How to Use the JAR-5 Dominator in Helldivers 2

The JAR-5 Dominator in Helldivers 2 is very similar to the PLAS-1 Scorcher, however, there are some key differences that make these better for certain situations. Let's Discuss!
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/ @drpooplove

[@Werepie]

Not gonna lie, I was really hoping for more of a 40k bolter feel. Hopefully the JAR gets a future buff to make it a bit more relevant

[@Brobryanbruh]

Make its explosive radius higher up the handling and us 40k fans gonna be happy

[@yuligamein5502]

yaa..it doesn't do its darktide counterpart brother any real justice .. it has all the fun of the bolter rifle of 40k....feel..recoil..and all...just not the damage ..a real bolter would floor everthing short of a heavy ..bot hulk...

[@TJVBernal]

@@Brobryanbruhunfortunately it doesn't even explode. I shot where I'm standing and I don't even damage myself.

[@Brobryanbruh]

@@TJVBernal shit even easier fix just make it explode!

[@hornmonk3zit]

It needs to just do what it says on the tin. It's clearly a big ass rifle designed to kill armored bots, it should be able to drop devastators in like five shots to the chest so you can have some standard weapon to take them out without having to hit their golf ball sized head while they're bouncing around chasing you down with chainsaws. Seems like a fair trade for the low capacity, the reload that takes six to eight business days, and the slow ass bullets that change velocity mid flight. Edit: Well there we go devs you did the right thing and made the Dominator live up to its namesake. Now it's a purpose built devestator killing machine that fits into a well balanced squad perfectly.

[@SuperStarTidus18]

Gun stats in this game make no sense

[@pac2267]

i think the difference here regarding damage is the material the jar uses a fisical bullet with explosive filler after the round penetrates or not it explodes inside if it doesnt penetrate it explodes outside doing less damage to armored targets when plasma is literaly a bolt of melten hot plasma it will go through pretty much any armor the reason to the explosion is beyond me it could be do to the materal being too volatile or some science thing

[@guardian-angel615]

Ah, my favourite "explosive" without the explosion gun trait

[@juniorelizondo4144]

Yeah the "explosive" weapons are fucking ass.

[@Duck1en]

The logic of it being explosive is like the conventional tank rounds that explode after penetrating armor. But idk if this game does it

[@juniorelizondo4144]

@@Duck1en nope. They don't pen and they hardly do anything at all.

[@guardian-angel615]

@@Duck1en The in-game logic of being 'explosive' is going 'boom' and having an AoE effect. Dominator does neither.

[@iToxicMochi]

The explosive weapon category means that it does 4x damage to a weakspot (red hit marker.) This is why the dominator absolutely murders medium robots and stalkers with one well placed round. The explosive trait however just means that it has aoe.

[@dryricefields403]

The armor pennetratrion always seems so wonky, using a medium armor one on a weak armor enemy should shred but it doesnt feel like it does

[@mutekn0wm0re82]

Technically high AP will do less damage.

[@rochlum]

Shooting a warrior bug and getting a two leg collateral is awesome. Tiny scavenger not so much. This gun I was meant to line up crowds for collaterals or to deal with medium armor weak points

[@KageRyuu6]

@@mutekn0wm0re82 Incorrect, at least within the context of the game. You can Ricochet and do 0% damage, this happens when you're Penetration is Less than the target's Armor; you can Partially Penetrate and do 40-50% damage, this happens when your Penetration is Equal to the target's Armor; then you can Fully Penetrate and deal 100% damage, which happens when your Penetration is Greater than the target's Armor. So far the experts have found 7 Armor types, Unarmored 0, Light 1, Light 2, Medium 3, Medium 4, Heavy 5, then Flesh X. The first 6 work off the Armor Penetration stat, while Flesh takes reduced damage from all sources that Aren't Explosive, the exact amount seems to varies wildly from the devs stated amount of 10% to quick field testing of around 70%. Either case Flesh is only present on Spewers' sides, Chargers' rear, the Titans' bile sacks, and maybe the Spore Tower.

[@mutekn0wm0re82]

@@KageRyuu6 I mean that an ap shouldn’t do “more” damage to unarmed targets than it would to high armour targets it can fully pen. I’m also looking at it from a realism standpoint.

[@hornmonk3zit]

The armor system actually works on a 1 to 10 system that kinda works like the damage threshold system in Fallout New Vegas, only the game doesn't tell you that at all. If the gun has an armor penetration rating greater than whatever piece of armor you're hit has it gets through and does more damage the more armor pen points it has over the armor value. The light and medium armor penetrating stats in weapon descriptions are literally meaningless. And the reason the Scorcher was dropping striders when the Dominator was bouncing off was because the Scorcher actually has a blast radius that ignores the armor plate being between the plasma and the driver, all explosives seem to do that to striders.

[@pitbullsensei179]

The Dominator is the perfect example for weapons who needed an improvement

[@974cerebrate]

Have the devs talked about buffing the weapons ?

[@pitbullsensei179]

@@974cerebrate dont know,but i use it in this state,with an ammo backpack,and flame or grenade-thrower

[@Steir12]

I would say having better sights would make it much more viable. It can onetap devastators which is very useful it just cockblocked by its rudimentary sights just as senator.

[@IAmNumber4000]

In principle I like this weapon, just not in practice. Still bought it just in case of a future buff

[@DrPooplove]

agreed

[@sicariusdracus]

Same. It's above decent. I'm more of a fan of the breaker incindiary from this warbond.

