28 articlesIn Helldivers 2, the most important tools in your arsenal are your guns. Without a good gun, you can’t expect to go very far regardless of your skill level. One of the best weapons to use in Helldivers 2 is the shotgun.
Out of all the different shotguns, the SG-8 Punisher Shotgun is one of the best ones. We’ll be going over the best ways to use the weapon, so read on if you want to main a shotgun!
SG-8 Punisher Weapon Guide
The SG-8 is a pretty easy weapon to get your hands on, thankfully. To unlock it, go into your Acquisition Center, then click the first free Warbond. There, you can claim the SG-8 shotgun.
It costs 4 medals, which isn’t very hard to come by. Everyone should be able to unlock it fairly early. We recommend unlocking it as early as you can, as it’ll be a great addition to your kit.
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To get the maximum accuracy out of the weapon as possible, use the scope. By aiming instead of hip shooting, you get a lot more bang for your buck from every shot. You can only fire 16 shots before having to reload so you should be maximizing efficiency.
Reload Speed
When reloading, you’ll notice that each shot is loaded individually. Some other guns load entire magazines in at once. This isn’t a big issue though, as the reload speed is still very fast relative to all the other guns. The rate of fire is also pretty decent as far as shotguns go, so don’t worry about that either.
If you want to check how much ammo you have left, hold down R. This will show you a display with the name of your weapon, as well as your available bullets. Also, reloading can be stopped mid-animation if you try to shoot. This can be good in an emergency for staggering an enemy while you’re reloading.
SG-8’s Best Features
The best points of this shotgun definitely are its damage and stagger ability. When fighting enemies, you’ll notice that they’ll get stunned and stop approaching you if you get a few shots in. Rifles and Submachine Guns don’t come with this bonus feature.
The base damage of 360 is absolutely massive, especially for how early you can get this gun. The only disadvantage of using this shotgun is that it’s not great with any enemies with more than Light Armor. You should pair it with another gun which is good for Armor penetration for maximum benefit.
Armed with this knowledge and the SG-8, you can easily take on any number of foes in Helldivers 2. Even when you eventually get too over-leveled to use this weapon, you’ll always remember it as your first.
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