How to Defeat Leviathan in Helldivers 2: Health Stats & Armor Weakness Spots

[Vaonsy]

If you have been dropping into maps with the Illuminate lately, you have probably looked up at the sky and seen the massive, imposing silhouette of the Leviathan warship. This flying fortress is one of the most resilient targets Super Earth has ordered us to take down, and if you go into the fight unprepared, you will easily burn through your entire ammunition supply and stratagem pool without even scratching its paint.

Defeating the Leviathan requires coordination, high-penetration weaponry, and a clear understanding of its massive health pool and unique armor mechanics. Here is a breakdown of how the Leviathan works under the hood and exactly where you need to aim to bring it crashing down.

Health Stats and Armor Ratings
Unlike standard targets that have a single, highly vulnerable weak point, the Leviathan is essentially a massive floating health pool.

Total Health Pool: Estimated between 17,500 and 22,000 HP.

Outer Armor: Classed as Heavy Armor (AP5+). If you try shooting its outer hull with standard primary weapons or medium-penetration support weapons like the Autocannon or Heavy Machine Gun, your bullets will completely bounce off.

Exposed Armor: Once you successfully break open a section of the ship, the exposed inner wiring and smoking blue flames drop to Medium Armor (AP4). At this stage, your medium-penetration weapons can finally start dealing real damage.

Because the ship lacks a traditional "instant-kill" weak spot, your squad needs to focus sustained, high-penetration damage on the exact same component to break its armor and expose the squishy interior.

Armor Weakness Spots and Sub-Sections
While the Leviathan behaves like a bullet-sponge flying fortress, you can strategically strip away its components to open up vulnerabilities or trigger structural failures.

1. The Three Underbelly Glowing Circles
Look at the underside of the hull, and you will see three spinning blue lights. These glowing circles are incredible target zones because hitting them deals full damage directly to the ship. It takes exactly two Recoilless Rifle shots to destroy a single plating circle. If your squad manages to target and destroy all three, it triggers a catastrophic structural failure, automatically destroying the entire warship.

2. The Side Wings and Fins
Each of the side wings has roughly 6,000 health. Hitting a single wing with two Recoilless Rifle shots or three Expendable Anti-Tank (EAT) rockets will blow the wing completely off. Once a wing is removed, it exposes a glowing, smoking blue core. Once this core is open to the air, you can put your heavy rockets away and swap to an Autocannon, Heavy Machine Gun, or Eruptor to blast the exposed interior for massive damage.

3. The Back Tail Fin
If you want the fastest and most efficient way to open up the Leviathan, target the rear tail fin. This part is surprisingly fragile compared to the rest of the ship and can be snapped completely off with a single, well-placed Recoilless Rifle shot. Breaking the tail fin opens up a massive, easily trackable blue weak spot that your entire squad can comfortably target from a distance.

Best Loadouts and Strategies to Kill it Fast
Trying to fight a Leviathan alone with standard stratagems will quickly drain your team’s resources. To bring it down quickly, you should coordinate your loadouts with your squad before you drop.

The Recoilless Rifle (Squad Loaded): This is easily the most reliable and satisfying method in the game. If you are firing a Recoilless Rifle by yourself, it takes about 5 to 6 direct shots anywhere on the body to destroy the warship, forcing you through a long, painful reload process. However, if a teammate wears your backpack and assists you with a team reload (buddy reload), you can unload all six rockets in a matter of seconds, deleting the Leviathan almost instantly before it can threaten your squad.

The SPEAR: If you prefer automated targeting, the SPEAR is a fantastic choice. It consistently locks directly onto the Leviathan’s front head section. Because it automatically hits the exact same heavy component with every single rocket, it will reliably down the warship in five shots.

Anti-Tank Emplacement: This stationary stratagem fires high-velocity anti-tank rounds, boasting a large internal ammo reserve and a fast rate of fire. A single player utilizing this emplacement can effectively lock down an entire sector from a distance and solo a Leviathan with ease. It is highly recommended to pair this with a Deployable Energy Shield to protect yourself from the Leviathan's retaliatory plasma turrets while you line up your shots.

Armor Selection (Fortified Trait): Whenever you are dropping into maps with the "Leviathan Blockade" modifier, make sure you wear armor with explosive resistance, such as any set featuring the Fortified trait. The Leviathan acts like an airborne sniper, and its long-range plasma artillery can effortlessly wipe out a Helldiver. Having that extra explosive resistance will keep you from being instantly killed, giving you the split second you need to stim, look up, and fire back.