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Our Helldivers 2 support weapon tier list ranks every Stratagem weapon's performance against all three factions, helping you decide what to bring. Thanks to various Helldivers 2 updates and Warbond releases over the years, the list of support weapons is now massive, which means there's a frankly overwhelming amount of choice. However, there are also several really good options, whether you're after a general-purpose support weapon that you can bring on every mission or something focused on killing the biggest and baddest targets. Here's our breakdown of the best support weapons in HD2, so you can literally get the most bang for your buck.
Best Helldivers 2 support weapons
The best support weapon in Helldivers 2 overall is arguably the Expendable Anti-Tank, but Support Weapons are so contextual that it's pretty hard to pick a universal "best" option. Still, the EAT is very good, able to be deployed quickly, often, and do major damage to a single target, smashing through armor in the process. The fact that it can be called in and used disposably means you can also have a second Support on your back if you just drop it for a moment, then swap back straight afterwards.
That being said, there are plenty of other powerful options that could strongly be considered for the top slot. Here are some very potent options to consider:
- Commando (Patriotic Administration Centre)
- Recoilless Rifle (Patriotic Administration Centre)
- Railgun (Patriotic Administration Centre)
- Grenade Launcher (Engineering Bay)
- Quasar Cannon (Engineering Bay)
- Speargun (Helldivers 2 Dust Devils)
- C4 Pack (Helldivers 2 Redacted Regiment)
- Leveller (Helldivers 2 Siege Breakers)
- Cremator (Helldivers 2 Entrenched Division)
Of course, your Support weapon choice should be considered in the context of the rest of your Helldivers 2 loadout, what you have equipped accordingly. For example, the Grenade Launcher is great, but probably a lot less necessary if you have the Grenade Pistol as part of your loadout. For more help on choosing the rest of your loadout, see below!
Helldivers 2 support weapon tier list
If you want more detail on each of the support weapons in Helldivers 2 and how they hold up against all three factions, we've got the key details below. Each weapon is categorised into several tiers, based on how they perform against certain enemy types.
- S-Tier: Game-changing support weapons that dominate the meta against those factions.
- A-Tier: Excellent options that may have minor issues or just aren't quite as potent as the S-tier.
- B-Tier: Solid support weapons that serve a specific function or have notable flaws to be worked around.
- C-Tier: Average support weapons choices that work passably, but don't excel and are hard to recommend.
- D-Tier: Support weapons that aren't fit for purpose against a specific faction and can't justify their inclusion in a loadout.
Weapon | Terminids | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Airburst Rocket Launcher | Terminids: B | Fires proximity detonation cluster bomb or flak rockets that saturate a wide area. Very powerful against enemies that lack armor and hordes (particularly swarms of Helldivers 2 Shriekers) but it's not very easy to use and is massively likely to cause friendly-fire incidents. Be very careful. |
Anti-Materiel Rifle | Terminids: D | A lethal, high-caliber sniper rifle that can be used to break armor and deal distant damage without much struggle. A good low-level Railgun substitute and useful against the Automatons, but performs poorly against the other factions. |
Arc Thrower | Terminids: D | A lightning gun that has truly infinite ammo but needs to be charged to fire and send out a shock that leaps between enemies (and allies). It's got good range and a decent stunning effect, but the lightning doesn't chain to as many enemies as you hope it would, or deal as much damage. |
Autocannon | Terminids: B | A versatile full-auto cannon with excellent range that can fire armor-piercing rounds for high-damage or flak rounds that trade damage for a larger area of effect. However, it also has an ammo backpack and you'll frequently be stuck with its stationary reload. |
Belt-Fed Grenade Launcher | Terminids: D | A rapid-fire grenade launcher with a backpack that continuously feeds it ammo. It sounds great but low ammo reserves and poor damage compared to the normal Grenade Launcher mean it's not great, even though you never have to reload. It's also cumbersome but doesn't lock you down like the Maxigun. |
Bullet Storm | Terminids: A | The Bullet Storm from the Helldivers 2 Exo Experts Warbond is the ultimate spray-and-pray weapon and is great against squishy hordes since it doesn't require reloading, has a massive ammo capacity, and is expendable. The cooldown time is also very short and since you get two per Hellpod, you can have a near endless supply. |
Breaching Hammer | Terminids: C | The Breaching Hammer is incredibly powerful, even capable of demolishing Automaton fabricators and Illuminate Warp Ships, but, since it's a melee weapon, using it against the Terminids and Illuminate isn't a good idea. The Warp Pack, Shield Generator Pack, or Jump Pack are essential if you want to use the hammer effectively. |
C4 Pack | Terminids: A | A backpack that comes with six sticky explosive charges that can be lobbed out and detonated all at once. It's great for stealth builds and you can kill basically anything with enough C4, including some structures. But be aware that it also takes up your support weapon slot because of the detonator, so you limit your loadout options a bit. |
Cremator | Terminids: S | The Cremator is the sole support weapon of the Helldivers 2 Entrenched Division Warbond and is a doozy. Sacrificing your backpack slot gets you a large fuel tank for continuous fire-spraying and heavy armor penetration to melt more robust enemies faster than the regular flamethrower. |
Commando | Terminids: A | An expendable rocket launcher that holds four rockets that can be laser-guided after firing. Being expendable means it has an inherently short cooldown too but is balanced by relatively low per-rocket damage, but it's still an excellent alternative to the Expendable Anti-Tank. |
