This guide for Helldivers 2 will provide an overview of the marksman rifles category in the game. Not all weapons were created equal in the game – and this guide will aim to show you the differences. Furthermore, we will try to answer on the question “Can this gun carry me through Super Helldive?”. This article is up-to-date as of the Chemical Agents war bond, and we will update it accordingly as the new patch arrives. For more info on weapons in the game, as well as links to guides for other weapon categories, you can check our Helldivers 2: Weapons Meta article.
R-63 Diligence
The R-63 Diligence is probably going to be one of the first weapons a fledgling helldiver is going to unlock, seeing as it’s available on page 2 of the free starting war bond. As a semi-auto marksman rifle, this is a single-target weapon that expects its users to keep their distance and take their time to connect bullets to enemy weakpoints. The weapon is accurate, handles well, and has very little noticeable bullet drop off at range. On the other side, there’s a decent amount of recoil and sway when standing, so learn to crouch before firing to stabilize the gun. The Diligence comes with 8 spare mags each holding 20 rounds as well as 25m/75m/150m zoom magnification options.
Honestly, very few weapons in the game make shooting weakpoints feel as good as this one, and it comes with a nifty 30k total damage in its reserves. The recent buffs increased its damage to a solid 165 per shot, allowing the Diligence to properly headshot Devastators and Berserkers. This is something it should have been able to do from the start, as those are by far the most common enemy units on the automaton front. Furthermore, the devs reworked its sights to be simple and clean, so it no longer suffers from scifi-sight-itis. A severe and unfortunate illness that plagues weapons in sci-fi themed games, where their sights are designed to look cool rather than be functional.
Interestingly, the problem this gun has is just finding a place for itself in the game. In a vacuum, it’s a decent weapon, but when fighting against the bugs it’s a single target precision rifle going up against a horde faction, so its performance is naturally going to be limited. It’s much better against the automatons, but there it lacks the medium armor penetration of its bigger brother, once again limiting its performance. The final result is that there are simply much better options to take, and the gun gets left out. That being said, the gun can be acquired easily at the start of the game, and it’s an upgrade over the standard liberator in many regards, so new players can get quite a lot of mileage from it.
Verdict: A somewhat decent marksman rifle that new players can grab at the very start of the game. Fans of this type of weapon archetype will graduate to the Diligence Counter-Sniper pretty quickly, though.
Unlocked: Page 2 of the Helldivers Mobilize war bond.
Total Cost: 16 medals. (8 for the page and 8 for the gun)
R-63CS Diligence Counter Sniper
The R-63 Diligence Counter Sniper compared to the base variant deals more damage and has medium armor penetration. While 200 damage per bullet might seem like an unimpressive buff, in reality it lets the gun kill a bit more reliably, especially on some small enemies. In exchange, the gun carries a lot less ammo than its predecessor. It holds 15 rounds in its mag and comes with 6 spare mags. Much like with the previous gun, it’s quite accurate and has little bullet drop off. Its handling is a bit worse, but since the buff, it hardly maters. Once again, crouch to stabilize the gun to make dealing with its sway and increased recoil easier.
The magnification options are greater than its predecessor at 50/100/200 meters, and the bullet has slightly faster initial velocity. One of the buffs it received cleaned up its scope so you can actually see what you’re shooting at. These features allow it to shoot enemies at pretty extreme ranges. The amount of total damage this weapon carries in its reserves is frankly pitiful. This means that going for weakpoints is imperative, and that missed shots are harshly penalized. That being said, those who can aim well will find this weapon to be a competent one. Because of the increased damage, small enemies will die to it in one shot. And because of the increased penetration, it won’t take many bullets to bring down medium-sized enemies either, provided you can hit weakpoints.
This set of features makes the gun competent at both factions, but honestly it’s best to stick to an anti-automaton role with it. Again, a precision single target weapon with low ammo reserves might not be an ideal choice when going up against a horde faction. Against the Automatons it provides better value over its predecessor since it has better armor penetration. Although it has medium armor penetration, it deals too little damage when dealing with large body parts, and its reserves are too small for it to be able to reasonably engage the vents on tanks and turrets. It can dig into scout strider leg joints to take them out from the front, a feature that makes life a lot easier on high difficulty automaton missions. The end result is a weapon that is strong enough to justify taking the time to connect bullets to weakpoints of mid-tier enemies, and ultimately a great improvement over the base version of the gun.
Verdict: An anti-automaton weapon of reasonable effectiveness, provided you can reliably hit weakpoints. It won’t perform any miracles, but if you need a long range gun for bot missions, it is an option even on higher difficulties. In this role, it often finds itself in competition with the far superior Anti-materiel rifle support weapon, though, which in turn devalues it further in the eyes of some.
Unlocked: Page 7 of the Helldivers Mobilize war bond.
Total cost: 460 medals. (420 to page 7 and 40 for the gun)
Closing thoughts on marksman rifles in Helldivers 2
Marksman rifles in Helldivers 2, true to their name, are accurate long range single-target weapons. To help facilitate long range combat, they come with clear sights, high initial bullet velocity and little in the way of bullet drop off. On the battlefield, they are a scalpel that removes enemies with surgical precision. Though, honestly, at the time of writing only the Counter sniper is strong enough to reward use in such manner. The weaker R-63 Diligence, with its light penetration and lower damage per bullet, but much higher ammo reserves, is best used being spammed against bugs.
Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios.
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