How to Use the SMG-72 Pummeler Against Automatons in Helldivers 2

How to use the Pummeler SMG against Bots in Helldivers 2
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/ @drpooplove

[@Sen.StevenArmstrong]

I’ve been running the Defender/Ballistic Shield with AMR support since launch. Now with the Pummler combined with the buffs to the ballistic shield and AMR, Ive never felt more powerful.

[@George_M_]

Pummler vs Berserkers makes it a great sidearm for us Autocannon users.

[@brianjordan2913]

I've been enjoying this combo with the laser cannon. Its pretty fun standing in front of a bunch of bots and unloading on them

[@AgentForest]

Pummeller + Ballistic Shield has been my go-to bot loadout since the gun dropped. I used to take the AMR with it, but started using the Railgun instead for how much easier it is to aim at close to medium range. I can regularly pop Hulk faceplates with the Railgun while they're running at me. Typically I play as a crowd control tank for my squad. Stun grenades and the EMS mortar can stop enemies in their tracks. The Pummeller kill time is great if you can land those head shots, but with this build the only real threat tends to be rocket devastators. And they shoot at you from such a long distance that headshots are unlikely with the pummeller. So instead I aim at the bot's groin. The kickback will send my sights up to the waist where I easily stagger them long enough for someone with more firepower to take them down. When something more serious shows up like a Factory Strider or tank, I find real cover and use my Railgun to help bring it down. It isn't really a solo build, but I'm sure someone more skilled at shooter games could make it work. I use this build to guard my party like a paladin with a gun.

[@skylerspurlock4755]

I’ve been running the plasma shotty now consistently vs. bots now that it’s got buffed

[@DrPooplove]

I need to test those changes

[@9unslin9er]

Close Your Mouth

[@DrPooplove]

@@9unslin9er sending this to the devs rn 😂

[@binging3999]

@@DrPooplove Plasma shotty be slappin now homie. havent tried vs bots yet but ive been enjoying running it vs bugs using a stalwart as a primary and the plas shotty as a nade launcher. If you can shoot at a bug breach the instant bugs start coming you can stunlock them all and aoe them to death with the plas shotty.

[@skylerspurlock4755]

@@9unslin9er 🥴

[@St34mPunkPrivateer]

I don't use protection (shields of any kind), I need to fill out a C-01 form every jump, cause of how much lead I impregnate my enemies with.

[@DrPooplove]

I admire your patriotism

[@vfpetermann]

I've used this same build the other day against automatons as well. Found it very effective. And the stagger saved my teammates from a melee death several times.

[@PerfectDeath4]

From what i've heard, the Pummeler doesn't do stagger, but the same stun as the EMS strike, grenade, mortar. Just lasts only 0.5 sec, so if you land one hit the stun might not be long enough to fully end the target's animation. However, multiple hits can result in the target going into a EMS stun like animation.

[@mariuspuyraud9419]

No...??????

[@PerfectDeath4]

@@mariuspuyraud9419 when you shoot a bot for example, they'll start to power down for half a second, if you keep tapping them before the half second is up you'll see them do the same animation as if they were under EMS. After testing it myself the past few days it is very different from stagger like the concussive liberator or dominator does. The Hulk as another example will stagger if you hit his back vent but he'll still try to turn around, pummeler does next to no stagger on hulk vent but hulk just shuts down.

[@PerfectDeath4]

@@mariuspuyraud9419 Also, just saw a video of some people shooting each other to test pummeler, it drains all your stamina and has a 0.5s EMS like screen fuzz.

[@icecreaman805]

100 percent this. This alone makes the weapon amazing.

[@gianpaolocarlini1298]

Still loving the eruptor, but its very nice choice with shield, sniper and granade pistol

[@FurryEskimo]

I’ve been wondering if conclusive weapons are meant to stagger the enemy with shields, so Other players can kill them more easily.

[@janreid6217]

I love that thing... gives you a bit of a light Commando vibe.

[@jonservo]

I’ve used it against the bots and it has worked pretty well against most, but I’ve switched into using the diligence counter sniper mostly on bot missions. For the bots I find it’s better to find cover and take them out with head shots from afar and paired with the auto cannon you get a fair bit of stagger. It’s definitely one of my go to guns for the terminids though. I think it’s a nice addition to the roster of primaries

[@TaldrenDR]

My two favorite anti-Automaton setups. Direct Fire: - Primary: SMG-72 Pummeler - Sidearm: P-8 Senator - Backpack: Ballistic Shield - Support: Anti-Materiel Rifle - Option1: Orbital Rail Strike - Option2: Orbital Laser Indirect Fire: - Primary: Punisher Plasma - Sidearm: Grenade Pistol - Backpack: Shield Backpack - Support: LAS-98 Laser Cannon or Quasar Cannon - Option1: EMS Turret - Option2: Mortar Turret

[@randomdude8877]

It's a fun combo, the AMR is my go to weapon against the bots, the only thing I switch depending on the mission type are the pummeler and the dominator.