De-Escalator | Terminids: C | The mix of explosive damage and arcing electricity make this seem good but it's not great overall. You also need to bear its painfully slow per-round reload if you're using it. The regular Grenade Launcher is far better. |
Defoliation Tool | Terminids: C | The Defoliation Tool deals good damage and benefits from increasing armor penetration, from medium to heavy, the longer you continuously shred the same enemy, but getting up close with enemies to hack them up isn't advisable. It can be fun but the hammer is better! |
Epoch | Terminids: B | Like a souped-up Purifier and Punisher Plasma, this launcher fires a hefty anti-tank plasma projectile with a noticeable drop. You can rapidly fire low-power shots or charge up a few more powerful ones before needing to reload, but charge it up for too long and the Epoch will explode and kill you. |
Expendable Anti-Tank | Terminids: A | A simple rocket launcher that you chuck away after firing its single rocket. It deals hefty damage, but not as much as the Recoilless Rifle. However, it also doesn't take up a backpack slot, and has a very short cooldown, letting you call it in very frequently. You also get two launchers per call-in. |
Expendable Napalm | Terminids: B | It's not as universally useful as the Expendable Anti-Tank but can be useful against the bugs and squishy Illuminate enemies. Just be aware of its surprising fire shrapnel detonation radius that can result in friendly-fire incidents. |
Flamethrower | Terminids: A | One of the best weapon for dealing with organic enemies, such as shambling Illuminate Voteless, swarms of small Terminids, and even some larger bugs at close-to-medium range. Just try not to set yourself on fire. However, there are weapons in the Helldivers 2 Freedom's Flame Warbond that are as good if not better. |
Grenade Launcher | Terminids: S | A high-capacity grenade launcher that's very good against practically all enemies - it recently gained heavy armor penetration and is now exceptionally good. You can use it destroy nest holes, fabricators, andwarp ships too! Just don't fire it at close range as the grenades will bounce unpredictably. |
Heavy Machine Gun | Terminids: C | A powerful machine gun that can damage most enemies but has considerable recoil, a surprisingly small magazine, tiny reserves, and a very slow stationary reload. You'll need to stay crouched to use this effectively and be prepared to spend a lot of time reloading. |
Laser Cannon | Terminids: C | A laser beam weapon that has no backpack and infinite ammo (in theory). Requires good aim on a target to keep up damage while the laser is firing, and even set them on fire, but the damage isn't that great overall. There are better options available. |
Leveller | Terminids: A | An expendable rocket launcher that fires a large warhead, that deals massive damage in a large area, balanced with a very limited range due to projectile drop. While you only get one launcher per hellpod, it is in a relatively short cooldown, and there is little a direct hit can't destroy. |
Machine Gun | Terminids: B | A rapid-fire, high-capacity gun that packs a punch with medium armor penetration and works surprisingly well against the Illuminate. However it's quite cumbersome and forces you to perform dangerous stationary reloads. |
Maxigun | Terminids: D | Nothing spews bullets more than the Maxigun, but it comes at a significant cost. It has to briefly spin up before firing, it has very high recoil that makes it hard to control, you can't move or dodge while firing, and you can get through the ammo backpack quite quickly. |
One True Flag | Terminids: D | A pointless melee weapon that is a total waste of a Stratagem slot. You should never use the flag unless you are a committed role-player who wants to rub their support for Super Earth into the faces of the enemy. |
Quasar Cannon | Terminids: S | A very powerful energy weapon that fires a high-speed, anti-tank laser blast. It has a long cooling period after firing a shot, but has infinite ammo and doesn't need a backpack, which makes it a fantastic alternative to the Recoilless Rifle and such. |
Railgun | Terminids: A | Single-shot weapon that deals high damage when overcharged in Unsafe Mode. It's pinpoint accurate too meaning it demands good aim for maximum effect, focusing on headshots and weak spots. |
Recoilless Rifle | Terminids: A | A rocket launcher that deals high damage to enemies and structures - it's simple and effective. However, it has an ammo backpack and a slow stationary reload, so you need to be careful or get a buddy to help with a team reload. |
Solo Silo | Terminids: D | A Stratagem that sounds great but is underwhelming in practice. The missile is very powerful but impractical, especially when you're fighting the Terminids or Illuminate as melee units can easily destroy the silo. |
Spear | Terminids: B | An anti-armor rocket launcher that cannot be fired without a target lock - very specialised, but very deadly against heavily-armored enemies such as Helldivers 2 Tanks and Helldivers 2 Bile Titans. Bear in mind that targeting can be finnicky against certain enemies, particularly Helldivers 2 Factory Striders. |
Speargun | Terminids: S | The impaling spears are solid in terms of damage but the gas clouds they release after impact are what make this weapon so great. You can shroud an area in noxious clouds that confuse most enemies and dissolve hordes, making the Speargun a superb crowd control weapon - the spears can even destroy nest holes and warp ships! |
Stalwart | Terminids: A | A weaker machine gun with light armor penetration that rips through smaller enemies and hordes thanks to a huge magazine and high fire rate. You can move while reloading too, unlike the other machine guns. |
Sterilizer | Terminids: D | A flamethrower-style weapon that sprays harmful, blinding and slowing gas. Sounds good but is actually quite useless. Gas grenades and the Speargun are far, far better. |
WASP Launcher | Terminids: D | A multi-missile launcher with lock-on features that isn't the most intuitive to use but can still output good damage. The WASP's main problem is it has low ammo reserves, so you can't use it much, and its impractical against the Terminids |
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