Helldivers 2 weapons tier list and the best guns to use

Our Helldivers 2 weapons tier list ranks the best guns, grenades, and melee tools to slot into your loadout and Stratagem slots for missions. Weapon balancing remains in a broadly good spot, with pretty much all weapons feeling at the very least usable, but many proving to be excellent choices for a range of missions in Helldivers 2.

However, with so many new guns and killing tools arriving through Warbonds and new Superstore stock, three enemy factions to battle, and even weapon attachments, keeping up with which weapons are best can be very difficult. To help you figure out how you should be kitting out your Helldiver, whether that's to fight the Terminids, Automatons, or Illuminate, our Helldivers 2 weapons tier list will give you some useful pointers.

Helldivers 2 weapon tier list

Your basic loadout consists of a primary weapon, secondary weapon, and throwable, and it's highly advised that you also bring along at least one support weapon Stratagem for bonus firepower. The best Helldivers 2 loadouts make great use of all four of these elements, ensuring that you can battle a range of foes in any mission, from squishy swarming enemies to heavily armored behemoths with the best possible weaponry.

Based on our experience wielding the vast armory of Helldivers 2, we’ve sorted every loadout and Stratagem weapon into a tier list, ranging from S-tier (the best weapons that are worth bringing for almost every mission) to D-tier (the least useful weapons that we reckon you should leave on your Super Destroyer). We should also make it clear that our list is referring to base, unmodified weapons, rather than those changed by the Helldivers 2 weapon customization and attachments system.

Helldiver 2 S-tier weapons

Excellent weapons that are perfect for most missions and enemies.

• Primary Weapons:
  • Purifier: It was truly awful when first introduced in the Helldivers 2 Polar Patriots Warbond, but the PLAS-101 Purifier is now a versatile and supremely powerful weapon that works well against any of the game's enemy factions.
  • Scorcher: A simpler version of the Purifier that's been a mainstay for a long time, the Scorcher fires small, explosive energy bolts, dealing very high damage in a small area. The only danger is that its explosive nature means shooting enemies close up can kill you too so keep your distance!
  • Sickle: This energy-based AR from the Helldivers 2 Cutting Edge Warbond is very reliable with its extremely low recoil and good fire rate. It's damage isn't incredible but it also has theoretically infinite ammo if you effectively manage its cooling.
  • Cookout: Added with the Helldivers 2 Freedom's Flame Warbond, this shotgun isn't the spray and pray chaos of the Incendiary Breaker used to be. Instead it delivers punchy gouts of fire damage with a constant and controllable rate of fire.
• Secondary weapons:
  • Grenade Pistol: This sidearm fires a single grenade, dealing solid damage across its blast radius. It suffers from low ammo reserves but is worth taking if you're using stun or gas grenades so that you don't miss out on some explosive power.
• Support weapons (Stratagems):
  • Railgun: Devastating single-shot weapon that deals extremely high damage when overcharged in Unsafe Mode. Focusing on headshots and weak spots for maximum effect.
  • Quasar Cannon: An extremely powerful energy weapon that fires a massive laser blast. It even has infinite ammo and doesn't need a backpack. Excellent against big, armored enemies, but power is offset by a significant cooldown time between shots.
  • Flamethrower: Arguably the best weapon for dealing with organic enemies, especially hordes. The massive cloud of fire can incinerate groups of shambling Illuminate Voteless, swarms of small Terminids, and even some larger bugs at close-to-medium range. The Enhanced Combustion Helldivers 2 Ship Module makes it even better. Just try not to set yourself on fire.
  • Autocannon: A powerful and highly versatile full-auto cannon with excellent range and shots powerful enough to destroy structures and heavy armor. Requires a backpack but holds loads of ammo.
  • Commando: An expendable rocket launcher that holds four rockets that can be somewhat controlled after firing thanks to laser guidance. It combines some of the benefits of the Expendable Anti-Tank and the Spear, making it great for dealing with large, armored enemies.
  • Spear: 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, Dropships, and Helldivers 2 Bile Titans.
• Throwables:
  • Gas grenade: The G-4 Gas grenade from the Helldivers 2 Chemical Agents Warbond is spectacular against all enemy factions, dealing damage, slowing, and confusing any enemies caught in its toxic cloud.

