Quick Links

Starship Troopers: Extermination is a fast-paced sixteen-player PvE sci-fi shooter that gives no quarter to troopers flunked in boot camp. The Arachnids are remorseless, and there are thousands of the critters. To survive a mission on Valaka and earn citizenship, you must do your part in the war versus the Arachnids.

Related:

Starship Troopers: Extermination - Which Class Should You Choose

Thousands of Bugs equipped with razor-sharp talons are buried under the sands of Valaka, waiting to strike inexperienced troopers that stray too far from the pack. Teamwork is essential to yourself and your fellow troopers, so knowing a few tips and tricks to fight the Arachnids is invaluable.

Starship Troopers: Extermination is in Early Access, so information within this guide is subject to change.

Place Ammo Fabricators Down For Bastion Troopers

Starship Troopers Extermination Ammo Fabricators-1

Bastion Troopers can be highly effective at defending troopers and objectives from swarms of Bugs thanks to the knockback effect and high damage of the Morita Mk. 3 SAW light machine gun.

But there's nothing worse than deploying Seige Mode as a Bastion heavy trooper to defend an objective only to run out of ammo two magazines later. So place an Ammo Fabricator down in their shield if you're playing Operator or Hunter.

Don't Ignore Field Objectives

Starship Troopers Extermination Field Objectives

Field Objectives are optional objectives that trigger during phase 2 of a mission. Completing Field Objectives will drop two powerful Pilum Rocket Launchers weapon pickups that can be restocked for ammo.

Pilum Rocket Launchers one-shot all types of Bugs in the game, including the giant Plasma Grenadier and Tiger Elite. They are instrumental during the ARC defense objective and during Extraction.

Field Objectives are marked as green exclamation point icons on the map and require you to repair multiple generators, followed by activating and defending a beacon.

Kill Plasma Grenadiers ASAP

Starship Troopers: Extermination Plasma Grenadier

Plasma Grenadiers are extremely dangerous. They sit back at range and fire mortar onto structures such as Ore and Gas Refineries, the ARC Base, and anything in between. They will even target Bastions while in Seige Mode.

As the Infestation level increases, so does the number of Bugs and Grenadiers. Facing a handful of Grenadiers is a death sentence as two blasts from their mortar will destroy walls and refineries.

Grenadiers are weak at close range as they have no other attacking ability. You can safely shoot them point-blank in the head without worrying about melee attacks. Killing a Grenadier will reward you with one-hundred XP making it the most rewarding Bug to kill in the game.

Always Build The Refinery Furthest Away At The Beginning Of A Match

Starship Troopers Ore Refinery

Targeting the furthest Ore or Gas Refinery. This is because retrieving Gas or Ore Canisters will become increasingly difficult as the match progresses and the Arachnid Infestation Level increases. Therefore, you want to retrieve as many canisters from the furthest refinery before the threat level gets too high. Each Ore Canister contains two thousand Ore that can be used to build structures within the base.

With just two canisters, you can build a turret in your base.

Extracting four canisters from a refinery will cause the refinery to undergo a four-minute cooldown, so you will want the closest refinery available during the higher threat levels.

Build Bunkers To Defend Your ARC

Starship Troopers Bunker Defense

Once you've deposited all Gas Canisters, you'll be given two minutes to build your base's defenses if needed. Surround the ARC with four Bunkers.

Bunkers have high health and protect troopers while they fire through windows. Bunkers have windows on every side, meaning you'll have a line of sight on every angle of the ARC, and Bugs won't be able to reach you.

Prioritize Tiger Elite Bugs

Starship Troopers: Extermination Taking out Tiger Elite With Pilum Rocket Launcher

Prioritize Tiger Elite Bugs over any other type of Bug. Tiger Elites are gigantic Warrior Bugs that can quickly close in on your position. One swipe from their long talons can kill an entire squad of troopers. This can be devastating if escorting Gas Canisters back to base.

Tiger Elites are so big that troopers are not even safe behind defensive walls, as their talons can swipe troopers on the walls. Troopers equipped with Grenade and Rocket Launchers should prioritize Tiger Elites.

You'll earn fifty XP for every Tiger Elite Bug you kill at the end of the match, making these horrific Bugs a great source of XP.

Don't Leave The Drop Ship During Extraction

Starship Troopers: Extermination Evacuation

Extraction is the most chaotic and fun part of Starship Troopers: Extermination. When Pyre confirms that the ARC has successfully extracted the data, it's time to run like mad to the extraction site.

You will have to wait ten seconds before the extraction site is revealed. Use this time to stock up on ammo, and utility, for the run to the Drop Ship.

