There are a lot of weapons currently in the game, and with new updates bringing in more of them, it should come as no surprise that not all guns were created equal.
This article is up-to-date as of the release of the Dust Devils premium war bond. We’ll keep it relevant as updates to the game shift the Helldivers 2 weapons meta.
In this article, we’ll briefly go over all the weapons currently in the game and explain which of them are the most popular in the current Helldivers 2 weapons meta on high-difficulty missions. Without further ado, check out the best weapons in Helldivers 2.
Assault Rifles
The AR-61 Tenderizer in action.
Full Guide on: Assault Rifles in Helldivers 2
The AR-23 Liberator – A simple starting assault rifle that teaches new players the ins and outs of the game. Because of modest total damage reserves and moderate DPS, players will quickly graduate to greater or more specialized weapons.
Weapon Customization System: Fully upgraded, it gains a significant boost in accuracy and mag size. While in a better spot overall, this didn’t change its position in the Helldivers 2 weapons meta.
The AR-23P Liberator Penetrator– Is a Liberator version that trades damage output for Medium armor penetration. Less total damage reserves as the regular version. Buffed, yet still unremarkable. Despite all this, for reasons unknown, this has remained a very popular weapon in the helldivers 2 weapons meta.
WCS: The system helps alleviate its drawbacks. Accuracy buffs reign in its increased recoil, making it absurdly accurate even in 3rd person. Increased mag size helps with crowd clear and low DPS.
The AR-23C Liberator Concussive – This Liberator variant trades a large chunk of its fire rate for the ability to stagger targets. A powerful crowd control tool with some of the lowest DPS numbers in the game, best bring an actual weapon instead.
WCS: Negligible effect on overall performance.
The AR-23A Liberator Carbine – The carbine version of the Liberator has a much faster fire rate and increased recoil, but otherwise near identical stats. This increase in DPS can keep Helldivers safe in close quarters combat, but comes at the expense of burning ammo reserves.
WCS: Quite a bump in power when fully upgraded. Accuracy buffs reign in the increased recoil. Mag size increase complements its bullet-hose nature. A surprisingly accurate pocket-machinegun.
The StA-52 Assault Rifle – Killzone x Helldivers 2 collab assault rifle. A liberator side grade that costs over half a war bond in super credits. Same damage, Bigger mag, faster RoF, slightly less total ammo, and worse sights. Nothing fancy. Not worth the insane cost in super credits.
WCS: None; this weapon remains unremarkable.
The AR-2 Coyote setting enemies on fire in a rather impressive display.
The BR-14 Adjudicator -A weak marksman rifle cosplaying as a medium armor penetrating assault rifle. It deals good damage per bullet and has similar damage output to the liberator. Small mag size and high recoil values have kept it stuck to a light anti-Automaton role for a while now.
WCS: No mag size upgrades. Its accuracy can be improved, which greatly helps this weapon, but ultimately doesn’t change its nature or its position in the meta. Those who loved the gun will enjoy the bump in accuracy; those who didn’t won’t find something that’ll change their minds.
The AR-61 Tenderizer – An accurate and easy to manage all-rounder that deals the most damage per bullet of any assault rifle (as well as DPS, which is impressive). Its downsides are, once again, its damage reserves and lack of medium armor penetration. Hitting weak points reliably is a necessity to make this weapon work.
WCS: Like with the Adjudicator; no mag size upgrades. The customization can upgrade its accuracy even further, but considering this is one of the most accurate weapons out there by default, this doesn’t do much for it.
The AR-32 Pacifier – Quite possibly the most potent primary support weapon right now. A powerful stun combined with medium penetration and a decent magazine size lets it keep most enemies at bay. As a result, AH naturally overbalanced it by having it only deal 50 damage per shot. Much like with the Liberator Concussive, bring anything else if you actually want to kill the enemy.
WCS: A plethora of options that lets players customize the gun to their liking, but ultimately don’t do much to change its performance much.
The MA5C Assault Rifle is an iconic piece of gaming history. In Helldivers 2, it’s a sidegrade to the BR-14 Adjudicator. More competent than the Adjudicator at being an actual mid-range assault rifle, but lacking its accuracy as a result. Another decent med-pen assault rifle that doesn’t move the needle forward and suffers from lack of access to any customization. It enjoyed a brief bit of popularity in the Helldivers 2 weapons meta before the release of the Coyote.
WCS: As with all the colab weapons; there’s nothing to be found here.
The AR-2 Coyote – A med-pen assault rifle that actually doesn’t sacrifice its mag size for increased armor penetration. Additionally, it fires incendiary rounds that can set enemies on fire. Not only the best AR at the time of writing but also one of the more powerful primaries in the game. The first assault rifle to enter the helldivers 2 weapons meta proper.
