Helldivers 2: For Managed Democracy!

[supple siren]

Always astonished when there's no friendly fire

[lethal badger]

Helldivers raises an interesting point I realized

We know there are human defectors in the galaxy

I wonder why the propaganda seems to work so well on most humans

Ofc it’s a satire of American imperialism but most people can kinda see why that’s wrong

Is it taking the nihilistic view of space and saying humans’ worst impulses come to the forefront?

Like our hunger for resources and power

It seems like the point Helldivers raises is that American imperialism, specifically that style of seemingly “good” imperialism and “justified” wars is easy to fall into

[quick plinth]

usually by the time those born into such enviroments realise it's faults it is already too late

by which point they're either easily removed by the system or have in some way become unable to fight against it in any efficient manner

helldivers being prime examples themselves

[tall stone]

Can't back out now even if we wanted to.

[lethal badger]

Oh

I was talking to my friend

I’d like to see us put down human rebels

Or even get a choice if we’re about to lose Super Earth to defect

It could add a layer of nuance

[quick plinth]

I mean you could try, but youre a helldiver, despite all the things at your disposal, you're not exactly capable of rebelling in any meaningful way

[sour whale]

it's not easy to break out of a system that were you born, raised, and indoctrinated into, yeah. especially when there's no opposing viewpoints to look at

[lethal badger]

But I feel like the community would pick the fash option because these things run on majority vote lmao

[gusty heron]

Also I reckon most of the war isn't just (or even in large part) for resource acquisition, but instead something to do. As long as there are nonhuman enemies out there who kill humans and string them up on spikes, then it's a hell of a lot easier to get everyone rallied into line.

[lethal badger]

But I do wanna fight actual rebels

[quick plinth]

not to mention that the system has positioned itself so that any dissidents are overwhelmingly isolated

[lethal badger]

It would be very interesting and also stick it to the chuds

But idk if the devs are unsubtle enough for that

It’s easy to dehumanize and think you’re the right side when your opposition is inhuman

[gusty heron]

Also hey, we do see the works of rebels occasionally. They're a side mission. You drop an orbital strike on them and move on.

[lethal badger]

We do?

[gusty heron]

Also 100% this, and I'd argue that that's why the war is important to super earth. That's why they maybe kinda free the bugs sometimes, that's (one of the reasons) why they attacked the Illuminate the first time (to be fair that was also to steal their tech). As long as there's a nonhuman enemy that threatens Super Earth, it's a lot easier for its people to rally behind the jackboot.

[gusty heron]

Yeah, there are dissident radio broadcasts that you blow up. The bot ones might be ran by automatons, but the bug ones are 99% surely human-made (the 1% is split between being Illuminates or intelligent bugs with opposable thumbs).

[lethal badger]

Also the community would go up in FIRE if we were forced to fight other people

I’d love it

It would be so easy to root chuds out and firmly cement Helldivers as excellent media

[gusty heron]

I mean looking it up it looks like a significant amount of people really want to be able to shoot rebels

[lethal badger]

Oh dear

[gusty heron]

This is not because they are leftists.

[lethal badger]

I wanted to do it to show to idiots we are the baddies

[gusty heron]

Like, a rebel faction to shoot is extremely popular on Reddit.

[lethal badger]

Oh dear

If Helldivers is really enforcing how inherently bloodthirsty humans can be trapped inside a violent system.. the community is proving it

That’s depressing ngl

[gusty heron]

(Not just for chud reasons to be fair, some also want it to show how shit super earth is and others want it because a faction that uses more combined arms and even technology that very directly mirrors what helldivers use might be neat; I like the second argument sometimes)

[tall stone]

I already have enemies that can shoot back at me though.

[lethal badger]

They don’t look like you though, do they?

They’re squarely fictional entities

[tall stone]

They're humanoid.

[lethal badger]

…oh

People will justify anything. That’s the message of Helldivers 2

That makes sense

It’s an abstraction. It looks like us, close enough.

[gusty heron]

But also yeah I don't really want to shoot other humans and have it be rewarded by the game, I am chill being a xenocidal maniac who was given their second and third gun at (on average) 18 years old, frozen solid, woken up a decade later, and thrown into hell while their family at home sends letters meant for them to the Beareau of Helldiver Services that they will never be able to respond to.

[lethal badger]

I mean

That’s fair

I’m just tired of people chronically idolizing it

I watched one Helldivers video and my YouTube is full of “humanity first” content

It’s a damn shame because the devs couldn’t be less subtle

[tall stone]

Shooting Bots fun.

[lethal badger]

I have fun in a vaccum and later think on what I did in a moral standpoint to enhance my enjoyment of the media

[gusty heron]

Yeah, for sure. And there are a lot of people who are into the absurdity and awfulness of Helldivers II, even on the various subreddits! It's got a much higher "satire hit rate" than most anything else I've seen discussed there, to be honest.

[tall stone]

The changes to bugs is making me go "Shooting Bugs Fun"

[lethal badger]

I’ve shouted so many Helldivers slogans that I get tired now lol

[gusty heron]

I need to shoot more bugs

[lethal badger]

Yeah shooting bugs fun

[gusty heron]

I just like my ballistic shield against bots too much so I usually go there

[tall stone]

Most of my game thoughts are "Ha-ha, Eruptor fun and Laser Cannon sound good"

[lethal badger]

You see it’s difficult to get through to average people irl though

My friend who plays Helldivers is aware of the satire

We have fun

But taking to other people about it is a chore

It’s all mindless slogans or outright misunderstanding of the message

Which at a certain point annoys the fuck out of me when I wanna have a discussion about media and being antifacist

And I did notice that it’s super easy to start mindlessly chanting slogans!

That’s the interesting part it’s a real time media literacy test

[tall stone]

https://tenor.com/view/starship-troopers-gif-26279222

[gusty heron]

I love mindlessly chanting slogans

(Only slogans I don't believe in tho, I get uncomfortable expressing anything I actually care about that way)

(That said, I've gotta get dinner and then Do My Part on the bug front)

Also, proof that the subreddit's existence is at least value neutral:

[quick plinth]

(the original post is much less humorous)

[strange vine]

Dont worry divers we'll capture hellmire in under a year

[modest fiber]

i remember seeing some of them being destoyed by those but not some so i just called the hellbombs just to be sure.. tho oddly sometimes it didn't give the option (and i don't usually have that equipped) so i was confused

[stiff spoke]

You can actually break the jammers without deactivating them, funnily enough

[hearty pier]

Some of them have the inbuilt fabricator which makes it easy to do without breaking jamming. I assume SEAF Artillery will do the job too now

[stiff spoke]

Chucked a laser once and it kept tracking the guys following me from it until it zapped the tower

[orchid pulsar]

<@&1206091872716595200> i dive you dive we all dive to helldive <(:D (not actually doing helldives it just rhimes(?))

[keen zinc]

Drunk wizard

[runic cairn]

mods get em

:(

[daring monolith]

REALLY enjoying spear now that targeting is fixed (and the latest patch fixed fabricator targeting)

[stiff spoke]

best thing to happen to the spear is ammo from random crates so you don't have to call a fresh one or a resupply 24/7

[short rune]

Isnt that the case for all Stratagem weapons?

As long you still got the backpack

[stiff spoke]

Wasn't like that with the spear

Floor ammo packs like the ones near bunkers didn't give spear any ammo until a later patch

[short rune]

Ah

[ionic holly]

Wait there was another patch?

[mortal wing]

earlier today

"Fixed Spear not targeting several entities (spawners, compound objects, etc)."

[ionic holly]

Fucking sweet

[runic cairn]

gamers ?<@&1206091872716595200>

[orchid pulsar]

Be there soon

[glacial light]

Woooo spear getting better

What's a compound object

[quick plinth]

dunno

I assume

robo bunkers with multiple turrets

striders with multiple targeting points?

[quick crown]

I think Compound objects means those pillbox emplacements and such

Since you can destroy them

Compound like Military Compound (Read base)

[quick plinth]

I gotta say

picking up the tenderizer off of someone and using it for a little while, it has made me want to get polar patriots even less

since I was thinking it would be one of the few weapons I might use from it (with the other one being the verdict)

[unreal merlin]

What were you using it against?

[quick plinth]

bugs

warriors, hunters ect

[unreal merlin]

I'd agree that it's pretty bad of a choice vs bugs. It doesn't have the magazine size to handle their numbers. It performs better vs bots where you can afford to take a fraction more time to aim and donk a raider with two bullets.

[quick plinth]

thing is

if I want to doink raiders I'll just take the adjudicator

or one of the dilegences

[unreal merlin]

It's certainly a middleground between those and the Liberator.

[quick plinth]

I suppose so, it has even less recoil than any of them

but it lacks medium pen of the adjudicator and the diligence CS

[unreal merlin]

Higher base damage and less recoil, but only light armor pen makes it a better tool vs raiders than the adjudicator.

[quick plinth]

how is having less pen make it better?

and I gotta say, if I wanna onetap raiders the base diligence is excelent

[unreal merlin]

I mean that you don't need higher armor pen to kill raiders, you need raw damage.

