The Impaler is a tough new enemy that was added as part of Helldivers 2's big Escalation of Freedom update. Those who played the first game might remember these tanky Terminids and the troublesome tentacles that they can summon out of the ground to flatten you. If anything, they're even trickier now since they knock you off your feet or yeet you for miles.
You've likely encountered one already if you're pushing to unlock the new Super Helldive difficulty but, if not, here's how to find one plus some strategies you can use to easily deal with it. If you haven't yet, you can grab the TR-40 Gold Eagle armor set early if you want some new fashion to celebrate the update, but otherwise, here's how to beat an Impaler.
How to find and beat Impalers
You can find Impalers on difficulty 5 (Hard) missions and above since they seem to be classed as a massive enemy like Bile Titans or Factory Striders. That said, I didn't start encountering them often until I loaded into Extreme. Impalers look a little like Chargers with even more armour and it can make them quite hard to spot when you're running around rocky terrain since they blend in well.
They're pretty slow moving, but after a short while they'll summon a set of stabbing tentacles near your location. Surprisingly, these don't do that much damage, but they will knock you to the ground, making you easy prey for other swarms of Terminids. The real trouble comes if there's more than one Impaler, since you'll barely be able to keep your feet before getting knocked down again. You can shoot these tentacles to get rid of them, but it's better to cut them off at the source by killing the Impaler itself.
So, how do you beat an Impaler? Well, there are multiple ways:
- Use a Spear, Orbital Railcannon Strike, or anything that would kill a Charger: The easiest way to deal with an Impaler is to shoot it with a Spear rocket, use a Railcannon Strike, an Orbital Laser, or pretty much any of the anti-armor Stratagems you'd usually take to kill a Charger or Bile Titan. Impalers are heavily armoured, but they're still susceptible to all the same stuff.
- Wait for their face to open and reveal the weak point: If you don't have any anti-armour weapons, you'll have to wait for the Impaler to open its face—yes, it is as disgusting as it sounds. To summon its tentacles, the Impaler unshields its face and partially sticks it into the ground, leaving it vulnerable and stationary for a short period. Provided you avoid the tentacles it summons, the Impaler's uncovered face is a weak spot—similar to the rear end of a Charger—so you can use regular weapons to damage it.
Of course, the first of these methods is definitely the easiest, since you won't have to deal with the Impaler's tentacles at all. If it does manage to summon them, remember that you can shoot them to get a little respite or simply run the hell away.
