These are very general things to be aware of that apply to all strategems discussed here.

• Dialing - "Dialing" a stratagem will keep it active until you switch weapons or it leaves your hand. This can be useful if you want to prime it and have it ready in a hurry; but this most commonly results in you accidentally dropping it from being ragdolled and planting something destructive right on top of your position. In short, don't hold offensive strategems in your hand until you're ready to throw them to avoid accidents.
  
• The Toss - Assuming flat terrain, a good angle, running at a sprint, and nothing is in the way, a Helldiver can chuck a strategem roughly 40-50 meters. This is safe for a majority of them. Sprinting, height, terrain, or diving from a crouch can all affect your maximum throwing distance. Armors with the Servo-Assisted perk provide a 30% throwing power increase, which allows you to land strategem calls about 75m from your release point.
  
• Out-Of-Bounds - Strategems get called in and consumed as soon as the ball lands in a valid spot. If a toss lands out-of-bounds or in the water, it disappears and will not be called in. If it lands on an invalid spot (ex: a normally unreachable play area, like a cliff) it will try to keep bouncing until it hits a valid area. If it can't land in a valid area, it disappears.
  
• Call-in Time - Call-in time used herein refers to about how long it takes for the ordinance of the strategem to start hitting the ground after it has been called. Generally speaking, a shorter call-in time is desirable as it makes it easier to predict where enemy units will be when the ordinance actually strikes. Certain ship upgrades can reduce call-in time of some strategems.
  
• Salvos - Some artillery strategems fire in "salvos" which is just a group of shots evenly spaced out. A barrage is made up of a set number of individual salvos, and a salvo is made up of a set number of rounds. For example, the 120mm HE Barrage fires about 6 salvos of 3 shots each, for a total of about 18 shells. Each salvo has a small pause between it while the artillery piece reloads.
  
• Limited Uses - Some strategems can only be used a limited number of times per mission and will be indicated as such. The only exception is any Eagle strategem. Eagle strategems are limited, but you can use them again after the aircraft goes back to the Super Destroyer to rearm.
  
• Classes - All strategems roughly fall into four categories: Mission-specific (yellow), Offensive (red), Defensive (green), and Support (blue).
  • Mission-Specific strategems handle things like reinforcing, resupplying, on-map artillery, hellbombs, and objective equipment.
    
  • Offensive strategems are simple as they are straightforward - throw towards enemy.
    
  • Defensive strategems are generally better for fortifying a position or moving the attention away from yourself instead of direct engagement. They can be handy when planning to stick around an area for a bit or during extraction.
    
  • Support strategems will deliver a piece of equipment to the battlefield. Generally this is a support weapon or backpack.

Since there's a bunch of upgrades and the developers are constantly changing things and provide no direct information that is easily accessible in the game itself, I will be using a generalized star rating system to try and gauge what each strategem is good for. The classifications are:

• Cooldown (Uses) - This will be the fully upgraded cooldown time and the limited number of uses if limited per mission. Strategems with lower cooldown are usually less powerful but more flexible since they can be spammed more often.
  
• Flexibility - How generally useful a strategem is in most circumstances. More flexible strategems can generally be applied to a wider array of circumstances and usually have a good amount of uptime, while less flexible ones are usually purpose-specific and don't help much outside of their specific intention, or suffer from significant drawbacks like long cooldowns.
  
• Anti-Small - How good a strategem is at dealing with small & fast targets, or groups of weak targets in general. Strategems better against small targets and groups often have a quick response time and decent explosive area-of-effect, but typically lack armor-penetrating capability.
  
• Anti-Medium - How good a strategem is at dealing with medium-sized targets or medium armor. Most strategems can do something to medium armor, but few can handle lots of medium armor well.
  
• Anti-Tank - How good a strategem is at dealing with massive & heavily armored targets. Most heavily armored targets need something with heavy armor penetration to do any appreciable damage.
  
  
• Uses/Rearm - For Eagle strikes, how many times this strategem can be used before Eagle 1 needs to rearm. If using multiple different Eagle strikes, the strategem won't rearm until Eagle 1 is either told to manually rearm or all Eagle strikes have no more uses. Of note, a destroyer upgrade increases the uses of all Eagle strikes by 1 per rearm, and this is the value shown.
  
  
• Accuracy - Specifically for orbital strategems, this is generally how precise an orbital barrage is at the point it lands at. Some strategems fire directly at the beacon while others can wander a significant distance away.
  
  
• Survivability - Specifically for sentries and fortifications, it reflects how long this strategem can reasonably last when deployed before it either gets destroyed or runs out of ammo. Low survivability usually means the sentry is either destroyed or runs out of ammunition quickly, whereas high survivability is typically effective for a longer period of time.
  
  
• Ammo Economy - Specifically for supply strategems, this is generally how easy it is to keep the weapon topped off with ammo. Weapons that resupply more ammunition from supply boxes or points of interest generally are easier to keep a good reserve of ammo for.

For the ratings, they follow something like this:

• ☆☆☆☆☆ - Not effective or generally impossible to do, or a pure desperation strategy. For flexibility, this usually means the strategem cannot be used for virtually anything but its intended role or is difficult to use effectively almost all of the time.
  
• ★☆☆☆☆ - Barely passable, might get you out of a tight spot if the enemy is on death's door. For flexibility, this usually means the strategem has very narrow applications in general and it is difficult to use outside of where it shines at.
  
• ★★☆☆☆ - Lacking in effectiveness, but can still do the job when in a pinch. For flexibility, this indicates the strategem sometimes has some difficulty being used outside of its comfort zone or suffers from low availability (like high cooldown or limited uses).
  
• ★★★☆☆ - Average performance. Can perform in the specified role well enough to succeed majority of the time. For flexibility, this usually indicates a strategem can work in most circumstances generally well without too much added demand.
  
• ★★★★☆ - Good performance and effectiveness, great application in the specified role almost all of the time. For flexibility, this usually indicates a strategem can easily be applied to most situations safely and still be effective.
  
• ★★★★★ - Almost always excels when deployed in the specified role with little extra demand of the user. For flexibility, this usually indicates the strategem can be tossed at pretty much anything and expect at least a halfway decent result, combined with fairly good uptime from a low cooldown.

I got silly with the ratings on the backpacks.

Orbital barrages can be somewhat slow to respond to a request, but can generally make up with it using pure destructive power. A little bit of planning and caution is generally needed to get the barrage near its maximum effectiveness.


Desc: A continuous barrage of high explosive 30mm rounds saturating a small area.
Players who use it: Enjoy watching the spray of lead fly from the Super Destroyer to hit the ground below, likely American and infatuated with the A-10C Warthog.

Quick response time, very low cooldown, and a decently long lasting barrage (10-15 seconds) make the gatling barrage a very flexible strategem to throw at pretty much anything. This makes it rather effective for throwing in the area of breaches or drops and makes it good at killing or softening most medium targets and lower, however its accuracy and precision can leave a lot to be desired.

While capable of damaging heavily armored enemies, most heavily armored units move too quickly for the barrage to cause significant damage, perhaps barring automaton tanks. The ship's angle to the call location can also significantly skew the affected area compared to the beacon by a large margin.


Desc: One salvo of four rounds of airburst munitions, which seperate into multiple bomblets just before hitting the ground and shower the area in medium sized explosions
Players who use it: Constantly misjudge the minimum safe distance.

The airburst is most comparable to the gatling barrage, but has a wider area of effect and hits much more quickly. Common monikers include "Orbital Clap Strike" or "Hand of God", since each burst instantly "slaps" the designated area with many dispersed explosions at once. This makes it great for near-instantly clearing loosely clustered small targets, but the explosions themselves lack significant anti-armor and anti-medium capability. Given the strike's low cooldown, however, it can at least soften some harder targets slightly if needed.

The Airburst is significantly affected by the angle of the firing destroyer and nearby terrain, sometimes leading to more irregular patterns or ellipses instead of a circle. This can make the minimum safe distance hard to judge, and the powerful explosions generally instantly kill most allies caught unaware with little chance of escape. Toss this one a little further than you normally would.



Desc: A canister of lingering corrosive gas which causes light damage, blindness, and confusion to majority of enemies in its area of effect
Players who use it: Are likely professional fumigation experts in real life practicing their reps at home before their next shift.

