Main : Breaker

Secondary : Breaker

Armor : Breaker

Stratagems : Breaker, breaker, breaker and maybe breaker (depends on situation)

Boost : Breaker

EAT rockets, laser rover, cluster bombs, 500 kg

Flame trooper.

Main: incidinary breaker Secondary: Dosnt matter Grenade: Incidinary grenade Strategems: napalm strike, flamethrower, Incidinary mines, orbital laser.

Good against bugs, lacking against automatons, fun no matter where you bring it. I just love burning things.

Without much context, I'm not sure what is causing you to perform "poorly." Does that mean you're dying a lot? Does it mean you're not killing what you need to kill? Are you getting surrounded frequently?

A few suggestions, based on those above scenarios:

1. If you're dying a lot, perhaps you're using a light armor? Try going back to the default armor; it's actually very good for survivability.
2. If you're not killing certain things, I suggest taking the regular Machine Gun or the Heavy Machine Gun. The Stalwart gets the horde, but the Eruptor can already do that; you need something that can help you with the heavier armored targets.
3. Since this post doesn't mention faction, I get the feeling you're using the same build against all factions, which is not a good move. Or, you're implying you're using this against the squids. Regardless, it's a good idea to not use the same loadout against all factions; they all play very differently and require very different strategies.
4. If you're getting surrounded, try finding equipment that can control crowds. This includes the gas grenade (requires Chemical Agents), the stun grenade (requires Cutting Edge), the EMS mortar, sentries like the Tesla Tower (enemies focus on the sentry instead of you), the gas strike, the Guard Dog Dog Breath (also requires Chemical Agents), et cetera.

Funny, I play Eruptor as vs Everything weapon and I can skip my support weapon is I feels like it

Tbh, the strategem is also personal preference, I usually pick the grenade launcher, I know, Eruptor is explosive, and grenade launcher is explosive too, what's the point right? Well I just like things go boom

Logically your side arm and support weapons selection are to mitigate and fill the role your main weapon lacks... so

Personally, Eruptor + Verdict/Talon + MG(Stalwart, MG43 or HMG) is usually the logical pick

But also, the MG can be replaced by/or addy a guard dog or a MG turret if you still lacking on that crowd control part

Try dropping the cluster and pick up a third sentry (like AC). It'll get you more kills overall, and cover you better. Cluster might eliminate a group quickly, but there are usually steady streams of enemies, and sentries suppress that. Throw them off to the side with a clear line of sight to the enemy, but not directly behind you so they don't kill you. Be mindful they're up, so don't let enemies get close to you or you'll be killed by the sentry. Throw MG first and only throw another if you're seeing a lot of enemies. Or see dropships coming.

Throw a thermite on landed ships, don't need to break shield. Othereise break shield with flak and use AC or erupter to shoot inside a door.

For AC, use flak for fatties and the voteless, or use primary for voteless. For overseers use aphet to the head, or flak if there are voteless around then. For harvesters, flak the shield then swap to aphet and hit the leg joint. Essentially get used to swapping between ammo types.

Also consider trying the cookout or some other shotgun, pairs well with the AC to clear the voteless.

Axe, other things, like clothes, a helmet, the cape. the rest kinda doesnt matter beyond the axe

I think you should identify why you're dying first - I say that because it may not be loadout issue at all. Maybe you should check the mini-map more often to avoid getting swarmed, maybe you're panicking, maybe you don't know the enemy weakspots, maybe you're using the wrong ammo type against a certain enemy and the enemy kills you before you can down it, etc.

Some solutions may be loadout related, and others may simply be a natural part of getting better at the game. No loadout is going to make things a breeze; everything's balanced around being useful one way or another.

I use eagle airstrike, eagle cluster bomb, 120mm he bomb, autocannon and the liberator concussion. Occasionally I'll use the concussion shotgun but these are my go to

I like the flame thrower and a rover for bug swarms

I personally believe people are sleeping on the rocket pods. I run it with the orbital laser arc thrower and shield generator and it has a good cooldown. The rocket pods have 1 shot bile titans for me before and significantly help with chargers.

Basically every weapon and strategem is viable now.

Here are some general ideas for each front (not full loadouts)

Bugs (normal): I usually take exploding crossbow and recoilless rifle, and some eagles like strafing run. Sometimes an MG turret, but not necessary

Bugs (predator strain): Deadye (lever action) or Cookout. Anything with knock back/stun is borderline critical against them, especially on higher difficulties. Also I still take RR. Faster reload speed from the Siege Ready armor is great for the 2 primaries listed because they are rounds-reload.

