Mechs are often dismissed entirely by newer players and veterans alike, a popular belief being that they are weak or underpowered, or are otherwise not able to be used effectively in higher difficulties (Such as 13+)

Exo-suits are a unique type of vehicle with a lot of benefits over the rest, many of which are often ignored by the vast majority of players - often, their positive traits are thought of in a vaccuum, or separately.

We have a few hundred hours playing exclusively with EXOs, and many more without. We are making this guide in hopes to dispel some of the longstanding beliefs about these stratagems, and make more players aware of the real utility and strength they possess.

This section will cover the basic traits of the Mechs, their overall purpose, and the general capabilities of all Frames.


There is the strong belief that an EXO is simply a tool for destruction, akin to a turret you can man, and whose entire role is to kill everything on sight as quickly as possible.
While it isn't wrong that they are indeed capable of doing so if you burn through all of their ammunition, This is an extremely wasteful and limited way of seeing the Mechs

By far, the strongest trait Mechs have is their tankiness. This isn't because their weaponry is weak (quite the opposite, they all have well over 120k dmg each - a Hive Lord's total HP is 250k for reference), but because of their absurdly high Health, Constitution, and Armor values.
Consider that even if these things didn't deal any damage, you would be an obstacle that can protect it's team and any objectives or points of interest for as long as it needs to. This trait is increased a thousand times over if a REP-80 is in play, but more on that later.

EXOs are extremely valuable - a lot more than the life of an infantry Diver, which can always be called back - and their limited ammunition count puts an upper limit on how much they can do, thusly, they are better suited as a support unit, easily taking the lead when it's convenient, but also hanging back and letting less valuable (and limited) options deal with threats

To compensate for the weaknesses of specific Frames, and the overall limit on ammunition, later in this guide we'll discuss loadouts that make heavy use of stratagems, allowing these Mechs to perform for entire missions if played well (and also leaving you solid options if it dies or runs dry).


As mentioned above, one of their most important traits is their Armor and Health. Compared to combat vehicles, these values are lower considerably, but due to the EXO's superior mobility, they are able to make use of it much more effectively and reliably.

EXOs also have the ability to throw stratagems, a trait which vehicles do not have - This gives them a powerful edge, and MUST be utilized in order to get the most effectiveness out of your Mech. It isn't a mere decoration, or something to use only when you need to reinforce your teammates ! You must be proactive with your stratagems, both to save ammo, and increase your presence (Otherwise, just use a vehicle!)

Their movement isn't impeded by harsh terrain, and they move at the speed of a sprinting Diver after running out of stamina. It is often said that they are slow, but they can keep up just fine if you don't stop. This makes EXOs a great tool if you're going to biomes like Forest and Snow, especially if you lack the All-Terrain Boots. Also Forests often spawn Defense objectives in swamps, so you get better maneuverability to protect those than infantry.

DLC EXOs (Ironically, all but Stomper) have the "Ignore Armor" trait on their walk, meaning they can kill Destroy objectives and Cyborg AA gun by stomping them ! This is good to keep in mind to save ammunition and lets you skip waiting around for the Hellbomb. Just walk into them for a little bit and they'll explode on their own.

While the weapons on each Frame are different, they all share the same stats. Health, Armor, Turn Speed, Movement Speed are all shared between the Mechs, by knowing how one works, you'll understand the rest (Obsidian can be an exception because of it having Gyro on both weapons).

Acceleration on EXOs is quite slow, it takes a while for you to change directions entirely, so it is best done in curves over longer distances. Because of this, your movements must be calculated and have intent behind them, you shouldn't move without purpose, as it can put you very out of position since you're not able to reposition as quickly as Infantry.

An interesting quirk of the way acceleration and moving vehicles work, is that you can indeed hurt yourself if you get off the vehicle at anything other than Full Stop, or Maximum Speed. You can jump off EXOs at Full Throttle if you're moving forwards, this is a very important technique if you need to patch your own Mech up!

Moreover, the limited turn speed is quite relevant, you can compensate for it however by walking in the direction you want to turn, so your bullets will get to the enemy faster. So aim with your body. This is quite important for Stomper's MG and Lumberer's Cannon, Obsidian cares less because of Gyro.