The gas strike boasts an extremely low cooldown and an extremely high effectiveness against most trash units, making it very simple and effective to throw at almost any concentration of enemy units and especially bug breaches. It lacks the upfront damage of other strategems, but the confusion/blinding aspect against enemy units helps it find its niche as a diversionary or softening tool for larger enemy clusters.

Enemies struck by the gas' effect will take damage over time, begin moving in random directions, and may blindly attack in a random direction. For bugs, this is kind of funny watching them flail around. For bots, they might blindfire, so its slightly less funny to watch. In all, this sort of makes it a hybrid between a Napalm strike and an EMS strike.


Desc: Electromagnetic Stun projectile that creates a large static field upon impact, stunning all enemies within until it expires.
Players who use it: Are likely handicapping themselves to test their abilities, or use it exclusively to hold enemies in place so they can immediately hit the same spot with another strategem because they like the number on the bottom of the screen it makes.

What the EMS strike lacks in direct lethality it makes up for in spammability, boasting a very low cooldown. This can make it a decent supportive tool to help relieve some pressure from your team, as the stun radius is quite large and lasts for quite a few seconds, giving your team some time to regroup or make a hasty retreat. It may also buy you the time you need to set up fortifications or call in other strategems (orbital strikes, AT weapons, or turrets). Unfortunately, EMS strike's greatest weakness is the need for followup if you want to clear the designated area out.

Desc:One salvo of four smoke shells which land perpendicular to the direction it was thrown, creating a wall of smoke.
Players who use it: Are desperately trying to find a use case for it versus taking literally any other strategem.

Its low cooldown makes it available, however it can be difficult to find appropriate times to use it. deploying smoke significantly inhibits the enemy's ability to see you and for automatons inhibits their ability to accurately fire on your position as you move. While this can be desired to escape, evade, or flank an enemy force, blocking your line of sight to the enemy can also be a disadvantage for you and your team. Most of the time, smoke grenades are a better pick instead of using a strategem slot.

Desc: A single shot from the destroyer's "ATLAS" cannon aimed directly at the designated area.
Players who use it: Just started and have no better strategems, doesn't like the Rail Cannon's cooldown, or is actually capable of perfectly predicting enemy movement 4 seconds in the future and orbital scatter (probable telepath or fortune teller)

The OPS boasts simplicity and flexibility against armored units, making it a solid pick for almost any application. While its blast radius from the point of impact is relatively limited, it will still (generally) instantly kill almost anything it hits, which it does so with exceeding accuracy.

These factors make the OPS good to throw at bug holes, fabricators, armored units, tanks, buildings, spewers, and just about anything else besides loosely clumped small enemies or lone targets that may move before impact. There can be some difficulty in predicting enemy movement before impact, but with enough skill you can compensate for it. Its low cooldown also makes it readily available against most enemy armor.


Desc: A high-powered and continuous laser beam which sweeps over the designated area and changes targets as needed
Players who use it: Are constantly saving it "for something better" due to limited uses, despite the entire screenspace being filled with enemies or gunfire, or uses it exclusively to deal with bot fabricators because they're lazy. Likely burns ants with a magnifying glass.

Above anything else, the orbital laser boasts ease-of-use. After being thrown, the laser automatically tracks nearby enemies in the target area for its duration and keeps them targeted so as long as they're alive. This makes it decent for burning larger problem enemies or clumps of enemies, but the laser can take a significant amount of its duration on singular heavy targets which is problematic combined with its limited uses and long cooldown.

Notably, it can be an effective tool at destroying several fabricators in a bot outpost without too much extra input from the user, but otherwise its utility outside that scenario is limited and its cooldown is too high to make it a valuable asset in most missions.


Desc: A single high-powered slug from a railcannon delivered to the largest target nearby the designated area.
Players who use it: Absolutely despises Bile Titans or Tanks/Hulks. Likely has tried to kill insects with a thumbtack.

Most similar to the Orbital Precision Strike in application, but boasting ease-of-use over flexibility. The railcannon strike very quickly identifies the largest target around the designated area and splats it with a rod from god, usually killing it instantly. This makes it a very effective "remove this armored bloke from my screen now" tool that can quickly and easily be tossed anywhere remotely nearby and still be effective.

While great at what it does, it has a significantly longer cooldown compared to other anti-tank strategems and lacks any form of explosive radius or area of effect, making it useless in any scenario except dealing with a single armored unit. The railcannon's overall effectiveness begins to sharply drop as the amount of armored enemies encountered starts increasing significantly, and it can very easily be wasted if everyone tries to use AT weapons on the same target at once.

Most of these barrages have a long cooldown but a high amount of ordinance and affected area. Most often they are useful to attack a general location (bot drop zone or bug breach), soften a fortification before entry (bug nest or automaton fabricator), or provide cover for a retreat and deny the enemy the ability to easily move through the area being barraged temporarily.


Desc: Six salvos of three 120mm projectiles saturating a medium-sized area for a prolonged duration.
Players who use it: Enjoy being able to offload this in the vague direction of any problem and watch it become slightly less of a problem.

A fairly long-lasting barrage of powerful artillery shells in and around the targeted area. Due to the relatively slow firerate and arrival time, the 120mm barrage doesn't work well against many things that are moving unless you can anticipate their movement. Even so, the barrage is widespread and won't always hit every target in the designated area.

This makes it very effective against fortified positions, stationary targets, facilities, and bug breaches, but not as useful in open battles or targets that are expected to move significantly before arrival. Its call-in time is short enough to be reasonably used against pursing enemies as long as there is a decent amount of space between you and your pursuers.


Desc: Six salvos of three 380mm high explosive shells which saturate a large area over an extended period of time
Players who use it: Either throw it with reckless abandon usually requiring you to full-sprint out of its radius, use it to absolutely shatter 3 scavengers while tenderizing the ground, or rakes in a 70 kill streak. Really likes watching videos of Operation Rolling Thunder.

The bigger cousin of the 120mm barrage. More damage, more deadly, wider range, lasts longer, but disperses its munitions over an wider area which can make hitting desired targets a gamble. Due to these factors, it is generally only useful to soften a stationary target or position prior to moving in or disengaging from it, and has no promise of hitting everything in the area designated. The long duration (30 seconds) can also hamper a timely push in if needing to wait for the shells to finish splashing.

Do not use the 380 anywhere remotely nearby where you need to be, and don't throw it from cover and stay in the same spot (without servo assisted). Move back. If you are feeling lucky, you can try running through a 380 barrage and you might come out alive, but there is a high chance a 380 shell lands directly on you killing you instantly. Sprint out of its area at your own risk, crawling sometimes might not get you killed.


Desc: Five salvos of three 380mm shells that progress forward from the designator's position as the salvos progress, allowing advancement while the barrage proceeds
Players who use it: Likes this barrage because its "safer" and "more predictable", probably puts Bugles chips on the ends of their fingers before eating them.

This version of the 380mm barrage "walks" away from its designator as each salvo lands and has a much faster arrival time compared to the other orbital barrages. While it lacks the duration, concentration, and overall shell count of the other barrages, it strikes quickly and then backs off of the target area it struck, giving you some more breathing room after the first salvo. This can also make it a good pick if you lack the range to throw a barrage exactly where you need it -- as long as you throw this somewhere in front of your target, you'll usually hit it with the walking barrage.

After gaining extra salvos and some reduced 'walk' distance per salvo, the Walking Barrage is able to more consistently hit the entire length of a targeted formation of fortification, making it a good option (like the 380mm) to throw in anticipation of moving into an area when it finishes.

Desc: Five salvos of five 380mm shells that explode and disperse a volatile napalm payload, igniting a very large area around the beacon with a lingering fire.
Players who use it: Want to watch it all burn.

This is the "380mm barrage if it killed chaff enemies". It ignites a massive area, almost 100 meters in diameter, over the course of the barrage. This makes it a very valuable tool to burn to death any pursuing small or even medium enemies that are even remotely nearby the beacon.

Unfortunately, its cooldown is long and the flames last a long time, meaning this is only doing its best work when covering an escape or burning down an area you don't plan to move in to. The napalm shells also look a lot less dangerous than the 380mm shells, generally drawing you and your allies to the flames like a moth, where you'll instantly get set on fire and die. So give it the space its due.