[@IAmNumber4000]

@@sicariusdracus yeah the breaker incendiary is a welcome surprise

[@doomspud6302]

The Dominator definitely needs something special to give it a more unique niche. Right now, its competing with too many other similar weapons, like the Slugger and Scorcher. So it really needs something to make it stand out from the crowd. The Breaker Incendiary is a perfect example of that, since unlike the Spray & Pray variant, it has a unique function instead of just having slightly different stats. So if the Dominator could get a unique effect as well, like making its shots always explode and deal at least some damage regardless of armor, instead of bouncing off (they are supposed to be tiny rockets, after all), that would really help it.

[@bronco5334]

It's fantastic for mid-weight termanids. Basically, anything smaller than a charger, and bigger than a hunter. You'll want the SMG sidearm or a high ROF or AOE support weapon (like the grenade launcher or stalwart) to deal with the hordes of small things. Since grenade launcher is AOE enough for scavenger hordes or hunter packs, yet powerful enough to gut-shot (or butt-shot) chargers, it's a great pairing for the Dominator. Use the Dominator against the warriors, hive guards, stalkers and other mid-weights, and use the grenade launcher against the scavengers and chargers.

[@accelerationnation8171]

I really wish they reworked the weapon stats system. There are so many things that the menu doesn’t tell you, like staggering, explosiveness, actual armor penetration values, and so much more. Deep Rock Galactic tells you so much more about your weapons, wish Helldivers was a bit more like DRG.

[@Alienoiable]

And yet DRG is still hiding a ton of info about its guns.

[@doomspud6302]

Really, there's a ton of things Helldivers 2 could take from DRG's weapon and damage systems. Like the armor breaking system. That would help guns with low armor penetration feel way less useless than they do now. And more special weapon effects, like stun, slow and fear. That would allow for more variety in weapon design and usage.

[@scrollingthru45]

They really got to take some notes from DRG they get so much right

[@DaxRaider]

prelaunch they did show like 30 stats per weapon including pictures of the spread. the ceo posted it on twitter they removed it thinking it would be to complex for the players but he calls it a "mistake" so that means its maybe coming back

[@wzj7067]

The CEO once showed an image of a more detailed stat screen of the weapons that didn't make it to the final game. Then some idiots state that they don't want too detailed stats because it encourages people to just look through stats to find and stay with the META, which unfortunately the CEO agreed with. I'm like, WTF is this nonsense, meta slaves don't give a crap about stats, they just look through meta guides and follow what everyone uses most. These overly simple and ambiguous stats are just hurting those who actually try to study and analyze the game mechanics to find different playstyles. How is hiding the true potential of these less popular weapons encouraging build variety?

[@gorgeousgeorge7104]

In fact Scorcher doesn't penetrate anything, it just does explosive splash damage, that's why it kills Striders

[@Sabatour100]

thank you, people really gloss over that because that and the plasma punisher cant be shot at close range because you can off yourself by the explosion

[@Idontevenwanachannel]

I think the splash damage from the scorcher is also supplementary to the 100 direct damage, which would explain how it often feels like it will kill targets in a similar amount of shots to the dominator.

[@AetherNoble]

Yep. Funny how people can put on analyses like this and miss key details.

[@Go_ki_bu_ri]

Based on this and the video, it makes me think the difference in the explosive traits might be because the plasma, obviously explodes when it hits, but the Dominator's rounds might instead be a kinetic energy round. Similar to why a depleted-uranium dart does what it does to a tank? idk. I'm just guessing.

[@gorgeousgeorge7104]

@@Go_ki_bu_ri yes, you're right. Well in fact Dominator's rounds explode inside target's body, that's why Dominator is explosive weapon and why it deals 100% damage to weakspots like Charger's ass

[@BigSneed404]

I think there is a misconception about "explosive" type weapons. If I've heard correctly, its not that they're supposed to do AOE damage, its that they do *even more* damage against weak spots compared to normal weapons.

[@Mikeofzedead]

Correct.

[@domp2729]

While that’s true, it’s more accurate to say that explosive weapons are meant to deal their *true* damage to exposed flesh compared to say, the breaker, which would deal reduced damage. According to the CEO. In testing, however it seems to only do about 37% more damage than that of a traditional ballistic weapon of the same base damage. At least when comparing the liberators.

[@Al0neStillAlive]

Just like how they renamed the liberator explosive to the liberator concussive, they should stop referring to the Jar-5 as explosive. Personally the ability to absolutely tear up hive guards, bile warriors, and brood commanders makes the Jar-5 one of my personal favorite weapons.

[@Spectre-907]

In the clip where he's shooting the bile spewers in the body, the same weapon would be a 2-3 shot kill throught the head armor, so that tracks. The jar needs a handling upgrade like the laser cannon got; it's far too aim-dependent for results (practically C-tier -> WeHaveBoltersAtHome) to have that sluggish control.

[@quack9355]

kinda beats the purpose of being called "Explosive", eh?

[@abtuse3435]

I pray the buff this, just blasting this thing makes me so excited since its literally a bolter

[@MrJZNICA]

How to use it: step 1, don’t

[@JohnDoe-ks9ts]

Alternatively, L2P

[@Bogdan221192]

Slugger forewa

[@lhellhammer]

It sucks on anything higher than a 5.

[@liquidpaper1349]

It's a worse slugger - generally

[@enrictudelavoronine2218]

Step 2: use it Step 3: git gud

[@themindakviking]

JAR-5 and the R-63CS were my two most eagerly anticipated unlocks, as well as my two most disappointing unlocks. They both need some serious love. R-63CS needs Medium Armor Pen and perhaps a slight damage buff. The JAR-5 seems like the only buff it needs is for its damage to actually work as advertised. Big Gun say go Boom, but no go boom

[@ziokalco]

The R-63CS is basically a trashly tuned Diligence. Slower aim, more recoil, less bullets, same armor pen, minuscule damage increase and longer scope (diligence still has decent scope anyway). Should be able to take devastators from one hit to the head, but no, same 2 hit requirement as the diligence. Buff material there

[@ГригорийПрозоров-р3ж]

and now YOU GET UR BUFFS! Congrats!

