Helldivers 2 Shrieker Counter: They Come From Nests

What they do

A flight of Shriekers circles and dives. The dive is the attack, and it comes at an angle that most players are not watching, because everything else in the faction comes at ground level. Individually they are weak. In numbers they are a problem, and the problem is not the damage — it is that they force you to look up while something else closes on the ground.

The actual answer

Find the nest. Shriekers come from a spawner, like Stalkers do. Destroying it ends the flights for that mission. Everything else is management, and management is expensive because it costs ammunition you needed for the ground fight. Use a wide weapon. They cluster on approach. Anything with area damage — a barrage, a grenade, a wide-sweep support weapon — clears a flight in one action, while a precision weapon kills one bird and leaves four. Do not stop moving in the open. Standing still makes you an easy dive. Movement does not stop the attack but it does turn a clean hit into a glancing one.

What not to do

Do not chase them. A flight that breaks off will come back; running after it puts you out of position and away from your squad. Do not use your anti-armour. A rocket aimed at a Shrieker is a rocket not available for the Charger behind it. This is the same mistake as using anti-tank on infantry, and it is the most common way a squad runs dry. Do not fight them under a ceiling of your own stratagems. A barrage called onto your position to clear the air kills you as reliably as it kills them.

The loadout note

If a mission is producing constant flights, one player with an area weapon solves it for the squad. That is a role decision, not a personal one — and the squad roles page explains why somebody has to own the sky. The nests and spawners page covers the general rule, and the Terminid guide places Shriekers among the units that punish a ground-only plan.