Illuminate weapon recommendations

[SlavonBlue]

What weapons would you recommend vs the illuminates? Specifically, what is best vs their scouts, and what is best vs their heavy units?

[Fine Catastrophe]

Anything that disperses kinetic energy and projected heat. So just lots of bullets and hellfire.

[Zer0MX]

Yeah, the good thing is that you don't need Anti Tank weaponry or stratagems

[YOPG]

Recommended weapons against scouts: Punisher, DBS-2 Double Freedom, PLAS-1 Scorcher, LAS-13 Trident and LAS-16 Sickle

Recommended weapons/stratagem against heavy units: LAS-13 Trident, DBS-2 Double Freedom, AC-22 Dum-Dum, LAS-98 Laser Cannon, FLAM-40 Incinerator, M-25 Rumbler, MG-94 Machine Gun and Obliterator Grenade Launcher.

Recommended offensive stratagems against Illuminate species: Heavy Strafing Run, Incendiary Bombs, Orbital Laser Strike and Strafing Run

Recommended "backpack": LIFT-850 Jump Pack, SH-20 Shield Generator Pack, SH-32 Directional Kinetic Shield

I hope it will help you, enjoy!

[Agent Graves]

To expand on what YOPG posted and to give you more clarity, with Illuminates you are dealing with an enemy race that has NO heavy armor and thus does NOT require anti-tank weapons.

While rocket launchers such as the RL-112 (that's the one with the support-backpack that you can reload yourself or have someone else take the backpack and reload it for you) and it's smaller brother EAT-17 (that's the launcher you can infinitely call in in pairs after a short cooldown) are helpful for destroying the energy-wall spawning Obelisk units and also for destroying the Illuminate Beacon objectives, you can generally still get the job done without these anti tank weapons.

The Illuminates have shielded units instead of armor, with attacks and tactics that aim to disrupt and disorient Helldivers forces. They do this by overhwelming you with shielded and/or stealthed melee units, slowing you down and splitting you up with energy walls and by reversing your controls with mind-control from elite units.

So the things you want to take into battle is whatever helps you stay mobile or keeps you protected, as well as weapons with high rate of fire or high damage through status effects.

Illuminates are especially vulnerable to fire, such as from Obliterator grenades, Double-Freedom shotgun blasts and Scorcher (DLC) plasma shots.

Also, one thing to note: The Illuminates homeworld, Squ-bai Shrine, is a forrest planet. Missions on forrest terrain are the LARGEST mission areas in the game, with incredibly inconvenient pathways if you are unlucky.

Normally you'd bring the Cardio Accelerator perk to traverse this terrain quickly, but since forrest planets can feature swamps that slow your movement (similar to snow) that isn't always the best option.
Similarly, taking fast vehicles can result in catstrophic failure if you get caught by an Obelisk energy wall while moving (it's actually harmless if you stop and don't move while in a vehicle, but for most players that is not their first instinct).



As for weapons that can best deal with their scouts (and other units):

Breaker Shotgun - can deal really well with scouts and all kinds of groups of Illuminates thanks to the shots passing through unshielded enemies (but note that this weapon can be incredibly dangerous to your teammates).
This weapon is also incredibly ammo-hungry. Bring enough ammo for it (recommended to use it with double ammo-drops or Stratagem Priority and one ammo drop)

Punisher Shotgun - aka the Sniper Shotgun, destroys scouts even at extreme range but struggles against larger groups of combat units

DBS Double Freedom Shotgun - very short range and tricky to use for beginners, but incredibly powerful with incendiary status effect when upgraded

LAS-whatever Trident - the infamous overpowered Laser Shotgun.
Incredibly overpowerful. Incredibly boring, too. But if you struggle and you've got the upgrade points for it, it will get the job done.
Point it in any direction and see everything evaporate before your eyes, including the fun and the joy in the hearts and minds of your teammates.
PS: this thing does not need ammo if you don't overheat it. Please don't pick up ammo unless you really need it or if it's being abandoned by your ammo-using teammates.

