This weapon guide for the game will provide deep insight into the secondary weapons in Helldivers 2. The thing is, not all of them are equally balanced and there is quiet a few differences between secondary weapons; we will show those in this guide. This article is up-to-date as of the Freedom’s Flame premium 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 our other guides, check out our Helldivers 2: Weapons Meta article.
Pistols
P-2 Peacemaker
The P-2 Peacemaker is unlocked by default and is therefore the first of the secondary weapons in Helldivers 2 the player gets to use. The Peacemaker is a light, semi-auto pistol that deals a moderate 75 damage per shot. Its high fire rate means that it will fire as fast as you can pull the trigger. Recoil is light, and made even more manageable when firing in first person mode. All these features let the player quickly spam shots at their enemies. The downside is that the pistol comes only with iron sights, so despite being very accurate, it’s limited to close range engagements.
Its mag holds 15 rounds, and comes with 5 spare mags. This is an unimpressive amount of total damage in its reserves, even for a secondary. Much like with the starting liberator assault rifle, there isn’t much special to say about this weapon. It’s your starting pistol, and as such, it’s an easy-to-use, reliable all-rounder that helps learn new players the ins and outs of the game. While it’s somewhat decent after the buff that bumped up its damage, most players will quickly abandon it in favor of other secondary weapons in Helldivers 2.
Verdict: A simple pistol for lower difficulties that teaches players the ins and outs of the game. Eventually, players make the switch to either better or more specialized sidearms.
Unlocked: Unlocked by default.
P-19 Redeemer
The P-19 Redeemer is a fully automatic machine pistol, the only one of its kind among secondary weapons in Helldivers 2. The pistol deals only 60 damage per shot, but with an impressive fire rate of 1100, it can output 1100 DPS before the magazine runs dry. Speaking of mag sizes, the Redeemer holds 31 shots and comes with 4 spare mags. This is a decent amount of damage stored in its reserves, though it probably won’t feel like it thanks to how quickly you’re able to burn through them.
The weapon is highly accurate on its first shot, but its accuracy quickly deteriorates with each subsequent round fired. However, after a while, the gun will hit a point where accuracy stops decaying, allowing you to somewhat concentrate shots on a nearby enemy when firing full auto. The Redeemer has a simple red dot sight as well as a semi auto mode, so it’s possible to take advantage of that accuracy at low fire rates and use it as a very basic pistol. That being said, the best feature of the Redeemer and the reason why it’s so popular in the game’s meta is its use as a panic button.
Because while it’s only light armor penetrating, its high damage output means very few targets will be able to withstand it for long. Add to this its reasonable reload speed, and you get a gun that can keep players reasonably safe in close quarters combat. The fact it can be acquired for dirt cheap at the very start of the game doesn’t hurt its popularity, either. It definitely sees more usage on bug missions, where it can spray into crowds or melt larger targets that get too close. Some people also carry it to automaton missions as well as an anti-berserker measure.
Verdict: A bullet hose that fulfills the role of a panic button and does a good enough job to carve its place in the meta among secondary weapons in Helldivers 2. Be careful not to burn through all your ammo.
Unlocked: Page 2 of the Helldivers Mobilize free war bond.
Total cost: 13 medals. (8 medals to page 2 and 5 medals for the gun)
P-113 Verdict
The P-113 Verdict is a reasonably accurate semi auto pistol that boasts a higher than average damage per bullet (125 damage). It holds 10 rounds in its mag and comes with 8 spare mags. This also means that it carries a larger amount of total damage in its reserves than most sidearms in the game. It has moderately high recoil when firing and noticeable sway even when standing still. At the risk of us sounding like a broken record, this sidearm is another crouch-before-firing affair. Interestingly, the recoil is a lot more manageable in first person mode, leading to better accuracy when spamming shots despite the unimpressive iron sights.
