Firearms Expert Reacts To Helldivers 2’s Guns

Jonathan Ferguson, a weapons expert and Keeper of Firearms & Artillery at the Royal Armouries, breaks down the weaponry of Helldivers 2, including the Liberator Assault Rifle, the Punisher shotgun, and a particularly danger close use of the SEAF artillery.
00:00 - Opening
00:54 - AR-23 Liberator Assault Rifle
03:05 - P-19 Redeemer Pistol
04:30 - SG-8 Punisher Shotgun
05:52 - Machine Gun Stratagem
07:12 - Helldivers Headcanon Theory
08:23 - R-63 Diligence Marksman Rifle
09:41 - Recoilless Rifle Stratagem
11:48 - SMG-36 Defender Submachine Gun
13:37 - Anti-Materiel Rifle Stratagem
15:33 - Grenade Launcher Stratagem
17:01 - Flamethrower Stratagem
18:16 - MP-98 Knight Submachine Gun
19:23 - SEAF Artillery
In the latest video in the Firearm Expert Reacts series, Jonathan Ferguson--a weapons expert and Keeper of Firearms & Artillery at the Royal Armouries--breaks down the guns of Helldivers 2 and compares them to their potential real-life counterparts.
Firearms Expert Reacts playlist - • Firearms Expert Reacts...
If you're interested in seeing more of Jonathan's work, you can check out more from the Royal Armouries right here. - / royalarmouries
If you would like to support the Royal Armouries, you can make a charitable donation to the museum here. - royalarmouries.org/support-us...
And if you would like to become a member of the Royal Armouries, you can get a membership here. - royalarmouries.org/support-us...
You can either purchase Jonathan's book here. - www.headstamppublishing.com/b...
Or at the Royal Armouries shop here. - shop.royalarmouries.org/colle...
You can subscribe to the Armax Journal that Jonathan Associate Edited here: www.armaxjournal.org/

[@climax050]

I love how initially I watched this series because of the real world history and the interest in "realistic" titles and how they depict firearms. Buts its slowly morphed into watching Jonathon discuss the practical aspects of fictional firearms and artillery and how and why they may or may not work. Truly a master in his element in these videos!

[@thatdudeinasuit5422]

Yeah that's pretty much it myself

[@greycatturtle7132]

Yea

[@dungeonguy88]

It makes me think of another similar series of videos I saw, one of which involved an expert on Medieval armor and the like. His commentary on historical pieces and the military tactics used was obviously very interesting. But he also had some really good commentary on things like The Mandalorian, commenting on like how you could tell that the titular character was someone used to wearing armor. The movements Din Djarin made as he made his way through rooms and how he acted and reacted during fights also drew his attention. I love how such experts can adjust their focus to different aspects and representations of their field.

[@MAGS-ik5uj]

I am like you, looking for the historical information of real weapons. Now I come just to support John (on more than just this channel), hear some good fun, and maybe learn something.

[@SL4PSH0CK]

same here, well said, notably when a firearm in a game is heavily inspired by a grounded real world concept and they make it applicable w/ magic or otherworldly means

[@minerman80]

Fun fact, according to the upgrade descriptions, until you buy the upgrade, your orbital bombardments are muzzle loaded. Which means each time after you call one in they send a guy out in a space suit to load it again like a musket!

[@ajeenius7437]

Really feels like the rear-loaded upgrade would knock off more than 10% cooldown lol.

[@cpt-cheese3489]

@@ajeenius7437the guy in the space suit is a very quick worker

[@dungeonguy88]

The lore and setting of the game is almost as over-the-top and hilariously dark as the gameplay itself. I love it.

[@pyorre2441]

Or they could be like warships did it back when they had rows of cannons firing from the side. They where muzzle loaded as well, what they did was push the gun to the gun port and when it fired the recoil sent the cannon backwards to the reloading position and the crew started reloading them for another shot. Mind you still would need to be doing it in spacesuits on a spaceship.

[@matthattermatador4595]

MULTI TRILLION DOLLAR space ship with orbital drop pods, faster than light travel, geo synchronous orbital thrusters, and a plethora of science fiction like armament. Has to have a astronaut muzzle load said armament before firing… RIP

[@evanulven8249]

One point of accuracy that I love in Helldivers 2 is that, just as in real life for infantry, your personal weapon is pretty much a security blanket you hug real close as you wait for the real guns to do the work.

