28 articlesHelldivers 2 features a lot of neat weapons for you to choose from. However, it can be tedious to figure out what works best. Especially considering all of the different factions you’ll have to contend with! This is where our guide for the top primary weapons in Helldivers 2 comes in.
Primary Weapon Tier List
Automatons
The Automatons are the most heavily armored of all of the enemy factions currently in the game.
So, in keeping with that, your main goal when picking a primary weapon here is to go for high armor penetration. High single-target damage and high armor penetration are the winning combination here!
That does mean your weapon selection for what’s the best of the best is a lot more limited, however. Most primaries simply fall into the A tier of “they’re great but not the best” in this case, as you can see.
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Illuminate
When it comes to the Illuminate, you mainly want to avoid Stun weapons. They are simply not very effective against them, especially when it comes to the dangerous Fleshmobs.
Compared to the other enemy factions, the Illuminate are more or less the “middle of the pack”. That is, when it comes to what you want for your weapons!
They have hordes of Voteless, which means you want weapons capable of area-of-effect damage and crowd control. However, they also have some strong Elite unites that necessitate you to carry weapons capable of high single-target damage.
That said, even the stronger units in the Illuminate’s ranks don’t have a lot of armor. So, you want high damage more than high armor penetration overall.
With that in mind, the main thing you really need to avoid here is just Stun weapons due to them being less effective. Other than that, your choice of weapon will really depend more on your entire loadout. Remember, you need to be versatile!
Terminids
The Terminids, which are the bugs everyone loves to hate, are a faction that mainly relies on strength in numbers. You’ll deal with hordes of weak squishy bugs that can overwhelm you if you’re not careful.
As such, your best bet here are weapons with high DPS that allow you to clear large groups with ease. You don’t want anything that’s too slow and requires precise aiming, honestly! You just want to thin the horde with ease before you get overwhelmed.
That said, there are also some very tough elite units in their ranks. However, you’ll likely find yourself relying more on Strategems to take those out. So, pick your primary weapon focused on dealing with the horde primarily.
There you have it, that’s the tier list of every primary weapon in Helldivers 2! Remember to pick based on what you’ll be facing! But do also remember that you should focus on using weapons that you find fun and comfortable, as well.
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