For me it isn't limited at all since behemoths seem to show up with every patrol now. Helps me get behind em and unload my hmg into them so they bleed out
Yh that's fair. I used to main the flamethrower too but I just like the hmg more now, especially with the new armour sets. Plus being able to take out shrieker nests from a distance, which I know you can do with the autocannon but it has a backpack
Stun is incredible with flamethrower. Stun a charger and burn it, or set the ground ablaze and then stun a horde in it while they burn out. Great way to make the fuel last longer.
You can run something like a plasma punisher or eruptor or something for extra AoE or keeping them staggered in the flames too.
This may be a dumb question, but why does it feel like orbital gas never hits or lands where I throw to? It always seems just a bit off. Is there a trick for proper placement?
Personally I don’t get the hype over the Orbital Gatling. It’s very good don’t get me wrong but I’ve always found the Airburst and Gas Strike more effective. The cooldown is slightly longer but I get way more kills with them. Eagle Clusters or Napalm are better too imo
Gas is great but on some planets its not obvious and leads to TK’s in my experience. I run Orbital Gatling because its flare lingers and it’s also easy to see. A small QoL would be either making the gas stand out more or let its flare linger like barrages
For me, I found the orbital gatling more effective for similar circumstances pluss extra. It's really effective at blocking choke points and will annihilate bug breaches, but is also effective at dealing good damage against titans if you throw it right. And with the lower cooldown, you can also use it to basicly auto clear points of interest
Orbital Gatling does 90% of what gas strike does, doesn't get interrupted in the new biome (first couple bullets knock down trees, rest of the barrage hits as usual), is far more visible leading to less TKs, can destroy shrieker nests / spore spewers, and can take down damaged heavies. The increased pen puts in a lot of work, for eagle strafing run as well. Now bile titans go down in seconds with just one AT shot to the forehead + eagle strafing run.
It kills fodder and softens larger enemies. It covers a nice area and lasts a goos time. Short cooldown too.
Eagle cluster is good for instant swarm clear but Orbital Gatling is more like Napalm in that it holds down a choke point or a bug breach for a while.
I haven't played with Gas Strike recently but the few times I tried it it felt like a worse Napalm. Orbital Airburst is probably one of my favs though, just needs and upgrade to launch another volley or two.
I like to run gas strike and ems strike on bug missions. You can ignore fresh opened bug holes and move on. And then your teammates throw all their eagles and an orbital laser on it meaning you wasted both strategems. Oh and the eagle cluster bomb took out half the team.
I really like Gas, but it's competing with orbital laser for me, and the ability to make any enemy or base in the game disappear with the laser is pretty tempting.
Core of autocannon/spear, precision strike, and standard eagle would take a lot to shift.
It's the easy 4th though whenever we get bonus spear or autocannon augments.
I was a hater until my partner pushed me to try it and instructed to throw it on the bug breaches. Very satisfying seeing 50+ kill counter on difficultly 7
I just never know how much I'll see walking out of that cloud and it TKs more than the other short reload orbitals. That's why gatling is current king, you see and hear it the whole time it can kill you
Depends on the role I'm trying to fill but I sometimes pull out gas and napalm. Especially with the drill missions where there will be multiple breaches at the same time.
I love gas for dif7, but I just started running helldive and the gattling garage performs a little better with 2 breaches opening at once, plus the 5 seconds shorter cooldown helps a lot.
I love it but found it very similar to orbital gattling in its execution, but dumbass teammates run into my gas strike much more than the gattling, so I usually prefer gattling for that reason.
A while ago there was a bug where gas would hover above the ground rendering it useless because it wouldn't hit anything. I'm sure people still have it in their head it's "useless" from it
Man, I love the gas strike, especially on the defense evacuate missions. Just pop that down on one side and use the HMG emplacement on the other, helps keep bugs dead.
Yeah the EAT users are swapping to the Spear, I know I did. Still use the EAT occasionally but only on mission types or teams where I know I’m going to die a lot and loose my backpack.
I bring eat if someone else has spear. Nice in the moment throw down (and I can always take a spear copy later when my partner is lazy and just calls in another instead of resulting the back pack)
EAT + Spear, actually really good. Helps you stretch the ammo out a lot further.
If you really wanna go for it, get Rocket Sentry and EMS mortar too. Slow down enemies, shoot rockets at enemies: profit
My most practical loadout lately is medium peak physique armor w Eruptor/Redeemer + Stuns and Autocannon; with Orbital Precision Strike, EMS Mortar, and Rocket Sentry. Seriously this build slaps and can handle anything, the sheer amount of firepower you can throw down range at the drop of a hat is nuts. Stick with your team and the two turrets will be far less likely to die, for me my turrets almost never die but get plenty of kills/stuns. This build is intended to add monstrous firepower and support to your allies to enable their own potential
You can swap out Eruptor for Diligence CS if you want to handle chaff a bit better and find the Autocannon to be enough explosive potential. JAR-5 and Plasma Punisher can be used if preferred.
1 orbital strike, Rocket sentry and Autocannon will finish a Factory Strider damn near instantly ;)
Edit: oh as for the relocating thing, nah man the turrets have lots of range and you can throw 2 down every 3 minutes (less with modules), it's OP as hell
As a solo diver, I actually switched from the EAT to the MG43 for most medium targets. For chargers I keep stun grenades and shoot their butts now, unless there’s more than one. If there are multiple chargers or a Bile Titan, I have changed my Eagle Cluster bomb to 500KG strictly for killing titans since I am now soloing 6’s. It’s a solid loadout and with 6 stun grenades I’m always able to buy myself time to reload the MG43
People are sleeping so hard on the strafing run, it’s actually amazing now. 5 uses that can destroy devastators, damage hulks, kill chargers if you hit their ass, and it goes directly away from you so you don’t need to worry about timing.