Speaking of spamming, the Verdicts fire rate is 450, or in other words, just above the 6 shots per second that most players can comfortably achieve when spamming the fire button. Surprisingly, the Verdict has a pretty quick reload speed as well. All this to say, the gun feels nice to use when the player finally gets accustomed to its quirks. The downsides are the aforementioned lackluster iron sights and the lack of medium armor penetration. As well as the fact that for some unknown reason, ammo sources only restore 50% of the usual reserves to the gun. And so ammo boxes only return 2 mags, while ammo resupplies return 4. So while the gun carries a large amount of total damage, keeping it topped off is more difficult than usual.
The interesting thing about the Verdict is…that there’s nothing really fancy about it. The Verdict is just a big gun that you carry around when you need a simple, reliable sidearm in your loadout. It’s reasonably accurate, has good damage output and carries a good amount of ammo. It’s definitely better as an anti-bug weapon than an anti-automaton one, though. The bugs send a lot more weak and lightly armored units at the player. With bots, the lack of medium armor penetration makes it struggle against some enemies. It also runs into the same problem that the R-63 Diligence has where, due to damage falloff affecting the bullet immediately after it leaves the barrel, it can’t one shot devastator heads even though on paper it does the necessary amount of damage to hit that breakpoint.
Verdict: The P-113 Verdict is a simple but effective gun when you need a reliable general-use secondary. In an alternate universe where this gun has even larger ammo reserves, it would rival some primary weapons in terms of performance. It sits somewhere in the middle of the meta for secondary weapons in Helldivers 2 because it doesn’t bring any fancy utility like some of the other guns on the list, but it’s still a good weapon regardless.
Unlocked: Page 3 of the Polar Patriots premium war bond.
Total cost: 290 medals. (230 medals to page 3 and 60 medals for the gun)
P-4 Senator
The “Big Iron” of the game, the P-4 Senator, is a revolver that deals the single highest damage per bullet of the secondary weapons in Helldivers 2. Its rounds deal 175 damage and penetrate medium armor. The gun holds 6 rounds in its cylinder as expected and comes with 40 rounds in reserve. This is an unimpressive amount of total damage stored in reserves. The Senator has a low fire rate of 200, which means low damage output as well. Put simply, it’s imperative to go for enemy weakpoints.
To aid in this, the Senator is very accurate in both first person mode and third person. Its bullets have a much higher initial velocity compared to the rest of the sidearms and very little noticeable bullet drop off. That being said, much like with the Verdict, it’s much easier to compensate for recoil in first person. The gun only has a simple red dot sight, so don’t expect any long range combat with it. One of the Senator’s interesting features is that it reloads one bullet at a time, but if you empty out the entire cylinder, the helldiver will use a speed loader instead. This means that emptying the gun can actually help it reload faster in combat.
Unfortunately, much like with the Verdict, the Senator only gets half the usual reserves back from ammo sources. Ammo boxes restore a paltry 10 rounds to the gun, while ammo resupplies return 20. Combine this with the revolvers modest ammo reserves, and you get a weapon that runs out of ammo quickly and is a pain to keep topped off. Ultimately, the combination of high damage per shot and medium armor penetration means the Senator can take on any low and medium tier enemy in the game when used properly. It’s the only bullet firing sidearm that can one tap Devastators at the time of writing. As a result, the Senator can find its place on both Bug and Bot missions.
Verdict: A decent weapon when you want to add a bit more mid-tier target removal to your loadout. Holding the reload key will see your helldiver spin the revolver.
Unlocked: Page 1 of the Steeled Veterans premium war bond.
Total Cost: 15 medals.
Special
GP-31 Grenade Pistol
Much like the Redeemer before it, the GP-31 Grenade Pistol is the only one of its kind among secondary weapons in Helldivers 2. If its name didn’t give it away, the weapon is a small portable grenade launcher. Its grenades deal 250 damage on direct impact and create a 6+ meter explosion that deals 400 damage while also staggering/pushing enemies. The explosion deals its full damage in approx. 2 meters and then starts to fall off. Both the explosion and the projectile are medium armor penetrating. This means the grenade pistol can deal good damage to medium-sized targets while also having good enough AoE capabilities to dispatch multiple smaller enemies.