[@Jimoshi1]

@@ziokalco it would be FINE if not for this retarded slowdown when aiming even AM rifle dont have that its just feels retarded.

[@ryanadams2671]

Jar is all I use. I pair it with the first handgun for killing chaff and the autocannon for the big targets. The Jar flattens medium armor targets like they don’t exist.

[@deejeh9494]

The smg secondary on semi auto has a bigger mag and same damage.

[@empty5013]

the stock pistol is cool though

[@colinwhalen2632]

@@empty5013facts lol

[@F34RDSoldier805]

Many people don't know this still for some reason, but the striders have a spot you can shoot in their front where it is medium armor. It the area that connect the heavy armor and the legs, so basically the waste. It's this slim bar area that is medum armor, so it's fairly easy to take out with the slugger for example.

[@indalecio539]

waist.*

[@Steir12]

Legs are medium armor aswell and have less hp than crotch.

[@qrangejuice8225]

My guess on why it kills the Spore Spewers slower than the Scorcher is that the scorcher deals damage twice - once as the impact, once as the AOE. Both of those instances receive the x10 damage modifier from the Explosive property. The JAR only hits and deals damage once.

[@DrPooplove]

Yeah but even if it was dealing it twice, then it should deal the same damage as the JAR then right? Or is the AOE applying more damage than the 100x2

[@gammacyn]

@@DrPooplovethe jar 5 is an explosion weapon, but it doesn’t have the explosive weapon trait which gives bonus damage to weak spots The entire top of the mushroom is a weak spot that can apply the scorcher bonus, so not only I’d out dealing 100x2 damage, it’s also getting a 75% weak spot buff from explosive weapon trait

[@CannonFodder]

@@DrPooplove no, if it hits twice it deals 200 dmg, but if it hits squishy parts it deals 280 dmg, because explosive perk, so yeah. And you kill striders using PLAS in 2 shots not because of armor pen, but because AoE dmg.

[@Nuitarri]

@@gammacyn So what does being an explosive weapon even mean then if it doesnt have the explosive trait??

[@jargin2]

The Jar 5 is a beast against the big bugs. Good for bug bots but it's overkill on small bots

[@benjaminstiles]

Rocket propelled bullets are just awesome

[@DrPooplove]

For sure!

[@johnpatterson2124]

oddly enough, the game describes them as "jet" propelled bullets. i like to imagen them as simply whole tiny jet engines, that just fly out of the gun as a bullet.

[@Rallzit]

And somehow these bullets are slower than a plasma shot

[@Razumen]

@@johnpatterson2124 Probably inspired by "Gyrojet" family of guns, which fired small rockets but never really caught on for a variety of reasons.

[@johnpatterson2124]

either that or 40k bolters, but those are both rocket propelled, them being jet propelled really makes no sense.@@Razumen

[@Boa796]

The JAR is more "concussive" rather than explosive, like the Liberator Explosive (which they actually changed to Liberator Concussive) I am assuming this means it does more stagger damage. And the reason why the spore spewers takes less shots to kill with the Scorcher is because it's probably weak to "real" explosive weapons that have an aoe.

[@LiberTea_TV]

Always the best data presented. This video is approved by Super Earth.

[@DrPooplove]

Thank you!!

[@LiberTea_TV]

@@DrPooplove no, thank you, doctor.

[@alphazura9207]

It feels like the stats are a lie and something about it isnt working, spent a good minute unlocking this thing and the Slugger is just better

[@alternateaccount6913]

Its a bolt gun, I can't resist man

[@Bishop1664]

The JAR is really good if you know what it takes down quick and what it doesnt. Not really mentioned in this video but it can ONE-TAP warrior bugs in the head, as well as some of the larger ones if you hit the legs and face (brood commanders?). Its such a satisfying gun to use but it should be treated as more of heavy hitter against medium targets and used alongside something like the grenade launcher or machine gun for cc.

[@josephburchanowski4636]

My brother was using it for a meme squad reload dual. He ran the stalwart, and had my recoilless's ammo as his backpack. I ran the supply pack backpack. I didn't have the JAR unlocked but had the slugger; meanwhile he was the reverse. Basically we used our primaries on medium threats, his stalwart against light threats, and the recoilless squad reload against heavy threats; and 5 remaining stratagems between the two of us to try to round it out (we are still experimenting with it). We are going to need to get used to the ammo usage of the recoilless and maximizing the utility of the supply pack backpack. Each use of the supply pack on him will replenish 2 recoilless rockets, 2 stalwart mags (might as well switch it to the 1150 rpm), and 2 grenades. Considering how quick it is to go through recoilless rockets when doing the squad reload, he'll basically needs to waste ammo and grenades since they'll be replenished anyways.

[@quack9355]

Bots: Oh, look... He bought a JAR to a Diff 7-9 game. Ready for your CBT session?