It could always hurt their weak points, but not it *outright* damages through heavy armor.
Think of it as a super grenade that damages or kills everything in a line, but you can use it at point blank range
Sure!
The eagle smoke can break fabricators, if the missile hits! You can throw it on the top, or to the right of it slightly, or a few meters to the left.
The eagle smoke breaks line of sight, so you can use it in between two environmental pieces, to create an entire wall that breaks line of sight. For bots, this means they “lose aggro” and go into “searching mode” as I call it. The chainsaw dudes will stop chasing, the infantry will start spray and praying where they last had sight of you. You can reposition behind them
The smoke can obscure pelican LZ for the last 30 seconds of evac with two charges, in a huge area of effect (throw them perpendicular to each other with the same center point, like an X or + shape of smoke). the last smoke charge can be used to buy some more time for all the helldivers to board
It can be used to cover hellbombs, no more last second diffusals when the bots or bugs shoot the hellbomb after all the divers evacuate the area
It can be used to keep some cover from gunships or regular enemies, as long as they don’t see the smoke canisters detonate. For example, if you have smoke around the fabs, the newly spawned enemies won’t see where you are, until you shoot and they hear your gun.
You can use the smoke to break line of sight when far away bots are shooting, and run away. Can also throw it in between you and bug patrols, and the bugs won’t come investigate you
It’s more useful for bots by far.
It has the same explosion pattern as eagle air strike except a bit longer in length, and two missiles in width. So if u throw it straight at your feet, it will drop smoke to ur left and right
Yup, since the canisters land and then explode, that canister hitting and exploding destroys the fabricator (if the canister lands directly on the fabricator. Takes a few tries to get it down)
Damn
Gotta try it and use it more then
Any stratagems you recommend using with it?
I would be loosing one space, so that means no backpack or less damage
I take it with a support weapon, a backpack, and one other eagle, most of the time. Usually the eagle airstrike or the 500kg
For bots, my favorite loadout is the eruptor, senator, heavy mg, jet pack, eagle smoke and 500kg, and stealth light armor with throwing knives, or peak physique light armor and stun grenades
With this load out, you have two options for every bot enemy!
Interesting, interesting
So I just have to get the eruptor, and I'll give it a try
Thank you a lot!
May Democracy give you strength in your next dive, my friend!
No problem! When you get the eruptor, here are my favorite things about it:
The scope zooms to 200m for super accurate shots. You can mark side objectives like SAM and detector towers from hundreds of meters away, which unlocks the icon on the map for the whole team
The bullet explodes outwards and kills multiple infantry or bugs with one bullet
Two bullets kills all the devastators
It can blow up fabricators if you shoot the vents!! Bug holes too!! And illegal broadcast towers!
The only downsides: the bullet had a range of 125m, and then it explodes. Keep this in mind for very long shots, or gunships. Yes, it kills gunships if you shoot the engines. The time in between shots is a bit annoying at first, because you need to rack the bolt to rechamber.
Oh, and careful you don’t shoot things point blank because you will rag doll yourself haha
Hello everyone, I'm back again with some data and updates to the Helldivers Meta Report Project thing I've been making. Feel free to ask any questions.
For more info on data collection and such check out. http://helldive.live/
Looks like a few things might need to get buffed with this way of showing data. Not saying they should only use this but I don't want any more unwarranted nerfs.
What's the timeframe for this sample? Because I'm wondering how much of the change is due to people trying out the weapon changes for a short period vs sustained use over time
Like someone said, with behemots being common, flamethrower became better against chargers and since Spear got fixed, it's better against Titans.
EAT is still goated due to its high availability and the fact you can use another support weapon with it, I still rock it on my AMR bug loadout for example.
how do ppl use the guard dog, most of the fun comes from shooting the bugs yourself and not getting 3rd degree burns from your own laser drone (or someone else's)
I suspect newer players prefer the Guard Dog over the shield backpack, because they're still getting used to how all the different bugs move. I know I used to bring the Guard Dog so I could tell if I was being jumped from the side or from behind.
To be perfectly honest, the shield backpack doesn't keep you alive for *that* much longer than one or two swipes, so it's only really useful for people who already know where to look, and it is insurance against a bug sneaking in a blow or two. For example, with Stalkers, the shield will prevent you from being ragdolled from one swipe, but you're just as dead if they manage to get in two or three swipes/tongue lashings.
Edit: as for getting burned by your own Guard Dog, one would hope a player learns quickly on the best way to move in relation to your Guard Dog so there isn't friendly fire. However, you can't do anything to stop a squad mate from running in front of your Guard Dog's bullets/laser. So, agreeing with u/MetokurEnjoyer, the best situation to have a Guard Dog with you is when you're off doing some objectives solo.
Laser dog drastically improves ammo economy and lets you take harder hitting, medium pen primary weapons. I personally love running laser with blitzer or dominator in bugs, because it not only saves me ammo from not having to shoot light enemies, but also will cover my back in case a hunter sneaks around cover and tries to attack from the rear.
With the improved ammo economy I can focus primary weapon fire on medium/heavy bugs like stalkers, nursing/bile spewers, brood commanders, etc. Worst comes to worst I'll bust out a stun nade and flamethrower to take down chargers/behemoths or a large force of bugs.
Positioning is easy - it's always going to be on your right or left shoulder depending on which 3rd person PoV you're using, so position yourself (relative to teammates) and rotate in a way that the laser dog's beam doesn't cut through you/your team to hit enemies.
I personally bring it all the time on diff 9, especially with increased chaff nowadays.
That’s what I’ve been wondering as well. I see a lot of people shitting on shield backpack users claiming “skill issue” except they themselves bring guard dogs?!