An important part to doing well with these stratagems is to take the right one for the correct situation, as they each excel in a specific task, it is important for you to consider this when dropping into a mission. The following Sections cover each Frame's role and abilities in detail.

Please note: These are all considered to be maxed by the user, though they can be expensive for newer players, their performance is a lot less impressive without their upgrades

The Ultimate Support Unit. Stomper is a generalist Frame capable of handling ALL situations, it boasts a uniquely high ammo count, and by far the highest total damage out of all the Frames. This is our preferred EXO, and one which you can safely take to any dive without issue

With 2000 rounds of it's MG, and 8 AT-capable rockets, a single Stomper is capable of sustaining itself throughout an entire mission and then some. The MG is your main tool, use it as much as you need, but don't waste it pointlessly - Let your teammates get some kills too! feel free to hold the trigger for scary threats, but don't waste too much on smaller fodder if you can help it. Similarly, keep your rockets for situations where you are the only one able to kill an Armored enemy / it needs to die NOW and your rockets are the fastest option

While the rockets aren't able to oneshot Warlords and Behemoths, they CAN kill IFVs and any other enemy with just a single shot - Remember this, and if possible, use your stratagems or let your teammates take care of these bigger threats. Don't shoot at something you'll just leave wounded, keep in mind that a lot of stratagems greatly overkill most enemies, so only shoot if you can guarantee a kill.

A very important upside of the rockets' homing, is that you're easily able to kill offscreen enemies (like Impalers), this is a great trait that can save your team from lots of headaches, especially since EXOs have a lot of trouble repositioning to chase enemies very far away.

Stomper by virtue of being a generalist, lacks defined weaknesses, but there's one situation in which it performs worse than other Frames, and this is against HIGH LEVEL Bugs.
Their uniquely high armor and health values means that you'll need to fire at infantry units like Brood Commanders for too long, and it makes consistent DPS with the MG hard to achieve unless you're pointblank (Which is a solid option, as your pace matches theirs so they can't retaliate).

Also because Bugs have a lot of Very Heavily Armored units, Stomper's Rockets aren't well suited for the task. Though the Rockets are a great tool that can consistently deal with off-screen Impalers, you'll probably want to bring one of the more specialized Frames. Lumberer is amazing for the Heavily Armored units, and Obsidian's higher damage, armor piercing, and accurate Autocannons make short work of Brood Commanders.

Anti-Infantry Burst Damage Specialist. Obsidian is different from the other frames for leaning full into it's niche, it lacks an AT weapon, so you'll have to use Stratagems and let allies deal with Heavily Armored enemies. However, Obsidian's Gyro allows it a very fast response time, and it is unmatched in quickly bursting down groups of enemies.

Gyro means the arms swivel separately from the body, controlled by your aim direction (very easy to notice using a mouse). This allows for precise aiming over long distances, and it also means you need to turn your body less in order to be dealing damage. It is important to note that the arms do not turn equally, the right arm is the dominant one and follows your aim position better, so keep this in mind!

Alongside the high accuracy that Gyro provides, the Autocannons have Armor Piercing (Which is a reduction of 15 points of Armor) and boast a high damage per shot (250 each). This means you can be less accurate and still deal damage. The Autocannons also don't have any bonus or penalty related to Center Mass Damage - That is not to say you shouldn't aim at Center Mass, however, since enemy Armor is at it's lowest there, but it simply makes aiming less punishing if you happen to miss it.

Please note that the Autocannon from Vehicles is not equal to the Dum-Dum, the Dum-Dum deals significantly higher damage, and has a slower rate of fire. It's worth mentioning because Vehicle Autocannons cannot hurt Warlords (I've seen too many Divers shooting hundreds of rounds at them thinking it does!) Obsi really should be able to hurt them, but alas.

It's most obvious shortcoming is the lack of an AT weapon, but this isn't entirely a downside, as it means the Obsidian can fully dedicate itself to being strong against Infantry units. In the following section, we will cover Loadouts that allow you to deal with the lack of AT, and how to use them.