Helldivers 2 A-tier weapons

Great weapons with minor drawbacks or specific niches.

• Primary weapons:
  • Double-Edge Sickle: This bigger sickle is part of the Helldivers 2 Servants of Freedom Warbond, and rather than do more damage, it has a bigger window before overheating. Not only that, but firing while it's overheated causes it to damage both you and anybody around you. It's powerful and good against hordes, but that's a serious pay-off. Pair it with a sidearm or Stratagem weapon you can use reliably for the best result - you know, in all those times you don't want to burn yourself.
  • StA-11 SMG: A manageable, high-capacity, high fire rate SMG straight from Killzone.
  • Jar-5 Dominator: This slow but powerful shotgun fires jet propelled rounds that hit like a truck, trading fire rate and control for stopping power and medium armor penetration.
  • Incendiary Breaker: A version of the Breaker that's more specialized against organic enemies thanks to extra fire damage. Not perfect for every situation but it's very good against Terminids.
  • Blitzer: The Blitzer fires short-range arcs of electricity and needs to be charged between shots, giving it a pump-action shotgun feel. It's useful for applying a weak stun effect and can kill several weak enemies at once. It's biggest benefit is its infinite ammo but it can be inconsistent due to the way the electricity arcs leap to other enemies.
  • Diligence: A solid ranged rifle that's good for pinpoint shooting at enemy weak points - it's especially good against Automatons with small unarmored heads.
  • Eruptor: The best weapon in the Helldivers 2 Democratic Detonation Warbond, the Eruptor is a bolt-action rifle that fires exploding shrapnel shells that can wipe out clusters of weak enemies and even dent heavy armor. However, it's cumbersome and careless use will result in injuring yourself and your teammates.
  • Exploding Crossbow: An unusual weapon with a slow fire rate and low capacity but a surprising explosive punch. It won't be to everyone's taste but it's certainly good.
  • Punisher Plasma: Behaving more like a plasma grenade launcher than a shotgun, this weapon takes some getting used to but its medium-armor-penetrating explosive power makes it great against tougher enemies from any faction.
  • Breaker: While not as powerful as it was at launch, it's still a solid shotgun but requires a bit of care and precision rather than spraying and praying.
  • Pacifier: Available in the Helldivers 2 Force of Law Warbond, the Pacifier assault rifle feels like a nice all-rounder with manageable recoil and a large 40-round magazine. It's stunning rounds are also quite handy for keeping larger Terminids and Illuminate at bay!
  • Tenderizer: This rifle trades magazine size for more stopping power, dealing the most damage per shot of any assault rifle.
• Secondary weapons:
  • Senator Pistol: A heavy revolver that preserves ammo and can dent the most robust enemies thanks to heavy armor penetration. A very solid option if you've got good aim.
  • Loyalist: Like having a pocket Purifier on you, the Loyalist is good to bring if you want some explosive plasma power to make up for your primary weapon or grenade.
  • Crisper: This short range, pistol-style flamethrower secondary is great if you want fire damage sometimes, and don't want to sacrifice your primary weapon to get it. Useful to pull out if you're in a close range huddle of enemies.
  • Talon: Essentially a pocket sniper with decent accuracy, but the heatsink prevents you from spamming it too often. It’s good at picking off targets, and if you leave some time between shots you can effectively keep firing it without interruption. An excellent option for sidearm enthusiasts.
• Support weapons (Stratagems):
  • Expendable Anti-Tank: A decent way to clear armored enemies in a hurry and doesn't require a backpack. Benefits from an extremely short cooldown so can be called in more frequently than any other support weapon Stratagem.
  • Anti-Materiel Rifle: A lethal, high-caliber sniper rifle that can be used to break armor and deal distant damage without much struggle. A great low-level Railgun substitute and useful against the Automatons.
  • Grenade Launcher: A high-capacity grenade launcher that's very good against medium-tier enemies and can be used to destroy nests and fabricators. Just don't fire it at close range as the grenades will bounce unpredictably!
  • De-escalator: The mix of explosive damage and arcing electricity make this grenade launcher excellent for large groups of pretty much any enemy type, but you need to carefully work around its six-round drum and per-round reload, which has its pros and cons.
  • Recoilless Rifle: A rocket launcher that deals high damage to any enemy and can destroy lots of structures. Excels when coordinating with an ally and having them rapidly feed you rockets but is cumbersome otherwise.
• Throwables:
  • Stun Grenade: The Stun Grenade in the Cutting Edge Warbond deals no damage but temporarily stuns enemies over a wide radius. An effective crowd control option, particularly against Automatons.
  • High Explosive Grenade: The starting grenade is one of the best, trading a larger blast radius for by high damage and heavy armor penetration.
  • Incendiary Grenade: A firebomb used for area denial. Decent in extractions or defense missions and particularly good for burning organic enemies.
  • Thermite: Burns whatever it sticks to for several seconds before exploding. Requires good aim to be effective as failing to stick an enemy with it makes it quite useless, but it's an excellent anti-armor grenade.