[quick plinth]

true, I guess I just don't really see the need for it, because if I wanted to be accurate and snipe raiders ill just use one of the two DMRs we have, and if I wanted a more run and gun option that still hits hard the Adjudicator is right there, but yeah its more of a bot gun now that I think of it more

since it slots into that kind of weapon like its aformentioned peers

[unreal merlin]

Yeah just don't judge it vs bugs, like most precision weapons it's pretty trash against the horde.

[strange vine]

i actually think adjudicator is worse vs bots

i prefer tenderizer

[tall stone]

Tenderizer has a wonderful bot use case: Berzerkers.

[strange vine]

yep

[quick plinth]

I mean neither are good vs bugs

[strange vine]

nah adjudicator is one of my mainstay vs bugs

[tall stone]

Chews up Mids.

[strange vine]

the fact you can 2-3 headpop a warrior and crunch through brood commander and hive guard heads while still having an option vs bile spewers is great

[quick plinth]

that is unimaginable for me with its relatively low ammo count

[strange vine]

thats why i pair it with grenade launcher

and supply pack

GL for crowd clearing

and the high damage still means it doesnt take much to kill stray chaff too

supply pack alleviate the ammo issues both weapons have

[tall stone]

Eruptor being back to a good baseline has me using it as my Bug weapon of choice.

Being able to snipe nests is great.

[quick plinth]

I like the adjudicator because it allows me to snipe most of the time but to also shred smething in close range

(bots)

[strange vine]

imo tenderizer is better with that

[quick plinth]

Diligences being a lot less wieldy in close range

[tall stone]

I also help my bug situation by using Rover to kill the little 'uns.

[quick plinth]

though with the new armor

I think I'll give the CS a shot in close range

[strange vine]

i havent found the adjudicator's medium armor pen all that helpful vs bots actually

because mag dumping into a devastator's chest plate is very inefficient in ammo to kill

[tall stone]

It's really hard for me to not go Sickle into Bots.

[quick plinth]

sickle is just good overall

and a tiny bit less good on hot planets

[quick crown]

Its so hard to play different weapons when the Punisher, Breaker and the Scorcher all just feel too good to use

I've found myself swapping sidearms more than primaries this far into the game

[honest acorn]

It’s always interesting to hear what other people are using in this game because it’s so often like “oh I can’t go without my [weapon which I personally do not ever use] it’s the best” for totally different weapons haha

I think it’s pretty good balance

[orchid pulsar]

<@&1206091872716595200> so anyone down to dive?

[quick plinth]

ill be in a bit

[cobalt patrol]

My main complaint about the tenderizer is that it's noise sucks.

[honest acorn]

Oh I really like it it’s so mechanical

[trail nymph]

I’ll be able to join in about 40 minutes

[cobalt patrol]

I remain amused that you and i have consitently very different opinions on these things 😛

[honest acorn]

Yeah its funny

I can see why its polarizing for sure but I like how loud and clattery it is

[reef raven]

... Berzerkers, my bane 😠

Which is to say rthe Tenderizer really has my attention now

[honest acorn]

Tenderizer is pretty good vs them

Also works pretty well on devs if you can hit faceplates

Since its high damage and extremely controllable

But I think the Adjudicator handles them a little better

[quick plinth]

iirc Adjudicator takes 2 shots to dev heads

but either Diligence oneshots

idk if the Tenderizer breaks that breakpoint or not, as it deals 95

though it shouldn't matter with its nonexistant recoil

[honest acorn]

Yeah I honestly don't know since I always shoot bursts

I think it still takes 2 but its WAY easier to land the 2 shots at longer ranges

[quick plinth]

I would assume so- since it basically acts like a laser

[keen zinc]

Burst on tenderizer just feels right

[quick plinth]

aw man- at first I thought my helldiver's nails were painted black

upon closer inspection this was not the case

[quick plinth]

is it just me or the eruptor is just as sluggish as it ever was even with the peak physique armor buff

[honest acorn]

From what I can tell peak physique doesn't do a lot for weapon slew speed

[glacial light]

Shame, it would be really great for an Eruptor main

Oh well sticking to light medic armor and that stim booster.

[quick plinth]

then what does it do?

[glacial light]

So does the new armor's melee buff hit any breakpoints?

[honest acorn]

More melee damage I think?

I heard something about stance independent recoil control?

IDK I don't have vipers haha

[quick plinth]

well I've gotten frickin scammed

because it doesn't improve how well the guns follow where you point nearly atall

which is what I thought it would do

[glacial light]

Idk know what it means but it "improves weapons handling with less drag on weapon movement"

As of 4 days ago there's a discord message from the devs saying it might not be working on that second effect and only melee damage boost works

[quick plinth]

so it doesn't work then

[hot meadow]

Probably safe to assume it doesn’t work if they don’t know lol

[quick plinth]

because eruptor and HGM fall behind as much as they usually do

[quick plinth]

welp

[glacial light]

Armor supposedly makes handling speed even worse than without the armor, likely someone put in the wrong numbers

[hot meadow]

That would explain some things I noticed

I could also just have gotten worse since I’m playing less lul

[glacial light]

The theory is they typed in 1.3 instead of .7, and so the armor makes handling 30% slower than 30% faster

No proof really but like if you have a macro to move the mouse a certain distance it moves your turn radius around 30% less with the armor than without.

[lethal badger]

Adjudicator was meh for me

Tried it last night

Now the Spear?

SPEAR FUCKS

[hearty pier]

With Fabs back on the menu it's going to be really hard not to bring the spear on bot planets with good sightlines

I have a love for sitting on top of a hill with a resupply and just clearing half the map of objectives

[hexed steeple]

got a weird new thing where the symbol below the compass is constantly blinking. idk what it is

[stone bridge]

Connection lost, apparently

[hexed steeple]

it was fine the whole time

[stone bridge]

Weird!

[trail nymph]

Anyone up for some late night diving?

[tall stone]

Things are getting funny over for the Bugs again.

[supple siren]

Always after our Very Important And Successful bug orders, who could have foreseen >:|a

[honest acorn]

Oh cool, I trust this assessment as much as I didn’t trust those perfidious scientists who said the termicide would work

[supple siren]

Termicide 2'll do it

[tight zephyr]

I want to fight bots, but my personal order is to kill three bile titans.

[tall stone]

Good news, they pop out all the time at Difficulty 6!

[cobalt patrol]

They are also even more fun to OPS now, because that extgra fast call in time makes the whiffs so much rarer

and boy, people wit the SPEAR are doing Work

I'm used to being the hcarger detler, and one tema mate was going ono penguin, THIS IS MY JOB

[tight zephyr]

This wouldn't be so bad if other people's kills counted.

[cobalt patrol]

Chargers exploding all over the place

They do

[stone bridge]

They do lol

[cobalt patrol]

All bounties are shared

[stone bridge]

Other people doing the personal order has always counted toward yours

[tight zephyr]

I saw a guy kill one right in front of me and it didn't count.

[cobalt patrol]

Werid

It is suppposed to count

[tight zephyr]

Yeah, none of the ones I've seen killed have counted unless I was the one doing it. Which I understandably thought was weird.

[tight zephyr]

I think I figured it out. It doesn't count if the other guys have the reward already.

[honest acorn]

Ahh

That explains it pretty well

[tall stone]

Ooooooh

[honest acorn]

<@&1206091872716595200> anyone wanna do an op?

[quick plinth]

be there

[honest acorn]

Sounds good

I’m with some randoms but I’ll make a spot when the time comes

[cobalt patrol]

I can join shortly, assuming turning crossplay back on doesn't explode anything

[honest acorn]

Haha fair

[cobalt patrol]

Okay, well, turning it on didnt blow anything up

Oh, looks l.ike you have 4 though?

[stark ether]

[daring monolith]

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1215251425714503682/1252554165524234240/20240618181108_1.jpg?ex=66734c38&is=6671fab8&hm=58f0e6689beff1f0901f2c4630dda35a09c128a21ea8e8be4f4ae70c0cc7d4bf&=&format=webp&width=550&height=309

[tight zephyr]

This is what Stalkers should look like when they're cloaked.

https://fixupx.com/Helldivers2HQ/status/1802990570727407794

[keen zinc]

i hate these accounts

[stone bridge]

Why?

[honest acorn]

Got my Helldivers working again

Looks like people split off tho

Very weird glitch

[unreal merlin]

independent of the account and meme, spongebob delivered unto us an absolute bop of a song

[stone bridge]

Adam left to sleep, I can reconvene if you're still down

[honest acorn]

I’ll be back on in a moment then!

[stone bridge]

[tight zephyr]

I didn't look at the whole account, I just saw a funny meme and brought it over from another server.

[honest acorn]

Sorry allergies got really bad - I won’t be back on tonight

[stone bridge]

augh! hope you're okay, it's all good

[strange vine]

Oh shit its just 2 spear hits to kill a command bunker

[tall stone]

Oh?

No shit?

That's way better than the laser!

[glacial light]

Whoa nice

I'm just always having spear ig

[tall stone]

I love that even with this knowledge, I'd have to seriously consider if I would just rather pack EATS or Quasar instead.

Just the constant availability options are so strong when you take into account the SPEAR ammo.