Eagles are fast-response aircraft that are constantly on-station around your area waiting to be called in. Eagle strikes generally lack a lot of individual power, but make up for it with very low cooldowns, very fast response times to call-in, and generally more predictable behavior.

All Eagle strategems have a number of uses before it becomes unavailable, but all share a very short (8s) cooldown with one another. The uses are recharged if you manually tell your Eagle pilot to resupply, or if all Eagle strategems have been exhausted. Eagle-1 takes approximately 150-180s to resupply at the destroyer before she will be ready for new orders.


Desc: A quick-responding linear gun-run from the Eagle's 30mm main cannons that hits a narrow band forwards from the designator
Players who use it: Enjoy having a "delete this chaff chasing me" button and the tangy zip of ginger ale.

The strafing run is not very powerful on its own, but is extremely predictable and minimally destructive outside of the area ahead of it, working to its advantage to be used in close quarters or where your teammates are close by or on the flank of an enemy force and may get hit by airstrikes or other ordinance. The strafe is very quick to respond and very useful for clearing bands of enemies, especially those that may be pursing you in a line because they're dumb and form congalines while chasing you.

The gatling rounds fired kill almost any chaff nearby and either significantly injure or kill most medium-sized enemies. The strafing run is capable of dealing damage to heavily armored targets, but rarely finishes them off unless they're already nearly dead. Overall, the strafing run is very flexible and spammable at just about any breach/drop to clear out light targets quickly, but it will generally leave behind heavier targets to deal with.


Desc: A perpendicular salvo of 4-5 250kg bombs, deployed horizontally on where it was thrown.
Players who use it: Will probably throw it at literally anything they can't immediately kill with a personal weapon. Anything.

An extremely effective if extremely bland all-rounder strategem. You can throw an Eagle airstrike at pretty much anything: groups of chaff, medium enemies, armored enemies, or facilities and bugholes, and it will usually destroy or at least severely injure the target. This makes it a personal favorite of pretty much everyone.

Due to the attack pattern, a single one of these can usually seal multiple bugholes or destroy multiple fabricators with an accurate toss. The horizontal attack pattern also makes it generally easy to hit most targets combined with the blast radius.


Desc: A perpendicular salvo of 4-5 200kg cluster bomblet dispensers, deployed horizontally on where it was thrown. Each dispenser explodes into several sub-munitions that carpet the entire area in explosive payload.
Players who use it: Similar to airstrike users, except they will even throw this at heavily armored enemies repeatedly despite no outward effect and kill teammates much more often.

The bane of every small enemy and every teammate's existence. The cluster airstrike is one of the most effective cleaners for small units spread out over a decently sized area, and the area the bomblets cover is fairly massive by itself. Combined with a very high number of uses-per-rearm make this a fan favorite to throw at pretty much any group of enemies that takes more than a magazine of your primary to kill.

While effective, it lacks any armor penetrating power at all, making it wasteful to throw at heavily armored units besides clearing nearby small targets. The bomblets also have a habit of sometimes scattering a significant distance, making it extremely accident prone. Don't just throw these willy-nilly without at least checking around to see if anyone else is going to be caught in the blast.


Desc: A perpendicular salvo of 4-5 incendiary munitions deployed horizontally on where it was thrown. Each bomb releases and ignites a volatile chemical payload that ignites any enemies in the blast radius and ignites nearby terrain for a significant time.
Players who use it: Likely just finished watching Apocalypse Now (1979), probably saying things like "LOST MY LEG BACK IN 'NAM"

A variation of the airstrike which distributes lingering flames instead of flat explosions. This makes it exceedingly useful for generating a "wall of fire" where needed to significantly damage or kill most small and medium enemies that try to cross through it. Popular locations to deploy these are on top of bug breaches or behind you when retreating as to thin out the ranks of most enemies chasing you.

The fire is capable of damaging heavy armor, but not by a lot. If they are already about to die, this may finish them off, but primarily you are only going to see success against most small enemy types and some medium enemies.

Desc: A targeted ripple of six to eight 110mm dumbfire rockets targeted at the largest enemy near the designator.
Players who use it: Really like the sound it makes and really hate not having an anti-tank option at any moment.

One of the dedicated anti-armor Eagle strikes. Compared to the 500kg, what the 110mm Rocket Pods lack in pure destructive power it makes up for with an extra use-per-rearm and limited auto-targeting capability. This makes it a bit easier to use against most larger targets and a little more available compared to using and timing an airstrike.

The rockets lack any significant area damage and are generally only useful against one armored unit at a time. The damage can also be somewhat inconsistent depending on the angle of attack; sometimes you can hit the head and get an instant kill, but other times it may take two or the attack may miss due to the enemy moving too much. The pods can be used against facilities in a pinch, but since Eagle 1 will try to target the largest nearby enemy sometimes causing a miss, other strategems usually do a much better job.

Personally, the targeting can sometimes choose the wrong target, and most often a single salvo of rocket pods isn't enough to kill a single heavy target unless already wounded. It does compound well with something like a stun grenade or heavy armor penetrating weapons (like the HMG) and has a faster response then something like the 500kg Bomb, but it significantly struggles to remain viable.


Desc: A single 500kg bomb dropped directly on the targeted area.
Players who use it: Enjoy watching a bomb directly bonk the target on the head shortly before exploding wherever possible

What it lacks in finesse it makes up for in destructive power. Just about anything hit directly with a 500kg bomb won't wake up to feel it the next day. Combined with a relatively short call-in time and the comical impact of the bomb just before exploding, this makes it a very attractive go-to for anti-armor.

While the explosion looks impressive, its actual blast radius is somewhat small, making it unsuited for dealing with groups that aren't tightly clustered together. You can get away with it if you throw these on bug breaches or drops, but otherwise you should typically save them to deal with armor when it appears.


Desc: A horizontal payload of smoke canisters dropped horizontally at the designator.
Players who use it: Are either trolling or a strategic mastermind. I'm not actually sure I've ever seen anyone use it. Probably used by serial killers.

A quick option for breaking line-of-sight with an enemy contact, though such a manuver would usually require a good degree of coordination with your team that you intend to break contact. Otherwise you'll just obscure your team's view while you leave and they continue fighting.

It does create a fairly significant barrier of smoke on quick demand that is hard to achieve with handheld grenades or smoke strikes, giving it somewhat of a niche, but this is largely only useful if you want to break an engagement. If you are in such a situation, usually just moving the other direction is sufficient, negating the need for a smoke strike occupying one of your valuable strategem slots. If you are in such a situation where you really need smoke, you'd probably be flanked on multiple sides and done for anyways.

General notes about using sentries deserves its own little section.

Sentries all share similar characteristics: they have limited ammo, limited health, automatically engage enemies within their range, and have no concept of trigger discipline. If you place them poorly, they will repeatedly kill you and your team until they run out of ammo, get destroyed, or someone on your team shoots it and destroys it for you. Here are protips for you gearheads to avoid this scenario:

• Always deploy sentries at a different elevation if possible - Sentries at different heights from you and your teammates have a much harder time catching you in crossfire unless you are also fighting up or down a slope (which would be stupid). If you're holding on a ridge, put the sentry in front of you and below it. If you are holding in front of the same ridge, deploy the sentry above you. This way you and your team have minimal interference with the sentry's line of fire.
  
• Deploy sentries on flanks of an enemy force or position where possible - While you won't be as able to effectively cover a sentry on a flank, throwing them significantly left or right from where you expect to be attacked can both split an enemy force's attention towards the sentry or allow the sentry a lot of opportunity to attack the enemy force in the side, often bypassing medium armor in the process. If you can find a clear area to throw a sentry away from your team while getting swamped, it can help alleviate pressure either by splitting the enemy force or killing them from another angle.
  
• Deploy sentries out of your view if there are no other good spots - It may seem counter-intuitive to deploy your sentry to where you can't see it or cover it, but deploying it this way makes it virtually impossible for your sentry to accidentally shoot you if you can't directly see it. If you are holding a chokepoint for example, deploy the sentry out front around one of the chokepoint's corners instead of behind or in front of you. This way it should mulch most things that come towards it and if you get flanked it won't swivel around and shoot towards you.
  