[@leonardovelasco5625]

Been running this exact build as well! It's become my main go-to build vs the bots. I switch often between the AMR and the Laser Canon depending on the mission. AMR is better vs ground troops, and has a higher burst potential of damage. This makes it easier to deal with devastators and hulks. The Laser Canon though is better in my opinion vs objectives, gunships, and striders.

[@explodingcalzone4275]

Ik im late here but with the heavy devastators if i dont have time to aim and be precise for the head, i go for the small spot of the backpack that you can view from upfront since you can pop em like flies if you blow that up

[@generalrendar7290]

Well... I ran one game with the tenderizer and one with the Pummeler. It's one thing to say that the Pummeler stuns, it is another thing to say that it allows you to keep firing against the devastators. Which the Pummeler does. The Tenderizer will be difficult to land shots against the enemy because of all the return fire you receive, whereas the Pummeler can cut down that return fire to almost nothing and allow to to finish the enemy. If you hit light armor, including the rocket pods, the devastators will stop moving and look to the ground without shooting you. I was trapped at a strat jammer and I accidentally picked up the pummeler and went from playing peekaboo to going on the offensive against 4 heavy devastators and 3 rocket devastators. The ballistic shield makes this better against bots but it isn't required. Yes the tenderizer has less recoil, but the enemies don't care that you shoot them with that AR.

[@taglagable]

I’ve been running pummeler with the shield and it’s amazing. I used the grenade pistol to kill striders and stun grenades for hulks coupled with the amr. Amr for gunships and bombs for tanks. The amr can kill the factory strider from underneath, but it’s a challenge to get there. Either way, it’s a build that can solo and tank nearly anything so long as you don’t make yourself into rocket bait.

[@loganwilch2497]

I was a ballistic enjoyer before this came out and it has made me use it much more. I also take the Railgun with me instead of the AMR. If I can I'll bring an EAT for the other problems. Its a very fun gun and took away some of the boredom I found in bugs

[@Dunleap]

I actually only use it against automatons: New SMG + Shield + New Pistol (love the sound) Heavy Armor: FS-55 Devastator from previous Warbond (Love the look) Complement this with MG-206 Heavy Machine Gun. I feel like a juggernaut. I wish HMG will have more ammo. Using SMG as primary killing ell except hulks and striders when I use HMG , but low Ammo count make it very ineffective. I kill few striders from the front and I have to reload. I love the build its fun. I know it's not efficient, as my primary build was always: Light Armor (explosive def bonus), Scorcher and Autocannon. Running around map blowing stuff up and extracting. Engaging in a long range fights. But Heavy Juggernaut build is fun for someone who unlock all ships upgrades and do not worried about samples and mission times anymore. Shield at the back when retreat make me feel like a turtle

[@davidingham2216]

Still experimenting but generally I like the Pummeler for clearing up the little guys while not leaving me to vulnerable to the Berserkers. Ran it with the HMG and Supply pack and the AMR and Supply pack so far

[@maximev9893]

I take it basically all the time with me with the ballistic shield and anti material or laser cannon. It is just the best !

[@masonmcelroy8125]

I like the Pummeler/Shield/AMR combo. It's a fun play style.

[@comatose1378]

Quick tip: for devistator aim for the stomach since they have light armor on their belly. It’s a much bigger target to aim for when fighting then. For heavy devistators you can just aim over their shoulder and hit the back pack from the front to damage them aswell.

[@jarlalleouros7308]

What a great support weapon!

[@RubberSpatula]

I pop it into my jump pack sniper loadout. Its a great gun I can still use it like I’m running and gunning like a mad man in an op. Even effective to a surprisingly decent range.

[@Kimahri01]

From the day I buy it, this is my favorite weapon on helldiver 9 on both faction. Waiting for devs for de-fun the weapon

[@spellegren]

The Pummeler doesn't stagger them, it stuns them almost like a stun grenade for about half a second. You just need to make sure your teammates have the DPS to help out.

[@icemastergeraldsilk]

looks cool!

[@bastienm347]

That's funny, everyone called this warbond "trash", but little by little, it feels like people are feeling like it's on par with the others, with some good stuff in it

[@DrPooplove]

Yeah I don’t like how declarative some are when the warbond has only been out a few days. It may not be the best one, but it needs thorough testing first and that isn’t possible in 1 day. Im still undecided on this one and probably won’t be for a week or 2

[@Sandwichman1337]

Once I realized the Plasma Punisher can kill the walkers head on it’s hard to try any new primary for bots haha.

