Help how to aim Arc Thrower?

[FAT WANZER]

I saw a dude shot 8 times kill a charger but when i tried it it arcs to the ground instead how do i aim this thing?

[RifRafJonesy]

OP there is some great advice here. I have been running it with the Guard Dog Rover, if they get to close he helps to keep them off of me. It's easy to get overrun with the Arc, so anything that helps with that, i.e. jump pack, shield or guard dog. Besides that jus tpoint in the direction of what you want dead and zap them. ~~cough cough~~ or I guess you should aim for their legs LOL. OK maybe ignore that one.

[Mad Marduk]

Originally posted by Mosey:

Arc thrower loves to target already dead targets, and it doesn't jump when it does.

It helps to use ADS to hit the specific thing you want to kill too.

It's kind of a random weapon, but after a few rounds you'll get more used to it.

I also recommend a jetpack to pair with it for bugs in particular. It helps get out of situations or reposition for a better line on targets.

That's the biggest thing that makes me hesitate when I go to grab the arc thrower. I like the weapon but dead bodies start to become a problem fast. Especially when you're dropping large enemies.

[Nihil]

Originally posted by FAT WANZER:

I saw a dude shot 8 times kill a charger but when i tried it it arcs to the ground instead how do i aim this thing?

Arc Thrower is pretty crap in aiming. Often you get shots even 50-80m afar from you like a sniper but most of the time it is hitting the ground even though you were not aiming at the ground and the enemy is just 2m in front of you.

And I highly doubt a charger can be killed with 8 shots.
I always have to land more than a dozen shots on it.

[Jozsefirst]

From what I understand the arc thrower (as far as it's anti-armor capabilities go) is basically an alternative to the railgun in the sense that both are meant to punch holes in heavy armor but while the railgun does this in concentrated shots the arc thrower does not require aiming at all. In exchange where the target gets hit is completely random.

Other points of difference include better range in favor of the railgun but unlimited ammo capacity and the ability to be used against swarms of small-medium enemies in favor of the arc thrower. The arc thrower is also far more hazardous to your own team so user caution is highly advised.

TL;DR:
You cant aim with it. You shoot in the general direction of the enemy and anything within a roughly 60 degrees angle in front of you will have a random chance to get zapped. Best you can do is make sure the only thing in front of you is what you intend to hit.

[Shining_Darkness]

Originally posted by rainer:

always aim for the legs. enemies take limb damage which will dismember them.

You literally cannot aim it at the limbs, it will auto-aim heads/weakspots

[Shining_Darkness]

Originally posted by Nihil:

Originally posted by FAT WANZER:

I saw a dude shot 8 times kill a charger but when i tried it it arcs to the ground instead how do i aim this thing?

Arc Thrower is pretty crap in aiming. Often you get shots even 50-80m afar from you like a sniper but most of the time it is hitting the ground even though you were not aiming at the ground and the enemy is just 2m in front of you.

And I highly doubt a charger can be killed with 8 shots.
I always have to land more than a dozen shots on it.

If the thing decides to aim for the head it will take 8 head shots to kill, most of the time it aims the body though since that is technically where the "weakspot" is even though the devs are jerks and that giant unarmored area isn't actually a true weakspot. 8 to the head or legs kills it because about 6 rips off the armor then two to pop. it take about 15 body shots.

[Mad Marduk]

It usually takes 8-10 shots to drop a charger. Sometimes it is hard to tell if it is dead or turtling up.

[Jozsefirst]

Originally posted by Mad Marduk:

It usually takes 8-10 shots to drop a charger. Sometimes it is hard to tell if it is dead or turtling up.

You're not supposed to zap it to death, shoot it till the front legs get visibly damaged and then shoot that hole with something that has good flat damage output, the same tactic people use with the railgun.

[Mosey]

Just to note this, you don't have to overkill chargers. Once it has a big hole in it and you see the green mist coming off it, it's already dead it just doesn't know it yet.

At that point, you can just leave or swap targets and it will keel over momentarily.

Same when it's butt explodes. It's dead, it just isn't done moving yet.

Same goes for medium size or other large bugs like commanders. Once their head explodes, they will die on their own. It's only a question if they can reach you before they fall over.

[Mad Marduk]

Originally posted by Jozsefirst:

Originally posted by Mad Marduk:

It usually takes 8-10 shots to drop a charger. Sometimes it is hard to tell if it is dead or turtling up.

You're not supposed to zap it to death, shoot it till the front legs get visibly damaged and then shoot that hole with something that has good flat damage output, the same tactic people use with the railgun.

You can't really aim arc thrower like that. It hits where it wants to hit.

[rainer]

Originally posted by RifRafJonesy:

Originally posted by rainer:

always aim for the legs. enemies take limb damage which will dismember them.

Please explain how you are aiming the Arc at legs? It literally fires in random arcs generally in a forward direction. This should be good, lol.

The arc thrower will attempt to target center of mass, however the initial arc is aimable. From my experience it's more reliable to target the charger's legs from the side which will then dearmour them. It will also dismember certain enemies like the brood commander. It does feels like it's dependant on range though.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Helldivers/comments/1bbrzq6/arc_thrower_can_strip_charger_armor/

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3179766304

Edit 3/12/2024: They just lowered the Charger's head health so this probably doesn't matter anymore

[Jozsefirst]

Originally posted by Mad Marduk:

Originally posted by Jozsefirst:

You're not supposed to zap it to death, shoot it till the front legs get visibly damaged and then shoot that hole with something that has good flat damage output, the same tactic people use with the railgun.

You can't really aim arc thrower like that. It hits where it wants to hit.

Who said anything about aiming?
Shoot it till you get the leg armor crecked then go to town on it.
Odds are you'll get it cracked before depleting the charger's entire health pool by solely relying on zapping it with the arc