[@mason4354]

Dude you spelled it out perfectly 😂

[@skell6134]

You say that but my AMR rip and tears until everything is done

[@abelrussell5556]

AMR really does it all

[@darkninjacorporation]

I can’t believe nobody pointed out to Jonathan that the MG-43 (Machine Gun Stratagem) has 3 different fire rate settings

[@iplay9s]

yea most people dont even know you can open that menu

[@darkninjacorporation]

@@iplay9s in hindsight another thing he’d appreciate is the autocannon using a giant toggle-lock system like a giant Luger pistol (which also gets a full-auto mode in the R menu)

[@Sunnyj1m]

I was sad to see he wasnt shown the autocannon or its sentry@@darkninjacorporation

[@KentuckyFriedJohansson]

Isn't that the Stalwart? Can't recall the MG-43 having any options at all really

[@darkninjacorporation]

@@KentuckyFriedJohansson no, the Stalwart is the LMG with no settings but a larger capacity. The initial larger MG you start off with has the settings

[@Chickentopramen123]

Not only does throwing away the magazine take it out of your inventory, but if you try and fire again in the middle of a reload, the gun will fire only one bullet until you finish reloading. Very good attention to detail.

[@TripleB87]

Plus most guns keep a round in the chamber, so if you reload with 1 round remaining, your character will reload "faster", by which I mean they don't have to pump a shotgun, use a charging handle, etc. The Scorcher is an exception to this, since it's an energy weapon and the "magazine" is just a battery.

[@menacingdonutz]

I’m still training myself out of reloading partial mags, it hasn’t mattered in the games I’ve played for years it’s such a hard habit to break.

[@argotheslicer1654]

Annoying when you’re panicking cause it cancels reload

[@omarmejia7609]

Staged reloads. But reloading in first person is very satisfying to see. The liberator rifle, the Senator Revolver and the Breaker shotgun.

[@dungeonguy88]

@@menacingdonutz Yep. And you have to be really conscious of it, as sometimes it's better to reload a mostly depleted round and throw away a few rounds, rather than needing to reload only a few seconds into the next encounter.

[@toakopaka9817]

Another detail of the Carl Gustav in game is that if someone is standing behind you while you are firing it, they get hit with backblast and get sent off their feet!

[@zanaduz2018]

Not just the recoilless, any rocket-based weapon in-game has backblast. (this includes the expendable anti-tank weapon and the rocket sentry, and I even witnessed the rocket-armed robots knocking down a friendly bot with backblast)

[@meanmanturbo]

More fun detail, the reason for the loader to hold his right hand like that is so that he can quickly push the open lever which will block the firing pin if there suddenly are friendlie in the backblast area.

[@iterationfackshet1990]

@@zanaduz2018there’s no true rocket weaponry in the game, they’re all recoilless rifles technically. Even irl the RPG-7 is a recoilless rifle that is more so rocket assisted rather than rocket propelled.

[@quiddlydiddster3197]

@@iterationfackshet1990 The Spear fires rockets. The projectile can literally curve around an enemy and fly back to hit you in the face, definitely not traditional propellant.

[@zanaduz2018]

There is: the rocket sentry is, as well as the Spear (which is a powered ATGM).

[@Spectacular_Insanity]

Fun fact, the weapons that can be wielded one-handed all have a unique one-handed reload animation when you're using the Ballistic Shield. I think I'm the only player on the planet that ever uses it, but it was a neat detail I noticed. I love Arrowhead's attention to detail!

[@CrizzyEyes]

They have the same animation when you're carrying the SSSD

[@Spectacular_Insanity]

@@CrizzyEyes Oh that's true. I forgot about the SSDs.

[@dracuslos]

The shield also protects your back when it's there instead of in your hand. We tested that, it was hilarious to have my friend yell at me to shoot him while we were running away to test it lol.

[@FoxDren]

I've seen the onehanded reloads when carrying the ssd.

[@IsonDaya]

Related, if you get blown away you will lose the shield and have to go pick it up again.

[@De-eggs]

I'm not sure if anyone else noted, but if you go hold the reload button you can actually adjust the optic, fire mode and more on most of these weapons. So the knobs on the anti-material *are* usable!

[@ThatNaimad]

In fact, I believe the guns with adjustable sights are the only ones with those adjusters.

[@awanderer3047]

​@@ThatNaimadnow that you mention it, yeah I think that those are the only ones that can

[@pretzelbomb6105]

@@ThatNaimad I'll second this: the SG-8 "Punisher" uses iron sights, is pump-action, and forgoes a flashlight. It also lacks any sort of adjustment option.

[@IAMONB]

Not having Johnathan react to the Autocannon is a crime. Looking foward to part 2 please

[@gregistopal]

I came here for the autocannon!

[@SmolGawblin]

That was one I wanted to see as well, but what I really want him to react to are the stratagems.

[@krelekari]

I'd also like to see him talk about the JAR-5 Dominators Jet propulsion ammuntion, maybe even throw the knight in for fun to talk about the p90 top load magazine

[@matoro4140]

@@krelekariknight is at the end of the video lol

[@RekkonV]

And the mortar sentry.

[@Scar-letting]

PLEASE get jonathan on to talk about helldivers again. I want to see the look on his face when he sees a 15mm shoulder-mounted stripperclip-loaded toggle lock autocannon

[@Dunkopf]

UGH YESSSSSS!

[@Thenlar]

A *fully automatic* shoulder-fired autocannon!