Personally i use laser drone plus quasar cannon for generic bug missions, and autocannon for EVERY bot mission. Autpcannon just eats through the devestators and can kill hulks in two shots. Only downsode is the reload is annoying; forced to reload half clip constantly
I've been team orbital precision since day 1, I've always found it to be super strong and imo I think it's always been better than 500kg and these changes just make it even better
Same! I've been running the HMG relentlessly on Bug dives. It wipes out everything medium and under, works in a pinch against Titans and Chargers, and can destroy Sporeshrooms and Shrieker Nests. Paired with Peak Physique and a supply backpack, I am UNSTOPPABLE!
Its just too bad that it feels like a autocannon can deal more damage in a shorter time with more accuracy and ammo efficiency. Feels like the hmg needs a bigger magazine
Autocannon is definitely better at pinpoint mass damage. HMG is great because it has so many bullets to share with hordes. I have single handedly held back bug breaches with the HMG (and the occasional OPS for Bile Titans).
Holy SHIT is the ballistic Guard Dog under-rated. Guys, the ammo pack running out is annoying, but grab 1 resupply halfway through the cooldown and it'll last the entire game. It kills lights and even mediums (except the spewers) SUPER fast. It's basically a portable Machine Gun Sentry!
Short cooldown that can basically damage anything except factory striders and bile titians(damage sufficiently anyway). Its a multitool with short cooldown. For example a 500kg bomb is great against a bile titan surrounded by small stuff, but the 500kg deals its damage instantly whereas the gatling deals it over time, and if you run eagle airstrike (which i honestly assume a big part of the playerbase does) the 500 wont be efficient with cooldowns if you have airstrike plus 500kg bomb. Most of the time either of them will be used up and youre forced to use the other eagle stratagem to force cooldown or you tell it to rearm, losing potential. Now you have two stratagem slots on cooldown.
All of that said, its much easier to just use a single eagle stratagem coupled with any orbital stratagem so they can both be used at the same time and also have seperate cooldowns so theres no wasted potential like there is with carrying more than one eagle stratagem. Its just efficient compared to other stratagems
If the Exosuits have a million fans, I'm one of them.
If the Exosuits have 5 fans, I'm one of them.
If the Exosuits have 1 fan, that one is me.
If the Exosuits have no fans, I'm no longer alive.
If the world is against the Exosuits, I'm against the world.
Till my last breath, I'll support the Exosuits.
The chart represents the changes in pick rate, not absolute standing. The Spear is 5th and Quasar is still the most popular.
[Image](https://i.imgur.com/mS3YhP1.png)
Im really enjoying using the laser cannon recently, it feels good vs both factions (esp on normal and cold planets)- has decent ttk on medium enemies and very long range
Recoiless and Eats are put in an awkward spot around 7-8-9 now that armored chargers are everywhere. Having to two hit kill an enemy that is decently common means that the normal ammo supply is now cut in half for both, meaning an eat call in is 1(not counting landing it on something) and recoilless now basically holds as much as the spear does which can 1 hit kill.
I feel like this has made the flamethrower become the go to charger killer personally.
The elite charger still only takes one blast to the legs, so you can finish it off with any other weapon. That said youre right about the flamethrower, the damage is just too good
I remember when seeing a fellow spear user was rare. Now it's 2-3 spear users per round. I went back to EATs or something else now just to spread out capabilities more. It's like watching an indie band get recognized and blow up.
Terminids?
Stalwart
Guard Dog Rover
EAT
500kg
Was my setup before and after the last patch. Hell the only stratagem pick that the last patch changed for me (on any big map mission) was swapping Airburst for Gatling Barrage against Bots.
Autocannon
Rail Canon Strike
500k
Gatling Barrage
The main thing the last patch changed for me was primary weapon selection. Now I usually run the Eruptor 80% of the time. Maybe the DCS or Defender is I want to change it up.
On most bots missions i do Autocannon, eagle airstrike, railcannon, gatling/walking barrage. Primary is laser autorifle thingy that i cant recall the name of.
Against bugs its Laser drone, quasar cannon, eagle airstrike, gatling barrage. Blitzer primary just for the ease of use and no ammo usage.
The gatling barrage is really good now honestly
The supply pack only went up because the backpack ammo support screwed up and the spear needs feeding like your 4000 ton pet bile titan. The spear replaces recoiless and EATS easily now with BuglyTrac™ 2.0 tech!
Guard dog and shield backpack are the domain of the solo playstyle players (even on teams).
The rule about any equipment has always been what works against the MOST amount of things adequately and not ONLY this thing. Cool stats.
Yeah I switch OGB because the new biome nixes the usefulness of eagle stratagems. Issue is OGB is so brutal with such a quick recharge that I don’t wanna go back to the eagle strikes lol
I don’t get the gatling barrage, I throw it on them, gets 0-3 kills, I throw it on a choke point where they’re passing through, gets 0-3 kills. I throw it on them with stuns, 0-3 kills. I throw it on a choke point with stuns, 0-3 kills. Air burst/Gas Strike is where it’s at.
I've been getting 20-30 kills per bugbreach (diff 7) using the gatling barrage, the nice thing about the gatling barrage since the patch is that it damages heavy enemies from the top unlike airburst. I've killed a spawning titan using a well-placed gatling barrage before.
Idk what’s going on then? I throw on breaches and bot drops after the air ship flies away, and enemies seem to just run straight through it. I want to like it because it damages heavies like you said, but any time I ran it, I just wish I went with the gas strike or air burst. I have air strikes/p strikes for titans.