[@found6393]

Hell, it can kill more than one of them at a time when they're close together.

[@echothegecko2875]

This thing carries my ballistic shield builds so hard I've found it impossible not to call it the prostate pummeler every time I mention it Also, the grenade pistol is a solid secondary for the sake of taking out armoured targets without needing your support weapon

[@pickcomb332]

Helldive difficulty I find myself running out of bullets being the problem over all with every weapon.

[@jackplisken4738]

ok , this is odd when i used pumm + shield i always reloaded with shield down so i scrapped that. is it maybe just a ego perspective thing ?

[@DrPooplove]

I always reload with shield up as far as I know. But occasionally it doesn’t come up so maybe a glitch

[@vinverita]

You can hold ADS while reloading to make sure you have it up.

[@Gee0F]

Could you give us damage breakpoints? Like how many shots in a zerker's legs it requires to kill one, or their torso, arms and head? Or how many hits it takes to kill a rocket devestator's rockets, legs, arms, ect? It would help us figure out what the best way to use this weapon to the fullest :]

[@DrPooplove]

I have been thinking about doing a video on enemy parts and weak spots. Just have to figure out how to dissect!

[@AlleNamenSindWeg]

Damn, I can't wait to see how AH will inevitably nerf it to shit.

[@Thopher99]

SMG-72 can work with a ballistic shield while having stagger effect and significant higher dps (almost 50% more) than a two-handed AR-23C, this is so broken in my opinion.

[@roelofversluis6680]

A pity farming for SC takes so long, would love to get this warbond just for the pummeler.

[@Sabindurain]

I have to disagree about the shield devastators, unless their coming at you at a very awkward angle there is no reason to not aim for their always exposed head to kill them quickly.

[@SilverDrgn14]

At close range the pummeler felt pretty good. At medium range it felt meh. At long range it just didn't work. I don't think it is a bad gun. The time to kill and shortness of range are just a big turn off for me. It also didn't help that my map was filled with rocket devis so my ballistic shield did nothing as I was flung around like a bag in the wind.

[@baltogames1501]

I would have preferred it if SMGs were classed as sidearms instead of primary weapons.

[@greypoint000]

I'm sold

[@jakeg7033]

I didn't run the ballistic shield, but the pummeler, the anti material rifle and the shield pack for 9's worked pretty well!

[@Brandinisnores]

Is it the best weapon? No, there's several that are better for bots than this. Is it extremely fun? yes, very and especially with the shield and amr

[@Phier554]

Its not bad if you sre into the ballistic shield but i personally would rather have a AMR and dom/punisher or scorcher.

[@KennyJordana]

Dr. Pooplove 😂🤣🤣🤣

[@shhhhh232]

You aim amd shoot. Boom! Simple.

[@CrimsonGuard1992]

Thank you for your two cents and fair review on this gun. I think the community is inundated with the sort of attitude where, "if a gun can't kill everything it is bad" mentality. It is refreshing to see someone actually enjoying themselves.

[@kaboomonme]

this gun has received nothing but positive attention since release, especially since the rest of the warbond is so mediocre.

[@Kaiesis]

Its great! So much so that the stagger will get nerfed. I had it with these guys removing fun from the game.

[@Playinggameswithrich]

First doctor pooplove pin this comement

[@DrPooplove]

Hmmmmm 🤔

[@krishnaboost5432]

Bro my opinion why would I want to stagger when I can just use some other weapons and one shot and kill them aka eruptor . Yes I know u guys say it’s nerfed it is but it’s still decently good so I rather use that then this loll

[@Rickpotato123]

I can safe u 5min from ur time. U aim and shot. Thats how u use it 😉

[@ironglandx3270]

Until they "buff" it to no longer have concussive rounds. Because that's too much...

[@Nick-tl7ts]

lol yeah ok you can keep an enemy away, use your whole magazine to kill it, reload, meanwhile other 5 are already on you because it took 1 minute to kill one enemy and then you die. SOOOOOOOO OP

[@DrPooplove]

Did I say it was op????

[@obliviondio]

Nothing like wasting tons of bullets to say a gun is good

[@Findyification]

meh not worth 1000 sc

[@Mendighoul]

I don't like this gun. At lv. 9, you want to kill things fast, not stun. If you are good at headshots, a single stun granade and an AMR/ auto cannon can kill and entire patrol or dropship. Not being able to hit tank vents is very bad for smgs. No reason running this over a scorcher, dominator, that plasma shooter, etc. If the shield negated the first explosive damage you take, I'd use it.

[@Buck105HE]

Armor:Groundbreaker Primary: pummeler Secondary: grenade pistol Grenade: stun Strats: Balistic shield AMR AUTOCANNON turrent 500 kg democracy 🫡