How to Evacuate High Value Targets in Helldivers 2

Helldivers 2 Evacuate High Value Targets mission
(Image credit: Sony)

The Helldivers 2 Evacuate High Value Targets mission is where players have to defend generators while rockets launch behind them, even as walls and turrets are deployed to hold back the Automatons attacking. Getting through these Helldivers 2 missions is straightforward in concept but tricky in practice, especially as the enemies build up in number and before long you can't make out the sky for all the dropships and tanks coming down around you. If you want to understand what you're getting into and the best way to do it, here's how to evacuate high value targets in Helldivers 2, and the best ways to beat HD2's answer to tower defence gameplay.

Evacuating High Value Targets in Helldivers 2 explained

Helldivers 2 Evacuate High Value Targets mission

(Image credit: Sony)

The Evacuate High Value Targets mission in Helldivers 2 is fairly simple as an idea: there are two generators supplying power to a series of rockets, and Automatons are coming to destroy the generators. 

If you can keep the generators safe until all the rockets are launched, you win! But if the bots break through your defenses and ruin the generators before that point, it's a loss. 

Helldivers 2 supplies all sorts of defenses to help keep the generators safe, including armored doors that can close, mounted turrets and piles of ammo, but ultimately these are unlikely to be enough on their own, and you need to bring the right kind of Helldivers 2 Stratagems to have a real chance, as well as playing carefully and strategically. Speaking of which…

Evacuate High Value Targets tips

Helldivers 2 Evacuate High Value Targets mission

(Image credit: Sony)

If you're struggling with these HVT missions, that's totally understandable - they're tough, and learning what works and what doesn't will take some getting used to. Hopefully these tips and tricks below will help get you to that point a little sooner.

  • Fight at the outer defenses first. There's a path leading up to the generators, with multiple walls and doors - layers of defense - along the way. You want to keep the fighting as far from the generators as possible, so only fall back when forced.
  • The doors don't help much. The doors can be opened and closed with a button from either side, but they're not especially tough - it won't be long before the Automatons shoot through them. Use them to buy yourself some time, but don't expect them to hold for long - close them as you're forced to pull back to create additional layers of defense.
  • The HMG Emplacement is "meh." The game supplies special turrets you can climb into, but they're not that powerful - good for thinning out minor enemies, but unable to penetrate the sturdier armor of Hulks and Helldivers 2 Annihilator Tanks.
  • Shoot down dropships. If you have the Quasar - and you should, it's one of the best Helldivers 2 weapons - you can bring down dropships simply by shooting the thruster/engines. Even if they've already deployed a platoon or tank, the dropship can still land on and kill those enemies quickly.
  • Things will get worse before they get better. The amount of enemies being deployed increases over time - by the final round, things will be atrociously difficult. Keep that in mind as you plan strategies and call in attacks.
  • There's thirteen and a half minutes of chaos. The time between the attacks starting and the last rocket leaving - signalling mission success - is exactly thirteen and a half minutes. There's also no samples on the map, so don't bother looking.
  • Bring in Mortars and heavy artillery. When picking Stratagems, you'll want big, explosive things - Hulks and Tanks will be on you from the beginning, and having Helldivers 2 weapons with armor piercing or powerful explosives is essential. The Quasar, Orbital Laser, Eagle Airstrike, Mortar, EMS Mortar, Railgun, Recoilless, Anti-Tank and more besides are all good… but not the Helldivers 2 mechs, as their machine gun isn't powerful enough to get through most Automaton shells.

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Joel Franey
Guides Writer

Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and raconteur with a Masters from Sussex University, none of which has actually equipped him for anything in real life. As a result he chooses to spend most of his time playing video games, reading old books and ingesting chemically-risky levels of caffeine. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at USgamer, Gfinity, Eurogamer and more besides.

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