The armor on everything is overwhelming

[Crayzus]

It seems all of the primary guns we are given are only good against light armor. Well everything in the damn game is heavy vehicle armor. I think the bugs need some more weak spots on the front at the very least. I spend all my time running around trying to shoot them from behind it's pretty annoying.

[DMesse]

When in doubt, bring more explosives. If that don't work, stack more explosives, this time accurately on target instead of splash damage.

[McFuzz]

Once you reach level 10 you unlock the autocannon. It's still only good at medium armor, but makes a big dent on everything from the shield bugs to the charger. It really raises your AT game, and generally increases the team's destructiveness despite its penetration limitations.

Or bring more AT lol.

[ZealousSteven]

Only real peeve is the EAT-17 now gets really outclassed by the recoilless launcher. The strategy for this game is to open weak points on bugs for standard guns or disable weapons on bots, to then shoot them in the back with standard guns. Mostly manageable, but back in the day an EAT-17 call in could be significantly reduced with stratagem priority and would usually guarantee two quick kills While the recoilless launcher was better if you had two people. Now I can just bring a reoilless and even if no one takes the pack, I can shoot an armored target at range, reload, and relocate before they can kill me.

[Microcosm]

Explosives, autocannon, and teamwork.

[Ronin]

The majority of the bugs aren't even armoured lol. The Hive Guard is the most armoured "low level" bug and it's extremely easy to target it's weak spots. Recoilless rifle and rocket launcher will take chunks out of heavy armour, leaving it vulnerable to small arms fire. The single best way to kill a Charger or Giant Bile Spewer is with a resource pod or drop pod landing square on it's back. If you hit them on the side, it will also tear off a chunk of the armour and leave it vulnerable. Remember, you're just an expendable grunt and team work against the bigger bugs is key. Also grenades work very well because they have no armour on their underside. If you feel like a bad ass and time it right, you can dive under a Charger and unload a clip into their underside before they turn and stomp you - better to die than display cowardice or doubt!

[Aedwynn]

There is no teamwork in solo game...
Game has glaring issues when you play it solo.
Stratagems won't stick to enemies, most armored enemy types are open to flanking/rear fire that is quite hard (not impossible I must say) to pull off solo.

[McFuzz]

Originally posted by Ronin:

The majority of the bugs aren't even armoured lol. The Hive Guard is the most armoured "low level" bug and it's extremely easy to target it's weak spots.

Also important to note about the hive guard is that I've never seen it ever actually do anything remotely harmful to anyone lol. Least threatening enemy in game.

[Superbluedog]

Originally posted by Aedwynn:

There is no teamwork in solo game...
Game has glaring issues when you play it solo.
Stratagems won't stick to enemies, most armored enemy types are open to flanking/rear fire that is quite hard (not impossible I must say) to pull off solo.

Conserdering there are several weapons that almost requre 2 people to operate makes me wanna say this game wasn't centered around the solo experience. As someone who has been playing some solo (in quickplay with others) building a kit that can help you deal with the big boys isn't too bad. Really its the small stuff overrunning that ends up being my issue but typically most randos in que have issues with the big guys and like to shred small guys so I fit in perfect. Loadout I use atm is Anti-Materiel Rifle, Ammo Pack, Orbital EMS and Orbital Precision. Only level 9 so some improvements to be made, but this works wonders at CCing large enemies/large groups of enemies, and letting you bean sniper shots into the butts of Chargers. Maybe this will help some. Oh and run light armor with 30% aggro reduction. Helps keep the big guys chasing the randos for even more back shots.

Anti-mat>Recoilless and Auto Cannon due to faster reloads and open back slot.

Supply pack so you can be a "Teamplayer" by stealing all the ammo drops. Share with team but this gives you emergency stim/grenade reserves in rough situations. Note you can refill the back pack with the ammo drops so use ammo drop on CD for your team and refill your back pack.

EMS for CC

Orbital Percision for 1 shot big guys if direct hit. (Easier in CC but not guaranteed in heat of battle)

Railgun might replace Anti-mat at level 20, IDK.

[TheSuit]

Originally posted by McFuzz:

Once you reach level 10 you unlock the autocannon. It's still only good at medium armor, but makes a big dent on everything from the shield bugs to the charger. It really raises your AT game, and generally increases the team's destructiveness despite its penetration limitations.

Or bring more AT lol.

Problem is recoiless rifle massive nerf
They took this amazing RPG - and nerfed it into non existence

[Jaevwyn]

Originally posted by Superbluedog:

Originally posted by Aedwynn:

There is no teamwork in solo game...
Game has glaring issues when you play it solo.
Stratagems won't stick to enemies, most armored enemy types are open to flanking/rear fire that is quite hard (not impossible I must say) to pull off solo.

Conserdering there are several weapons that almost requre 2 people to operate makes me wanna say this game wasn't centered around the solo experience. As someone who has been playing some solo (in quickplay with others) building a kit that can help you deal with the big boys isn't too bad. Really its the small stuff overrunning that ends up being my issue but typically most randos in que have issues with the big guys and like to shred small guys so I fit in perfect. Loadout I use atm is Anti-Materiel Rifle, Ammo Pack, Orbital EMS and Orbital Precision. Only level 9 so some improvements to be made, but this works wonders at CCing large enemies/large groups of enemies, and letting you bean sniper shots into the butts of Chargers. Maybe this will help some. Oh and run light armor with 30% aggro reduction. Helps keep the big guys chasing the randos for even more back shots.

Anti-mat>Recoilless and Auto Cannon due to faster reloads and open back slot.

Supply pack so you can be a "Teamplayer" by stealing all the ammo drops. Share with team but this gives you emergency stim/grenade reserves in rough situations. Note you can refill the back pack with the ammo drops so use ammo drop on CD for your team and refill your back pack.

EMS for CC

Orbital Percision for 1 shot big guys if direct hit. (Easier in CC but not guaranteed in heat of battle)

Railgun might replace Anti-mat at level 20, IDK.

90% sure when i found a railgun lying around i was able to take the head off a charger with it, took a few but wasnt being deflected.

[Crayzus]

I just think that the amount of enemy thrown at you in the helldive difficulty there should be some stronger weapons to compensate.

[TheSuit]

Originally posted by Crayzus:

I just think that the amount of enemy thrown at you in the helldive difficulty there should be some stronger weapons to compensate.

The 350mm barrage is your answer

[Jegedillo]

The machine gun support weapon will damage enemies even when they have armor and is an early unlock

[RayRay Jackson]

At the start, yes all starter guns suck against armor. Later on there are aquisitions that have a lot more armor penetration. Until then, aim for the soft bits, use explosives, or ordinance. The starter machine gun also shreds most armor below difficulty 5

[Jake||]

Originally posted by Aedwynn:

There is no teamwork in solo game...
Game has glaring issues when you play it solo.
Stratagems won't stick to enemies, most armored enemy types are open to flanking/rear fire that is quite hard (not impossible I must say) to pull off solo.

I dunno how many times this needs to be said; HD1 and HD2 were never designed as solo games. It's one of those games where your first question should be "do I have at least one friend to play this with?". It would be like playing L4D or PayDay or Darktide or Starship Troopers solo and hoping to get through the harder difficulties or stages without any support.

It is NOT a solo experience, and is deliberately so in just about every aspect of its game design (there are literally weapon strategems that take 2 players to operate!). It is not flawed in that deliberate choice.

I'll grant you that the match making troubles plaguing the game are the bigger issue, but again, the change in mindset is that it is NOT a solo game. Do not play this game as a solo game. Refund it immediately if you expected a solo experience.

The title of the game is HelldiverS - plural.