Helldiver B-tier weapons

Good weapons that can serve you well with the right loadout and playstyle.

• Primary weapons:
  • StA-52: The Helldivers 2 Killzone crossover assault rifle deals similar damage to the Liberator but has a faster fire rate and larger magazine, although it's balanced by more unwieldy recoil.
  • Punisher: A slow-firing but punchy shotgun that has the benefit (and drawback) of reloading per shot, removing ammo waste but also slowing reloads.
  • Halt: A shotgun from the Helldivers 2 Truth Enforcers Warbond that uses two types of ammo you load independently, meaning you can empty both ammo types before needing to reload. It deals great stun damage on medium armored enemies but is less effective against heavy armor.
  • Slugger: A Punisher variant that fires high-damage slugs. Good for dealing with mid-tier enemies at close range thanks to its medium armor penetration.
  • Torcher: This shorter range primary flamethrower is pretty good when dealing with close- up but it's obviously quite specialized for a primary weapon.
  • Deadeye: A lever-action marksman rifle that currently does the highest damage of its weapon type. It rewards accuracy, but its slow reload time and fire rate prevents it from being truly great.
  • Reprimand: An SMG that is very effective against Automatons and has strong base stats and medium armor penetration.
  • Pummeller: A solid SMG that fires concussive rounds that have a stunning effect on enemies.
  • Adjudicator: A decent assault rifle with medium armor penetration limited by a small magazine and difficult recoil.
  • Defender: An SMG that can be used one-handed and is quite similar to the standard Liberator. Decent against close hordes or as a quick response.
  • Knight: A quick SMG with a very high fire rate and one-handed option. Eats through ammo quickly, but lethal at close range.
  • Diligence Counter Sniper: A bigger, punchier version of the Diligence that doubles down on its strengths but requires a stable firing position to be accurate.
  • Accelerator Rifle: A powerful sniper weapon that is somewhat hamstrung by its long range focus. Its good, but you have to lean into the sniper playstyle for maximum effectiveness.
• Secondary weapons:
  • Ultimatum: A short-range launcher that fires an incredibly powerful explosive, but only has two shots before you run out of ammo - plus the short range risks killing you in the blast if you don't angle it upwards. Still, it can vaporize a spawn point instantly, and in maps with lots of ammo it can stay useful.
  • Bushwhacker: This triple barrel shotgun sidearm can fire one or all of its barrels for precision and power. It's great up close its light armor penetration means it can't take on the toughest enemies.
  • Warrant: The Warrant is a premium Superstore weapon that's pretty punchy with medium armor penetration and the fun (but also a bit finnicky) gimmick of having guided rounds - it's essentially the Titanfall Smart Pistol, if you've played that.
  • Verdict: A high-caliber pistol with medium armor penetration and good damage. Might be preferable to the Senator if you're after a more conventional pistol setup.
  • Dagger Pistol: A pocket version of the Scythe that's effective against weak enemies and can quickly ignite or finish off mid-tier enemies. Also benefits from the theoretically infinite ammo of laser weaponry if you can manage its heat build-up.
  • Redeemer Pistol: A fast-firing machine pistol that chews up ammo, but also enemies at close range. Reliably cuts through unarmored enemies and can be drawn and fired quickly.
• Support weapons (Stratagems):
  • Arc Thrower: A charging lightning gun that has truly infinite ammo and sends out shocks that leaps between enemies (and allies). It's got great range and a decent stunning effect, making it good for crowd control, but can be inconsistent when it comes to killing larger enemies.
  • Laser Cannon: A laser beam weapon that, like the Quasar Cannon, has no backpack and infinite ammo (in theory). Cooks all enemies but Automatons are especially susceptible to it.
  • Stalwart: A weaker machine gun that clears smaller enemies effectively thanks to a huge magazine and high fire rate. Great against swarms of enemies and you can move while reloading.
  • Machine Gun: A rapid-fire, high-capacity weapon that packs a punch, but is both cumbersome and sometimes hard to control. You're also dangerously immobile while reloading.
• Throwables:
  • Frag Grenade: A small explosive that trades power for blast size, with extra shrapnel damage. Suited for clearing groups, especially bugs, and you can hold up to five of them.
  • Incendiary Impact grenade: This grenade explodes on impact, coating enemies and the surrounding area with white phosphorus which then damage enemies that pass through it. Good for battlefield control.
  • Impact Grenade: An explosive that detonates on impact rather than after a set fuse time, making it suited for precision blasts with heavy armor penetration, though its damage is relatively low.

