The Helldivers 2 Stratagem Tier List

[@TheMacroShow]

Obviously I meant Supply Pack, but uh… I done goof’d 😭 But DEMOCRACY doesn’t care about typos 🫡

[@Erchut]

Democracy will prevail💪💪💪🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲

[@EdwinCaldwellBills]

I can beat level 9 can you

[@manboy4720]

for demcraycy!

[@DeviousToes]

No more communism

[@julienvalley28]

@@manboy4720 for democrussy!

[@Riley_Potato]

should be two tierlists, how good its at killing enemies and how good it is a killing your teammates

[@JeancarlosRPerez]

And how good is against bots vs How good it's against Terminids. Really makes a big difference to what you take towards each faction. Can't wait to fight the Illuminate 🎉

[@arttops2563]

@@JeancarlosRPerez SILENCE DISSIDENT! Their are no such heretics in this or any galaxy!

[@Misterdino6984]

​@@arttops2563 my oficial of democracy say other things,

[@2MeterLP]

Mortar is definitely top of S tier in team kills. Followed by the rover, which is mostly a good boy, but sometimes randomly decides to laser your head off.

[@zwenkwiel816]

@@2MeterLP lol yeah, I played dozens of hours without getting a single team or self kill with the rover but than all of the sudden one day it just decided to go on a murderspree or something XD

[@trollosgaming7724]

Expendable Anti Tank is actually insane vs the Terminids. With the somewhat recent patch that allows it to one shot chargers to a headshot, and you getting 2 every 70 seconds prevents Chargers from existing while allowing you to take a backpack. The fact that this strategem is unlocked on what I believe to be level 5(?) is insane, essentially being a early game response to anything armored. Versus the bots, it's a "decent" way to deal with Tanks and Hulks, but not much more than that. It should be noted that most explosives like grenades, EAT, Recoilless Rifle, Autocannon, etc... can break structures like spore shrooms, illegal broadcasts and more is the cherry on top.

[@h2o848]

- Landing a rocket on the vents of the hulks/tanks will break them instantly, leading to an eventual kill. This usually requires teamwork. - You can break spore spewers with almost any gun. Just shoot in their general direction for a bit.

[@outland9872]

Yeah, the EAT is my go to charger solution, head hitbox is pretty easy to hit after the patch, and even if you miss it, you probably hit one of it's legs, hit that same leg with another one (Conveniently, you get 2 per drop" and the charger's dead. Worst case, you kill 1 charger with a single drop. Best case, you kill 2.

[@loaduscoolclipz5505]

the anti tank is the goat strategem for bug missions, i love not having to worry about losing my support weapon every death. +you can pretty easily kill a charger with its pod impact if u combo it with a stun grenade

[@ppnico12]

Keep this between me and you alright, but the stratagem ball actually stick to the charger itself. So when your surprised with a charger and you don't have an AT on your back you got your trusty EAT and stick it right on the face of the charger. Make sure its the front so it lands right on him. Every EAT call down is actually 3 dead charger.

[@julienvalley28]

but against bots, you can also take out the dropship with eats too by aiming it at the engines

[@seanv42]

Your list is both low difficulty skewed and bug oriented. Bots require an entirely different stragatem loadout, as well as higher difficulty bugs.

[@IohanSanchez-wj7zb]

Then go watch a different video 😂

[@Anonymous-73]

Who asked

[@BNRanger]

Man it's almost like he said he doesn't play the higher tier missions right at the start of the video

[@specshade807]

He said he plays lower difficulties.

[@Pass1ngStranger]

It's almost like he said "if you disagree feel free to leave a comment"

[@Natebplaysmc]

0:50 bro looks like he's about to steal the chaos emeralds 💀

[@TheMacroShow]

😭

[@Anonymous-73]

He looks like he’s about to make an announcement

[@pizzaman10203]

LMFAOO

[@Phantom_Kraken]

He looks like he’s been reading the gaia manuscripts

[@AnxiousCinder]

Bros dr egg man

[@h2o848]

smoke is basically on-demand cover; if you've ever been to the creek, you know how valuable that can be tesla tower is just a minefield but zappy: treat it like one, and you won't be dying (you can avoid dying to it if you just go prone too, as said in its description) laser cannon is super good against automatons, can kill ANYTHING, including hulks from the front and tanks from the back jump pack mobility is underrated; getting elevation is busted against bugs and saves lots of time running up slopes compared to turrets, mines are a much lower risk solution: your turrets can get oneshot by the same enemies that oneshot you (a LOT), and mines will ACTUALLY slow down enemy waves while turrets just thin them out does the shield generator relay EVEN HAVE HEALTH? i'm pretty sure it just lasts a set amount of time because i've never seen it go down right after a shot...i've seen it eat rockets, tank shells, and thousands of bullets though (it's also good for luring enemies away and protecting your turrets) IF YOU SET YOURSELF ON FIRE, JUST DIVE AND YOU WILL BE FINE IN A FRACTION OF A SECOND! do they not teach "stop, drop, and roll" anymore? i think EATs and recoilless rifle should be the same tier: they do the same job but have some slight trade offs (maybe it's just because i play a lot of solo and find EATs more handy)

[@AC-hj9tv]

How many years does it take to kill hulks w laser cannon

[@digitalhomic8155]

theres cutting edge armor that prevents 95% of tesla damage and u can use yourself as range extention :)

[@rexoplex4814]

@@AC-hj9tv About 2-3 seconds. It can penetrate the medium armored eye/head piece on the front, just takes a couple seconds of sustained, accurate fire on that part to kill them. Easier said than done when they're rushing you and you're being shot from all directions, but if you have a moment to aim it kills them plenty fast

[@zwenkwiel816]

"as said in its description" reading is for communists!

[@slayerbobby4029]

​@@digitalhomic8155 I have done this and it works really well. Killed my whole team with a single zap 🤣🤣🤣

[@Maxybro]

I definitely think the EAT and Machine gun should be higher. The EAT has the same punch as the recoil-less but doesnt take up a backpack slot, and its short cooldown means you can spam these all over the map. The MG has good armor pen and is great for clearing out hordes, and it makes bots less accurate with suppressive fire. good tier list regardless tho

[@CaymenEditz]

i think the stalwart is better than the mg. bigger mag, better rpm (i think), more mobile, and you can move while reloading it

[@deadgunslinger8489]

​@@CaymenEditzno medium pen tho

[@CaymenEditz]

@@deadgunslinger8489 i just aim for weak spots and it’s fine

[@sindrisuncatcher653]

@@CaymenEditzThe big advantage of the first machinegun is the armor penetration. The lighter one is easier to handle, but it bounces right off anything that you can't already kill with your normal weapons, which kind of defeats the purpose of a support weapon IMO.

[@Violet-my5jq]

@@CaymenEditz Nope there no point to use stalwart anymore even for clearing trash mob, with new sickle you pretty much have infinite ammo to clear trash mob also MG did alots more dmg and can penetrate medium armor like hive guard and commander also easily kill bile spewer because this guy have low health in the head but have medium armor.

