Best weapons in Helldivers 2, tier list for early & late game unlocks
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Last updated
15th Apr 2024 11:29
You can't spread liberty and freedom across the stars in Helldivers 2 without a bunch of deadly weapons, so you may want to know exactly which pieces of equipment you should be using on higher difficulties.
The game is a third-person squad shooter where you drop into planets to take on hordes of enemies and complete various objectives. Lead, lasers, and explosives are all you really need to achieve your goals - and there's plenty of them to unlock.
That said, not all guns are created equally in this game, so I've put together a tier list ranking my favourites at the top, and the ones not worth bothering with at the bottom. After all, how else will we spread freedom across the galaxy?!
Editor Note: Updated on April 15, 2024 to add the Democratic Detonation Warbond weapons.
Best standard weapons tier list
| Tier | Weapon name |
| S |
|
| A |
|
| B |
|
| C |
|
| D |
|
I've not included Stratagems in the above list because they're almost in a league of their own, but make sure to check out our Stratagem tier list to see how we rank them.
Like with all online games, updates will change this list all the time (as we've already seen with Patch 01.000.100) so check back regularly for the latest standings.
How to unlock more weapons
Click to enlargeUnlocking new weapons in Helldivers 2 requires you to spend Medals on your chosen item in the Warbonds menu.
To access the War Bonds menu, follow these steps:
- From your ship, press R on the keyboard or Square on PlayStation to enter the 'Acquisition Centre'
- Select 'Warbonds'
- Pick a Warbond (Helldivers Mobilise! and Steeled Veterans are the only ones currently available)
- In this new menu, choose an item you want to unlock and spend the necessary Medals
As you complete more pages on the Warbonds menu, you can begin to access more weapons and other items like cosmetics. Each new page also requires a specific amount of Medals to have been spent first.
As I said above, Medals are a key part of the process of acquiring new weapons, and to get them you just need to keep playing the game.
Completing Operations, individual missions, and Orders will reward you with plenty of Medals consistently. Higher difficulty levels also reward you more of them.
How to change Primary and Secondary weapons
You can pick up weapons when out on missions by pressing the button prompt on the screen, but to change your loadout you will have to do it before you begin your task. Follow the steps below to find out how:
- Once on your ship, go to the Armoury section of the ship which is on the left in the middle
- Once Armoury is open, go to the Weaponry tab
- Here you will find the Primary and Secondary weapons options - select the one you wish to change
- Now a list of weapons will appear, simply choose which one you want to equip and away you go
To switch between your Primary and Secondary weapons during a mission, you just have to press Triangle on the PS5. On PC, 1 is your Primary weapon and 2 is your Secondary.
Full weapons list
Standard weapons
Click to enlargeThe following weapons can be equipped for your character before you enter into combat:
Pistols
- P-2 Peacemaker
- P-4 Senator
- P-19 Redeemer
- LAS-7 Dagger
- GP-31 Grenade Pistol
Assault Rifles
- AR-23 Liberator
- AR-23P Liberator Penetrator
- AR-23C Liberator Concussive
Shotguns
- SG-225 Breaker
- SG-8 Punisher
- SG-8S Slugger
- SG-225SP Breaker Spray & Pray
- SG-225IE Breaker Incendiary
- SG-8P Punisher Plasma
- ARC-12 Blitzer
SMGs
- SMG-37 Defender
- MP-98 Knight
Explosive
- JAR-5 Dominator
- R-36 Eruptor
- CB-9 Exploding Crossbow
Marksman Rifles
- R-63 Diligence
- R-63CS Diligence Counter Sniper
- Br-14 Adjudicator
Energy-Based
- LAS-5 Scythe
- PLAS-1 Scorcher
- LAS-16 Sickle
Grenades
- G-6 Frag
- G-12 High Explosive
- G-16 Impact
- G-3 Smoke
- G-10 Incendiary
- G-23 Stun
- G-123 Thermite
Support weapons
Click to enlargeThese weapons are considered to be Support, meaning they can only be used by equipping them as Stratagems and calling them down during a mission:
Patriotic Administration Centre
- MG-43 Machine Gun
- APW-1 Anti-Materiel Rifle
- M-105 Stalwart
- EAT-17 Expendable Anti-Tank
- Gr-8 Recoilless Rifle
- FLAM-40 Flamethrower
- AC-8 Autocannon
- MG-206 Heavy Machine Gun
- RS-422 Railgun
- FAF-14 Spear
Engineering Bay
- GL-21 Grenade Launcher
- LAS-98 Laser Cannon
- ARC-3 ARC Thrower
- LAS-99 Quasar Cannon
More guns are likely to be added to the game with future updates and seasons, so I'll make sure to keep this up-to-date with all the latest weaponry.
Check out our Helldivers 2 homepage for more guides. We've also covered the trophy list, how to farm Samples, the Stratagem tier list, and how to get Super Credits for free.