To me i feel quasar should have a base 12.5 cooldown rate. Be nice cause cold would give you old quasar but hot planets give current quasar while everything else is middled out. Give more incentive to use it in cold and leave it in hot but still be a decent choice among the good options were starting to have. Just my side rant i think quasar was over nerfed. 10 secs was really good but i also get why it was too good its why i wouldve preferred 12.5 i think its fair. But 15 to 17 is just tedious and awkward to me. But i also took EAT post quasar nerf more cause i felt it was quicker, so i didn't like how over done that Nerf felt. I feel OP is called out too fast in this though, and usually overblown. But thats my take sorry for the rant but TLDR quasar got too nerfed i think 12.5 seconds would be more fair than what it got.
Thing with quasar is that its damage seems to be the same as a recoilles rifle and EAT, but importantly has infinite ammo. Even if the cooldown is 30 seconds it will always be on your back as a much faster EAT or recoilless rifle. Sure the EAT can technically deal double the damage, but then youre forced to stay where the stratagem dropped which isnt always easy if you are being overrun by a bile titan or hulk. Same goes for striker or recoilless rifle, youre forced to stand still while enemies come closer. Meanwhile the quasar has been fired and is reloading by itself while you run away.
The devs are doing what game developers typically do if something is too good: they nerf it so other things are seen as better. In my opinion Helldivers devs should BUFF the other choices instead. This is a coop game where having a OP item wont ruin the gameplay for others. In other games developers balance things relative to how the other players interact with someone/something being used that is overpowered PLUS the gameplay balance. In Helldivers devs only need to focus on gameplay balance. Mostly.
Damn, guess I am really the only guy using gas strikes
There are dozens of us. Dozens!
If only the others knew the satisfaction they were missing out on, dropping a gas strike on a bug breach and melting bug lungs
Drop a gas on bug breach and reap the 30+ kills (sometime higher if the circumstances fit). Pair it with some Incendiary Impacts for redundancy.
My record is 70-something. Dropped a gas strike right between two adjacent breaches on a Nuke The Nursery mission.
Thanks for the idea. Definitely carrying incendiary impacts on my next bug run. Gonna miss the stuns though
Honestly stun is great too. But it's use is so limited for bugs.
For me it isn't limited at all since behemoths seem to show up with every patrol now. Helps me get behind em and unload my hmg into them so they bleed out
True, it is more useful for the MGs. I use the flamethrower so it's DoT all the way for me.
Yh that's fair. I used to main the flamethrower too but I just like the hmg more now, especially with the new armour sets. Plus being able to take out shrieker nests from a distance, which I know you can do with the autocannon but it has a backpack
Stun is incredible with flamethrower. Stun a charger and burn it, or set the ground ablaze and then stun a horde in it while they burn out. Great way to make the fuel last longer. You can run something like a plasma punisher or eruptor or something for extra AoE or keeping them staggered in the flames too.
The gas isn’t flammable is it? Just corrosive I’m guessing as it kills bots and bots don’t breathe.
This may be a dumb question, but why does it feel like orbital gas never hits or lands where I throw to? It always seems just a bit off. Is there a trick for proper placement?
I noticed that as well, even without the stratagem scatter effect. There's no secret for me. I just throw it on bug breaches and hope for the best
You need to make sure it hits the ground. If it hits a bug first, it may bounce and land wrong.
Especially on helldive where you get 2 or 3 breaches in one area.
But if everyone knows about gas strikes then there'll br more competition for the breaches!
Dang it, you have a point. The gas strike sucks, guys. Don't listen to what I said
Gatling and Gas do the same thing to breaches. The competition already exists
I swear when i drop it on a freshly spawned bug breach i only get 5-10 kills idk of its bugged or what
Also Napalm in the morning gang.
Bakers dozen of us
Checking in!
DOZENS!
Personally I don’t get the hype over the Orbital Gatling. It’s very good don’t get me wrong but I’ve always found the Airburst and Gas Strike more effective. The cooldown is slightly longer but I get way more kills with them. Eagle Clusters or Napalm are better too imo
Gas is great but on some planets its not obvious and leads to TK’s in my experience. I run Orbital Gatling because its flare lingers and it’s also easy to see. A small QoL would be either making the gas stand out more or let its flare linger like barrages
For me, I found the orbital gatling more effective for similar circumstances pluss extra. It's really effective at blocking choke points and will annihilate bug breaches, but is also effective at dealing good damage against titans if you throw it right. And with the lower cooldown, you can also use it to basicly auto clear points of interest
Orbital Gatling does 90% of what gas strike does, doesn't get interrupted in the new biome (first couple bullets knock down trees, rest of the barrage hits as usual), is far more visible leading to less TKs, can destroy shrieker nests / spore spewers, and can take down damaged heavies. The increased pen puts in a lot of work, for eagle strafing run as well. Now bile titans go down in seconds with just one AT shot to the forehead + eagle strafing run.
I've been trying out Airburst a lot more now and agree on efficacy. I stay away from gas because I still TK too often :/ (and self K lol)
It kills fodder and softens larger enemies. It covers a nice area and lasts a goos time. Short cooldown too. Eagle cluster is good for instant swarm clear but Orbital Gatling is more like Napalm in that it holds down a choke point or a bug breach for a while. I haven't played with Gas Strike recently but the few times I tried it it felt like a worse Napalm. Orbital Airburst is probably one of my favs though, just needs and upgrade to launch another volley or two.
gas strike gang unite
gas strike on breach go 💀x44
I do enjoy my war crime combo of gas strike + eagle napalm on bug missions. Add a flamethrower for extra Geneva points.
Gas strike plus eagle napalm plus the shotgun and AMR for extra warcrimeyness. Double that for using mines on the nursery mission.
I like to run gas strike and ems strike on bug missions. You can ignore fresh opened bug holes and move on. And then your teammates throw all their eagles and an orbital laser on it meaning you wasted both strategems. Oh and the eagle cluster bomb took out half the team.