[@Rando1481]

GUYS TODAY IM JOINING THE HELLDIVERS FOR DEMORACY AND LIBERTY

[@Wyatt-hw8dc]

Hell yeah brother!!!

[@DaYemenball]

Good job! I am trying to save up to join but all of my money I earn has a 75% democracy tax, so it will take a while.

[@Mister_RandomGuychannel]

RAISE OUR BLAZING AND ABSOLUTELY FLAMING FISTS SCORCHED IN JUSTICE GIVE THOSE BUGS HELL

[@Boiscoutdrummerboi]

For democracy

[@crackedegg7846]

I just joined 3 weeks ago, love the new recruits coming in

[@dek_1707]

Autocannon is fairly placed but just a few side notes: it can destroy bug nests and bot factories if you ricochet it off of the hatch, also terminate illegal broadcast side quest can be shot cross map and destroyed with 1 bullet, spore nests can be destroyed in 2, chargers can be killed in 3 bullets (if aimed at back legs from behind), brood mothers in 1 if you headshot them, and the clip for it is 10, just keep count of the ammo and you should be good. in high level lobbies since railgun got nerfed we normally take a recoilless for chargers and Biles (not going to say the spear is bad just it has less backpack ammo then the recoilless), and note the recoilless can 1 shot a charger in the head. 2 Autocannons, and a grenade launcher for cleanup, (level 9 Difficulty)

[@sir_captainmorgan]

The expandable is absolutely A-tier as a solo queue, you can one tap so many enemies if you hit weak points, including chargers, bot ships, and even bile titans if you hittem right. And you get 2 of them, both for you or one for you and one for a random who needs a quick kill. Finally, it isn’t a backpack, which is so damn important when you need something like a supply pack or a guard dog

[@62cky4powerthirst]

Seriously. When I learnt you can destroy the engine of dropships with one EAT and sink a robot squad it became my favorite support strategem. Nobody gets mad if you bring EAT.

[@M.L.official]

Where do you hit bile titans for an instant kill? Number 1 I don't think it's possible and number 2 if it is, it probably shouldn't be. They fixed the spawns now so you don't get more than 2 titans on any given breach. Making them trivial is not the coolest thing to do. I sport a 500kg bomb and if that can't one shot it sometimes, EAT being able to do it is super imbalanced

[@62cky4powerthirst]

@@M.L.official I think there are bile sacs behind the base of the jaw where it connects to the skull, it's inconsistent: but i've scored crits that way

[@sir_captainmorgan]

@@M.L.official I was overselling it on the insta kill, but I have headshot a bile titan and killed it completely on a level 7 mission with an expendable rocket, it happened a few times that mission and was so satisfying, so not always an insta kill but a solid finisher if you hit the head dead on

[@sir_captainmorgan]

@@62cky4powerthirst facts!

[@fynix9963]

the lazer canon takes out hulks really quick and its underrated for automatons for that reason.

[@0verride881]

Meh, 9/10 times, you're dying to the hulk before your cannon can take it out - unless you snipe it.

[@DmitrySabFo]

Wtf guys, just use anti matter rifle and 200m scope

[@SnailSnail-lo4pm]

Anti materiel and railgun both kill way faster

[@ckie-nk3de]

the arc thrower is the best support weapon in my oppinion because if used correctly it CAN take out bosses without using ammo while also killing the goons.

[@nilsekluund]

​@urchinsify Na, it takes out all bugs except charges and bile titans with ease. And the fact that it kills the small bugs around the big bugs that you are shooting is amazing. Plus the range is very good.

[@CaymenEditz]

i personally prefer the stalwart/eat combo

[@wsawbi6402]

​@nilsekluund YEAH. Unless your team has EATs or similar it find it's best to let arc throwers just solo a charger on their own rather than have teammates swarm it to shoot its butt

[@yeetman1344]

@@urchinsify i dispute this i bring it to level 9 missions all the time bot and bugs and it usually replaces my primary the arc is a bit janky but when you get it down it takes everything under super heavy enemies down in a few hits Chargers in 6 and if you get the right distance and elevation even titans in a few its especially if you have a Ps5 host.

[@urchinsify]

@@yeetman1344 I might give it another try. Where do you aim it for bile and chargers?

[@enbee7515]

Laser cannon is actually pretty good in my experience, though its mainly good for the bots, the bugs it can work against but a lot of the bugs come at you too fast and have too much armor for it to be effective, but the bots usually have a weakspot right on their face, and with the laser cannon you can track that at medium distances easily, and take out medium sized enemies without using ammo, and in a pinch it can take out a small group of enemies with good heat management, so take a good crowd control primary for small bots and its pretty decent against medium sized bots

[@wh0s_hippo534]

Yeah but there are way better options

[@enbee7515]

tru usually, but its still has its place imo, esp solo on medium difficulty missions where theres enough enemies that ammo can be scarce but not so many that you dont have the time to make use of the laser cannon@@wh0s_hippo534

[@Hulkman5000]

idk what your on, i use the laser cannon and i have the complete inverse opinion. I found for bots the laser is so bright and big it's literally impossible to see whether you're hitting their face or not and for crowd control it is actual dogshit. Where it shines in my experience is in melting through bile and nursing spewers or making quick work of those bugs with the armour plates at their front (it pierces that armour.) Its useful for terminids but pretty bad for anything else.

[@kevinwlee1]

There's actually good reason to run the ballistic shield vs the automatons. It is very effective damage mitigation when you are running with the SMG and your sidearm. It can also block shots if you're laying prone and using the railgun to take out armored targets like walkers. In general, I enjoy using it; but I support a group of friends by laying down double mortars and we hit from long range against bots. I wouldn't have more than one person using it, but it's useful for someone who is attracting attention from the group and while crouching you can use your SMG to hit those face shots that down bots with a good deal of accuracy while the ballistic shield is protecting you.

[@samtam2984]

might have to try it out sometime

[@thesentry8981]

It’s great when paired with the armors that grant reduced recoil when crouching and prone, making your shots more accurate. Also, the armor helps with explosive damage which there is a lot of vs Automatons

[@morbidmirage726]

Orbital gas turns off bug breaches for anything below a charger. Also amazing for choke points, just won’t let anything through. Plus if something makes it through, your rover merely has to look in its general direction before it’s dead.

[@CubanPanda]

Personally I find the gas to be pretty trash, not F-Tier but a solid D-Tier. It just lowers the health and only kills off the tiny enemies which are pretty easy to deal with. I would rather bring an Air Strike since it will kill the enemy instead of leaving it alive with partial health. The air strike also destroys nests and buildings plus covers a decent area. It can destroy a small to medium nest on its own. Plus the strike is almost immediate like the gas strike. I really only play against Terminds on lvl 5 difficulty so i don't know if it's different for the robots.

[@isaacstevenson7971]

@@CubanPandathe gas lasts for so long though. Sure the air strike will kill things quickly but then the next batch of bugs comes right out. Also you said the gas doesn’t come immediately. It only takes like 2-3 seconds to call in?