Far more important, however, is the Obsidian's very limited ammo supply. It has 250 shots on each arm, for 500 total. While these are very deadly and can tear down foes in seconds, The Obsidian is ill-suited for long engagements without proper support from Stratagems and Infantry.

Anti-Tank Support Platform. Lumberer is an Anti-Tank specialist, it has an extremely powerful cannon, but a very mediocre Anti-Infantry side weapon. It is often believed to be "The only viable EXO in 13+" because of it's superior AT capacity. this is entirely wrong. It's main strength comes from the ability to eliminate any target it needs with a single click, it also can provide useful Damage over Time with it's Flamer, which allows it to spread big damage across groups.

Lumberer's Cannon acts as a Recoilless Rifle with a 15-shot clip, while it differs from the RL-112 by not ignoring armor, it's ability to keep firing should it need to is invaluable in tight engagements. However, using your Cannon on large groups of enemies is very wasteful, and it is instead best reserved for the largest threats, and those in immediate need of killing. Always remember Infantry AT options can reload, while you cannot.

It is best to think of the Lumberer not as a Main Combat Unit, but rather an Artillery Support Unit, able to pinpoint targets and eliminate them before they can cause problems for the team. This takes a lot of restraint, and proper use of wider AT Stratagems for groups of Heavily Armored enemies will save your ammo a lot.

(Note:)
(We want to point out, that while statistically the Cannon is not supposed to one-shot a Bug Behemoth, due to the way Lag Compensation and Desync works in Helldivers, it does so regardless. If you find inconsistency on it, it's because of this)

Lumberer's Flamer is a weak Anti-Infantry tool, which allows you to ignite most enemies, save for Heavily Armored ones (Including Warlords, and Impalers if their head isn't exposed). It takes a long time to kill spongy Infantry units with sustain fire, and it uses a lot of the limited capacity in the tank. So it's best used to ignite groups, let the DoT run it's course, and utilize Stratagems and your allies' weapons to deal the bulk of the damage.

The Flamer is also different from other Flamethrower weapons in that it cannot create Napalm Puddles - maybe one of the strongest traits of Flamers, because of how it allows players to control enemy AI and movement. This is likely an oversight from Arrowhead as the Napalm Puddles were added later, but it could have been a balancing decision. One we personally disagree with, if intended.

Lumberer is able to hurt itself with it's Main Cannon fire if it is too close to the point of impact, while in a lot of situations it is a lot better to kill an enemy and take the damage from the explosion than have the enemy alive and potentially destroy your Frame, it means this EXO struggles at extremely close ranges for fear of blowing itself up.

As you may have noticed, Lumberer's niche is something that is usually better fulfilled by other options, such as Stratagems, and Support Weapons. Even vehicles such as the HAV and Bastion perform better because of their large ammunition pools (Of course, the upside of Lumberer is that it only requires a single user). A lot of the time in Lumberer you'll be trying to maximize the value out of each shell, and it's hard to say if one would perform better with different equipment, and if Lumberer's niche is worth it. It could definitely use a little bit more ammo, at least for 13+ (though the game isn't balanced in 13+). Regardless, we can perform quite well with this Frame and last it a whole mission if needed.

Here we will discuss Loadouts to make the most out of each individual Frame.
But first, let's talk about the single most important tool when it comes to maximizing the effectiveness of vehicles.

The REP-80 is absurd. It is known amongst veteran players that it is entirely too strong.
This "gun", when maxed, heals at a rate of 200hp per second, a Helldiver's HP and Constitution are combined for a total 200 points.
It is also worthwhile noting, that the REP doesn't emit constant healing - It does it in Ticks, it takes a little bit after connecting to beam for it to produce a healing tick, so you have to connect it early if you're about to take damage!

Naturally, the REP is an amazing tool as it allows vehicles to get back to full health in mere moments, giving them much more longetivity and promoting aggression, but above all, it increases the main strength of all the combat vehicles - Their ability to soak damage.