Helldiver 2 C-tier weapons

Average weapons that are usable but far from being must-picks:

• Primary weapons:
  • Liberator: Standard starting assault rifle – solid when you're starting out but its generalist performance means it gets outshone by plenty of other weapons in specific circumstances.
  • Spray and Pray Breaker: A Breaker variant with a larger magazine, faster fire rate, and duckbill choke, making its spread pattern a horizontal line.
  • Liberator Carbine: An assault rifle that feels more like an SMG. It ups the fire rate for more DPS but is harder to control as a result.
  • Amendment: Featuring in the Helldivers 2 Masters of Ceremony Warbond, the Amendment can be fun to use with its bayonet and high damage, but isn't the best marksman rifle due to its poor ergonomics and is let down by having only light armor penetration.
  • Liberator Penetrator: The basic Liberator but with slightly worse stats, balanced by medium armor penetration. A bit meh, frankly.
  • Scythe: A highly accurate and easy-to-use laser beam weapon that can ignite enemies but is serviceable overall.
• Secondary weapons:
  • Stun Lance: This stun lance deals decent damage for a secondary, and certainly packs a punch when fighting against hordes. Its fast attack speed also makes it a great utility for destroying Illuminate shields.
  • Saber: A stylish melee weapon that can easily cut down weak foes but leaves you quite vulnerable to getting hit in retaliation.
  • Stun Baton: A melee cattle prod that hits faster but is shorter range than the CQC Lance. Not great when you look at other options.
  • Combat Hatchet: Another melee weapon that's very similar to the Stun Baton but can't stun. It's just not that remarkable as a damage dealer, considering the threat melee range puts you in.
• Support weapons (Stratagems):
  • Heavy Machine Gun: An incredibly powerful gun that's also incredibly hard to aim, the recoil throwing the sights upwards, somehow even more than the normal machine gun. You'll need to stay crouched to use this effectively and be prepared to spend a lot of time reloading.
  • Airburst Rocket Launcher: Fires proximity detonation rockets that then release a hail of cluster bombs in a wide area. Very powerful, especially against aerial enemies such as Helldivers 2 Shriekers, but massively likely to cause friendly-fire incidents. Be very careful.
  • Sterilizer: A flamethrower-style weapon that sprays harmful blinding and slowing gas. Not awful but Gas grenades are a more useful format.
  • WASP Launcher: A multi-missile launcher with lock-on features like the Spear but it's just not great to use.
• Throwables:
  • Dynamite: A stick of dynamite that lets you adjust the fuse time by holding down the reload button. Useful for setting up traps if you need some time before detonation, but it’s not worth bringing over other throwables.
  • Urchin: A shocking grenade that can stick to enemies like Thermite sounds great, especially for bigger targets, but it's just not as useful as stunning an entire group with a regular Stun or Gas Grenade.