[@CubanPanda]

@@isaacstevenson7971 I meant "like" not "unlike", typo on my end. The gas lasts for a good chunk of time but you can also cut yourself off from going in that direction for the entire time. You throw it into a nest and now have to wait just to destroy all the tunnels. Destroying the nests prevents them from coming out again and the air strike will destroy the nest as well. If the Gas Strike also slowed the enemies I could see it being much better but again it only kills of the weak stuff and lowers the health of the big stuff.

[@CaymenEditz]

the thing with the eat is that you can use another support weapon and just call it down when you need it. you can also scatter a bunch of them around an objective over time and give all of your teammates rly good rocket launchers just laying around. it’s not meant to be used as a stand alone support weapon. it’s meant specifically for heavily armored enemies so that you can run some other support weapon for swarms at the same time

[@h2o848]

valid! i solo'd my first termicide mission on d7 with EATs, arc thrower, and two mine sets

[@CaymenEditz]

@@h2o848 they’re so underrated because people usually use them inefficiently. you gotta throw one down immediately after the cooldown runs out and you’ll be unstoppable

[@Pablud3S]

I use it with randoms without any other support just to not be tied down to something I have to pick up again because I got TK'd again 😂

[@Baldrjac]

The only things I would change are the arc thrower and the EAT should go in A or S tier. Most people don't use the EAT correctly, it's more of a squad weapon than your weapon. Pick up a squadmate's extra weapon, throw down the EAT when needed, boom some chargers, titans, tanks, hulks, dropships, pick up the other weapon and continue with your day of democracy. Really effective and you still have a backpack, plus the fast call in time allows you to use the call in as a weapon in itself, it'll down a charger just with the deployment. The arch thrower is stupid powerful against bugs. Pretty decent against bots but probably the most useful against bugs. For the sake of credibility, I play on helldive, have 150 hours plus, and have everything maxed out.

[@2MeterLP]

I am my teams dedicated heavy enemy removal, and I always run EAT on bug missions. Its been so awesome since they nerfed the chargers' head! I can insta-delete two chargers every minute, or three if I'm feeling cheeky and manage to stick the beacon to a chargers booty.

[@0verride881]

I still don't have a full grasp of how the game decides if my strat is going to bounce off the charger vs just land on it

[@zwenkwiel816]

yeah I really overlooked the EAT at first, like only 2 shots and than it's done?! I'll take the backpack full of rockets thank you very much XD but that's not how it works at all. EAT is better if you use it right. (also get killed a lot less while reloading XD)

[@jacobward6787]

If you die bc of a reload problem then you should get better at positioning ​@zwenkwiel816

[@jacobward6787]

I have more hours 🥱

[@fropsL]

10:09 the expendable anti tank is one of the best stratagems currently. With the capability to one shot chargers and bile titans it’s insanely useful. furthermore with the upgrade it only takes a minute to recharge allowing you to cover the field with them which any teammate can pick up and use when needed. In my opinion it’s way better than the recoiless which takes years to reload and only carries 5 in the backpack. The fact that it’s a single use also works as it frees up your backpack slot from the recoiless and allows you to carry a different support weapon that does other things such as the arc thrower or grenade launcher. I think C is a vast under rank and should be higher especially in higher ranks where heavy armored enemies are so common

[@TS050-]

EAT in C Tier with the Spear in A Tier is crazy to me when the Spear feels worse to use in every single way

[@robonator2945]

EAT or MAYBE railgun if they fix/buff it (currently it's just shit gotta be honest, but there is apparently a bug where if you're playing with a ps5 player the damage is way higher or something so sometimes it feels okay) + a supply pack makes you a god tier loner. If you run with more nades you can be holding 18 nades on-demand. If you go with more stimes, you can be holding 18 stims on demand. (3*4=12 12+6=18, 12 in the pack, 6 on the belt) Plus, since it drops fully stocked you can replenish yourself while the rest of your team can keep the resupply. The supply pack is just horribly underrated IMO. With a supply pack and some sentries you can seriously break off on your own and get shit done fairly reliably.

[@dariofleitas2996]

the orbital rail cannon is good but it falls short very fast in higher difficulties do to the large amount of tanks (and many times the cooldown debuff) plus it's long base cooldown

[@loaduscoolclipz5505]

i used to have it as my go-to titan killer up until i stared playing 8 / 9 difficulty lmao. now i usually really on launchers + rocket pods for them

[@LordZedz]

This. Orbital Railcannon is giga bad and I'm not sure why people seem to like it. The cooldown is way too long for something that can't even reliably kill Bile Titans. EAT, 500KG, Orbital Precision, hell even Rocket Pods do what it does better and with much shorter cooldowns. No contest now that stun grenades exist.

[@PixelGhost07]

​@@LordZedzngl all those strategems doest instantly kill the Bile Titan if it didnt hit the center body, take the Orbital rail Cannon as like a finisher attack because of the accuracy, like hit the Titan with the strategems you mentioned and if it didnt die, this railcannon gonna finish the job

[@Bluberry31]

Ahh yes the autocannon sentry…. One of the best backpacks

[@AMETK15]

i had to come here to confirm 16:07

[@KhanKhav7]

i take eagle airstrike into everything. i love how flexible it is in every situation

[@CaymenEditz]

it’s very versatile

[@AC-hj9tv]

Eagle airstrike chads unite 💪😎 👍

[@M.L.official]

Only time I don't is if you can already call in an airstrike as part of the planet buff, I would take an orbital or sth

[@Pablud3S]

​@@M.L.officialwhere does that happen

[@ferdithetank7535]

​@@Pablud3Sat least half of all missions have "load the artillery cannon" side objective that you have to discover. There you get to choose which shells do you load (they have different properties) and from there on you get 5 shots of free artillery for the rest of the mission.

[@thesoulsender]

I think the gatling barrage is actually really good, because while it doesn't really damage armour, it's amazing at clearing a bug spawner or dropship, and has a short rearm time. Usually I'll just take it with another heavier strategem like the railcannon, laser, or bomb.

[@sirsquadie3383]

I love the 380mm! You just throw it and the enemy fabricator hubs or nests and they just get removed! Great for solo play. Just drop it and get out. "Friendly fire is an inevitable fact of life!"

[@ALE199-ita]

380mm I hate it because I used it to do that and it missed EVERY SINGLE SHOT. Something which the Airstrike would've done better.

[@bardninja]

This. I usually run the 120 myself for the same reason: yeet it in, and just keep running to the next one since it's dealt with. If my squadmate wants to run in after I've called it out, that's not the 120's fault.

[@Quickstein]

Having trouble with the randomness of the 380 barrage? Just bring 3 more (with friends) and just glass the base! Accuracy by volume is one of the core tenets of Managed Democracy!

[@SuperMemeBoi-fz7nd]

Macro, BTW the autocannon can be used to destroy bug nests and automaton factories if aimed correctly!

[@Fooxelwagle]

And illegal broadcasts and spore spewers

[@D3vilTube]

Pretty decent for chargers too. If you avoid their charge and hit them in the back legs they usually go down in 3-4 shots

[@LeadMetal82]

​@@D3vilTube they will go down if you shoot one of their back legs twice.

