Helldivers 2 Best Support Weapons (Patch 7.0.2): Every Pick Ranked by Role and Faction

Quick answer: There is no single "best" support weapon in Helldivers 2 — the right pick is the one that fills the gap in your loadout for the faction you are fighting. For a do-everything default, the AC-8 Autocannon is the strongest all-rounder against Automatons and mixed waves. If you need dedicated anti-tank, the GR-8 Recoilless Rifle hits hardest per shot and the LAS-99 Quasar Cannon is the best "no-backpack, infinite-ammo" alternative. For clearing endless chaff on the bug front, the MG-43 Machine Gun and Stalwart shred, and the Arc Thrower chains through Terminid swarms. Match the tool to the threat — anti-tank for heavies, machine guns for chaff, energy weapons for sustain — and keep at least one real answer to armor on every dive.

Support weapons are the heavy hardware you call down from your Super Destroyer mid-mission — the launchers, machine guns, and energy weapons that turn a squad from "surviving" into "winning." Picking the wrong one is the most common reason a dive falls apart at higher difficulties: bring three machine guns to a Charger-heavy Terminid map and you will get flattened, and bring a slow anti-tank launcher to an Illuminate horde and you will drown in Voteless. This guide ranks every support weapon by role and by faction so you always deploy with the right tool — verified against the current patch.

⚙️ Verified against patch 7.0.2 "Devoid of Liberty" (released 25 August 2026). The big update here was 7.0.0 (12 August 2026), which reworked assisted reloading: per Arrowhead's official notes, "Helldivers can now assist reload as long as one of the wielder and/or reloader of the weapon has the correct backpack" — you keep your backpack and reload when you need, and a teammate can still help. The 7.0.0 balance pass touched primaries, secondaries, and a few stratagems but left support-weapon damage and handling untouched, and 7.0.1 (17 August) was a stability-only hotfix. Helldivers 2 rebalances constantly — Arrowhead shipped 13 numbered patches in the first seven months of 2026 — so treat each weapon's role as durable and re-check exact stats against the live patch notes if you are reading this later.

Key takeaways

• "Best" depends on the gap in your loadout. Support weapons are stratagems that fill a role — anti-tank, anti-medium, chaff-clear, or crowd-control. The best one is whatever your primary and teammates cannot cover.
• Every dive needs an anti-tank answer. At difficulty 5 and up, Chargers, Bile Titans, Hulks, and Factory Striders show up in numbers. The Recoilless Rifle, Quasar Cannon, EAT-17, or Spear covers this — do not deploy without one.
• Backpack slot is a real cost. Several support weapons occupy your backpack — the Recoilless Rifle, Autocannon, Airburst Rocket Launcher, Spear, and the W.A.S.P. Launcher. Everything else leaves the slot free for a Supply Pack, Jump Pack, or shield.
• The Autocannon is the community default all-rounder for Automatons and mixed content; the Arc Thrower and machine guns own the Terminid chaff fight.
• You unlock support weapons from the Acquisitions menu with Requisition Slips as you level up — never real money and never Super Credits.

How support weapons work (and why the "best" one is a trap question)

A support weapon is a stratagem: you input its code, throw the beacon, and a Hellpod drops the weapon next to you. That means it shares your two stratagem slots with your orbitals, eagles, sentries, and backpacks — so every support weapon you bring is an orbital or turret you didn't.

That trade-off is why "what's the single best support weapon" is the wrong question. Helldivers 2 is a co-op PvE game with three factions — Terminids, Automatons, and Illuminate — that each demand different answers, and there is no competitive ladder forcing one meta pick. A weapon that is S-tier against Automaton Hulks can be mediocre against a Terminid chaff flood. The right frame is role coverage: make sure your four-stack (or your solo kit) can answer heavies, mediums, and chaff, then pick the support weapon that plugs your hole.

Support weapons break into four practical roles:

• Anti-tank — deletes heavily armored enemies (Chargers, Bile Titans, Hulks, Tanks, Factory Striders, Harvesters). Recoilless Rifle, Quasar Cannon, EAT-17, Spear, Commando, Railgun.
• Anti-medium / versatile — punches through medium armor and does a bit of everything. Autocannon, Heavy Machine Gun, Anti-Materiel Rifle, Laser Cannon.
• Chaff-clear — mows down light swarms fast. Machine Gun (MG-43), Stalwart.
• Crowd-control — area denial and cluster damage. Grenade Launcher, Flamethrower, Arc Thrower, Airburst Rocket Launcher.