Bots (normal): RR me beloved and any marksmen rifle, or exploding crossbow

Bots (incendiary division): fire resist armor, Deadye (for knock back/stun), RR still haha

Illuminate (so far): high rate of fire is your friend. The loadout that has gotten me 1000+ kills on illuminate so far is: weapon handling armor, medium MG, sickle (normal), grenade pistol, incendiary grenades of any kind, liberator guard dog, MG sentry, Gatling Sentry

Illuminate (new units): not sure yet because I haven't been able to play yet 😭

I primarily focus on movement, getting into an obj and hit it hard, then jump pack away before the enemy reinforcements pin me down. My illuminate loadout will likely change once they get more unit types. I like the purifier for its medium pen, great damage, and stagger.

For bots d10: Eradicator light armor, Purifier, Talon, thermite.

Hover pack, quasar, 500kg, walking barrage

Bugs d10: Eradicator light armor, Purifier (or Blitzer), Dagger, thermite.

Jump pack (or laser guard dog), quasar, 500kg, 120 barrage

Illuminate d10: Eradicator light armor, purifier, dagger, thermite.

Jump pack (or laser guard dog), laser cannon, 500kg, walking barrage

Nearly almost all weapons and stratagems have been buffed and are wayyyy stronger, as for loadout there really are no bad choices so just bring whatever you want

Bot-diver here 👋😊 For a while now I've been running the purifier as my primary, LAS Dagger for my sidearm, gas grenades, and Champion of the People medium armor. For strats, I almost always take the recoiless rifle (you simply can't beat it when it comes to anti-armor) unless 2 other divers at least choose it and then I'll either take the autocannon or the airburst rocket launcher. For the rest, if it's not Eradicate or Evacuate High Value Assets, I take the gas orbital strike and either cluster bomb and a sentry, or two sentries (usually rocket and autocannon). For Eradicate and High Value Assets, I take gas mines, an anti-tank emplacement if no one else does, and if someone does, I take a rocket sentry and a machine gun or gatling sentry. Be careful with the gas mines especially though. Have fun out there!

I just dropped day 30 of build a day. Each build offers a wildly different playstyle and loadout. You should check them out. Either search my posts or search this Reddit for Build A Day

I was going to put them all out at once tomorrow since I’m outta ideas 🤣. I also made a lil music video for each one so you can see it in action.

Good:

• Punisher
• Breaker Incendiary
• Dominator
• Diligence Counter Sniper
• Adjudicator
• Tenderiser
• Liberator Carabine
• Defender
• Pummeler
• Scorcher
• Punisher Plasma
• Blitzer
• Breaker
• Sickle
• Crossbow (niche)
• Eruptor (niche)
• Senator
• Grenade Pistol
• Redeemer
• Verdict
• BushWacker

Decent:

• Liberator
• Diligence
• Spray & Pray
• Slugger
• Scythe
• Pacemaker
• Dagger

"Bad":

• Liberator Concussive
• Liberator Penetrator
• Purifier
• Knight

Personally I feel like its burst DPS is too high and magazine too small, so it absolutely melts part of a patrol and leaves me on reload for the rest.  

YMMV as I've always liked more powerful slower firing weapons. I also don't care for the new carbine (that doesn't mean it's "bad").

What you will usually see it Dominator or Scorcher on bots and Sickle or Incendiary breaker on bugs.

Most weapons however are viable, but this is the general pattern.

The good weapons are the ones you enjoy playing, friend. Go try em and see what sticks with you.

Just use what weapon you like to use, most weapons are viable in some way

Light - Servo Assisted

Tenderizer, Ultimatum, Thermite

110mm rocket pods, 500kg bomb, Hellbomb backpack, EAT

Tenderiser is one of the highest DPS assault rifles (if you can hit weak spots) and feels good to ammo dump, the Stratagems are designed to take out heavies (with the potential of sniping Automaton Bases/Spore Spewers). Ultimatum makes for a great last ditch weapon against Bile Titans or Factory Striders, but in reality, it's because I don't want to search for an entrance to city walls (so I make my own).

Armor - Predator

Primary - Deadeye, Secondary - Talon, Grenade - Thermite.

Recoiless Rifle, Strafing Run, 120mm Orbital Barrage, Autocannon Sentry.