[@urchinsify]

Machine gun - obliterates every bug other than chargers and titans Tesla Tower - completely broken for defensive missions (as long as you're not an idiot that gets too close). Both are extremely broken but you placed it on D tier... I can't take this tier list with any respect after these horrendous placement. First of all there's literally no other gun that can match the machine gun in damage output and penetration. It penetrates even the warrior bug which can bounce off almost every other gun in the game. Not even the Stalwart has that kind of capability. I can even bring it to level 9 difficulty as long as I still have at least 2 anti armor strategem with it. If you time your reloads properly you are never going to get swarmed because this gun just wipes everything with just a couple bullets. The magazine capacity is insane, not sure exactly how much bullet a mag carries but it's probably 150-200 more or less. Regardless, this gun is S tier with proper firing discipline. Ammo is never an issue with all the ammo lying around and resupply available every 3 minutes. Secondly, tesla tower basically one shots every bug in the game except chargers and bile titans. It even bounces between bugs which allows you to completely have confidence there's no bugs where you place it. In fact I haven't seen a charger destroy a tesla tower yet (i'm level 47) probably because tesla kills it. Or chargers probably doesn't prioritize it like they do to sentries. Regardless, tesla tower is completely busted for missions where you have to defend an area. Better than both mine strategems combined as it doesn't expire after a kill. Also people always misjudge it's range, it probably has the range close to that of a mine field.

[@ggbruhteehee3162]

This is the truest stuff I've ever seen

[@herrfantastisch7489]

Yeah, their placements caught me off guard. Especially the placements of the 120 and 380 barrages. The 120 is fantastic for clearing clustered enemies, and the 380 for a wide area. They make great escapes, too. We were retreating, and my 380 destroyed over 50 bots while we escaped. Not to mention they’re phenomenal for destroying bot bases. It can be annoying when they miss, but that seems to only be the case before they were buffed. They hit frequently now, and when they hit, they hit.

[@urchinsify]

@@herrfantastisch7489 I don't touch the 380.. It's insanely inconsistent. The 120 is great for big bot bases. But not that great for bug hives that has 7+ holes for the same reason.. Insanely inconsistent. Sometimes they hit everything, sometimes you're lucky to get 1 kill. Also there's a bug right now and the kill streak counter doesn't really count everything. Especially when you shoot down bot drop ships you don't get the kills even tho they die.

[@jalontf2]

Laser Cannon actually wrecks chargers now. Just shoot em in the pooper for a few seconds. One of my new faves alongside the guard rover

[@DmitrySabFo]

5-6 head hits for arc thrower when they charge at you and alt to the side, repeat Easier

[@PixelGhost07]

Its also act as a finisher attack for Bile Titans, like when you hit Bile Titans with strategems they don't instantly die so the laser rail Cannon Will finish the job because of the accuracy of it

[@cursedboyir]

Aside from the glitchyness of the ballistic shield, it's very usefull againts gunner shield robots. It gives you enough time to line up any shot to the bot. Weather it be the head or it's gunner arms. It also does more protection when running away from hellfiring bullets that the bots can do and is great for all smg weapons.

[@EspyMelly]

Tesla tower is probably the biggest one I think is very wrong in this. It's dangerous and takes getting used to its radius, but it lasts a long time and will clear everything that isn't heavy armor. especially great against terminids, against bots you'll likely have to put it behind cover so it doesn't take pot shots, but I haven't tested it enough on those guys.

[@beakwooda.k.aadregallus8788]

I run the Stalwart at Helldive, its insanely OP (with increased RPM) against the majority of things but Chargers and Titan. It clears mobs of Hunters insanely well, deals with Medium armor rather easily and it can pack a punch on Stalkers. It's just a really powerful gun to use as primary (I use Scorcher to shoot hard targets). That paired with the Laser Guard makes you untouchable. When it comes about the heavy armor nothing an EAT or the Mech can't handle.

[@LordZedz]

Why don't you just use the Scythe, which is a better Stalwart with infinite ammo, and take something useful for your support so your team doesn't have to carry you?

[@thescrambler6354]

​@@LordZedzthe scythe better than anything?

[@LordZedz]

@@thescrambler6354 Meant Sickle.

[@thescrambler6354]

@@LordZedz I figured. Haven't tried it yet been playing with the plasma shotgun

[@HippioKass]

jump packing onto a high ground versus the nids with a flamethrower is an S-tier niche

[@arttops2563]

*Macro:* "I'm not your dad!" Me: Quietly sobs

[@0verride881]

Meh, skill issue. Honestly at this point, if you die to a tesla tower regularly and are incapable of figuring out why, it's genuinely on you. It's especially hypocritical to bitch about it killing teammates when you choose to justify the cluster bomb at 11:30 as "noobs not knowing what they are doing". If you die to a shiny, clearly indicated tower, you're a noob - the radius of effect of a cluster bomb is significantly larger than that of a tesla anyways. And I say this as someone who likes cluster bomb! Also the tesla has one of the lowest robotics cooldowns in the game, making it available every 150s. Add to the fact that the only mobs that are capable of killing it in terminids for instance are the charger and the bile titan, and this thing will more than likely live out that full 150s if not more. Another note - tesla has an in built lifespan that exceeds 150s, so you can easily have 2-3 tesla towers at once on an objective if you have been there long enough, while turrets do not appear to have that ability. I completely understand something like mines because they can even glitch out and disappear for players who come in after the mines were placed in the game session! Oh and calling the spear A-tier means you're high. Do democracy, not drugs.

[@thediodoin1000]

Idk about most people but I love the Stalwart it’s awesome for mowing down rows of bugs. Also you forgot to mention how it holds much more ammo than the normal machine gun. I keep finding my self using it in higher difficulties because it’s the only thing keeping me from getting swarmed.

[@douwe4254]

You need 1 lawnmower player in every team. Rover, Stalward, engineer armor for extra grenades, I prefer the punisher for the high dmg and extra cc. Pair this up with the autocannon and rockey turret to support your heavy armor friends and you'll be hitting 3-4 times their kills keeping them alive from hordes. You can kill everything, but be handicapped against chargers, hulks, tanks and titans. We do duo 7's at times, and if my buddy goes anti heavy armor, I take care of the rest.

[@lukashajas7047]

@@douwe4254 Arc thrower is just a much better weapon than stalwart for clearing hordes, why not just take that ? Plus you can kill heavy enemies with it quite easily.

