Charger

Charger
The Mission Target Variation; Charger Behemoth
Faction	Terminids
Class	Heavy Fighter
Stats
Minimum Difficulty	Medium

“

A rushing Charger is nearly impossible to stop, thanks to its meter-thick exoskeleton. Therefore, the recommended response protocol to this situation is the prompt execution of a Rapid Lateral Movement (RLM).

— Helldivers 2 PlayStation Store Page

The Charger is a large, heavily-armored Terminid. Living up to their name, Chargers charge at Helldivers in an attempt to bash or trample them, dealing a significant amount of damage. This can concuss and potentially launch Helldivers. Chargers will also use their claws at close range.

The Charger can be first seen as its variant, the Charger Behemoth, on Medium difficulty as an Elimination Target, or guarding the Shuttle Bay in Emergency Evacuation. Chargers begin spawning naturally on Challenging difficulty, and more often on higher difficulties. The Charger Behemoth will also have a chance on higher difficulties to replace Chargers.

Anatomy

Part Name	Health*	AV**	Durable	%To Main***	Bleed	Fatal
Main	1500		100%	-	-	Yes
Head	600		75%	70%	None	Yes
Butt	1100		85%	60%	None	No
Butt Armor	650		75%	75%	None	Yes
Butt (Popped)	Main		80%	100%	None	No
Torso (Exposed)	Main		50%	100%	None	No
Torso	250		85%	100%	None	No
Back Leg	500		70%	35%	None	No
Front Leg	500		70%	35%	None	No
Back Leg (Exposed)	500		70%	30%	None	Yes
Front Leg (Exposed)	500		70%	30%	None	Yes
Claw	500		70%	35%	None	No

* Parts with their HP listed as "Main" do not have their own individual health. All damage dealt to these parts is dealt to the enemy's Main damage pool.

** Refer to armor values as defined in Damage.

*** The percentage of damage that applied to the enemies Main damage pool. At 0 HP, the enemy dies.

Tactical Information

• The Charger can be dodged by moving or diving perpendicular to its movement direction or diagonally towards it as it approaches. Beware of moving too early, as the Charger can make wide turns.
• The most straightforward way to dispatch a Charger is firing an anti-vehicle weapon, such as the EAT-17 Expendable Anti-Tank, GR-8 Recoilless Rifle and LAS-99 Quasar Cannon, at its head, which will instantly kill it.
  • Alternatively, shooting a leg will reveal the Charger's weak flesh. Then, any weapon will deal weak spot damage to that unarmored leg, dispatching the Charger fairly quickly.
  • Destroying a Charger's rear will cause it to bleed out over the course of a few seconds. This rear area can be damaged by most weapons, though the top is heavily armored, so shoot at the underbelly. Weapons that have explosive damage like the SG-8P Punisher Plasma, PLAS-1 Scorcher and GL-21 Grenade Launcher can destroy a Charger's underside reasonably fast.
  • The RS-422 Railgun's bullets will ricochet off the Charger's armor when used in Safe Mode. Unsafe Mode is required to damage a Charger.
  • The MG-43 Machine Gun can be used to damage the Charger's legs without removing the armor. This can be achieved by shooting the joints of the legs or the forelegs, which will count as weak spot damage. This, however, is quite difficult to pull off due to the joints being very thin targets.
  • The FLAM-40 Flamethrower is an effective yet risky method of dispatching a Charger. As the Flamethrower (mostly) ignores armor, several seconds of sustained fire from it will bring down a Charger. Helldivers must aim the Flamethrower at the Charger's leg, as its head will deflect the flames.
  • Dropping Hellpods of any kind can strip the armor off a Charger's back, and a direct hit will kill it outright, though this requires some luck or sticking Stratagem beacons onto it.
• They're almost entirely armored, except for the yellow patches on their body. While it may seem like these are their weak spots, they are not, and any non-explosive damage dealt to these areas will be reduced by 90%. However, this still offers an option for explosives that cannot penetrate the armor, such as the SG-8P Punisher Plasma, PLAS-1 Scorcher and GL-21 Grenade Launcher to damage a Charger.
• Chargers tend to hone in on one member of the team at a time. Consider coordinating with other Helldivers to bait a Charger into exposing its head to a squad mate with an anti-tank weapon, or to focus on a specific leg to open up its weak spot.
• Leading a Charger into ramming a wall or large rock will cause it to be briefly stunned, providing time for Helldivers to attack or retreat. However, they can traverse smaller rocks and walls, so caution must be exercised. Armor may be damaged and fall off with sufficient amounts of ramming.
• While piloting an EXO-45 Patriot Exosuit, it's generally best to fire a rocket at a leg to blow off the armor, then shred that leg with the machine gun. Headshots are difficult to land reliably, and leg shots can be landed while it's facing away from the Exosuit.
• Hitting a Charger with an Eagle Airstrike, Eagle Napalm Airstrike, or Eagle 500kg Bomb will instantly kill it if it is near the epicenter of the stratagem, or otherwise deal heavy damage to it. Doing this after being noticed by the Charger is incredibly difficult, however, as the Helldiver will need to estimate where the Charger will be after the call-in period is over.
  • Using the Eagle Napalm Strike far in front of the Charger and/or leading the Charger through fire is a good strategy to take off much of its health.

Variants

Charger Behemoth

A Charger sporting thicker armor, granting it additional protection from anti-vehicle weaponry.

• Due to its thicker armor, the Charger Behemoth will most notably require two anti-vehicle projectiles to the head and legs instead of one.
  • It is possible to destroy a Behemoth's leg with a single shot from a Quasar Cannon or other AT weapon by standing close to the Charger's leg and firing while moving forward in the Charger's direction.

Trivia

• There is an achievement/trophy for killing a Charger by dropping a Resupply pod directly onto it.
  • This can be easily achieved by sticking the Stratagem Beacon to it. Beware to not hit any armored parts, as the Beacon will simply bounce off.
• The Charger is the subject of a meme in the Helldivers 2 playerbase, which depicts a Charger in front of a laptop, indicating that it's posting fascist propaganda and misinformation online to hinder the Helldivers. This is usually followed by purposely incorrect information to make fun of various aspects of the game, and sometimes players who give hot takes or give questionable advise to others out of inexperience or a desire to troll greenhorn players.

Known Issues

• The Charger can currently be killed by any weapon regardless of penetration value by shooting the leg armor of the enemy. This bug is not consistent and may depend on how the charger is moving. It has been confirmed to exist as of 1.000.302

Change History

Patch

Description

1.000.403
2024-06-25

Fixes

• Undocumented: Fixed Charger's butt not taking damage from explosions.

1.000.400
2024-06-13

Changes

• Charger Behemoths will now spawn naturally on higher difficulties.
• Charger Behemoths can now take more damage.
• Chargers will now only show bleedout effects from the body if the bleedout state has started.
  • It can still show bleedout effects from the mouth without having started the bleedout state.

Known Issues

• Charger’s butt does not take damage from explosions.

1.000.200
2024-04-02

Changes

• Chargers normal melee attack now does less damage against Exosuits.

1.000.102
2024-03-12

Changes

• Reduced the spawn rate of Chargers on difficulties 7 and up.
• Reduced the risk of spawn spikes of Chargers.
• Lowered the health of the Charger's head.