Stalwart vs Machine Gun in helldivers 2

Stalwart vs Machine Gun in helldivers 2
Creator Code: ohdough
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[@SpynalToad]

It's a classic matchup of Speed vs Power. The Stalwart is a borderline primary with how it functions, and lets you stay mobile. The MG slows you down but lets you mow down a wider range of enemies.

[@jamesbernadette6216]

Stalwart WAS primary in the original Helldivers. Used it exclusively. A bit sad that it doesn't expel ananas rings anymore upon reloading tho. In HD2, Stalwart is pretty much a wave clearing tool, whereas MG is for taking down light armour; Devastators, Striders, Hiveguards stuff like that.

[@sethharpenger607]

Let's me run a shotty

[@ZuilzonDTD]

@@sethharpenger607 Really good support weapon to for plasma and slugger since you don't want to waste that more premium primary ammo on chaff.

[@VeneficusCubes]

Yeah, stalward is literally just a liberator with bigger mags. MG is proper support weapon. Personally i prefer MG because even if it has less ammo, it also deals close to double dmg per bullet so you actually need less ammo to kill. Plus I can use MG on low fire rate. Stalwarts needs 1100 rpm to be useful

[@Soul_Biscuit]

My rule of thumb was Stalwart for bugs…MG for bots.

[@jflock1352]

I think mag dumping a wall of enemies with the MG is one of my favourite things in the entire game, i sooo wish there was a way to upgrade their pen to make them viable longer

[@SuperCatacata]

Would be cool if they ever added weapon attachments/upgrades since we already have an armory. Let you increase the penetration of both at the cost of lower firing speed or something.

[@thesaucyprophesy2939]

They’re plenty viable. I run almost nothing but the mg43 on 7-9 difficulty as a level fifty. I just pair it with impact nades, 500 eagle, railcannon and a supply pack. There are a lot of ways to kill chargers most people aren’t aware of that don’t require a railgun, and the MG clears hordes like nothing else

[@drooskie9525]

@@thesaucyprophesy2939 there's only a few ways to kill chargers. railgun being the only consistent, efficient, clean way.

[@GameFuMaster]

​@@drooskie9525i think charger needs their front armor nerfed to medium so we can have more variety of weapons to deal with them from the front. Also need to greatly boost damage into their back so other weapons don't need to spend half of their total magazines and 2 minutes just to kill a single one

[@JDEdits20]

I feel like a badass commando mowing down hordes of bugs with the Stalwart!

[@nobodyspecial9097]

2:45 50% of playing Helldivers 2:55 The other 50% of playing Helldivers

[@Bishop1664]

Loving the MG lately, got 100+ hours in the game and finding that it slaps. I also find myself lowering the RPM on it because I feel like it wastes a few too many rounds on smaller enemies if you have it on max rate

[@Icytits]

But the cool factor of maxing that bitch far outweighs any ammo consumption.

[@venerablebrothergoriate5844]

Exactly what I do. I lower the rpm for the better recoil control, and it usually doesn’t take more than a handful of rounds to kill most enemies, especially when you’re not having to wrestle the recoil of that thing belching out shots at 900rpm

[@thesovietduck2121]

I max the rpm on the stalwart to make it like an mg42, we are not the same

[@Bishop1664]

@@thesovietduck2121 I’m talkin about the Machine gun, not the stalwart ;) max rpm on the stalwart for sure

[@Mithguar]

Since recent rebalance of enemies (less heavy armor but more chaff) Stalwart is great even on higher difficulties. It is great to have at least 1 in the team against bugs. Not so much against bots. It is actually really good for the game that certain weapons exceed against different enemies and will encourage you to bring different loadouts against different enemies.

[@toastb_oi5141]

It’s not inconsistent. Chargers legs get soft after they finish their charging animation.

[@Razumen]

That's a bug and unfortunately the devs have said they're aware of it and will be patching it.

[@toastb_oi5141]

@@Razumen I am now eternally sad but still there are multiple ways to kill chargers.

[@Razumen]

@@toastb_oi5141I'm a little sad they made the head weaker, instead of making the back weakpoint the primary target. It means there's no need to juke it or distract it so other's can hit the back-oversimplifies gameplay.

[@leeham6230]

​​@@RazumenI agree. I use one EAT on them at a distance, and it's just too easy.

[@lizrengaming5133]

Stalwart HANDS DOWN is just good, I've used it so many times and it shows when you need to be on the move.

[@craigfunk3453]

Machine gun has a bit more armor penetration and impact. Hiveguards are medium armor on their front and the MG punches through it while the stalwart bounces off. Charger legs arent fully heavy armor so the MG can crack and tear off some armor their for a weakspot on their front

[@Razumen]

Love the MG, helps to lay pressure off of other teammates who may not have the same horde clearing capabilities, and let's them focus their guns on the bigger guys.