[@douwe4254]

​@@lukashajas7047 I disagree, plus you have the extra risk of bringing down a teammate who can support you flanks. There are two downsides people overlook with the Arc Thrower and that is range, teamkill potential and bad lightning jumps. And it isn't great either when enemies get closer to you. Stalward allows you to cover the flanks of your teammates from almost any range. Meaning if they are being chased by a small group of critters/bots, you can help them within 4 seconds. You can't do that with the Arc Thrower unless everyone is wearing the armor set, which in turn handicaps certain builds. Equally, meta builds (Arc + armor) builds always get nerfed, so this is a temporary build at best. If you need to clear a group of 20 small critters, that will take me about 4-5 seconds with the stalward, and I got half my magazine left, if not more. It does not matter if they are stacked or spread out. WIth the Arc, if they are spread in width, you will need many shots or relocate, which isn't possible on higher difficulties all that often. If they are stacked, you also need to get lucky with the leaps, and some enemies like the hunter won't go down right away allowing them to get close, you'll likely turn, increasing the risk of blowing your teammate up. Arc thrower is a better middle ground weapon. Stalward + the rest of my kit allow me to focus on everything with the exception of heavy armor. I'm always highest on kills, nearly double that of by teammates, if not more. No accidentals unless by teammates hug my turrets, which in turn saves the team loads of downtime due to retrieving their old gear. Arc is great, but not specialized enough. And due to my engineer armor + my turrets I can focus on the smaller enemies while my turrets mow down the big ones, and if there are too many big enemies, I got 2 teammates who are fully specialized in killing heavy armor enemies.

[@PixelGhost07]

​@@lukashajas7047yeah i don't think arc trower can handle 6 hunters jumping on me in 10 feet

[@lukashajas7047]

​@@PixelGhost07 They wont get near you if you just dont suck so yeah it will.

[@ldcommando1616]

They should give the Stalwart a slight ammo capacity nerf and make it a primary, I'd use it all the time.

[@morbidmirage726]

I’ve used Tesla towers quite a bit and you have to put it in choke points so it only kills enemies. Once you look out for choke points it can be extremely useful. It also is good for distracting enemies like a bile titan for example.

[@zwenkwiel816]

I think you should only use it if you communicate with your team though, like I've played with randoms and every time they placed a tesla I just had to destroy it cuz it was teamkills waiting to happen (like on those really small maps where you have to kill 400 bugs or something, just don't use the tesla XD)

[@ferdithetank7535]

Basically it's just a big landmine, I always ping my Tesla coils so teammates don't get killed by it

[@robonator2945]

​@@zwenkwiel816 bro if you see a giant blue arcing lightouse and decide to walk towards it, that's just darwin putting you in your place. Who knows, maybe you'll reincarnate as a moth a few times to learn why "run headfirst into the brightest thing you can see" isn't a good survival strategy.

[@zwenkwiel816]

@@robonator2945 you don't always see them being put down behind you though. But go on and continue killing your teammates like a moron. You're probably one of those idiots who brings a mortar sentry on bug killing missions too....

[@thedumbone2687]

rocket pods are kinda underrated tbh, since the railcannon strike is not guaranteed to kill a bile titan, i use them to finish the job. They also have a low cooldown and are also effective against chargers

[@flairwolf2367]

16:08 It does say the wrong thing here lol. Great video though! I'm thinking about buying this game.

[@Fishnuke14]

You should get the game for democracy if you have friends make sure they get it also

[@detective_spy]

I can say that anti mat rifle is pretty good for automatons. if you use it exclusively for the mid tier enemies and above, you will almost never run out of ammo. its also very consistent as it will 3 body shot the weird chonky bois that can have a simple arm gun, rockets or shield and the weird walker things that are manned by the small automatons (if you want to kill them from the front). it becomes very good when you get used to the recoil and so can comfortable shoot it somewhat fast, and when you start to consistently kill hulks with the two head shots.

[@Pablud3S]

Isn't that the same as auto cannon but with less boom?

[@detective_spy]

@Pablud3S I think so, but it's easier to shoot over long distances ig with the scope, so you can kill hulks more safely? Plus it doesn't need a backpack to reload so you can have jetpack to get to high places. Tbh I find the anti may rifle fun to use but i would probably find the auto cannon better. I would still probably go back to the anti mat rifle since It's fun to use. Even if auto cannon is better, it doesn't mean both of them aren't good in comparison to everything else, or anti mat is. But I 100% agree that the auto cannon is probably better

[@elliottreed5283]

As a skull admiral with hundreds of dives under my belt I found this list to be severely misleading and very poorly thought out.

[@TerryD5000]

lets hear your top 10 then so that other lvl 50 skull admirals can nit pick it, say the same things u just said and feel the same way you do lol.

[@--9801]

Same here I have 220h in the game only play helldive everything unlocked and some stuff is simply not right

[@--9801]

​@@TerryD5000a list like this should be done via votes in my opinion and not by preference of a small grupp of people or 1 person

[@Puppy_Puppington]

@@--9801u guys act like this is an official game statement lmao. Dude… it’s just a random opinion out of thousands on the internet. Everyone calm their nutz.

[@DOOD-kt273]

Especially about the ballistic shield pack,it’s really good with the newer one handed weapons.and the fact that it’s not just “okay” against the robots,it’s great against them.(I may only be level 30,but I’m a strategic mastermind who lead my squad to victory on vega bay against many automatons and factory striders.)

[@kazzookaE]

I’d personally put 500kg bomb over rail cannon strike, because if you have all the eagle upgrades, you get 2 uses, a faster cooldown, splash damage, and the ability to 1 hit bile titans. The only thing worse about it is that it can be somewhat hard to hit chargers, but you should be able to kill them without that anyway.

[@Sp0tsNStripes]

I’m gonna be honest the flamethrower shreds automatons

[@Vaderman011]

Autocannon can also destroy bug holes, automaton factories, the spore spewer objective, and the terminate illegal broadcast objective tower. It 3-4 shots tanks weak spots as well as automaton mortars and the large turret towers.

[@Ayto27]

Autocannon is the best support weapon in the game change my mind. This shit legit let’s me solo diff 8 (against bots)

[@gamerproductions5469]

well you are kinda right about the 120mm and 380mm but they are very useful at one thing Bases especially automatons so pretty much one grab them if you need to destroy a big stationary target otherwise it's meh.

[@Zane12ai]

Chief, eagle rocketpods are better for destroying bases. It gets outclassed by an ability considered one if the worst in the game

[@iggyzeta9755]

I've never disagreed with a list more, but I appreciate the perspective. It's fresh and critiques the mechanics well. Never seen the Orbital Walking Barrage rated so high and it's good to see Orbital Precision Strike get some appreciation. Your A and S tiers are pretty spot on though

[@BlueMoonFuzz]

Honestly fighting automatons in stead of bugs is like playing a different game. Laser cannon is s tier for bots. Smokes are important for situations where you gotta gtfo. A tier list for both factions separately would probably be a lot more accurate

[@projectTyrasa]

EMS + Any Lethal Stratagem is a really good set up, you can stun problem targets ally-ooping your Teammates into an Easy High priority target elimination

[@h2o848]

i've found the call-in time to be a bit long (skill issue i know), but i think the stun grenades in the new warbond are basically mini EMS strikes

[@projectTyrasa]

@@h2o848 They are granted with a lesser stun effect and no persistence of the Effectiveness Radiu. It's great for snap plays if someone has them though even letting a Solo Operative One-Two Punch big threats like Hulks to easily get behind them. But they also eliminate the ability to use grenades to bust bunkers or nests a Nice alternative Choice for certain and way Easier to Use with expected draw backs it's honestly the only reason I've considered getting the cutting edge warbond being Honest. The sheer utility and Ease of use would definitely make it perfect for Guerilla warfare especially Hit and Run tactics under a panic without needing to worry about the Call in time of a Stratagem.