[@Rushifell]

JAR can also 1 shot a devastator with a perfect headshot. I frequently get them in 1-2

[@AsisSamsuhang]

this gun is more of pairing I usually pair this gun with my autocannon and redeemer

[@MagikarpPower]

​@@quack9355JAR is best at 7-9 IMO. also I'll have to try the JAR/grenade launcher with bugs, I'm just afraid of hunters lol

[@Decron3]

From my testing it appeared that the JAR-5 doesn't actually deal any explosive damage. It's explosive category because the bullets are rocket propelled, not because it causes any AOE damage. The means it is simply designed as a single-shot slugger with slightly higher armor penetration. When compared to the Plas-1 it simply doesn't stack up, because the Plas-1 actually has the explosive TAG, meaning it causes those explosions on hit that avoid/wrap around target's armor that the JAR would just bounce off of. Great video and I am excited to see if the Devs will buff this weapon to make it more viable against the Bots!

[@DrPooplove]

This sounds right. It drives me nuts that this is considered explosive and doesn’t have the explosive trait lol

[@brothatscrazy3418]

Not really, the gun does better against the Bugs compared to the Scorcher. Can 1 tap the small bugs, 2-3 tap medium bugs and do a decent job at killing chargers and takes less shots to kill Bile/Nursing Spewers/Stalkers to kill as well compared to the Scorcher. I feel like its ok for weapons/stratagems to be strong against one faction but weaker against another.

[@IamTheCaptainNow]

I'm pretty sure the developers made a statement that explosive damage means plus 100% damage on weak spots​@@DrPooplove

[@Decron3]

@@IamTheCaptainNow That's for weapons with the explosive tag yes! JAR-5 does not have the tag, it's rocket propelled lead unfortunately.

[@empty5013]

it had the tag on day one which is mysterious, it still feels the same so might have been an oversight

[@BalgaBear]

This didn't age well

[@quack9355]

Here's how you use JAR-5 Properly, lads 1. You don't 2. Get yourself the Slugger instead

[@thewatcher611]

I've been on Slugger lately, I have used the JAR, but was wondering if anyone else liked the JAR more than the Slugger. Slugger is just so easy to keep running, and swings fast.

[@quack9355]

@@thewatcher611 I think it's your Copium speaking for wasting your medals on that junk (as the time I am writing this comment) And I don't know about your last statement. Seems like that should be the standard of them all, making the JAR a special kind of disappointment. I bet you are just fighting bugs to find it "Fun". Let's see if you can survive Diff 8-9 with that gun against the Bots when the Orders tell you to fight them.

[@Bopiz787]

@@quack9355 lmao I always bring the jar on diff 9 against bots. It kills devastators and berserkers in 1 headshot and all grunts in 1 bodyshot. Extra tip when aiming in first person ignore the sights and aim with the laser.

[@225Reaver]

@@Bopiz787 So does the Slugger, though. If you're taking a moment to line up the shots for headshots, the extra fire rate really doesn't help.

[@Wofulrumble4893]

​@225Reaver not really, devastators take 2 shots with slugger cause technically JAR-5 does double damage to weakpoints. Punisher 1 shots to the head on devastators

[@risenlegend9443]

I dont wanna be that mf but he said clips one uses a Drum and the other uses a supersized Duracell battery XD

[@billping6712]

If you are not going for precision shots with the JAR its not worth equiping. I would compare it with the slugger rather than the scorcher. The JAR has more ammo, faster reload, faster firerate, and greater range than the slugger. The only thing the JAR does better than the scorcher is first shot accuracy: you can more reliably hid the head of a devastor at range... and it can one shot devastors to the head while the scorcher cannot.

[@CriticalPosthumanism]

Its so sad that the weapon balance in this Game is absolute garbage. There IS literally no reason to play something else than the standard Breaker, Sickle and maybe standard Liberator.

[@Insane_Soviet]

They buffed it and its a damn fine rifle now

[@25xxfrostxx]

I'd like it more if it either staggered on a hit or didn't feel like a machinegun when maneuvering it. It's just too unwieldy and cumbersome. It definitely needs more of a bolter feel with more punch.

[@krelekari]

You displaying the armor pen was displaying bad info, the plas explodes which kills the pilot of the walker that has heavy armor. The better armor distinction is the back of turrwt tower weakpoints and dominators armored sections. It can output 3000dmg per magazine and medium armor pen makes it a tool extra suited to weak point shots despite not having a higher multiplier, needing damage now vs high health enemies, and popping heads in stealth and disregarding armor bounce outside chargers hulks and walkers The weapon is the explosive type, but does not have they keyword explosive. So the plas gets bonus multiplier damage on things classified as a weak point. The Jar-5 doesn't have the key word but is good at targeting heads specifically since the health of heads are so manageably low but often tough to hit or armored but the Jar-5 does a fantastic job at 1-3 shotting just about any high health bug (except chargers) in the head, and every bot except hulks or tanks It isn't designed to be an all the time weapon so you rely on your team to kill as needed, but when you DO fire anything you fire at will feel the effect. One shotting any footpatrol bot in the torso to stop a flare or a rocket dominators head as theyre rounding a corner A+ gun for stealth DMR gameplay, if it had the explosive tag itd br S tier all around

[@brothatscrazy3418]

I usually run the P-19 Redeemer and Guard Dog Rover against the bugs to compensate for its lack of add clear. Even on Helldive its rare for the the small adds to overrun that setup. Combine that with the EATs and you can handle pretty much anything. I don't run the Jar-5 for bots just due to how wobbly the bots are in general while moving around making crit shots a bit more difficult to land on a slower firing weapon but it does do a great job at tearing the bots in half with crotch shots, seems to essentially 3 shot the Devastators and "Rippers"(conga line chainsaw assholes, don't remember their name of the top of my head lol). However I do think the Scorcher is still a better option for bots. And now with the Sickle being added there's another great option for bots. The Sickle seems to just obliterates bot heads, especially with its high RoF and next to no recoil.