[@FritiFirecaster]

I actually prefer the Machine Gun over the Stalwart at the moment for the extra punch - usually pairing it up with the EAT disposable rockets when needed. Pair it up with the armor that reduces recoil and kneel and it is decent. Key also is to not fire continuously unless at close range - use it in bursts. This both alleviates the recoil/aim challenge as well as ammo conservation. Reloading is a downside, however if operating with a team you can communicate and mitigate this or just swap to your primary weapon (usually a shotty, but I am experimenting with the SMG and ballistic shield atm for dealing with robots) - positioning and communication are key.

[@oldkid820]

Wow that is literally what I’m doing lol. I just use Rover instead of that ballistic shield though. Have you made any changes?

[@tomaskazantsev4542]

Stalwart 100% should be the primary as it was in 1st game! #stalwartforaprimary

[@gregnog8119]

I would love it but it's honestly too good a fit as a support weapon just because it would invalidate other primaries and it's not even close the stalwarts kinda crazy good at horde clearing which is what you would not expect the rest of the primaries to content with, it would be like if you took a breaker and made it a 150 round lmg with changeable fire rates It's so tempting but I have to go support weapon here

[@DrunkenDweorg]

@@gregnog8119 I use the Stalwet and i never use my main. it is 100% a primary.

[@luyiwang5030]

Stalwart is better against bugs since you need to be constantly on the run. The only armored lesser mob being hive guards which are not that hard to deal with. You can mow down stalkers extremely quick compared to standard MG due to its very high DPS. MG43 is better against bots since they don’t pressure you as hard, so stationary reload is not that big of a deal. You can also dispatch most of the devastator variants without the need to aim for weak spot. Overall I think its ammo economy needs some improvement. Flamethrower get all its ammo back from one supply refill where Mg only get 1 magazine. That’s a huge downer

[@znail4675]

Supply pack makes using the MG a lot easier.

[@Tracker947]

It's more difficult to reload against the bugs, but not by enough to make it an inferior choice to the Stalwart. They are sidegrades that each demand a different arsenal and playstyle to compliment their strengths and weaknesses. If you're unable to reload the MG against bugs, it's most likely a skill issue. Granted, the rng in this game will find ways to fuck you that are completely out of your hands no matter what you run.

[@kingslushie1018]

If you could carry two supper weapons that didn’t require a backpack, there would be so many more fun builds

[@Sorain1]

A 'Armory Pack' that lets you carry two Support weapons and a couple packs of ammo would be pretty sweet, though it'd need to come with a support weapon to be worth it, Stratagem slots are a big deal.

[@znail4675]

How about if you got no backpack item then you could carry an addition support weapon?

[@dorkasaurus_rex]

Just use EAT + whatever Else you wanna run

[@radd7105]

When chargers hit something during a charge or if you dodge it their armor gets a de uff. Also the trapped charger in the video is a unique rare kind which is stronger, not that it mattered

[@andrzejwysocki609]

im really excited about the new hmg thats coming out soon, i thought 250 rounds of ammo in that size of mag would be silly...then i saw an actual sized box of 5.56mm that held 250 and....naw its pretty close in size

[@deadarashi6462]

Personal opinion would be to have the Machine Gun have medium armour piercing to make it more effective against armoured targets and then give it a 3rd mag. The Stalwart I would lower the RMP and drop the magazine to 200 rounds then just make it an actual primary weapon instead of a support weapon. There's just significantly better support weapons then both of them atm

[@thesaucyprophesy2939]

The machine gun does pen medium armor. Kills hive guards, devastators, etc. all day long

[@deadarashi6462]

@@thesaucyprophesy2939 guess im an idiot XD

[@GameFuMaster]

we definitely need a primary LMG

[@danielearl3591]

@@thesaucyprophesy2939 Although it is medium armour, there are some "medium" armors that it can't pen, most importantly the hulk's faceplate. The anti-material rifle and the liberator penetratory (iirc) can pen it, but the MG-43 can not

[@jadeviper1290]

@@danielearl3591Thats because armor isn't just light, medium, and heavy. It's a scale from 1-9 and something like 1-3 are light, 4-6 are medium, and 7-9 are heavy. If your pen is higher than armor rating you do full damage, if you match it you do half damage, if you don't match it you ricochet.

[@lennhsu]

You missed a big difference between Stalwart and Machine gun: Machine gun will penetrate Hive Guard and Bile Spewer while Stalwart cannot

[@OhDough]

I mentioned the hive guard just not by name, I should of said both these guns fall off past like lvl 3-4 difficulty.

[@teecee1827]

​@@OhDoughno they don't... The point of running it is to complement your team's lack of CC capabilities. For example when you run into a team of metaslaves all running the railgun.

[@radd7105]

​@@OhDoughyeah bro, the machine gun is useless at *checks notes* difficulty 5 😂😂😂😂 Not every support weapon is meant to kill heavies, you got 3 other stratagems

[@brothatscrazy3418]

@@teecee1827 Bud I'm gonna let you know that running the Railgun/Breaker/Shield backpack on Helldive difficulty it just means you don't want a horrible time. If you have a 4 stack, not everyone needs to run that setup. But if you're running with less people its a good idea to run that setup. The amount of heavy mobs that show up at objectives, bug breach/drop ship and evac is fucking insane. For example. The last game I played tonight was a duo of just a friend and I and we ran into 8 BIle Titans and roughly 16 chargers during a 3 minute evac. And it doesn't help that more heavy mobs show up, they also have more health at higher difficulties. I love the higher difficulties because of the amount of heavies that show up but would definitely like more competitive options to deal with them.