Patriot Assault Rifle: High Fire Rate and solid damage with good accuracy, will destroy scouts and combat units alike. Direct upgrade to the starting Assault Rifle (Liberator). Rather ammo hungry. Be sure to keep a consistent ammo supply.

Recommended DLC primary weapons:

LAS-16 Sickle: the laser-powered assault rifle. overall solid choice, very accurate and very high range. I don't actually like it against scouts (because I use a gamepad and lack the precision to hit scouts dead-center all the time). Much more skillful choice than the Trident, IMO.

LMG-105 Stalwart: solid LMG that is similar in nature to the Patriot. Has similar damage and fire-rate, also a much larger magazine, but requires the user to hold down the trigger for the accuracy to settle. But even so, even inaccurate bursts from it are enough to dispatch scouts. Solid weapon against all other combat forces.

PLAS-1 Scorcher: fully upgraded this weapon makes a joke of anything the Illuminates throw at you. Scouts? Whatever. Shielded mobs? Pffff, please! Elites? Lol! Fires explosive balls of energy that apply incendiary effect to anything it hits. It's essentially a primary-version of the Obliterator Grenade Launcher secondary weapon (the one you call down and pick up), except it fires straight. This weapon makes things dead, but that includes you, too, if you fire it in close quarters. Using the MD-99 Autoinjector perk for increased health regen and self-pickup speed from downed states is HIGHLY recommended.

Other than that, grab a LIFT-850 Jump pack and Hellfire Bombs (again, Illuminates hate fire) or Strafing Run (think of either of the Strafing Runs as an LMG from the sky) and go forth, kill some squids.

[CrazyGoblin]

Really? Directional shield? I've seen people bring those for squid runs, but I've never seen it pay off. They can't (reliably) block hunter beams, and it's hardly worth the backpack slot to be used for the minor boost it provides against the tripods. Also doesn't protect you against the mind control and stunning effect that there's oh-so-much of. Not my cuppa liber-tea.

I'd much rather recommend the bubble shield, as mentioned. The big question is whether to take the jetpack, for escaping tripod swarms and hopping over obelisk walls (friggin' Trump-balls...), or the bubble shield for general defense and protection against mind control. Depends on the team and how comfortable you feel with the different situations.

Also, I'd recommend against using the flamethrower; it's not nearly as effective as one would hope. The Scorcher murders tripods, and the Suppressor is almost as good... Thing is, both are very dangerous to use under normal circumstances, but suddenly getting spun around by sneak squid mind-melting is a recipe for disaster... So, pick with caution.

Double Freedom is okay against tripods, and does a mean number on council members and other floating buttwads, but I've encountered entirely too many observer drones that sound the alarm from outside of its short range. If you can hit them, it's great, but for general usage I'd say Sickle or Punisher are better.

But yeah, napalm strike is pretty much mandatory when fighting squids. I also tend to bring along the light strafing run, if only because it never gets to see any use otherwise... It is pretty dang effective against tripod swarms though! Just, y'know, be careful about getting too carried away and gunning down your teammates. Happens to the best of us.


Never, ever bring vehicles. Just... No. Don't. Illuminates eat vehicles for breakfast and pass the gaskets before tea time. Anything with wheels ends up as a coffin, and the only walker pilots who survive are the paranoid and the lucky.

[Pierre]

The 'Obsidian' EXO-48 mech is perfect for level 12 squid runs, even better if you have someone with a REP to heal you while you just tank. All you really need to do is just watch those Obelisks as they are your biggest threat while using it.
Essentially, if you want to use it independantly, bring a REP to heal yourself when you're out of danger, but, if you have a little situational awareness and a tid bit of skill, you can solo Twelvie squid runs with this beast. I honestly think it was built to fight them illimunates as it has almost no use with the other races other than taking out the Queen and Butcher rushes that are thrown at you.
I'd like to also suggest that if you intend to use them throughout your mission, you bring a cardio Accelerator so you can book it after your mech dies or runs out of ammo. I also suggest bringing a laser weapon or an arc weapon if you intend to run that stratedgy.