It's very interesting seeing some of these builds ngl. I've always ran diligence, ultimatum, and thermites. 500kg, recoilless, orbital laser and AT placement. Only thing in life to solo d10s

I haven't used Eagles or Orbitals against bugs or bots in ages. and for Illuminate I bring Strafing run just to clear the shields on warp ships mostly.

I find them limited and not as precise as using an EAT or Commando most of the time.

I find them missing most of the time and ended up switching them for the EAT, even if I only get 2 shots.

If I could, I would have more Snipers and Sniper-like weapons.

My only loadout. I've used this for nearly 90% of my total game play of Helldivers 2. I've used this same loadout against all three factions on dif 10 and found nothing but success. All in the name of Super Earth and her people.

The Eruptor, Senator, AMR. I run with light armor for extra stun grenades.

My offensive statagems are the OPS and the 500kg bomb.

https://helldivers-hub.com/loadout?loadout=T25seSBMb2Fkb3V0YDIwLDEsMjQsMjNgMCwxYDE5LDIsNWAzYEVydXB0b3IKLUNsb3NlIGVuZW15IHNwYXduZXJzCi1Dcm93ZCBjb250cm9sClNlbmF0b3IKLUV2ZXJ5dGhpbmcgRWxzZQpBTVIKLVRoZSByZWFsbHkgYmlnIHN0dWZmCkp1bXAgUGFjawotSGlnaCBtb2JpbGl0eQpPUFMKLVZlcnkgc3BhbWFibGUKLUZpcnN0IHJlc29ydCBmb3IgdGFraW5nIGRvd24gYW55dGhpbmcgaW4gYSBwaW5jaAo1MDBrZyBCb21iCi1MYXN0IHJlc29ydA

My "heavy" loadout consists of:

Fortified Commando armor

Bushwhacker sidearm

Punisher primary

Stun Grenades or Impacts

Ballistic Shield strategem

Laser Sentry strategem

Gatling Sentry strategem

Napalm Airstrike strategem

As far as I'm aware the only paid content in that list is the Bushwhacker from Viper Commandos warbond, the Laser Sentry from Control Group warbond, and the Stun Grenade from Cutting Edge warbond but smokes are effective too. And the armor, from the superstore

Heavy armor for reduced recoil (and that “heavy” feel), jump pack for mobility, heavy machine gun and let ‘er riiiip

So heavy armour with the fortified passive with something like the hmg and supply pack to keep ya firing. Are ya new to the game?

welcome, heavy diver! a few bits of advice if you'll take them:

- all armor has a perk, including heavy armors, with some synergizing better than others. there is also a perk that slightly increases armor value, which gives the same protection as the tier above, so a light armor with extra padding gives the same protection as a medium, and a medium with extra padding gives hevay armor levels of protection (while still keeping the stamina benefit.) IMO there's 5 you should definitely get if you decide to run heavy armor:

- 1. Fortified Commando: the heaviest armor there is with the Extra padding perk. it's not the prettiest armor (some call it the "fatsuit") but it makes you a walking tank. you will be very slow, but very hard to kill.

- 2. Cinderblock: passive is Siege Ready which gives extra ammo for primary and (some) support weapons, it's a great passive and the amor also looks crisp AF.

- 3. Devastator: looks imposing, protects against explosions and is part of democratic detonation warbond, which if you don't have, you should probably get.

- 4. Salamander: heavy fire resistant armor. lets you walk through blazes with impunity.

- 5. Butcher: heavy medic armor. as with the fatsuit, it's not the best looking armor, but you get two extra stims and if someone brings experimental stims as well, you become practically unkillable as long as you don't totally run out of supplies.

honorable mention: Twigsnapper: looks awesome and peak physique helps with melee AND ranged weapons.

- you can also tank with shields: ballistic shield, directional shield and shield backpack to provide yourself even more protection. combined with heavy Armor, only the biggest enemy weapons are a real threat.

- you WILL be slow. this is one of the main reasons more people don't run heavy armor. they want to get everywhere first, but if you ever read the Hare and the Tortoise you know that sometimes it's not about speed. one way to compensate for this is to bring longer range weapons, then you don't have to run after your targets, you can comfortably snipe them and it won't matter if they shoot back because you're armored AF.

- Heavy Armor works well on bots, not as well on bugs or squids: bots rely on ranged attacks and artillery and don't close in as much, but bugs will constantly harass you and you definitely can't outrun them in heavy armor. I would recommend a melee in this case, or the twigsnapper armor so that you can smack the bugs. ballistic shield also protects against melee. squid overseers aren't a problem but voteless will swarm you just like bugs do.

as for weapons for that "heavy" feel:

- HMG is a great choice, paired with a supply pack ideally as it's quite a hungry beast, but worth it for the amount of damage it puts out.