[@boblee8069]

I was using eat and machine gun and it works well on diff 7 justvdropping eats whenever they are up and carrying the mg.sometimes the bugs spawn a spewer hell map where they spawn 10 or so at a time in those cases the mg is pribably the best weapon cause it can clear trash and focus the spewers.

[@madmarduk1936]

This game has a serious armor penetration problem. Railgun was the only thing that could handle it and still be versatile. Instead of buffing other options to be acceptable they nerfed railgun lol. Not a huge nerf I guess but still the wrong direction.

[@Icytits]

I mean, that's not really what the game is aiming to be. It's a squad shooter. You don't need to be geared for one specific job, but if your metateam "Jack of all trades master of everything" tries tipping their toes a little into loadout/role diversity you are gonna have a way easier AND more fun time.

[@raypang8400]

Stalwart is a LMG in Helldivers 1 and the machine gun, which used to have a weapon code, is a Heavy machine gun. Of course the machine gun is gonna hit harder than Stalwart. The only reason Stalwart is compared directly to the machine gun is because the devs make it a support weapon.

[@Icytits]

Y... Yea...? That's why we are comparing them. That's like saying "The only reason the shield pack and jet pack are compared is because they both take a backpack slot".

[@raypang8400]

@@Icytits next time, tell the devs to put liberator as support weapon and try compare it with the machine gun see which one is better

[@ragnoxis05]

​@Icytits Stalwart is 5.56. Machine gun is 7.62

[@blitzkrieg8776]

The Stalwart should've been a primary option.

[@Horde334]

it was a primary back in helldivers 1 and i don't know who looked at it and said "this should be a support weapon" but imo its a waste of support weapon slot.

[@Bishop1664]

I recommend trying dominator as primary and stalwart as support. Use dom for anti medium enemies and stalwart for CC

[@Joemama-xw2wy]

@@Bishop1664I was gonna try this but I’m tempted to go for slugger instead

[@tortol4847]

I agree but considering how useless primary weapons are right now it would instantly become the meta. I dont know if they could make it a primary without making every other gun useless.

[@navyrayne]

Shoots a tank with a machine gun, wonders why that doesn't work.

[@melonman2064]

The normal machinegun is actually enough to pen the armor of the heatsink. Not the stalwart though.

[@Bogdan221192]

To be fair, the tank was bugged, and rotated turret while displaying heatsink (he was shooting armour)

[@StrikerV3]

@@melonman2064you’re the comment i was looking for. Thank democracy i found you!

[@alexarose2996]

U think you said something so smart for the 1st time in ur life aren't you, it's not

[@nudgarrobot3043]

This video was an absolute eye opener for me on MG/Stalwart's armour pen capabilities. You can get consistent with the angle on the legs for the chargers and it's honestly batshit insane. If you're running supply pack, Stalwart is the best choice IMO because of that 2 mags for 1 supply pickup interaction. Was testing this last night in 7 and shredded 4 chargers in one extraction wave using Stalwart. Absolutely gonna be one of my go-tos for everything short of Titans now.

[@znail4675]

I see it the other way, the Stalwart is good for when you don't carry a supply pack as it got enough ammo, but the MG kind of needs a supply pack to feed it.

[@nudgarrobot3043]

@@znail4675 I can see it being mandatory for MG, but I definitely think it shines more with Stalwart, since Stalwart + supply pack is 11 mags of Stalwart fire versus MG+SP being 6 mags of MG

[@rthj6446]

Stahlwart requires a matched primary, stun grenades, 30 recoil reduction. With that, it rocks on helldive.

[@Master40mins]

Subbed, You should do more of these showcase videos for the other weapons too

[@OhDough]

working on auto cannon/flamethrower rn

[@MeepMeep88]

Stalwart doesn't have hitmarkers which pisses me off.

[@Soleprofit559]

I been running the heavy machine gun lately . Love how it just mows down devastators

[@GameFuMaster]

0:58 it's a bug with the charger's armor. It sometimes mismatches the armor hitboxes. Probably related to how they run wonky sometimes. But they do need to nerf the armor of the charger so you're not so reliant on support/firesupport

[@BasedCannon]

love the machine gun pair with an ammo pack and the fully loaded booster and i hardly use my actual primary weapon the entire time unless i need to reload my MG and im swarmed then i use my primary

[@PompeiiFranklin]

“Who gave these kids mortars”, jumps in mortar blast area 😏

[@The_Boondoggler]

It mostly depends on who your fighting. Use the stalwart against Terminids, because the larger capacity helps you deal with the large hoards of enemies that are so commmon on terminid missions. Use the machine gun against automatons because not having armor penetration is a death sentence in bot missions

[@TheMMObro]

How do u get the enemies to freeze like this? I made a video testing jar 5 and luckily found a caged charger (lol for real)

[@zapmando]

Cool, just tried, Stalwart ammo pack EAT and orbital rail cannon strike, Liberator penatrator and p19, feeling tough on level 8 difficulty throwing down EATs for anyone who needs them every minute, probably killed 20 chargers with EAT pods today.

