Helldivers 2 weapon tier list (May 2024)

We’re all aware of the importance of communication in any online shooter, especially in Helldivers 2. But you can’t go wrong when investing in firepower to increase those survivability chances and reduce the amount of Supply Drop calls to replenish your ammo.

Here is our Helldivers 2 weapon tier list, including primary, secondary, grenade, and support weapon rankings.

Helldivers 2: All weapons tier list

As you progress through Helldivers 2‘s difficulty levels, you may notice the drastic damage reduction in your default loadout. The Liberator and Peacemaker were decent entry weapons for me to take into Helldiver 2‘s trivial, easy, and medium Operations. But things got rather intense as I moved to challenging difficulty onwards, and the weapons I previously relied on were no longer viable in a fight against the larger armored enemies and outposts. As the difficulty rises, so too does the demand for perfection.

Regardless of whether you’re a solo Helldiver or you enjoy working with a team, you’ll need to purchase new weapons using the Acquisitions menu in the Destroyer. Weapons can be bought using Warbond Medals in the free or premium battle passes.

Helldiver 2‘s Polar Patriots battle pass dropped on May 9, giving players weapons centering around precision. Unlike the Democratic Detonation Warbond which offered explosive weapons capable of killing enemies with a single bullet, the Patriot’s weapons leave little to be desired when face-to-face with either faction.

But how have these impacted the weapons tier list for May 2024? Let’s find out.

Helldivers 2: Firearm and explosives tier list

S tier

LAS-16 Sickle

Pros

• Great range
• Excellent at wiping multiple enemies at once
• Massive capacity

Cons

• Slower reload speed due to overheating mechanic

SG-225 Breaker

Pros

• Great range
• Easy to use with high mobility
• Incredibly fast firing rate with high-powered shots

Cons

• Can’t really fault it!

R-36 Eruptor

Pros

• Incredible range
• Fantastic at destroying structures, plugging Nest holes, and demolishing Outpost Fabricators.
• Can kill Chargers in two shots
• Great armor penetration

Cons

• Best used in first-person mode, making it not particularly flexibility in close-range fights

SG-8S Slugger

Pros

• Good range
• Powerful headshot capabilities against both factions

Cons

• Slower firing rate than the Breaker, forcing you to switch to your secondary or support weapon to deal with hordes of enemies

PLAS-1 Scorcher

Pros

• Highly accurate weapon with no recoil
• Great mobility
• Easy to use in third-person mode
• Can pierce medium-armored enemies (Like the Scout Striders and Warriors)

Cons

• Small magazine capacity
• Requires multiple mags to take down heavy-armored enemies

G-23 Stun

Pros

• Stuns multiple enemies at once

Cons

• No obvious faults

A tier

SG-8 Punisher

Pros

• Great damage range
• 405 base damage (highest damage shotgun)
• Deals stagger damage to armored enemies
• Massive magazine capacity of 60 bullets

Cons

• Bolt action, making it much slower than any other shotgun
• Weak against medium and heavy armor
• Slower fire rate, making accuracy the most important part of the Punisher. If you miss, you’ll be the one who’s punished

SG-225SP Breaker Spray&Pray

Pros

• Small bullet spread for powerful precision shots
• Good mobility
• Fast firing rate
• Powerful against the Terminid

Cons

• Smaller range than the SG-225 Breaker

G-16 Impact

Pros

• High damage
• Incredibly fast fuse time for fast-action attacks
• Great at clearing a horde close to you

Cons

• Large radius of impact, putting yourself at risk of getting hit by the blast

BR-14 Adjudicator

Pros

• Versatile weapon for all ranges
• Decent mobility
• Two choices between fire mode
• Good magazine capacity

Cons

• Hard to control recoil

G-13 Incendiary Impact

Pros

• Quickly clears nearby enemies with its instant explosive damage
• Really helpful against Terminid hordes
• Can easily plug Nest holes and destroy Fabricator (via the ventilation hole) on impact

Cons

• Not particularly effective against the Automaton

B tier

CB-9 Exploding Crossbow

Pros

• Kills multiple low-tiered enemies with a single projectile (much like a grenade)
• Easy to use in third-person mode
• Good magazine capacity

Cons

• Doesn’t kill armored enemies quickly
• Slow mobility than other weapons
• Takes a moment between each projectile

SG-225IE Breaker Incendiary

Pros

• Large ammo capacity with a high fire rate
• Kills low-tiered enemies and sets others on fire
• Best used against Terminid

Cons

• Limited range
• Hard to see if you’ve killed the enemy due to visual clutter

R-63 Diligence

Pros

• Little recoil
• Fast firing rate
• Effective against pinpointing critical damage on weak areas (limbs and flesh)

Cons

• Must be used in first-person mode to be effective against armored enemies
• Weak in the armor-piercing department

G-31 Grenade Pistol

Pros

• Great armor piercing weapon
• Can deal explosive damage to multiple enemies within its impact radius

Cons

• Limited capacity of eight shells

SMG-72 Pummeler

Pros

• One-handed weapon capable of shooting while wielding shields or carrying objective items
• Stuns low-tiered and some mid-tiered enemies into place
• Replaces the G-23 Stun if you want to use a different grenade

Cons

• Bullets ricochet off armor

Arc-12 Blitzer

Pros

• Great against the Terminid
• Best at mid-range
• Stuns multiple enemies into place, letting you reposition without being overwhelmed

Cons

• Low mobility and slow firing rate
• Can take too long to kill enemies
• Weak in armor penetration

