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 Democratic Detonation battle pass dropped on April 11, giving players weapons focused on pure explosive power. These new additions for April are perfect for Outpost and Nest destruction and offer a way to pierce through armor without Stratagems. Is the meta finally shifting away from the versatile SG-225 Breaker? Let’s find out.
Helldivers 2: Firearm and explosives tier list
S tier
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!
Target weak spots for quick kills to conserve ammunition.
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
Use this on armored enemies and structures, paired with the G-23 Stun to keep large enemies in place.
LAS-16 Sickle
Pros
- Great range
- Excellent at wiping multiple enemies at once
- Massive capacity
Cons
- Slower reload speed due to overheating mechanic
Prioritize clearing enemy hordes with this, rather than taking on single heavily-armored targets.
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
Use in third-person mode to increase mobility and easily reposition in a fight.
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
Due to its slower firing rate, keep moving around with this shotgun in hand to avoid being surrounded.
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
Aim for headshots with the Spray&Pray for critical damage.
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
Use this grenade to clear hordes of small, lower-tiered enemies without armor to conserve ammunition.
BR-14 Adjudicator
Pros
- Versatile weapon for all ranges
- Decent mobility
- Two choices between fire mode
- Good magazine capacity
Cons
- Hard to control recoil
Set to semi-auto mode for precision shots to lessen the recoil.
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
- Take 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
Use the Incendiary rounds like the Flamethrower; shoot and move to deal burning damage without putting yourself at risk of burning.
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
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
The R-63 Diligence is best used in first-person mode for highly accurate shots, killing most low-tiered enemies in a single bullet.
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
Use three thermites to kill Automaton Hulks.
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
Throw the grenade directly into one of the two holes in the front of the Fabricator to explode and destroy an Automaton Outpost.
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
Use fast-firing Support Weapons to accompany the Counter Sniper in case hordes get too close to you.
AR-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
Make use of the large optic for high accuracy and critical damage against armored enemies.
MP-98 Knight
Pros
- Great ammo capacity, with seven mags
Cons
- High recoil
Use a light or medium build with the Knight for extra mobility.
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
Pull the grenade pin, hold momentarily and throw at a nearby group of low-tiered enemies to clear the small area.
C tier
Jar-5 Dominator
Pros
- Highly accurate
Cons
- Slow fire rate and mobility
- Small magazine capacity if you’re faced with hordes of enemies
Due to its slow mobility, make use of the large optic and use the Dominator from afar to deal damage.
AR-23 Liberator
Pros
- Highly accurate weapon
- Can kill armored enemies in a single magazine
- Good mobility
Cons
- Bullets are eaten up incredibly fast
Use the Liberator while you save Medals for A- and S-tier weapons.
P-4 Senator
Pros
- Great mobility
- Conserves ammo
Cons
- Requires high accuracy to take down a single enemy
- Could be more powerful
Use the Senator with assault rifles or fast-firing shotguns rather than marksman and sniper rifles for a more versatile and adaptive loadout.
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
Be mindful of your positioning at all times due to the Scythe’s overheating feature.
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
Use the Dagger as a last resort to quickly clear nearby enemies.
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
The G-10 is helpful if you don’t have support or primary weapons that can quickly deal ticking damage to low-tiered enemies.
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
Use mid- to long-range only to avoid inflicting explosive damage on yourself.
SG-8S Slugger
Pros
- Good range
- Decent fire rate
Cons
- Looks like they put an optic on the Lockwood 680…
- Doesn’t have good killing capabilities, leaving a lot of low-tiered enemies alive
Choose any other shotgun from the battle pass for better mobility, damage, and accuracy.
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
Use the Peacemaker while you save up on Medals for stronger secondary weapons.
SMG-37 Defender
Pros
- Fast mobility
- Easy to use recoil pattern
- Best used in third-person mode
Cons
- Slower reload than other weapons
Switch to the Defender in close-range battles to quickly kill a multitude of enemies during Bot and Bug Breaches.
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
Use the Liberator Explosive to clear Terminid eggs and nests.
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
Smoke when your health is low to limit enemy line of sight.
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
Wait until a horde gets close, and use the Redeemer on enemies directly next to you for maximum damage.
Arc-12 Blitzer
Pros
- Decent against the Automaton
- Best at mid-range
Cons
- Low mobility and slow firing rate
- Takes too long to kill anything
- Arc Thrower deals the same damage and is easier to use than the Blitzer
- Weak in armor penetration
Use the Arc Thrower for energy damage instead of the Blitzer.
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.
S Tier | A Tier | B Tier | C Tier |
---|---|---|---|
Stalwart | Autocannon | Machine Gun | Grenade Launcher |
Quasar Cannon | Spear | Recoilless Rifle | Expendable Anti-Tank |
Railgun | Flamethrower | Laser Cannon | Arc Thrower |
We hope these recommendations prove worthy to you, Helldiver. Good luck out there!