Helldivers 2 already has a wide variety of weaponry, especially when it comes to primary weapons. Consequently, any primary weapons that get added in future updates for Helldivers 2 will naturally have some tough competition to live up to. Otherwise, new weapons could get overshadowed by the existing meta. Ultimately, the future of primary weapons in Helldivers 2 may need to make some big changes in order to stand out from some of the best primary weapons that players already have access to.
Among the existing primary weapons in Helldivers 2, one of the biggest factors that distinguishes these weapons is their unique damage types and Elements, with some offering explosive, Fire, and Arc, which are all great utilities. Based on this trend, Helldivers 2 may need to continue introducing new damage types and unique Elements, among other potential solutions, to make future primary weapons feel fresh, even if it means outperforming the existing meta.
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How Helldivers 2 Can Keep Weapon Variety Fresh with Future Primary Weapons
- Reviving the original Helldivers “medic gun” as a primary weapon type
- New Elements/damage types
- Introducing silenced weapons
- Adding melee weapons to the primary weapon slot
Medic Primary Weapons
The P-11 Stim Pistol in Helldivers 2 is quite a powerful buildcrafting tool as a sidearm and therefore a primary weapon version of a support-role weapon could have big potential to shift the current meta in Helldivers 2. Especially considering that the original Helldivers featured its own “medic gun,” the REP-80 support weapon, reviving this weapon type could be a natural fit in Helldivers 2, especially if it gets adapted as a primary weapon.
Unlike the Stim Pistol only being capable of healing players, the REP-80 from the original Helldivers could also repair Vehicles, Mechs, and Sentry Stratagems, so having this kind of buildcrafting tool could be a game-changer for Sentry Stratagem loadouts in Helldivers 2.
New Elements or damage types
Adding weaponry based on new Elemental damage types seems to be the pattern so far with Helldivers 2’s premium Warbonds, so this already seems like a natural progression for the game. By now, there have been explosive, Fire, Laser, Arc, and Plasma primary weapons, so without introducing any new Elements, this still leaves room for Gas primary weaponry, which admittedly sounds quite powerful. Rather, it might be necessary to experiment with entirely new Elements and damage types beyond this to help make newly added primary weapons feel unique, such as Cryo, Acid, and/or Bleed.
Silenced Primary Weapons
Helldivers 2 could also add a fresh new variety of primary weapons by offering silenced weapons, either as entirely new weapons or by adding silencers/stealth capabilities to existing base weapons. Especially since the Scout body armor perk already exists in the game, which decreases the range that enemies can detect players within, not adding proper stealthy primary weapons that complement this body armor perk in Helldivers 2 arguably feels like a missed opportunity.
The throwing knife and melee weapons can be used as silent weapons in Helldivers 2, though weapon fire, explosives, and Stratagems will typically get players detected.
Primary Melee Weapons
So far, the Stun Lance and Baton in Helldivers 2 are quite powerful due to their stun capabilities that leave enemies vulnerable to countless follow-up attacks, but they lack heavy armor penetration to be able to handle some of the deadliest enemy units among each faction. As a result, adding melee weapons to the primary weapon slot could be the key to balancing armor penetration for melee weapons, since not having a traditional primary weapon would be quite a risky sacrifice.
It’s important for weapons that get added to the game in the future to be meaningful additions. However, given how powerful the existing primary weapons meta in Helldivers 2 is, introducing weapons that truly feel fresh and unique might mean pushing the limits of the meta to a new extreme.
Helldivers 2
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 83 /100 Critics Rec: 91%
- Released
- February 8, 2024
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Arrowhead Game Studios, Nixxes
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Interactive Entertainment, PlayStation Publishing
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- bitsquid
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
- All platforms
- Franchise
- Helldivers
- Number of Players
- 1-4 players (online)
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- Genre(s)
- Third-Person Shooter, Extraction Shooter, Action, Science Fiction
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
