A deep‑caves playbook for finding the Spore Lung fast, deleting it with a Portable Hellbomb, and getting your squad back to daylight without waking the entire hive.
What changed—and why “escape clean” matters now
Helldivers 2’s Into the Unjust update added Terminid Hive Worlds: massive, randomly generated tunnel networks where Stratagems usually don’t work unless you’re directly under a skylight or an open‑air pocket. The new “Destroy Spore Lung” objective lives in these caves, and it punishes sloppy routing and panic retreats. To succeed consistently you need three things: (1) smart cave map reading, (2) deliberate spawn control, and (3) role‑based team splits that trade speed for safety at the right moments.
TL;DR of the objective
- Find a cave entrance near the objective ring, call in and wear a Portable Hellbomb backpack before you go in.
- Follow the pulsing red veins on the ceiling; they lead to the Spore Lung. If you’re uncertain, ping the cluster—UI will confirm when you’re under the Lung.
- Plant/arm the bomb beneath the Lung and run. The Portable Hellbomb has a 10‑second fuse, and any teammate can trigger it on your back if needed.
Loadout & prep: build for caves, not open fields
Core facts to plan around
- Randomized cave layouts mean each run is unique, so repeatable routing systems beat memorization.
- Stratagems are restricted: they only drop where you have open ceiling. Cache supplies outside and at skylights.
- Destructible walls exist in Hive Worlds—use them for shortcuts or emergency detours.
Suggested squad roles
- Carrier – wears the Portable Hellbomb, mid‑mobility armor, and a reliable crowd‑control primary.
- Point/Navigator – leads, reads the map, calls turns, carries anti‑armor (Recoilless, Quasar) in case of armored bugs or to blow a shortcut wall.
- Rear Guard – watches the back trail, pops egg clusters only when necessary, and kills breach waves fast.
- Flex/Medic – floats between point and rear, revives, throws stuns/smoke, and shepherds the Carrier through choke points.
Backpacks that shine underground (for the three non‑Carriers)
- SH‑32 Shield Generator Pack: forgiving in tight corridors where flanks are limited.
- AX/LAS‑5 “Guard Dog” Rover: excellent for chaff control, especially when you need to keep moving.
- LIFT‑850 Jump Pack: hop gaps, crest ledges, and reposition during swarms; also helps with detonation sprints.
Note: The B‑100 Portable Hellbomb is provided free on Spore Lung missions, but unlocking it via Warbond lets you bring spares. Once armed, 10‑second fuse—drop and run. Teammates can trigger it on your back.
Map reading in the caves: how to pick the shortest path
Think of a Hive cave as a tree: wide trunk, branching limbs, and leaf‑node cul‑de‑sacs. Your job is to stay on the trunk until the last possible fork, then make a single decisive branch to the Lung.
1) Use the ceiling veins as your compass
From your first junction, start scanning the ceiling for the pulsing red veins. Their thickness, density, and convergence increase as you get closer to the Lung. When the veins disperse or thin out, you’ve drifted off the main “artery”—backtrack a node and take the other fork. If you can’t tell, ping the mass you suspect is the Lung; the game will confirm when you’re in the right room.
2) Read junctions like a speedrunner
- Rule of two: If a junction breaks into two paths and only one continues toward heavier veins/descending terrain, take that.
- Three‑way+ splits: Prioritize the largest tunnel that continues to trend down and keeps veins overhead.
- Dead‑end heuristics: Narrow “wormholes” with no vein growth often dead‑end in egg pockets; avoid unless you need a clear to reset spawns.
3) Mark breadcrumbs—without wasting ammo
- Pings at junctions + quick verbal shorthand: “Left‑vein strong” or “Right‑vein weak.”
- Drop a spent resupply crate or mine near wrong turns as a physical breadcrumb while keeping explosives for real fights.
- Keep one skylight marked on the map as your nearest Stratagem anchor (ammo/extra Hellbomb calls) in case things go sideways. Caves have holes in the roof that occasionally allow Stratagem drops—treat them like safe rooms.
4) Look for destructible walls to straighten the line
Patch notes confirm destructible cave walls. If the Navigator identifies a wall between your tunnel and the Lung chamber—especially when you can hear a swarm beyond—have the anti‑armor user test a shot. Opening a “service door” can shave 30–60 seconds off route time and avoids extra junctions. Don’t blow loadouts blind; confirm the Lung’s direction first.
Spawn control underground: fight smart, not far
The single biggest mistake squads make is running away while a breach or drop is live. That behavior snowballs spawns as you pull more patrols, let the alert cooldown reset, and end up fighting the maximum cap of enemies all the time. In caves, that’s a wipe. Instead: stop, face, and clear—fast.
Pro Spawn‑Control Checklist
- Avoid extra alerts. Kill callers first (small bugs that shriek). Against Terminids, line of sight matters—if a bug doesn’t see a Diver, it’s less likely to escalate. Use corners and darkness.
- Treat breaches like mini‑bosses. When one triggers, anchor in a choke, drop defensive tools, and erase the wave before moving. That uses the built‑in cooldown to give you a window.
- Don’t chain fights. Clear, reload, re‑stealth (lights off if they’re blinding in fog), then advance.
- Grenade discipline. Stuns and gas are your friends in tunnels; they freeze a lane so the Carrier can pass.
- One last stand beats four runners. If the team must reposition, have one Diver hold a choke while three break line‑of‑sight and reset aggro, then resummon the hero. It’s cleaner and safer than panic sprinting.
Stratagem reality check: Orbital/Eagle tools often won’t land underground unless you’re beneath a skylight. Cache resupplies outside and at any open‑roof pockets you discover.
