How to destroy Illuminate landed ships in Helldivers 2

We have waited for this moment for so long, Helldivers—the Illuminate are finally here. They’ve already made themselves at home, plaguing the streets of a lost civilization with their Voteless minions. Illuminate ships continue to birth new enemies for you to face, but anything can be destroyed.

A shield surrounds the Illuminate landing ship exterior, protecting the Voteless walking out of its doors. While the blue light emanating from the ship’s entrances looks inviting, it doesn’t take long for the surrounding area of the ship to get overwhelmed by mindless zombies. Protected by Watchers, you need a strategy to destroy these ships and hinder the Voteless endlessly spawning in.

Here is how to destroy the Illuminate landed ship in Helldivers 2.

Helldivers 2: Best weapons against the Illuminate ship

Your standard weaponry doesn’t deal sufficient damage quickly enough to destroy the barrier protecting the Illuminate ship. While it’s possible to destroy the shield with a single assault rifle, you need to have supplies readily available, as your resources will deplete incredibly fast. If you’re using a primary weapon, we recommend a Liberator variation or the Adjudicator. Primaries like the Diligence and Scorcher take too long and consume too much ammo.

It’s easier to destroy the shield with a team, with each Helldiver utilizing only one magazine from their weapon of choice. But, this method doesn’t work as effectively for solo Helldivers. It takes a minimum of two magazines to break down the shield from a standard assault rifle, and you need spare to fight off any Voteless and Overseers that have spawned in while you’re distracting on the airship.

You don’t need to rely solely on a fast-firing assault rifle to break the shield. Stratagems are a reliable way to handle the Illuminate ship. This lets you use your primary and secondary weapons to thin out enemy hordes, saving your ammunition and stims for these battles instead.

Helldivers 2: Best Stratagems against the Illuminate ship

We’ve found the Eagle Strafing Run is the best Stratagem to break Illuminate ship shields. Unlike other artillery, this Stratagem is incredibly quick to call in, has a 15-second cooldown, and you can place it faster than other Helldivers 2 barrages. Just call it in with ▲►► and throw it directly at the ship. The call-in pod will bounce off the shield, so aim it at the edge of the ship rather than on top of it.

Any airstrike/barrage works effectively at destroying the shield. You don’t need to stack Stratagems either. The Commando, Stalwart and Machine Gun are also great at depleting the ship’s shields. So, if you rely more on support weapons than an airstrike that’s only helpful at breaking down shields or thinning out lower-tiered enemy waves, then a heavy weapon can be an excellent counter against the Illuminate.

Once the shields are destroyed, you need to use a grenade to blow up the interior of the ship. We recommend the G-16 Impact, as this explodes as soon as it hits a surface. You must aim for the entrance of the ship, indicated by the open door with the bright blue light emanating from it. Throw the grenade directly into the ship’s entrance, where it will immediately explode, taking the vessel down with it. Your throw doesn’t need to be perfect. Just ensure that the grenade makes it in—that way, the ship explodes—destroying any chances of enemies spawning from it.

While Stratagems and support weapons like the RR and Commando can destroy the ship, your grenades won’t be as wasteful. Like destroying an Automaton Fabricator, you’d rather use grenades as you can replenish these quicker than other util. Instead of waiting for your Stratagem cooldowns, you can quickly replenish any lost nades with the Supply Pack or Drop. Finally, keep your eye out for any Watchers lurking near the landed ship. These will call in for reinforcements if alerted to your position, so avoid their purple searchlight or shoot them down before they find you.