Terminids Helldivers 2 — The Bug Faction, Fully Explained

The Terminids — "Bugs" — are the swarming insectoid faction on the eastern front of Helldivers 2: a fast-evolving horde of claw-and-bile creatures whose strength is numbers, whose weakness is fire, and whose entire reason for existing is a Super Earth secret — Terminid corpses decompose into E-710, the fuel that powers the war effort (turn "710" upside down and you get "OIL"). They're the first faction you fight and the one most players farm for samples, spanning chaff units (Scavengers, Hunters), armored mid-tier (Warriors, Chargers, Impalers, Commanders), flying threats (Shriekers), and the 150,000 HP Hive Lord boss. This guide covers the full roster, each unit's weak points, the sub-factions added through 2025–2026, and the loadout rules that make bug missions easy.

Official resources: Steam store page · Helldivers Wiki — Terminids · GamesRadar+ — Terminids tips and best weapons · Esports.gg — every Terminid · VideoGamer — E-710 explained

What Are the Terminids?

The Terminids are the ravenous bug swarm of the Galactic War: "a fast-evolving plague, a shapeshifting infestation that threatens to devour and disenfranchise every single child on every single planet," per the official store copy. Gameplay-wise they're the anti-Automaton: almost entirely melee, they close distance and surround you, which makes close-range crowd control the winning play — shotguns, fire, gas and high-capacity automatics vastly outperform precision rifles. They control the planets on the eastern (right) side of the Galactic War map, and their two defining traits are:

• Numbers. No faction throws more bodies at you. Bug Breaches can summon wave after wave, which is why bug missions are where sentries and orbitals shine.
• E-710. The lore secret the game's propaganda tries to hide: Terminids were bred on farms for decades because their rapid decomposition produces E-710 fuel. The illegal broadcasts you can destroy on missions say it out loud — "the Bug Menace is a Super Earth construct." Super Earth needs the bugs alive enough to keep farming them.

Official source: Helldivers Wiki — Terminids — "If Terminids didn't decompose into Element-710, we'd have eradicated them completely a long time ago." (Service Technician ship dialogue)

The Terminid Roster and How to Kill Each Unit

Structures: Bug Holes can only be destroyed by demolition force (grenades, grenade launchers, orbitals — bullets do nothing, unlike Automaton Fabricators), and Spore Spewers / Shrieker Nests are low-armor targets you can shoot down slowly with anything.

The Terminids' Weakness: Fire, and the "Stalker" Problem

Fire is the faction multiplier. Terminids have a heavy fire-damage weakness — flamethrowers, incendiary grenades, the Torcher primary and napalm strikes melt hordes that would chew through a magazine economy. Gas is the secondary tool: it blinds and redirects swarm AI, letting clusters attack each other. After fire, the rule is target the head or belly — most bugs' shells are armor, their heads are not.

Stalkers: the ambush unit everyone hates

Stalkers are the camo-cloaking hunters that appear out of nowhere, hit hard with tongue attacks, and have a large health pool. They spawn from Stalker Lairs — hidden nests you'll find marked on the map as optional objectives. The rules:

• Kill the lair, end the problem. Stalkers keep spawning from their lair until you destroy it (it's a demolition-force target). Clearing it is the highest-value optional objective on bug maps.
• Smoke reveals them. Stalkers cloak against terrain, but smoke clouds and spore-egg effects break their silhouette — throw smoke or use gas to force them visible.
• They hit like a truck but die like a warrior. Once revealed, they have no armor — focus fire and they drop faster than their reputation suggests.

Terminid Sub-Factions (2025–2026)

Like the Automatons, the bugs evolved variants through updates:

• Predator Strain — aggressive hunter-echo units with faster movement and harder hits; the strain that made high-ergonomics weapons (see the ergonomics guide) suddenly critical.
• Spore Burst Strain — spore variants of standard units (including a Spore Burst Bile Titan) that release damaging spore clouds on death.
• Rupture Strain — the newest, tuned for the Gloom-front content in the 2026 updates.

These strains rotate in and out via Major Orders and the Galactic War state, which is why checking the current front (see the live map guide) matters before you build for a bug campaign.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the Terminids in Helldivers 2?

The Terminids ("Bugs") are the swarming insectoid faction on the eastern Galactic War front. They're almost entirely melee, attack in overwhelming numbers, and are secretly farmed by Super Earth because their corpses decompose into E-710 fuel.

What are all the Terminid enemy types?

Scavengers, Bile Spitters, Hoppers, Warriors, Bile Warriors, Sentinel Guards, Hunters, Stalkers, Bile Spewers, Nursing Spewers, Chargers (Spore/Behemoth variants), Impalers, Brood/Alpha Commanders, Shriekers, Bile Titans, Dragonroaches and the Hive Lord boss — plus Predator, Spore Burst and Rupture sub-faction variants.

What is the Terminids' weakness?

Fire — flamethrowers, incendiary weapons and napalm get a huge damage multiplier against bugs. Gas is second (blinds and redirects swarm AI). Always aim for heads or unarmored bellies, and bring demolition force for Bug Holes.

What are Stalkers in Helldivers 2 and how do you deal with them?

Stalkers are camo-cloaking ambush hunters that spawn from Stalker Lairs. Destroy the lair (demolition force) to stop them permanently, use smoke/gas to break their cloaking, and they die fast once revealed.

What is E-710 in Helldivers 2?

E-710 is the fuel refined from Terminid corpses — turn "710" upside down and it reads "OIL." Terminid farms bred bugs for this fuel, which is why Super Earth can never fully eradicate the bugs; the in-game propaganda frames this as a bug conspiracy.

Related Guides

• Helldivers 2 Hive Lord — How to Kill the Boss
• Helldivers 2 Best Weapons — 2026 Tier List and Meta Guide
• Helldivers 2 Stratagems — Full List, Unlocks and Best Picks
• Ergonomics Helldivers 2 — What the Weapon Stat Does
• Can You Play Helldivers 2 Solo? — Solo Play Guide
• Is Helldivers 2 Crossplay? — Full Cross-Platform Guide

Last updated: August 13, 2026.