[@Drac0nianTheboss]

The thing that makes the arc thrower amazing for me is the fact that it has direct damage. no armor can save the enemy's from it, but it does kill teammates more often than not.

[@notlasaugna6951]

I found the machine gun insanely good for crowd control even in late game. i used it for the TCS missions on suicide and it was still very viable Anti material rifle is also insane for late game automaton cause it can one shot hulks in the face plate. And it is a weak point killer kinda like the railgun

[@thenoru.4435]

brother put arc thrower in the b tier not knowing there is tech that doubles rate of fire and kills chargers in 5 seconds

[@Aaroncoop9162]

Fr?!

[@killerwhale__]

​@@Aaroncoop9162just shoot at 50% itt does the same dmg

[@Lyheroes]

4:03 Shhh... This is a good turret, shh.

[@1NoirYT]

Hey macro, can you make a video where you try apex legends clone pls

[@amelialouma4762]

So about the expendable anti tank, I personally find it superior to the recoiless because it drops two of it at once meaning it can equip two helldivers and it only has 60s cooldown with the ship upgrade which is nothing. And with some skill you can consistently drop it on top of heavies, essentially making it drop three rockets. So in summary, it frees up a support weapon slot in the group and essentially has infinite ammo + lots of funny drop pod kills.

[@Nope_Bbp]

12:09 missed opportunity for don’t say I didn’t WARM you (because fire)

[@rightnut6270]

With the inclusion of the stun nades, the basic precision strike has easily risen to god tier. Being game to stun anything and then immediately insta kill it is amazing

[@Sir_Meowss_A_Lot]

EAT is easily S tier

[@captainomc3802]

Eexpendable anti tank is op. Its a very precsise Orbital Strike, as well as 2 Chargers every 70 seconds

[@Jonathan-be9sv]

not letting other people have a vote on the tier list isnt very democratic.. might you be an automaton macro?

[@shadowhunter8246]

No, you see macro managed the democracy

[@spaceerror_3571]

Haven't try it with bugs, but for automatons, mortar or EMP mortars can be great even in offensive mission. Before going into a enemy base you can set one up just right outside the wall of the base, even tho the enemy reinforcement may or may or may not drop outside the wall they will go into the base as soon as they landed because all of the players are inside, so as long as they didn't drop right on top of that mortar it can keep killing enemies inside the base without any disruption, and it can be a huge difference when you dealing with swarms of bots. Edit: not sure if they nurfed it but I wasn't able to kill a bile titan with orbital rail cannon recently, it only peel the back plate away and make the titan low on health but not able to one shot it. Usually it need to be follow up with a rocket to the wounds or in most case people just following up with a 500kg which are already capable of atomizing a full health titan if it lands, making rail cannon feels kinda wasteful to be use on a titan.

[@coronacrockford3656]

the stalwart in D tier is a crime!

[@gremlin384]

Agree.

[@sataniccereal]

As a helldiver on difficulty 9, orbital airburst is extremely useful at thinning out the herd when a bug breach happens and can take an overwhelming fight and make it way easier to manage. Not a flashy one, but for how convenient it is, it's definitely nice to have. EAT is also ridiculously useful as it saves you a backpack slot and a support weapon slot, so if a buddy, random, or even a world drop has something like a flamethrower or arc thrower, you can use that and quickly call in an EAT to deal with the bigger units. Not advised with the Complex Stratagem modifier though. Orbital railcannon is nice... but it's going to get outshined by skillful uses of 500kg and arguably outshined by 110mm rocket pods, granted eagle doesn't fuck you over (except against hulks for some reason). With a 3+ minute cooldown and only one enemy, it really only deals with one big boy and when you have several chargers swarming you or forbid it be 3-5 bile titans surrounded by hunters, it will not get a lot of value difficulty 7+. Granted the ease of use is insane and if you haven't gotten the timings down for 500kg, I wouldn't bat an eye if you chose it but it's definitely not deserving of #1, at least in my opinion. Otherwise very democratic tier list👍

[@Racools]

The Tesla tower and laser cannon in D disqualified him from making tier lists

[@gavinb7372]

You did the orbital gas strike so dirty, it's so slept on. It can kill bot fabs as well as hold chokes and wipe out all the little guys so you can focus on the big dudes.

[@MeCovee]

WE LOVE DEMOCRACY BOOOOIS

[@Damglador]

Wanted to merge my 3 comments, so here's main "mistakes": 1) Imagine putting Spear in A tier🤡 Like, yea it supposed to be strong, but: 1. Low ammo, 1 ammo per resupply and you cant refill it with ammo packs found in word, so with best case scenario you can kill 4 big dudes and suck WHOLE supply pod to refill ammo, or wait for stratagem to recharge and take a new Spear. 2. It doesnt do damage, it cant reliably one shot chargers, titans, tanks, hulks. 3. Lock is broken. Sometimes you just cant lock onto a target when you really need it, that will be fixed, I hope. 4. It can miss. Even if you perfectly lock it and fire, it can just miss the target. 5. It doesnt aim for weak spots. Because of that, it cant one-shot anything without shenanigans with aiming in ground while shooting. That's a total F tier, not even close to A, even Recoilless Rifle is more reliable and overall better. And yes, I tried to use it multiple times. 2) Shield should be in D, because its pretty good against bots, when its not bugged as hell, and 120mm with 380mm barrages in F, because they're fuckin bullshit, also guard dog is F tier, on top of poor efficiency it requires resupply 3) 500kg IS NOT for area, only thing it does great is it just one-shots bile titans, and you have 2 charges with 2 minutes cooldown, that's it. It's still S tier, but reason is different Everything else is pretty fine. Description for EXO-44 Walker is perfect!

[@StickFailedHisLife]

Spear is an A tier because in a clear map without fog if you get into high ground on automaton missions you can just instantly destroy every base on the map probably without even resupplying once depending on difficulty. The spear can destroy buildings, and it does so very well.

[@Damglador]

@@StickFailedHisLife doesnt solve issues above, especially ammo

[@StickFailedHisLife]

@@DamgladorPlenty of ammo if you dont use it on every single thing that looks in your general direction, like i said being able to easily destroy almost any building from where you spawn is A tier.

[@StickFailedHisLife]

@@Damgladoralso you straight up lie, it dosent oneshot bile titans but oneshots chargers hulks and tanks (heavy tank might take 2 shots if you hit it in the front) and it is a long range rocket launcher, it will not miss if you use it like its intended to be used.

[@Damglador]

@@StickFailedHisLife it doesnt one shot chargers and hulks unless it hits head or hulk, so liar is not me)

[@davidc.]

If you can't go into level 7 your tierlist is hardly credible brother. Everything is usable in thr lower levels

[@Raveneye2000]

The Stalwart works well as part of a mobile anti-chaff build on bug missions. Helldivers is mainly a team game and you don't necessarily need to have an anti-armor support weapon. Stalwart + Rover laser backpack works a treat to clear out the little guys so your team can focus on the chargers and bio titans.