• Change position if sentry fire whizzes past you/Don't stand in the line of fire - If you see a rocket or tracers fly past you from a sentry, don't stay in the same spot and remark how close that last shot was. You will eventually get shot. Change position or flanks to get out of the way. You also shouldn't move up into the location a sentry was just shooting at because it will absolutely shoot you. It is amazing how many people try to press forward into an area a sentry was targeting. Flank around it instead.
  
• Get low - If you have to fight on the same elevation, stay nearby the sentry and low to the ground (prone, preferably). If you're certain you won't be flanked, you can stand to the sides or behind it, or on top of it if you're feeling brave.
  
• Don't deploy them in chokepoints - Don't use sentries to block off chokepoints directly. This just means the sentry will fire at whatever side of the chokepoint has enemies on it, regardless of if that also means you're there or not. Deploy them off to the sides of the chokepoint and further back from it. Your goal is to kill the enemies as they go through the chokepoint, not before they get to it.
  
• Deploy them against walls to minimize field of view - Sentries love to wheel around and shoot things behind them, often catching you in crossfire. Throwing them against a wall makes it so they only need to watch half as much and makes their firing arc more predictable. They're still dangerous, but at the least they're dangerous at less of an angle.
  
• for the love of christ do not just throw mortar sentries out willy nilly - EMS mortars are survivable, but regular mortars will absolutely kill any teammate that gets a single enemy close to them. Try not to just throw them out whenever, make sure your team has some comfortable space first.
  
• Turrets draw enemy attention - Enemies like to spontaneously switch targets to newly deployed sentries or sentries attacking them, especially chargers and bile titans. Without support, the sentry usually gets destroyed. This can also be used to your advantage, as throwing a random MG sentry out to left field may distract some enemies chasing you, even if it can't kill all of them. On armor-heavy seeds, this can really hamper sentry effectiveness as most armored enemies will immediately seek out and attack any sentry that even grazes them, so have a backup plan.

Hopefully that gets most of the sentry-sins out of the way.

Desc: An agile turret affixed with a mounted medium machine-gun. Most similar in caliber to the MG-43.
Players who use it: Despise shriekers and chargers for vastly different reasons.

While generally inferior to other turrets in terms of damage output, the MG sentry is accurate and rotates quickly, making it great for taking out mobile targets and covering a wider range of angles more reliably than slower turrets. This makes it great for shooting down aerial targets as well as rapidly eliminating smaller targets. It also boasts a much lower cooldown than most other sentries giving it a significant edge in flexibility, allowing it to be deployed almost any time to help mop up trash targets that may be swarming the area.

It does, however, lack a significant ammo supply and usually uses its reserves quickly. It will also be quickly hard-countered by any heavy armor, where its role is changed to "distraction" rather than an offensive tool. Try to cover it from heavy armor if you can.


Desc: An turret affixed with a high-speed gatling gun. Most similar in caliber to the MG-43.
Players who use it: Greatly enjoy seeing hunters, brood commanders, and shriekers get massacred by the dozens, has had to play limbo with the stream of red tracers rotating past their head at least twice.

The bigger cousin of the MG sentry, the Gatling is not a fast to switch targets and has a higher cooldown, but has a much higher rate of fire and larger ammo reserves to compensate. This allows it to absolutely chew into any group of targets it can sink its teeth into and makes it very effective against anything its ammunition can penetrate.

It is unfortunately a little more friendly-fire prone as the stream of lead will assuredly injure anyone it passes in front of as the gatling sentry does not pause firing to switch targets. This can make it significantly more dangerous if placed in a bad position. Just like the MG sentry, it will also be hard-countered by heavy armor.


Desc: An turret affixed with a high-caliber autocannon. Most similar in caliber to the handheld version of the autocannon, however the sentry's ammunition is notably more powerful in terms of armor penetration.
Players who use it: Like hearing the rythmic thump of explosive shells hit a bile titan from 100 meters away.

This turret's ammunition is capable of penetrating the armor plates of Chargers, Bile Titans, and Hulks with direct hits. This makes it quite capable of taking those targets down when they are focused and at a reasonable distance, and the explosive nature of the shells also makes it decent at taking out dense clusters of smaller enemies. Provided a good vantage point and ample cover, an autocannon sentry can be an extremely powerful asset against both armor and smaller targets alike and is able to do a significant amount of cleaning up by itself.

It comes with notable drawbacks: the three-round burst tends to waste ammunition on smaller targets. It has a very slow traverse speed, giving it great difficulty in tracking smaller and more agile targets; it can easily be overwhelmed or distracted by small enemies if it is not given adequate cover or is flanked. It also may need support or distraction to completely kill heavier armor; a charger beelining for this sentry at a fairly close distance will probably find its mark and destroy it pre-emptively. Overall, while powerful, it is a good idea to babysit this sentry a little to make sure it gets full effectiveness.


Desc: An turret affixed with a battery of dumbfire missiles and programmed to target larger enemies where possible.
Players who use it: Giggle each time someone gets ragdolled by the backblast.

The rocket sentry lacks the overall damage output of the autocannon but makes up for it in longevity and flexibility. While it can't kill armor as quickly, the rockets it fires do have a significant splash radius which makes them greatly effective at thinning out groups of medium and small enemies. The relatively slow but paced rate of fire and several reloads also keeps the sentry in the fight for a significantly longer duration, allowing it to exert constant pressure instead of expending most of its ammo immediately.

It does come with some drawbacks: It has a hard time dealing with armor exclusively by itself and has a lot of trouble dealing damage quickly in comparison to the autocannon. Like the autocannon sentry, it needs some support to make sure it doesn't get overwhelmed or jumped by an armored unit at close range, or a good vantage point to help it get the edge over an enemy force. The sentry's firing will also generate backblast which will ragdoll anyone caught in it, so don't dial offensive strategems and walk behind it unless you want to drop it on your own position.

Desc: Stationary, limited lifetime tower that shocks targets within approximately 25 meters periodically with electricity. The electric arcs can chain through multiple enemies, even those outside the immediate range of the tower.
Players who use it: Are either trying to kill teammates or will probably use something else as soon as it gets instantly blown up by another strategem, gunfire, a charger, or they get instantly killed by it 20 meters away.

Misunderstood but understandably so, with a well-earned reputation for killing careless teammates, often repeatedly. Tesla towers are great on the Bug front, not just for watching your back or a choke point from small and medium stragglers. Since the tesla tower is also a sentry, it attracts enemy attention like the placement of any other sentry does, often causing a significant portion of enemies to try and walk towards it and hit it like a bug flying into a mosquito zapper.

The tower itself is mostly able to handle even medium sized groups of medium and small enemies, instantly killing most small enemies and stunning or killing most medium enemies with 2-3 shocks. The range is not to be underestimated; the tower will gladly kill you instantly if you wander closer than 25 or so meters to it without being prone. If you absolutely have to, you can crawl up to the tower while prone to fight nearby it, but this is insanely ill-advised at best.

The tower also has a limited duration and will also expire on its own if it somehow wasn't shot, killed by a charger, or hit by a teammate's strategem within about three minutes.


Desc: Indirect fire 80mm mortar capable of engaging targets within its range without line-of-sight to the target. Fires three-round bursts before adjusting aim.
Players who use it: Think they're always helping when they throw a mortar down and blame the other player if the mortar kills them when a pouncer snuck up on them from behind (unless that player is the mortar user, in which case they blame the mortar)

The mortar gets a one in survivability only because it most often gets shot by teammates after they're killed by it and usually runs out of ammo without killing a lot of things. It gets a zero in flexibility because if you throw it out without thinking you will kill yourself and any nearby teammates easily. Mortars can be helpful to soften things up when you're holding a position with very good sightlines and not being flanked, but the moment something sneaks up on you (which happens almost all the time regardless of your vigilance), the mortar will be more than happy to shoot directly at your feet, often killing you.

The shells each have decent explosive effect and kill most things they land on, but since the mortar doesn't have very exceptional range (around 80-100 meters), it isn't the greatest.


Desc: Indirect fire 80mm mortar firing electromagnetic charged rounds which stun targets on impact for several seconds.
Players who use it: Sometimes don't understand they actually need to kill what the mortar is firing at themselves.