[glacial light]

Quasar is probably still the top tier options for bots but spear bas better vibes for me

[tall stone]

It's very competitive.

[honest acorn]

what the fug

That's so good

[strange vine]

yeah i was doing a solo 7's command bunker mission

all 3 bunkers i killed with spear

[unreal merlin]

If only the resupply ammo bug was fixed now. I wish to do team-loading Spear again, where the assistant stands next to a resupply pod and just restocks all 4 missiles.

[glacial light]

They should let us be silly and let team load even if it's loadsd and mega load it up to like fire a huge RR salvo at once

[shy prairie]

[Image ID: The soldier from Team Fortress 2 typing at a keyboard]

[ionic holly]

Beggar's rifle

[orchid pulsar]

<@&1206091872716595200> who down to drop down

[runic cairn]

now i am

[glacial light]

I wish I had more samples for sentry upgrades, MG/Gatling is so good against shriekers

And fun to watch a lot of bullets go into a flying swarm

Oh thanks for the reassurance Super Earth, I was worried our actions could have consequences for a bit

[tight zephyr]

This is normal, actually and everything is fine. Eat your Super Sandwich and sit down.

[glacial light]

Damn you get Super Sandwiches? I only get Super Nutrient Paste and sometimes a Super Nutrient Bar for a perfect mission

[tight zephyr]

I get Super Sandwiches on Wednesdays.

[glacial light]

Damn can I join your Super Destroyer

Me and the 200 other Helldivers my Super Destroyer who are somehow all Space Cadets and have the exact same body type and voice

[tall stone]

You guys get food?

[glad orchid]

All the body needs is freedom and liber-tea :V :V

[tall stone]

And stims.

[tight zephyr]

What do you think is in the Super Sandwich? That’s what makes it super.

[glacial light]

Yea my democracy officer says I should eat at least once every 2 weeks until they make stronger stims

I eat like at least 20 stims a mission

Are you telling me I have to eat regularly or i'll die? Sounds like withdrawal from an addictive Super Drug. It's why I only trust Stims which I am assured at not habit forming.

[tight zephyr]

On Thursday we get Super Tacos.

(It’s the contents of a Super Sandwich in a tortilla.)

I actually proscribe to the alternate view of every new Helldiver is a clone with a flash-imprint mind of the last one who died. I know it counter to the official line, but it’s a lot easier for me to process.

I get attached to my player character, basically, so it’s less uncomfortable for me this way even though I know that discomfort is kind of the point of the satire.

[hexed steeple]

i have turned into the bug blitzer strongest soldier i can't believe i dismissed this weapon out of hand at first

[tall stone]

Zzzzap

[glossy horizon]

It did get a significant fire rate upgrade after it was released, so if you got it at release it's understandable

[tight zephyr]

Blitzer? You mean the Friendlyfire-O-Tron 9000?

[hexed steeple]

haven't friendly fired with it at all so far

[tight zephyr]

I get my ass zapped by it a lot.

I’m not sure how to fix that if it’s something I’m doing.

[honest acorn]

The Blitzer is the funniest friendly fire weapon because it doesn’t do that much damage it just ragdolls them and then hunters eat them

[supple siren]

One of my friends loves intercepting my Airburst rockets with the bubble shield they never, ever go without

You get a lovely .5 seconds of "oh,no"

[honest acorn]

Lmao

[tight zephyr]

Yeah that happens to me a lot when my teammate has a Blitzer or Arc Thrower.

It zaps me in the ass and then I get ultramurdered by the five hundred Hunters on every map.

[cobalt patrol]

You say that and yesterday someone reduced me to excitingly coloured chutney with it =p

[steady flame]

Ooh, chutney. :3

[glacial light]

Blitzer seems more friendly to allies until it random hits your teammates at like a 70 degree 20 feet away while there's a swarm 5 feet in front of you

The "why I'd fall over" on mic then I see their name tag barely on screen while the rest of them is blocked by swarm and I'm like how

[tight zephyr]

I'm a little frustrated with myself that I can't find a way to enjoy fighting the bugs. I just find the experience to be frustrating most of the time. It's a lot more difficult for me than the bots are, for some reason.

Most of my friends prefer the bugs, though, so I get dragged along on bug hunts a lot. I just can't seem to find my center.

[honest acorn]

What loadout have you tried?

[tight zephyr]

I think I've tried just about every primary weapon. I tend to go with the flamethrower, but I've also tried all three AT weapons because I fucking hate Chargers.

The Senator stays with me no matter what I'm doing.

[stone bridge]

Have you tried the Autocannon?

[tight zephyr]

No.

[stone bridge]

The AC is a real sleeper into bugs, imo

[tight zephyr]

I don't like how it handles.

But it's worth a try, I guess.

[stone bridge]

It handles fine?

Like, it's a heavier weapon

[shy prairie]

Hmmm do you know how to do charger bullfighting

Where you just sidestep the charge

[tight zephyr]

I try to pop them in the head with an AT weapon or torch their ass with a flamethrower.

[unreal merlin]

Well there's your problem /s
Torch their foreleg

[pastel igloo]

chargers are the worst

[tight zephyr]

I think I hate Hunters more, but I can kill them more easily.

[quick plinth]

Railcannon into 3 AC rounds kills a BT

[glad orchid]

I found out that a HMG to the head can take a charger out kind of crazy fast

[quick plinth]

so the AC can really do a lot

[unreal merlin]

For whatever reason the armored foreleg can be cooked with a flamethrower for like 1/6th of a tank

[glad orchid]

Like wowzers fast

[unreal merlin]

My bug loadout for 6 and below (and above if I'm with a team that uses AT for me) is

• Liberator/Sickle/Blitzer/Punisher Incendiary (mostly just preference at the time)
• Grenade Pistol (utility for opening POI crates and destroying nests)
• Incendiary Impact or Stun Grenades
• Railgun
• MG Sentry
• Eagle Napalm
• Orbital Precision Strike

[tight zephyr]

I don't think I've tried the Railgun on bugs.

I really like it for bots, but I've never tried it on bugs because I tend to bring the flamethrower to keep the swarms in check.

[unreal merlin]

Use it to instantly kill spewers, hive guards, and brood commanders. 2 overcharge shots can break charger leg armor if you need it, then shoot the leg with your primary

[tight zephyr]

That's a good point.

[supple siren]

Breaker Incendiary is essentially flamethrower level for medium/light bugs

[unreal merlin]

Otherwise focus on popping/controlling smaller bugs with primary weapon

Throw napalm or orbital gas immediately on bug breaches

Breaker incendiary is pretty much easy mode for killing warriors and anything smaller

[quick plinth]

My one mantra when it comes to fighting bugs is bringing anti medium weapons when I'm not in a premade squad, since I cannot count on my teammates to take care of spewers or broodcommanders (railgun, AC are great at this while providing limited anti heavy capabilities )

[unreal merlin]

OPS is your anti-charger and BT tool assuming you know how to juke them into being stationary for 3 seconds (easy)

[tight zephyr]

I like orbital gas a lot.

[unreal merlin]

Overall just prioritize hitting railgun headshots on mediums from afar, switching to primary to kill any hunters that you see trying to flank around the sides. Controlling the horde is more important than killing them all fast (but if you can just kill them all with napalm or cluster strike just do that)

[tight zephyr]

I usually bring incendiary impact grenades.

[unreal merlin]

Orbital Gas is very good, one of my favorites. Similar to eagle napalm but it doesn't have as much lifespan so in longer holdouts it's a little less effective. Much better for lots of smaller engagements though

[tight zephyr]

It's also a little more precise, in my experience.

[honest acorn]

Oh good to know

[glad orchid]

Yeah I discovered it by accident

[unreal merlin]

Yes. Also harder for allies to see because they keep just WANDERING INTO IT aaaaaaa

[glad orchid]

You’ve gotta crouch and aim for its mouth/jaw area, not its forehead

But they go down FAST

[stark ether]

Orbital gatling is one I've seen a lot of people sleeping on

[unreal merlin]

I like orbital gas vs bots actually, because it mulches a dozen raiders and leaves just a bunch of damaged devastators to handle

[honest acorn]

Tbf it just got gigabuffed

[stark ether]

Yeah but it was still kinda okay before the buf

After it's a really strong denial/clear

[honest acorn]

Fair

I think pre-buff air burst kind of ate its lunch

[meager saffron]

gatling also had huge issues where the angle of the super destroyer would just fuck you randomly

[unreal merlin]

Orbital Gatling was pretty solid before, now it's excellent. A little inaccurate sometimes because it wanders a bit

[stark ether]

Yeah

[tight zephyr]

I use the orbital gatling a lot on both fronts.

[stark ether]

It's honestly always been one of my favorites but it's far more usable now

[unreal merlin]

For maximum suppressive power, run both orbital gas and orbital Gatling

Be sure to bring some kind of AT though (OPS, 500kg, support weapon) otherwise you're stuck just running circles around chargers and BTs

[meager saffron]

nah just run EMS

stick the bigger tanks in the gas

ez

[unreal merlin]

I mean you've got 4 slots, you can have those two plus EMS plus EATs

I don't really like orbital EMS though. Rarely do I need an AOE stun to last that long

[stark ether]

I have teammates for at

[unreal merlin]

Every time I've thought that, I spent the mission running from 3 bile titans because nobody else was shooting them for me

[supple siren]

Orbital Gas needs that 'there's stuff here' lingering beam like the Gatling, allies just love waltzing into it

[tight zephyr]

They desire the Spicy Air.

