Helldivers 2 Weapons Tier List 2.0 (Slightly Outdated)

All weapons compared and assigned grades based on their performance in high-stress tests (Difficulty 10 scenarios)

Terminid Tier Lists

Small Arms Tier List:

Support Weapons Tier List:

Automaton Tier Lists

Small Arms Tier List:

Support Weapons Tier List:

__________________________

CB-9 Crossbow

Damage per Second	Damage per Mag	Accuracy	Rate of Fire	Total Ammo	Reload Speed	Anti-Armour	Stagger	Sway
A	S	A	C	B	C	B	A	Low

A clip-fed crossbow, firing explosive bolts. 

Stats to consider, Both Factions:

Good	Bad
+ Strong armour penetration (★★★)	- Low magazine capacity, frequent reloads (❗❗)
+ Staggers most enemies (★★★)	- Struggles up-close (❗)
+ Very wide, powerful AoE (★★★)
+ Decent autonomy, ammo lasts (★★)
+ Closes Nests (★)

R-63CS Diligence Counter Sniper

Damage per Second	Damage per Mag	Accuracy	Rate of Fire	Total Ammo	Reload Speed	Anti-Armour	Stagger	Sway
S	S	A	B	C	B	B	C	Medium

A high-power semi-automatic sniper rifle.

Stats to consider, Terminids:

Good	Bad
+ Strong armour penetration (★★★)	- No AoE, overwhelmed by swarms (❗❗❗)
+ High Damage per Shot, OHK on weaker enemies (★★★)	- Low magazine capacity, frequent reloads (❗❗❗)
+ Decent autonomy, ammo lasts (★★)	- Ammo shortage, reliant on ammo pack (❗❗)

Stats to consider, Automatons:

Good	Bad
+ OHK on Devastator head (★★★★)	- Ammo shortage, reliant on ammo pack (❗)
+ Strong Armour Penetration (★★★)
+ High Damage per Shot (★★)

PLAS-101 Purifier

Damage per Second	Damage per Mag	Accuracy	Rate of Fire	Total Ammo	Reload Speed	Anti-Armour	Stagger	Sway
A	S	A	D	A	C	B	A	Low

 An armour-piercing plasma carbine that can alternate between normal and charged-up explosive shots with no additional ammo cost. 

Stats to consider, Both Factions:

Good	Bad
+ Strong armour penetration (★★★)	- Normal shots are weak and waste ammo fast (❗❗❗)
+ High autonomy and total damage if only used with charged shots (★★★)	- Very dangerous up-close due to lethal AoE (❗❗❗)
+ Wide and powerful AoE with charged shots (★★★)	- Requires charging every shot (❗❗)
	- Dealing with dispersed enemies is awkward (❗❗)

GP-31 Grenade Pistol

Damage per Second	Damage per Mag	Accuracy	Rate of Fire	Total Ammo	Reload Speed	Anti-Armour	Stagger	Sway
B	D	C	D	D	B	C	A	Low

A single-shot, break-action pistol firing impact grenades.

Stats to consider, Both Factions:

Good	Bad
+ Anti-structure secondary (★★★★)	- Very low ammo count (❗❗❗)
+ High one-off damage with stagger and AoE (★★★)	- Bad at dealing with trash enemies (❗❗)
	- Reloads after every shot (❗❗)

GR-8 Recoilless Rifle

Damage per Second	Damage per Mag	Accuracy	Rate of Fire	Total Ammo	Reload Speed	Anti-Armour	Stagger	Sway
S	S	A	D-	C-	D	S	S	High

A single-shot rocket launcher with anti-tank and anti-personnel capabilities.

Stats to consider, Terminids:

Good	Bad
+ OHK on high-value targets (★★★★★★)	- Stationary reload after every shot (❗❗❗❗)
+ Easy-to-use, long range missile (★★★)	- Very low ammo count (❗❗❗)
+ Anti-structure (★★★)	- Requires a backpack slot (❗❗❗)
+ Team reloadable (★★★)
+ HE Missiles for swarm clear (★★)

Stats to consider, Automatons:

Good	Bad
+ OHK on high-value targets (★★★★★)	- Very low ammo count (❗❗❗)
+ Destroys dropships and their landing parties (★★★★)	- Overkill for Hulks (❗❗❗)
+ Team reloadable (★★★)	- Requires a backpack slot (❗❗❗)
	- Stationary reload after every shot (❗❗)

MG-43 Medium Machine Gun

Damage per Second	Damage per Mag	Accuracy	Rate of Fire	Total Ammo	Reload Speed	Anti-Armour	Stagger	Sway
A	S	B	A	D	C	B	C	Medium

A machine gun with customisable fire rate, firing full-power cartridges.