[@Misdemeanorv2]

Are you sure it’s 15mm? The usual classification for an auto cannon is 20mm or above

[@TheDragonGamerTV]

Yeah. If it was a 15mm, it would "technically" be classified as an Anti-materiel/HMG. After all, the Russians have a 14.7mm HMG. And there isn't a whole lot of difference(in width) compared to a 15mm(everything else considering length of case, density of bullet, and material of bullet doesn't matter in this specific conversation).

[@hmmyou2544]

​@Misdemeanorv2 I believe the distinction between an autocannon and heavy machine gun is that a machine gun fires bullets, rather than shells. For example, the German MG 151/15 developed in 1934 is an autocannon, despite only firing 15mm rounds. I think the reason there aren't many autocannons below 20mm is simply due to the difficulty of manufacturing shells that small. And also I think when you get down to that size, there's not much point and you might as well just use a .50

[@SollowP]

5:48 You do actually switch tubes as you're firing the shotgun. If you go into first person mode as you fire the Punisher Shogun, you can see how the character flips over a little tab, indicating that he changed tubes.

[@doehg9000]

and you also load rounds into each side, depending on the depleted tube, which makes reloading the second tube slower, since you need to reach further and flip the tube switch when you're done. There's also a sound effect and the ammo indicator goes empty-red when you switch.

[@xdeser2949]

One of my favorite little touches is that in addition to the fact that you cant reload without tossing any ammo left, you also cant *interrupt* your reload, if you do you continue it from the next stage of the animation when you inevitably find out you cant fire and try to reload again lol

[@Salamandaa]

One of my favorite details, the only other game I've played that does this is Titanfall 2 and HD2 goes even farther with multiple stages you can interrupt it at. The number of times I've tried to fire the recoilless only to find I hadn't fully latched it...

[@jackdeviluke3969]

More games should do this to stop reload canceled from exploiting

[@zanaduz2018]

Insurgency: Sandstorm also has staged reloads, where if you interrupt the reloading process you will have to pick it back up from wherever you left off.

[@Shawsh2143]

I think it would be more accurate to say that you CAN interrupt the reloads and then continue where you left off. In most games, if you interrupt a reload you have to start from the beginning the next time.

[@SL4PSH0CK]

it was a welcome one, reminds me of survival shooters, thats player agency for a co-op horde shooter how often being chased by bugs which made the game normal difficulty on hard. was surprised harder difficulty ain't that steep and its accessible in contrast to WWZ and Vermintide of no need to master the game

[@Kottery]

"Nothing beats artillery really...except for air power, I suppose." GOOD NEW, Super Earth has supplied our brave Helldivers with air power in spades; be it close-air support via the Eagle or low orbit bombardments from your own Super Destroyer.

[@fanglespangle110]

Or Jack here with a jump pack and a grenade in his hand. For Democracy, Jack.

[@kestrels-in-the-sky]

Ah but low orbit is space power and can be beaten by if halo taught me anything ground mounted mac cannons (artillery) and that beats air power finally our modern rock paper scissors game is complete

[@DracoMilitis]

up right down down down

[@AusFirewing]

Jonthan absolutely MUST react to the Stratagems, or at the very least be given a list of them so he can comment.

[@SL4PSH0CK]

oh man the large arsenal set pieces were out of Lost Planet, unfortunately not operated manually like in LP2. but seeing mechs are coming down the pipeline of the game since HD1 has, im happy

[@Dermathil]

Yeah we're definitely gonna need a part 2 for Helldivers 2. I absolutely NEED to see Jonathan's reaction to the autocannon. On a separate note, when you fire the punisher shotgun in first person it actually has a big chonky selector lever on the top that show which tube the gun is being fed from! And you can see it changing position when it switches tube!

[@FluffyFleshwall]

Me too, that thing is a beauty!

[@adamgill9730]

Is the autocannon the giant Luger?

[@AlistairAi]

@@FluffyFleshwall autocannon sentry would be cool to see him go "Oh its a toggle lock"

[@baraka629]

maybe the shotgun has a follower tab or some other in-built mechanical implement that automatically switches it to the other magazine when the first one runs empty

[@NateTheScot]

@@baraka629 If i recall from Forgotten Weapons' video on the shotgun in question, it automatically alternates tubes if you have the selector in the middle, or you can choose which side to load from using the selector. It's even more clever a design than Jonathan gives it credit for, and that's not even just the future version, that's the real version.

[@ambrose3560]

A note about a backpack "magically appearing" for the flamethrower, the autocannon pod comes with an ammo pack, so the flamethrower could work similarly. Also, pretty sure the capes are fireproof Probably for this exact reason too, these guys love their capes

[@CrizzyEyes]

There's a blurb somewhere (possibly a loading screen tip) about the capes being very popular at military surplus stores because they're water- and fire-proof and very durable. Campers use them for tents.