I tend to think of teammates as being CPU of varying degrees of competency.

My PlanetSide 2 days taught me that you have basically no control over them and you shouldn't rely on them for anything if you aren't in regular comms with them.

[unreal merlin]

Nobody is going to switch to heavy and lob rockets at the enemy tanks/aircraft, you must do it yourself.

So many fights could have been won if people would just look up and at least spray bullets at the mosquitoes harassing them, but instead they just die in droves.

[tight zephyr]

Thinking of them as being CPU also helps me keep the salt down.

[tall stone]

I am able to do that until one of them does a non-CPU thing, like intentionally shooting me.

I got tired of checking my HMG emplacement fire earlier because one person kept walking in front of me.

They got mad when the obvious happened, shot me, told me to fuck off.

And so I let the salt levels rise just a little itsy bit.

And blew up both the generators for a material extract.

[tight zephyr]

I feel like being on the bug front does something to your team-sense. I don't know exactly what, but it feels like there's less cohesion in a squad where that doesn't feel like as big a problem on the bot front.

[tall stone]

My running theory is that bugs overstimulate people because of how many there are.

[tight zephyr]

Maybe. I know that's part of why I don't like fighting them.

I can't keep track of the fuckers, it's the same feeling I get when I try to do Alliance Raids in FFXIV.

[cobalt patrol]

Fang, what are you taking along side the Flamethrower?

as the resident Flamethrower main, i am a big prorpent of FIRE BURN GOOD

[glad orchid]

Hmm, having trouble finding HMG consistency on the chargers

[cobalt patrol]

however, it really does need some careful support from your other weapons

[unreal merlin]

I try to make it my job to focus first on situational awareness vs bugs, looking for flanking hunters to kill and watching the radar to identify what direction everyone needs to look to not be caught off guard

[cobalt patrol]

My goto Flamethrower loadout is currently

FT (duh)
Personal Shield Generator - this is an anti Cluster bomb/Air strike/otehr interesting ways teammates will get you killed tech. Also saves you from flaming hunter to the face
Medium armor - i like Democracy Protects, you're going to take a lot of damage very often, so it actually saves you a lot

Stun grenades - makes liquifiying chargers very easy

[unreal merlin]

Blitzer is very good for controlling bugs

[cobalt patrol]

and also gives you time to back up and burn a patrol safely (The flamethrower very rarely wants to move foward while attacking)

Side arm - Grenade Launcher is my choice, but if you took Eruptor or Explosive Crossbow in your primary, you could take Verdict, Senator, Redeemer or similar here.

Primary: I like the Dominator, because it's a really good clean up tool and good at squishing meadiums. I know you hate that though, so i'd recommend Adjucator or similar - anything that's good at mopping up stragglers is your friend

There's def an art on "when to start burning and when to stop" with the flamethrower

Tip: if your teamates are burnign to death, you're long past the point you should have stopped

Unless there's a charger, that's their fault. Burn the charger loving fools!

(And then apologize for the flames deflecting off the charger leg and roasting them)

For your final two strat slots...

I really favor Orbital Precision and Orbital Gattling currently, but 500kg, air strike, and simialr big booms are all your friends here. These are mostly to squish bile titans (You are so up shit creek vs bile titans), or help supress breeches. Orbital Gattling is also weridly safe to staand near (usualy), so you can use it to pincer the bugs wiuth the flamethwoer in really nasty fashion

[tight zephyr]

Tenderizer and Senator currently. I generally take the Gatling Orbital or Railcannon if I'm particularly angry about Bile Titans and Eagle Napalm.

[cobalt patrol]

OPS is well worth a loo kas it is more flexible than raiklcannon, and it's much, much easier to land on Bts now

[honest acorn]

I think the big difference with bugs and bots is that for bots you often want to break contact and run or bypass them because bots are very strong and static

And for bugs you never want to do this you push through to the obj and make a stand there

Because you aren’t faster than them and they’ll probably never stop coming

[unreal merlin]

I'd recommend a liberator more than tenderizer because I felt the magazine is too small. You only need 2 liberator bullets to kill scavengers, 3 or so for hunters, and maybe like 5 headshots for warriors? It's much more forgiving since with bugs you need the ability to kill lots of things just enough unlike bots where a 95 damage bullet is what's needed to take down a handful of enemies.

Or if you've got it, the Pummeler SMG, that thing does such good work in controlling bug hordes

[hearty pier]

I've also enjoyed bringing the Diligence CS supporting the flamethrower. Does the same trick as the dominator popping mediums and helps cover my team at a distance when I'm ahead on hoard control

[tight zephyr]

I do have a Pummeler and I never think to use it on the bugs for some reason. Maybe I'll bring it along next time.

[unreal merlin]

I had a lot of fun paired with another flamethrower user, where I just used the Pummeler to pepper the crowd and stagger them all while the fire roasted them

It does a respectable amount of damage on its own, though it really shines when used as a tool supporting a greater strategy like peppering a charger abdomen to stagger lock it so you or an ally can easily shot the head with an EAT

[placid hamlet]

huh? can it actually pen the head armor on a Charger?

[stone bridge]

Apparently its shots to the fleshy jaw area

[orchid pulsar]

<@&1206091872716595200> good morning anyone down to dive in a bit?

[cobalt patrol]

I am going to bed early, alas

There be eldy ring to play tomorrow

[orchid pulsar]

ah alas indeed

[steady flame]

Currently in a bad headspace after the new Warframe quest hit me hard.

[hexed steeple]

i definitely wasn't inspired to make this because i did it. i'd never do this shit

[meager saffron]

god this is such a good fucking genre of meme

[modest fiber]

<@&1206091872716595200> anyone want to spread democracy? the daily is ap mines

[glacial light]

No Tolesto Spear my beloved.

https://www.rxddit.com/r/Helldivers/s/0v6xqFMm57

[hexed steeple]

it's so deeply cursed

[glacial light]

How cruel they fix the lockon and now it now friendly fires by crashing games

[stiff spoke]

Truly telesto energy

We got a telesto bug recently, so hype cause last one was like 2 years ago

[glacial light]

When they fix the Spear locking onto buildings it has a chance to turn the game topdown like HD1

[quick plinth]

how does this even happen

(I havent experienced any spear crashes yet)

but how does a weapon crash the game by just

doing stuff

[glacial light]

Like the arc thrower crash but spear

[blissful sparrow]

Null Pointer exceptions

[stone bridge]

Code can go wrong in so many different ways it's not funny

[blissful sparrow]

Every Problem in IT is either a Null pointer exception or an Off By One Error
Null is off by one from one

[stiff spoke]

Code is fucky like that

One of the greatest examples of spaghetti code is Telesto in destiny 2

[stone bridge]

It's a whole chain of references and mechanics feeding back into each other and if even one link goes fucky, it can break the whole thing

[glacial light]

It could be a null pointer, it could be anything! Including a null pointer

[stiff spoke]

At a certain point, telesto got 10 bugs in 1 patch 😭

[glacial light]

Yea also heavily outdated engine

[stiff spoke]

first crash bug was in 2018 where shooting a teammate with it made it crash their game

[glacial light]

Damn that's a strong gun

[stone bridge]

Why is it so buggy??

[glacial light]

Terminid Spores

[stone bridge]

lmao

[stiff spoke]

Because it's spaghetti coded

At multiple points in time, it's projectiles counted as enemies you could destroy to gain benefits from perks

There was a bug where you shoot at a floor to put them down then throw a grenade to get your super
Another bug let you complete a survival event in seconds by destroying them

And another let you kill bosses through walls

God bless spaghetti coded weapons, i love them all dearly

[glacial light]

When you do something that isn't hitscan bullets in games it's a nightmare to make unique stuff.
Bullets you just use the million and one libraries for hit scan bullets or guides.

Those have been tried and tested and that knowledge shared and implemented so devs never have to think about it

[stiff spoke]

Funnily enough
There has not been as many bugs with sticky grenades

or any other projectile like it

it's exclusively telesto projectiles that are problematic

[glacial light]

But like when you make something custom there's so many possibilities you can't account for.

[stiff spoke]

yeah, that's bungie tbf

like i have not seen any other game that had so many issues with 1 thing

[glacial light]

I mean how many FPS games do you know that have their guns something other than hitscan, actual projectile with gravity

Telesto now does a lot, like stick, explode, refills ammo maybe, and applies a debuff so there's a lot of interactions with other things in the game that could be buggy.

[stiff spoke]

yeah but it's still weird that only that one is buggy and none of the other non-hitscan weapons

[glacial light]

I'm guessing they coded it bad by trying to make it to do much new stuff and now they work with the spaghetti code instead of like restarting from scratch

[stiff spoke]

😭 but like, they made GLs that work effectively the same

[glacial light]

Telesto was like D1?