[@Mithguar]

I really hope they buff Jar-5 handling/ergonomics. I think Damage/medium pen is enough. Mag could also be better but handling buff would be the real game changer here as it also makes it easier to compensate for the bullet travel time.

[@redknight6077]

This was THE most helpful description and instruction of use I have seen for the JAR-5. May Liberty for ever shine over you, Helldiver.

[@gotaburn7591]

It's too clunky, you need pinpoint accuracy most of the time, and you're not drowning in ammo for it, if I've got to bring an ark gun/mg/flamer to wipe trash there's not much point using it.

[@drag0nmancer]

This is a mobile heavy weapon, aim for heads and weakpoints. You can take out all medium armor bots (berzerkers, devastators, heavy devastators, rocket devastators) with a single headshot, and failing that, take them out in half a magazine or less in body shots due to it being medium armor pen. I recommend aiming in ADS when fighting bots, and hipfire when firing nids as nids have a much larger head target and you need to keep an eye on your periphery for things like hunters, pouncers and stalkers. You can kill most commanders/guards in about 3-5 headshots, kill warriors in 1 headshot, and kill spewers in 3 headshots and bile spewers in about 6 headshots or closer to 8 shots if shooting their body. This thing eats through medium enemies like no other weapon, without risk of killing you like the scorcher or the plasma punisher. you can also take out the bot striders in about 3 shots to the 'pelvis', and pop most bot infantry in 1 shot. that said, due to having the same ammo cap per mag (15) and mag capacity (6) as the scorcher, against bugs I recommend running a Rover drone to clear chaff so that way you can use the dominator on things like warriors, guard and commanders. The dominator's ammo is precious, and even being skilled with it and taking out 2-3+ heavy units per magazine, you are going to run through ammo very fast so you arent going to want to waste it on things like scavengers if you can help it. The dominator is a weapon that isnt that great in lower difficulties (like 4 and below) due to how few medium enemies are spawned, but in in higher difficulties (5 and above, especially tier 7 to 9) this weapon excels. You will notice a severe difference in dealing with adds when you have 1-2 people in a squad with this weapon vs everyone running scorchers and sickles. being able to tear apart many medium enemies so your squad can focus on light and elite units makes a hell of a difference. But I am going to tell you that this weapon requires trigger discipline and understanding the need to bounce from ADS to 3rd person to keep aware of the threats around you. While the Scorcher is more useful against most general enemies, it doesnt particularly excel against any enemy. While the dominator excels in dealing with medium threats, at the cost of not being ideal against heavy units, and a waste of precious ammo against light targets. Remember, the Dominator fires gyrojets, its a bolter that fires armor penetration rounds. its not a machine gun, its not a pocket rocket, its a gun with a focus on hitting and killing medium targets from ANY range. If you see a spore tower from across the map, you can hit it and destroy it with about a half to full magazine (depending on where you hit it), which few other weapons have that capability. It takes time to use this weapon well, but when you master it, you can trivialize most engagements for your team and the help of a rover or two keeps your ammo use in a manageable state. the only thing I want to see as an improvement to this gun is either 3 more rounds added to the magazine size or 1 more magazine cap and thats all this weapon needs.

[@schishne7546]

Have played it for a while. Its ok, but its not that good since the Slugger and the Scorcher can both kill walkers and devestators way quicker aswell as bugs

[@tobiasrex8052]

I REALLY wanted to Love this gun, especially since i devoted all my spare medals after unlocking the breaker shotgun to reach the Dominator, but i was very disappointed in its performance. it just feels so bad.. It has the terrible handling of a support weapon stratagem like the LMG without the punch or power but with all the negatives. Long reload, low damage, with the only pro i can see is it saying it has medium armor pen. I wanted this gun to be good but the scorcher is better than this and its technically a rifle with plasma exploding rounds, and with the new Plasma Punisher its even more irrelevant. Please i hope this gun gets a buff in some way, it looks great but theres no way I'd use this thing.

[@PhaceCzech]

The Jar says explosive but it doesnt say explosive in the stat info so I dont think its explosive at all...there is nothing that shows that it is...just a wording issue in weapon description

[@tragic_solitude7992]

This is my favorite gun to use. I can't stop using it.

[@DrPooplove]

It is fun to use for sure

[@brandondelcox8065]

Everyone complaining about this weapon can’t aim. That is all.

[@drscarab99]

i think that they should do a weapon overhaul in the game because a lot of the weapons dont make sense

[@ivanfranebijelic7009]

The Dominator doesn't have an explosion, or the explosive weapon trait, being in the "explosive weapon" category is dev gun nut semantics nonsense since the rounds are jet propelled rather than ballistic ammo. What does this really mean? 1) the Scorcher having an actual explosion allows it to deal significant damage vs enemies particularly weak to explosives such as the sacks of Spewers. Spewer sacks are not normally a weak spot for them and you're wasting ammo shooting it with anything non-explosive 2) the explosive weapon trait has nothing to do with actual explosions, it simply increases the weak point damage modifier from 1.1x to 2x 3) as an extension to the second point, the Scorcher's blasts check for weak point damage in the entire explosion area, which means as long as your explosion reaches the weak point, the Scorcher will do 2x damage to it. This is why their damage feels comparable despite the Scorcher having half the damage on paper. 4) Regarding armor penetration in the example you gave. The Scorcher shot doesn't penetrate the Strider top armor, just like anything else that doesn't have Heavy armor penetration, it's the explosion hitting the bot on the back that kills it. The Dominator has superior penetration to any light armor pen weapon, the Scorcher is simply an exception that bypasses the rule. 5) Armor mechanics: having the same penetration level as the armor you're shooting causes you to deal 60% of your base damage (white hitmarkers). This means that unlike all the Light Armor Penetrating weapons, in addition to punching through Medium armor, the Dominator will be doing full damage to Light Armor and there is A LOT of lightly armored weak spots TLDR, you're comparing what is essentially a fast firing DMR to a mini rocket launcher. They serve different purposes The Dominator is very destructive against Bots because it can oneshot Berserkers and Devastators with a well placed headshot, while the Scorcher can't and we all know the biggest threat over there is rockets. That being said, the Slugger is just better than both of them because it will consistently stagger most enemies and stop them from moving, attacking or shooting.