[@pretzelbomb6105]

I'd wager the flamethrower may have had a backpack once, but during development they couldn't make it useful enough to justify losing the back slot. Completely baseless theory on my part, though.

[@codygreene9067]

@@CrizzyEyesIt’s the description for the starting Helldiver cape you earn after the tutorial. It’s a references to the poncho cloaks the real military issues. You can take those and string them up as tents too.

[@KingliestRat]

When you use the jump pack you burn off the bottom part of your cape. Maybe flame retardant would be a better description

[@alexmin4752]

IMO, they might have better fuels in future. The Pelican can effortlessly reach orbit without being a multi stage rocket while it's engines throw normal chemical flames, not plasma or smth so it's running on some very potent fuel.

[@blazingbuddy4228]

I love how he said "Nothing beats Artillery but Air Power" because 'orbitals' (this games equivalent of Air power) are the most effective way of dealing with enemies.

[@gonozal8_962]

air strikes are faster and thus hit moving targets better than orbital strikes, which are basically unguided artillery (orbital bombardement is like unguided rocket artillery, long wait time, but many shells hitting that area)

[@itsthehotline8592]

with the UTS-15 ingame, your character does actually switch between which tube is being loaded! If you're playing in first person mode you can see the toggle just at the bottom of the screen, and once your shells are half empty it will swap from the left tube to the right!

[@afx2519]

how do you turn on first person?

[@spaceageGecko]

@@afx2519 It's only for aiming with weapons, there is no true 1st person mode.

[@tailsinge]

Came here to comment this, very neat little detail

[@SolDizZo]

You can toggle a setting to "remember aim mode" and every time you aim it would be in first person@@afx2519 Personally I like the dynamic toggle setting where if I only tap the aim button it swaps

[@juliomontega2868]

Little details like this keep the game fresh and ooze with love from the devs. HD1 was great, this is a masterpiece.

[@LukeKimmell]

It's so rare that Jonathan Ferguson, keeper of Firearms & Artillery, gets to talk about artillery. I'm excited about this one

[@flamedance58]

I really love the fact this game went so hard into co-op/team-play. I know it sours it for people who don't want to play with others but the fact there's weapons that really shine when a squaddy helps you reload and such is such a great mechanic. I've honestly not played a single game nor seen any that I can remember that has a similar system other than maybe some mil-sim games with mortars where it might be a two-person weapon.

[@arkonatous]

I really like it when it's Jonathan and Dave talking with each other, gives it a short podcast feel. Would love an actual podcast with these two.

[@jocosesonata]

With all the times he mentioned how archaic some sci-fi guns' mechanisms are, it'd be neat if we get a video of just Jonathan talking about what an actual futuristic gun would be like. Delving into the machinery, what improvements there should be, what would be left out. It'd be a neat consultation video for any gun maker to watch when they're designing futuristic guns.

[@gur262]

It's not unusually thought about but if we assume space travel as still costly and weight being a sensitive issue, case less ammo (HK space gun) would make alot of sense even if it would forever be more costly to produce which isn't even a given I think.

[@jocosesonata]

@@gur262 Ah, good ol' logistics is King. It's honestly one of my favourite things about war and military that I've recently learned. Logistics wins wars! And it's natural that it would be the first issue to solve in any futuristic setting. How do we make things more cost effective and optimized? Yeah, this is the thing I want to see Jonathan talking about, or just anyone who's knowledgeable about weaponry. What advancements will we see first, and the changes it will bring?

[@0lionheart]

@@gur262 if they build manufacturing plants in orbit or space, that eliminates the concern of lifting stuff off-planet. Weight is only a factor then in going back down, when gravity takes hold. Caseless seems a given so you don't have casings floating around in zero-G, getting into places they shouldn't. tbh, so does ammunition that doesn't pierce ship hulls (as standard) so you don't depressurise the whole ship if you miss your target. UNSC soldiers in Halo don't use irons or optics typically, there's a helmet link kind of deal with a projected crosshair. It's them explaining gameplay stuff with lore but, I think it's a decent sounding solution for bulky space suits and armour. Could change how weapons are braced, if you're not lifting them up anymore? Infinite Warfare had on-ship weapon manufacturing and iirc the Marathon trailer has weapons that look semi 3D printed, that seems like maybe something that could be a thing in the future. Build replacement parts, or weapons, as you need them rather than waiting for resupply (which could take weeks if you're remote af). I have a lot of thoughts because I was designing a space shooter for a while lol, it's fun to think about stuff like this.

[@Keithustus]

Gotta love The Expanse for that. Bullets....they go fast...ships...go fast too.....together....bad news.

[@jamesburleson1916]

Check out Forgotten Weapons here on KZbin. He has a video on the H&K G11 which should satisfy your need for futuristic weapons, crafted by Germans with a blank canvas and unlimited budget.

[@theaikidoka]

On the SG8 Punisher shotgun, I'd imagine the 'cutouts' are actually sealed. Plexiglass (or similar) barriers would mean you could witness the chamber without the issues Jonathan mentioned.

