Best Illuminate Loadouts & Builds

The Illuminate are a formidable enemy in Helldivers 2. They are known for their advanced technologies and abilities that focus on overwhelming players with sheer precision and numbers. While you are busy clearing their light infantry, their specialized elite units will close in from the ground and air. Hence, the key to victory lies in carefully chosen loadouts and builds that exploit the Illuminate’s weaknesses while protecting against their powerful tech.

So, how do you fight the Illuminate effectively? It is all about finding the right combination of weapons, support gear, and stratagems to deal with their unique strengths. You have to strike the right balance between weapons and stratagems that deal with chaff as well as armored/heavy units. Ignore either of the two enemy types and your loadout will be ineffective against the full Illuminate horde.

In this guide, we’ll dive into the best loadouts and builds specifically tailored for fighting the Illuminate. Whether you are a seasoned player or just getting started, these strategies will elevate your combat effectiveness against this new, squid-like faction. Let’s gear up and get ready to face the Illuminate head-on.

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The Laser Cannon Loadout: Melting the Illuminate

Primary	PLAS-1 Scorcher / PLAS-101 Purifier
Secondary	GP-31 Grenade Pistol
Grenade	G-13 Incendiary Impact
Armor Passive	Siege-Ready
Stratagems	LAS-98 Laser Cannon (Support) AX/AR-23 “Guard Dog” Eagle Strafing Run A/MG-43 Machine Gun Sentry / Orbital Laser

The PLAS-1 Scorcher
and PLAS-101 Purifier
are currently some of the best primary weapons in Helldivers 2. They absolutely melt Overseers, including the jet-pack-using Elevated units, and are equally effective against the Voteless. Whether the Scorcher or the Purifier, the additional ammunition and quick reloads from the Siege-Ready armor passive ensure you can always take on multiple priority enemies. The improved damage per second is mighty helpful when you have to make every shot count.

The Eagle Strafing Run
and GP-31 Grenade Pistol
are a powerful combo to destroy parked warp ships in Helldivers 2. Energy-based weapons are not good at depleting their shields. However, one Strafing Run is enough to destroy the shields of every grounded warp ship in a straight line. You can then shoot a grenade into their open bay doors to make them explode. This combo works wonderfully when eliminating medium or heavy Illuminate nests where you have to destroy five or more warp ships. While the G-13 Incendiary Impact
can also be thrown into the open bay doors, they are more effective at clearing chaff, so save them when running the Grenade Pistol.

The AX/AR-23 “Guard Dog”
is surprisingly effective against the medium-armored Overseers. Each burst is enough to take down a single elite unit, making it one of the best stratagems to watch your flank against the Illuminate in Helldivers 2.

The A/MG-43 Machine Gun Sentry
helps lock down areas when you are defending an objective. If thinning crowds of enemies is not a priority, you can replace it with an Orbital Laser
to target Harvesters or potential heavies that will be added in the future.

Finally, the LAS-98 Laser Cannon
completes this Illuminate loadout in Helldivers 2. In addition to melting Overseers and Chaff within a couple of seconds, the Laser Cannon is excellent against the Harvesters. Use a Strafing Run to deplete their shields, and laser the Harvesters’ weak points (thighs/eyes) in Helldivers 2.

A single clip is enough provided that your aim is steady. The biggest advantage of the Laser Cannon is its massive range, allowing you to pick targets from afar. It is an anti-squid weapon by all accounts.

When playing on level 9 or 10 difficulty where multiple Harvesters are common, having an Orbital Laser becomes a necessity.

