Helldivers 2 - Hell is more diverse than ever as PlayStation's demographics continue to grow and change.

AR-61 Tenderizer
A real tentacle-tearer. This high calibre assault rifle has awesome stopping power but limited magazine size, so make each shot count. Unpatriotic “banter” shots are not advisable.

I wonder how that is gonna differ then liberator penetrator. Just more damage but only light armor pen?
 
The tenderizer implies something hard hitting but light penetration, maybe the equivalent of big hollow points and it will work against Squishy Bits (charger ass and the like) without being explosive? The pummeler sounds like a heavier smg concussive which would be nice since the two primary SMGs are just bigger redeemers with intense fire rate and big mags. I don't think the liberator concussive is the worst thing ever so having a similar gun would be nice.

The pistol sounds like a heavier pistol so it's probably a balance between the peacekeeper and the senator since the Senator's claim to fame is a massive shot and medium pen. Maybe medium pen but 110 or so damage, like how the adjudicator is a liberator/DMR lovechild.

ETA: the tenderizer mentions stopping power so maybe this is their answer to slugger fans with some sort of heavier adjudicator that has stagger potential.
 
Last edited:
  • Informative
Reactions: dustbuster
been seeing a lot of random joins all using the flamethrower, did a streamer popularize a gimmick?
 
Punished Mirabeau B Lamar said:
Just got the game, any tips from vets on what stratagems to use and prioritize getting first?
Click to expand...
I use:
500kg bomb: Will kill almost everything it hits
Autocannon Sentry: Great for taking down heavies
Laser-Drone/Shield Pack: Either additional firepower taking down light enemies around you or additional protection if something hits you
Arc Thrower: Great weapon for taking out light/medium enemies, light ones are almost always a 1-shot and mediums are 2-4 shots
 
  • Informative
Reactions: Punished Mirabeau B Lamar
Punished Mirabeau B Lamar said:
Just got the game, any tips from vets on what stratagems to use and prioritize getting first?
Click to expand...

Depends on the difficulty, the higher you go up the more you need Heavy Armor Peirce on your support and Medium Armor Peirce on your Primary.

If you are struggling/want to take your time in the lower level difficulties then to start you might want an Ammo-Pack unless you are very ammo efficient and you know how to call down resupply and where to pick up extra ammo on maps.... nobody runs it late game though so you can totally skip it. Similarly the Stalwart is a side-grade weapon compared to the Basic MG that trades some punch for a more mobile reload/better handling... again not very meta late game but a solid newb gun.

Eventually you will get primary options w/ medium pierce or explosive damage that will help you deal with medium bugs/bots (hive guards, devastators and whatnot) but in mid-game you want a support weapon for this:

Anti Material Riffle lacks utility (no hole/fab close) and is harder to use up close (you can no scope/quick-scope but you will need to do so) but it can one (or two) tap anything smaller than a Charger.
Auto Cannon has a crouched reload + backpack but has more ammo, has the utility, will explode your friends and you if you fire it too close.... and absolutely shreds everything

You will probably want both, I mained AC coming up and I still use it when I have no room/need for a backpack but I use the AMR quite a bit. You can also kill some heavies with them once you understand the weak points and have the right kit.

I love the Flame Thrower but it is dangerous and will get you and your team killed if you are not careful and there are bugs with it's damage rate. The Arc can be okay with all the upgrades.. but close range kits are risky and off-meta.

The Eagle Airstrike you start with (or near the beginning of the tree) is the most versatile red stratagem. It closes holes, blows fabs, maims heavies, clears breaches/mops up pursuers.
You can probably put off most reds until later levels because it is so good but you should still rush the Ship Module Upgrade that gives you an Eagle Weapons Bay Expansion (extra airstrikes very OP)

The Orbital Precision Strike along with the 500kg are the only things that can blow bot Sensor Towers. The Orbital Gas Strike and Napalm Air Strike are both very good for bug breaches. Also Cluster Bomb has great wave clear against big groups of small crap. The Barrages can be good but they tend to TK as well as cause confusion and delays, I prefer to be precise. If you do throw these for the love of god run well out from party first as they are incredibly wide.

The Guard Dogs absolutely mop up smaller threats and are very powerful against bugs once you learn how they track and stop killing yourself. Pick whichever one you like the Ballistic one has lower TTK and is less likely to brain you but has ammo restrictions and the laser one is always there with it's light ready to give you a fatal ear exam.

The Energy Shield is going to give you some survivability vs bots. Jump pack is also good but harder to use, it's best for retreating and taking vantage points. I see a lot of newbs using it aggressively and getting shredded.

Gatling Turret is going to be useful at lower levels. Use it on objectives or extraction or just to pull some bugs off you... just don't stand in-front of it.
Auto-Cannon Sentry is actually very good at killing heavies if you protect it/place it at range.
EMS-Mortars are amazing since they don't TK and can really help control/prevent overruns.
Traditional Mortars are good if your team also takes them with EMS mortars and you maintain a hard perimeter. Otherwise they will just TK and should be avoided.