- we just got the Variance, which is a multi-barrelled primaryAR based on the IRL Nock Volley gun. looks imposing and really adds to the heavy aesthetic.

- laser cannon fires a bigass beam of pure democratic energy and looks the part on a heavy armor user.

- commando: while not the most powerful anti tank option per shot, it's straight out of action movies and you can rapid fire 4 rockets that will still ruin any target's day. also has a really fast cooldown.

- Dominator: big rifle firing jet propelled slugs, often compared to the Boltor form 40k. feels and sounds satisfying and looks perfect cradled in the hands of a walking tank!

good luck, and may Liberty guide you!

Freedom's greetings new Helldiver! You will need to deploy on missions and prove your worth in order to unlock quite a bit of the ideal "heavy" loadout. However, democracy quickly provides some heavy armor and stratagems that allow you to play a "tank". Your democracy officer would like you to note that heavy armor makes you tankier, but that doesn't mean you can just stand in the open and soak up damage. You will still need need to abide by the 3 C's:

Cover, Courage, and more Cover.

You are super Earth's elite. Remember that. Show our enemies how much freedom we have!

Primary: Punisher Plasma

Secondary: Loyalist

Grenades: Impact

Stratagems:

Eagle 500k

Orb Laser

Laser Cannon

Supply Pack

-Primary: Crossbow   

-Secondary: Deagle (from polar patriots) or senator   

 -Support: mg 43 

 -Back pack: ar guard dog   

-Armour: I use the twig snapper because it looks cool and also the peak physique gives better handling.   

 -Nades: impacts are nice  

  -Strategems: eagle strafing run and the yellow laser are good.   

 Great at killing everything, the mg 43 can quickly kill the striders by hitting their limbs and it also destroys overseers. The guard dog covers you from any voteless that sneak up. The crossbow clears outposts very quickly and reliably.   

   I was able to complete a duo (diff 9) mission with 800 kills and 0 deaths on my part

Sickle + Redeemer + Impact-Incin.

Eagle 500 kg or Gas Strike for the ships (yes, gas strike works to destroy them)

Machine Gun Sentry

Machine Gun (excellent against actually all enemies, from the zombies all the way to chewing off Harvester legs)

Guard Dog (ballistic)

Blitzer + grenade pistol + gas grenades Gas strike + 500kg + mg43 + mg sentry Electrical conduit armor

https://www.reddit.com/r/Helldivers/comments/1hd7gm8/my_squidbusting_loadout_with_explanations/

That's the long explanation but here's the short one:

Armor: Heavy Engineering Kit armor, for extra gas grenades and defence

Primary: Halt shotgun, primarily I run it on stun mode, to freeze enemies (for follow up with the rest of my loadout)

Secondary: Senator, for follow-up as mentioned on stunned targets

Grenade: Gas, for large groups of Voteless, and for destroying warp ships

Backpack: Guard Dog (Ballistic), for follow-up on stunned targets, and for mowing down the Voteless

Eagle: 110mm Rocket Pods, for helping to deal with Harvesters

Orbital: Gas Strike, for taking out Warp Ships and swarms of enemies

Support Weapon: Commando, for taking out Warp Ships and Harvesters.

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Half the fun is trying the toys! I’d say read some descriptions and see if you find something to your likings.

In higher difficulties people get more focused on META loadouts but for id just go for what seems fun.

90% of people are gonna disagree but the chemical agent warbond is really fun to use and has the nicest armor even if the passive is meh

It will depend on your playstyle..but you’ll probably end up having many.

Democratic detonation is a very solid first choice, after that go for what sounds fun to you.

Everyone will have different preferences but I’ll list what i normally run.

Liberator Penetrator (Primary), Senator or Ultimatum (Secondary) and High Explosive or Incendiary Grenades.

For armour, my preference is any armour with the Siege Ready mod (increases primary weapon reload by 30% and increases ammo by 20%) but it completely depends on your play style.

Stratagem wise, most of the eagles will do the trick (my go to is the eagle airstrike). I’ll pair that with any of the machine gun / stalwart / heavy machine guns and a sentry turret and a rover backpack.

Edit: This is my loadout for bugs specifically, and really only works with a full team. This is NOT a solo loadout lol