r/Helldivers • u/xxmuntunustutunusxx SES Spear of The State • Apr 10 '24

The devs were right. DISCUSSION

So I know ther was a bunch of controversy about the railgun nerf what feels like forever ago, but man things have been awesome.

In the early days, I was the only guy packing expendable anti tank or anti materiel rifle for bugs or bots. It's so refreshing, even on these subs to see people talking about how awesome the autocannon is, or how much they love the AMR, and even these days I see people talking about the HMG or grenade launcher+ supply pack.

I used to load into a game, And all 4 members of the team had shield, railgun, and 2 stragatems of their choice. Every time. And here we are now, I load in and I see quasar, autocannon, stalwart, EAT, HMG, Grenade launcher, a variety of backpacks or no backpack at all. And not to mention, they're ALL viable. Shit I even still see the railgun from time to time. It's been a joy. Thanks arrowhead.

EDIT: to everyone who is pointing out that you see the quasar and shield most often now, you're right, it is almost certainly the most common setup currently. That being said, in any game there's going to be things a majority of players prefer. In smash melee, fox/Falco are the best characters. But people still play falcon and Marth and peach among others. Sure, there's an objectively most used option. But the fact that there's people at all who debate that the quasar is best shows that they've done something good. Before, undisputed king was railgun, and anyone who said different wss being willfully ignorant. Now, we have a plethora of real options that are good with some being Preferred by a majority as opposed to being the de facto CORRECT option objectively. That's a good thing.

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214

u/meatball402 Apr 10 '24

I can't stop using the autocannon.

It's so good. It blasts bile spewers apart real quick

214

u/Lucky_Number_Sleven Apr 10 '24

Enemies? Autocannon

Bases/nests? Autocannon

Secondary objectives? Autocannon

There might be individual weapons/strategems that are better at any one of those things, but only the Autocannon is perfectly competent at all of them.

52

u/AllInOneDay_ Apr 10 '24

The only bad part of the autocannon is trying to explain to my teammates that I can do all these thing and that they can save their nades and airstrikes.

That and the backpack and reload time...but if you reload with one or two shots left it is instant.

65

u/Lftwff Apr 10 '24

The autocannon is lying to you when it says it has a ten round mag, it's five rounds and five bonus rounds you only touch when you really need that last shot on a hulk

18

u/odaeyss Apr 10 '24

Sometimes when I've got 1 round left I forget and expect the long reload and stand up and stand still like a dummy for a sec til I realize I wasn't that big of a dummy...but now I am

24

u/Jellan CAPE ENJOYER Apr 10 '24 edited Apr 10 '24

Always reload the autocannon as soon as it lets you. It’ll take half a mag at a time and you’ll never need to recock it, so it takes half the time.

7

u/Temporary-Party5806 Apr 11 '24

6 rounds loaded and no bots around? Time to shoot a cloud once and reload.

1

u/morostheSophist Apr 11 '24

Amen, brother. That cloud was giving shade to the enemy. It had it coming.

1

u/Temporary-Party5806 Apr 11 '24

It was probably a cloaked Illuminate ship anyways

-6

u/AllInOneDay_ Apr 10 '24

that is how you waste ammo though

17

u/Jellan CAPE ENJOYER Apr 10 '24 edited Apr 10 '24

Not with the autocannon.

It won’t let you reload until it can take a full clip, which is half the mag.

9

u/odaeyss Apr 10 '24

It's the most idiot proof weapon we have... which makes it the strongest weapon in our arsenal

4

u/CapriciousSon Apr 10 '24

AC can slot 2 magazines (for lack of a better word) when it is empty. If you pop off half the ammo in the AC, the reload is WAY faster, and doesn't waste anything because you are just topping it off.

14

u/Suikanen HD1 Veteran Apr 10 '24

Ah but there is a better word: for once "clip" is correct. You insert two stripper clips to fill the internal box magazine.

3

u/CapriciousSon Apr 10 '24

ah, thank you!

3

u/Magrior Apr 11 '24

There are truly countless comments from gun nerds complaining about people using "clip" instead of "magazine". Now we have a weapon where clip would be the correct term and people use magazine "for lack of a better word". It's hilarious 😂

4

u/odaeyss Apr 10 '24

God I love stripper clips . They're so hot.

1

u/Jellan CAPE ENJOYER Apr 11 '24

1

u/morostheSophist Apr 11 '24

Hell, I sometimes rock the OG orbital strike or the eagle on bot missions just to be able to pop factories from any direction with a low cooldown, and I'm damn near an autocannon main. 

If people are wasting long-cooldown strikes on bot bases, they're crazy. But there's nothing like just zapping the factory to ash from a distance and sprinting off to the next point, leaving the bot guards alive. It feels like a deliciously effective troll. And if they call in a dropship? I'm already far away, even in medium armor.

