Helldivers 2 Adds Poisonous Noxious Terminids and Bug Caves on More Planets

Helldivers 2 has a new enemy strain from today, 3 November. The Noxious Terminids are faster than the bugs you know, every bite poisons you, and their biggest member covers the battlefield in webs. At the same time, Terminid caves are no longer limited to a handful of worlds: they can now appear on many more biomes across the Galactic map, from deserts to frozen tundras.

The new enemies

• Noxious Scavenger: looks like a normal Scavenger, but it's noticeably quicker, harder to track and bites again almost immediately. Each bite poisons you. The good news: it's fragile, so weapons that favour volume over precision, like shotguns, flamethrowers and grenades, deal with it quickly.
• Noxious Spewer: a big, fast Spewer that's behind the webs now draped across battlefields. At medium range its Web Spit stops you from sprinting so it can close in, and its bite reaches further than you'd expect and carries a stronger dose of venom.

The Spewer's head has medium armour, but its web-filled abdomen has none. Hitting it there works, with a catch: when the sac bursts in a Web Explosion, it snares every Helldiver and bug nearby, so don't do it at close range.

How poison works

A new poison icon on the HUD shows your condition, in two stages:

• Lightly poisoned: your vision starts to haze and you slowly lose health
• Heavily poisoned: the damage over time increases, you can't sprint and your vision gets worse

Stims cure poison, so carry spares, and keep one for a poisoned squadmate.

Bug caves on more planets

Caves can now turn up on far more planets. Inside them, sightlines are short and fast enemies reach you before you hear them, which is exactly where the Noxious bugs are most dangerous. The official advice: bring close-range firepower, stick with your squad and keep a stim in reserve.

The update follows last week's Liberty Day celebration.