For a Mech user, you have the mobility to put yourself between enemy fire and your team, and protect them utilizing your Frame as a shield. All EXOs are perfectly capable of lasting as long as you want them to if you possess a REP-80, and even when you're not getting value out of the Frame's own weapons, you can still tank damage, manipulate enemy AI and pathfinding, and be a Full-time Frontline Unit.

You should ALWAYS think about the REP when you're dropping to 13+ missions, and if you want to guarantee success on Defense and Escort missions, you Should bring one.
Ask yourself: Are you going to bring one? Can you ask someone else to bring one for you? Are you going to use it yourself or is someone going for a Combat Medic loadout?. If you don't bring a REP, you'll have to adjust your loadout and playstyle accordingly, being less on the frontline, and utilizing your Stratagems more to destroy enemies before they can deal proper damage to you.

But remember, even without a REP, your Frame still has a maximum of 1000 Armor if you angle it well, so you can ALWAYS deflect IFV and Hunter shots, and tank a lot if you know how to position yourself.

This is an extremely important question, because it will change how you play significantly.
On one side, a teammate using the REP allows your Frame to stay active while facetanking damage, letting you retaliate.
On the other, unless that player is going to be VERY aware of when they should REPair you, or they're going for a full-time Combat Medic playstyle, relying on others for heals is inconsistent (More so if you're not using Voice Chat). And perhaps more importantly, an Infantry Diver is usually stronger using other support weapons.

The strength of Helldiver weapons is incredible, and them using a different Support Weapon means you'll have a lot less pressure to deal with, so We usually prefer to carry the REP ourselves.

Naturally, you cannot heal your Mech while inside of it. And the animation for getting in and out take a significant amount of time, leaving your EXO vulnerable to enemies
But as we mentioned at the start of the guide, you can get off of your Frame when going at Full Throttle forwards.
By not having to wait until your EXO stops entirely, you save precious seconds, letting you heal in the middle of combat and hop back in quickly ! Simply send your Mech forwards and start repairing it immediately, then get back on and continue your job.

But again, The biggest threat to an EXO are Enemy Melee Attacks. Large enemies like Butchers, Warlords, Impalers, and Behemoths can ALL kill you in 1-3 hits (Listed in order of damage dealt), so no matter what, you DON'T want to be taking Melee damage from them. Pick a moment to heal when your EXO isn't going to end up in the clutches of those enemies, else you'll have to keep repairing it until someone else can draw the aggro away.

Stratagem Priority is important! Read below.



Primary Weapon is optional, since you'll want to be in your EXO most of the time. LAS guns are fine, but usually someone will have ammo.
Obvious choice for EXO users, other perks do not benefit you much if you're going to stay inside a Mech for the entire mission. Precision Call-In has niche synergies with some stratagems and may be helpful given the fixed throw angle, but Priority lets you be much more aggressive and save ammunition by having your tools more often.

Vindicator has the lowest Cooldown out of all the AT Stratagems. It is available so often you may as well consider it a part of your EXO's kit, thus the limited capacity isn't bothersome given you're using every tool you have.
Vindicator may not be able to oneshot Warlords and Behemoths, but every part of this loadout compliments itself by giving you more tools to hurt Heavily Armored enemies with.
This stratagem not only is extremely fast, but also operates at the same distance your rockets lock in, allowing you to immediately take care of threats with a one-two punch.

(IF BRINGING REP-80, REPLACE VINDICATOR).

Yet another generalist Stratagem.
CAS is universally applicable, being both excellent for Anti-Infantry, and having good value as Anti-Tank. It often leaves Heavily Armored enemies alive, but Vindicators and Rockets are there to finish the job quickly. Throw this out on cooldown to save ammo and kill stuff faster, just watch out for the Homing Rockets looping back sometimes.