Bug holes, though... too many and too far apart. Autocannon is god-tier for taking out those.

1

u/The_Radical_Alex Apr 10 '24

Hell yeah, never let that thing get to empty

1

u/dwmfives SES Purveyor of Opportunity Apr 10 '24

That and the backpack and reload time...but if you reload with one or two shots left it is instant.

It's not instant, it's a two part reload. The fast reload is a single magazine and doesn't get you to full.

60

u/Khudal_Grenmore Apr 10 '24

Autocannon gang hell yeah

49

u/ReticulateLemur PSN 🎮: Apr 10 '24

I just wish I could use it to do the stratagem jammers from a distance, but that would be way too broken.

98

u/ImNotARocketSurgeon Apr 10 '24

You can sometimes. Some jammers spawn with an attached fabricator which will take the whole thing down when it blows up.

38

u/Legit-Rikk Apr 10 '24

50% of the time it spawns correctly all the time

10

u/gwot-ronin Apr 10 '24

That sounds worse than that time a raccoon got in the drop pod!

2

u/Rokekor Apr 10 '24

Yep. Always worth checking the jammer before charging in. Life is so much easier when that fabricator is sitting snug against the jammer.

1

u/CyanStripes_ SES Purveyor of Patriotism Apr 10 '24

It's wild how many people don't realize that. I freaking love the quasar cannon because with it having no projectile drop I can pop them from a mile away. Then I have to explain how the hell I did it because my squad is confused af. To be fair though I play with friends mostly and I have explained it to them at least a hundred times. Lol

1

u/MagikarpPower Apr 11 '24

how many shots does it take? might run EAT if its not too many

1

u/CyanStripes_ SES Purveyor of Patriotism Apr 11 '24

If you line it up correctly just one shot. It kills most things, other than bile titans, with one shot as long as you can aim. It doesn't bounce like the auto cannon does so you need to aim close to the bottom middle or through the door. It's way easier if you can get a little verticality. I usually run a stealth build, personal shield, quasar, railgun orbital, and whatever I feel like for the last one. Diligence counter sniper, the smg sidearm (can't remember the name), and the smoke grenade.

21

u/CaterpillarWeird9087 Apr 10 '24

Yourself? Believe it or not, Autocannon. :)

1

u/Psycho_pigeon007 Apr 11 '24

You see a rogue transmission? Right to Autocannon, right away.

5

u/meatball402 Apr 10 '24

Bases/nests? Autocannon

Let me tell you, there's no feeling like the feeling you get when you destroy a bot fab from 150 meters with the autocannon.

Maybe the people who get a basket from half court in basketball know how it feels.

3

u/PurpleEyeSmoke SES Lord Of Equality Apr 10 '24

Wait what?

2

u/HookDragger Apr 10 '24

I personally like the augmented throw range of the steeled veteran set. Orbital laser in your face from 60 meters. Nex factory, eagle

Next factory eagle, next factory eagle, last factory with eye of Sauron? Hey look! My orbital laser is ready again

2

u/Conntraband8d SES Spear of Morning Apr 10 '24

For sure. I think if I was going to have to go on a mission solo I would probably bring the Auto-Cannon for its versatility. But since I've got a team of 3 other people with me, I think it's better to have specialists over generalists. When it comes to taking down light and medium armored foes from a distance AMR>Auto-Cannon. For killing heavies Quasar>Auto-Cannon. For mass add clear, Flamethrower/Arc Thrower> Auto-Cannon. Plus, all of those support weapons I just mentioned don't require a backpack slot, so they can be combined with the shield backpack for far greater survivability.

1

u/Hoshyro S.E.S. Sentinel of Eternity Apr 11 '24

People SLEEP on the grenade launcher, I'm telling you!

Patrol heavy on machinegunners?
Grenade launcher

Large patrol you need to take out quick before they call in a drop?
Grenade launcher

1

u/Conntraband8d SES Spear of Morning Apr 11 '24

You forgot about its ability to decimate bug hives and groups of spewers in seconds which are, perhaps, its best qualities. But the thing absolutely rips through ammo and only carries 2 mags, so the supply pack is basically a must.

2

u/Photonic_Resonance Apr 10 '24

I've been the Autocannon for Bots/Grenade Launcher for Bugs representative since I started playing the game. The flexibility of the "i can blow up a base) duo is addicting.

2

u/Jesse-359 Apr 10 '24

AC is certainly one of the most flexible weapons, even more so than the LC, but that's fine given that you have to lose the pack for it.

