Best Stratagems, Weapons, Armor, and Loadouts

This guide details the best Stratagems to unlock as well as the best weapons, armor, and Stratagem loadouts to equip. Updated regularly.

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Everything suggested in this guide has been tested up to the highest difficulty level Super Helldive (10).

Best Stratagem Unlocks

Here are the most versatile Stratagems for you to equip. While there are other specialized options, these cover a wide range of situations. Ultimately, choose whatever you think is the most fun!

• Recoilless Rifle: A reloadable rocket launcher. Useful against armored aliens. (Unlocks at level 5).
  

  Tip: Shoot once at leg of a Charger then use your primary weapon to shoot the exposed part of a Charger. Can also destroy objective structures/spore trees.

• Railgun: Has charged armor-piercing shots. (Unlocks at level 20).
  The Railgun is very effective in killing armored/larger enemies and against Automatons. You have to set the railgun to "unsafe" mode (hold down "R" key and "right click" mouse). When in "unsafe mode", the Railgun is able to fire an overcharged shot, however, holding down the trigger too long will result in the Railgun exploding and killing you (best used in first-person mode to see charge meter).
  

   Tip: It can also destroy spore trees and radio tower objectives.

• Expendable Anti-Tank: Single-use rocket launcher that destroys armor. (Unlocks at level 3).
  

  Tip: The Expendable Anti-Tank launcher can now 1-shot Chargers if you aim a well-placed shot at the head. Can still shoot leg of Charger once and then switch to primary weapon to take them out. Can also destroy objective structures/spore trees.

• Autocannon: A fully-automatic cannon. Useful against armored targets. (Unlocks at level 10). Overall, the Autocannon is better once you unlock it. The Autocannon can also destroy objective structures, hive spawn nests, spore trees, various Automaton structures, and Automaton Tanks (shoot glowing weak spot behind tank).
  

  Tip: You can kill a Charger in 2-3 hits. After the Charger run animation, shoot 2-3 rounds at the inner part of one of its back legs between its tail. The 1st shot will strip its armor while the 2nd/3rd should kill it. For Bile Titans, shoot the head 2 times while it is spitting poison.

• LAS-99 Quasar Cannon: Charges up to fire a powerful, explosive energy burst. Has a long cooldown period after firing. (Unlocks at level 18).
  

  Tip: Shoot vents twice on Tanks and Hulks to kill them. Shoot bottom thruster of dropships to destroy them. Shoot head of Charger once to take them out. Can also destroy bugholes and fabricators.

• Eagle Airstrike: A group of bombs set off in a row, not specifically targeting enemies. (Unlocks at level 2).
  

  Tip: Unlimited uses. Can destroy objective structures.

• Eagle 500KG Bomb: A large bomb that kills anything within its radius. (Unlocks at level 15).

   Tip: The 500KG has unlimited number of uses per match. The actual blast radius is small, but a well place 500KG can wipe out anything in its blast radius.

• Orbital Laser: A laser that targets enemies within its attack radius. (Unlocks at level 15).
  

   Tip: Laser strike is very effective but it has 3 uses per match. Use wisely.

• Mortar Sentry: A turret that shoots shells, great for long-range battles. (Unlocks at level 8). The Mortar Sentry is extremely effective for long range engagements in defensive scenarios.
  

   Tip: Very good for if you are retrograding, need to distract enemies, or if you are defending an area. Place it on top of elevated terrain so that enemies don't destroy it.

Other Useful Stratagems

• “Guard Dog” Rover: A drone with a laser rifle. (Unlocks at level 10).
  

  Tip: Good for add-clear.

• Shield Generator Pack: A shield that covers the Helldiver, effective against projectiles. (Unlocks at level 20).
  

   Tip: If you are playing at higher difficulties (7+) against the Automatons consider equipping this Stratagem.

• Jump Pack: Charge the Jump Pack to leap over armored enemies and walls and avoid incoming damage from nearby enemies. (Unlocks at level 8).
  

  Tip: Best used at higher difficulties (7+). You can easily kite and run away from hordes of enemies in order to reposition yourself on advantageous terrain.

Armor

Against Terminids?
Any light armor. Light armor provides increased speed and stamina regen at the cost of reduced armor rating. Player preference for armor perks.

Against Automatons?
Any medium or heavy armor . Player preference for armor perks.

Notable Armor Passives

Democracy Protects: 50% chance to not die when taking lethal damage. Prevents all damage from bleeding if chest hemorrhages.

Scout: Markers placed on the map will generate radar scans every 2.0s. Reduces range at which enemies can detect the wearer by 30%.

Med-Kit: Increases initial inventory and holding capacity of stims by +2. Increases stim effect duration by 2.0s.

Extra Padding: Provides a higher armor rating (by 50 points).

Weapons

Primary

• SG-225 Breaker or SG-225IE Breaker Incendiary (auto shotgun)
  Especially effective against the Terminids.
  
  
• PLAS-1 Scorcher (plasma rifle)
  This weapon has an AOE explosive effect which can decimate the Automatons. Don't use this against the Terminids.
  
  
• SG-8 Punisher (pump action shotgun)
  The fire rate is slower compared to the Breaker shotgun so you need to be more methodical with your shots.
  
  
• LAS-16 Sickle (laser rifle)
  Uses an overheat bar indicator instead of manual reload mechanic.
  
  
• C-B9 Exploding Crossbow
  Received a massive buff. Fires exploding cross bolts and deals maximum damage on direct hits.
  
  
• JAR-5 Dominator (explosive weapon)

Secondary

• P-19 Redeemer (auto/machine pistol)
  A fully-automatic pistol with an extremely high rate of fire, allowing for efficient crowd control.
  