Above difficulty 4 one or more of the following are mandatory for dealing with armor:

Expendable Anti-Tank (EATS) (very much in meta, requires dropping your support to use and has a fair bit of drop but with the short CD and the stopping power they are great and you should learn to use them)
Quasar Cannon (was meta, just got nerfed, still kinda meta)
Recoilless Riffle (good but only once you get packing upgrade and needs a backpack)
Spear (off meta, finicky but powerful, ammo starved)
Auto-Cannon Sentry (can bring down large threats if you place it well)
110 Rocket Pods (fairly sustainable heavy kill)
Orbital Rail (long CD but very effective heavy kill)
Orbital Laser (Kills everything, regains control of situations, long CD + use limit)
 
Last edited:
  • Informative
  • Like
Reactions: Your Girlfriend's Dad, Beige, Counterfeit Obol and 4 others
I personally run

Arc Blitzar (lightning shotgun)
Las Dagger (beam pistol)
Default Grenade still

Quasar Cannon (I swap back and forth between this and the shotgun depending on the situation, i can shoot the shot gun like 5-7 times during the cannon cooldown)
Personal Shield Backpack
Mortor Sentry
500 KG Eagle

The benefits to this loadout is, you don't use ammo, you're fairly durable, you can stun lock tons of enemies, you can kill hordes of light enemies while stun locking a medium, you're able to take on objectives solo, you're able to solo heavies with the quasar and 500kg, you're able to take out respawn areas (bug nest and bot fabricator bases).

The biggest drawback is you're not able to quickly put down things, its more of a steady methodical playstyle. I have noticed since the last patch, if you're in a game that isn't 4 players, you can be easily killed from being mobbed on from behind. This build requires really good environmental awareness and the ability to know how the Arc Blitzar will operate around team mates.
 
Bruh

1714709150944200.png
 
  • Lunacy
  • Horrifying
  • Like
Reactions: Hermann von Salsa, Lieutenant Rasczak, Exterminatus and 30 others
CircuSphere said:
The Arc can be okay with all the upgrades.. but close range kits are risky and off-meta.
Click to expand...
" can be Okay"?
First of all, the Arc Thrower is not a close range weapon, in fact it is almost useless at close range. If something is biting you, you take it out with your primary or secondary or you drop a strategem and run. You wanna take everything out *before* it starts rubbing up against you.

The arc thrower is my favorite weapon against bugs, since it has unlimited ammo and also bypasses armor. I kill everything with it, from the small fry to the stalkers, spewers, shriekers, chargers and even bile titans (if the Railcannon strike doesn't kill it, that is.)
I regularly get 500+ kills, because I snuff out entire bug breaches before my team even realizes there is a problem.

The main risk factor of the Arc is teamkilling.  All you need to know is to not fire your arc when your fellow helldivers are in front of you.
 
  • Thunk-Provoking
Reactions: CircuSphere
NSJAP said:
Bruh
Click to expand...

That's some bullshit so now Sony can ban you and censor your name. I trust GabeN way more than fucking Sony. Gay, big fucking gay.

Krayt Dragon said:
" can be Okay"?
First of all, the Arc Thrower is not a close range weapon, in fact it is almost useless at close range. If something is biting you, you take it out with your primary or secondary or you drop a strategem and run. You wanna take everything out *before* it starts rubbing up against you.

The arc thrower is my favorite weapon against bugs, since it has unlimited ammo and also bypasses armor. I kill everything with it, from the small fry to the stalkers, spewers, shriekers, chargers and even bile titans (if the Railcannon strike doesn't kill it, that is.)
I regularly get 500+ kills, because I snuff out entire bug breaches before my team even realizes there is a problem.

The main risk factor of the Arc is teamkilling.  All you need to know is to not fire your arc when your fellow helldivers are in front of you.
Click to expand...

I am including the flamethrower in 'close range' as well in case that wasn't clear. You need to be up front with both of them (and that means knowing where you are going and getting there first in pubs) Both of these weapons are things you play with once you know your bugs and require constant re-positioning. Flamers need to know how to dive out fire. Arc players need to know their ranges, and how the arc will move. Playing either one wrong is going to result in TKs and people are going to air strike you in pubs even when your positioning is good. Neither is practically great against bots either IMO.

The Arc isn't bad, I think it is pretty fun against bugs, I mentioned it for a reason (notice how I totally ignored the heavy MG, Railgun and the beam in my writeup). I don't get pissy with arc players until like the 3rd time they cook me but it's quirky and not really a must have meta weapon. Even in it's class I personally think the flamethrower is better (when it is ticking properly), it holds chokes better, it deals with volume better, it is very refill efficient. The Arc is nice when things are going well, the flamethrower is going to save you when things start going wrong.

You hit on one of the reasons it annoys me, the effective range is like 2-35m which is very narrow compared to nearly everything else and anything right up in your face (like the hunter that just jumped in on you) can miss. If you are running Eruptor for utility/range then you are leaning very hard on your secondary when swarmed. Like the flamenwerfer it's a niche bug weapon with a very restricted range that really shouldn't be a players top priority to unlock.

Admittedly I have not unlocked the lvl 4 buff for it (I have like 25 rares to go) but without it I do find it lacking (gets overwhelmed on Suicide) and an extra arc target should help with that but is not going to fix the holes in the kit or make it more newb friendly (in fact it will probably TK more readily).
 
Last edited:
An arc thrower can take down entire bug breaches apart from the heavies, infinite ammo and its quick fire rate allow me to use it as my primary weapon with the Eruptor as a heavier one. It also one shots Shriekers and can chain to multiple at once making it good for taking down their nests. My only issue with it is when facing hunters or stalkers due to it often failing to hit when they're too close and attacking, leading to being slowed down and having to dive out in an attempt to get away.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back