R-63CS Diligence Counter Sniper

Pros

• Great precision and damage, letting you easily target headshots and weak spots

Cons

• Must be used in first-person mode to be effective
• Can’t play offensively
• Slower firing rate
• Not as effective at killing as other weapons

C tier

G-123 Thermite

Pros

• Can deal ticking damage to any enemy it is stuck on
• Can deal damage to multiple enemies in its damage radius

Cons

• Decent armor penetration but could be better
• Requires multiple thermites to take down armored enemies

G-12 High Explosive

Pros

• Good for destroying Automaton Fabricators and Nest holes
• Deals a lot of damage to armored enemies

Cons

• Takes too long to explode
• Explosive primaries and Stratagems do a better job than this grenade

R-23P Liberator Penetrator

Pros

• Easy recoil pattern to control
• Nice optic for increased accuracy

Cons

• Doesn’t deal high damage fast enough against armored enemies
• Behaves more like an SMG

AR-23 Liberator

Pros

• Highly accurate weapon
• Can kill armored enemies in a single magazine
• Good mobility

Cons

• Bullets are eaten up incredibly fast

AR-61 Tenderiser

Pros

• Great magazine capacity
• Multiple ranges and firing modes available for distance fighting

Cons

• Deals minimal damage to armored enemies due to its light-armor bullets
• Low mobility in close-range battles, making it difficult to clear even the weakest of enemies if you get swarmed
• Uses a ridiculous amount of ammunition just to take out a larger enemy with medium-armor

P-4 Senator

Pros

• Great mobility
• Conserves ammo
• Higher damage than the Verdict

Cons

• Requires high accuracy to take down a single enemy
• Could be more powerful

P-113 Verdict

Pros

• One-handed so you can wield the Ballistic Shield with ease
• Kills low-tiered enemies with one headshot

Cons

• Weak against armor
• Ammo quickly depletes with its 10-round magazine

G-6 Frag

Pros

• Helpful against clearing low-tiered enemies that are incredibly close to you

Cons

• Doesn’t do much against high-tiered enemies or Elimination mission targets

Jar-5 Dominator

Pros

• Highly accurate

Cons

• Slow fire rate and mobility
• Small magazine capacity if you’re faced with hordes of enemies

MP-98 Knight

Pros

• Great ammo capacity, with seven mags
• Easy to use

Cons

• High recoil

LAS-5 Scythe

Pros

• Long beam duration
• Deals damage over time
• You don’t need to reload often as it heats up
• Good range

Cons

• Requires you to permanently track enemies
• Focuses on one enemy at a time rather than shooting at multiple enemies within quick succession
• Takes a long time to kill an armored enemy

LAS-7 Dagger

Pros

• Good at clearing low-tiered Terminid hordes that are on you
• Good damage against flesh

Cons

• Minimal damage against armor, making it less impactful than other weapons

G-10 Incendiary

Pros

• Deals ticking damage against low-tiered enemies
• Especially helpful against the Terminid

Cons

• More situational, specifically against the Terminid faction
• There are better incendiary weapons to use than this

D tier

P-2 Peacemaker

Pros

• Can easily take out low-tiered enemies with few bullets

Cons

• Only deals decent damage to lower-tiered enemies
• Doesn’t have a large mag capacity
• Limited magazine count means you’ll be looking for ammo more than you should

SMG-37 Defender

Pros

• Fast mobility
• Easy to use recoil pattern
• Best used in third-person mode

Cons

• Slower reload than other weapons

AR-23E Liberator Explosive

Pros

• High-accuracy shots that deal good damage against enemies
• Best used as a marksman rifle

Cons

• More of a situational weapon, best used against low-tiered Terminid enemies
• Stiff controls with reduced mobility
• Slow firing rate

G-3 Smoke

Pros

• Good for blinding far away, high-powered enemies such as turrets and cannons

Cons

• There are Stratagems that do a better job at this

P-19 Redeemer

Pros

• Great at clearing low-tiered enemies that get too close
• Great mobility

Cons

• Ridiculously high recoil pattern, making it more useful to aim down sights, but that defeats the purpose of this secondary weapon
• High fire rate eats a ton of ammo, making Supply Drops and looting minor points of interest a greater priority than they need to be

SG-8P Punisher Plasma

Pros

• Great against shooting off Automaton limbs and targetting their power supply for weak spots
• Good stagger damage
• Excellent at long-range shooting, letting you keep a safe distance from enemies

Cons

• You must switch to your secondary to avoid being killed by surrounding enemy hordes
• Doesn’t deal consistent enough damage to the weakest of Terminid enemies
• Difficult to use against low-tiered Terminid like the Hunter as you can easily inflict damage upon yourself with a single plasma shot

PLAS-101 Purifier

Pros

• Excels only in long-range fights
• Mildly staggers enemies

Cons

• Slow charging time, forcing you to switch to a support weapon or secondary to clear nearby enemies
• Incredibly long time to kill against armored enemies
• Limited to long-range

Helldivers 2: Support weapons tier list

Support weapons, better known as Stratagems, act as your primary access to firepower. While you’ll have your dedicated primary and secondary weapons you pick in the Hellpod, Stratagems will help you through a mission. You can also come across support weapons as random loot on the ground, letting you practice with them before you bite the bullet and spend your hard-earned Requisition (cash) on them at the Ship Management.

Some support weapons work far better when you are with a team, designating a player to wield the weapon, while another supports with ammunition. But these are divided into tiers based on their sheer firepower, easiness of use, and mobility.

We hope these recommendations prove worthy to you, Helldiver. Good luck out there!