[@BenLJudy]

As someone who has mained both, they can both pen charger legs after a charge. You have to hit them in the turning animation after the charge with both. Otherwise the legs are too armored for either.

Light armour? Flamethrower. Medium armour? Flamethrower. Heavy armour? Flamethrower. Reload on the move? Flamethrower. Ammo count from loot cans? Flamethrower.

[@LordDarthHarry]

The way I see it both are for when you want to specialize with dealing with the small to medium enemies and either on a difficulty with little to no heavies or you have a teammate that's equipped to handle those. Stalwart works great at mowing down bugs, especially if you pair it with a medium pen primary like the Slugger, Dominator or even Liberator AP for when you need to deal with a Hive Guard or pop the head off a Bilespewer. The large ammo capacity and ability to reload on the move really helps in dealing with hordes of bugs. The Machine gun works well against the bots thanks to it's higher armor pen. You can kill Devastators even without a clear shot at the head and it will damage the weakspot on a Tank or Turret in a pinch. I like to pair it with an SMG + Ballistic shield combo. The shield + SMG are handy in a pinch in close quarters and when you are realoading the MG the shield protects your back from incomign fire. Kind of like those heavy crossbowmen in Medieval 2 Total war. Also take an armor that further reduces recoil when crouched.

[@KalashVodka175]

Stalwart can pop off heads of bile spewers/nurser quite reliably so long as you just pop a few seconds worth of bullets accurate Only bugs it sucks against is charger and bile titan

[@Bhethar]

Got bored and decided to try the stalwart out. I was actually amazed at how fun it was. So, think of it as more powerful second primary. You can use a situational primary like a sniper rifle and than the stalwart for direct confrontation.

[@poo55555]

I use MG for bugs and bots. Stalwart for bugs sometimes. They are support guns so you use the support pack! You just hang out with your buddies and thin the chaff so they can deal with big boys or act as bait to lead an enemy away so friendlies can hit the weakpoint. I also bring the Eruptor, 380mm, 120mm, STUN NADES and grenade pistol. Running in the new Heavy Bomb squad armor you last a long time and can often go games without a death because you can just stim forever. A game normally goes like this: Quickplay a Helldive. Stick with blueberries. Kill Berserkers/Devastators and any other chaff with MG. Use Eruptor to open crates, kill fabs or go for long shot kills/shoot dropship to thin the drop. Drop 380mm on major points before you go in or on bot drops. Drop 120mm on side objectives to destroy them. Drop both as a panic to clear an area. Stim and give ammo yo friendlies when they run out unless they just die before you. Stun nade Hulks for others to kill or stun and get behind them to shred their backs. I play real aggressive with this build for some reason. I love getting in close to distract the bots for others to take them out. It's real fun. MG can take out Turret Towers and Tank Turrets but it just takes forever. MG cannot take out Mortars. I been playing with AC lately and just running around solo but man, running the MG fast and loose with the homies is so fun!

[@jeffzheng6372]

Love this, more please!

[@steeljawX]

It's very situational and I do base it on the mission and contents. Is it a 12 or 15 minute mission where stopping is failure? Gonna go stalwart if I'm going to use any MG. Is it a mission of "take out the nests/factories" where more heavily armored things will be? Probably going for the standard MG.

[@Polaris5664]

Stalwart+Punisher plasma is a decent combo. The stalwart mows down small enemies at close range, and the punisher plasma can kill the medium armoured enemies with splash damage and can stagger problem enemies like devastators and even chargers (you can shoot under them and hit their behinds from the front.) This build can struggle against big enemies like hulks, so bring AT strategems like the railcannon strike or make sure your team has AT abilities.

[@ZuilzonDTD]

I really liked the stock machine gun and that pen made it useful for a long time. The laser canon's recent buff has made it very much outclass the machine gun for fulfilling a very similar role though now the laser canon's pen is even better AND you can 'reload' for free by letting it cool on your back. I kinda like the laser canon being more of a short, sustained burst I would like to see the machine gun's pen be upgraded a bit further. At the very least it shouldn't deflect on tank vent points and I think if you're man enough to take a knee and shoot a hulk in the eye, you deserve a chance to win that.

[@martinithechobit]

Ty sir. how to change the rate of fire? hold R or F? or a completely different key by default?.

[@OhDough]

no probelmo. hold R for and use right click to change it, those are the default settings afaik.

