Stratagems are a key part of your arsenal in Helldivers 2, but there are many, and getting started with knowing which one to select can be confusing. Today I’m going to look at the best Stratagems to get, so you can lay waste to your enemies and protect Super Earth in Helldivers 2.

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How to get Stratagems

Stratagems make you more effect on the battlefield and you should prioritise getting them as quickly as possible. You can buy new Stratagems with in-game currency from the Ship Management terminal when you’re on your spaceship, this is opposite the Cryo Pods near the back. You’ll need a combination of currency (Requisition Slips) and you’ll have to level up. New Stratagems become available at each new level, with the final one becoming available at level 20. Prices vary with some of the most expensive ones costing 10,000 R. Once you have purchased a Stratagem then equip it when you’ve entered into your Hellpod for deployment before a game.

Best Beginner Stratagems

Here are the best early game Stratagems.

Orbital Precision Strike

This is a good starter Stratagem, and it’s one everyone starts with. This is good for your first few levels up until about level 5, and it brings down a precision strike from your ship above. This is good for taking out bigger enemies. It has a fairly long cooldown on it of about 100 seconds, meaning you won’t be able to spam this quickly, so choose your target wisely.

A/MG-43 Machine Gun Sentry

This is a very useful Stratagem, given it’s autonomous and mow through enemies. This one is particularly good if you are playing solo, as you can bring it down and set it up at the side, then wait for the enmies to file in and get destroyed. It’s available at level 2, and it’s a rapid fire machine gun that auto selects enemy targets and kills them very quickly. This is good for when you have multiple enemies coming at you, but be aware it doesn’t care about you or your teammates, so if you get in the way it will kill you if you get in the way of it and the target. Just make sure you let people know it’s coming down, and tell them to get out of the way.

B-1 Supply Pack

The B-1 Supply Pack is available at level 2 and it’s a backpack you can carry around the battlefield helping your team. While we do have the supply Stratagem, that has a large cooldown, so it’s worth having some extra ammo in your back pocket to get you out of sticky situations.

Eagle Airstrike

The Eagle Airstrike is a devastating way to get rid of your enemies fast. Use this stratagem and it calls down a jet which will then capet bomb the area. Make sure you let people know it’s coming, because the Eagle Airstrike comes down quickly and it’s an easy way to kill everyone on your team if they don’t know about it.

Expendable Anti-Tank

This one is unlockable at level 3 and it’s useful when you start to move up the difficulty in Medium and Challenging. Here you’ll come into contact with Chargers, and having this Anti-Tank capability is useful for taking them out. You only have one shot with this weapon, after it’s used it then gets thrown away. Call this one down and you’ll get two weapons, meaning two shots or you can share it with your team.

Best all-round Stratagems

Here’s the best stratagems for levels 5-15.

Recoilless Rifle

You can unlock this one after level 5 in the Patriotic Administration Center. It has a longer cooldown and it doesn’t have two weapons. However, you do have a supply backpack. You can use this one, or you can have a teammate help you (the latter is better because it’s quicker). Aim down sights and you get extra precision, plus you can use multiple shots and it’s great for Bile Titans and Chargers.

Gatling Sentry

This is a great defensive stratagem, and having an automated turret is always useful. The Gatling Sentry is good because of it’s rate of fire. It’s fast moving too, so it can turn in a blinkof an eye and lock onto an enemy.

Eagle Napalm Airstrike

This one unlocks at level 5, and similar to the Eagle Strike, you call down a ship that carpet bombs the area, although this time with added napalm. With this you can destroy entire bug nests, plus you can take out large groups of enemies. It’s got a very short cooldown too with it being only 15 seconds.

“Guard Dog” or “Guard Dog Rover”

These guards are very useful, meaning you don’t have to have eyes in the back on your heads. “Guard Dog” uses the Liberator Rifle and “Guard Dog Rover” uses a Laser rifle. Both options give you 360 degree coverage, and these guards will stop any enemies from getting near you.

Autocannon

This is a very good Stratagem allowing you to stand back and attack enemies from a distance. This is particularly good against Bile Titans and Chargers, plus it can help remove armor. Once you have removed the armor, then you can dish out more damage. This is also good against Scout Striders, which can be defeated with a single strike from the Autocannon. It’s good solo and in squads, so it’s worth investing in the Autocannon to help you kill bugs and automatons.

Best Advanced Stratagems

These are the best Stratagems to look out for between levels 15 and 20.

Arc Thrower

This is good for chaining lighting attacks together. This allows you to strike mutliple targets at the same time, chaining deadly electricity through them. The Arc Thrower is effective for all enemies, big and small.

Eagle 500KG Bomb

This is one of the most destructive weapons you can get your hands on in Helldivers 2. The explosion is MASSIVE, and takes out single tough enemies, plus big groups. As always, let your teammates know you are going to deploy this one, otherwise it won’t just be your enemy team that dies.

Shield Generator Pack

Once you get into the upper tiers of difficulty it’s going to be hard to keep everyone alive. Enemies are going to be coming at you in wave after wave. Shields help against many kinds of enemies, providing you protection against fire and poison. It’s a level 20 unlock, which shows how valuable it is, but it’s well worth it.

Spear

This is one of the best Stratagems in the game hands down. Lock onto enemies and kill them with this effective weapon.

Let me know what you think in the comments and share your favourite stratagems.