WCS: It doesn’t increase the power of this weapon further, but there’s a plethora of good customization options to suit anyone’s fancy.
Conclusion: Assault rifles struggle to find their foothold in Helldivers 2 weapons meta on high difficulty missions. A divisive category for sure, stuck between those who like their simple all-round nature vs those who prefer a stronger identity instead. (More ammo would help too) In recent months, these find themselves lacking behind explosive and plasma options. The weapon customization system has given the Liberator Carbine and Penetrator a niche to occupy, so they can now be found more commonly in higher difficulty missions.
The Adjudicator and Tenderizer, the previous top picks in this category, haven’t received as much of a bump in power from this system, which has led to their drop off in use rate at the time of writing. This is not the strongest category out there, let’s be honest, but all the buffs since their introduction has made them significantly more useful. The only exception to this is the Coyote, which is basically the Breaker Incendiary of this category. It’s the first assault rifle to make a splash in the Helldivers 2 weapons meta, and we hope AH takes note(In the good way, not the nerf-anything-remotely-decent way).
Shotguns
SG-225IE Breaker Incendiary spraying into the bugs.
Full Guide on: Shotguns in Helldivers 2
The SG-8 Punisher – A pump action shotgun which reloads one shell at a time and whose shells deal an impressive amount of damage per shot and can stun lock enemies through stagger. Solid 30k damage reserves, but modest DPS due to its slow fire rate. Its power starts to drop off the more targets there are on the screen. It didn’t change much as the game evolved, so it’s performance remains unimpressive.
Weapon Customization System: A moderate bump in power thanks to its muzzle attachments. It’s a primarily single target weapon, and the chokes help it focus its pellets where it matters.
The SG-8S Slugger – A modified version of the Punisher that fires medium-armor penetrating slugs. This makes it the only shotgun that can realistically deal with bots. Finally back to where it was at the start. A mid-tier weapon that can deal decently with medium tier units of all factions. Found new life as an Illuminate Overseer headshot machine, but then got phased out by newer releases.
WCS: Access to optics only. Nothing there to change the nature of this gun.
The SG-20 Halt – A competent pump-action shotgun that can switch between two ammo types. These are medium armor penetrating flechettes that are the Halts main source of damage and stun pellets. The shotgun’s wide spread makes it less effective against automatons than one would expect. Its better against bugs and the Illuminate, but tends to run out of ammo fast. A good gun held back by AHs overballancing. Fiddly ammo switching mechanic. Ultimately mid-tier.
WCS: Only optics. Those who wished for a choke will be left dissapointed.
The SG-451 Cookout – Is a Punisher variant that sacrifices damage output and total damage carried in reserves for incendiary pellets that can set enemies on fire. A very good weapon for clearing out swarms of low tier bugs/voteless. The combo of lowest durable damage among shotguns and lackluster DPS makes it anemic against larger bugs. If it weren’t for its potent mix of stagger and knock back to keep players safe, the Cookout would have been made entirely obsolete by the SG-225IE Breaker Incendiary. Still, it occupies a very high position in the Helldivers 2 weapons meta.
WCS: Same as with the previous bunch.
The M90A Shotgun – The gun that made the Library level from Halo: CE almost bearable. Its a souped-up Punisher that deals more damage but has even less ammo. Its good on bug missions where its massive knockback will keep you safe from anything that isn’t a large enemy. Despite the massive increase in damage, its performance is still somewhat Punisher-like, which is to say, neither particulary great but not bad either.
WCS: None whatsoever.
The SG-225 Breaker – An autoshotgun that has the highest damage output of any primary weapon. This insane DPS means it can take on even mid-tier bugs through sheer brute force despite only being light medium armor penetrating. It burns through ammo quickly and has to reload often. While a strong gun, these two things keep it from being a more common pick in high level missions.
WCS: Quite the bump in performance here. A drum mag to keep this thing firing and a choke to make it less of a spray and pray type of affair. Still going to need that ammo backpack, though.
The SG-225SP Breaker Spray & Pray – Is a Breaker variant that fires birdshot in a strange horizontal pattern. It has basically no accuracy past point-blank range, but with a large mag size and impressive 56k total damage reserves, it can spam like no other weapon. A high DPS output of 1320 gives you a fighting chance even when the bigger bugs get too close for comfort. One of the better guns for clearing swarms of low tier Terminids.
WCS: It has access to a full choke, which turns it into a bizare SG-225 Breaker sidegrade. It gets to have a ton more ammo, but slightly less DPS and much less effective range/knockback compared to the regular Breaker.