[@Jackstalkerfear]

Pretty sure this weapon could go up a bit in rating if it was explosion on impact, still not great though. The problem with helldivers 2 is the devs express desires to make strategem weapons the goto for handling heavier problems. That's fine but then you get rather expensive guns like these that state having a lot on the tin, yet don't preform quite as advertised. The liberator with medium pen is better and I think cheaper? The breaker is still better, the regular liberator is just better because of mag size RPM and control. The slugger is better ... Either they make the rounds of this thing explode on impact or tweak its stats so its easier to fire and has more spare ammo or something. But otherwise the Las-16 Sickle is worth your 1000 premium bucks way more and is way easier to get.

[@borismossounov7527]

Average good gun, but you need to remember to crouch if possible for better aiming. Recoil is the main downside of this gun. With it you have to have steel nerves, stone cold temper to keep aiming when things get messy. Honestly did not try it on chargers, now need to, thanks! Still feels like a lawnmower at some moments against medium sized bugs. Saved my fellow team members more than once with it. Being non-explosive explosive helps killing bugs that overwhelm your friends without risk of exploding a friend. Works against stalkers well too.

[@AdenNak]

Tje JAR handles like a drunken moose covered in molasses, and despite being in the "explosive" category, it does not seem to actually deal explosive anything.

[@duo1666]

The gun is just so god damned slow to turn and aim that its completely useless. Its a primary, im using it to take out general mobs and some mid tier mobs that spawn in by the dozen. If i cant just swing and aim and fire, its useless. Period.

[@vitaliyred622]

It needs a buff. I thought it would be great against Hive Guard, but it is not. The reload is long, and the magazine is small. If it one shotted Hive guards it would be great.

[@dalekmasterblaster585]

Give me a 10 round mag and reduce the weight. I want a bolter. Just wish I could aim and target weakspots a little better

[@ToxicAtom]

A small nitpick you may have heard before, but I just want to clarify: most of the guns in Helldivers 2 use magazines (shortened to "mags"), not clips. The difference is that mags have a spring in them that move the rounds into the gun, and are usually on the bottom or the side, while clips merely hold the rounds in place, and are often inserted from the top. The one Helldivers 2 gun I know for a fact uses clips is the Autocannon, which you can see in action when you self-reload.

[@CrazennCajunn]

I think the easiest improvement since it's a gyro jet style projectile would be having a delayed explosion. So it would penetrate and then detonate a few milliseconds later. That would make it feel more like a small accurate grenade launcher meant for damaging thicker armor

[@BrotherYarmoth]

Update: This gun got buffed. 300 from 200 and increased stagger. It's much more viable now.

[@AEspiral]

I use it against both bots and bugs, this weapon is not the best in anything, but can do pretty much any work done.

[@MrGrzegorzD]

Needs buff or rework. Now is useless as it is. At least for me and most guys I played with

[@appv12]

Its just not that great. Needs a buff. Sluggish. Low ammo. Not very good.

[@Katryoshka]

"same clip size and number of mags"

[@swesleyc7]

Goes to show most people's knowledge of firearms only exists from video games. Which plays into their misunderstanding of 2A.

[@StrifeA217]

so they dont use a clip, they are mags, they have the same mag capacity (number of rounds in a mag) and you carry the same number of mags on your person. The M1 Grand uses a clip and if im not mistaken the Auto cannon may also use clips. sorry it just irks me, I get it not everyone is an expert on the subject (and Im not claiming to be) but I think in todays day and age where the people in power are actively trying to remove our right, education is important and it may seam stupid but hey it starts small.

[@dassemultor6940]

The JAR has been buffed to do 300 damage. Aim lag still ass though.

[@DukeOnkled]

The armor penetration ratings make no goddamn sense, and they need to fix that.

[@Jimoshi1]

Dominator is basically a bolter possibly with kraken rounds.

[@RaptorJesus.]

so the only gun branded "explosive" and doesn't do any aoe. fantastic XD

[@indigenoussober407]

The handling is azz. Ruins any interest I could have for it.

[@Hatsikidee02]

Never bought any credits just play smart and you can get it.

[@Teknopuls3]

Even post nerf, the Breaker is still more useful than any other wep in the inventory.

[@Wofulrumble4893]

Only on lower difficulties, the higher you go, the more armor exists. Breaker relies on stratagem support for higher tier enemies. Otherwise, it falls off pretty hard.

[@Teknopuls3]

@@Wofulrumble4893 Interesting...I'm not at Helldiver level yet, but run Extreme or Suicide...it seems to work Ok for me there. What do you use?

[@chickensya]

It’s actually pretty good against bots if you are good at headshots

[@darthalmighty6639]

There is so much to love about this game, one major critique I have though is weapon balance and stats when it comes to our primary/secondary loadout. They need to really take some time to dedicate to the rework of some of these guns that will never be touched

[@TheDubDisciple]

I think against bugs this is a solid pick especially if you're running something like the Flamethrower. Bile Spewers are the bane of your existence when running Flamethrower and having something in the primary slot that can deal with multiple of them in a single mag would be a life-saver, I gotta run this more

[@rochlum]

The dominator needs a flipping scope with variable zooms, decreased sway/recoil, and either a clip size buff or a mag size buff. I still used this gun religiously depending on the mission but it doesn’t scream enough democracy when I squeeze my haptic controller and get that heavy vibration sensation when moving bugs down or sniping a rocket devastator out of a crowd of mg raiders 100m out of aggro range.