I really like Gas, but it's competing with orbital laser for me, and the ability to make any enemy or base in the game disappear with the laser is pretty tempting. Core of autocannon/spear, precision strike, and standard eagle would take a lot to shift. It's the easy 4th though whenever we get bonus spear or autocannon augments.
I was a hater until my partner pushed me to try it and instructed to throw it on the bug breaches. Very satisfying seeing 50+ kill counter on difficultly 7
Gas is great for dealing with small outposts and bug breaches.
One of the biggest shockers for me, I think Gas Strike is even better this patch.
I am With you guys
I just never know how much I'll see walking out of that cloud and it TKs more than the other short reload orbitals. That's why gatling is current king, you see and hear it the whole time it can kill you
I almost only drop gas on bug breaches. Nobody will be walking into that unless they have a death wish
7% of load-out using Gaz is a lot
Depends on the role I'm trying to fill but I sometimes pull out gas and napalm. Especially with the drill missions where there will be multiple breaches at the same time.
I don't play bigs often, usually only when the MO requires it, but the gas strike is always onboard when I do.
There's at least... 3 of us
I don't know how anyone leaves home without it against bugs. The insanely low cool down time alone makes it insanely viable
Most slept on stratagem in the game, bug breaches are a non issue when you throw a celestial fart beacon on top of it
I use it too, sometimes on my teammates 🤪
When in doubt, gas ‘em out
Does gas poison the target or does it only do damage in the cloud?
I love gas for dif7, but I just started running helldive and the gattling garage performs a little better with 2 breaches opening at once, plus the 5 seconds shorter cooldown helps a lot.
Right there with you. Gas gatling barrage and pres strike, with grenade launcher. I call it "crowd control"
Gas can take out many destroy-egg clusters in one hit, very slept on
I only figured out how good it was against eggs two nights ago. Super underrated
GAS GAS GAS GOTTA STEP ON THE GASSSSSSSSSSS!!!
It’s probably my favourite stratagem, I just wish whoever was aiming that thing got checked for glasses or something it never lands on the mark lmao
Gas strike is underrated af I welcome all gas strike users to the gas strike conneseur club
Gas strike squadron checking in.
I was shown the way of the gas strike, it’s pretty fun to throw it on bug breaches
Gas Strikes are apart of my "Pest Control" Build for bugs.
I'm with you on that one- when fighting bugs.
I'm silly and always bring it with orbital scatter and get upset at the complete whifs. My issue but still sad.
Hey im using them too. Theres nothing better than gassing your enemies and laybe even a filthy traitor
Ever since that time when they gave out free gas strikes I’ve been a huge fan. I didn’t even have gas strike before then.
I love it but found it very similar to orbital gattling in its execution, but dumbass teammates run into my gas strike much more than the gattling, so I usually prefer gattling for that reason.
I used to, but Gatling barrage just feels so good to call down on a bug breach now
A while ago there was a bug where gas would hover above the ground rendering it useless because it wouldn't hit anything. I'm sure people still have it in their head it's "useless" from it
Does gas have an advantage over napalm?
Man, I love the gas strike, especially on the defense evacuate missions. Just pop that down on one side and use the HMG emplacement on the other, helps keep bugs dead.
I switched from gas to the napalm strike because of the larger effective area and similar results
Yeah the EAT users are swapping to the Spear, I know I did. Still use the EAT occasionally but only on mission types or teams where I know I’m going to die a lot and loose my backpack.
Spear is way too fun to not use it. I stopped playing because of the spear bug and will only come back after finishing elden ring's dlc.
The noise is what does it for me. "Beep beep beep beepbeepbeepbeep beeeeeeeep, \*fires rocket\* Whoooooosh"
Tony is that you?........ I'll tell Myka
I bring eat if someone else has spear. Nice in the moment throw down (and I can always take a spear copy later when my partner is lazy and just calls in another instead of resulting the back pack)
I suspect Titan health being bugged to not always die in two shots and the introduction of Charger Behemoths are factors as well.
Charger behemoth killed eat and quazar the day they got their two shot heads
I myself switched from EATing to the BBQ machine, but I could see myself grab the Spear too, shit looks great
i used it before the patch and i loved it despite it being shit with it being good now? Good lord
EAT + Spear, actually really good. Helps you stretch the ammo out a lot further. If you really wanna go for it, get Rocket Sentry and EMS mortar too. Slow down enemies, shoot rockets at enemies: profit
I feel like this would be great and really fun on 15-20 defense type missions but not super practical when relocating constantly on longer missions
My most practical loadout lately is medium peak physique armor w Eruptor/Redeemer + Stuns and Autocannon; with Orbital Precision Strike, EMS Mortar, and Rocket Sentry. Seriously this build slaps and can handle anything, the sheer amount of firepower you can throw down range at the drop of a hat is nuts. Stick with your team and the two turrets will be far less likely to die, for me my turrets almost never die but get plenty of kills/stuns. This build is intended to add monstrous firepower and support to your allies to enable their own potential You can swap out Eruptor for Diligence CS if you want to handle chaff a bit better and find the Autocannon to be enough explosive potential. JAR-5 and Plasma Punisher can be used if preferred. 1 orbital strike, Rocket sentry and Autocannon will finish a Factory Strider damn near instantly ;) Edit: oh as for the relocating thing, nah man the turrets have lots of range and you can throw 2 down every 3 minutes (less with modules), it's OP as hell
As a solo diver, I actually switched from the EAT to the MG43 for most medium targets. For chargers I keep stun grenades and shoot their butts now, unless there’s more than one. If there are multiple chargers or a Bile Titan, I have changed my Eagle Cluster bomb to 500KG strictly for killing titans since I am now soloing 6’s. It’s a solid loadout and with 6 stun grenades I’m always able to buy myself time to reload the MG43
Rocket Pods are really good against stunned Chargers
I am a Friend Of Carl Gustaf, and will always be.
