Factory Strider

Called "Walkers" by some Helldivers, the Factory Striders are giant, heavily armed behemoths of steel and socialism. As walking Factories on legs, Factory Striders can be found at Automaton outposts or be dropped into battle, firing their cannons and dual miniguns at Helldivers and fabricating batches of Standard Devastators, or roam across the planet's surface providing fire support where it can. Due to their functionality, it is unsurprising that Automatons can quickly deploy and spread on Super Earth colonies. 
Factory Striders are extremely tough targets, with many Helldivers reporting they can survive several 500kg bomb direct hits. 
On April 16th, Reports confirmed that the Factory Striders encountered during the latter stages of Operation Swift Disassembly were prototypes on test runs and are now being mass-produced. Reports have also confirmed that factory striders can be transported and dropped off by dropships. The Super-Earth command has approved new missions targeting the destruction of factory striders.
== Tactics And Strategy ==
To aid our fellow Helldivers in effectively eliminating the Factory Striders, here is a table showing the best way to destroy a Strider using different weapons.
Weapon 	Underside door 	Eye 	Bottom Minigun Turrets 	Notes
JAR-5 Dominator 	28 shots 	 	7 shots each 	
R-36 Eruptor 	1 shot 	 	2 shots (can vary with distance) 	The Eruptor CANNOT pierce the door on the underside of the Strider, a hole must first be made with a heavy armor-piercing weapon like the Railgun, and then the Eruptor can deal the final blow.
AC-8 Autocannon 	6-7 shots 	18 shots 	2 shots each 	Can also be used to destroy the "batteries" that move up and down on its back while it deploys Devastators.
MG-206 Heavy Machinegun 	Entire magazine 	 	 	
LAS-98 Laser Cannon 	5 seconds of continuous fire	 	3 seconds of continuous fire each	
LAS-99 Quasar Cannon 	2 shots 	6 shots 	1 shot each 	Can down a strider in two VERY well-placed shots to a specific area in its side armor, one to break off the armor and one to destroy the circuitry within.
GR-8 Recoilless Rifle 	2 shots 	6 shots 	1 shot each 	Can down a strider in two VERY well-placed shots to a specific area in its side armor, one to break off the armor and one to destroy the circuitry within.
EAT-17 Expendable Anti-Tank	2 shots 	 	1 shot each 	
APW-1 Anti-Materiel Rifle 	11 shots 	30~ shots	2 shots each 	
* Due to its massive size and durability, Helldivers should be well equipped and prepared to deal with Striders. 
* The Orbital Laser alone is often enough to destroy a Factory Strider. However, the gargantuan machine takes the entire duration of the laser to be destroyed.
** If it's still standing afterward, focus anti-tank weaponry at its head, as one or two shots are often enough to bring the behemoth down for good.
* While an intimidating foe at first because of it's size, the Strider's threat against Helldivers is significantly reduced once it is deprived of it's twin chin-mounted minigun.
** Helldivers should avoid being in front of a Strider unless its chin-mounted minigun turrets has been destroyed, as they can shred Helldivers in 1-2 seconds without cover. The miniguns are not very well-armored, and can be destroyed by any weapon capable of medium armor penetration.
** It takes two shots from an anti-tank weapon such as a Recoilless Rifle or Quasar Cannon to destroy its top turret. A single Spear missile will destroy it however, and is identified as a separate target from the rest of the mech.
** Once all its weapons are destroyed, it will generally remain stationary and focus on producing Devastators; this can allow Helldivers to either focus on other threats or adequately move around the Strider to destroy its weak point.
* While not immediately visible, the Strider has an "eye", which constitutes as one of it's weakpoints. This eye is a benign-looking yellow light on the left side of it's face. This weakpoint has no cover and can be damaged at any point with a weapon capable of penetrating light vehicle armor, but is hard to hit unless the minigun turrets under it's chin are destroyed first.
* Occasionally, a strider will open its bottom vent (which is a way to kill one) and drop four standard devastators. If left unattended, Helldivers can quickly become overwhelmed.
* Hellpods can be used to land on the Strider, whether it would be from support weapons, emplacements or reinforcing Helldivers to the fray. It can take around 5 Hellpods of any kind landing on its back to destroy them.
* An Eagle 500kg bomb landing directly on the Strider's face can put it in a near-death state.
* Due to their size and slow speed, Striders are very vulnerable to all forms of Orbital Barrages, especially the Walking Barrage if thrown along it's length.
* If one is able to close in with an Emancipator Exosuit and get within it's cannon turret's deadzone, unloading on it's eye is an easy affair since the suit's armor can withstand it's minigun turrets.
* For Helldivers that are yet to unlock stratagems such as the Eagle 500kg bomb or Orbital Laser, Eagle Airstrikes, Eagle Rocket Pods, and Orbital Precision Strikes work fine against Striders.
File:Strider destroyed.png|a destroyed factory strider
File:Factory Strider Weakpoints.png|Factory Strider Weak points
File:Factory Strider.jpg|idle
File:Strider drop.png|a factory strider being airdropped into battle
== Notes==
* They were added in the 1.000.200 Patch, on April 2nd 2024.
* Mass production started in the 1.000.203 Patch, on April 16th 2024.
Category:Automatons
Category:Enemies (Helldivers 2)