The SG-225IE Breaker Incendiary – This Breaker variant fires incendiary ammo that sets enemies on fire. The nerf left it with 30k damage reserves, making it easy to run out of ammo, but the gun still deals a reasonable 1200 DPS to keep you safe in close-quarters combat. Spray into crowds and watch the bugs/voteless burn. Still one the strongest anti-Terminid guns in the Helldivers 2 weapons meta.
WCS: A slight bump in power thanks to access to the duckbill muzzle accessory. This reigns in its absurd spread pattern, and lets it distribute its incendiary pellets more easily.
Conclusion: This will come as no surprise to anyone who has played the game recently (or at all), but when it comes to clearing large swarms of bugs, very few things come close to the Breaker Incendiary and the Cookout. This has cemented their place in the Helldivers 2 weapons meta for a while now. The Breaker Spray & Pray is a good weapon for low tier bug removal but struggles to find its place despite the numerous buffs.
The Halt has also found its place among shotgun enthusiasts. It’s a low DPS weapon, as with all pump-action shotguns, but the medium armor penetration lets it punch through mid-tier enemies, making it far more reliable as a generic primary weapon. The rest of the guns do show up for time to time, but are a rare sight in high level play.
SMGs in Helldivers 2
The SMG-72 Pummeler and Ballistic Shield combo going up against a Devastator.
Full Guide on: SMGs in Helldivers 2
The MP-98 Knight – Is a bullet hose with the fastest fire rate of any weapon in the game. This means impressive DPS numbers (1,6k in fact) that keep the player safe in close range combat, but with an average 28k in its reserves, it can’t sustain such a performance for long. Buffs to recoil stats made this a formidable single target weapon despite the light armor pen.
Weapon Customization System: A significant boost in performance to a gun which can already pump out 1,6k DPS. Accuracy buffs and a mag size increase result in a steady stream of lead that can disintegrate any non-large foe in a frankly absurd amount of time. Our guess is that this gun being tied to the deluxe version of the game is what stops it from being more popular.
The StA-11 SMG – Killzone x Helldivers 2 collab weapon. A Knight side grade that trades DPS for ease of use. Lightning fast reloads keep this weapon firing more often than not. While competent by SMG standards, it’s still just an OK primary.
WCS: None.
The M7S SMG – It wasn’t an amazing choice in Halo: ODST, and this low standard has been kept in Helldivers 2 as well. Another generic light pen SMG. Its main selling point is the suppressor, which as expected, reduces the amount of sound this gun makes while firing. The problem is that SMGs by their nature are the most silent weapons in the game second only to secondaries, thus making the suppressor a low-value addition. Stealth also hasn’t been in a great state for a while now.
WCS: Yeah…none.
The SMG-37 Defender – A simple and somewhat inaccurate SMG with average 29k damage reserves. Same damage per bullet than the basic Liberator but the lower fire rate results in lower DPS numbers. Low recoil means the gun can be fired in full auto without losing control. An unimpressive weapon rarely seen outside the Ballistic shield niche on Super Helldive difficulty.
WCS: A moderate bump in performance from a 75 round drum mag and muzzle attachments that make the gun slightly more accurate. Nothing that makes the Defender worth using, or carves out a niche for it to occupy.
The SMG-72 Pummeler – A Defender variant that trades DPS for the ability to stun targets. The stun is a unique effect similar to the stun grenades, though obviously far shorter. It fulfills the role of a support weapon in a player’s loadout. It used to be the meta pick for loadouts that sacrificed their primary weapon for extra support capabilities, but this has now become the domain of the Pacifier assault rifle.
WCS: Nothing that changes the nature of the weapon, but it does come with a drum mag. Having 75 rounds in your mag really helps it keep targets locked down.
The SMG-32 Reprimand – A heavy SMG that deals 125 medium armor penetrating damage per shot, and has the higest damage reserves in this weapon category, though this power comes with the downside of only having 25 rounds in the mag. Accuracy buffs have finally made it a competent weapon, and the WCS has made it popular in the helldivers 2 weapons meta.
WCS: Access to a muzzle break greatly bumps up its accuracy at range, making it reliable enough at hitting weakpoints. Limited by heavy drop off at range, as with all SMGs, though. Not to be taken lightly in its optimal range.
Conclusion: A category of low-range, lightweight, and somewhat inaccurate guns that can be (usually) wielded in one hand. Honestly, a group of weapons that could really use some tweaks to give them an identity of their own. Their popularity in the Helldivers 2 weapons meta has decreased even further since the crossbow became a one-handed weapon, and therefore the best choice for use in conjunction with the Ballistic Shield Stratagem. In the Helldivers 2 weapons meta, the SMG-32 Reprimand is the most commonly seen SMG on higher difficulties.