Helldivers 2 D-tier weapons

Weapons whose performance is sub-par and aren't worth packing in your loadout:

• Primary weapons:
  • Liberator Concussive: An unremarkable explosive version of the standard Liberator with a massive drum magazine that doesn't really live up to the promise and is functional at best.
  • Constitution: The antique tech of the Constitution makes for a powerful but awkward primary weapon. Even though it has a fun bayonet, there are better marksman rifles available.
• Secondary weapons:
  • Peacemaker: Fine in a pinch but you should fill your secondary slot with any other sidearm as soon as possible.
  • Stim Pistol: While it's nice to live out the medic fantasy, there are other ways to help out your team when it comes to healing and it's not worth giving up your secondary slot for this tool.
• Support weapons (Stratagems):
  • One True Flag: It's just a fancy spear melee weapon with a Super Earth flag. It's undemocratic of us to say, but this is quite useless, particularly as it takes up a Stratagem slot.
• Throwables:
  • Seeker: A throwable drone that flies at opponents too close to you, but prioritizes those you ping. Not reliable or damaging enough to be worth the gimmick.
  • Pyrotech grenade: This firework is essentially a worse Incendiary grenade. It's not awful, but there are better options.
  • Throwing Knife: General opinion on the throwing knife is that it's fun to use but doesn't really have a clear purpose as a grenade alternative. It's not stealthy, can't be retrieved and isn't always a one hit kill.
  • Smoke grenade: Creates a cloud of smoke that can mask you from enemies or help you escape - something that rarely is a focus in Helldivers 2.

Of course, if you need to actually get any of these weapons, we've explained how to unlock weapons in Helldivers 2 here. Obviously, your chosen loadout is also supported by several other Stratagems that can rain destruction on the enemies of Super Earth. We've laid out the best Helldivers 2 Stratagems if you want tips there too.

Best Helldivers 2 weapons for Illuminate

The best weapons for the Illuminate in Helldivers 2 means dealing with horde melee units and powerful ranged enemies. As such, you’ll want a loadout that brings weapons that are useful for crowd control, but also pack a punch against shielded foes.

Here’s what we recommend using for the Iluminate in Helldivers 2:

• Cookout shotgun: If you can watch your ammo, the SG-451 is effective against nearly everything the Illuminate will throw at you and deals great fire damage. Use the Breaker if you don’t have access to this weapon.
• Purifier: The explosive damage and charging power of the PLAS-101 Purifier means it can deal with most of the Illuminate's foot soldiers.
• Anti-Materiel Rifle: If you have a decent aim, a well–placed headshot will make quick work of any shielded enemies. We wouldn’t recommend using it for Voteless crowds though, so pair it with a good secondary or Stratagem that works against them.
• Flamethrower: Devastating against Voteless hordes, but also decimates other stronger Illuminate units.
• Senator: Despite it being a secondary, don’t underestimate this revolver’s uses against shielded enemies - especially Harvesters.

Best Helldivers 2 weapons for Automatons

Bots in are the more heavily-armored Helldivers 2 faction and tend to fight at range, occasionally with glowing weak spots that need to be targeted, and are best fought with any of the following weapons:

• Railgun: If you're a high enough level to get it, this armor penetrating Stratagem can be used to two-shot Helldivers 2 Hulks if you hit their glowing, red eye (assuming you'll risk the Unsafe mode).
• Sickle: A laser weapon that shreds through bots and is highly accurate, making it great for focusing on tiny heads.
• Quasar Cannon: An all-round beast when it comes to destroying anything Automaton, including the bulkiest units, aerial vehicles, and even Fabricators.
• Spear: The lock-on works on most large types of bots and can effectively target things like cannon turrets and fabricators. It's ammo is quite limited, but with such powerful rockets, every shot is practically guaranteed to be useful.
• Scorcher/Purifier: Robots are more vulnerable to energy weapons, and the Scorcher and Purifier are top of their class.

Best Helldivers 2 weapons for Terminids

Terminids in Helldivers 2 fight at close-range, appear in great numbers, and have a vulnerability to fire. You should use any of the following against bugs:

• Flamethrower: A great weapon for keeping bugs back, even heavily-armored Terminids like Helldivers 2 Chargers. Just be aware of it setting the ground on fire.
• Cookout shotgun: There's so much fire with this thing it can sometimes be hard to tell what's happening, but it's great against bugs.
• Sickle: Spray and pray while managing your cooling to blast those weaker bugs apart.
• Incendiary Breaker: This fiery version of one of the game's best weapons is well-suited for killing bugs, but it's limited ammo can be an issue. The regular Breaker is also great if you don't have this version.
• Stalwart: When holding back hordes of insects, a rapid-fire machine gun that rarely need to be reloaded is a good bet, especially if you can still maintain some mobility for backing up.

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