The best weapons in Helldivers 2: how to open and upgrade them

Weapons in Helldivers 2 directly affect the success of the mission, because it is much easier to bring democracy to the masses and destroy hordes of monsters with a powerful gun in your hands. You will have to kill enemies with pistols, rifles, machine guns, shotguns, rocket launchers and more - everyone can find a weapon to suit their playing style. You will often have to select an arsenal based on the needs of the allied squad, so it is important to know the advantages and disadvantages of all guns.

This guide presents the top weapons in Helldivers 2, as well as information about all types of available arsenal and its improvements.

Types of weapons in Helldivers 2

All types of weapons available in the game are divided into 4 categories:

• The main thing.
• Additional.
• Pomegranates.
• Stratagems.

Main и additional weapons are characterized by such parameters as damage, capacity, recoil and rate of fire, and grenades – damage, penetration, outer radius and time to explosion.

Stratagem – special weapons that can be summoned by ordering the main ship in orbit, and can also be found during missions. In addition to standard characteristics, such ammunition has additional parameters “Call time” and “Reload time”. Let's list what types of weapons exist:

How to unlock weapons in Helldivers 2

Access to the arsenal does not open immediately, but gradually, and there are several different ways to find weapons:

• Purchase for loans (regular currency for all major activities).
• Purchase for super loans through progress in the bonus merit system (currency for donation and random finding).
• Purchase for Medals through progress in the merit system (currency for missions, additional tasks, temporary quests and random finding).
• Random drop at the location during the execution of the order (will disappear after the end of the mission).

Best weapons in Helldivers 2

Helldivers 2 has multiple difficulty levels, and the toughest missions require you to take the best weapons in the game. All guns have both advantages and disadvantages, but among the variety of ammunition, there are examples with the maximum range of useful properties. Next, we’ll take a closer look at the best option for each available type of weapon: main, secondary, grenades and stratagems.

SG-225 "Breaker"

• View: Basic.
• Type: Shotgun.
• Availability: Merit system.
• Price: 20 medals (page 4).

The best automatic shotgun with an excellent rate of fire and good damage helps you quickly get rid of a crowd of enemies. As for the disadvantages: this weapon only penetrates light armor, requires frequent reloading, and maximum effectiveness can only be achieved at short and medium distances.

AR-23P Liberator Penetrator

• View: Basic.
• Type: Assault rifle.
• Availability: Merit system.
• Price: 40 medals (6 page).

A modified version of the standard Liberator assault rifle also offers the best balance of lethal power and rate of fire. The improved rifle additionally has increased accuracy due to the optical sight and increased armor penetration thanks to special cartridges. The only drawback for this gun is its small ammunition capacity, but even that is enough to kill a huge number of enemies.

JAR-5 "Opressor" [Dominator]

• View: Basic.
• Type: Explosive.
• Availability: merit system.
• Price: 80 medals (3 page).

The enormous damage of this weapon, as well as the ability to penetrate medium armor, allows you to easily and quickly deal with most of the existing enemies. Such striking power is always offset by significant disadvantages - small magazine capacity and high recoil.

LAS-5 "Scythe"

• View: Basic.
• Type: Energy.
• Availability: Merit system.
• Price: 30 medals (5 page).

Good damage, low recoil and beam penetration are ideal parameters for the best laser weapons. Such an energy cannon has unlimited ammunition only if it is fired with constant pauses during which the weapon cools down. However, on high difficulty it will not be possible to avoid overheating due to constant waves of strong monsters, which means that maximum efficiency is only possible on combat missions with a medium or low setting.

SMG-37 "Defender"

• View: Basic.
• Type: Submachine gun.
• Availability: Merit system.
• Price: 15 medals (3 page).

One of the best guns of its type due to its balanced characteristics and the ability to penetrate light armor. There are also disadvantages: the damage leaves much to be desired, and the rate of fire often does not allow you to quickly deal with the next enemy. This submachine gun is used in 1 hand, which means that it should be used only at important strategic moments when the combat power of the main two-handed weapon is not available.