Explosive Weapons
CB-9 Exploding Crossbow vs Berserker.
Full Guide on: Explosive Weapons in Helldivers 2
The CB-9 Exploding Crossbow – Is a one-handed medium armor-penetrating explosive weapon whose damage is a mix of explosive AoE and projectile damage. This lets it have solid crowd clear, good medium-sized target removal as well as the utility of being an explosive weapon.(Destroying bug holes/fabricators/crates) It has a faster firing rate than the Eruptor which can result in faster kill times on some mid-sized targets, as well as faster swarm-clear sometimes, but it’s heavily limited by its low 5-round magazine, long full reload of almost 3.5 seconds and sluggish projectile velocity. Multiple buffs have now seen this weapon skyrocket to the top of the Helldivers 2 weapons meta.
WCS: Only different optics.
The R-36 Eruptor – Similar story for the Eruptor, but its projectile creates a hail of shrapnel at the point of impact and penetrates heavy armor. Well-placed shots can deal catastrophic amounts of damage to the enemy, resulting in instakills on most small and medium units. This is balanced by the lowest RoF of any primary at just 32. This poor gun just keeps getting buffed and nerfed…now its good again. Less commonly seen than the crossbow, but still a common sight in the Helldivers 2 weapons meta.
WCS: Different optics and the possibility of a slight bump in ergonomics to make the gun feel less like carrying a sack of bricks.
Conclusion: Interestingly enough, the guns on this list are all relevant in the Helldivers 2 weapons meta. The Crossbow and the Eruptor both bring a mix of crowd clear, medium-sized target removal and utility that ensure the player has an answer to most things on the battlefield. Though, at the time of writing, the Crossbow has taken the lead as the more popular option.
Marksman Rifles
The R-63CS Diligence Counter Sniper headshots a Heavy Devastator.
Full Guide on: Marksman Rifles in Helldivers 2
The R-63 Diligence – A light armor penetrating rifle with 25m/75m/150m zoom magnification options that deals 165 damage per shot. Finally buffed to the point where it can one-shot devastators on headshots, but lacks medium armor penetration. It has a higher damage reserve compared to the Counter Sniper, so it’s better when spammed against the bugs, but that is a scenario where a single target weapon is going up against a horde faction. A decent weapon that has a hard time carving out a niche for itself to occupy. Some preffer it on automaton missions due to its low stagger value, however. (doesn’t flinch targets).
WCS: Options that buff its accuracy at range even further.
The R-63CS Diligence Counter Sniper – A medium armor penetrating rifle with 50m/100m/200m zoom magnification options that deals 200 damage per shot. The higher damage per shot lets it hit many breakpoints on small and medium-sized targets. A reasonable anti-automaton option for long-range sniping. It can cut through scout strider knee joints, but it’s not strong enough to deal with vents on tanks and canons. It’s further limited by its pitiful ammo reserves. Good but flawed. This one has been the meta pick in this class for a while now; facing stiff competition from the Deadeye.
WCS: Options that buff its accuracy at range even further. Doesn’t change the nature of the gun, just aids it in its role as a marksman rifle.
The R-2 Amendment – The base amendment is almost a direct upgrade to the base R-63 Diligence, functioning best as a generic light-pen primary while still having the accuracy to hit weakpoints at long ranges. Nothing fancy, just all round good stats. But the lack of medium pen and any notable customization options keep it just all right.
WCS: Only optics.
The R-2124 Constitution – Is an ancient bolt-action rifle replica that players get for free on “Liberty Day” (October 26th). In Helldivers 2 lore, it’s given to the citizens of Super Earth once they turn 16, as a way of “encouraging service”. It’s a meme-weapon, and a wonderful way of putting a piece of Helldivers lore into the hands of players. Don’t expect it to go toe to toe with lasers and plasma guns of the future…instead, use it for low-difficulty joyrides. (Nothing’s stopping you from taking it to lvl 10 missions either, if you got the balls for it.)
WCS: None.
The R-6 Deadeye – The damage of a Dominator, Stagger of the Slugger, Accuracy of the Diligence and bizarrely good ease of use in 3rd person make for an impressive package. But its low fire rate (and therefore DPS), as well as glacial reload speed, bring it down a notch. Still, a good anti-automaton weapon in the hands of skilled players. (Probably the closest thing we have to a primary sniper rifle in the game)
WCS: Only Optics.
Conclusion: A class of weapons that has struggled to carve out their place in the game. Made better by numerous buffs, but something’s still missing. The Counter Sniper and Deadeye are the ones that finds themselves relevant in the Helldivers 2 weapons meta, and can be seen reasonably often in high-difficulty automaton missions.