[stiff spoke]

yeah and it only had like 2 bugs

negating juggler modifiera nd making orbs when shot with ghorn

ah wait

also felwinter artifact bug

while in d2 it's been broken in like every possible way, with basically no other non-hitscan projectile having these kinds of bugs

And it's not like the projectiles do a lot
they stick and then explode in a voidblast if an enemy touches them

[glacial light]

Ah I see, ok probably more of a case Telesto itself wasn't the issue at first but everything around it got updated in a way it was not compatible with from it's inception cause they didn't know what they'd be making in the future.

[stiff spoke]

i think the issue was that they coded the projectiles as enemy entities

since htey worked with so many "kill enemy to gain x" things

worst one was definitely just walking up to Banshee and your game turning off

lamo

[glacial light]

Yea that's what I've heard

[stiff spoke]

😭

https://telesto.report
whole list of hte bugs

it's funny to scroll through

[glacial light]

This isn't video games this is helldivers

[stiff spoke]

i forgor

[glacial light]

I've been monologuing about Telesto here

[stiff spoke]

but yeah
code complicated

funny results

[strange vine]

https://youtu.be/4ZQr0aXtw1o

[glacial light]

Damn that's such a level of detail they implemented that most players would never know about

[tight zephyr]

Makes me wonder why she does it against the bugs. Maybe heat is part of how bile spewers target?

[glacial light]

What if it's cause they're gonna implement anti AA bugs

[undone veldt]

https://x.com/helldivers2/status/1803790982900519203?s=46&t=fIUfY3FiRXkmKVbIBdHHIw

HELLDIVERS™ 2 (@helldivers2) on X

Good news: The Bill to temporarily grant pet fish authorization to Class C citizens and above has passed.

Submit the relevant forms, along with your proposed patriotic fish name, to your local Democracy Officer.

Twitter · Jun 20, 2024, 2:04 PM

And people say super earth isn’t progressive

[glacial light]

Damn i'm going to keep my fish in a used mech that's been water proofed

[stiff spoke]

made watertight

not waterproof

waterproof just means it'll work underwater for some time, doesn't mean water can't get in or out

[quick plinth]

while true, that feels like extreme pedantry

[stiff spoke]

Fish health is a serious issue

[quick crown]

woo!

I'm naming my salmon Uncle Salm

What name are ya'lls fish

Also I know its not specifically America but i do hope that there is some kinda event on the 4th poking fun at independence day

[stiff spoke]

it's actually on October 26th

that's the in-game independence day

[stark ether]

not having it on the 4th of july is the best kind of poking at it

[quick crown]

Imb4 all stratagems with an explosive element get 50% cooldown

True

[stiff spoke]

it's the same day as when the novel Starship Troopers released iirc

[glacial light]

They should just let us have like 4 500kgs for free on 4th of july

[stiff spoke]

they did make liberty day updaates

[tall stone]

Woooo! We get Fish! 😄

[stiff spoke]

first one included typical "freedom" accessories

[strange vine]

yall the swamp planet biome is now open for bugs on Gacrux!

[glad orchid]

Woo swamps!

Need to get my poison swamp fix before the Elden ring DLC hits

[odd arch]

playing helldivers from my SO's PC rn

very hype

[strange vine]

oh my god the dominator is the only gun whose bullets increase in damage because theyre rocket assisted and accelerate during flight

[strange vine]

the new biome is absolutely horrible for eagle
theres a ton of large tall trees that will eat up airstrikes and bombs

[quick plinth]

which biome?

[tall stone]

Swamp

[quick plinth]

on what planet?

[odd arch]

is there a way to speed through the score screen?

[quick plinth]

uh- not to my knowledge

[odd arch]

the main theme is so good

I am not immune to propaganda

[strange vine]

i just said it like half a dozen messages above, Gacrux

[quick plinth]

sorry

[odd arch]

should I be very careful with how I spend super credits?

[tall stone]

Nah, spend 'em how you want. They consistently come in.

[odd arch]

I take it the medic armor stim duration bonus applies to healing teammates too?

[quick crown]

nope

oh wait

MAYBE when you stim someone else but i doubt it

[odd arch]

damn

[stark ether]

if you need more super credits run trivial missions and make sure to loot the poi

[glad orchid]

Orbitals are super good for the new biome

Gas and fire especially since the terrain limits bug movement as well

Jetpack supremacy continues super hard there too since there’s lots of hills and big roots you can jump over that the non-fliers struggle with

Conversely, shriekers are super nasty when air shots can get blocked by the trees

[glacial light]

Have you've tried that stim booster with ultra light

It seems like you could jump far

[glad orchid]

I have not unlocked the new stim booster yet but I can only imagine

Now that I’ve figured out the timings on it, I struggle when I don’t have that get out of jail free card with the bugs

[odd arch]

I appreciate how the game doesn't hold back difficulty selection like "please I beg you do NOT go to higher diffs on your first day our reviews can't take this"

which is a problem I've had with the whole 4 dumbasses vs the world genre

though when armored enemies became a standard feature of every swarm and I was still level 4 with nothing of note unlocked I started having second thoughts

[honest acorn]

hahaha

[odd arch]

I thought I can be smart and lure the bullrushing huge ones into my minefield and dodge out of the way

I did not consider chained explosions

funny ragdoll

[tight zephyr]

Having tried out the Pummeler on bugs, it sure helps a lot.

I've started bringing EATs and just dropping them as soon as they come off cooldown too.

Antitank weapons for all!

[alpine seal]

i've been using the spear for bugs as a fire and forget tool for all the heavies, but it seems to be unstable apparently. i've experienced one or two crashes at the beginning of the mission and that miiiight be why?

[glacial light]

Yea devs confirmed Spear's bugged and crashes games

[honest acorn]

Oh that might explain the extremely hard crash I had

[glacial light]

Yea Spear got great and now we can't use it.

Cursed

[hearty pier]

Can't believe the spear locks onto and destroys the servers now

[glacial light]

The Spear does lock onto buildings, it's just not the bot fabricator but AH's servers

[quick plinth]

the carbine with a fortified armor fucks severly

since the recioil increase is not even noticable and the firerate is a straight upgrade

[hazy oriole]

did they fix superior packaging metholdogy or no

[quick plinth]

doesnt seem like they did

[placid hamlet]

I really wish Purifier was good, but jeeze it still seems real bad

fails to one shot Warrior bugs, which feels sad with that charge time

[stone bridge]

it's honestly still awful yeah

[odd arch]

I think I made a miscalculation by buying the supply backpack as my first purchase

all teammates I got so far either die constantly or are fully independent

either case they are not low on ammo

[unreal merlin]

supply pack can be really good, especially if you're with a team that is okay with being liberal with ammunition, but yeah if they're all running sickles and quasars it's not that useful

[odd arch]

how's the recoilless rifle? that and the laser cannon spoke to me the most out of the call ins I can buy rn

[unreal merlin]

RR is good stuff. It's comparable to an EAT you don't have to keep calling down.

Great vs bugs as it headshots Chargers and two-headshots bile titans.

[odd arch]

ah, like in the intro

also something I found pretty funny is that I showed my SO the game - the intro and tutorial mainly - and her only comment was "americans made this"

[stone bridge]

it's even funnier that it's not true

[odd arch]

the fact that due to our eastern european upbringing but her lack of chatting with foreigners that I have

made the tone register as sincere

says a lot about society

I use english more than polish so I forgot that this is genuinely how we see the US

[meager saffron]

is that not how youre meant to see the US

[supple siren]

The city in the opening is a lot cleaner than usual places in the US

[cobalt patrol]

it needs to work like Destiny Fusion rifles for a start, just auto-firing when it reaches full cahrge.

...and you know, actually get buffed to do reasonble damage

[hearty pier]

The best time to bring the supply pack (when playing with randoms) is when you plan to use it selfishly.

E.g. A supply pack and HMG can absolutely smash through enemies in a way you have to be more cautious of without it.

Stocking up allies is a useful side benefit

[shy prairie]

Tbf you can just eat your own supply backpack which is very good

[blissful sparrow]

the best usage of a supplypack is 2 supplypacks to assist reload an autocannon assistant gunner.

The firerate must be maintained!

[unreal merlin]

Autocannon Gunner <-- Reload Assistant <-- 2x Supply Packs

[glacial light]

That would be a monster on RR

I like supply pack cause using it selfishly it's 8 extra grenades and stims which if you have stim boosting armor and booster makes you a monster of a fast tank

Also I feel naked without the extra grenades. I run through 4 fast

[shy prairie]

I wanna get viper commandos just for that zoomy booster

[unreal merlin]

I often use grenade armor for that reason so I get 6.

[shy prairie]

Also I don't think it's obvious anywhere that you can in fact use your own supply pack? Kinda an oversight

[glacial light]

Yea game doesn't tell you can ADS or 5 key does anything

I only learnt from complaining to a friend in vc and he said just press 5 on supply pack and he learned it the same way

Or like there's firing modes

Also you can hide in trees with the jumppack https://www.rxddit.com/r/Helldivers/s/sRgjC9COxP

[blissful sparrow]

its just labeled as such in the keybinds

[glacial light]

I don't think most people check every key bind when they start a game

They just assume some basic stuff like wasd is movement and tooltips or popup for other stuff if it's important will show up

[quick plinth]

I mean yeah, fair- I just taught myself to do that whenever I start playing a new game mainly because I got frustrated with how there is no standardised sprint, crouch, prone and a few other things, like interact so I change those with every game where it is applicable

[tight zephyr]

I tried the Pummeler out on bugs and it rips. Didn’t get a chance to play much last night though.