[@tyjames3339]

IMO, EATs is way better than the recoilless rifle. Its a guaranteed 2 dead chargers (1 if you suck at aiming) or 1 dead bile titan every 60 seconds, and doesn't take you backpack slot. If you and one teammate both run it, you'll never not have it ready when you need it. Granted its not AS good against bots, personally i think the railgun and even the anti material rifle are technically better, but ill never not smile when i one shot the drop ship trying to bring reinforcements... TL;DR: EATs is goated for bugs

[@eliaspanayi3465]

Disagree heavily with the EAT. Its so damn good because you just need to keep dropping them. You should have one on you, and when you find a titan or charger, drop another one. By the time you get the adds and fire your first rocket, youll have 2 back to back shots for the bile titan 3 shot

[@themesoceneofficial8559]

The ballistic shield covers your back

[@sinteleon]

There's another benefit of the EMS mortar: it's not going to TK your party unlike the regular mortar (which if you get ambushed, you're probably going to die) Also has a longer range than the regular mortar, so they don't quite synergise together perfectly.

[@Morfik45]

Orbital Precision Strike with the new stun grenades is my most favorite combo for now, + grenade launcher to close bug nests + supply pack for infinite ammo

[@squidge01]

Laser cannon is AMAZING on bot missions: it is infinite ammo on a gun that can kill turrets, tanks, and hulks while also being able to mow down little guys. The best part is the long range so you can deal with threats from afar

[@kawaox121]

As an enjoyer of the 120 and 380 they are really not meant for infantry clearing and more of heavy nest and outpost clearing. Being able to toss one stratagem and wipe out nearly all of it whilst doing nothing is great! And as for the orbital gargling barrage; it’s a short cooldown and is great for tossing on top of an active big breach to continuously spawn kill most if not all of the smaller to mid sized creatures.

[@Kitkat-986]

Other than the ballistic shield and the MG sentry, no strategms in HD2 are less than a C tier. Everything else has viable use cases where they really come into their own. The Stalwart and LMG make excellent "primary" weapons, the gas strike kills bug eggs, does decent crowd control and has a quick cooldown, and the HMG turret is excellent at killing large numbers of enemies in a fortified position. Both minefields and the tesla tower are good for crowd control, they can shut down approaches for enemy units. The EMS strike is a good opener for a powerful strike that you want to garuntee a hit with. Immobilize a large group of enemies then hit then with a 500 kg or a precision strike.

[@BlueKyber]

What about the Quasar Cannon?

[@MACH050]

Thats s tier

[@jukesdtj656]

It's always a good idea to have 1 Orbital and 1 Eagle on any given mission, something for extreme firepower and something for multiple uses in quick succession. After that it's usually more valuable to have a Support Weapon and a Backpack than any kind of airstrike.

[@hoodee3144]

This is probably one of the most accurate tier lists for helldivers ive seen so far good job

[@BatJack101]

Kind of a bummer not including a full view of the tier list, I kept having to go back and remind myself what was in the previous tier

[@LeadMetal82]

Here's my current ideal setup to fight terminids. Primary: Slugger. Med armor piercing, staggers, and extremely high damage. Sure the rate of fire is slow, but it's got enough shells to deal with small crowds, plus you can do the single shell reload and fire just as fast. Plus, it's a perfect weapon against bile spewers. It can stop it from spewing bile with its stagger, and can two shot one if you hit its head. Laser guard dog Extremely effective against small bugs and doesn't run out of ammp. Against a dense crowd, it can help you provide cover fire towards one direction while you focus on another. It also helps a ton when you're trying to escape if things get too heated. EAT oneshots chargers and you get two per summons. Ideally you can have three if you already call one at the beginning of the mission. Wait time is pretty short and It doesn't take up backpack slot. Eagle Cluster bomb Perfect crowd control. However it does very little damage against chargers and Bile titans, but that's where the fourth strategem comes into play. It's not as powerful as airstrike, but it has larger AOE and you can call it 4 times (5 after upgrade) compared to airstrike's 3. For fourth strategem, i choose either 500KG, 110mm pod, or orbital railcannon. Each has its downsides. 500kg is the ultimate way to kill biles, but its AOE is quite small so it has to land extremely close to a Bile titan to work effectively. In my experience also, unless the bomb lands ON TOP of the titan, it won't likely one shot it. 110mm pod is more concentrated, and you can call it twice (3x after upgrade) compared to 500kg (2x after upgrade). Also, it can track bile titan's movement, so you have better chance to hit than 500kg. However sometimes it doesn't track, especially when the titan is in the middle of a crowd. Also, 110mm needs 2 shots to kill a titan, so you either use it twice, or use EAT for the killing blow. It also has poor AOE, even compared to 500KG, so it has very limited use. Orbital Railgun. it WILL hit what it targets no matter what. Problem is sometimes it targets the wrong enemy, e yet this is pretty rare. It has potential to one shot a bile titan, but most of the time, the titan will survive (with pretty low health), which brings you to its biggest problem. Its the cooldown time is pretty long, so you have to be 100% sure of when and what to use it on. This setup is quite ideal up to difficulty 8 (havent tested on difficulty 9 yet). It's not the best at everything but at least you can deal with any type of terminids efffectively.

[@nathanhiggs8750]

Love the tier list, 1 thing I have to say though, the orbital airburst I think is slept on. It hits 3 times. I usually miss the first burst but then they start walking towards me and I kill 14 in one go. It's the best for crowd control, especially when your swarmed.

[@CaymenEditz]

i prefer the ems mortar over the regular mortar mainly because it does less friendly fire damage

[@shvex]

For me I’m only at challenging so that probably makes a difference but the barrages are so fun for outposts just watching it blow up and it weakens strong big outpost pretty well just my opinion

[@mrpuggles8250]

ok i gotta say the machine gun is good until after impossible this thing goes through medium armor and u just look cool using it

[@EVERYTYME]

I LOVE the Punisher(pump shotgun) with gaurddog rover! The shotgun will stagger medium-sized enemies while the rover DPSs them down! And small enemies get absolutrly mowed down! Its such a good combo

[@phoenixbender5698]

Ahem 2 words for Tesla tower ELECTRICAL CONDUIT

[@fxsantazo]

HMG emplacement is a great help as long as you place it properly. it requires a bit of skill, but it will hold the line, or cover a flank properly. it takes care of the little guys, so the other dudes can take care of the larger ones. i dont expect everyone to understand.

[@ExInfamous]

Ngl, arc thrower should have been A tier. Couple it with the laser guard dog and you're essentially able to hold off an entire high tier bug breach on your own while your teammates do an objective. It completely ignores armor which means you can actually solo chargers in about 5-10 hits, which is usually about 15 seconds or so, all while using no ammo. Its not great against bile titans but its certainly good at cleaning them up when a railcannon orbital or 500kg doesn't quite finish them off. Its literally only tied back by its insane team killing potential, but at the risk of sounding like an ass, that's literally a skill issue. Good teammates will maintain a safe distance on your peripherals or just straight up stand behind you. The REALLY good ones are the ones that hear you say "Let me draw the charger away" (so you can solo it safely) and actually let you. It's also imperative to bring a good primary so that you can provide assistance when teammates are scattered amongst the enemy. All in all, I think its great at dealing with most every bug except titans which is to be expected for a gun with unlimited ammo. Bring a orbital railcannon and maybe a laser/500kg for titans and everything else is cake for the arc thrower.