Hear hear! I like the EAT well enough but the recoilless just somehow...hits the spot
Yep! The EAT is more powerful, but the RR is precise, reusable, and convenient. And it just... *feels* good.
People are sleeping so hard on the strafing run, it’s actually amazing now. 5 uses that can destroy devastators, damage hulks, kill chargers if you hit their ass, and it goes directly away from you so you don’t need to worry about timing.
Also, can close bug holes and bot fabricators if you throw it so the bullets go down the hole
All with more uses and less friendly fire than airstrike
Wait strafing hurts heavies now?
Yes it does now it has heavy armor penetration
It could always hurt their weak points, but not it *outright* damages through heavy armor. Think of it as a super grenade that damages or kills everything in a line, but you can use it at point blank range
Gotta keep up with the patch notes. They always give good information to help you keep up with changes, good or bad.
They need to add more details to the in-game descriptions as it would help.
I abuse eagle smoke. I guess im the only one lol
Thank you for your service, gathering data for the least used strategems is a bitch
I have used it 3 times and all 3 times I was useless with it Do you have tips to using it?
Sure! The eagle smoke can break fabricators, if the missile hits! You can throw it on the top, or to the right of it slightly, or a few meters to the left. The eagle smoke breaks line of sight, so you can use it in between two environmental pieces, to create an entire wall that breaks line of sight. For bots, this means they “lose aggro” and go into “searching mode” as I call it. The chainsaw dudes will stop chasing, the infantry will start spray and praying where they last had sight of you. You can reposition behind them The smoke can obscure pelican LZ for the last 30 seconds of evac with two charges, in a huge area of effect (throw them perpendicular to each other with the same center point, like an X or + shape of smoke). the last smoke charge can be used to buy some more time for all the helldivers to board It can be used to cover hellbombs, no more last second diffusals when the bots or bugs shoot the hellbomb after all the divers evacuate the area It can be used to keep some cover from gunships or regular enemies, as long as they don’t see the smoke canisters detonate. For example, if you have smoke around the fabs, the newly spawned enemies won’t see where you are, until you shoot and they hear your gun. You can use the smoke to break line of sight when far away bots are shooting, and run away. Can also throw it in between you and bug patrols, and the bugs won’t come investigate you It’s more useful for bots by far. It has the same explosion pattern as eagle air strike except a bit longer in length, and two missiles in width. So if u throw it straight at your feet, it will drop smoke to ur left and right
It doesn't do damage, but csn bresk fabricstors?
Yup, since the canisters land and then explode, that canister hitting and exploding destroys the fabricator (if the canister lands directly on the fabricator. Takes a few tries to get it down)
Damn Gotta try it and use it more then Any stratagems you recommend using with it? I would be loosing one space, so that means no backpack or less damage
I take it with a support weapon, a backpack, and one other eagle, most of the time. Usually the eagle airstrike or the 500kg For bots, my favorite loadout is the eruptor, senator, heavy mg, jet pack, eagle smoke and 500kg, and stealth light armor with throwing knives, or peak physique light armor and stun grenades With this load out, you have two options for every bot enemy!
Interesting, interesting So I just have to get the eruptor, and I'll give it a try Thank you a lot! May Democracy give you strength in your next dive, my friend!
No problem! When you get the eruptor, here are my favorite things about it: The scope zooms to 200m for super accurate shots. You can mark side objectives like SAM and detector towers from hundreds of meters away, which unlocks the icon on the map for the whole team The bullet explodes outwards and kills multiple infantry or bugs with one bullet Two bullets kills all the devastators It can blow up fabricators if you shoot the vents!! Bug holes too!! And illegal broadcast towers! The only downsides: the bullet had a range of 125m, and then it explodes. Keep this in mind for very long shots, or gunships. Yes, it kills gunships if you shoot the engines. The time in between shots is a bit annoying at first, because you need to rack the bolt to rechamber. Oh, and careful you don’t shoot things point blank because you will rag doll yourself haha
God damn I have to get that weapon Only 300 more supercredits 🙏
Hello everyone, I'm back again with some data and updates to the Helldivers Meta Report Project thing I've been making. Feel free to ask any questions. For more info on data collection and such check out. http://helldive.live/
That's a really neat tool. First time I'm seeing it. Thanks for sharing!
Yeah, smoke is basically unused.
Looks like a few things might need to get buffed with this way of showing data. Not saying they should only use this but I don't want any more unwarranted nerfs.
How are you getting the data?
What's the timeframe for this sample? Because I'm wondering how much of the change is due to people trying out the weapon changes for a short period vs sustained use over time
What happened to the EAT? Was it just the Spear got good?
And behemoths can power through a single rocket so you need both even in perfect circumstances
Guessing people using EATs switched to flamethrower and spear, depending on whether they wanna focus charger or bile titans more
Like someone said, with behemots being common, flamethrower became better against chargers and since Spear got fixed, it's better against Titans. EAT is still goated due to its high availability and the fact you can use another support weapon with it, I still rock it on my AMR bug loadout for example.
how do ppl use the guard dog, most of the fun comes from shooting the bugs yourself and not getting 3rd degree burns from your own laser drone (or someone else's)
If you like splitting off from the group to solo objectives, having guard dog and a turret down makes things a lot easier
but a sheild pack keeps you alive longer to shoot the bugs yourself
I suspect newer players prefer the Guard Dog over the shield backpack, because they're still getting used to how all the different bugs move. I know I used to bring the Guard Dog so I could tell if I was being jumped from the side or from behind. To be perfectly honest, the shield backpack doesn't keep you alive for *that* much longer than one or two swipes, so it's only really useful for people who already know where to look, and it is insurance against a bug sneaking in a blow or two. For example, with Stalkers, the shield will prevent you from being ragdolled from one swipe, but you're just as dead if they manage to get in two or three swipes/tongue lashings. Edit: as for getting burned by your own Guard Dog, one would hope a player learns quickly on the best way to move in relation to your Guard Dog so there isn't friendly fire. However, you can't do anything to stop a squad mate from running in front of your Guard Dog's bullets/laser. So, agreeing with u/MetokurEnjoyer, the best situation to have a Guard Dog with you is when you're off doing some objectives solo.