[sage plume]

WOO IM BACK

[honest acorn]

Oh yay

[sage plume]

Finally i can atleast talk w my friends

[keen zinc]

Who are you

[sage plume]

Me soap

I got a new account as the last one got hacked

[cobalt patrol]

Did you not have it linked to a phone number or email?

[sage plume]

Did but apparently my email didn't exist for discord so that account is more or less """dead"""

[hazy oriole]

What anti-tank options do y'all like running with the Stal? I love shredding bug groups with it but always hate it when i get caught by a charger with my pants down

[placid hamlet]

EAT or railcannon strike

[honest acorn]

I usually use the other MGs but my usual choice is eagle rockets

Reliable hit rate and breaks armor well

[heady halo]

eruptor, stun grenades to make it easy to hit charger butts/hulk eyes, grenade pistol, orbital precision strike

[honest acorn]

Oh yeah OPS is probably real good for chargers now

I used to find it annoying with the longer CD and fairly long call in time

[hazy oriole]

hm, how do you use the MMG?

oh yeah OPS is a must pick for me love that thing now

HMG has always felt too hard to handle for me personally

[honest acorn]

I'm not sure what you mean its a bullet hose which kills anything without heavy armor quickly

[sage plume]

500kg(or any big boom thing) + stun grenade

[honest acorn]

Now that the HMG has a faster reload and proper sights in third person I find it relatively easy to use

[sage plume]

Could i recommend flamethrower?

With a side of stun

[hazy oriole]

oh i LOVE the flamethrower don't get me wrong

i just want to branch out a bit

[hazy oriole]

as opposed to something like the stal

[sage plume]

Fair uhhh eruptor?

[hazy oriole]

how do you play around the stationary reload, should i use it on crowds or big boys

[sage plume]

Mabye plaspunisher?

[hazy oriole]

it's nice but personally takes too long to kill a charger for me to feel like i can rely on it

[honest acorn]

I basically break it out when either there are enemies who resist my primary are there or if there are a bunch of enemies

I've gotten pretty good at finding moments to reload it so I don't have good advice there

[sage plume]

That is true, i use it mostly as a bughole closer/ anti bile spewer

[hazy oriole]

cheers, nw

any breakpoints on things like spewers and chargers i should know?

where should i aim and such, and what do you pair it with to cover its weaknesses

[honest acorn]

MMG is basically trash vs chargers - can pen the tail bulb but diesn't kill fast

Kills in moments if they have cracked armor though, but you need something to make the cracks

Spewers you iirc, aim for the teeth or the exposed parts

In theory the teeth are faster but its hard to hit them consistently ime

Oh and unless you're basically firing from prone either fire in very short (2-4 rounds) bursts or hold the trigger down for a bit

The recoil "settles in" and you can just aim low and maintain accuracy in sustained fire

But its really hard to be precise for the 3rd through 10th shot or so

[hazy oriole]

nodnod

what strats do you like running with it?

sorry if these are too many questions it's a gun i haven't played with in a lonnnng time

[honest acorn]

For bugs its usually gatling/airburst/gas (hole filler strat with low CD) eagle rockets, and autocannon sentry

Or something similar

I like to switch stuff up a lot

Sometimes I use 380mm or 120mm instead of sentry

[stone bridge]

This is patently untrue now, the buff to the MMG's calibre of round tripled its durable body part damage

It destroys charger bulbs in about 35 rounds now

Which is ~2 seconds of sustained fire on 900rpm, very doable in the duration of one stun

[honest acorn]

Oh nice that’s a bigger bigger buff than it looked like on paper (I admittedly have just been using the HMG post patch haha)

(I love the HMG so much now)

[stone bridge]

The HMG does rule now it's true

[honest acorn]

The MMG used to do fuck all to charger bulbs so I figured it was gonna be better but still not efficient for them

Glad to be wrong haha

[stone bridge]

Yeah I didn't expect it to be such a big change until I saw a video on it

And went "woahg"

[sour whale]

oh wow, that's a big change, yeah

[glossy horizon]

I wish there was a spreadsheet that collects data like this. I read somewhere that the HMG can be used against Bile Titans now?

[odd arch]

it gave me a popup iirc

[hazy oriole]

IT CAN!?!!?

[keen zinc]

If it can, it's chip damage

Sorta like throwing impacts at their busted belly

[hazy oriole]

can MMG kill tanks or do i need an HMG to do that

[hearty pier]

It meets the armour of the vents so does half damage but can do it

[keen zinc]

I don't think it actually has light vehicle armor pen

[hearty pier]

Pretty sure the tank vents only need medium pen

[strange vine]

yeah the vents only need AP3

thats why you can kill vents with plasma weapons and any "medium pen" primary

[tight zephyr]

Ah... I don't think Democracy needs my help this much...

[honest acorn]

It looks like democracy really needs you there to me

[hazy oriole]

so having given it a faur shake with the eruptor im definitely in love with the MMG on both bots and bugs now

such a damn fun gun

I wasn't sure whether or not it can kill gunships though, sometimes id see white hitmarkers but most of the time i left it to teammates

[honest acorn]

I think it can but it only white hitmarkers the engines so its not that efficient

[strange vine]

It has AP3

[stone bridge]

You need to aim for the engines specifically

[sour whale]

probably have to hit the engines with it, which sounds tricky

[honest acorn]

HMG however mulches gunships

[stone bridge]

The hull is Armour 4, the Engines 3

[strange vine]

Gunship engines are AV3

[tight zephyr]

I've been trying to use the HMG more to get used to its recoil.

[stone bridge]

Using it with Fortified or Engineering Kit armour is highly recommended

[supple siren]

HMG is absolutely brutal into bots, it solves every problem they offer

[glacial light]

Is there an automaton that HMG can't deal with?

Also I learned shrieker towers can be destroyed with strafing runs

So goated

[tall stone]

Factory Striders in a timely manner.

[supple siren]

I file those under 'A Building', those cheat

[steady flame]

What's a good primary to pair with the HMG against bugs?

[tight zephyr]

Think I'm gonna pack the HMG instead of the railgun from now on because man I hate gunships.

That or just deal with how weird the AC feels.

[glacial light]

Apparently from reddit ballistic shield is the new stealth tech cause it blocks line of sight for detection if you haven't been seen yet

If you have it raised

So as long as the shield is raised and facing enemies you just walk in front of their line of sight as long as you're not super close cause it makes noise still

Would explain why factory strider turrets stop shooting when you use raise ballistic shield at them

[odd arch]

toddler coded

[supple siren]

Scanners just 'why is that box moving'

[heady halo]

depends on the rest of your build

but you need chaff control and a way to get around chatgers to the juicey tail and damage biles

if you cah stay alive anything exolosive that can pen medium (iirc) can damage the bukes belly

grenade pistol helps all around but that and hmg is ammo hingry so wanta a supply backpack

[supple siren]

Explosive Crossbow works on most things with the buff, but you'll have to manage ammo

[heady halo]

yeah especially with hmg lwt alone grenade pistol too

all three would chew through even a supply pack

[steady flame]

So it sounds like HMG + GP + Supply Pack + some sort of antichaff?

Also, how're thermites on Chargers?

[heady halo]

hmg on low fire rate can also handle chaff p good if tou father the fire button to just use minimum shots

and gonestly gp is a good group clear but its issue is its so ammo hungru and gets so little from field ammo

thermites are mixed against chargers

and mixed in general

the burn goes through armour but the explosion DOESNT

[glacial light]

uhhhh they rely on thermal sensors and ballistic shields temperature matches the atmosphere

[supple siren]

Thermites super need a buff/rework

[heady halo]

so you gotta stick the tail

[steady flame]

I could also run the Diligance Counter-Sniper with Smokes. I like low-RoF guns, but also I could run like, an SMG or something.

[heady halo]

honestly impact or high ex bon im0acts for chargers

[glacial light]

But also real MGSV hours

[heady halo]

if the chargers in the slow part of its moce cycle you can roll a fused grenade under it and hit the tail, or even if its running if you lead the shot

or, throw

[glacial light]

If a single thermite could like just strip the armor it's attached to completely that'd be nice

[heady halo]

incendiery grenades also do work, chargers take fire damagr

or if thermites lost the explosion and had less damage per second but a longer duration

[unreal merlin]

this is very silly

[heady halo]

so say two would kill a charger but would take longer than any decent suppoet weapon

that would be a niche

[steady flame]

I forget, what's incindiary 'nades from?