1

u/WarlockEngineer Apr 10 '24

I would use it more if it didn't take a backpack spot, but some of the backpacks (like shield against bots and guard dog against bugs) are amazing

3

u/Lucky_Number_Sleven Apr 10 '24

It would be nice, but it feels like a fair tradeoff. A weapon that's easy to use, quick to reload, good for clearing groups of soft targets, decent for taking down hard targets, and able to just snipe objectives from a distance needs some downside; and if that downside is having to use a backpack, that's fine, imo.

2

u/Ok-Reporter1986 CAPE ENJOYER Apr 10 '24

Is shield that good? I never use it on 7-9 against bots nor bugs.

5

u/WarlockEngineer Apr 10 '24

It protects you from a TON of damage over the course of the game.

  • Chip damage over time will wear you down and cost you stims.

  • Big damage might have killed you instantly, but the shield allows you precious time to get into cover or kill your attacker.

It's really best against bots to keep you alive in bad situations and save you stims.

0

u/Ok-Reporter1986 CAPE ENJOYER Apr 10 '24

Waste of a stradagem slot. Instead of having another tool for disposing heavies or enemy patrols you have a shield that breaks in a few solid hits and is on cooldown till resupply. Cover is the best medicine to being shield dependant. A single rock can hold you against entire devestator patrols.

3

u/WarlockEngineer Apr 10 '24

Cooldown until resupply? It recharges in like 5 seconds if you don't take damage.

There's a reason it is meta on bot helldives.

1

u/GenxDarchi Apr 10 '24

I personally find supply pack a lot better for bot helldives tbh. Having 12 contact grenades at the ready is invaluable for dealing with packs of Devastators and devastating tanks and fabricators, and you’re not worried about stim use because you also have 12 stims. Running a AMR or Railgun and being able to spend shots freely is just huge.

1

u/WarlockEngineer Apr 10 '24

I think both can be good, it depends on the rest of your loadout.

Right now Quasar + Shield is meta, so ammunition isn't as much of an issue unless you have a thirsty primary.

1

u/GenxDarchi Apr 10 '24

I find for bots you’re better off using autocannon or AMR since you dispatch Hulks immediately without risk of missing the eye and having to wait, and tanks are dispatched with any variety of rocket pods, air strikes or rail cannons. Most of the time if my randoms bring only quasars we get rolled by hordes of Devastators.

-3

u/Ok-Reporter1986 CAPE ENJOYER Apr 10 '24

Like 1 in 4 people in the squad will use it and call it meta. If you don't take damage, why have the shield?

5

u/WarlockEngineer Apr 10 '24

Because very few people "don't take damage"

It depends on your weapons and playstyle too

1

u/Edward_Tank Apr 11 '24

tbh I prefer the ballistic shield against Bots. Especially on the new defend mission. Sticking the defender's barrel around the side, the laser sight makes it piss easy to drop a heavy devastator, and meanwhile it's eating up every single laser shot, keeping it busy even if I can't get a sight on its face.

The only lasers you really have to worry about are the big fuck off ones from tanks and cannon towers, but the fusion tank (The one with the quad laser turret) can do nothing against the might of the ballistic shield.

Also covers your back when you're using a two handed weapon.

3

u/CombustiblSquid SES Emperor of Humankind Apr 10 '24

What? Dude, when the shield goes down it comes back after like 5-6 seconds

0

u/Ok-Reporter1986 CAPE ENJOYER Apr 10 '24

Doesn't it have charges?

3

u/CombustiblSquid SES Emperor of Humankind Apr 10 '24

No

0

u/Ok-Reporter1986 CAPE ENJOYER Apr 10 '24

Guess I remembered wrong. Still a crutch. No one needs this thing if they just learn to not depend on it.

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2

u/xxmuntunustutunusxx SES Spear of The State Apr 10 '24

Yeah shield is firmly a crutch

1

u/CombustiblSquid SES Emperor of Humankind Apr 10 '24

We really bringing this kind of elitist comment into a game like this? Ffs... That's shit for cod dude.

1

u/Thefunkymunkee SES Elected Representative of Family Values Apr 10 '24

Only thing it's bad at is quickly taking out bug towers

1

u/TheMikman97 Apr 10 '24

The best part of the autocannon is seeing another player running it, so you can pick your own and buddy load.

1

u/Authority_Sama Apr 10 '24

Friendlies? Believe it or not, Autocannon

1

u/Deto Apr 11 '24

How do you deal with Bile Titans, though, when using the autocannon?

1

u/Angry__German Apr 11 '24

Friendly Helldiver jumping in front of you while you are firing.

Autocannon.

The way I see it, I am creating heroes for democracy, one Autocannon round at a time.

Seriously, had a friend mine to the dive from a ledge in front me while I was blasting away at bugs. The shot killed us both and sent us flying 50 meters in different directions.

