Introduction to Primary Weapons in Helldivers 2
In Helldivers 2, your primary weapon is a crucial component of your loadout, and its effectiveness can significantly impact your success against the various threats to Super Earth. The game features a diverse arsenal, with weapons excelling in different situations against the robotic Automatons, the insectoid Terminids, and the mysterious Illuminate. The meta for primary weapons can shift with game updates and Warbond releases, making it essential to stay informed about the top performers. This guide will help you navigate the best primary weapons, offering insights into their strengths, weaknesses, and optimal usage scenarios.
Overall Top Primary Weapons
Several primary weapons consistently rank highly due to their versatility and potent performance across various mission types and enemy encounters. The effectiveness of a weapon often hinges on a balance of damage per second (DPS), armor penetration, stagger capability, and explosive properties.
R-36 Eruptor: This bolt-action rifle fires exploding shrapnel shells that can clear clusters of weaker enemies and even damage heavy armor. It's considered a top weapon from the Democratic Detonation Warbond, enabling diverse support and stratagem setups. However, its cumbersome nature and potential for friendly fire require careful use.
JAR-5 Dominator: Known for its slow but powerful jet-propelled rounds, the Dominator delivers immense damage, particularly with headshots, potentially offering the highest headshot damage among primaries. It also provides medium armor penetration.
CB-9 Explosive Crossbow: This weapon is best in class for clearing waves, especially against bugs, but users should be mindful of its splash damage. It offers high burst damage on single targets and is effective against shielded enemies, proving consistent across all three factions.
LAS-16 Sickle (Double-Edge Sickle): Often regarded as a top-tier energy weapon, the Sickle is described as an upgraded AR-23 Liberator. It boasts a high fire rate, minimal recoil, and theoretically infinite ammunition, provided its heat buildup is managed. The Double-Edge Sickle variant, from the Servants of Freedom Warbond, deals more damage per shot and improves armor penetration as it heats up.
PLAS-101 Purifier: Introduced in the Polar Patriot Warbond, the Purifier excels with its explosive rounds and medium armor penetration, making it ideal for combating enemies like Bile Titans and most Automatons. While its damage and fire rate are middling, its unique properties elevate its power level in higher difficulties. It requires charging before each shot, which can be a drawback in high-pressure situations.
Best Primary Weapons by Weapon Type
Assault Rifles
Assault rifles offer a balanced approach to combat, often providing a mix of fire rate, damage, and accuracy.
AR-2 Coyote: From the Dust Devils Warbond, the Coyote is an exceptional assault rifle with strong damage, a good fire rate, and high ammo capacity. Its medium armor-penetrating and incendiary bullets are highly effective against bugs and elites. It is considered by some to be the best AR in the game.
AR-61 Tenderizer: This weapon, from the Polar Patriot Warbond, is a top-tier choice for players seeking a damage-focused assault rifle, boasting 90 damage per shot, which surpasses other assault rifles. Its almost non-existent recoil makes hitting weak spots feasible, despite its lack of medium armor penetration. It pairs well with heavy support weapons that offer armor-breaking capabilities.
BR-14 Adjudicator: A decent assault rifle with medium armor penetration, though it can be limited by a small magazine and challenging recoil. Attachments can help mitigate these issues. It's effective for dismantling hive guards or devastators with precise shots.
AR-23 Liberator: The standard starting assault rifle, the Liberator is a well-rounded weapon suitable for most situations, offering decent damage and a large magazine size.
Shotguns
Shotguns are excellent for close-quarters combat and crowd control, often featuring high burst damage.
SG-225IE Breaker Incendiary: This variant of the Breaker is highly effective against organic enemies due to its additional fire damage. It's arguably an essential weapon for Terminid missions, capable of blazing through entire hordes and incinerating groups of bugs rapidly.
SG-20 Halt: A versatile shotgun featuring two ammo types: flechette rounds for level three armor penetration against heavy enemies, and stun rounds for crowd control. It's considered a top pick against Automatons due to its adaptability.
SG-85 Slugger: The Slugger delivers powerful shots with zero pellet spread, high damage output, and level 3 penetration, making it effective against all three factions. It offers a powerful stagger effect, useful for landing follow-up shots. However, it no longer reliably staggers enemies as it once did.
M90A Shotgun: This semi-automatic shotgun fires powerful rounds capable of quickly dispatching overseers or brute commanders. It specializes in high damage per shot, with a good fire rate and magazine size, making it effective against VIP targets and all three factions.
SG-8P Punisher Plasma: A more niche shotgun, the Punisher Plasma is better suited for armored, dangerous enemies. Its shield-penetrating plasma with cleave is good for crowds and serves as a reliable fallback when anti-tank stratagems are on cooldown.
SMGs
Submachine guns are characterized by high fire rates and are generally effective at close to medium ranges.
MP-98 Knight: The Knight is an exceptionally powerful SMG, boasting the fastest fire rate, reload speed, most ammo, and highest non-durable DPS among SMGs. It excels at mowing down hordes of light armor enemies, particularly Terminids, and its accuracy in burst fire makes it effective against Automatons by targeting weak spots. It is also strong against Illuminate.
