Summary
The Democratic Detonation Warbond, released on April 11, features many new and exciting items. Like the Cutting Edge Warbond before it, many weapons feature a common mechanic. This mechanic, as the name suggests, is explosives. Many players have been waiting for hard-hitting armaments to deal with the problem of armored enemies, and this new Warbond seeks to provide multiple solutions for them.
These weapons are the most exciting parts of the Warbond, with other aspects like armor sets featuring existent passive abilities leaving some players disappointed. The new weapons, ranging from a sidearm that fires grenades to a crossbow that fires explosive bolts, let players have theirpick of weaponrythat is nothing like what was available before.
1G-123 Thermite Grenade
Sticky Grenade That Deals Damage Over Time
TheG-123 Thermite Grenadeis the first sticky grenade inHelldivers 2.It is designed to be thrown at an armored target where it will stick to them and deal damage over a few seconds. Many players have found this grenade lacking because its damage output is insufficient to justify giving up the area of effect damage that most grenades do.
Since its primary use is for dealing with heavily armored enemies like Hulks and Chargers, the fact that it takes multiple grenades to kill one of them makes most players choose to avoid it.
2BR-14 Adjudicator
Marksman Rifle That Pierces Medium Armor
Most of the primary weapons that helldivers have at their disposal can only pierce light armor. This forces players to rely mostly on offensive Strategems to take out enemies with medium or heavy armor.The Adjudicatoris a rare primary weapon that actually can pierce medium armor, meaning that players can take out Scout Striders, Hive Guards, and other enemies without having to aim for their weak spots.
Despite penetrating medium armor, this gun is not as swift at killing enemies as energy weapons like the Sickle or the Scorcher. It does have minimal recoil, however, so players looking for a niche assault rifle may be happy with it nonetheless.
3FS-55 Devastator Body Armor
Heavy Armor With An Intimidating Appearance
Heavy Armoris controversial among the player base. On the one hand, players can survive a handful of extra attacks. On the other hand, they are slowed down and don’t regenerate stamina as quickly.
TheFS-55 Devastator Armorhas the standard stats for heavy armor — 150 Armor Rating, 450 Speed, 50 Stamina Regen — and comes with the Fortified passive. This passive gives the player increased accuracy by reducing recoil. Players who want extra protection and accuracy will like this armor, as will players who like its intimidating and unique look.
4CE-27 Ground Breaker Armor
Servo-Assisted Medium Armor
The first armor that players can unlock from the Democratic Detonation Warbond is theCE-27 Ground Breaker.It is medium armor, with a speed, armor rating, and stamina regeneration of 100. Like other armor sets, this one has a matching helmet that is reminiscent of gas masks used in real wars. Its unique appearance makes it stand out from other armor sets that share the base-level stats.
The Ground Breaker armor has the Fortified passive, granting players reduced recoil while crouching or prone. This makes it a great choice for players that favor precision weapons like the Anti-Material Rifle.
5Expert Extraction Pilot Booster
Lower The Time It Takes To Extract
By default, it takes a Pelican two minutes to arrive after players call for extraction at the end of a mission. To many players' dismay, there are planets where this timer is doubled to an agonizing four minutes. During this window, players have to stay close to the landing zone or the ship aborts its approach. Players can fail the mission if they are overwhelmed and run out of reinforcements during this tense mission finale.
This Booster reduces the time it takes the Pelican to arrive by about 15%. So the timer can be reduced by up to 27 seconds, which can feel like a lot for players facing waves of Bile Titans or Tanks. However, when weighed against other Boosters, this is a lackluster use of an entire slot in a player’s loadout.
6CE-07 Demolition Specialist Armor
Fortified Light Armor
This light armorhas an armor rating of 67, a speed of 536, and stamina regeneration of 118. These stats set theCE-07 DemolitionSpecialist apart from other light armors because it offers slightly more protection at the cost of making the player a little bit slower. This makes it fall between most light and medium armor in terms of game mechanics.
The Fortified passive ability that it comes with reduces recoil for players when they crouch or go prone as well as increases the number of grenades that they can carry. This is reflected in the bandoliers of grenades on its chest. Players who like light armor and precision weapons, or those who like the distinct black and red pattern on it, should spring for this armor when they can.
7GP-31 Grenade Pistol
Fire Grenades From A Sidearm
The Grenade Pistolis the most unique secondary weapon inHelldivers 2at the time of launch for the Democratic Detonation Warbond. It fires actual grenades rather than bullets and holds eight of them. It has to be reloaded between each shot, making its fire rate fairly slow, but the power and radius of its explosions more than make up for the low ammo count and reload times.
Players can use this sidearm to effectively take out groups of enemies, close Bug Holes, and other things that normally can’t be done except by using Support Weapons. This means that players can effectively use a Grenade Pistol to free up a slot for a different Strategem rather than using a Grenade Launcher since the weapons fill the same role. Players looking for a sidearm to use proactively should buy this gun when they unlock Page 3 of the new Warbond.
8CB-09 Exploding Crossbow
Unique Weapon With Powerful Explosions
The CB-09 Exploding Crossbowis an interesting weapon. As its name describes, it fires explosive bolts that quickly kill clusters of unarmored enemies as well as damage armored ones. The bolts also have a surprisingly large explosive radius, making it impossible for players to use them at close range without accidentally hurting or killing themselves.
The bolts are affected by gravity, which keeps its range lower than some other precision weapons. Players have to learn to adjust their aim for this when attacking targets that are very far away. With some adjustment, this unique weapon can be a powerful force in the player’s arsenal.
9R-36 Eruptor
High-Powered Precision Weapon
The R-36 Eruptoris the first bolt-action weapon introduced toHelldivers 2.It fires explosive rounds, which do extra damage to the target that it hits, along with a small radius of explosive damage hitting enemies next to them. Players can make quick work of armored enemies like Devastators, which the Eruptor can kill in just two hits.
The downside to this gun is that it has an extremely slow rate of fire because it is a bolt-action rifle. Players can offset this by using it only at a distance, which is easy since it comes with a powerful scope. Given its power and range, the Eruptor’s positives more than make up for its lack of close-quarters combat, especially when players are prepared with a sidearm like the Redeemer pistol.