[@jamesbernadette6216]

"Use what you like, I don't care... unless it's that damned mortar turret" 😁 I call 'em Friendly Fire Turrets. I do miss my go-to support weapon from the first game tho: Rumbler. Portable 3-shot burst mortar to take down heavier opponents was so good :< AND it had the potential to oops kill your teammates too!

[@cookiedrandan]

machine gun is also ideal against spewers. the stalwart can headshot the orange ones but not the green ones. Whereas the MG can headshot both, which is a significant difference when there's a lot incoming

[@freakyskull516]

am i the only one who saw the stalwart, read its description and said "oh this is an anti personnel sweeper"? personally i main the machine gun as it works on smalls and mediums as well as doing good damage per a shot that makes it excellent for swarm clearing that and it gives me nostalgia tingles from my Day Of Defeat days

[@boblee8069]

The mg has medium pen so if your primary is lacking pen it can round out your kit. Where it really is super valuabale is against the armored spewers

[@damnit8879]

IM a BIG Stalwart fan in HD1 . Just pair it up with Rumbler and jetback . hopefully t hey bring the rumbler + eat. That is pretty much my go to weapon for all difficulty in HD1

[@cattysplat]

Best thing about any machine gun weapon: Unique insane screaming your Helldiver does when blasting non stop full auto. FOOOOOR SUUUUPEEEEER EAAAAAARTH!

[@cattysplat]

Machine gun has more aim lag when turning whilst standing, something that's a huge problem when needing to stay mobile. Stalwart has much less lag making it far more practical on the move, but not as little as the primary bullet guns. I've carried so many games with Stalwart as you pack so much firepower, ammo and efficiency with clearing all the small enemies, letting your team focus on armor. It's like a super powered primary weapon which is never a bad thing in a game mostly about not getting swarmed.

[@Yougosha1]

pretty sure when the smaller enemies half shot you it is because they hit you in the head, which always seems to do at least 40% of you health in damage. Also if a small enemy causes a hemorrhage you don't notice right away the damage can be significant.

[@Glad_Scientist]

6:10 the MG can headshot hulks but very inconsistently, not recommended. But in a pinch, it’s better to die trying

[@squeezyjibbs6643]

I wonder if it will have an easier time now that we have stun grenades?

[@Glad_Scientist]

@@squeezyjibbs6643 not a bad idea, ill give it a try

[@CaymenEditz]

i use the stalwart and eat combo. the eats for the big guys and the stalwart for the swarms

[@HeavyyyD]

Once you start getting up to the 3 highest difficulties the mg falls off as the team need heavy AT. Sure we have stratagems but it aint enough when you got like 7 bile titans and 10 chargers and a pack of a 100 hunters gunnin for ya

[@bonelessthincrust]

I hate the deployed bipod on the MG and HMG (and Sniper). It looks so dumb. I was turned off from using these weapons before I even unlocked them tbh.

[@originalcharacterplznostea2749]

They really need to make the MGs primaries, it just can't compete with the other options on higher difficulties.

[@Soul_Biscuit]

I’ve heard there are different variants of chargers. This could be why sometime the machine gun works or not.

[@OhDough]

there are but the only difference in how they die is charger behemoth's bleed out slower.

[@radfoxuk8113]

On the move reloads, bigger capacity mag, and an additional mag too, also higher ROF, Stalwart just better, with the armour passives that give 30% less recoil crouched/prone, almost no recoil adjustment needed with the Stal.

[@radfoxuk8113]

I grab 500kg or airstrike, shield pack, stalwart, disposable launcher, have a problem my scorcher or stal or revolver can't pen, call in the rock'n'drop, 2 launchers every 70 secs... Most missions that's my loadout.

[@B_Skizzle]

It might be better against the terminids, but it’s much worse against the automatons. The MG-43 can take down almost any unit in the automaton roster as long as you know where to shoot.

[@radfoxuk8113]

Same for the Stalwart? Stalwart can headshot/weakpoint all but hulks, tanks or turrets, which I use the slugger or plasma rifle on, and impact 'nades. The 250 RPM increase in ROF lesser recoil, and spread means it can kill them faster than GPMG can.@@B_Skizzle

[@B_Skizzle]

@@radfoxuk8113 Sure, but I find MG-43 more forgiving because you don’t always need to hit weakpoints. I also think you’re underestimating the value of a weapon that can deal with hulks, tanks, and turrets. The only thing it can’t destroy is a dropship. The Stalwart also has a huge disadvantage when it comes to striders. Only the MG-43 can take them out from the front, which is really important because you’re not always gonna be able to get behind them, especially in higher difficulties.

[@radfoxuk8113]

That's why I use the rock&drop AT launchers for the heavy enemies, plasma rifle can kill the pilot of the striders through the plate, and impacts/nades can too.@@B_Skizzle

[@zhituhu2822]

I wonder if the bullets bounced away will hurt others.

[@XcGhost-RidercX]

Honestly, if I could just have the MG as a primary instead of a support weapon, I’d much rather that instead of the weapons that we get I love that gun so much

[@ivantolstov6230]

Stalwart with EAT - IT combo is good vs bugs, better than flamer cuz of higher damage output, and you dying mostly from smol enemies in helldive.