[@biolumenescentcommie]

Walking orbitals are amazing for taking out the control bunkers on automaton missions you can just toss it in the direction of the base and you dont even need to use a hellbomb or 500 or even get close for that matter, its super slept on.

[@mhamadMziRi.]

Macro, we need the "Never gonna stim you up" parody plz

[@TurbulenceOfficial_]

The ballistic shield is awesome against bots if you understand the stupidly bad way to use it... it's not bad when you use it btw, just really weird on how to use it optimally, you want to use the smg of course, and the true trick is to always be walking to the left! that makes the bots shoot a bit more to the left instead of "ramdomly" at your hitbox, making it so its almost fully likely they will not hit you, it also feels really cool to use it tbh... it really goes well if you're trying to go more stealthy and not let enemies call for reinforcements, as you wont be flicking your aim with their shots hitting you, you won't have to reajust your aim that often, meaning you'll shoot more! your personal aim will be of course the only wall to go through XD Edit!: forgot to mention about the glitchy stuff, it was not like that before the latest updates, specifically the railgun nerf one, I stopped using it of course... But I almost always equiped it to fight the socialist robots!! hopefully the devs equip the shield in one mission to see how it's unplayable now lol, and fix it as soon as possible, and hopefully as well give it a buff, making the shield actually protect your head and arm would be nice, it already is bad against explosives, you're vulnerable in the sides, back, and if you're not crouching your legs as well, and if you didn't know it can also be broken by taking too much damage, I honestly never notice when it happens, I think the sound is pretty bad or unexistent... I only know it does cuz I open the map and it's nowhere to be found XD, maybe giving it a tiny bit more health? but well, idk, whenever it broke I always could call for a new one.

[@kiloyolosierra]

Colonel “Bastion” of the Fist Of Democracy here. Remember, it’s not about the stratagem. It’s about how you use it. (Same thing my wife said.)

[@sindrisuncatcher653]

I feel like the starting machinegun is a pretty solid all-arounder. It's got enough armor penetration to get through Hive Guards and Brood Commanders easily, without leaving you defenseless against the little swarms or running out of ammo before you clear a single nest. That's something you can't say about any other man-portable weapons before about level 10. Sure more specialized weapons will always surpass it within their specialty, but if you're a solo player trying to get above difficulty 2 it's likely to be your best friend until you get access to drones. All you need to do to avoid the tesla tower is go prone. The other electric weapon on the other hand needs a long charge up time at short range, so even for tight groups of enemies with no risk of friendly fire it's gonna be slower and more hazardous to your health than just opening up with a machinegun. Cool tho. Also, there's an often overlooked bonus to the machinegun sentry: sure it's not as good as the gatling sentry you get just a couple levels later... but you can only have one gatling sentry. If you have two different sentries to call down, you can have both of them at the same time. Severely disappointed by the (non-rover) laser weapons in this game tho. They take forever to get warmed up properly and then burn out right afterwards, and they don't even seem to cut through armor any better than your starting rifle does?

[@SomeAutomaton]

Honestly, ever since they buffed the ballistic shield backpack I’ve been using it on robot missions more than the laser shield, being able to block a shit ton of bullets without losing it.

[@Edanite]

Orbital Railcannon Strike is the best all faction stratagem I have. Since I play on Suicide most of the time I will always have a use for a 'single delete every few minute DDR combo'. Besides that the Disposable Anti-Tank is amazing against the bugs and okay against bots. One shots a charger in the face, recharges super fast, comes with 2 a drop. Can be used with the ORS to drop a Bile Titan fast. Can be used with a smart team mate to effectively take down dangerous targets in a crowd. The Laser Cannon support weapon is godly against the bots if you know how to use cover and don't get flanked. A mid stream in the face will drop a Devastator. A long stream in the glowing weak spot like the back of a tank or a mounted cannon tower will melt them. The only downside is you have to aim the beam, not the reticule. This is because the beam lands a little off the center of the reticule. Flamethrower is my fave mob clearing bug killer. Fairly risky to use but the output is fantastic. Just try not to stand your ground against 40 hunters unless they are already on you. Other players using the Arc weapons is the reason I now main the anti-arc armour.

[@Accelos]

Wanna make a case for 110 rocket pods for automatons, it actually replaces my orbital rail cannon slot in most automaton maps since I use autocannon/railgun for hulks. That leaves the only real threat to me being tanks and if I'm not packing the new stun nades ( or I run out of em) a 110mm rocket pod will consistently one tap both devastator and annihilator tanks, and is better than railcannon in higher difficulties when they start dropping 3-4 tanks on you per flare. You pack two guys with rocketpods you can kill 6 tanks between the two of you before a short 2 minute cooldown, compared to the two tanks on a 5 min cd for railcannons. I know that it's a general use tier list but, just for anyone who didn't know where it's strong.

[@ethandilworth4679]

To defend the Stalwart, the Machine gun, and the HMG, here are the uses for them. Stalwart: it's incredibly high ammo count, being able to move while reloading, and having one of the highest rpm's of the guns in this game makes it the perfect gun for light to medium enemies especially when their grouped up. Machine gun: being the middle ground of the Stalwart and HMG, the Machine gun is meant for medium enemies and light enemy crowds. HMG: The HMG is the big brother to the Stalwart, it has less ammo capacity and is much heavier but has a much higher dph than the Stalwart and Machine gun making it perfect for medium enemy crowds and damaging large enemies. Personally, I really like the Stalwart as my support weapon to give cover fire but you can have any preference as long as it's not the laser canon, Jk you can have any preference.

[@korben600]

Now that Shriekers are a thing, the laser cannon (which was already placed too low) jumps at least 2 tiers up. The ability to just pass the laser over a shrieker and cut its wing off can’t be understated.

[@GealRaya]

11:35 "you noobs will probably kill you friends more then your enemies" then proceeds to stop on a mine

[@KoalaTContent]

EAT > Recoilless. You can carry a different support weapon AND backpack, dropping in the EAT when you need it, as often as you need it. Swap to the EAT, *delete* target, pick up your main support weapon. Also Stalwart + ammo pack *is* crowd control for bugs, at least up to difficulty 6. It will delete the largest swarms of unarmored enemies. Drop an EAT to kill a charger then go back to mowing with the Stalwart

[@kylologie6487]

I personally have a few issued around how bug focused your list is. The most glaring one is the placements of the anti material rifle and the flamethrower. The flamethrower is effective almost exclusively against bugs and because of its ability to harm yourself and your teammates (yes I know you can dive to get rid of the burning but it still deals the initial damage which can and has killed me and my teammates) as well as its short range i think it should have been placed lower. The amr is mainly useful against bots but is good against bugs and the headshot disadvantage really isn't that much of an issue in my experience because it’s armour piercing, rate of fire and damage hold up in dicey situations. I think the amr could probably be higher and the flamethrower should definitely be lower.