Team splits that trade risk for speed
Going single‑file forever is safe but slow; fanning out is fast but fatal. Use purposeful micro‑splits with rendezvous rules.
A) The 2‑1‑1 “spear, spine, tail”
- Spear (2): Point + Carrier move together. The Point controls pace and picks the trunk.
- Spine (1): Flex floats 5–10 meters behind to cover flanks, yank the Carrier out of grabs, and toss utility.
- Tail (1): Rear Guard lingers at the previous junction for 3–5 seconds to clean a patrol and prevent backfill, then catches up.
- Rendezvous rule: On any breach or downed diver, collapse to a single choke within two junctions.
B) The “baton pass” for arming the Lung
At the chamber door:
- Rear Guard secures the entry choke.
- Point sweeps the chamber perimeter for eggs/spawns.
- Carrier walks to the center under the Lung.
- Flex positions halfway between entry and center.
- Trigger plan: either the Carrier arms & drops, or the Flex/Point triggers on the Carrier’s back (safer if swarmed) and the Carrier sprints back through the human corridor. The fuse is 10 seconds—commit.
C) “Scout flicks” (5–10 seconds max)
Occasionally, the Point may peek a side limb alone for 5–10 seconds to confirm vein density. If it’s wrong, they fall back immediately. No extended solo plays—every extra limb you aggro multiplies pressure on extraction.
Shortest pathing to the Lung: a step‑by‑step
- Outside staging (30–45s):
- Ping the objective ring and pick the closest cave mouth with cover and a nearby open‑air pocket if visible.
- Call two Portable Hellbombs (one to wear, one cached at the entrance). Cache an extra Resupply here too.
- First descent (1–2 min):
- Lights off unless pitch black; flashlights can blind teammates in fog.
- Right‑hand/left‑hand rule: pick a wall and stick to it until veins get strong—this prevents loop traps.
- Log the first skylight you find; this is Home Base Alpha for mid‑run resupplies. Mark it.
- Trunk ride (1–3 min):
- Ignore branches with weak veins; keep moving down the dominant corridor.
- At a three‑way, take the tunnel with the most vein convergence; if equal, favor the one sloping down.
- Shortcut evaluation (optional, +30s save):
- If your map shows the Lung icon almost laterally adjacent (you can often infer from the ring and audio cues), look for cracked walls and test with one anti‑armor hit to create a door.
- Chamber breach (45–90s):
- Secure the entry choke, sweep the rim, do not shoot egg clusters unless needed.
- Run the baton pass: trigger, drop, fall back. Do not linger under the Lung.
- Immediate post‑blast clear (15–30s):
- Expect a surge; hold the choke and erase the first wave to avoid snowball aggro during the retreat.
- Exit phase (2–4 min):
- Retrace your breadcrumbs (pings/markers) to the entrance.
- If the route is overrun, redirect to your skylight anchor, resupply, and take an alternate limb that rejoins the trunk.
- Avoid dragging a conga line across new junctions—break line‑of‑sight, then move.
“Escape clean”: how to leave without a conga line of bugs
Think two‑phase.
Phase 1—Stabilize: After the boom, you stop and clear for a few seconds at the nearest one‑lane choke. This uses the alert cooldown window and prevents you from kite‑aggroing the whole dungeon.
Phase 2—Low profile movement:
- Lights off unless pitch black; let the Point’s laser sight or the Rover’s glow be enough.
- Crouch briefly to cut your detection radius when you hear chittering beyond a corner.
- No blue/red beacons unless at a marked skylight; Stratagem flares can trigger awareness/aggro.
- If you must pass a nest, time a stun/gas throw, let it cook the lane, and file past in order: Point → Carrier → Flex → Rear Guard.
At the surface, use your pre‑cached resupply to top off for a quiet evac. Don’t call evacuation until the squad is stacked—open terrain invites third‑party patrols.
Troubleshooting the Lung and backup strats
- Hellbomb didn’t connect / Lung still alive. Confirm your placement directly beneath the Lung cluster (ping to verify). If it’s still up, Recoilless or Quasar can finish a weakened Lung in ~10–12 shots—slow, but reliable if you cannot re‑bomb due to cooldown.
- No drops inside. Remember: Stratagems only in open‑air pockets. If none are near, fall back to the entrance cache you dropped.
- Randomized layouts keep throwing you. Double down on systemized routing: vein compass, hand rule, breadcrumb pings, and skylight anchors.
- Tunnel mega‑threats show up. Hive Lords don’t path through tight tunnels, but they can intrude into cave clearings; if one surfaces in your path, avoid the arena and route around—this mission is about speed, not glory.
Suggested kits (sample)
- Point/Navigator: Accurate primary (your preference), Recoilless or Quasar, Stuns, Shield or Jump Pack.
- Carrier: Crowd‑control primary (high mag, controllable recoil), Portable Hellbomb, Stuns/Gas, heavier armor for tanking bumps.
- Rear Guard: AOE‑friendly primary, mines (for backfill routes), Guard Dog Rover.
- Flex: Whatever the team lacks (extra anti‑armor, extra utility), med focus.
Pro tip: Before you drop into the cave mouth, place resupplies a few steps outside. If your bomb run fails, you’re not waiting out a long cooldown with empty pockets.
The discipline that wins Spore Lung runs
- Move with intent (vein compass),
- fight in lanes (cooldown windows),
- split with purpose (2‑1‑1 + baton pass), and
- stabilize before you sprint (two‑phase exfil).
Master those four and you’ll be clearing Lungs in minutes—and extracting so clean the bugs will wonder if you were ever there.
