Support weapons in Helldivers 2 can change the tide of battle when used at the right time. With 12 support weapons to choose from for your arsenal, these devastating stratagems can be used to deal with enemy masses at higher difficulty levels to gain bonus XP for faster leveling.
Support Weapons take up one of your four stratagem slots on each mission. Since you have a limited number of these precious stratagem slots, you need to be mindful about which Helldivers 2 support weapons you take with you on a mission. Though there are 12 support weapons, it doesn’t mean all of them are equally good or even useful.
Support weapon stratagems play a crucial role in keeping you alive and kicking during your battles. As such, the following are considered the best support weapons in Helldivers 2.
1. Railgun
The top spot for the best Support weapon/stratagem can easily be handed over to the Railgun in Helldivers 2. Even the idea of this specific support weapon makes it better than anything else. You can use this support weapon to plow through the toughest armored enemies with relative ease.
Railgun also has two firing modes that make it even more devastating as a support weapon. In safe-mode the Railgun can be charged instantly and fired to stun heavier targets and lower-tier enemies reliably in one hit.
When using the RS-422 Railgun on unsafe mode and charging it up to 90%, you can probably one-shot some of the strongest enemies in some cases as well. This particular support weapon is quite efficient in defeating Titans and blowing up a horde of bugs that are chasing you down.
2. EAT-17 Expendable Anti-Tank
The Expendable Anti-Tank Support weapon is considered among the best of the best in the game. It is the most reliable stratagem in Helldivers 2 that both you and you’re your team can use to trash armored enemies. The Expendable Anti-Tank weapon drops down a pod with two rocket launchers and each of them has one single round in them.
The best part about this support weapon is that anyone on your team can pick up these rocket launchers and the cooldown time for this support stratagem is less than a minute. This means that you can literally fire out rockets all over the map and if your squad also equips this specific support weapon then you will have a total of 8 rockets.
3. Grenade Launcher
The Grenade Launcher is exactly what it sounds like: your standard grenade launcher firing those explosive balls into the battlefield in Helldivers 2. This support weapon/ stratagem does not have a ton of ammo and is deemed a team-killing machine. On the other hand, once you learn to use the Grenade Launcher it will be extremely useful especially when clearing out enemy nests for the bugs or the factories for the robots.
The Grenade launcher allows you to focus on enemy bases whereas your teammates can use their grenades to kill the surrounding enemies and finish missions a lot faster. Moreover, this support weapon can deal quite effectively with enemy walkers, against whom most of the other weapons have a hard time.
Keep in mind that the grenade launcher runs out of ammo far too quickly during your battles, so you will need to save it for destroying enemy nests only. You can carry a Supply Backpack stratagem in Helldivers 2 with the Grenade launcher as it will give you four extra packs of ammo which means that your grenade supply keeps on coming with each drop making you more formidable during your fights.
4. Spear
Another highly useful support weapon in Helldivers 2 is the Spear, which fires an extremely large rocket on the enemy targets. However, the Spear gun can’t be fired unless this support weapon locks onto certain enemy targets. This lock-on time is why we have categorized it lower than grenade launcher even though it is more destructive in its capability.
You can use the spear one-shot Bile Titans, Hulks, and Chargers, and you can also equip three extra rockets in your backpack to keep the attack coming onto your enemies. You will need to lock onto a good spot which in this case will be the enemy’s head to get an effective shot from the Spear to take them down.
There is one major factor that makes the Spear a must-use support weapon in Helldivers 2, and that is going to be robot bases. You remember those factories that produce Automatons over and over again, well you can lock those places and easily destroy them with one Spear shot securing that area instantly for you.
In short, the Spear support weapon will come in handy when taking out enemy bases, and it will allow your team to enter those areas more safely.
5. Stalwart
The Stalwart is an automatic fire support weapon designed for laying down hard cover fire on your enemies. What makes the Stalwart so good in Helldivers 2 is that it available to unlock quite early and for free.
The Stalwart has an insane amount of ammo in each magazine, and as long as you aim down sight, the stability of this specific support weapon becomes a non-issue for you. It is a pretty ideal weapon for stopping the enemy reinforcement drops and shifting the tide in your favor.
The best part about the Stalwart support weapon is that you don’t need to stop moving to reload like the actual machine gun, which means that you can run around and spread havoc.
The Stalwart might not be ideal for dealing with armored units, but it is always a good choice for dealing with large hordes. Because of its efficiency against smaller targets, Stalwart allows you to deal with smaller bugs while your teammates can focus on eliminating larger titans.
6. Recoilless Rifle
The Recoilless Rifle is a mixture of a rifle and a rocket launcher. You can use this support weapon to fire high-powered shots which can easily blow up enemy tanks, Hulks, Chargers, and even Titans. Moreover, the Recoilless Rifle comes with a backpack to carry your ammo and reload it.
However, the reload time is really slow but if you have a teammate helping you with the reload you can instantly mow down enemy chargers in Helldivers 2. Apart from that the Recoilless Rifle is an ideal support weapon if you are running in those duos or trios but keep in mind that his item is pretty heft to carry around but it will get the job done and win you those hard-fought matches.
7. Autocannon
The Autocannon is actually pretty different from any other heavy support weapons in Helldivers 2 as it has several different uses. In short, you will get a cannon that fires high-powered explosive shots which are just below the recoil rifle in terms of power. You also get a backpack with the Autocannon which will allow you to carry all that extra ammo with this support weapon.
The reload time on the Autocannon is pretty quick, especially if you have a teammate adding in that extra ammo while wearing the backpack. However, if you are running solo it will freeze you in one place when you are reloading it.
The Autocannon offers decent stability and makes you feel pretty good while shooting those rockets in Helldivers 2.
8. Arc Thrower
If you are a fan of Ghostbusters, you will feel right at home with the Arc Thrower, as the weapon functions in pretty much the same Proton Pack. First, the Arc Thrower support weapon has infinite ammo. Second, it will charge up to hit a target and chain that electric trail onto multiple enemies.
In short, the Arc Thrower targets enemy groups collectively, and in the case of bugs, it will easily chain all the little bugs to death instantly.
The Arc Thrower is also somewhat effective against large bugs in Helldivers 2, but the main downside to using this support weapon is that it is highly inconsistent in some cases. On top of that, your damage is often hindered by the terrain, and you often end up hitting your teammates through the chainlighting. Since friendly fire can’t be disabled, you will end up killing them in the process.
The Arc Thrower is not too effective against certain robots, such as walkers, hulks, and chainsaw madmen in those Eradicate Automaton missions which is why it is at the bottom of our Helldivers 2 support weapon rankings.
