Helldivers 2 features a wide variety of weapons, ranging from close-range powerhouses to nifty secondaries that you can pull out in a pinch, and while the introduction of mechs is sure to tip the battlefield balance, we reckon there's still plenty of reasons to consider what firearm you equip to protect Super Earth.
Knowing which of Helldivers 2's 18 weapons is the best is important, and many of them need to be unlocked through Warbonds - a time-consuming process.
Fortunately, we have created a weapon tier list to help you decide which weapon to use in your loadout. The list ranges from S-tier, which contains the best of the best and the 'meta' weapons in Helldivers 2, to F-tier. The F-tier weapons are still usable, but you may want to lower your difficulty level when using them.
You can see the complete weapon tier list below, which has been updated as of March 2024.
Helldivers 2 weapon tier list
There are 18 weapons in total in Helldivers 2, not including the Stratagem weapons. This list is only for the weapons you can equip in the primary and secondary slots on your loadout. The tier list also takes into account the recent weapon balancing update that occurred in Helldivers 2.
Below, you can see where we decided to rank each gun and a look at the gun’s individual stats.
S-tier
SG-225 Breaker
- Damage: 330
- Capacity: 16
- Recoil: 30
- Fire Rate: 300
- Weapon Trait: Light Armor Penetrating
In Helldivers 2's current state, the SG-225 Breaker is the only weapon we feel comfortable enough placing in the S-tier. The shotgun is simply too strong at close range for you even to consider another gun unless you want to play at a distance. Perhaps in a future update, the SG-225 Breaker will see a sizeable nerf, but for now, it’s the best option, hands down.
A-tier
JAR-5 Dominator
- Damage: 200
- Capacity: 15
- Recoil: 75
- Fire Rate: 250
- Weapon Traits: Medium Armor Penetrating
SG-225IE Breaker Incendiary
- Damage: 180
- Capacity: 25
- Recoil: 28
- Fire Rate: 300
- Weapon Traits: Light Armor Penetrating, Incendiary
P-19 Redeemer
- Damage: 60
- Capacity: 31
- Recoil: 11
- Fire Rate: 1,100
- Weapon Traits: Light Armor Penetrating, One Handed
AR-23 Liberator Penetrator
- Damage:45
- Capacity: 30
- Recoil: 19
- Fire Rate: 640
- Weapon Traits: Medium Armor Penetrating
AR-23 Liberator
- Damage: 55
- Capacity: 45
- Recoil: 15
- Fire Rate: 640
- Weapon Traits: Light Armor Penetrating
AR-23 Liberator Consussive
- Damage: 55
- Capacity: 30
- Recoil: 28
- Fire Rate: 320
- Weapon Traits: Light Armor Penetrating, Explosive
SMG-37 Defender
- Damage: 70
- Capacity: 45
- Recoil: 10
- Fire Rate: 520
- Weapon Traits: Light Armor Penetrating, One-Handed
R-63 Diligence
- Damage: 112
- Capacity: 20
- Recoil: 35
- Fire Rate: 350
- Weapon Traits: Light Armor Penetrating
The A-tier is mainly comprised of Helldivers 2's AR-23 lineup of weapons. The regular AR-23 Liberator, along with the explosive and penetrator variants, is extremely strong if you use their traits correctly.
There’s also the P-19 Redeemer, which is easily the best secondary weapon you can equip. It has low recoil, decent damage, and a blistering high fire rate.
Finally, we have the SMG-37 Defender, which is arguably the top SMG in Helldivers 2.
B-tier
R-63 Diligence Counter Sniper
- Damage: 128
- Capacity: 15
- Recoil: 53
- Fire Rate: 350
- Weapon Traits: Light Armor Penetrating
MP-98 Knight
- Damage: 50
- Capacity: 50
- Recoil: 20
- Fire Rate: 1,380
- Weapon Traits: Light Armor Penetrating, One Handed
P-2 Peacemaker
- Damage: 60
- Capacity: 15
- Recoil: 23
- Fire Rate: 900
- Weapon Traits: Light Armor Penetrating, One Handed
SG-225SP Breaker Spray＆Pray
- Damage: 144
- Capacity: 32
- Recoil: 45
- Fire Rate: 300
- Weapon Traits: Light Armor Penetrating
P-4 Senator
- Damage: 150
- Capacity: 6
- Recoil: 43
- Fire Rate: 200
- Weapon Traits: Light Armor Penetrating, One Handed
SG-8S Slugger
- Damage: 280-
- Capacity: 16
- Recoil: 110
- Fire Rate: 80
- Weapon Traits: Light Armor Penetrating
SG-8 Punisher
- Damage: 405
- Capacity: 16
- Recoil: 120
- Fire Rate: 80
- Weapon Traits: Light Armor Penetrating, Rounds Reload
The B-tier has a wide variety of weapons, but the notable standouts are the two SG-8 shotguns in the Slugger and the Punisher. Both of these weapons aren’t nearly as strong as the Breaker, but they can hold their own as long as you can control their massive recoil.
We also have a couple of secondary pistols in the Senator and the Peacemaker, both of which are solid options.
Wrapping up B-tier, there’s an argument to be made for the R-63 Diligence Counter Sniper to be in A-tier, but it can be challenging to use, especially for newer players, so it’s in B-tier.
C-tier
PLAS-1 Scorcher
- Damage: 100
- Capacity: 15
- Recoil: 20
- Fire Rate: 250
- Weapon Traits: Light Armor Penetrating, Explosive
LAS-5 Scythe
- Damage: 1300
- Fire Limit: 8
- Recoil: 1
- Stun Time: 0 seconds
- Weapon Traits: Light Armor Penetrating, Beam, Heat
SG-8P Punisher Plasma
- Damage: 100
- Fire Limit: 8
- Recoil: 110
- Stun Time: 0 seconds
- Weapon Traits: Plasma Rounds
The C-tier is only comprised of three weapnons, which don’t do much damage. While the Scythe is interesting to use based on its firing mechanic, you’ll just be stunning enemies rather than fully killing most of them.
The Scorcher can deal some damage if you’re accurate with your explosive shots, but you’re better served with a more basic secondary most of the time in Helldivers 2.
Then there's the recently added Plasma version of the Punisher shotgun, which is an outright downgrade of the original. In fact, the weapon is bugger and might not register proper damage values, making it worse.
And that does it for our current Helldivers 2 weapon tier list. The list will undoubtedly change as more updates are introduced and weapons are changed, but for now, you should have a better idea of how strong each weapon is and whether it’s worth using.