A version of the mortar that fixes one major issue with it which is not killing you when it shoots at your feet. It is suprisingly helpful if deployed in a timely manner to help lock down medium sized groups of enemies, but its rather random targeting sort of leaves it up to chance if it locks down a worthwhile target or not. The other major issue is actually needing to kill whatever it is shooting at yourself, or leaving the area.

Battlefield fortifications generally make an area easier to hold and generally stay put in a single place.


Desc: A pod containing an automated dispenser which distributes 48 anti-personnel mines in several bands around the drop point. Incendiary mines do less direct damage but ignite the ground and targets. AT mines deploy only 18 mines but do much more direct damage.
Players who use it: Point out their own minefields in advance and enjoy seeing teammates wander into them anyways. Somehow manages to step on their own mines. Somehow manages to deploy pristine minefields in locations nobody has been to yet or that no enemies pass through.

Until Arrowhead actually decides to take a genuine look at mines, all of them will remain absolutely terrible options unless you are clowning around. These are the current issues with mines:

• A single enemy and enemy corpses can detonate several mines at once, clearing whole minefields with just one corpse
  
• Multiple minefields deployed over one another usually just cause both fields of mines to be wasted
  
• Mines frequently turn completely invisible to players yet still retain their feet-destroying abilities leading to instant death
  
• Minefields do not do appreciable damage to heavy units, even AT mines
  
• Excessive cooldown when considering lack of effectiveness
  
• Teammates frequently either walk directly into mines and die or throw strategems on top of known minefields to kill enemies, destroying all of the mines in the process
  
• Most map terrains lack clear, open, effective areas where these can be efficiently deployed
  
• The nature of constantly needing to move to new locations in most missions is almost completely mutually exclusive with covering an area in mines (covering an area you're going to revisit is a good way to blow everyone's ankles off)

Tip of the iceberg with these things. When they decide to work, they are a powerful if volatile way to cover approaches, especially chokepoints where possible. They can also be used as a good escape cover as they require a bit of time to arm after being deployed, allowing you to run through a deploying minefield while catching the pursuing enemy in the ordinance.

All that being said, AT mines have been made the barest degree of passable - because they no longer instantly explode the moment anything touches them. But they still won't survive your teammate's stratagems, gunfire, explosions, or really anything else, and a single heavy unit still needs to step on a few of them to actually die. To their credit, the dispenser throws them a very far distance, but they can become an occupational hazard if you don't remember you're standing on one when something shoots towards you.


Desc: Portable, short cooldown shield generator that generates a protective bubble that blocks incoming fire and allows outgoing fire for approximately 30 seconds or until it takes enough damage to collapse it. While the shield can be collapsed, it does recharge when not actively taking damage.
Players who use it: Really wants to be beloved by their team for protecting everyone with the shield, or really hates their sentries/HMG getting instantly vaporized by enemy attack.

While not offensive, it finds a lot of use on the Bot front as a protective anchor against spammy enemy fire. Its short cooldown makes it very easy to call upon when needed and can give your team that little bit of foothold that lets you peek from cover and punch back without getting staggered by lasers or rockets. This is especially useful when paired with the HMG Emplacement or sentries as it gives them a good amount of cover where they might otherwise be destroyed.

The shield constantly regenerates itself even under fire until it either collapses or expires, so it works best under light or moderate, but not heavy fire. It won't completely stop Ragnarok from killing you, but it might at least soften the blow for the diver behind you.

The shield can take a significant amount of punishment by itself, but it will quickly be collapsed when taking excessive amounts of fire (ex: from a shredder tank or cannons). Don't stake your life on it entirely if taking a ton of fire, but under light or medium attack it can hold strong. Notably, missiles from reinforced scout striders can easily be blocked by this shield, and although the shield will likely collapse, it can also block at least one shot from a cannon turret or similar turret. It can also provide limited protection from some types of strategems in a pinch.


Desc: A pod containing a manned HMG emplacement with 300 rounds of ammunition, suitable for dealing with moderately armored targets.
Players who use it: Despises sentries and prefers the good-old-fashioned way of cutting down trash enemies. Likely to be an enjoyer of tower-defense games.

This monster of a turret takes a second to call down and place, but once in a good position it can cut down enormous numbers of enemies quickly with a skilled operator. To boot, the turret itself has a fairly sizable health pool and can take a surprising beating without being instantly destroyed. The turret's traverse speed is somewhat slow, so it is best used to cover a narrow angle or choke point and has difficulty when flanked or trying to track highly mobile aerial targets flying overhead.

The armor penetration of the turret can't directly penetrate heavy vehicle armor, but it can penetrate the weak points of most heavy vehicles and enemies. The emplacement is very capable of dealing with any medium enemy (ex: brood commanders, scout striders, devastators) and especially effective against Hulks when targeting the eye slit. It has limited effectiveness against the front of heavy armor like Chargers and Bile Titans, but can still damage and kill them with enough sustained fire (somewhere around 100-150 shots for titans). Factory Striders are mostly impervious to direct HMG fire, but it can still de-fang its frontal miniguns and attack the eye slit directly for a kill. The generous ammo pool will also let you clear out most trash and medium enemies with ease.

Try to pick a good position. Elevation helps, as does having a good field of view of oncoming attackers and no obstructions. In a pinch, you can also directly attack most bug structures (spore towers and shrieker nests) by shooting it with the HMG.

This covers backpack-based support weapons, which is generally any support weapon that needs a backpack carried with or provided with it to be reloaded. A Helldiver carrying the appropriate backpack for a team support weapon can perform an assisted reload by approaching the right side of the Helldiver with the weapon and using the interaction prompt.

Assisting in a reload consumes the assistant's ammo, is many times faster then an unassisted reload, happens automatically so as long as there is ammo, and allows a limited amount of movement while loading and firing. This comes with the downside of requiring two divers to be in extremely close proximity, both necessitating intelligent positioning and caution to ensure your position is not overwhelmed. A team busy loading and firing also needs to be protected on its flanks, either by the loader when not busy loading or another diver.

Limited movement is possible while assisting in a reload, to include walking and changing stance. Moving too far away from the assistant, sprinting, or changing weapons will stop the assistant from loading. Uneven terrain will also prevent a loader from assisting, and sloped terrain may require one diver to change stance. For best results, try to stand somewhere flat with space to your right side.

Unassisted reloading will require you to stand still during the weapon's loading process and will also require you to carry the associated backpack. If you operate with a close team, you can trade or give your weapon backpack to another diver, but this will require you to link up with that diver to reload your weapon. Later in a mission, you can also call your team weapon down a second time and give the spare bag to someone else.

Sometimes your arms will get bugged and stuck in the reloading animation. Switching weapons and using your melee attack is enough to usually fix this.

A high-caliber rifle designed to engage armored targets from a significant distance. This weapon delivers excellent damage over distance to anything it can penetrate the armor of, which is just about everything. It also fires about as fast as the trigger can be pulled, giving it some flexibility in a pinch against a target at close range (though unlike other weapons, it lacks a reticule from third person).

Most often this weapon finds its niche in a supporting role off the frontlines, picking off or crippling heavier targets as its ammo is quickly exhausted trying to take down lighter enemies. In particular, brood commanders, nursing/bile spewers, devastators, and scout striders are all very attractive targets that the AMR has an easy time disabling or killing in just a few shots. The biggest limiting factor of the AMR is the difficulty of using it up-close and its somewhat limited ammo pool.


A fire-delivery system of the handheld type. The subject of endless controversy because players can't enjoy it and the developers repeatedly fail to fix it. The Flamethrower could and should be much better at what it does, but it ends up rather lacking in many departments due to a number of reasons. Namely:

• Range - Needing to be within 10-18 meters of your target means you're right at the front lines where everyone else is shooting or throwing strategems. Careless teammates often kill flamethrower users. This also naturally puts your position much closer to the enemy than is comfortable if something goes wrong.
  
• Teamkill Potential - Fire lingers where it is shot and helpfully bounces around off surfaces, often causing you and your teammates to ignite. Being ignited is almost always fatal unless you stim or dive to put yourself out. This is not only annoying but often gets you killed even if the fire doesn't directly kill you. Fire-resisting armor is an ugly bandaid for this problem and still requires you to put yourself out.
  