[@Anubis_MonRa]

And to be accurate if I am where the Lazer is or the sight the bullet should go to one or the other but it goes to like between the sight and lazer

[@shhh5743]

I was so surprised watching this video. Jar is probably the best gun for me. I shred damn near any and everything on bots and bugs. Seeing yu shoot the shield bot was WILD because I take them down wit the jar in like 3 shots

[@priesty.]

It must have been buffed recently or something cuz my jar never bounces shield bots

[@KageRyuu6]

The JAR does not deal Explosive damage, if it did it would be able to remove the Charger's rear faster than the Scorcher, which is classed as Flesh which takes reduced damage from all sources that aren't Explosive.

[@takkun34]

was hoping for a small auto cannon got a heavy potato gun

[@aryhon6222]

I feel like people who opt for other weapons over the scorcher because the scorcher kills u close range need to re orient their philosophy a bit. Literally just dont use the scorcher in point blank range and you have a banger of a gun

[@aryhon6222]

Plus it gives the redeemer more time in the sun too

[@hanznale536]

My favorite weapon so far, combined with machine gun and Lazer Guard Dog. Make it perfect to play versus Terminids

[@DrPooplove]

Really fun gun

[@awaldo2848]

Better then scorcher ?!??!? No, not even close

[@tablekun8690]

Its a bolter, unfortunitly its the tabletop normal bolter.

[@praimus1413]

JAR-5 just needs to double the damage and it will be fine

[@Typhoon.703_]

Id also give it the some AOE, like half of the Scorcher's

[@Mithguar]

@@Typhoon.703_ hell no. AOE would make it a worse weapon. What it really needs is buff to handling so it's easier to get it on target to pop the heads. Damage is more then enough for that. It should move more to precision/skill weapon then braindead big numbers weapon.

[@Typhoon.703_]

@@Mithguar You have changed my mind, but I still want my dear CR-9 Suppressor back :c

[@Vanico69]

Weapon stats feel made up and don't relate to the actual gun real stats

[@davidthompson7892]

Game devs mentioned that gun stats are not supposed to be a complete representation. Some guns have hidden “ abilities “ or properties like a damage multiplier on certain critical spots

[@ilikepotatoes540]

i hope they buff this weapon

[@Anubis_MonRa]

So just to inform everyone with bots specifically devistators you can one hit headshot them and drop them......I agree that "medium" armor pen should actually pen and find it silly when I see my shots bounce

[@maguslascivious4980]

I've been using the JAR on level 4 and 7 bug missions. it feels weak to me but it does the job here and there.

[@kodyking3090]

Damn this gun is trash

[@Jman-lh3ll]

This gun isnt worth the farm or $10 in my opinion. Your better off going for the cutting edge warbond which gives you the sickle, stun grenades, arc resistant armor, & the arc punisher which can kill chargers. Maybe just save it for a future warbond which a few weapons have already been leaked.

[@ChukN0rris]

>Medium Armor Pen >Doesn't Pen Heavy Armor Consider me shocked

[@DrPooplove]

Clearly as stated I am comparing to the scorcher

[@ChukN0rris]

Which doesn't pen anything. I get your meaning, I'm just poking fun at you for putting it so strangely.

[@M1ndblast]

this is basically a rapid fire slugger that deals less base damage but has more armor pen. But it lacks the capacity to stagger. It somehow feels worse despite that the slugger has less armor pen.

[@taneli5026]

It feels worse because it handles like the autocannon.

[@Camsauce87]

The slugger is awesome purely due to the stagger and the ability to kill so effectively at range. Once you get used to being able to protect yourself up close with the stagger, it feels awful using other guns that aren't compensating for it with spray and pray like the breaker does.

[@bronco5334]

Medium armor pen is a pretty big deal against mid-weight termanids (which are the most numerous types, not counting the fairly harmless scavengers). You just have to have enough skill to hit them in the head (which isn't really that hard)

[@thorveim1174]

@@bronco5334 yep. Every encounter with bile spewers makes me regret that I carry a light armor pen weapon, who just bounce off the head harmlessly

[@rektgaming8392]

how to use? easy. Don't.

[@Paddy.121]

The Jar-5-Dominator gof buffed, it deals 275 damage now

[@xpsychotimesx9996]

Hi! hey, its me Psycho. im kinda new here, so please excuse me, but Dr, poop what??????????????????? bru. are you really out here OUTING yourself?????

[@gothicpando]

naw it poopy

[@sodmadhaven]

The way to explain its Explosive is like a p, h, e, so it needs to penetrate before it explodes

[@DjDoggDad]

Hey helldiver! Learn your munition terms to ensure proper understanding for MANAGED DEMOCRACY! Per the Ministry of Truth: The difference between clips and magazines is: A clip is a piece of metal that holds a few rounds together. A magazine feeds cartridges into the gun; it has a spring and a follower. Not all guns use clips, typically they are only used to make loading a magazine easier. All guns, with the exception of revolvers and single-shot firearms, have magazines.

[@Malidictus]

The Dominator is not explosive. It's a Medium Armour DMR. I have not the slightest idea why it's under Explosive. Maybe Arrowhead just... forgot to add the "explosive" part? The Dominator does not deal explosive damage, it does not have any sort of AoE. It's literally just a gyrojet slugthrower.