[heady halo]

i akso forget. either standard or steel vets i think

inpact incendieries in the ice one

[unreal merlin]

Adding my two cents for HMG games:

• HMG as a "primary"
• grenade pistol as utility for destroying bug holes and POI boxes
• primary weapon that his good for quick reflex or chaff clearing. I would actually suggest the ARC-12 blitzer because you can switch to it and instantly delete a handful of enemies and swap back to the HMG to keep hitting things at distance

[heady halo]

hey have limitiarions as they dont clear bug holes but thats also where the gren pistol shines

[steady flame]

I don't think I have the Blitzer, just its big cousin (don't have all warbonds).

[heady halo]

the flame shotgun is also p great

and does work

[steady flame]

I suppose I could, yeah, run a shotgun. Not too much a fan of the incindiary for stupid reasons, but yeah shotgun. :3

[unreal merlin]

Yeah breaker incendiary is pretty much easy mode against bugs

(it's super good against shriekers tho)

you only have to clip them with one pellet and they burn to death

[heady halo]

i also actually quite like the i forget what its called the explosive assault rifle

[steady flame]

Honestly, give me explosive pump-action, game.

Eruptor?

[heady halo]

isnt that the bolt action

[glacial light]

Dominator?

[steady flame]

It is. So you mean the Dominator.

I love the Dominator. ^.^

[heady halo]

dominator yeah

[glacial light]

I'm a big Eruptor gamer for bots, a primary that can one shot headahot a shield dev with a 200m scope feels great

It makes berserkers more of a bane though

[heady halo]

its overkil for chaff bur single shots from the hmg help with that too

it becomes almost just a second hmg in your primary slot lol

glass cannony but works good with the buffed machine gun sentry to clear chaff if you can put the sentry somewhere safe and try to protect it

plus the small aoe can hit multuple bugs if they are tightly packed enough like comig outa a breach

[glacial light]

Sentry's did get buffed in terms of tankiness

[heady halo]

machine gun sentry also comes down faster

and does a touch more damage

but yeah dominator is basically a higher ammo longer range smaller aoe explosive crossbow

[glacial light]

I just wished sentries wouldn't shoot things they can't damage and can switch targets if it does target someone it can't hurt.

[heady halo]

with better rof

so in a push you can magdump the dominator into a horde much easier than you can the crossbow

(rate of fire)

scythe is also superb as a chaff clead

[glacial light]

MG and Gatling become like richochet nightmares with chargers and autocannon just trying it's hardest to front kill a cannon tower for the last 10 seconds while there's berserkers 20 feet away and approaching

[heady halo]

clesd

clear. l9rd im tired. and scythe is infinite ammo so works real good with ammo hungry secondary and support

[unreal merlin]

MG sentry is excellent assuming that, yeah, you don't get it locked onto an enemy with too much armor

[heady halo]

yeah you gotta place it carefully

its also saved my ass against bile titans before lmao

because they love to bile spew on it

its a great distraction

give me those few seconds to get a precision airstrike under it

or just stop it chasing me so i can stim and reload an anti armour weapon

[glacial light]

MG sentry was great for the end of the dark fluid missions cause like a Gatling and MG would shred them all

Also it's pretty and reminds me of like WWI AA guns

[tight zephyr]

I'm going to grudgingly admit that once you get used to how cumbersome the AC handles, it does in fact work as a good all-purpose can opener.

[glacial light]

Vaguely related but I was reading the Sid Meier's alpha centauri wiki and read the Spartan Federation and how everyone in the barracks don't receive private rooms until higher ranks even couples, but they can request permission to "spend time together privately" and I like to imagine that's how Super Destroyer crew operate and the commanding officer letting everyone on the docket that 2 crew members have had their C-01 forms approved and must report to the designated room at 22:00

[tight zephyr]

Hate to have my commanding officer announce that my partner and I are going to use the "C-01 Room" to the entire ship.

[glacial light]

Just wait until the performance review afterwards

Entirely anonymous of course

[glacial light]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVgkRZ5ouBU

[tight zephyr]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgE9iSmgoQo

[strange vine]

max RPM HMG into factory strider belly is actually the quickest way to take em out

[quick plinth]

I've rediscovered the light foritified armor and I don't think I'll be able to switch to anything else for a while now

(especially because it turns the carabine into a zero recoil brrt weapon the moment you stop moving)

[quick plinth]

I think if they channeled a bit more doom metal energy it would've turned out even better

[tight zephyr]

I agree.

[quick plinth]

like the tempo is slow (because its a cadence originally) but everything else is a bit too fast imo, also perhaps a bit too bright

[odd arch]

I've noticed I play more cautiously than most and tend to die mostly to freak accidents so I'm running medic armor and supply pack to patch up the others

[hot meadow]

How is HMG into bots?

[unreal merlin]

I'd say good. Beats the hell out of devastators, you can direct-shoot certain objectives like AA guns and mortars. Good trigger discipline lets you dunk on most things.

[hearty pier]

A personal favourite. Only bad matchup is into hulks, and even they can be overcome

[unreal merlin]

Should be able to land hits on the eye if you're precise.

[hearty pier]

It does do best with recoil reduction armour and either an efficient primary or a supply pack

It can, but under pressure of a big engagement I tend to find myself just dropping a strat at the hulks and focusing on gunning down the mediums

[royal lantern]

It can shoot the arms off hulks, can't it?

[unreal merlin]

Thinking back to release version that had 1250 RPM mode and people were running around ripping out the entire magazine and going like "wtf this thing has garbage accuracy and ammo, this sucks"

[royal lantern]

It's solid, maybe not quite as efficient as the autocannon or a well aimed AMR but I think it's really fun and it mixes things up

The ammo is still a little dicey, relatively speaking

[unreal merlin]

Keep an eye out for POIs and reload/restock off discovered ammo boxes any chance you get.

[hearty pier]

Using your primary for chaff goes a long way to stretching the ammo out too

[hot meadow]

Thanks for the tips!

I like to bring Dominator into the bots which lets me choose my shots fairly carefully, so it should be a good combo.

[hearty pier]

They tend to have similar target profiles, so may actually overlap a bit unfavourably

[unreal merlin]

Yeah, I would recommend something aside the Dominator when paired with the HMG. Something lighter that you can use for snap shooting.

[hot meadow]

Ah, I understand

Hmm any recs

[wind arrow]

ok, carbine, 3-shot secondary, knoife, precision, rail cannon, support pack, and bullet support weapon kept making me realize i forgot to bring hole sealing gear....

[wind arrow]

liberator penetrator maybe?

i forgot if counter sniper swings fast enough

[daring monolith]

regular liberator, defender, sickle, tenderizer all pair well with HMG imo

maybe the new liberator carbine?

[hot meadow]

I will try the carbine since it is new.

Thanks folks!

[quick plinth]

try using the carabine with one of the foritifed armors

the recoil reduction really helps with the firerate and increased recoil

[stark ether]

the trick in the 1250rpm days was to do like 3 round bursts and leverage the kick from the first round didnt hit till after the third had left

[odd arch]

which grenades can and cannot seal holes btw

[hearty pier]

I believe any that do explosive/fire damage can (i.e. not smoke, stun or knife)

Getting impact grenades down holes is a more complicated problem, but if you thread the needle it works

[unreal merlin]

HE, Frag, Impact, Incendiary, Incendiary Impact, Thermite
I don't think there's any others?

[glossy horizon]

Knife, Smoke and Stun are the ones that can't deal with holes/fabricators

[idle hollow]

i feel like those work better for bot fab vents

[unreal merlin]

Recommend bringing grenade pistol if you're running smokes/stuns/knife so you can still pop holes.

[idle hollow]

but then again you should be nading the door of them

[unreal merlin]

Alternatively, the eruptor and crossbow count too.

[idle hollow]

as does the grenade launcher

as in the pistol one

[glossy horizon]

Is there a reason to use frag grenades? I tried them and I just noticed that heavier enemies just survived them unlike the HE

[unreal merlin]

Better clear on light crowds (so raiders, scavengers/hunters)

but realistically no, just use all your other tools

[quick plinth]

what is the knife useful for?

[quick plinth]

AP / Frags are smaller thus easier to chuck into fab vents

but that's a meh thing

[unreal merlin]

Not much at all. You can use it to kill light enemies at short distance without alerting anything - they're silent. You can work your way from the back to front of a moving patrol and kill a bunch of them without a shot. The issue is that they're pretty close-range so you'd want scout armor, and you only get 8 of them. Can't pick them back up, and the resupply efficiency isn't very good.

[stone bridge]

They're honestly godawful, yeah

[trail nymph]

Anyone up for a Dive <@&1206091872716595200>

[runic cairn]

yup

[trail nymph]

Will be on in 10

[trail nymph]

<@&1206091872716595200> 2 more for the cause

[hexed steeple]

yay i helped

[tight zephyr]

I use the medium Steel Veteran armor. I like the extra throw distance, but man I do miss the extra stims from the medical armor sometimes because I am one accident-prone motherfucker.

New bot major order, though. That’s fun.

[hexed steeple]

ye

i like fighting bots more

[cobalt patrol]

I am looking foward to heading back to the bot front

i enjoy roasting bugs

Penguin;'s all ages bbq is a good time

and we serve piping hot fried charger

but autocannon doom into bots is real fun

[glacial light]

I like bots cause I can spear alnost everything assuming they fix building lockon and crashing

Also my favorite eruptor

[hexed steeple]

we should try BBQing bots idk maybe it'll be really good

[honest acorn]

Doesn't the spear crash games now?