Best support weapons by role

Best anti-tank: Recoilless Rifle, Quasar Cannon, or EAT-17

Every dive from difficulty 5 upward needs a way to kill heavies, and these three are the community's go-to answers:

• GR-8 Recoilless Rifle — the highest single-shot punch of any support weapon. It uses a reload backpack, so it is slower to reload solo, but with the 7.0.0 assisted-reload rework a teammate can reload you almost instantly. Best when you want a dedicated Factory Strider or Bile Titan deleter and have a squad.
• LAS-99 Quasar Cannon — no backpack, infinite ammo, but it charges for a few seconds before each shot and then vents heat between shots. That freed backpack slot (run a shield or Supply Pack instead) and zero ammo economy make it the most flexible anti-tank pick, especially against Automaton dropships and Gunships from cover.
• EAT-17 (Expendable Anti-Tank) — a free, disposable launcher on a very short cooldown. It costs no backpack and no stratagem economy once thrown — call two rockets down on top of a Hulk or Charger every ~70 seconds and move on. The best "budget" anti-tank and a great second stratagem alongside a machine gun.

Two more for specific tastes: the FAF-14 Spear locks on and one-shots fabricators and heavy units at range (missile backpack, best vs Automatons), and the MLS-4X Commando is a disposable four-shot guided launcher for flexible anti-tank on the move.

Best all-rounder: AC-8 Autocannon

The Autocannon is the single most-recommended support weapon in the game for a reason: it handles medium armor, groups, fabricators, dropships, and Bile Spewers all from one weapon. It uses an ammo backpack, and it cannot reliably solo the very heaviest enemies (bring a teammate or a stratagem for Factory Striders and Bile Titans), but for Automaton and mixed content it does 80% of everything you need. If you are unsure what to bring, bring the Autocannon. (One caveat worth noting: after the 7.0.0 armor-penetration buff, the GL-21 Grenade Launcher has climbed toward the top of many tier lists too — the Autocannon's crown is no longer uncontested.)

Best chaff-clear: MG-43 Machine Gun and Stalwart

When the threat is volume — a Terminid flood of Scavengers, Hunters, and Warriors — you want rate of fire, not armor penetration:

• MG-43 Machine Gun — available from the very start, a reliable, high-damage light machine gun that clears swarms and even chews medium units. No backpack.
• M-105 Stalwart — even higher fire rate, reloadable while moving, and it never leaves your hands feeling under-gunned against light bugs. The purest chaff-clear tool in the game. No backpack.

Pair either with an EAT-17 or a stratagem for heavies and you have a complete Terminid kit for a fraction of the unlock cost.

Best crowd-control: Arc Thrower, Grenade Launcher, and Flamethrower

• ARC-3 Arc Thrower — chains lightning through packed enemies, never runs out of ammo, and ignores the spore-cloud vision problem. It is a Terminid-swarm favorite and shines against the Illuminate's Voteless hordes.
• GL-21 Grenade Launcher — lobs explosives that clear nests, bug holes, and grouped chaff in one arc. Excellent objective-clearing tool, and stronger than ever after its 7.0.0 armor-pen buff.
• FLAM-40 Flamethrower — sustained damage-over-time that melts Chargers and swarms alike; a top-tier bug-front pick.

Best support weapon for each faction

Support weapon choice shifts hard depending on who you are dropping on. Here is the fastest way to decide:

Vs Terminids (bugs): the fight is chaff plus a few big armored bugs. Bring a chaff tool (Stalwart, MG-43, or Flamethrower) and a disposable anti-tank (EAT-17) for Chargers and Bile Titans. The Arc Thrower is a strong single-pick that does both jobs. Avoid slow, single-target launchers as your only weapon here — you will get swarmed while reloading. For the full kit around these picks, see our best Terminid loadout.