Energy Weapons
PLAS-1 Scorcher going up against a Rocket Devastator.
Full Guide on: Energy Weapons in Helldivers 2
The LAS-5 Scythe – A very accurate but low-damage weapon that shoots a continuous laser beam at the enemy. The idea is that the Scythe is a laser scalpel that removes enemies with surgical precision. Despite the occasional flash of brilliance when chaining multiple headshots, in reality, its low-damage output and light armor pen keep it being a medium-tier weapon. Infinite ammo if managing heat properly, and it can set enemies on fire so it can be worth it.
WCS: A notable bump in power thanks to all new heatsink types. The high-capacity heatsink lets it shoot for quite a while before overheating, and in doing so helps compensate for some of the issues this gun has.
The ARC-12 Blitzer – A short-range energy shotgun with infinite ammo that fires bolts of electricity. A good anti-bug weapon, its performance is limited by its low fire rate. The main issue is the automatic targeting on the energy bolts, which require some finesse as well as proper movement to either make it work well or hit enemy weakpoints. Enjoys some popularity on the Terminid front.
WCS: Only optics.
The LAS-16 Sickle – An energy assault rifle with an extremely large magazine capacity and infinite ammo if its heat is managed properly. Modest damage output and low damage per bullet (laser?), but it can keep firing for a long period of time. The spread is tight enough for low-mid ranged combat but as it’s decided by RNG, accuracy is achieved through volume of fire rather than skill. Once considered the best assault rifle in the game by many a helldiver, now it has fallen off hard in the Helldivers 2 weapons meta.
WCS: Only optics.
The LAS-17 Double Edge Sickle – A bizarre version of the Las-16 Sickle that gets more powerful as it gets hotter, and damages the player as a tradeoff. It shares most of its base stats with its predecessor, but it gains higher levels of armor penetration as well as extra damage as it builds up heat. Almost more than double the mag size of the base Sickle. It’s a competent weapon, and it has definitely made its impact on the Helldivers 2 weapons meta, but you need to wear fire-resistant armor + vitality booster just to be able to comfortably take the self-damage, resulting in mixed feelings about the gun.
WCS: Only optics.
Exploding an Overseer with the PLAS-39 Accelerator Rifle for no particular reason.
The PLAS-1 Scorcher – An accurate and easy-to-use rifle that fires bolts of superheated plasma which explode on contact. While it has no medium armor penetration, the explosion lets it deal damage to tank and cannon vents as well scout striders from the front (knee shots). Solid damage per shot and damage output but somewhat modest ammo reserves. It can kill just about anything, but will mostly likely burn ammo to do so. Used to be the no 1 anti-automaton weapon before the JAR-5 Dominator (at first) and subsequent buffs to other weapons knocked it down in the Helldivers 2 weapons meta. It found new life on the Illuminate front where it can deal with both Overseers and Fleshmobs. A very good gun.
WCS: Optics and Underbarrel attachments, decent to have, but nothing that has a significant impact on overall performance.
The SG-8P Punisher Plasma – A Punisher shotgun variant turned into a plasma mortar. It can do the same things as the Scorcher, but as a mortar, it can fire from behind cover and hit targets from angles that would be impossible for other weapons. Its explosion is larger and can stun-lock enemies. The downside is the low amount of damage dealt by the explosion. This is one of those weapons that is mechanically solid, but just lacks a damage buff to make it shine. Once decent, it has dropped off hard from its place in the helldivers 2 weapons meta as the other categories kept receiving buffs.
WCS: Only optics.
The PLAS-101 Purifier – Once the worst gun in Helldivers 2, it has since been buffed to a reasonable level of power. It can fire as fast as the player can pull the trigger, a good choice when some burst damage is needed on a single enemy. Otherwise, charging the plasma shots can see it deal up to an impressive 500 damage per shot to the target. Fully charged shots also make it so its explosions have no falloff in their 3m radius, giving it some crowd clear potential as well. One of the top picks in the current Helldivers 2 weapons meta.
WCS: Optics and Underbarrel attachments, decent to have, but nothing that has a significant impact on overall performance.
The PLAS-39 Accelerator Rifle – Is the first and only sniper rifle at the time of writing. A powerful weapon made impotent in its role by a set of bizarre decisions made by AH. It’s a sniper rifle that fires in a 3 round burst. So connecting shots to weakpoints can be an issue at range sometimes, and that’s before the fact that its projectiles make the enemy flinch. The burst will often overkill a target, forcing you to waste its small ammo reserves. There’s more, but the short story is that as long as the Purifier exists, it will do its job better than this thing in every regard.