• Lackluster performance - The damage against most targets is OK and capable of killing most small and medium enemies quickly, but the flamethrower provides no crowd-control effects like slowing, so enemies can often sprint through your flames and kill you as they burn to death, sometimes also causing you to ignite yourself due to proximity.
  
• Mediocre anti-armor performance - After anti-armor performance was "patched" it was "reimplemented" after backlash and now the flamethrower is merely below average at killing enemy armor, whereas dedicated anti-armor strategems do much better for obvious reasons. Essentially, it isn't really a good idea to engage heavy armor with the flamethrower if there's other anti-armor around.

All of this makes majority of flame-spouting weapons rather lackluster. They're still okay for mopping up trash units though.


A chemical thrower that vomits a cloud of noxious gas that both damages and blinds targets hit by it. Its effects are similar to the orbital gas strike.

The only noteworthy leg up this weapon has over the flamethrower is it is slightly less teamkill prone as the gas is easier to escape from and less damaging then if you set yourself on fire. It also, unlike the flamethrower, has some crowd control ability as enemies blinded by the caustic stream have a much more difficult time attacking you.

It loses out on style points though. It fires a green cloud of gas. People call it the brap blaster for a reason.


A magnetically-driven railgun firing ferromagnetic slugs at velocities approaching a small factor of c. Most similar to the AMR, but with a bonus mechanic called "unsafe mode". Under normal conditions, the railgun has to be charged to shoot and charges to a maximum level, indicated by the gauges on the side of the weapon. If so inclined, you can switch this safety feature off and continue charging the weapon as much as you want, right up until it explodes and kills you and the weapon.

Unsafe mode shots can deal up to 250% more damage at maximum charge, giving higher damage output to those with a more consistent and rhythmic control of how much they charge the weapon before releasing. The weapon is also capable of penetrating most heavy armor from the front like the AMR, making it possible to kill enemies like Bile titans and Factory Striders by consistently nailing weak points.

Essentially, the railgun is trading the AMR's ease of followup shots and ammo economy for raw damage and precision. The Railgun also only has a red dot, reducing its use at long range.

A belt-fed rifle grenade launcher effective at splashing groups of lightly armored enemies. Its simplicity and straightforwardness make it generally easy to use and hard to explain a lot about. It is great for controlling groups of enemies and only takes a handful of grenades to deal with medium enemies. Its only rough spot is ammo economy, but it is better than it was with three spare belts instead of two.

As a tactical protip, if you shoot the GL-21 directly into the air above you, the grenades land about 40 meters in front of you after about 7-8 seconds. You can use this as a funny form of indirect artillery to impress your friends.


A continuous-beam laser cannon operating off of heat sinks for ammunition. As long as a heat sink is allowed to cool before being fully used, the LAS-98 has functionally infinite ammo.

The Laser Cannon has decent armor penetration and can damage most things, in addition to igniting them on fire. Its only faltering point is it lacks area-of-effect, making it somewhat difficult to deal with a large number of dispersed enemies. Otherwise, its beam can be used to delete priority targets and chaff from just about any distance as the weapon has no recoil or inaccuracy to speak of.


An energy-based weapon that fires a projection of electric bolts. When hitting an enemy, the bolts will arc and jump to other targets (and allies) in close proximity.

The Arc Thrower is effective at clearing small and medium enemies from the field by virtue of its repeated stunning when firing. The chaining bolts also tend to quickly clear out swarms of small enemies that may be in proximity. This is where my praise of the Arc Thrower ends.

The Arc Thrower is also time-consuming against larger enemies. You can kill larger enemies with it, but you will commit a significant amount of time to stunning it repeatedly while chipping away at its health. This makes the thrower somewhat prone to being overwhelmed on its flanks if trying to control heavier enemies by itself. The bolts are also jump-happy and will merrily arc their way to nearby teammates that may be around your target, making it rather teamkill prone if not fired judiciously.

This weapon is best used in conjunction with a nearby team that can more quickly kill things you may be struggling with. Its best tool is its ability to stunlock heavier enemies and clear smaller ones, so work with your teammates to ultimately clear them out.

Machine Guns are rather vanilla-flavored support weapons that come in three sizes: light, medium, and heavy. They are generally good at sustained and somewhat stationary fire against numerous enemies and generally excel at controlling or killing lightly armored or general trash enemies. Most MGs have an adjustible rate of fire (by holding R). This is useful for a number of reasons:

• Low ROF - Less sustained recoil makes the weapon easier to keep on target, especially on the move. When stationary, it helps conserve ammo by making sure you don't overkill enemies too much and reduces the need to fire in bursts. It obviously doesn't put out damage as quickly so it can falter if killing things quickly is more important.
  
• Medium ROF - Cozy default mode. Usually a good balance of power versus ammo efficiency.
  
• High ROF - More dakka. Provides more upfront damage if you are especially certain of your target and have good recoil control. Especially useful if prone and using recoil-reducing armors. While using full ROF all the time is possible, it tends to be more wasteful on small enemies as you may accidentally use a lot more bullets than needed.

Type: Belt-fed Light Machine Gun (LMG)
Feed: 250 rounds, 3+1 magazines (1000 rnds total)

A lightweight machine gun trading overall power for volume of fire and ease of use. Capable of reloading on the move, a high fire rate, and good sustained fire, but lacks armor penetration.

Functionally, this is a Liberator if it had an excessive rate of fire and had over five times the magazine capacity. This weapon boasts the most mobility out of the MG family by allowing reloads on the move, controllable recoil, and generous accuracy even when standing or on the move for an MG. This makes it very comfortable to use as a stand-in for your primary weapon as the large magazines also give a lot of potential damage per reload, making ammo much less of a concern.

It does have a few drawbacks, especially when dealing with anything significantly armored. Having only light armor penetration, it significantly struggles to deal with medium-armor enemies and has a hard time specifically targeting weakpoints. Unless dealing with large numbers of light enemies (as is typical on bugs with Hunter spam), the Stalwart can tend to struggle a bit.


Type: Belt-fed General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG)
Feed: 175 rounds, 3+1 magazines (700 rnds total)

A general-purpose MG designed for firing from a relatively stable position and for cutting through medium armor with ease. It has a moderate rate of fire and decent magazine capacity which compliments is armor penetration and general accuracy well, but it suffers from mobility and ammo economy issues.

This MG boasts a lot more functionality against medium armor and can cut down anything with less. This makes it perfectly capable of killing just about anything it can damage easily, making only heavily armored enemies you would typically save AT weapons for a problem it cannot deal with by itself easily.

This weapon does suffer from mobility problems: standing still to reload is a downside that is hard to overlook, especially when the best time to move is right when you just bought yourself some time by emptying the MG's magazine. The reduced magazine size also starts butting into ammo economy, making it harder to keep this weapon topped off with just casual ammo grabbing. Unlike the Stalwart, blindly spraying or being overzealous on the trigger tends to run you out of ammo a lot faster.


Type: Belt-fed Heavy Machine Gun (HMG)
Feed: 100 rounds, 2+1 magazines (300 rnds total)
Players who use it: Really just want the AMR to have a similar magazine capacity so they can use that instead.

A man-portable HMG designed for dealing with significantly armored targets. Effective at dealing with armor, but difficult to use without a stationary position and spare ammunition.

The HMG is the opposite end of the spectrum, for when no matter what the target is you want to kill it with bullets. Like the HMG emplacement, the man-portable version can penetrate the armor of just about anything, even heavy armor provided you are hitting a weakpoint. This means it can be used to kill Hulks, Factory Striders, Bile Titans, and Chargers with direct fire for the most part.

Its biggest limiting factors are awful ammo economy, cumbersome recoil, and very limited magazine capacity. Each of these are in turn often bandaided by running a supply backpack, using recoil-reducing armor, and pacing your fire in very short bursts, which is very un-machinegun like.

This weapon also suffers from a bit of an identity crisis. While it is capable of attacking some heavy armor directly, it usually isn't the best idea to be wasting most of your ammo supply shooting at a bile titan unless there's no other option. This sort of sticks the HMG as a sidegrade to the MMG, and most people seem to take the MMG since it suffers from all of the HMG's issues less while being a bit more flexible. In all, you may want to save the HMG's belts for tough medium targets or the occasional heavy, and not make it your go-to for heavy enemies all together.