Or did they fix that?

[glacial light]

Afaik still does I don't think there was a hot fix

[ionic holly]

spear has been a hilarious roller coaster of 'we're so back' and 'it's so over'

Still gonna be my main support weapon

just won't use it for a brief stint

[tight zephyr]

I tried the incendary grenades on the bots and it went badly.

I saw a guy using them the other day and I criticized him for it at the time and then went "Well, maybe he was on to something I don't know." and nah.

[glacial light]

Had thermite and couldn't even cook

[tight zephyr]

I don't have the thermite grenades.

[tall stone]

I will say Breaker Incindiary works wonders against chaff and, of course, Berzerkers.

[honest acorn]

It's SO good now except for crashing my game so hard I needed to reinstall

I have found impact incendiary pretty good for cooking heavy devs

Since they just sit in it

[odd arch]

thermites caught my eye in the shop but from the description alone I can tell they'll be wonky af

[honest acorn]

I like them but they're weird

But they do a ton of damage now

I think 2 to the front kills a hulk which is nice

(I don't think Impacts can kill from the front like that)

[ionic holly]

Oh trust me i used it before the crash situation post lock on fix, i know

and all my practice with the broken lock on has made me fucking UNSTOPPABLE

[glacial light]

I learned the hard way not to use incendiary impacts on berserkers packs cause they want just run past the whole thing without dying then you've got berserkers on fire chasing you

[ionic holly]

my solution to zerks at this point is a good ol strafing run and mop up with my primary

and if anything gets too close, ol verdict will tear the rest of the health off

[unreal merlin]

I had kind of forgotten just how valuable the Pummeler is vs berserkers with its concussion effect.

Just pepper them with like 3 bullets and they go into reboot

[ionic holly]

I've been weening myself off of it outside of my shield build so i'm not overtly relying on stuns

[glacial light]

My solution is berserker is snipe them from a distance with Eruptor and if they get close then oh fuck fuck fuck stop swaying so much damn I gotta reload my senator

[odd arch]

y'know the first daily mission or whatever that was that I got was to use AP minefields
and AP minefields as my first unlock ever taught me a lot about foresight

[glacial light]

You know what'd nice is when it comes out assuming it only triggers on medium and heavy enemies, AT mines for bugs cause you could throw an innocent mortar sentry in an AT minefield and have all the chargers charge to their death like an explosive bugzapper

[odd arch]

do they go after tesla towers?

explosive bugzapper with a fallback plan for having the minefield locally exhausted

[ionic holly]

I can't really stand being long range myself

it's not a helldivers thing i just hate being at long range in any game

which is funny cause i am pretty accurate

[odd arch]

long range is good because there's less ricochets

[glacial light]

I started off the longest range with the yeet armor, then heavy medic I went super close quarters tank, and now I run light medic with Eruptor cause really big gun

[tall stone]

Shotguns are also great at dismantling Berzerkers

If it wasn't for everything else with bots, I'd gladly run a shotgun into them.

[odd arch]

is eruptor the boltgun or the flak sniper

[tall stone]

Sniper.

[glacial light]

My favorite gun is actually blitzer but the lack of range is annoying for bots

[keen zinc]

i run punisher into bots a lot

[odd arch]

shotgun variant that uses fire mode switch to swap between buck and slug tubes when

[keen zinc]

the slugisher

[honest acorn]

Could be a pugger

Slugisher is better sounding though

[tall stone]

https://tenor.com/view/clu-di-doo-it's-ok-it’s-okay-there-there-the-sun-will-come-out-tomorrow-gif-17439275797616117699

[hazy oriole]

on the subject of zerks ive been enjoying shredding them with a MMG

basically treat it like a pdw with an eruptor loadout

if something's getting too close it gets the ratatatat

[tight zephyr]

The Pummeler is my go-to for controlling them, but it doesn't put them down as fast as I'd like so I tend to stun them then blap them with my Senator.

[glacial light]

The stun is nice cause they stop moving for a second and you get shoot their stomach

[keen zinc]

the deagle puts them down scary fast

[tight zephyr]

Which one's that?

[glacial light]

The Verdict?

[tight zephyr]

Ah, I hadn't unlocked that. Maybe I'll give it a shot to get some variety other than the Senator.

[unreal merlin]

The verdict is a favorite of mine if I'm not running grenade pistol vs bots. The massive base damage means it often one taps raiders which is what I need if I'm using crossbow or some bulky support

[keen zinc]

@sage plume why is your old account talking to me

[sage plume]

I got hacked thats probably why just block it

[glacial light]

Saw this on reddit and I think all new concept weapon trailers in lore should be like this https://www.rxddit.com/r/Helldivers/s/D8EQPW4ubV

This is what's on illegal broadcasts

[sour whale]

lmfao

[glacial light]

Stims aren't addicting.
Stims Georg

https://www.rxddit.com/r/Helldivers/s/WLQt9MV41W

[unreal merlin]

he is full of drugs

[tall stone]

Good lord

[glacial light]

Got shot and accidentally got some blood in their stimstream

[tight zephyr]

He used so many stims he ended up in fucking Morrowind.

[cobalt patrol]

Okay that's like, more than I, a heavier stimmer use, by a factor of ten

[hexed steeple]

stats don't include completed objectives?

[tall stone]

They do not, because some of them aren't a thing you can do solo.

[unreal merlin]

I'm fairly certain the only thing that cannot be done solo is the double-button bunker doors. You can accomplish any primary or secondary mission objectives by yourself.

[shy prairie]

It seems like a hard metric to meaningfully measure

Like, would it count anyone who touches an objective terminal? Or just the person who completes it? People who carry the objective briefcase for most of the map? Would I not get meaningless stat credit for covering the objective while my buddy does the terminal?

[unreal merlin]

Players in a generous proximity when an objective is completed is what I'd do.

[glacial light]

Also there's like side objectives that can be completed from a range like broadcast towers or bug towers

[quick plinth]

they've fixed the spear- yet it can crash games and packing methodoligy broke

how come they've fixed it and yet I cannot use it in its full glory still

[tall stone]

It is a cursed weapon.

[tight zephyr]

When will Superior Packing Methodoligy work? Why is that the thing that keeps breaking?

[strange vine]

the spear seems to crash on planets with trees

if youre on one without trees then you're safe

[heady halo]

uncertain

[quick crown]

It's better just not to bring it on missions. Otherwise you might get booted from the lobby

Just like how it was with the arc thrower

[quick plinth]

I was on one of those crimisca like planets, got booted all the same, didn't bring the spear with me since

[glacial light]

https://www.rxddit.com/r/Helldivers/s/1V9cnSReKr

Recoiless rifle lives up to it's name

[quick plinth]

lol

[runic cairn]

<@&1206091872716595200> game anyone?

[sage plume]

Would love to but pc is in a repair shop rn

[sweet surge]

https://x.com/helldivers2/status/1805209699849040030

HELLDIVERS™ 2 (@helldivers2) on X

Did You Know: The cost of one Stratagem is more than the average annual income for a Super Citizen

That's why we only entrust the use of them to professional and fully trained Helldivers like you!

Twitter · Jun 24, 2024, 12:01 PM

[glacial light]

That tracks

Cost of a Javelin missile IRL is more than the average US citizen's salary. Probably the cheapest stratagem is like the ballistic shield.

And like IRL ballistic shields aren't nowhere as durable as Super Earth's

[ionic holly]

and can't forget Super Inflation

[runic cairn]

I love super inflation yall should google it

[glacial light]

I did at work, google results reference hyperinflation. Google images however

[tight zephyr]

I feel like just a Hellpod alone is pretty pricey.

[glacial light]

Idk what tech they use to prevent interia from liquififying us with how hard we hit the ground but it works

Also the hellpod boot strap itself must be godly engineered

It never fails but it'd be funny if there's a chance if you got out of your hellpod you're like already ragdolled from the boot straps failing

[tall stone]

I already get ragdolled on getting out from hot drops. 😛

[tight zephyr]

Yeah, I mostly fight bots so that's just normal.

[tight zephyr]

What is an "accidental" on the scoreboard anyway?

[honest acorn]

Teamkills

[wind arrow]

dpeaking of, feels like team damage stat never properly tracked...

[honest acorn]

I don’t think it is

[stone bridge]

I think it only works properly from certain sources

Which is uh, odd

[meager saffron]

?!?

[stone bridge]

I've seen it track damage from Hellbomb accidentals

For instance

[unreal merlin]

Yeah it's inconsistent. I'm not sure how "what killed you" tracking is inconsistent but it is.

[upbeat vector]

Isn't it something like, it never forgets if you've done damage to someone, and player damage takes priority over enemy damage, or is that outdated?

Like, you hit someone with a stray bullet, they stim, and then 5 minutes later they get killed by an enemy, but it still tracks as you killing them

[wind arrow]

i mean that 5 damage ought to still count - izen, misreading the prompt, thought you're talking about damage tracking not kill tracking

[tight zephyr]

I’ve been liking the Tenderizer for Bot work. It’s great for just about everything. Even Devastators.