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The Lightning Loadout: Shocking (& Staggering) the Illuminate

Primary	ARC-12 Blitzer
Secondary	GP-31 Grenade Pistol
Grenade	G-13 Incendiary Impact
Armor Passive	Electrical Conduit / Med-Kit
Stratagems	ARC-3 Arc Thrower (Support) Orbital Railcannon Strike / Orbital Laser Eagle Strafing Run A/ARC-3 Tesla Tower

The Illuminate have both melee and ranged units, which makes the ARC-12 Blitzer
and the ARC-3 Arc Thrower
excellent at covering both fronts. Both can take out chaff with ease, but the Arc Thrower has the advantage of making Overseers practically useless. Each lightning arc chains and staggers to stun Overseers for a brief second. Keep stacking back-to-back attacks from range and Elevated Overseers will be perma-stunned in mid-air.

The Arc Thrower can take down unshielded Harvesters. It can take around a dozen hits, but each hit inflicts a moderate stun that builds up over time.

Additionally, an A/ARC-3 Tesla Tower
is highly effective against all Illuminate enemy types, especially against groups of flying Overseers. It deals consistent crowd control with the added advantage of disrupting enemies, making it easier to manage large waves.

Add your Arch Thrower in the mix, and you have multiple chained lightning attacks to lock down an entire area. Target priority enemies with the Arc Thrower to ensure they do not get close enough to destroy your Tesla Tower.

Harvesters tend to prioritize sentries, so do not waste your Tesla Tower or other sentry stratagems if you have engaged them.

The Eagle Strafing Run and Grenade Pistol are, of course, necessary to destroy parked warp ships. The Blitzer and Arc Thrower are pretty inefficient at depleting their shields while in combat. So, do not switch them with other stratagems unless you have another teammate who can take on the responsibility.

Finally, you need something for heavies. The Orbital Railcannon Strike
is excellent in this regard, since you get unlimited uses. The Orbital Laser is effective against multiple Harvesters, but its three uses mean you will eventually be relying on your teammates. Just make sure to use a Strafing Run to disable their shields first. This is unarguably one of the most powerful builds against the Illuminate in Helldivers 2, especially when coordinating with other teammates.

The Machine Gun Loadout: Shredding the Illuminate

Primary	StA-52 Assault Rifle
Secondary	GP-31 Grenade Pistol / CQC-19 Stun Lance
Grenade	G-13 Incendiary Impact
Armor Passive	Peak Physique / Engineering Kit
Stratagems	MG-43 Machine Gun (Support) LIFT-850 Jump Pack Orbital Railcannon Strike / Orbital Laser A/MG-43 Machine Gun Sentry / A/G-16 Gatling Sentry

The MG-43 Machine Gun
is unarguably the most versatile support weapon against the Illuminate, making it one of the best Illuminate loadouts in Helldivers 2. It effortlessly shreds light and medium enemies, as well as the Harvesters. Compared to the MG-206 Heavy Machine Gun variant, the standard Machine Gun features better handling and dispatches infantry much faster.

It is a true jack of all trades against the squids, offering an excellent balance of power and reliability. Pair it with either the Engineering Kit to reduce recoil or the Peak Physique armor passive to reduce drag, the latter making it easier to target flying Overseers or Watchers.

Additionally, the high fire rate is effective in depleting shields, so you do not need the Eagle Strafing Run to destroy grounded warp ships. Instead, pick either of two turret sentries for this Illuminate loadout to disperse large crowds or defend objectives.

The only downside of the Machine Gun is its stationary reload animation. You cannot reload the weapon while moving. This is where the LIFT-850 Jump Pack
comes in to help you quickly relocate to safety. It also makes navigating the new urban maps easier.

While the Machine Gun can easily beat Harvesters, provided that you aim at its weak spots, it is always good to have an Orbital stratagem in your build to make short work of multiple heavies. The Orbital Laser can deal with two to three shielded Harvesters at once. However, the Railcannon Strike is only effective against unshielded targets.

As for the primary weapon for this Illuminate build, you can pick anything from the Armory. If you want to stick with the bullet-storm theme, choose the new StA-52 Assault Rifle. It was part of the Helldivers 2 x Killzone 2 crossover and features a massive drum magazine to provide light-armor-penetrating sustained fire, doing the same damage as the standard Liberator.