The great debate among everyone of which is the best AT weapon.


Desc: A single-shot disposable anti-tank launcher. The stratagem itself deploys two disposable launchers per call-in.

Despite being relatively simple, the EAT benefits from availability above everything. With a very short cooldown and two launchers per call-in, it can be quite easy to litter the battlefield with extra EAT launchers just in case they're needed. In the event they are, anyone can simply grab one and attack an armored threat to get rid of it. This makes them good to shore up your AT defenses, especially if you have teammates without support weapons or who have been separated from them. It is also a flexible strategem to take alongside another support weapon like a Machine Gun, allowing you to change between the MG and EAT when needed.

It does have some downsides that need to be played around. Sometimes, calling in and waiting for an EAT to drop isn't an option. This can make it difficult to buy enough time to call one in to deal with enemy armor. The warhead is powerful, but not all-powerful. It might take both launchers to take out heavier targets if you don't perfectly nail the weakpoint. There is also a short prep period when taking the launcher out to extend it into the firing position, so it isn't as responsive as a launcher like the Recoilless. Having only two shots per use may also not be enough, requiring you to wait 60 seconds for another drop.


Desc: A four-shot, laser-guided, disposable anti-tank launcher. The laser guidance can be manually disabled if desired.

Most similar to the EAT, however each rocket does just over half the damage of a single EAT rocket. This is sort of like packing two EATs together into one laser-guided package, but it suffers from a bit longer cooldown overall. Its flexible and the four rockets makes it easier to use less than the whole launcher on a target, while the laser guidance can be forgiving of aiming mistakes at launch.

All this considered, it is somewhat less available than the EAT and you usually end up using most of the rockets on one or two enemies anyways, making it somewhat tough to consider over the flexibility offered by having two separate launchers. This comes a little more to preference then it does performance.


Desc: An energy-based anti-tank weapon firing a powerful bolt after a chargeup period. Similar in destructive potential to the EAT.

The Quasar trades lethality for convenience of not needing to worry about ammo, taking only about 15 seconds to recharge for another shot after firing. By far its biggest drawback is the need to come to a near complete standstill for three seconds to charge and fire the weapon, which makes it very difficult to use on short notice, especially against Chargers or Hulks barreling in your direction. Because of its chargeup period and cooldown period, it makes it a very difficult to use AT weapon when you don't have sufficient breathing room to charge it.

Its sole benefits in this department is you can swap weapons while its recharging and continue fighting, and the infinite ammo makes it less taxing to waste it on something that's not armored (ex: medium enemies).


Desc: A reloadable 84mm recoilless rifle for engaging armored targets. Additional ammunition is held in a backpack which must be used to reload the weapon. The ammunition is "programmable" and can be used in a high-explosive (HE) mode more effective against soft targets in addition to "HEAT" mode more effective against armor.

Powerful, accurate, deadly, and with a decent number of shots. A solid strike from the recoilless will kill most armored targets instantly, and if not, a second one almost assuredly will. The recoilless is somewhat cumbersome when first starting out, but it is a deadly and efficient tool in the hands of a skilled operator.

Using the shells on HE mode is a mixed bag. You'll kill light targets in a wider radius more easily, but using the recoilless for this purpose isn't particularly efficient. It comes in handy to blow up very dense groups of light enemies, especially those that are prone to explosive damage (such as spewers). Otherwise, it is usually wiser to conserve your ammo for the HEAT mode.

Unlike disposable launchers, the recoilless does not require a deploying period other than pointing the weapon in the correct direction. This makes it easy to switch to and take a single shot quickly, then reload whenever there is time. The launcher is also quite accurate out to distances of up to 400 meters, though requires a bit of finnesse to aim correctly. Utilizing the rings on its built-in optic can be useful for estimating distance, as the inner ring's bottom is approximately 200m and the outer ring's bottom is about 300m.

The backpack requirement of this weapon and long cooldown makes it a bit of a consideration if you want to use a backpack slot for something else. Team reloading a recoilless rifle brings its rate of fire to almost one round per second, allowing for ludicrous and impunitive armor destruction.


Desc: A reloadable fire-and-forget missile system which launches optically guided missiles at a designated target in a top-down attack fashion, increasing hit probability. The weapon is only capable of locking specific targets and buildings. Lock range is approximately 300m.

Nowhere near as flexible as other AT options, but packs the most punch and has the greatest accuracy so as long as the shot can make it to its target. The Spear is most useful in situations where you may not be able to clearly see the target or when supporting from a long distance. With other weapons requiring careful aim, the Spear simply requires a vague understanding of where the enemy is and an unobstructed line of sight.

Spear missiles fly up, toward the target, then splash down. While they almost always hit the target, they have a very difficult time intentionally hitting weak points like other AT weapons. You can try diving while firing to 'hook' a missile in the direction you want it which can help. Spear missiles can also be used to target fabricators, bug holes, spore towers, shrieker nests, and some other fortifications, making them valuable for clearing such things out at a distance.

By far the biggest drawback is ammo economy. The Spear only gets four missiles; which isn't enough to last it too far away from nearby ammo. Consider keeping a resupply close at hand or someone with a supply pack.

An automatic 20mm cannon fed from stripper clips five rounds at a time. The autocannon boasts decent effectiveness against just about everything barring heavily armored units, which it struggles to kill. The ammunition is "programmable" and the fuzes can be set for a flak-detonation mode which automatically detonates in close proximity to an enemy, releasing a spray of fragmentation effective against unarmored targets.

Its decent ammo economy, mild explosive radius, and decent direct damage make it great for dealing with clustered enemy units and especially for dealing with most medium units in only a few rounds. Brood Commanders can get their heads removed in only 1-2 shots, and devastators will momentarily be stunned when struck outside their shield providing the space needed for followup shots. Heavy units need a lot more shots, but Chargers can be dealt with in about 10-15 rounds in the right place and Hulks can be shot in the visor for a quick kill.

The flak-detonation mode took this weapon from being "overall pretty good" to "pretty overpowered" as it can be applied to just about any situation barring heavy armor. Medium enemies? Destroy! Groups of small enemies? Destroy! Flying enemies? Destroy! Literally anything that's not heavily armored? You can probably easily destroy it with the autocannon. Flak is particularly useful against groups, though its detonation shares similar issues to the RL-77 Airburst, namely, the rounds will detonate prematurely on enemy corpses and are dangerous to use up close.

Reloading this weapon is a bit of an art. A tactical reload (before empty) has a much shorter time requirement then a reload from empty. Where possible, it is a good idea to pace your shots and reload before totally empty to keep up volume of fire. Reloading from empty requires the bolt to be cycled, which takes additional time.

Team reloading this weapon can potentially put a lot of lead downrange and makes it very easy to clear dense groups of enemies out to medium and long range, while also making short work of enemy structures (spore towers, etc). Unfortunately, the autocannon can be flanked rather easily, and since its easy to keep it loaded yourself, it may be more beneficial for your teammate to keep your flanks clear instead of loading.


A shoulder-fired rocket propelled grenade launcher, specifically shooting a warhead with a proximity fuse that detonates into a field of cluster munitions that spread around the targeted area and detonate.

Once the SPEAR's targeting was fixed, its schizophrenia was offloaded onto the RL-77. These warheads will explode seemingly at complete random, and if fired incorrectly they will detonate immediately out of the barrel killing you and anyone else nearby instantly. The detonation of the cluster munitions is also similarly schizophrenic, as sometimes you can wipe an entire patrol with a single rocket and other times the same rocket will only kill two scavengers.

You need some restraint and finesse and need to whisper sweet nothings to the RL-77 to get it to work for you without killing yourself or your teammates. It is in essence the ability to land an Eagle Clusterbomb at wherever you are aiming. When detonated correctly, a single rocket can easily clear out any small and most medium enemies in a targeted area. If you are particularly crafty, you can detonate the rocket adjacent to heavy unit's weakpoints which may do significant damage.

Lets talk about safety for the RL-77:

• Don't shoot it at everything - It's tempting, I know. The only reason it has a three in ammo economy is because it works better when you don't shoot it at every group of 3 scavengers. Try to save it for favorable shots on clear terrain on larger groups.
  