[@Gatorade69]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Something like the P90 magazine where you can see the bullets.

[@pretzelbomb6105]

My friend group contains several gun nerds and the cutout magazine was a real sticking point for one of them. I managed to close off that argument by suggesting that it does cause fouling, but the shotguns are probably disposable and replaced after each mission anyways.

[@DBZHGWgamer]

It's really not that hard to imagine fouling doesn't matter when a helldiver isn't likely to survive a single mission.

[@jthompson8177]

Whats really cool about the artillery or bombardment strategems is that everything will come in based on the direction and angle from the source of fire i.e. orbital bombardment comes in at an angle from the center of the map as thats where the ship is. Depending on where the on map artillery is it can be blocked by obstuctions depending on the angle that its coming in from

[@S3Cs4uN8]

Eagle Strikes are also called in perpendicular to the direction you threw the beacon in which can let you angle them to hit hard to reach targets with good positioning.

[@Ky-kx2hd]

And the angle of orbital call ins increases as the destroyers get closer to leaving!

[@NotSoMelancholy]

One thing the H2 does really well is aiming. I love how your reticle is just a “where I want to be aiming” and the circle is where your weapon is actually aiming. With heavier weapons as well this means you can quickly turn but because of the weight your circle drags behind and will overshoot your reticle abit as you pull it where you want it. It creates a very natural feeling aiming system that despite being done artificially (it’s not actually tied to your weapon) makes you aware of where your weapon is really aiming rather than where you want to aim.

[@jess_o]

17:10 a rail system on a flame thrower is just hilarious

[@jstar3382]

If I had to guess, it's because the part is reused from another gun. Makes sense both in-game and in terms of development

[@megawaffle612]

Hilarious until the rail attached mini Super Earth flags are released!

[@noahhamilton9004]

For long-range, accurate flame throwing!

[@carlosdgutierrez6570]

Ad a metallic powder to the fuel mix and make the rails to exert a bit of Lorentz force, like a rail gun, and in theory you could give the fuel a little bit of extra range. Theorically speaking, no idea if it could be implemented in real life.

[@metalhev3989]

Install a thermal scope for the synergy bonus

[@Subject1498]

Thanks to this series and Jonathans eagle eye I started to notice: With the Machine Gun in Helldivers 2 they actually went through the effort to make the primers of the rounds on the belt right. Before the round is shot the primers don't have a dent, but they do when they get ejected. This is one of the many neat little details(like the Reload Animation working without any problem in 3rd and 1st person view, with some details only visible in 1st person) that I really love about this game! Edit: I might be wrong, but I think the Flamethrower might works with the substance "E-710", an oil like substance, that is also used to fuel ships and other machinery, and that is won by decomposting Terminid Carcasses. Could explain the small tank :D

[@JPilestedt]

Hahaha exactly! E710 is the extremely (albeit unrealistic) compound that fuels everything. It's super Oil. Also, if you write 710 and look at it upside down..... 🤣

[@HitodamaKyrie]

​@@JPilestedt Guys, new lore just dropped straight from the source! :D

[@NateTheScot]

Flip E-710 upside down. You Get "OIL-3"

[@erictheepic5019]

@@NateTheScot We skipped Oil 2 and went straight to Oil 3, that's just how good Oil is.

[@Lazarultos]

@@NateTheScot Hahaha I read it as OIL-E a play on words of "oily" which sounds like such a fittingly goofy thing to refer to future super-fuel as.

[@0heydude0]

Regarding UTS-15 operation; The magazine selector has three positions, pushing the selector in either the left or the right position will block that tube so the gun only feeds from the opposite side, while sitting in the middle allows both tubes to feed alternatingly, beginning with whichever tube was loaded first.

[@SquidGangRiseUp]

Might not be too special these days, but it's worth noting this game does follow "one in the chamber" rules where reloading prematurely has a different animation that's a bit faster and, with mag-fed weapons, gives an extra round. Definitely want a part 2! Pleas include the autocannon!

[@quintessenceoflife7870]

The thing about the SMG-37 Defender is it actually fires a larger caliber round then a standard SMG at a slower rate of fire and is also able to be fired one handed. My thoughts is it's an intermediary between an assault rifle and a paratrooper's weapon.

[@terrelldurocher3330]

Makes complete sense, but you wouldn't call it a smg at that point, it is a carbine now

[@Salmon_Toastie]

I like to think it’s the UMP of HD2, hits hard shoots slow.

[@AE1OU]

Please Jonathan Ferguson, the keeper of Firearms & Artillery at the Royal Armouries museum in the UK, break down the weapons from *METAL GEAR SOLID 3* before the remake comes out. So many weapons in MGS3 to react and comment on like the Patriot's infinite ammo magazine, the EZ tranq gun, Snake's customized officer M1911A1, Snake whittling the pistol grip to use a knife for CQC, Ocelot's SAA juggling skills, The End's paratrooper tranquilizer Mosin Nagant, the Davey Crockett recoil-less nuclear launcher and Eva's chinese mauser clone. There are so many more other interesting trivias and weapons in MGS3 so please Dave and Johnathan make a video for the game.

