and we've exhausted our reinforcements, all i had was the Patriot. And those situations were in the Creek as well. I think a big factor is alsp remaining calm and not relying as heavily on Strategems but thats kind of a given and was pretty much already said in the video lol
Stratagems are an incredibly helpful tool, but they are a tool. All depends on who's holding them really.
Thank you for this. As a newbie, this helped me think of how to approach my dives better
Facts the glass of water after extract hits different
If you watched, sub. This guy is great and we need to help him to encourage content creators to be like him. Straight to the point. No fluff.great content.
the US NAVY SEAL veteran lecturing me on how not to die instantly
Been playing solo whenever my buddies aren't online, and it's been fun in a different way, kind of like playing a different flavor of Metal Gear Solid V. Thanks for all the tips! I'll keep these in mind next time I dive in!
Very helpful video, and really pleasant voice, like a calm and pacient mentor
The tips got you a Like. The comment "Be quieter than a mouse pissing on cotton" got you a sub!
It's him, John Diver.
Another excellent training vidieo for the patriots of Super Earth!
I was playing solo just on Medium, and it sucked a lot but i made it through. Really made it feel like a suicide mission
I've gotta say my biggest friend in solo missions has been the mortar sentry. It's great for laying down fire and sowing confusion before you move in
This is the best super earth training manual I've seen thus far, I will be commending you to my local democracy officer
Great video. You’ve got a powerful yet reassuring voice my dude. Appreciate the good advice and subbed 👍
Great advice, I was just thinking of going solo for a few runs to harden myself and be more survivable when the chips are down.
The orbital gas strike is surprisingly good for clearing out trash mobs and dealing damage over time to Devastators. I once took out an entire patrol with one well-timed strike, and they were more than eager to run into the deadly green cloud.
Man, how the animations have already aged with those charged railgun shots... no way you can kill a chicken walker with such a short charge now
It's not as bad as you would think.
You're right, it's still manageable. I posted on their Twitter, highlighting that the issue wasn't that the railgun was OP, it was that there weren't alternative viable tools to achieve the same goals. That's why everyone was using a meta build.
I gotta say, meeting random teammates is part of the fun of the game, you never know whether the next team is good or bad, which kinda surprises you a little bit. Playing solo just feel lonely and boring.
Casuals with randoms feel great I'll always have that to say about this game.
Bro your vibes and the way you talk is just awesome, subbed
I usually play a similar style myself when I play alone I mix tactical stealth with guerrilla tactics to run around taking out fabricators then use quick attacks like eagle runs and using what's around me to either funnel them thru small spaces to take out a lot of them or run and stealth my out of combat then either stealth the rest or use the same tactics depending on objectives or if I get caught then sneak to extraction and have at least on fortification to king of the hill for 2 minutes
I recently did a solo evacuation mission and I ended doing most of it all like you said. I'm still new and low level so I I've onky have the sniper rifle to deal with the robots, but it makes do. Running away is fine and encouraged.
Love the tone and attitude you have in the video, and the voice as well. I could you see you as being a good narrator for a game like Borderlands or this game.
Good Advices, Sir! I've unlock Diff 6 and now i tried to bring it to Diff 9 Solo. Wish me luck, feller helldiver!
Enemy perception is a lot more nuanced than most people think. You can get out of a lot of tough situations if you just break line of sight and get out silently.
Also, enemies will investigate blue stratagems when they notice them, but will aggro on red ones. They don't have to see you to aggro. If you throw a Minefield on an open field near a patrol and the patrol don't see you, they will aggro on the minefield, and actively shoot and charge. As a solo Helldiver, you should get your popcorn and watch as they blow themselves. If you call in an orbital strike, they will aggro on the place you called the airstrike from. I usually throw an airstrike to blow up factories, then stealth away as they shoot at where I was, then throw a gas strike or minefield to take care of them.
nice vid dude I like the vibe
Anti-Material Rifle, Jump-pack, Airstrike, and Rocket Pods are my go to for bot-fighting. The jump back is really handy for quick escapes, attacks, or getting nasty sniping positions