• Think of the teammates - It's just like an Eagle Clusterbomb - temperamental at the best of times. Don't shoot these if you can see your teammate's HUD icons nearby your target.
  
• Think of YOU - However much space you think you have, cut it in half and then think if you would still shoot. The RL-77's warheads detonate just before they hit a target, and the bomblets spread all around, so they will come back and hit you if you're not careful. This applies triple for aerial targets - the bomblets will fall on you and your teammates if there's not a ton of space.
  
• Do NOT fire around enemy corpses - Enemy corpses WILL set off the proximity fuse. Do not fire overtop or nearby enemies, alive or dead. Clear the surrounding area and the way forward to the target or the warhead will detonate prematurely.
  
• Don't stand next to your teammates if you can help it - In the event of a misfire, at least you'll probably only kill yourself.

Its funny how many commandments you have to follow just not to kill yourself with the RL-77. Lets talk about actual strategies:

• Aim low - An airburst rocket detonating near the ground tends to let most of the bomblets cover the ground instead of uselessly blowing up in the air. This helps increase its lethality.
  
• Don't shoot up or down inclines, shoot across inclines - The RL-77 has a tough time getting a good detonation when you're shooting up or down the same slope. If you see an opportunity, shooting at an enemy on a different slope from you (such as the other hill in a valley) provides a very good background for the bomblets to disperse on. Refer to this ASCII graphic I just made: (You) -> *\_____/. <- (Them) (Burstin') -> *\----------->x/
  
• Shoot Impalers low in the face - Impaler's faces are unarmored. Detonating an RL-77 right under their nose usually kills them instantly.

Team reloading lets you drop clusters indiscriminately, but it is difficult to convince anyone to stand next to you while you're carrying an airburst, let alone team reloading you.

These occupy your backpack slot. You can't have one of these and a backpack required for a support weapon at the same time.


A portable bag carrying up to four standard resupplies, which comes fully loaded when it arrives. Each resupply will give the same amount of ammunition a standard resupply drop with no upgrades gives (full primary and secondary ammo, half ammo for support weapons, two grenades, two stims). You can give ammo to your teammates by approaching and using the interaction prompt, and you can give ammo to yourself using the backpack key (5, default).

This is a great way to lug around an emergency trap card just in case your team gets split up or overwhelmed. Regular resupplies suffer from needing to be called down, waiting for it, and having to call it down in an area everyone can reasonably get to it. With the B-1, you can simply shove ammo at people whenever it is needed. This is especially useful for stims, grenades, and support weapon ammo as those usually run out first.

When combined with other support weapons that have low ammo economy (ex: the Grenade Launcher) this is a very effective way to carry much more ammunition for yourself if your teammates don't need it. As a bonus, in addition to normally restocking your ammo at a regular resupply call-in, B-1 supply packs also regain one extra supply, effectively doubling how much you get from a single resupply. The pack can also be called in again after 8 or so minutes, fully loaded. It essentially makes ammo a non-issue.


A portable pack allowing for a brief jump at an enhanced speed and height, allowing for traversal to normally inaccessible terrain, faster movement, and the ability to scale some gaps and cliffs quickly.

The best it has going for it - it is fun. It is really fun to jump around between cliffs and buildings and its cooldown is managable. It can simplify climbing all sorts of terrain in a pinch and can provide a quick escape out of unfavorable areas like bug nests or automaton holds. Grenades and strategems can also be accurately thrown while jumping, but unless already aiming, weapon fire from support and personal weapons usually goes off to the side. It is still cool as hell though.


A backpack that projects a personal-sized energy bubble that absorbs most damage. The shield will block projectiles, bile spit, and Terminid melee attacks among other things. If it takes too much damage, it temporarily breaks and must recharge.

This is more a personal gripe than anything, but using this shield tends to invite lazy situational awareness. You start to worry less about covering against flanking enemies because random scavengers, hunters, or commisars can't run up on you and damage you as easily. The bubble also may block shots from nearby teammates when fighting in an enclosed space.

While it provides good personal protection, I would equate this more as training wheels. Other backpack strategems or weapons are a much larger help to your team and the survivability afforded by this pack you can afford yourself with skilled play.


A ballistic shield that folds up into a near little backpack when not in use. Due to its nature, it can only be wielded with a one-handed weapon. This limits your weapon selection while using it to a sidearm, the Defender, Pummeler, or Knight SMGs, or the exploding crossbow. The shield is capable of blocking almost any projectile, and will continue to block projectiles from behind while stowed on your back.

Unfortunately it doesn't block everything. Significantly large projectiles like cannon shots or missiles may allow you to survive the blow, but the shield will either be destroyed or flung away from your grasp. Don't get too overzealous with your blocking. This shield is also pretty much useless on Terminids as none of them fire projectiles the shield is capable of blocking (no you can't block bile or fire with it).

All types of autonomous drones that cover the wearer. Drones can be temporarily stowed or activated by using the backpack key ("5" by default) to conserve ammo or stop them from shooting something dumb. All drones fire autonomously at enemies within their range and will attempt to shoot nearby enemies, helping cover your flanks from most trash enemies.


Equipped with a scaled-down Scythe laser beam, it continuously attacks targets and ignites them with laser fire. It must return to the backpack to cool down if firing for too long.

Unfortunately the continuous beam will sweep as it changes targets, and sometimes the stupid thing just fires at nothing. Since you can't control what it shoots, it has no problem lasering and setting your teammates on fire, sometimes even killing you too. Its great when it works right, but it is possibly the most annoying strategem for your teammates to pick.


An autonomous drone equipped with the SEAF-standard AR-23 liberator, fed by magazine. Notably, this drone uses ammo with medium penetration, allowing it to attack most medium enemies effectively. The drone is reliant on ammo and must return to the backpack for a fresh magazine.

Essentially the LAS-5 with a leash. The liberator variant is much less teamkill prone and comes with the added benefit of being able to instantly aimbot devestator heads on the bot front. This makes it surprisingly effective, though its ammo reliance tends to put it out of action at inopportune times for reloads. Fortunately, small ammo boxes from points of interest can give it a ton more magazines from just a single box. This makes it rather easy to keep topped off and fairly deadly against most non-tank targets.


An autonomous drone equipped with a downscaled version of the Sterilizer. It vomits nasty brap gas on anything that draws too close, sometimes your teammates too. Functionally, it helps prevent you from being outright overwhelmed by swarms as the caustic spray blinds them, but it has difficulty dealing with enemies by itself due to the much lower damage. It has limited ammo as far as I know.

A single-man exosuit for frontline combat, brought to the battlefield by a Pelican. Only two suits of your chosen type may be called per mission. The Pelican provides some limited fire support while delivering the exosuit. For absolutely stupid developer reasons they are lying about, you cannot equip more than one exosuit to bring into a mission at once.


The Patriot is armed with a minigun on the right and a rocket pod on the left.

The Patriot is a generalist exosuit with a generous supply of minigun ammo and some rockets for heavier units. It makes it a great tool to turn around a bad situation or clear a difficult objective quickly, as the minigun can spray down almost any medium or small enemy in close proximity while missiles can be reserved for dense groups or armored targets. The weight of the suit can also be used to trample small enemies, while using the melee key initiates a stomp to damage anything else nearby.

Unfortunately it finds itself running out of ammo fairly quickly, even when being conservative. It will also get shredded by enemy fire on the automaton front as it has a very large profile making it hard to miss. The Patriot finds it is best used as quickly as possible as it is likely to be destroyed if it overextends itself.


The Emancipator is armed with dual autocannons on each arm, each with a 100 round reserve of ammunition.

The Emancipator boasts heavier firepower than the Patriot, making it much better at engaging hardened targets. This kind of makes it somewhat a waste to use its ammo pool on smaller targets, but they can usually be trampled to save ammo. Sustained fire from all four autocannons is enough to kill most heavy enemies quickly, and the exosuit can easily be used to stomp through a large bug nest and close every hole on the way.

Unfortunately, just like the patriot, its ammo pool runs out just as things are looking good. Even using the ammo cautiously, you can usually only kill 4-5 heavy enemies before you have to ditch the suit. Just like the patriot, use it for a lightning strike and then get rid of it.

at some point I had it in my head i'd have the motivation to write a guide on personal equipment but I don't think that's happening soon given how much info I vomited in this one.

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