That being said, the GP-31’s cling to fame in the game’s meta is just the sheer awesome utility it brings to players loadouts. Its explosions can destroy bug holes/automaton fabricators, open crates, and blow up broadcast towers. This means less reliance on stratagems, and it leaves room for players to take other grenade types such as stun or thermite grenades. So while the GP-31 is a solid weapon on its own, it’s basically an extra grenade belt you get to carry on the battlefield. The downside is the weapon has a lot of sway, so make sure to crouch before firing. The grenade has the slowest initial velocity of any secondary weapon, and is heavily affected by gravity.
The gun holds one grenade in its barrel and comes with 6 grenades in its reserves. This isn’t bad on its own, due to how powerful the grenades are. However, ammo boxes only give 2 grenades, while resupplies will return 4. As such, it’s possible to burn through your ammo supply pretty fast. The GP-31’s grenades also have Medium I penetration, as opposed to the Medium II Penetration on the regular impact grenades that players are used to. So although they’re impact grenades by nature, they won’t be able to do tricks such as instakilling bile spewers, or damaging Spore spewers and Shrieker nests. That being said, the GP-31 is still a wonderful weapon, and it easily finds its place on both bot and bug missions.
Verdict: A solid weapon that brings an impressive amount of utility to players loadouts. Mimicking the story of the Redeemer before it on this list, the GP-31 easily carves its place in the meta among secondary weapons in Helldivers 2.
Unlocked: Page 3 of the Democratic Detonation premium war bond.
Total cost: 290 medals. (230 medals to page 3 and 60 medals for the gun)
LAS-7 Dagger
The LAS-7 Dagger is a secondary weapon that fires a continuous laser beam. It’s basically a miniature LAS-5 Scythe, and as such most of the things we said in our Energy Weapons Guide also applies to the Dagger. The short story is that the Dagger is a pinpoint accurate laser weapon that deals very little damage and as such needs to hit weakpoints in order to bring down enemies within a reasonable timeframe. The beam tends to sway when standing, so learn to crouch or go prone before firing. This means the Dagger can hit opponents at longer ranges than expected, but much like with its bigger brother, it comes with no zoom magnification options, leaving it a low to mid-range weapon.
It’s light armor penetrating and can fire for only 5 seconds before overheating, which further limits its damage output. Like all laser weapons, it comes with a heat mechanic. Firing the weapon builds up heat, and not using the gun cools it down. If it overheats, its heat sink must be replaced with one of the 3 spare the gun comes with. If you manage the heat mechanic well, the Dagger basically has infinite ammo. This is the best and only reason to use this weapon. As such, on the battlefield, players use this weapon to conserve ammo for their primary or support weapon. An interesting quirk we observed is that it can instakill assault raiders because the lightest contact with the beam causes their jetpacks to explode.
Verdict: It’s sometimes referred to as a “flashlight” by a subset of the community. This name mimics our sentiment about the gun’s performance. For the record, it’s not as bad as the text might make it sound, but it still an anemic weapon that struggles to find its place in the game. It’s probably the only one of the secondary weapons in Helldivers 2 we’d recommend avoiding.
Unlocked: Page 3 of the Cutting Edge premium war bond.
Total cost: 290 medals. (230 medals to page 3 and 60 medals for the gun)
SG-22 Bushwhacker
So far, the first and only shotgun in the category of secondary weapons in Helldivers 2. Interestingly enough, it shares its ammo with the SG-8 Punisher primary shotgun, which results in some similarities between the guns. As such, both guns do 405 damage, split evenly over 9 pellets. Said pellets have the same initial velocity and impart a significant amount of stagger on hit. The Bushwhacker holds 3 shells in its barrels and carries 30 rounds in its reserves. This is the highest amount of total damage stored of any secondary in the game (excluding the laser pistol). What sets this weapon apart is that one of the firing modes lets you fire all three barrels at the same time. Such an impressive burst of damage will see most enemies reduced to a fine mist.