[@tortol4847]

Ive been running the scorcher, stalwart and EAT. It covers all your bases. Scorcher for medium armor and mid range, stalwart for clearing small enemies, and EAT for heavies. Way more fun than running an autocannon or railgun. You really need at least one machine gunner when playing against bugs.

[@ph2000]

LMG is meant for crowd control. If you want some anti-armor power, just pick a railgun or autocannon. As a weapon against waves of light armor bugs, Stalwart > machine gun. Because on higher difficulties, mobility is about the difference of life and death.

[@cattysplat]

If anything lower difficulty floods you with mountains of small bugs that surround you.

[@bluehunter9910]

idk about other peoples experience with it, the stalwart is a very good CC machine against bugs even in higher levels it carries hard in any difficulty in bugs but still gets outclassed by grenade launcher but if you hate teamkilling because the grenade bounced off and some how magically lands where your team was at then its the best weapon pair it up with a breaker and a auto pistol you become a literal turret against all the fast moving bugs

[@singed420snowinit9]

That anti-aliasing is horrendous brother turn the setting on and switch the resolution to native lol.

[@lowfpsman1483]

I love machine gun, problem is sittin for long reload is a death sentence. Stalwart is ok if you have a buddy with armor pen to kill medium bugs....

[@cattysplat]

Yep another with anti material or autocannon can pop medium bugs heads in 1 hit, otherwise they are bullet sponges.

[@suntzuthesecond]

I like pairing the MG with the jetpack: Get somewhere high with clear fields of fire, make it rain lead, and hopefully give my team breathing room to tackle tougher targets like Chargers and Bile Titans. The fact that the MG can also take down medium-armoured targets like Brood Commanders and Bile Spewers (aim for their heads) also helps. This playstyle is partly necessitated by the fact the devs have increased the spawn rates of smaller enemies and decreased the larger ones. PS: Never jetpack into hard-to-reach places while carrying precious cargo such as super samples and the SSSD, in case you die there. Getting it back along with the rest of your equipment will be a pain.

[@Myder_Dragon]

Stalwart for bugs MG for bots

[@xana3961]

The real question isn't "MG or Stalwart?" Its "Why pick either when the Arc Thrower exists and does everything they can do (and do it better) while having infinite ammo, no recoil, no *heat* system, penetrates even heavy armor (six taps a charger head to death), and combos better with the personal energy shield so you don't suffer slowdown or knockback at all? This is as of current patch.

[@hivecasts]

The 30% recoil reduce armor helps SO MUCH with MG that it feels like way more than 30% (crouched tho). In again... if I run sickle, I take MG. If I run Scorcher, I take Stalwart. Simple as :D

[@hivecasts]

P.S. Shoot the leg from behind with about 10 shots (any MG) and you somehow break the front armor (like autocannon) so it's front side vurnable.

[@thebosstre]

the face at 1:19 XD

[@venerablebrothergoriate5844]

I use machine gun. It’s automatically the kind of thing I reach for in just about any video game I play. I sweep hordes off boards so my team doesn’t have to, and they can focus on the bigger guys without any hassle. Most players I queue up with always go for Autocannon, Recoilless, EAT or some other weapon that’s really great against the big guys specifically. I just bring my supply pack along to give them ammo and stims when they need it, and to feed my own machine gun. I just wish the bipod wasn’t left dangling even when I’m moving.

[@SainKail]

i just hope stalwart go to primary weapon section, i dont think she need to be in support stratagem section

[@Kozak006]

You classify these as "early game" weapons in the vid. You're missing the point of the design. They're great in higher diffs, they just fill a different role on the team.

[@B_Skizzle]

Exactly. Both of them (but especially the MG-43 due to its higher penetration) really shine in a supportive role. Your main priority should be providing overwatch for other players with dedicated anti-tank weapons.

[@raviolibackstab6165]

I will always pick the MG over stalwart. Stalwart is great but I need my special to take care of things that my primary struggles to, and the stalwart struggles with the same issues a primary does. Both of them are amazing of course, and a ton of fun. Could be argued that the stalwart is safer bc of running reloads, but, the stalwart struggles killing anything heavier than trash mobs. Whereas the MG does not care, it's there to kill. Which imo, makes the MG better for keeping an area safe.

[@cattysplat]

100 less bullets a reload and slower turn speed when running makes machine gun actually a liability killing small bugs all over the place and jumpy hunters/stalkers, if you get surrounded the slow turn on the move is a death sentence. Stalwart is a 250 bullet jacked primary and it's just awesome at clearing up the trash pestering everyone all the time.

[@raviolibackstab6165]

@@cattysplat I usually play against robots more than I do bugs, but even then I'll always choose machine gun. I'm looking for a special support weapon. Not another primary. If I'm killing just random stray bugs I'm not using the machine gun anyways. The stalwart could have 200 more rounds, I won't care as I love the stopping power in the machine gun. We're all allowed to prefer different things, I like the stalwart too I just prefer power over speed.