If you're lucky enough to make it to the drop-ship, cover your fellow troopers but don't linger when all heads are counted for. As soon as everyone is in the Drop Ship, the team will be extracted; you're only risking lives and the XP bonus gained from each extracted trooper by killing more bugs.

If a trooper is downed outside the Drop Ship, use the Medical UAV to revive them rather than leaving the Drop Ship.

Don't Rush To Collect Gas Canisters

Starship Troopers: Extermination Building ARC Base

Retrieving all Gas Canisters for the ARC base is a common mistake among new recruits. You want to complete this objective once the team has collected enough Ore resources to build the base up.

Completing the Gas gathering objectives initiates a scan that triggers an infinitely spawning horde of Bugs to attack the base. Therefore, if you need to gather at least forty-thousand ore to build the base defenses, such as Turrets, the Bugs will likely reach the ARC and destroy it.

Don't Ignore High-Priority Threat Missions

Starship Troopers: Extermination Exterminate Arachnids Tac Map

It can be easy to forget secondary objectives in the heat of a mission. However, Completing these missions will decrease the Arachnid Infestation Level.

High Priority Threat Missions are completed by exterminating forty Arachnids in a specific area. You may have to travel far to complete these missions. They can be completed with as few as two Bastion troopers. However, we recommend at least a squad pursue these objectives since you'll be fighting against large swarms of Bugs.

These missions are marked with a red marker and Warrior Bug icon on the map, and multiple instances of the missions can be active at a time. If the missions are left for too long, the Arachnid Infestation Level will increase.

Update Your Loadout After Every Launch

Starship Troopers Extermination Loadout Reset

Starship Troopers: Extermination is in Early Access, and Offworld Industries plans on fully releasing the title next year, depending on the time taken to reach development goals. As a result, there are some frustrating bugs in the game, such as a bug that fails to save your loadout every time you reboot the game.

Make sure to update your loadout every time your launch the game. It can be frustrating to launch a Veteran mission only to find that your Bastion is running a Morita Mk. 1.

Set Up Thermo Charges Around Base Walls

Starship Troopers Extermination Thermo Charge

During an ARC or AAS mission, you will have to go through a chaotic event where infinite swarms of Bugs will spawn to attack your team's base. Counter this by placing Thermo Charges outside the walls of your base as a form of extra defense.

Thermo Charges are excellent at defending structures as they are manually detonated by looking at the Thermo Charge you want to blast and pulling the trigger. This ensures that you don't detonate all Thermo Charges at the same time.

Deploy Proximity Bug Mines During Seige Mode

Starship Troopers: Extermination Proximity Bug Mine

The Proximity Bug Mine is a fantastic utility item that explodes on contact with a Bug. Carrying three at a time, you can improve the defense of your Seige Mode defenses by placing these mines around your shield.

You can place Proximity Bug Mines on the ground while deployed in Seige Mode. We recommend placing one at a time for this strategy as you'll want to get the most value out of each mine.

Prioritize Big Bugs With The Morita Hawkeye

Starship Troopers Extermination Firing Hawkeye On Gunner

The Morita Hawkeye deals greater damage than its Morita counterparts. As a result, you should aim to take out Gunners, Tiger Elites, and Plasma Grenadiers before moving to Drones and Warriors.

The Hawkeye holds sixteen rounds in a magazine and ninety-six in reserve, giving you more than enough shots to take out multiple Bugs in one magazine. We recommend that you equip the Emancipator sidearm alongside the Hawkeye, as it packs a punch and can kill Warriors in a few shots.

Resupply At Ammo Stations

Starship Troopers: Extermination Ammo Station

Ammo Fabricators are brilliant utility items to bring to the battlefield; unsurprisingly, you run out of ammo in Starship Troopers: Extermination very quickly. However, resupplying from an Ammo Fabricator does not replenish utilities.

Therefore you'll need to return to an Ammo Station at the base to replenish utilities such as Proximity Bug Mines and Thermo Charges. It can be devastating for a team to move on to the following Territory in AAS missions without resupplying their utility.

Kill Gunners Before Reviving Troopers

Starship Troopers Extermination Gunners

Gunners are ranged Bugs with high accuracy and damage, especially when playing on Veteran difficulty. It's very common for a Gunner to kill troopers that attempt to revive a trooper that they recently killed.

You'll often see two or three downed troopers in clusters. If there is a Gunner in the area, exterminate it before reviving your fellow troops unless you want to join them.

Despite unleashing ranged attacks from far distances, Gunners are easily located from their laser-like tracers that trail behind their attacks.

Next: The Best Horror Games Set In Space, Ranked