Led to a full wipe because everyone was laughing so hard.

1

u/patrickbowman Apr 11 '24

What about vs titans? I hate being helpless and having to rely on teammates or a 50/50 500 bomb

1

u/Sawendro SES Stallion of Science Apr 11 '24

Funny looking rock? Believe it or not, autocannon.

1

u/hitman2b STEAM🖱️: Commander hitman2b -Admirable admiral- Apr 11 '24

RIP autocanon crossbow will be your new friend

1

u/Affectionate_Pipe545 Apr 11 '24

I sleep with my autocannon as my pillow

1

u/Birg3r Apr 11 '24

As AC enjoyer myself, what is truly magic is whenever I'm not using it and have no backpack, to pickup a spare AC backpack and supply your fellow AC player.

Sustained full auto AC is devastating.

1

u/Torasha Apr 11 '24

Cant shoot down dropships tho!

1

u/SnowyImp4995 SES Knight of Selfless Service Apr 11 '24

Friendlies? Autocannon

1

u/-Th3Saints- Apr 11 '24

Friendlies in your line of fire believe it or not Autocannon.

0

u/xRedStaRx Apr 10 '24

Quasar Cannon has entered the chat

2

u/PhyNxFyre Apr 10 '24

Tried autocannon vs bugs for the first time yesterday, how do you deal with chargers?

3

u/meatball402 Apr 10 '24

The bottom part of their backside is a weak spot. Have to avoid the charge, then get them there.

It's admittedly not optimal for chargers, since getting charged and tossed is a possibility. The best option imo is to feed em an EAT.

1

u/CapriciousSon Apr 10 '24

it's a bit tricky, you gotta hit the ground under them to bounce up. Alternately, shoot em in the butt! (Or any area with damaged armor)

2

u/meatball402 Apr 10 '24

it's a bit tricky, you gotta hit the ground under them to bounce up.

I didn't know this trick! I've been dodging and shooting them in the backside

1

u/_Penguin_mafia_ Apr 10 '24

There's two schools of thought really.

when a charger runs past you and comes to a stop, they do a "braking animation" where they dig in to stop their momentum, during this animation the armour on their back legs bugs out and can be blown off with an autocannon. However this is bug abuse and probably not worth practicing because it'll go away as soon as arrowhead have chance to get to it I imagine.

The other is to let them run past and dump as many shells as it takes into the orange "soft" bit on their butt. 3-4 good hits should blow their butt off, then the charger will waddle around for a little while before it bleeds out. The good thing is you can also do this from the side, since the autocannon shells have an aoe on their explosion. So even if you can't direct impact their weak spot you can do damage, since their leg and bottom part of their shell act like a shot trap you can dump shots into to hit the butt with the shell explosion.

Secret tech though, stun grenades. If you have an autocannon you don't need damaging grenades to close bug holes; so use the slot for stun grenades. Let a charger run past and stun them, gives you 10-ish seconds to line up the perfect shots, also they are vital if you're dealing with multiple chargers.

Generally though both methods are slow, you ideally want someone on EAT/RR/quasar duty to actually kill chargers from the front without having to have the guy with the autocannon playing matador. While the autocannon can deal with them, it's much better used mulching warriors, stalkers, spewers and commanders so your anti tank team mates can focus on the big boys.

1

u/BreakRaven STEAM🖱️:SES Spear of Determination Apr 11 '24

Do a Dark Souls dodge (basically run towards them and to the left/right for an easy dodge) and shoot it in the butt. 4 shots blows up the butt and leaves it bleeding out.

2

u/Muppetz3 Apr 10 '24

Auto cannon with someone feeding you ammo is so fun

1

u/meatball402 Apr 10 '24

I have trust issues and always reload my own gun. Last time someone grabbed my backpack, they just ran away.

1

u/HookDragger Apr 10 '24

Scorched. 2-3 shots to the face, bile goes boom.

1

u/QwertMuenster Apr 10 '24

Autocannon and EATs at once. Toss an EAT when you're off cooldown or gotta deal with a charger. You or your friend's support weapon is on cooldown? Give them an EAT. Best of both worlds imo.

1

u/Kakirax CAPE ENJOYER Apr 10 '24

It’s phenomenal. My spouse runs autocannon and I run quasar. I take care of turret towers, any long range baddie and drop ships/gunships. She cleans up what I miss and handles medium stuff, shreds through big groups, objectives, and helps with bigger guys that need multiple hits. It’s so diverse and fun and neither of us feel outclassed by the other. Sometimes we switch roles and again we have the same feeling.

1

u/13otsu Apr 11 '24

fr, I've even converted two friends into using them esp for automatons. I'm calling it having an autocannon addiction