[@VisibleToeHead]

Kinda wish they kept the Stalwart as a primary like in HD1

[@JeffHikari]

What balanced it against other primaries in HD1? The Stalwart as it is currently would beat out pretty much every other option for primaries in HD2.

[@VisibleToeHead]

@JeffHikari The balance in HD1 was weapon spread and ammo capacity. Not sure how it could work in HD2, its just a weak support weapon

[@gbishel]

both will be excellent against the squids

[@yeetmaster3360]

What is that charger at 1:05 I have never seen that one before.

[@Chimpgaming-kv7mw]

It's a random special, stronger variant

[@Decron3]

Not random! It's unique to the "Eliminate Charger" Missions from my experience. It's basically a mini boss version@@Chimpgaming-kv7mw

[@hawk9mm]

@@Chimpgaming-kv7mw Isn't it the Hunt the Charger mission type rather than hunt Bile Titan?

[@lennic]

-30% perk recoil is mandatory on heavy machine gun 2bh

[@Pariah-pb1sk]

Stalwart SHOULD be a primary!!! It is on the first. Would make a whole lot of sense for it to be so. Its even on the armoury wall if you look. I use Stalwart when I've got a primary that can pierce armour. And vice versa

[@viviciuszn]

I think every time a charger is afk not moving, he is kinda invincible to everything

[@LordTomi2011]

Pro tip: It wouldn't be invincible to a ↓↓↑→

[@FGMagala]

Apparently charger armour softens in the legs right after it charges. There's been some tests that prove that you can break the armour from any angle with the autocannon after a charge, but otherwise will just bounce right off.

[@fate8718]

​@@LordTomi2011Thats insanity

[@rampagedalpaca4362]

Stalwart supremacy!

[@pictureanime]

Why does the Stalwart doesnt show the red cross when hitting targets?

[@jungamcgrunga4583]

hitting armor and not dealing full damage

[@messageinthebottle1673]

Starting to enjoy the stalwart because as i start level up and get access to equipment that specializes in killing big armor enemies. Then stalwart is the MG that is good for clearing hordes of enemies. Don't get me wrong the regular heavy MG is good early game and lets fight wide different enemies but as you level up, yoh have to fight against more armor enemies that makes both MG having issues to fight them off effectively which by the way by the time you level up, you start having more options to take out armor enemies more effectively. So MG will start being useful as horde clearying weapon.

[@cattysplat]

Just bring disposable EAT too and calldown when you see heavy. Can even use the calldown as a stick bomb too.

[@TheMMObro]

So if you're ricocheting bullets, they'll eventually go through? You said something like they ricochet until they don't

[@OhDough]

sometimes but normally you need something to weaken the armor. chargers get damaged by walking into things that break in the environment. I've had a fence make their arms weak enough to shoot at.

[@TheHuffur]

Its(likely a bug) with the Charger, if it runs at you and you dodge it, as it stops and turns around the leg armor does not seem to 100% cover the vulnerable hitbox or something so it hits the leg, does damage and with the legs being weak spots on the Charger they die really fast. I do not do it myself since it looks more like a bug/exploit than intended feature but if you look at videos of people doing it, it seems you want to aim on the upper centre of the leg as it is turning and a second or two when it is facing you before it charges again... but yeah as seen in this video as well when the Charger is just standing there(not after a missed charge) neither the Stalwart or MG has any hope of penetrating the leg armor, I suspect the glitch will get fixed eventually so idk how worth it is to learn to do this.

[@user-qb6yu5uu5n]

I quite surprised that no one talk about the new elite charger that show 1:05, I don't know how the rate spawn is, but at level 3? how?. I have not see that elite type seen the war was start. Maybe joel give your a litter present.

[@edgarc7613]

I've seen it a few times and thought I was tweaking because it looks more like the older chargers/tank bugs from Helldivers 1

[@anhnguyentuan8035]

have killed by it and it name is behemouth charger

[@TheHuffur]

Its the special Charger for the eliminate mission, would be a bit much to send divers to hunt a Titan on diff 3 so they get Charger Mc Beef.

[@user-qb6yu5uu5n]

Well I guess I only play level 7 or 9 ever time so I guess the spawn rate is low, and it seem behemoth charger have more armor in front, but did everyone test it how much shooter need to kill it?

[@thekakazi]

@@user-qb6yu5uu5n It only spawns on the kill charger t3 mission.

[@bokkuro]

stalwart could have been a primary.

