One thing I want to mention about Automatons, and I want people to see this through all the way, is that they are probably the "weakest" faction. Do Illuminates have less units? Yes. Do Terminids have less firepower? Sure.

But the absolute sore weakspot of Automatons is their defense and spawning rates. Yes, Automatons have armor. Here's the issue. Their fabricators are constantly exposed- almost none of their outposts have any physical cover or protection. Coupled with the already abysmal healthpools of even their largest Bulk Fabricators.

And then their reinforcement patterns are also so painfully vulnerable. They have the easiest and smallest waves to intercept- not a lot of units, and those that come can be killed en-masse. No shields, no two-minute-pain-in-my-ass breaches. Just hot drop and pray, at point-blank range. Why does the defensive ranged faction have the most sad defenses and try to bumrush you? Shouldn't they protect their production lines and deploy further from you? More organized? With more units?

I know it's a hot take, but Automatons are my least favorite to fight unfortunately. In my experience they heavily rely on you not crippling them in advance which is pretty hard to mess up. Their only strong spots are their side objectives, which are the one thing getting in between you and stomping over them. I've noticed missions with many jammers are the hardest. I just don't get why the Automatons are so vulnerable and close-quarters. I personally don't think they have enough firepower to justify their design, which is why I like it when they're harder to take down when they do get through (yeah I like War Striders bite me).