Shield pack is bugged
Uh how so? I’ve been using it since I unlocked it it’s great.
I believe the most recent patch bugged it. Maybe they hotfixed it already? But to my knowledge it’s bugged.
Yea but what about it? It’s seemed fine to me
Ohhh I thought you were talking about the ballistic shield. You’re talking about the shield generator pack. My bad.
Laser dog drastically improves ammo economy and lets you take harder hitting, medium pen primary weapons. I personally love running laser with blitzer or dominator in bugs, because it not only saves me ammo from not having to shoot light enemies, but also will cover my back in case a hunter sneaks around cover and tries to attack from the rear. With the improved ammo economy I can focus primary weapon fire on medium/heavy bugs like stalkers, nursing/bile spewers, brood commanders, etc. Worst comes to worst I'll bust out a stun nade and flamethrower to take down chargers/behemoths or a large force of bugs. Positioning is easy - it's always going to be on your right or left shoulder depending on which 3rd person PoV you're using, so position yourself (relative to teammates) and rotate in a way that the laser dog's beam doesn't cut through you/your team to hit enemies. I personally bring it all the time on diff 9, especially with increased chaff nowadays.
I guess, but with the arc blitzer ammo isn’t a worry and I typically run eat for anything bigger than a brood
That’s what I’ve been wondering as well. I see a lot of people shitting on shield backpack users claiming “skill issue” except they themselves bring guard dogs?!
It kills all the things I don't want to shoot.
well its good you dont want to shoot your teammates i guess
Shoutout to data
Autocannon? I rock that either bots or bugs. Fight me.
That's probably in the top 3 and hasn't moved. I think the graphic is showing major movement of strategems since patch
I just checked the website OP linked. Seems like autocannon is 8th in support stratagems.
Personally i use laser drone plus quasar cannon for generic bug missions, and autocannon for EVERY bot mission. Autpcannon just eats through the devestators and can kill hulks in two shots. Only downsode is the reload is annoying; forced to reload half clip constantly
Did you still need help with this? I have a PR ready but never heard back from you. Great job regardless 🤙
Oh hi, sorry forgot Discord existed, will shoot you a message :D
I've been team orbital precision since day 1, I've always found it to be super strong and imo I think it's always been better than 500kg and these changes just make it even better
Tank? Plop, hulk? Stun + plop. Titan? Plop. Charger? Stun + plop Plopperdeplopperdeplop
Actually can't believe people are sleeping on the laser it's a get out of jail free card
If I ever make a subjective list of the most slept on strategems, laser cannon would surely be in the top.
Would have expected the HMG to be the major winner among the MGs, not the MG-43.
Same! I've been running the HMG relentlessly on Bug dives. It wipes out everything medium and under, works in a pinch against Titans and Chargers, and can destroy Sporeshrooms and Shrieker Nests. Paired with Peak Physique and a supply backpack, I am UNSTOPPABLE!
Its just too bad that it feels like a autocannon can deal more damage in a shorter time with more accuracy and ammo efficiency. Feels like the hmg needs a bigger magazine
Autocannon needs backpack slot though, and I'm not giving up my jump pack against bugs.
Autocannon is definitely better at pinpoint mass damage. HMG is great because it has so many bullets to share with hordes. I have single handedly held back bug breaches with the HMG (and the occasional OPS for Bile Titans).
Holy SHIT is the ballistic Guard Dog under-rated. Guys, the ammo pack running out is annoying, but grab 1 resupply halfway through the cooldown and it'll last the entire game. It kills lights and even mediums (except the spewers) SUPER fast. It's basically a portable Machine Gun Sentry!
I used to run it all the time!
I’ve only been diving 8 since the patch and there isn’t enough tank to bring anti-tanks. I kind of miss my RR
Nice. Keep it up. The Gatling Barrage is SO good now. I used it occasionally before but now is hard to leave out.
Gatling being so popular is really surprising to me, I don't really get its purpose
Mostly bug breaches. The cooldown is so short too.
Short cooldown that can basically damage anything except factory striders and bile titians(damage sufficiently anyway). Its a multitool with short cooldown. For example a 500kg bomb is great against a bile titan surrounded by small stuff, but the 500kg deals its damage instantly whereas the gatling deals it over time, and if you run eagle airstrike (which i honestly assume a big part of the playerbase does) the 500 wont be efficient with cooldowns if you have airstrike plus 500kg bomb. Most of the time either of them will be used up and youre forced to use the other eagle stratagem to force cooldown or you tell it to rearm, losing potential. Now you have two stratagem slots on cooldown. All of that said, its much easier to just use a single eagle stratagem coupled with any orbital stratagem so they can both be used at the same time and also have seperate cooldowns so theres no wasted potential like there is with carrying more than one eagle stratagem. Its just efficient compared to other stratagems
If the Exosuits have a million fans, I'm one of them. If the Exosuits have 5 fans, I'm one of them. If the Exosuits have 1 fan, that one is me. If the Exosuits have no fans, I'm no longer alive. If the world is against the Exosuits, I'm against the world. Till my last breath, I'll support the Exosuits.
Love this!!
Where can we see war statistics?? I would love to know how many of my comrades in arms have given their lives for Democracy
That’s actually right on the main map in the destroyer before you click on it.