WCS: None.
Conclusion: Honestly, an interesting bunch. Most of them manage to find their place in the Helldivers 2 weapons meta. The Blitzer and the Scythe have issues, but as weapons with infinite ammo they manage to find their place on high difficulty bug missions from time to time. The Sickle’s possibly infinite damage reserves have kept it loved by players and relevant in the Helldivers 2 weapons meta since its introduction. Now slowly being supplanted by the DE Sickle version.
The Scorcher is a simple weapon but effective weapon that has found new life on the Illuminate front. The Purifier also remains relevant as a powerful general-purpose weapon, functioning almost as a Scorcher spinoff that brings a larger explosion and better ammo economy, provided the player takes the time to charge their shots.
The introduction of the weapon customization system has had basically no impact on this weapon category, which is disappointing to say the least. The only winner so to speak was the Scythe, which got a new selection of heatsink types to choose from. Plasma has proven to be quite popular in the Helldivers 2 weapons meta due to its ability to deal with targets that light pen weapons cannot while still having decent damage.
Special Weapons
The FLAM-66 Torcher, a primary flamethrower.
Full Guide on: Special Weapons in Helldivers 2
The FLAM-66 Torcher – A primary flamethrower that deals a low 380 DPS. However, it penetrates heavy armor, projects that damage in a relatively large area, and can set multiple targets on fire. Add to this a generous fuel allotment and the ability to set the ground on fire, and it can actually kill an impressive amount of bugs/voteless per resupply. Its main issue is that burning targets can still attack and set you on fire, so you’ll have to build around it. (Supply pack stim popping/fire res armor) Good but flawed.
WCS: None.
The JAR-5 Dominator – A heavy gun that handles like a brick when firing and can be annoying to use before the player adjusts to its sluggish projectiles. But also, a single-target powerhouse whose medium armor penetrating bullets hit like a truck and deal enough stagger to keep enemies stun locked. Not as good as it used to be, but still a high tier weapon in the Helldivers 2 weapons meta.
WCS: Optics and Underbarrel attachments. Nothing fancy, but there are options to boost the guns poor ergonomics.
The VG-70 Variable – Is a volley gun whose main strength is its adaptability on the battlefield, which is achieved through multiple different fire modes. It can perform a miracle now and then, but it’s heavily hampered by godawful ergonomics, soul-crushing long reload and lack of medium penetration.
WCS: Only optics.
Conclusion: The release of the flame-themed war bond was preceded by a change to flamethrower mechanics, resulting in a massive nerf to the Torcher. As a result, and despite the hype around its launch, this weapon failed to make a splash in the Helldivers 2 weapons meta. After the buff that made it the decent weapon it should have been from the start, it’s still somewhat rarely seen on the battlefield. The far less fancy Dominator is a single-target powerhouse that can quickly annihilate any mid-tier enemy. Through all the buffs and nerfs, the Dominator has managed to stay relevant in the Helldivers 2 weapons meta, and it would seem that this trend will continue for quite a while.
Secondary Weapons
The GP-31 Grenade Pistol taking out a bot fabricator.
Full Guide on: Secondary Weapons in Helldivers 2
Pistol
The P-2 Peacemaker – The starting pistol. Like the Liberator, it’s a simple weapon that the player will eventually outgrow and move on to better or more specialized weapons.
The P-113 Verdict – A simple, reliable and reasonably accurate sidearm. It deals a good amount of damage per bullet, has good DPS, penetrates medium armor and it carries a high amount of total damage in its reserves for a secondary weapon. There’s nothing fancy about it, however, it’s just a big gun you carry around when you need a good general-use secondary. Good, but not that common.
The P-4 Senator – An accurate revolver whose rounds penetrate heavy armor and deal a high amount of damage. Low DPS and pitiful ammo reserves. As a result, it’s imperative to go for weakpoints when wielding the Senator. Can bring down larger targets like Hulks, thus giving you a fighting chance when no support weapons/stratagems are available. The 60 day buffs saw it skyrocket to the top of the Helldivers 2 weapons meta where it still lies today.
The P-19 Redeemer – A somewhat inaccurate close-range bullet hose that acts as a panic button or brings some burst damage to a loadout. It deals 1100 DPS before running dry. This made it a popular gun in the Helldivers 2 weapons meta when the game launched(and it still is commonly seen), but it has since dropped in popularity as more specialized options came out. A decent early weapon for new players.
The P-92 Warrant – Is a sidegrade to the Verdict. It’s main selling point is that it can lock onto an enemy and fire homing projectiles. This is honestly a gimmick, and when used as a simple secondary weapon, it’s worse than the Verdict. Despite the cool factor, it didn’t manage to make a splash in the helldivers 2 weapons meta.