P-19 "Deliverer" [Redeemer]

• View: Additional.
• Type: Submachine gun.
• Availability: Merit system.
• Price: 5 medals (2 page).

The best option for an additional barrel due to its good characteristics - low recoil, excellent rate of fire and the ability to penetrate light armor. The only significant drawback is the small magazine capacity, but the requirements for the auxiliary gun should not be too large.

G-6 "High Explosive"

• View: Grenades.
• Type: Combat.
• Availability: Starting.
• Price: Is free.

A standard anti-personnel grenade that, after exploding, deals average damage in a small radius. In general, these are balanced parameters, which at first glance do not seem excellent, but due to their availability and armor penetration, this weapon is a universal assistant on any mission.

M-105 "Valor" [Stalwart]

• View: Stratagem.
• Type: Machine gun.
• Availability: Through ship control.
• Price: 3500 credits (level 2).

A reliable weapon with good damage potential and large ammo capacity is the best way to fight a crowd of enemies. This gun differs from its junior model, the conventional MG-43 machine gun, by increased mobility and improved accuracy. This arsenal also has disadvantages: it is difficult to penetrate the armor, and the effectiveness directly depends on the distance to the potential enemy.

APW-1 "Large Caliber Rifle" [Anti-Material Rifle]

• View: Stratagem.
• Type: Sniper rifle.
• Availability: Through ship control.
• Price: 5000 credits (level 2).

The weapon will help deal with the light armor of enemies, and high damage will allow you to successfully conduct targeted fire at priority single targets from a safe distance. It is worth noting the most important drawback: the effectiveness at close range is reduced to almost zero, because the gun can only be used with a sight.

RS-442 "Railgun" [Railgun]

• View: Stratagem.
• Type: Experimental.
• Availability: Through ship control.
• Price: 0 credits (level 20).

The ultimate gun for fighting armored enemies, however, it will dismantle other opponents into molecules in a split second. You will have to pay for the enormous damage and the ability to penetrate any armor with a low rate of fire - the weapon is reloaded after each shot.

Best weapon for a beginner

The gameplay of Helldivers 2 is tied to constant farming, so hellborne marines are forced to endlessly complete countless missions in order to earn the next level and unlock new equipment. It will take a long time to get decent ammunition, but it is advisable to carry out the initial orders with maximum efficiency. Here's an example of good guns for novice players - you can get them almost from the start games:

• AR-23 "Liberator" [Liberator] – a starting rifle with balanced characteristics is a universal weapon for any mission, and experience in handling this gun will help you use its modified versions more effectively in the future.
• R-63 "Zeal" [Diligence] – Marksman rifle, which can be obtained for 8 medals already on page 2 of the merit system. It has good damage and allows you to precisely destroy targets at medium and long distances.
• MG-43 "Machine Gun" [Machine Gun] – a starting stratagem with good damage and large ammunition will allow you to cope with a huge crowd in a critical situation, but this weapon can only be used effectively without leaving the spot.

In addition to the listed trunks, you should pay attention to stratagems M-105 "Valor" and APW-1 "High Caliber Rifle", fragmentation grenade G-6 as well additional weapon P-19 “Deliverer” - this arsenal has already been dismantled in the previous paragraphs (it becomes available in the early stages of the game).

How to upgrade weapons

Unlike the first part, in Helldivers 2 you cannot gradually upgrade your star marine’s weapons, but it is still possible to improve your arsenal:

• Purchasing ship modules – permanently increases the effects of specific stratagems.
• Using Amplifiers – selected ive abilities of Hell Marines improve key indicators and available ammunition for the duration of the current mission.

As a result, weapon upgrades are mainly tied to stratagems, so it is important to learn how to use them with maximum efficiency in order to achieve the best result and fulfill any order.

We hope that with the help of this guide you learned where to get weapons in Helldivers 2 and how to upgrade them. All additional questions related to the article material can be left in comments - The author of the article will try to help.