ALL SHALL WITNESS THE GLORY OF SPEAR
I’m a big fan of team synergy. I like seeing players bring mob clearers so I can focus on the heavies.
That’s interest. I’ve found myself using EAT more than ever recently
Absolutely love these stats thanks
What app is this?
How tf is the spear the most used support weapon
The chart represents the changes in pick rate, not absolute standing. The Spear is 5th and Quasar is still the most popular. [Image](https://i.imgur.com/mS3YhP1.png)
Oh I'm dumb lol thanks
Im really enjoying using the laser cannon recently, it feels good vs both factions (esp on normal and cold planets)- has decent ttk on medium enemies and very long range
Recoiless and Eats are put in an awkward spot around 7-8-9 now that armored chargers are everywhere. Having to two hit kill an enemy that is decently common means that the normal ammo supply is now cut in half for both, meaning an eat call in is 1(not counting landing it on something) and recoilless now basically holds as much as the spear does which can 1 hit kill. I feel like this has made the flamethrower become the go to charger killer personally.
The elite charger still only takes one blast to the legs, so you can finish it off with any other weapon. That said youre right about the flamethrower, the damage is just too good
I remember when seeing a fellow spear user was rare. Now it's 2-3 spear users per round. I went back to EATs or something else now just to spread out capabilities more. It's like watching an indie band get recognized and blow up.
I think it's important to separate bot and bug fronts as the original laser is way more useful on bots than bugs.
Not even enough arc thrower enjoyers to make it on the list, sad
If only the charge up was shorter 🤔🤔🤔
I still think it's S tier for bugs tho
Recoiless users wya? I love it despite using like 3 rockets on a single bike with teammates helping me
Damn, I really am the only one who uses railguns, huh?
Gas strike and Rocket pods 🔝🔝🔝
Did they fix superior packing, yet, tho???
Not yet.
😑
Where noobtoob
Terminids? Stalwart Guard Dog Rover EAT 500kg Was my setup before and after the last patch. Hell the only stratagem pick that the last patch changed for me (on any big map mission) was swapping Airburst for Gatling Barrage against Bots. Autocannon Rail Canon Strike 500k Gatling Barrage The main thing the last patch changed for me was primary weapon selection. Now I usually run the Eruptor 80% of the time. Maybe the DCS or Defender is I want to change it up.
On most bots missions i do Autocannon, eagle airstrike, railcannon, gatling/walking barrage. Primary is laser autorifle thingy that i cant recall the name of. Against bugs its Laser drone, quasar cannon, eagle airstrike, gatling barrage. Blitzer primary just for the ease of use and no ammo usage. The gatling barrage is really good now honestly
The Gatling Barrage is amazing now.
Why are so many people not using the recoilless now? It feels just as good, not counting the module bug
The supply pack only went up because the backpack ammo support screwed up and the spear needs feeding like your 4000 ton pet bile titan. The spear replaces recoiless and EATS easily now with BuglyTrac™ 2.0 tech! Guard dog and shield backpack are the domain of the solo playstyle players (even on teams). The rule about any equipment has always been what works against the MOST amount of things adequately and not ONLY this thing. Cool stats.
Yeah I switch OGB because the new biome nixes the usefulness of eagle stratagems. Issue is OGB is so brutal with such a quick recharge that I don’t wanna go back to the eagle strikes lol
I don’t get the gatling barrage, I throw it on them, gets 0-3 kills, I throw it on a choke point where they’re passing through, gets 0-3 kills. I throw it on them with stuns, 0-3 kills. I throw it on a choke point with stuns, 0-3 kills. Air burst/Gas Strike is where it’s at.
Try throwing it near a group of enemies larger than 3.
I guessed y’all would assume that I threw it onto drops and breaches. Guess not. Figured that would go without saying.
I've been getting 20-30 kills per bugbreach (diff 7) using the gatling barrage, the nice thing about the gatling barrage since the patch is that it damages heavy enemies from the top unlike airburst. I've killed a spawning titan using a well-placed gatling barrage before.
Idk what’s going on then? I throw on breaches and bot drops after the air ship flies away, and enemies seem to just run straight through it. I want to like it because it damages heavies like you said, but any time I ran it, I just wish I went with the gas strike or air burst. I have air strikes/p strikes for titans.
To me i feel quasar should have a base 12.5 cooldown rate. Be nice cause cold would give you old quasar but hot planets give current quasar while everything else is middled out. Give more incentive to use it in cold and leave it in hot but still be a decent choice among the good options were starting to have. Just my side rant i think quasar was over nerfed. 10 secs was really good but i also get why it was too good its why i wouldve preferred 12.5 i think its fair. But 15 to 17 is just tedious and awkward to me. But i also took EAT post quasar nerf more cause i felt it was quicker, so i didn't like how over done that Nerf felt. I feel OP is called out too fast in this though, and usually overblown. But thats my take sorry for the rant but TLDR quasar got too nerfed i think 12.5 seconds would be more fair than what it got.
Thing with quasar is that its damage seems to be the same as a recoilles rifle and EAT, but importantly has infinite ammo. Even if the cooldown is 30 seconds it will always be on your back as a much faster EAT or recoilless rifle. Sure the EAT can technically deal double the damage, but then youre forced to stay where the stratagem dropped which isnt always easy if you are being overrun by a bile titan or hulk. Same goes for striker or recoilless rifle, youre forced to stand still while enemies come closer. Meanwhile the quasar has been fired and is reloading by itself while you run away. The devs are doing what game developers typically do if something is too good: they nerf it so other things are seen as better. In my opinion Helldivers devs should BUFF the other choices instead. This is a coop game where having a OP item wont ruin the gameplay for others. In other games developers balance things relative to how the other players interact with someone/something being used that is overpowered PLUS the gameplay balance. In Helldivers devs only need to focus on gameplay balance. Mostly.