[@fernosbonos5394]

we might need some dedication for this

[@DepressedCrow]

He's just gonna turn into British sigint

[@Gatorade69]

You know what, I think this is the best comment that has ever recommended MGS3. Like I have seen people say "Do MGS3" but this comment goes even deeper. It's been a while since I played it so I had forgotten about some of those.

[@plazzy9911]

Agreed. We need mgs3

[@Vivi2372]

This really needs to become the top comment

[@omakaruzumee]

I can't wait for a part 2! It would be cool to see Jonathan's reaction to an Eagle strike! And the fact that the Eagle is essentially a Space-A10 😂

[@bernerdsmeth9912]

Not-so-proud owner of a UTAS UTS-15 here. There is a middle position that you can put the tube selector into, which makes the gun alternate the tube in which it feeds from. So you don't *have* to manually switch your tube.

[@beanother1an690]

Yeah, that's a KSG thing.

[@meme__salad]

5:44 the UTS-15 actually has a switch behind the magazine tubes and above the chamber, and if it is left in the middle position it will alternate feeding between tubes, one of our regular customers bought one when they first came out and we tried it in our test range in the back of the shop

[@Salmon_Toastie]

That sounds really cool.

[@kylepage7491]

Some things to consider. Most weapons have a selector menu accessed by holding the reload button/key. This is used to adjust sights, rate of fire, fire mode and flashlight options, depending on the weapon. You can adjust the zoom on the AMR, among others. A bit more strangely, the machine guns have fire rate selection. Rifles and SMGs have sensible automatic, burst and single fire selection.

[@JeffHikari]

Funny enough, the BAR had a fire rate selector.

[@Zanpaa]

oh my god you can change the zoom on it? i tried the hold button menu a couple times and thought it only did fire mode and flashlight so i left it alone... thanks for the tip.

[@luckhanh2549]

​​@@Zanpaaif a weapon have a scope, you can

[@giahuynguyenkim6389]

The Negev has it too@@JeffHikari

[@S3Cs4uN8]

@@Zanpaa You can change the zoom on the AR-23 and its variants, the DMR's and the Anti-Material Rifle, at least that's what I can recall from memory.

[@hinth4322]

It's also worth noting that the Recoiless Rifle (the Karl Gustav lookalike) also has a backblast your teammates need to worry about, launching them flying backwards similarly how explosions do, albeit dealing less damage.

[@zanaduz2018]

I do think this will need a part 2 to cover many of the support weapons that didn't get covered. Jonathan's take on the toggle-lock, stripper-clip-fed portable autocannon is definitely my top vote for what should be in there, but even the JAR-5 Dominator would also be an interesting one to hear about (the description makes it out as essentially a WH40K bolter).

[@seanconneryisgod]

I came here waiting to see Johnathan be impressed by all the different elements of the auto cannon. Please do a part 2 and include that.

[@DoktahLani]

Fun fact on the pump shotgun actually does have a lever on the top of it that you can see in first person that indicates which tube it’s feeding from and it will switch sides as you fire it.

[@Ifyoucanreadthisgooglebroke]

"To whom it may concern." is a great way to characterize that kind of self-covering suppressive fire realistically/more like withering fire in most games for shooting on the move, lol.

[@nullcircuit]

the MP-98 actually almost resembled one of the original P90 prototypes more than the current. It shares the same pistol grip and thumb hole design, but it inverts it to keep the barrel up top. It's the wood furniture that made it a giveaway for me.

[@t4nkychannel921]

So two things: first, they changed the designs of the basic assault rifles. If it were anyone else, I'm not sure I'd bring it up, but Johnathan might be interested to know that the original Helldivers rifles were more SA80. Second, he should look at FEAR's weapons. Edit: Two more things I forgot to mention. The game has two belt feds: the first one has a delay where the barrel has to catch up with the mouse cursor and the player has to stand still, and the second one doesn't have these disadvantages but is less powerful. Also, the mini-nuke was the perfect chance to talk about the M-28 Davy Crocket.

[@0lionheart]

You have to stop and take a knee to reload the heavy machinegun, whereas the light one can be reloaded on the move. It's also meant to be fired prone, not standing, whereas the light is more mobile. It's a cool way to make them both viable but situational. Jonathon would die inside seeing some of the reload animations in FEAR, they're dreadful.

[@HazopGaze]

A video featuring Jonathan is always a treat, definitely do a part 2 for this, there's so much more I'd love to hear his takes on! Especially the autocannon. As very many are saying, it seems.