[@ChaoticArrow155]

Good info

[@hoangvuification]

machine gun need a buff

[@sivel7493]

Stalwart is great, until you go against mixed bug hordes with a bunch of Hive Guards and Commanders, ohhh boi it suffers there, Commanders just tank the Stalwart. The whole Charger leg vulnerability thing is PROBABLY not something intended, probably some weird hitbox resync, you can kill Chargers with ANYTHIGN if you're lucky with finding the vulnerable legs, it's not related to explosion or anything I found, sometimes the vulnerability is there but gone after. Though, I do hope the devs will expand on that mechanic more, make it more consistent, would be great. RIght now I just take the Scorcher to deal with Chargers most of the times with Machine gun, it kinda fills in the kinks of the Machine gun/Stalwart, 6-15 shots to Charger's butt is enough to kill it, good for Spewers and finishing off Bile Titans too. I take MG to Helldive ALL THE TIME, even managed to finish like...70%-ish of a Helldive ICBM solo once with it. Though, I'll say, I do hope they buff them both somewhat in the future, the Laser Cannon got a pretty good handling buff, if the Machine Gun gets that same treatment I'd CREAM. Maybe more mags and a bit more reload speed, yum.

[@unendingdeluge2545]

I really hate when ppl say “they’re early game guns, it’s cool if they aren’t good in late game” what game are you ppl playing? There are a limited number of support weapons, all of which should have applications in every difficulty regardless of how quickly you obtain them. The machine gun being able to pen heavy armor with sustained fire seems reasonable to me since giving it more ammo or changing the reload would leave no reason for the stalwart to even exist. I say they give the stalwart even more ammo like 5 mags just to give it the bare minimum for clearing the insane amount of little bugs in the higher difficulties. 3 mags get dumped before we even reach the first objective

[@OhDough]

yeah, they gotta do some major rebalancing. nothing really makes much sense right now

[@viktorisaksson7573]

I find them both to be useless. Instead maybe one could be a direct upgrade of the other. Arcthrower beats both of them at their job while not needing any ammo. I'm not even sure how to balance this game and maybe balance is whatever. Maybe the guns should have perks to make them more viable at higher difficulties

[@dukeofprunes9195]

At kzbin.info/www/bejne/mIKsaXaIabmMbpo it looks like bullets ricochet off the torso armor, striking the leg armour from the rear. That cracked it, allowing him to hose the exposed leg?

[@YipeekayHarasho]

stalwart doesn't kill bile/nursing spewer fast enough compare to LMG. LMG instant win

[@Mel_Brosky]

Narnia😂

[@AphroLatinX]

The videos are needed sub

[@RavagHer]

its really sad there is not machine gun at all for the helldiver difficulty? what is everyone rocking? a freaking shotgun. the best primary guns are all shotguns. no one is using the stalwart or machine gun as a secondary for helldiver. it just doesnt have the damage And if ur gonna bring in a support weapon it should be able to kill the bile titan/charger/hulk/tank. otherwise whats the point? like i dont care if it takes the whole clip. it should do something

[@ThePhantomFeather]

what doesnt make any sense is htf are you just casually shooting a chargers leg and doing damage without stripping its armor first... whenever I try that in my games I just bounce and get nowhere...

[@Omegacalgar]

the armor disappears on certain animations on the charger for some reason, a bug most likely. The video i watched was this one showing it. Helldivers 2: Animation Vulnerability vs Chargers

[@kalvinraw2973]

what is a sodoku gamer?

[@squeezyjibbs6643]

The bot with an explosive jumppack.

[@FGMagala]

Nice video. Great to see more in depth testing in this great game. Sounds like the stalwart is good if you can't afford to stop moving while using it, but the LMG is far more versatile. It also looks more accurate in both crouching and prone, though only a little. Frankly, it's ability to punch through medium armour makes the LMG far better unless if your primary can already do that (basically just the explosives plus liberty AP). While the extra mobility and rounds seem to have its uses against the bugs, I think there's never a situation you'll want the stalwart over the LMG against the automatons. But unless if the swarms of the 3 weakest bugs are an issue for you, the LMG is still better most of the time.

[@OhDough]

ammo and accuracy is why you'd take stalwart > LMG. the armor pen is neat but not that efficient vs bots when 2 headshots will do the trick

[@FGMagala]

@@OhDoughaccuracy is only better on the stalwart while shooting on the move I think, and the ammo per mag is heavily offset by the increased damage of the LMG. Though you do get a third mag on the stalwart and get more ammo back from supplies. I also find the AP on the LMG is useful against bots as it's extremely hard to get exactly 2 head shots when you're trying to take down a group of a half dozen bezerkers or devastators. And considering how often you take on striders and the LMG's ability to take them down by shooting the joints, I think that AP is pretty invaluable if you're only picking from these two support weapons.

[@diegovandromme8837]

useless untill you have a good team...if your raildude takes out the legs of the charger its crazy op...teamplay people...i have spoken

[@OhDough]

I just solo'd on helldive with it. eat it is insanely good

[@Vriess123]

Yeah some of these are a lot more viable with a good team, but if you're just going into some random game trying to get your teammate to help you with the three chargers chasing you around can be quite the headache

[@diegovandromme8837]

@@OhDough no

[@mr_allba1453]

STOP CONFUSING CHARGERS WITH BAHEMETHS THERE NOT THE SAME

[@OhDough]

they die the same which makes them similar enough.

[@mr_allba1453]

@@OhDough that is true but there might be differences in there health and armour would would make for an inaccurate test. Infact I'm pretty sure they do.