Stats to consider, Terminids:

Good	Bad
+ Strong armour penetration (★★★)	- Ammo shortage, requires an ammo pack (❗❗❗❗)
+ High sustain, can engage enemies for extended periods of time without reload (★★★)	- Stationary reload (❗❗❗)
+ Munches trash enemies (★★★)	- Mediocre against Alpha Commanders, Spewers (❗❗❗)

Stats to consider, Automatons:

Good	Bad
+ Strong armour penetration (★★★)	- Can't penetrate Hulk armour (❗❗❗❗❗)
+ High sustain, can engage enemies for extended periods of time without reload (★★★)	- Ammo shortage, requires an ammo pack (❗❗❗❗)
+ Decent accuracy (★★★)	- Stationary reload (❗❗)
+ Effective against Devastators, Striders, Berserkers (★★★)

AC-8 Autocannon

Damage per Second	Damage per Mag	Accuracy	Rate of Fire	Total Ammo	Reload Speed	Anti-Armour	Stagger	Sway
A	A	S	C	B	A	A	A	High

A toggle-locked clip-fed automatic cannon firing a combination of armour-piercing and airburst rounds.

Stats to consider, Terminids:

Good	Bad
+ Very effective against Alpha Commanders, Spewers (★★★★)	- Weak against heavy armour (❗❗❗❗)
+ Airburst rounds offer strong swarm clear (★★★★)	- Requires a backpack slot (❗❗❗)
+ Anti-structure (★★)	- Awkward stationary reload with 5-round clips(❗❗)
+ Decent autonomy(★★)	Empty reload is much slower (❗❗)
+ Team reloadable (★)

Stats to consider, Automatons:

Good	Bad
+ Staggers and kills everything up to & including Hulks (★★★★★)	- Requires a backpack slot (❗❗❗)
+ Very high accuracy (★★★★)	- Mediocre against tanks, walking fabricators (❗❗❗)
+ Good autonomy, ammo lasts(★★★)	- Awkward stationary reload with 5-round clips(❗❗)
+ Decent autonomy(★★)	Empty reload is much slower (❗❗)
+ Team reloadable (★)

RS-422 Railgun

Damage per Second	Damage per Mag	Accuracy	Rate of Fire	Total Ammo	Reload Speed	Anti-Armour	Stagger	Sway
C	C	S	C	D	S	S	B	Low

A one-shot compact mass driver, shooting accelerated dart ammo after charging.

Stats to consider, Terminids:

Good	Bad
+ Full Armour Penetration (★★★)	- Requires charging and reloading after every shot (❗❗❗❗❗)
+ OHK on Alpha Commanders, Spewers (★★★)	- No stagger on heavy enemies prevents follow-up shots (❗❗❗❗❗)
	- Very low structural damage per shot (❗❗❗❗)
	- Overcharging instantly kills you (❗❗❗❗)
	- Poor autonomy (❗❗❗)

Stats to consider, Automatons:

Good	Bad
+ OHK on Hulks, Devastators, Striders (★★★★★)	- Requires charging and reloading after every shot (❗❗❗❗❗)
+ Full Armour Penetration (★★★)	- Ineffective against Tanks, Walking Fabricators (❗❗❗❗)
	- Very low structural damage per shot (❗❗❗❗)
	- Overcharging instantly kills you (❗❗❗❗)

More weapon evaluation coming soon...

[Guardian_Angel]

This guide got an update.

[StatiX]

This guide need an update

[Sir Ballstein]

Crossbow at D tier is a wild take

[DestinedLight]

I've never met a soul who thought the EAT or laser cannon were lower than B tier until today.

I'd throw the commando in D sooner than EAT, or the AMR for that fact, it's much easier to kill enemies at long range with las-cannon than AMR, no recoil, no bullet drop, sure you can hold the laser on there for 1s rather than hoping the AMR hits them where you want it to.
Laser cannon also eats Hulks and softens up chargers nicely.

[AR]

Clown tier? More like clown tier list.

[Forge]

Do you have the Commando in C tier because of the limited ammunition? :')

[Guardian_Angel]

Earthtender, Helldivers 2 has very poor weapon balance, with the majority of the guns failing to perform basic combat functions at a sufficient level.
And there is a firmly established consensus on what the good guns are. If you'd played public matches, you'd know these very well by now.

[Wry]

This tier list reads as though it was written based entirely on spreadsheet data rather than gameplay. On the plus side, it just goes to show that tier lists are inherently subjective, and Helldivers 2 has at least decent weapon balance, cuz there is nothing approaching consensus on what's best and worst.

[Guardian_Angel]

Stealthybon, Ammo issue is literally the biggest drawback of all secondary weapons.

[Stealthybon]

Dagger in C tier? Really? The only advantage it has over any other sidearm is (theoretically) infinite ammo... Who the heck ever runs out of ammo on their secondary anyway? It's a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.