This is an underrated stratagem, often ignored because Railcannon Strike has a much lower cooldown, and Heavy Airstrike is overpowered.
But it is an excellent and forgiving tool for an EXO user - the wide Lock-On radius comes into play often because of your unique throw angle and slower movement, allowing you to kill large enemies without repositioning or taking your focus off of your current task.
Precision Shredder does reliably kill IFVs that are stationary or moving forwards (As it will hit the rear hatch). However your other tools are also well-suited for doing this.
We care about this stratagem because it reliably kills Warlords, and deals much more damage to Behemoths - Also, the Salvo and large explosion radius means that bunched up enemies will get caught in the blast. This can often net you two or three kills with a good use of this Stratagem.
The long cooldown on Precision Shredder isn't bothersome because all of your other tools are available as often as you need them to, and this packs more of a punch than RCS does.

For info on the Perk, read the Stomper Loadout section.



Primary Weapon is optional, since you'll want to be in your EXO most of the time. LAS guns are fine, but usually someone will have ammo.
The two other stratagems and Obsidian's specialized kit already fill most of what you'd want to have, thus leaving a slot open for utility.
Right now we are experimenting with Vindicator for an extra, near-instant AT option, but REP-80 and either Napalm, or Static are all really useful options.
Though Static doesn't shine as much against Illuminate, Napalm is excellent against them, as it blocks out the Chairmen orbs, Exiles, and can prevent Striders from threatening the group.

Strafing Run is a powerful stratagem with incredible uptime.
For Obsidian and it's low ammo pool, the extremely short cooldown of the Stratagem lets you use it to conserve ammo as much as possible, and get extra DPS on larger enemies.
It can also be switched out for Heavy Airstrike or CAS depending on the faction, since the other options perform better against enemies with more Armor.

Heavy Airstrike is the best AT Red Stratagem in the game, due to it's extreme killing power, and an absurdly long cooldown compared to the other options.
Due to the Obsidian being the ONLY Frame without an integrated AT option, having an easily spammable and very powerful AT Stratagem that can kill groups of Heavily Armored enemies is invaluable - Other options were considered, but the short cooldown of Heavy Airstrike ends up being more useful due to being available more often.

For info on the Perk, read the Stomper Loadout section.



Primary Weapon is optional, since you'll want to be in your EXO most of the time. LAS guns are fine, but usually someone will have ammo.

As covered in the obsidian section, Strafing Run is a very reliable stratagem that can supplant a Primary Weapon. However, whereas the Obsidian uses it to supplement its powerful autocannons, here you will use it as your main damage-dealing tool. The Stomper's Cannon is too powerful for most threats, and while it's good at clearing groups, Strafing Run does it efficiently for free. Use your flamethrower to deal DoT and Strafe to deal damage to Infantry groups.

Heavy Strafing Run or REP-80?
It depends on the faction, really. Lumberer is the frame most prone to taking damage due to its Cannon, so the REP allows it to stay in close quarters without fear of dying to self damage. I suggest the REP as a good go-to for when you're not sure if you'd need the extra firepower, or for tight maps without much space to maneuver in (Such as Retaliatory Strikes).

As for Heavy Strafing Run, I believe we've covered how strong it is, so the simple question is such: Are you going to face lots of Medium Armored Infantry units? if so, then this is a great way to relieve the pressure off your team, and allow your mediocre anti-infantry weapon to keep up with the team.

Missile Barrage is a ridiculously overkill stratagem, capable of clearing the entire screen. It is essentially a better Shredder. It pairs well with a specialized chassis such as Lumberer, where it can point at a threat and immediately destroy it.
You will use Missile Barrage when there are too many Heavily Armored enemies that shooting them down one by one with the Cannon would be wasteful -- Throw this at a bunch of Behemoths, Warlords, or anything big like that, and use your Cannon to pick off the stragglers.

While there aren't many proper resources for using EXOs (as a lot of people undervalue their potential and complexity), Here are a couple of links for relevant stuff, check them out ! The people who made these are very cool

Wiki Pages for the EXOs and REP-80:

Stomper[helldivers.wiki.gg]

Obsidian[helldivers.wiki.gg]

Lumberer[helldivers.wiki.gg]

REP-80[helldivers.wiki.gg]

These all have useful numbers and in-depth stat tables, it is great to compare them to the stats of enemies, so you can check if a certain weapon's damage bypasses enemy armor ETC. The lads did a good job on the wiki so give them some love!