[@extraram896]

I believe the reason a lot of these weapons utilize the Kalash-style reload, where the cocking handle is on the righthand-side of the weapon, has to do with this game being developped in a 3rd-person perspective and so the animations needed to reflect strongly with that perspective; if the cocking handle was on the lefthand side, the character' body would likely block any of the reload animations that the team wanted to show off, so they probably opted to flipping onto the side you're most likely to be able to see it with the set perspective. It's like whenever 1st person games would sometimes flip the gun models around, so conponents thatd be on the righthand side would show on the left and so the animators can show off with how they animated conponents on the gun.

[@sircdrom]

Part 2 please! Lots of weapons left to check out! :D

[@KwadDamyj]

I'm doing my part, and so is Jonathan!

[@castform57]

I wonder if Dave noticed that you can change the firing rate on the machine gun. It's a neat mechanical detail that Jonathan would probably appreciate.

[@erwinjensen8955]

Today was a really tough day, but this video made it a lot better. Thank you Jonathan and everyone that worked on it. Really appreciate it.

[@EskChan19]

What I like a lot inn Helldivers 2 is that the shotguns actually behave like somewhat proper shotguns. These things have RANGE. They don't just fizzle out two metters in front of you like almost every shotgun in almost every game. Yeah you obviously won't snipe an enemies head from a kilometer away, but if you see an enemy in the distance you can absolutely shoot at them and expect to hit at least a few grazing shots.

[@CrizzyEyes]

The Punisher has solid range. The Breaker less so, but there's also a slug variant of the Punisher which I have yet to unlock. I've heard it's good

[@Salmon_Toastie]

As much as unbalanced it is in games I also appreciate it, also having conventional bullets work on aliens makes me smile.

[@Nolano386]

One of the things that made me fall in love with the game was how the weapons worked. It felt good and grounded even though it's a scifi setting.

[@Salamandaa]

It's so good. It's by no means a serious milsim and yet the number of things it does even in a cartoony way are amazing. I can't remember the last game I played where you have to account for back blast, or where suppressing fire actually works, or the enemy starts firing mortars that take a few rounds to dial in your position.

[@LouseGrouse]

@@SalamandaaThe more I play and hear about from others, the more details I find. It’s a superbly made game.

[@SweatBread]

With the anti-material rifle, you can actually adjust the zero distance if you hold your reload button! You can also adjust the RPM for the machine guns and change fire modes for pistols and ARs the same way!

[@UpToSpeedOnJaguar]

Hopefully they do a part 2, because i really wantes to see him look at the autocannon. Thats probably one of the most unique guns in the game, and im sure he would have got a kick out of the toggle lock action on such a big gun.

[@MrAli1191]

Love to see a part 2 with some of the other weapons and stratagems, also the features like changing rate of fire etc.

[@negativemaidens]

i am once again asking for you to bully jonathan by making him react to whatever warframe's guns are

[@HexagonThatReallyLikesVinegar]

bros gonna see the incarnon weapons and just give up

[@TehCakeIzALie1]

@@HexagonThatReallyLikesVinegar The shotgun turns into birds. Metaphorical weapon design. Should have sent a poet.

[@lubomirac9287]

Regarding the grenade launcher impact fuse comment, I do think that it actually does have impact fuse but also it has a delay in the fuse activation to prevent detonations while hitting a very close target.

[@julianalonso7806]

It does, I was able to confirm that today by getting stuck in terrain! Grenades wouldn't detonate when they hit the terrain I was stuck in, and when I got close enough to bugs it would ricochet instead of detonate.

[@jstar3382]

I love how detailed the first person reloads are in this. Just a fun thing to see during the game

[@das_gruuben]

Awesome stuff, guys! Please keep it coming!

[@scirrhia_kruden]

I think it would be awesome for another throwback, like the Order 1886, this time for Killzone 2 and/or 3. Those have some really cool guns, and I remember the flamethrower being particularly awesome, because it was a pressurized fluid that you could even arc over cover.

[@SwanieGaming]

I'm sad the auto cannon wasn't shown. It's a C96 Muaser that's shoulder fire and I think John would love it.

[@jedfromyourlocallibrary]

Would love a part 2 for sure!

[@theoquinn5613]

PLEASE DO A SECOND ONE OF THESE this game is so good it does a lot of things right i think

[@ZyronZA]

Correction on 3:57 ; It's not "running away", it's a "heroic retreat"

[@OvAeons]

Now think, this game came out within 6 months of starfield LOL.

[@GrandDukeMushroom]

I'm very happy being a Helldivers 1 Veteran to see that Helldivers 2 blew up (very justified) enough to get a coverage on this channel aswell. Good stuff! Can't wait to see you praise all the weapons ! >:D

[@CloneMalone]

It's been said a thousand times but I love the self awareness that while this can be taken as genuine criticism, it's also Sci-Fi so it doesn't really matter as much as more grounded games and in turn that makes these videos more like commentary and insights from an expert which is much more fun to watch than just someone clowning on something for not being realistic in a game that isn't supposed to necessarily be realistic.