The M6C/SOCOM Pistol – Its main selling point is access to a suppressor. A fact which is made almost irrelevant because sidearms are the most quiet weapons in the game anyway. It also lacks the firepower required to oneshot many targets you’d want to quickly eliminate if you’re doing a stealth run. It’s unremarkable both as a general use secondary as well as a stealth weapon.
Melee
The CQC-19 Stun Lance – A spear that can stun enemies, and at the time of writing the most popular melee weapon in the Helldivers 2 weapons meta. Its attack is carried out in a thrusting motion, thus putting some distance between the player and the target. It can easily be aimed at enemy weakpoints, a fact that gives it an edge over other melee options. Ultimately, it’s a melee weapon in a horde shooter where every faction has at least one unit capable of ranged attacks, so it’s a for “fun” type of affair.
The CQC-30 Stun Baton – Same stunning effect as the lance, but less than half the damage. It attacks slightly faster to compensate, and more importantly, said attack is carried out in a swinging motion which lets it hit multiple enemies. This lets it both deal damage and pile up the stun on multiple enemies at once, which is how you get value from this weapon. Despite this, the weapon still feels anemic to use. The smaller melee range will see you taking hits often. Finally, it’s a melee weapon in a horde shooter where every faction has at least one unit capable of ranged attacks, so it’s a for “fun” type of affair.
The CQC-5 Combat Hatchet – Think of it as a stun baton without the stun that deals the same damage per attack as the Lance, that’s basically the Combat Hatchet. Theoretically the highest DPS output of any melee weapon. Can chop through hordes of enemies with ease. However, its short melee range as well as the lack of stun make surviving combat a difficult affair. Again, it’s a melee weapon in a horde shooter where every faction has at least one unit capable of ranged attacks, so it’s a for “fun” type of affair.
Consider bringing the Ballistic Shield Backpack when going melee mode.
The CQC-2 Saber -Functionally a reskin of the Combat hatchet, with the only difference being a four-swing combo that features slightly broader swings. This seeming gives the weapon a bit more range while also making it feel slightly more fun to use. Otherwise, it’s identical to the aforementioned Hatchet. It’s the premiere Voteless leg-cutting machine now, which does give it a niche to occupy. As per usual, it’s a melee weapon in a horde shooter where every faction has at least one unit capable of ranged attacks, so it’s a for “fun” type of affair.
The CQC-42 Machete – A sharpened slab of titanium with a handle welded to it. Currently, the hardest hitting melee weapon (170 damage) in the game. This lets it hit certain breakpoints, such as killing hunters with one body-shot or Terminid warriors with one head-shot. With the damage buff from peak physique, it can one-shot small units and heavily damage medium ones. What’s holding it back is its terribly slow attack animation, which leaves you vulnerable, so it’s best paired with the ballistic shield stratagem. Lastly, it’s a melee weapon in a horde shooter where every faction has at least one unit capable of ranged attacks, so it occupies a “for fun” position in the Helldivers 2 weapons meta.
Special
The P-11 Stim Pistol is a somewhat inaccurate stim delivery system that lets you heal your fellow Helldivers from a distance. The healing provided by this “weapon” is lackluster, and it takes it quite a bit of time to restore an HP bar to full. In a game where two to three hits even in heavy armor is enough to reduce a Helldiver into a leaky pile of meat, this is rather weak. The healing effect can stack, and it will trigger the effect from the Experimental Infusion booster as well as medic armor, so it can be used a tool to buff your allies. Still, because of all the drawbacks, it failed to make a splash in the Helldivers 2 weapons meta.
The GP-31 Grenade Pistol – A miniature grenade launcher that’s a decent weapon on its own, but its cling to fame in the Helldivers 2 weapons meta is the utility it brings to a loadout as an explosive weapon. The downside is its low total ammo reserve of just 7 grenades. Ammo boxes return 2 grenades, while resupplies will give 4. Since its introduction, this has been one the most commonly used sidearm on all fronts.
The LAS-7 Dagger – An anemic pistol that’s basically the miniature version of the Scythe, and therefore comes with all the problems its big brothers has. As a laser weapon, it can potentially have an infinite amount of ammo with proper heat management. This is its best feature. Players use this gun to save primary or support weapon ammo.
The SG-22 Bushwhacker – A triple-barreled shotgun whose shells have very similar performance to those on the Punisher. It deals high damage per shot and comes with a mode that lets it unload all three barrels at once for a catastrophic burst of damage. Occupies the same role in a loadout as the Redeemer. It suffers from a long reload that leaves the player defenseless.
