How to use the Autocannon against Chargers in Helldivers 2 (key tips)

Despite its recent nerfs, the Charger in Helldivers 2 remains one of the most threatening enemies you can encounter every time you drop. If you bring an Autocannon to a Charger fight, do you stand a chance? Surprisingly, yes—there’s a pretty consistent way to take down these towering beasties with this actual tank cannon.

How can an Autocannon user kill a Charger in Helldivers 2?

A direct Autocannon shot is not capable of destroying the Heavy Armor of a Charger in Helldivers 2. However, the explosion of an Autocannon is capable of peeling off armor, opening the Charger up to more hits. By hitting behind the leg, you can very quickly solo it by shooting the front or back of the leg one to two more times.

If an Autocannon explodes near a Charger’s armor, it can peel armor. For example, if you shoot the back of their leg, the front leg armor can be blown off. This allows the Charger to be quickly killed through shots to the front of the leg. You can tell if the armor was blown off if you see yellow flesh instead of the normal black carapace.

Even if the armor on the front of the leg survives the explosion, you can hit the back of the leg multiple times to further weaken the front—or kill the beast entirely.

To do this efficiently, wait for a Charger to finish a rush so they stop for a moment. This gives you time to aim for the fleshy part of the back of the brute’s leg. And thankfully, Autocannons do quite a lot of damage; as soon as you rip off the leg armor, it is feasible to defeat a Charger in one to two more shots to the exposed leg.

Alternatively, there is flesh on the joints that connect a Charger’s leg to its body. However, we aren’t that good at hitting that part of the beast. Shooting the back of the leg was more consistent for us.

Sadly, Autocannons will require these tactics to effectively tear through a Charger. Despite its incredible firepower and seemingly high level of munition, a direct hit from an Autocannon can’t pop a Charger’s armor by itself—it’ll deflect right off during frontal assaults, potentially causing friendly fire. You’ll need help from weapons with higher armor penetration—i.e., Railguns, Expendable Anti-Tank, or Recoilless Rifle shots—to get through frontal armor. Enlist a fellow Hell Diver wielding an Unsafe Railgun to peel off head armor so your Autocannon can one-shot it right after. Or, utilize a Stratagem like a 500kg Bomb to do so all by yourself, making it much easier and safer to chew through the beast.

We don’t recommend shooting their tails unless you have no other choice. While these large blobs seem like obvious weakpoints, Chargers actually eat shots to their rear end with ease. It’ll usually take twice as many shots to kill their tails.

Can an Autocannon kill a Charger with headshots?

Realistically, Autocannons aren’t that good at killing a Charger through headshots, even after the recent balance patch. Unfortunately, the Charger’s head armor is still Heavy, requiring high-caliber weapons to pierce. It is possible to let a weapon like the Railgun pierce the armor before headshotting the beast with Autocannon shots. But, in that case, the Railgun user can solo the mini-boss by themselves while you deal with other enemies.

Is the Autocannon the best Charger killer in Helldivers 2?

The Autocannon is not perfect at killing Chargers; that role goes to the Recoilless Rifle and Expendable Anti-Tank, whose headshots one-shot the beast. However, the Autocannon is extremely good at killing nearly any and all Terminids in Helldivers 2, from Warriors to Guards. If you’re not fighting a Bile Titan, the Autocannon can almost certainly one or two-shot it, making it a versatile Charger killer.

The Autocannon is a safe choice for many Terminid maps. Being able to save Stratagems for Bile Titans is a huge deal, since the Autocannon’s impressive clip and kill consistency lets you handle crowds and Chargers alike. This makes it tempting for high-difficulty maps where you need to be able to kill the big bruisers in seconds and then immediately kill nearby Hunters and Bile Spewers. That’s a job the Recoilless Rifle and Anti-Tank can’t do at all.