Please update this section to reflect recent updates or newly available information. Reason: Patch 1.001.100, armor values
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Shamelessly copied from Super Earth tank designs, the Automaton Tank is clearly inferior in such a multitude of aspects that it would be impractical to list them here.
— Helldivers 2 PlayStation Store Page
The Tank is a very large, heavily-armored Automaton vehicle that first appears on Medium difficulty with a low spawning chance, scaling up in frequency the higher the difficulty. It may also spawn on specific medium-to-large Automaton Outpost layouts even if it cannot spawn as part of regular patrols on that difficulty level.
The Tank comes in three variants: Annihilator Tank, Shredder Tank, and Barrager Tank, each with different armaments, requiring different strategies to decommission them.
Tanks have a 360° field of view and will fire continuously. They are vulnerable at close range, but Helldivers must be cautious and use cover on their approach towards a Tank.
A Tank cannot harm Helldivers if you climb on top of its turret. However, direct contact of their tracks will cause severe and constant damage.
A Tank's turret has less health compared to its chassis, and destroying it will also destroy the Tank.
Therefore, it is recommended to use anti-vehicle weaponry such as the EAT-17 Expendable Anti-Tank on a Tank's turret.
Two grenades to the vent of the turret will also destroy a Tank, with G-16 Impact being the most effective grenade to use.
Eagle 110mm Rocket Pods are markedly effective as they will almost always strike the large, slow, Tank directly from above, and are very likely to destroy the Tank with one call-in.
The Tank can be immobilized by destroying its tracks. This can be done with medium armor-piercing Support Weapons such as the AC-8 Autocannon and APW-1 Anti-Materiel Rifle.
Once destroyed, there is a short delay before the Tank explodes, which can deal damage and knock back Helldivers.
A destroyed Tank is a convenient defense position that a Helldiver could utilize.
Destroying a Tank by a landing on it with a Hellpod will give little time for Helldivers to escape the explosion.
Variants
The Annihilator Tank is equipped with a Cannon identical to the Cannon Turret, a coaxial Fusion Repeater, and hull-mounted Fusion Repeaters. Turret rotates and fires rather slowly.
Similar to a Cannon Turret, the Annihilator's Cannon will briefly flash red before it fires.
Without infantry support, the slow rotation and reload of the Annihilator can make it an easy target for Helldivers at close range. It is recommended that Helldivers approach the Tank facing away from its coaxial Fusion Repeater.
The back of the Annihilator's Cannon has a large vent that can be damaged by medium armor-penetrating weapons such as the JAR-5 Dominator.
* 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.
*** The percentage of damage that applied to the enemies Main damage pool. At 0 HP, the enemy dies.
The Shredder Tank is equipped with a quad Autocannon Turret, similar to the Anti-Air Emplacement. Turret rotates quickly and has a high rate of fire.
The Shredder's turret is deadly at range due to its high rate of fire, relatively short reload, and fast rotational speed that can easily track and kill Helldivers.
Despite this, the turret has lighter armor behind its shield, making it vulnerable to medium armor-piercing weapons such as the JAR-5 Dominator.
Climbing onto a Shredder Tank is ill-advised due to its turret's rotation speed and height; it is only safe to be on top of the turret itself.
* 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.
*** The percentage of damage that applied to the enemies Main damage pool. At 0 HP, the enemy dies.
The Barrager Tank is equipped with a massive 33-barrel multiple rocket launcher and hull-mounted Fusion Repeaters. At medium range, it aims low and fires rockets directly at Helldivers. At long range, it aims upwards and acts as artillery to fire rocket barrages down onto Helldivers. Its launcher rotates slowly, but has a moderate rate of fire.
The Barrager Tank was first revealed in the Escalation of Freedom Announcement Trailer on July 23rd, 2024, and began appearing in-game on the update's release on August 6th, 2024.
Its rockets appear to be larger than other Automaton rockets, such as those from a Rocket Devastator or Hulk Bruiser.
It appears vulnerable while it transitions into artillery mode.
Trivia
The Annihilator Tank resembles a downsized Baneblade super heavy tank from Warhammer 40,000, while its main gun seems to be based off of the Shadowsword's design.
Its turret bears a resemblance to the Challenger 2 main battle tank.
The coaxial machine gun on the Annihilator Tank's turret appears as a "Fusion Repeater" when pinged.
The Barrager Tank resembles the real-life Soviet TOS-1 Buratino multiple rocket launcher.
The Tank armor value on the front has been lowered to be the same as the non-vent sections on the rear of the tank. The intent was initially that it was supposed to be more armored in the front, but the visual language did not show that.
The vents on the back of the Tanks turret will now check for explosion directions correctly.
Heavy I
Heavy II
Medium I