Vs Automatons (bots): the fight is armor and ranged pressure. The Autocannon is the default; the Quasar Cannon, Recoilless Rifle, or Spear handle Hulks, Tanks, Gunships, and Factory Striders. The Anti-Materiel Rifle and Laser Cannon are excellent for popping Devastator heads and Gunship engines from cover. Pair them with the stratagems and weak-point tips in our best Automaton loadout.

Vs Illuminate (squids): the fight is a Voteless horde plus tougher Overseers and constructs, including the 7.0.0 Void additions (the Crusher, which regenerates while taking damage, and the fast, leaping Wretch). You need sustained horde clear plus a way to break armor — the Arc Thrower and Laser Cannon cover the swarm, and a Quasar Cannon or Recoilless Rifle answers Harvesters and heavier constructs. The Crusher in particular must be worn down with constant sustained fire, which favors energy weapons that never stop to reload. See the complete best Illuminate loadout for the Void front.

Where to unlock support weapons

Support weapons are stratagems, so you unlock them from the Acquisitions menu aboard your Super Destroyer, paid for with Requisition Slips — the free currency you earn from missions, never real money and never Super Credits. Each one has a player-level requirement plus a Requisition cost: the MG-43 Machine Gun is available almost immediately, while heavier picks like the Quasar Cannon, Railgun, and Spear sit behind higher levels and steeper Requisition prices.

A common point of confusion worth clearing up: the Patriotic Administration Center and the Engineering Bay are not weapon stores. They are Ship Module upgrade categories — the Patriotic Administration Center improves things like stratagem deployment and reinforcement, and the Engineering Bay boosts grenades and reduces stratagem call-in times. You buy those upgrades with Requisition too, but the weapons themselves come from Acquisitions, not from a module bay.

Because everything is gated by level and Requisition, the fastest way to open up your support-weapon options is simply to rank up and bank Slips — the same grind that unlocks Ship Modules. Our level cap 300 guide breaks down the fastest way to level. If that grind is the part you want to skip, a leveling or carry service like the ones on timesaver.gg exists to save you the hours; either way, every support weapon is earnable in-game for free.

FAQ

What is the best support weapon in Helldivers 2 right now? There is no single best pick — it depends on your loadout and the faction. For an all-purpose default, the AC-8 Autocannon is the most-recommended weapon in the game. For dedicated anti-tank, the Recoilless Rifle (highest single-shot damage) and the Quasar Cannon (no backpack, infinite ammo) are the top two.

Recoilless Rifle or Quasar Cannon — which is better? They fill the same anti-tank role differently. The Recoilless Rifle hits harder per shot and reloads fast with a teammate, but it eats your backpack slot. The Quasar Cannon frees your backpack (run a shield or Supply Pack), has infinite ammo, and never needs resupply, but it must charge before each shot. Pick the Recoilless for raw squad damage, the Quasar for solo flexibility.

Do support weapons cost real money? No. Every support weapon is unlocked from the Acquisitions menu with Requisition Slips, the free currency you earn from missions and Points of Interest — never Super Credits or real cash. Helldivers 2 has no marketplace and no trading; nothing gameplay-relevant is paywalled.

Which support weapons need a backpack? The ones that carry their own gear: the Recoilless Rifle (reload pack), Autocannon and Airburst Rocket Launcher (ammo packs), the Spear (missile pack), and the W.A.S.P. Launcher (magazine pack). Most other support weapons — machine guns, the Quasar Cannon, Arc Thrower, Grenade Launcher, and more — leave your backpack slot free for a shield, Jump Pack, or Supply Pack.

What is the best support weapon for beginners? The MG-43 Machine Gun (available almost from the start) plus the cheap EAT-17 disposable anti-tank gives new Helldivers full role coverage — chaff clear and heavy-killing — for very little Requisition. Add the Autocannon as soon as you can afford it.

Did the recent patches change any support weapons? The major update, 7.0.0 "Devoid of Liberty," reworked assisted reloading (either player can hold the backpack, and you keep it while reloading) and buffed the Grenade Launcher's armor penetration, but its balance pass did not change support-weapon damage or handling; 7.0.1 was a stability-only hotfix. Because Helldivers 2 rebalances so often, always cross-check the live patch notes for any exact number before you rely on it.