  
• GP-31 Grenade Pistol (grenade launcher/pistol)
  Self-explanatory. Great for taking out objectives and swarms of enemies.

Grenade

• G-23 Thermite (grenade)
  Takes one thermite to kill many of the large/tougher enemies and can take out factory striders in 2 grenades in its weak spot. Easily one of the best grenades now.
  
  
• G-23 Stun (stun grenade)
  This grenade stuns enemies for a few seconds. Pair this with the Eagle 500KG (or other stratagems) to stun Bile Titans or large enemies to easily target and insta-kill them.

Boosters

Boosters depend mostly on what your team picks but here are some essential booster recommendations. If your team has chosen these boosters, just pick whatever you think is best.

• Hellpod Space Optimization
  Helldivers come out of the Hellpod fully stocked on Ammo, Grenades and Stims.
  
  
• Vitality Enhancement
  Increases HP by 30%. Helldivers take less damage from all sources and are more resistant to limb injuries. Torso can still hemorrhage.
  
• Stamina Enhancement
  30% increase to sprint duration, 23% increase to stamina regen.

Suggested Loadouts Versus Terminids

• All-Around Setup
  Expendable Anti-Tank, "Guard Dog" Rover, Eagle Airstrike, Eagle 500KG Bomb.
  
  
  
• High-level Difficulties
  Shield Gen Pack, Expendable Anti-Tank, Eagle Airstrike, Orbital Laser or Eagle 500KG.
  or
  
  
• With Autocannon
  Autocannon, Expendable Anti-Tank, Eagle Airstrike, Orbital Laser or Eagle 500KG.
  or
  
  
• With Flamethrower
  Flamethrower, Expendable Anti-Tank, Eagle Airstrike, Orbital Laser or Eagle 500KG.
  or
  
  *In defensive scenarios, run turrets like Mortar Sentry, Gatling Sentry, Autocannon Sentry, Mortar Sentry, or EMS Mortar Sentry
  
  **If the team already has anti-tank capability equip the Arc Thrower or Flamethrower and you can run a jump pack. I recommend at least taking the Eagle Airstrike since it's great for virtually any situation and you get 3 charges before you have to rearm.

Suggested Loadouts Versus Automatons

• All-Around Setup
  Expendable Anti-Tank, Shield Gen Pack, Eagle Airstrike, Orbital Railcannon or 500KG.
  or
  
  
• Add-Clear with Arc Thrower
  Arc Thrower, Shield Gen Pack, Eagle Airstrike, Orbital Railcannon or 500KG.
  or
  
  
• With Autocannon
  Autocannon, Expendable Anti-Tank, Eagle Airstrike, Orbital Railcannon or 500KG.
  or

[0rphanCr11p1er]

its broken

[0rphanCr11p1er]

Change ac for recoiless

[ikstarven]

I dont get why would you get EAT with Autocannon, anything one-shottable by EATs can be easily killed by autocannons, and in case of hulks AC is literally better, EAT cant kill tanks not on the weakspot, it takes 2 EATs to kill a tank or a turret in its weakspot. while for the AC it takes 3

[Jens Heika]

Some basic booster information would be nice, pros/cons, what they do, or one that you can get early and continue using.

[PFC.Fortescue.C]

For those of us who are just starting out though, can you provide a list of the weapons or armour or stratagems it's most important to invest in first and in what order? For example I am thinking I might concentrate my resources on getting a recoilless rifle and skip buying the more limited one-shot AT. But maybe I should use my resources to get to a better primary instead?

I presume it makes sense in early game to concentrate on optimizing against Terminids or Automatons as it is initially going to be too expensive to try to build up both.

[Goritude]

Thes simple Machine Gun is very effective vs insects

[Lykonic]

As for boosters, against bots I recommend this list, from highest to lowest priority. Localization Confusion > Hellpod Space Optimization > Vitality Enhancement > Stamina or Muscle Enhancement > Flexible or Increased Reinforcement Budget. Depends on preference of course, but the first two are a must imo, and Vitality is very good against bots as well.

Against bugs, switch Vitality and Stamina, everything else is basically the same.

[Lykonic]

The AMR is actually really good against bots - IF you have the aim to back it up. 2 shots to the faceplate of a Hulk and it goes up in smoke, 3-4 to the engine of a gunship, and any other humanoid bot will go down in one clean headshot (or body for Troopers). Things to note are that the vents on Tanks and Hulks take ~5 shots for a kill, Berserkers take ~3 shots to down (regardless of headshots or weakpoint shots), and Striders usually get knocked over or killed in 2-3 shots. Also, the base of the Strider, where the legs connect is only medium armored, as opposed to heavily armored like the faceplate - can be a useful tidbit, especially for other weapons.

But the BIGGEST thing to learn about using the AMR is that the sights are misaligned low and to the right. Out to ~75-100m, you can just use the top left corner of the box in the scope as your "crosshair", but even further out you'll have to hold even further down and right. Once you get a feel for it, it's not too bad.

[[57th] SHK1800]

boosters?

[StagedInterpreter]

vs. Terminids I really like the EMS strike and consider it a must pick. Can basically shut down a single bug breach roughly every minute and a half. You still need to kill them but there is pretty much always somebody eager to get an eagle air strike in.

Its also very useful in other situations, it can be used as a wall, it can lock down a choke point and bot drops too can be imobilized. Low cooldown, really fast deploy and short initiation + no friendly fire accidents.

The EAT is much better then people think. Its not 2 shots per call-down its 3, because the bulb you throw sticks to enemies and the hellpod does damage. One is usually not enough to kill a charger but enough to heavily damage it. So you can even get rid of one charger with just the calldown and then use the two launchers to deal with its friends.