SMG-32 Reprimand: This SMG stands out as the first in its category to feature medium armor penetration, making it highly effective against formidable enemies like Chargers and Tanks. It sacrifices some fire rate, recoil control, and magazine capacity for this power.
SMG-72 Pummeler: Despite having seemingly lackluster stats on paper, the Pummeler features concussive ammunition, which stuns enemies on impact.
SMG-37 Defender: A basic SMG with solid stats, its primary advantage is being one-handed, making it ideal for use with the Ballistic Shield or while carrying SSDs.
Energy Weapons
Energy weapons often offer unique mechanics, such as infinite ammunition (with heat management) or explosive properties.
LAS-16 Sickle (Double-Edge Sickle): As mentioned in the overall top weapons, the Sickle is a highly regarded energy weapon with a high fire rate, low recoil, and theoretically infinite ammo.
PLAS-101 Purifier: Also listed in the overall top weapons, the Purifier's explosive rounds and medium armor penetration make it a strong contender against armored foes.
PLAS-1 Scorcher: This energy marksman rifle provides perfect precision and significant explosion damage. Its plasma splash penetrates shields and is effective against grouped enemies. It has medium armor penetration.
LAS-5 Scythe: A highly accurate and easy-to-use laser beam weapon that can ignite enemies. It offers serviceable overall performance.
Best Primary Weapons by Enemy Faction
Different enemy factions present unique challenges, and certain primary weapons excel when facing specific foes.
Against Terminids (Bugs)
Terminids often rely on overwhelming numbers and aggressive melee attacks, requiring weapons with good crowd control and area-of-effect capabilities.
SG-225IE Breaker Incendiary: Highly recommended for Terminid missions due to its fire damage, which can rapidly clear hordes and block paths.
AR-2 Coyote: Its medium armor penetration and incendiary rounds make it effective against bugs and elites, providing good stagger.
DBS-2 Double Freedom: Offers a tight spread, solid reload, and fire ammo, making it a strong choice against Terminids.
MP-98 Knight: Excels at dominating hordes of Terminids and efficiently handling light armor enemies like stalkers.
JAR-5 Dominator: Effective against Terminids due to its high damage.
Against Automatons (Robots)
Automatons feature armor, shields, and long-range attacks, necessitating weapons with strong armor penetration and precision.
R-36 Eruptor: Works well against shielded enemies and can dent heavy armor. Its wide damage radius is beneficial.
SG-20 Halt: With its flechette rounds for armor penetration, it's a top pick against Automatons.
PLAS-101 Purifier: Its explosive rounds and medium armor penetration are ideal for taking on Automatons.
SG-8 Punisher Plasma: Provides stagger and splash damage to control flanks and is a solid fallback against armored targets. It's good against shielded enemies.
R-63CS Diligence Counter Sniper: Built for long-range engagements, it's reliable against sniper units and commanders, delivering precision shots.
PLAS-1 Scorcher: Its plasma splash bypasses shields and punishes grouped enemies, making it useful under pressure.
Against Illuminate
The Illuminate often present challenges with shields and energy-based attacks, making weapons with stagger, splash damage, and shield penetration valuable.
PLAS-101 Purifier: Offers high stagger and splash damage, making it effective against Illuminate rushes.
AR-2 Coyote: Reliable at mid-range and strong against Illuminate elites.
ARC-12 Blitzer: Despite wild recoil, it provides a huge Area-of-Effect (AoE) if its arcs can be aimed effectively.
SG-8P Punisher Plasma: Features shield-penetrating plasma with cleave, making it good for crowds of Illuminate.
LAS-17 Double-Edge Sickle: Effective against Illuminate targets.
MP-98 Knight: Can handle Illuminate targets effectively, often outperforming the Reprimand in this regard, especially against overseers and harvester shields.
Key Weapon Statistics and Their Importance
When evaluating primary weapons, several statistics are crucial for understanding their combat effectiveness:
DPS (Damage Per Second): Important for quickly clearing swarms, though raw numbers don't always reflect real-world performance.
Armor Penetration: Medium armor penetration is generally a safe and reliable choice for most encounters. Weapons with higher penetration can deal with heavily armored foes more effectively.
Stagger: Often overlooked, the ability to stop enemy momentum can be critical for survival and tactical advantage.
Explosive: Strong against groups of enemies and useful for bypassing certain resistances.
Tips for Choosing Your Primary Weapon
Consider the Mission and Faction: Always tailor your weapon choice to the specific enemy faction you'll be facing and the mission objectives. A weapon excellent against Terminids might be less effective against Automatons.
Synergy with Support Weapons: Your primary weapon should complement your chosen support weapon. If your primary lacks armor-breaking capabilities, ensure your support weapon fills that gap.
Playstyle: Some weapons reward precision, while others are better for spraying and praying. Choose a weapon that aligns with your preferred playstyle.
Friendly Fire Awareness: Especially with explosive primaries like the Eruptor or Explosive Crossbow, be mindful of friendly fire. Positional awareness is key to avoiding accidental team damage.
Experimentation: The game encourages experimentation with different gear combinations. While tier lists provide guidance, finding what works best for you through practice is invaluable.
It is important to note that the game's meta can shift with patches, so staying updated on recent changes is always beneficial.