[@k_balu-8104]

Honestly weapons which marked as explosive should not bounce off at all, but explode on the surface if fail to penetrate, both the AR-23E and JAR-5 should be like this, and my God the AR-23E needs some improvement, it would be the weapon which would benefit from the burst fire capability, JAR-5 needs some buffed handling, nothing serious just enough to make the gun feel okay

[@keetonmitchell4669]

See, I don’t think this weapon is actually explosive and is being miss-categorized by the devs. I think it’s just a rocket propelled kinetic round. Any perceived increased damage to squishy bits can potentially be accounted for in its very high base damage (assuming the damage modifier is 10% base damage when using kinetic weapons on squishy bits, it’s still doing 20 damage per shot compared to the 7-12 of most other weapons which ranges to roughly a 2-3 times shorter time to kill. I honestly find aiming for the head to be far more effective on spitters than their bile sack when using the dominator). The lack of any aoe damage should be the obvious indicator. If they shifted this to the assault rifle section, then as it stands in its current form it’s an alright weapon, but could still be boosted (maybe decreased recoil just to make it more manageable?). If they want to continue calling it an explosive weapon they need to add a small explosion post impact. Doesn’t need to be huge (we already have a grenade launcher), just present.

[@Grom76300]

2024-04-01 : to this date, amongst loadout weapons (no stratagems), imo only the shotguns don't suck in higher difficulty. The rest are somewhat usable (like the Jar, even though the mag capacity is trash), while some are just poorly thought (counter sniper is the best example, or the plasma punisher).

[@GeoFry3]

I think weapons and armor are where arrowhead has completely dropped the ball. I don't think they thought their damage and armor models all the way through. Burst fire is one trigger pull = 3 rounds. Not hold down the trigger to get 3. You just end up tapping the button quickly and ignoring burst fire. Armor penetration makes no sense. There are two types of armor. There is armor that is resistant and armor that is bulletproof. Resistant armor eventually breaks down under damage. Think body armor vs a rifle round. Shoot it enough and will eventually go through. Bullet proof is armor too thick to ever be defeated by a particular type of round. Think 3 inch of steel vs. a handgun or carbine round. You will never do more than scratch the paint. The heavy weapons also behave oddly. They need to pick rolls for each and finish their individual effects.

[@ManualReplica]

incredible how youtubers even know how to breathe air 1) jar-5 is ap 3, which is "medium armor pen", same as lib pen and revolver, plas-1 has ap 2 2) jar-5 doesnt do any explosive damage whatsoever, the plas-1 does, which is why it "pens" scout striders 3) scout strider and heavy devastator shields are av 4, you need ap 4 weapons to pen those like the amr and autocannon 4) devastator bodies are av 3, so jar-5 is fine for devastators, tank and turret heat vent weakspot is also av 3 5) jar-5 has a 4 round burst, not 3 6) your weapons use magazines, not clips

[@tornadotodd2232]

The JAR is probably my favorite weapon in the game, up until they added the arc shotgun and the Sickle it was my go-to weapon. Use it like the slugger and you’ll find its niche, a hard hitting precision weapon with incredible damage potential, capable of one-shotting Warriors, and Devastator, and taking the head off a brood commander in 2 shots.

[@Venalii1]

I think a lot of the weapons in this game are overtuned. If you ask me, they should allow guns to lean heavier into niches so they can feel powerful when being used for their intended purpose, but weak when not. The auto cannon is a good example of this, it’s amazing against medium armored enemies, but struggles against heavy. Meanwhile some guns just feel like they have no role, like the spear. For all it’s flash and power, it feels incredibly frustrating and limiting to use. And this problem is doubly so for the primaries, anything that says “medium armor penetrating” is basically code for “we gave this gun one decent trait then nerfed everything else about it into the ground”

[@Flustershy]

As far as I understood, Jar-5 is not actually a explosive weapon, it basically a rocket propelled slug launcher, or micro SABOT shell shooting gun, however you want to call it. Meanwhile the scorcher is actually a true explosive which is weird.

[@MagikarpPower]

JAR is far better than scorcher in my opinion. the extra damage helps a lot for killing bots. very rarely do basic bots survive a JAR shot while this a huge problem with the scorcher. additionally devastators get one hit by a JAR headshot. the only noticeable advantage the scorcher has is against striders, who don't spawn as much as devastators on 8-9 in my experience. scorcher let me down a bit. JAR feels way better.

[@TheFuzzywhumpus]

It's a precision rifle with low velocity but also low drop off it fire closer to an energy weapon than say the crossbow or an assault rifle. As the shell picks up speed the damage increases. Longer ranger = more damage but with that kind of movement it can be hard to hit targets crossing cause the lead at 20 m is same as the lead at 35 meters but less than at 28 meters. Solve the train leaving a station ,problem and account for acceleration each time you pull the trigger. Different barrier of entry into high skill play. Since other weapons all lose damage once they leave the barrel

[@Xenotork]

the JAR's explosive damage radius is super tiny and only triggers on a successful hit on the target. The Scorcher's bullets always explode in a larger radius that can go through plates due to that radius. the Explosive damage of the scorcher is at least 2-3 times more than the JAR's and so the scorcher is the better overall pick.

[@RMDragon3]

I believe people have found that there are internal values that are not shown when comparing the guns. For example, I think there's the damage from the explosion, which is applied on top of the damage shown in the stats (for weapons that have it). That would explain why weapons perform different from what their stats would suggest. I assume they have chosen this UI for stats to make it more uniform and simpler for new players, but they really need to make some improvements because it's useless, or even misleading, for some comparisons right now.