The EXO-45 Patriot suit has the most powerful weaponry in the game that is highly versatile and can deal with every single enemy in the game. It can easily mow down hordes of lesser enemies with its minigun on its right side, and it can destroy heavily armored targets with the rocket pods on its left. However, many players underestimate just how fragile the EXO-45 Patriot suit is. Not only that, but players are prone to making less effective use in certain situations where the Exo suit is not really needed at. This guide will elaborate on how you can make the best possible use of the Exo suit and save an otherwise difficult mission.
EXO-45 Patriot Suit Basic Information
To list down the details of this weapon, first it costs 20000 requisition points to unlock this Stratagem for use. It has a total of 1000 rounds stored in its minigun. For its rocket rack, it stores 14 rockets. The Stratagem has 2 charges and takes 10 minutes to cooldown after using the first charge. Once all charges have been expended, it is unavailable for the rest of the mission. When it is summoned, it comes with the Pelican One gunship that fires autocannon shots at nearby enemies. Its walking speed is fairly quick, which is equivalent to the sprint speed of a lightly armored Helldiver.
Despite the size and amount of armor it has on the front, it is surprisingly fragile against ranged attacks. It can withstand a fair amount of melee hits, but explosives will almost instantly destroy the suit. Like you, it is also susceptible to friendly fire so mind the positioning of your allies.
There is a current bug in the game where firing a rocket while turning will cause that rocket to collide with your hitbox, which results in accidentally destroying your mech. Before the developers patch this bug, be sure to keep your mech still before firing off a rocket.
Tips on the Terminid Front
The EXO-45 suit is extremely powerful against the Terminid threat. Against an enemy whose main tactic is swarming your position with melee units, it can keep said enemies at range while dealing little to no damage to you at all. The minigun makes short work of Scavengers, Warriors, Hunters, Stalkers, Hive Guards, Spewers, and Brood Commanders fairly easily. Chargers take only 2 rockets to the face, while Bile Titans take 3 or more. Despite the arsenal being well suited for Terminids, it is highly vulnerable to the acid attacks of the Nursing Spewer, Bile Spewer, and Bile Titan, as one spew is enough to take you and the mech out of commission.
The best scenario to call down an exo suit is when you are at an objective site that will guarantee Bug Breaches on objective activation. Missions like Ore Sample Research, Eradication, E-710 Extraction and Hatcheries will be ideal to call down an exo suit for. The second time you should call one down is during extraction, especially on higher difficulty missions, as it is guaranteed that enemies will begin to encroach on your position after activating the extraction sequence.
Advice on the Automaton Front
While the Exo suit weapons can also handle most bot enemies fairly well, the Automatons are a far more difficult threat to use the Exo suit against. Since the Automatons have rockets and autocannons in their arsenal, the mech will be easily destroyed more frequently on this front. For this reason, it is essential that you utilize cover to avoid taking rocket hits. Even the smallest Rocket Raider is a big enough threat to prioritize, much more with the Rocket Devastators. Hulks and Tanks are even more deadly, as one cannon shot will do you in. The Cannon Towers have very long ranges and will snipe your suit without you ever noticing it's there until it's too late. When calling down the EXO-45 Patriot suit, always make sure that not only the immediate area but the area 100 meters beyond is also secure. If you can, call one near a large rock face to prevent any surprise threats from hitting your vehicle.
Again, call one down before extraction to keep enemies off your team however, check your radar often to know where enemy patrols will come from. Better you prepare for any rocket-wielding troops than let a single Raider sneak up on you and take you out of commission.
New Mech: Emancipator Walker
Based on leaks made by the Helldivers 2 community, there will soon be a new mech variant called the Emancipator, which will be armed with two autocannons on both sides of the mech, which will be more suitable against heavy armored enemies. While the specific stats of this mech are still unknown, the strategies discussed here will also apply to the Emancipator mech that will drop sometime soon.