Because of this, people use it as a panic button type weapon, much like with the Redeemer. The main downside, and the way the devs keep its power in check, is the slow reload. It reloads one shell at a time, but the helldiver has to spend extra time to open the weapon first, resulting in a sluggish reload that leaves the player defenseless. It’s also a shotgun, and one that kicks like a mule at that, so don’t expect to hit anything past 15 meters. Unsurprisingly, its nature as a powerful short ranged weapon makes it better suited at combating Terminids, especially when they get too close for comfort. There are few things more satisfying than giving a stalker the triple barrel treatment (although accurate single shots to the head are the better option, but we don’t judge).
Verdict: A powerful sidearm that’s best used as a panic button or to round out a loadout that lacks burst damage.
Unlocked: Page 2 of the Viper Commandos premium war bond.
Total Cost: 110 medals. (60 medals to page 2 and 50 medals for the gun)
P-72 Crisper
The Freedom’s Flame premium war bond brought with it the first flamethrower to the pool of secondary weapons in Helldivers 2. The P-72 Crisper is a miniaturized version of the FLAM-66 Torcher primary flamethrower, as their stats are basically the same. It deals 2 fire damage (2 durable damage to 100% durable targets) per tick for a total of 250 DPS. The actual fire DoT is the same-old-same-old 50 fire per seconds (25 durable damage to 100% durable targets) which fire users have learned to know and love. It would also appear to have the same range of approx. 18–20 meters (extremely difficult to pinpoint due to a multitude of factors).
It comes with 4 spare tanks and each tank holds 30 fuel. 10 fuel is expended per second, and so the Crisper can only fire for 3 seconds before needing to reload. It should be no surprise that everything said about the Torcher also applies here. This incredibly low damage output makes it effective only against low tier bugs. The miniscule fuel tank on the Crisper means that engaging any bigger targets than that is not even an option, unlike the Torcher, whose much larger tanks can at least give you a fighting chance for whatever that’s worth. The low range, lackluster DPS output and lack of stagger make using this weapon’s main attack a high-risk-low-reward affair. Not only does it put you into melee range of fast bugs or hunters, but contact with their flaming bodies will set you on fire as well.
The Crisper is best used defensively by igniting a large patch of ground in front of you and then baiting the bugs to walk through the inferno you’ve just created. It has the best handling out of all the flamethrowers, which means that for a very small cost in fuel, its wielder can ignite an impressively large amount of terrain. Such a maneuver can be used to cover a retreat, make sure you don’t get surrounded, or even give you breathing room to reload a machine gun or other support weapons that lock you in place for the duration of their animation. When used in such a manner, it’s quite possible for the Crisper to kill more low tier bugs than any other secondary before running out of ammo (Except for the infinite ammo laser pistol, of course).
Verdict: A weak and a somewhat fiddly secondary, which in the hands of an experienced Helldiver can provide good performance in a low tier bug removal role. Keep in mind that it has basically no stopping power whatsoever, and as such it won’t be able to keep you safe when enemies finally get within melee range.
Unlocked: Page 3 of the Freedom’s flame premium war bond.
Total cost: 275 medals. (230 medals to page 3 and 45 medals for the gun) Take this info with a grain of salt, however, as there was a bug with the unlock price.
Final Thoughts on Secondary Weapons in Helldivers 2
In general, secondary weapons in Helldivers 2 carry significantly less total damage in their reserves compared to primaries. On average, they feature lower initial velocities on their projectiles when compared to primaries and their basic scopes limit them to lower range engagements. This isn’t going to surprise anyone, as the role of secondary weapons in Helldivers 2 is to either round out a loadout or bring some additional functionality to help out the player. So, although this article makes mention of the meta in a couple of places, in reality players chose secondary weapons that fit the needs of their loadout. As a result, most of the weapons on this list manage to find some use in the game, though this is probably because there is far less competition in the secondary weapon slots compared to those in the primary.
Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios.
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