[@theimmoralcookie6344]

1:32 Because democracy!

[@justinmedeiros7600]

We need that part 2, I gotta see his auto cannon and rail gun reactions, maybe even some of the stratagems like the hellbomb and the eagle strikes

[@Jiffedup]

So funny enough if you first person ads into the first shotgun shown here that has two mag tubes. Once you get halfway through the rounds a switch just behind the reddot sight flips from the left side to the right to show a switching of feed from one tube to the other. Really hope they go back and show that to Johnathan in a part 2 as from what I've seen of this game and these guns..the developers have either a gun nut on the team or getting this all right / somewhat believable was a labor of love.

[@BigShpongled]

With the punisher shotgun, there actually is a moving tube selector when you're in first person, a detail they didn't need to add but still did

[@starsound_5184]

I can't wait for part 2!!

[@jacobmcdonald8911]

A+ glad to see this series cover a game I'm super interested in, again!

[@dnielbloqg]

3:54 I didn't expect to learn something for actual gameplay here! Good to know, thank you!

[@garudanathanael5257]

Thank you for doing your part, guys!

[@ironraccoon3536]

If a part 2 gets made, they definitely have to show off how you can change the fire rate on the MGs or the zoom (and zeroing distance!) on the liberator.

[@errantknightevelyn]

definitely would like to see a part two of this!

[@SonGoku-vf4qk]

I haven't had one of these videos in my recommendations in a while I'm glad to see it

[@SirTickleTots]

I hope we get part 2 soon! I would love to see their thoughts on the auto cannons and their toggle lock actions

[@cadorez]

4:12 "The one handed to whom it may concern" Absolutely poetic

[@mimterest]

We need a part 2! Autocannon, Slugger, Senator, JAR-5 Dominator, the quirky energy weapons!

[@tyllua]

oh i so would love to see a part 2 with the different stratagem weapons we got :)

[@jjayala5512]

Johnathan, your Soldadera shirt is top notch! Awsome stuff 👍🏾

[@coopmaxxxer325]

Thanks for the great video!

[@demonicspire1345]

5:37, the UTS has 3 feed positions on its switch. Left tube, right tube, or alternating. So you can fire all 14 rounds without having to stop to touch the switch if you leave the switch in the center position.

[@nagashtheundyingking4404]

what I love most about while still explaining why the weapons are all that realistic atleast for a few of them still understand why they look the way they do as ofc its still a game so lots of the designs is all about feeling.

[@scricks2102]

We need another one of these videos!

[@ryleside6210]

Best episode yet!

[@edenli9630]

Fun note on the punisher, there is a switch on top of the gun in 1st person that indicates which tube it's feeding from, and it actually flips when you hit half capacity, which is super cool

[@zeero92]

A part 2 is *definitely* necessary :D

[@danhill99]

Helldivers is the perfect game for him- I’d love a part 2!

[@terrastrife]

I also love how if you're running behind the recoilless rifle when it's fired it knocks you over. It doesn't hurt, at least not when it happened to me, but I enjoy that you gotta keep your backblast clear

[@mcintoshpc]

Definitely want to see a part 2!

[@michaelpaoli9615]

I'd love to see a part 2 for more Helldivers 2 Weapons!!!

[@SkyNinja759]

7:15 I also think that the basic design is because they need to fit in the drop pods too. You need something simple, rugged, and compact when you're deploying into combat in a Pringles can. They also canonically have friends/family donate funds for ammunition and kit for Helldivers. So clearly Super Earth is relying on a certain amount of donations. We're definitely not Gucci soldiers, we're being cost somewhat efficient. (as I say as a 500kg bomb drops on a single terminid grunt in game).

[@pendantblade6361]

Big fan of the headcanon in the worldbuilding, would definitely love more!

[@MartonKomlos]

This was awesome! Can we please have a second part?

[@Destrado_]

Bit of a missed detail on the pump shotgun regarding the magazine tubes. In first person, there is a tube selector that switches once the first magazine is empty. Really neat detail that the devs put there especially since most people won't notice it since they mostly only play in third person.

[@lasselen9448]

I love how Jonathan seems to pull out weapons from his inventory to show on camera like he's a videogame character. And I'm amazed that this game has crew-served portable weapons! And especially manages to make them fun to use.

[@jmnypop]

On that anti-materiel rifle, the scope knobs aren't greebles. You can adjust the zoom by holding R for set ranges.

[@AttacMage]

the background music during the bullpup segment reminds me of the backing track for 100% endurance. just a thought stuck in ny head. I like it.

[@BrainstormG1]

I'd love a part 2, especially for more of the crew served weapons.

[@DD-hw1vw]

In the use of the punisher pump action shotgun, there's actually a switch on the top that, in game, will actually be moved over to unblock the other magazine tube in game, it just happens so fast you normally don't notice it. It also gets switched back after the magazine tube on the left is fully loaded to unlock the other tube on the right