The Las-58 Talon – A laser revolver. Accurate, powerful, medium pen, fast projectile, infinite ammo if managing heat properly, and it will shoot as fast as you can pull the trigger. Not bad at all, especially if you need a back-up weapon that doesn’t run out of ammo. However, it can only fire 6 shots in rapid succession without overheating. Cools down quickly, though. Good against the automatons, mixed feelings against the other factions, but a top tier pick in the Helldivers 2 weapons meta regardless.
The P-72 Crisper – Its stats are identical to those of its big brother, the FLAM-66 Torcher, with the only real difference being its miniscule fuel supply. It’s best used to ignite large swaths of terrain and then bait the bugs/voteless to pass through the flames. This way, it can clear more low tier bugs/voteless than any other secondary before running out of ammo. Or near instakill automaton tanks because…arrowhead.
The GP-20 Ultimatum – A pocket nuke. To say it exploded onto the scene is an understatement. Even now, it’s so popular in the Helldivers 2 weapons meta, it’s impossible to find at least one player running it in high level play. It’s a low range weapon you get basically no ammo for, but direct hits can instakill just about any enemy in the game and some buildings. Even large enemies can die on a weakpoint hit. Great when you need some extra anti armor capabilities in your loadout.
The PLAS-15 Loyalist – Is a miniaturized version of the PLAS-101 Purifier. Charged shots deal less damage than the Purifier, resulting in slower kill times on some medium targets. However, the AoE is still potent enough to stun lock targets, as well as instakill smaller enemies, making it great for loadouts that lack some AoE crowd clear. A decent little weapon if we’re to be honest, though it doesn’t seem to have made as big of a splash as expected in the game’s meta…despite it being one of the two secondaries with AoE capabilities.
Conclusion: Unlike primaries, which are workhorse weapons that often have to carry a lot of weight on their own, secondaries mostly exist to either round out a loadout or bring additional functionality to it. Because of this, what’s meta is less relevant in this category, as most players chose a secondary based on what they need to get the job done. In other words, so far most secondaries have managed to find their place, though this could be because there is far less competition in the secondary weapon slots compared to those in the primary. Still, when it comes to popularity, very few things beat the GP-31 Grenade Pistol, P-4 Senator, GP-20 Ultimatum, and the LAS-58 Talon at this time.
Closing Thoughts on Helldivers 2 Weapons Meta
The buffs, as well as changes to enemies and armor mechanics that came with AHs 60-day buffs, were a big step in the right direction. A large part in due to anti-tank weapons being buffed so they can one-shot just about any large armored target. Additionally, the introduction of heavy armor penetrating weapons means a bit less reliance on support weapons and stratagems when dealing with some large targets. This was the good part, and it did increase build variety for a while, before Arrowhead hit their head on the wall, forgot every lesson they learned, and got back to doing what they do best: sucking the fun out of the game by making changes nobody asked for in the name of realism or the god of balance sheets.
For every positive update, there comes at least one negative change which leaves the player base scratching its head. For instance, sidearms got a buff to their spread so you can actually aim with them, but then they overbalanced this good change by making them sway more when sprinting (and keep swaying a second after the sprint is over), on a class of guns specifically designed to be as mobile as possible. This is but one small example, among literally 50 more egregious ones, and a microcosm of Arrowheads botched design philosophy, if there even is one. Arbitrary changes are made in the name of difficulty. Enemies that break the games’ faction identity/games design philosophy are added into the mix. Mistakes are repeated, and then fixed in a roundabout manner, or just ignored entirely. All the while, bugs and bizarre host/client interactions were left to linger, further messing up the game’s balance.
To our minds eye, it would seem that Arrowhead built a horde shooter with a goofy starship troopers theme, but then proceeded to balance it as if it were a milsim. Realism applies only to us, but not the enemies, just to rub some salt on this wound further. Whatever the case may be, the game we’re left with is a hodgepodge of mechanics, that are often at odds with one another or just with the way the players engage with the game. The end result is utterly bizarre: a game that is not that hard, but It’s never as fun as it should be, and where the player is arbitrarily punished for no reason.
Loadouts are built around minimalizing player frustration, more so than in most games. If almost all the enemies can be killed by a light pen. weapon, but there’s one incredibly annoying enemy that’s best dealt with explosives instead, players will bring the explosive weapon in most cases. Not the greatest of examples, but we’re trying to convey that despite having so many guns now, and so much variety of stratagems, secondaries, and throwables, the actual weapons meta in helldivers 2 has never been as stale as it is now. And because of Arrowheads lackluster balancing, we can’t even guess what the future will hold.
Image Credit: Arrowhead Game Studios.