Helldivers 2 has continued to make secondary weapons more important, and some sidearms can now handle jobs that once belonged to primary or support weapons. This makes choosing the right Helldivers 2 Items more important than ever, especially when building a loadout for great difficulty missions. Some secondaries are excellent for crowd control, while others specialize in heavy targets, utility, or close-range combat.
This updated ranking looks at the strengths and weaknesses of a wide range of secondary weapons. The list uses S through F tiers, with the goal of judging how useful each weapon can be during real missions rather than simply looking at raw damage numbers.
S Tier: The Secondaries That Can Carry a Loadout
Dagger
The Dagger has improved dramatically and is now one of the best choices for clearing small enemies. Its ability to ignite targets quickly means you can sweep the beam across groups and let the fire damage finish them.
Against weaker Terminid and Illuminate enemies, the Dagger can clear large groups with very little effort. It has no traditional recoil, making it easy to control, and its fire damage can also contribute against some larger enemies.
It is less impressive against Automatons, but its performance against other factions is strong enough to earn an S-tier rating.
Bolt Pistol
The Bolt Pistol is essentially a powerful pocket heavy weapon. Its explosive projectiles provide serious damage and stagger, allowing it to deal with enemies that most sidearms struggle against.
It can stagger Devastators, destroy Scout Striders, damage Gunships, and contribute against several heavily armored enemies. Against Terminids, it can also break armor and quickly eliminate medium targets when aimed at their weak points.
Its flexibility makes it one of the most valuable secondary weapons available.
Missile Pistol
The Missile Pistol combines direct damage with interesting utility. Its guided shots make it particularly useful against moving targets such as Gunships and Stingrays.
It can also be combined with other weapons to create effective damage combos. For example, players can use it to damage a Charger’s leg before switching weapons to finish the exposed area. Against larger targets, this flexibility gives it considerable value.
Ultimatum
The Ultimatum is one of the easiestS-tierr choices. Its enormous damage allows it to eliminate or heavily damage many heavy enemies, including Hulks, Harvesters, Chargers, Factory Striders, and other dangerous targets.
It also gives players more freedom when selecting the rest of their loadout. With enough ammunition support, it can sometimes fill a role normally handled by a dedicated support weapon.
A Tier: Powerful and Reliable Choices
Loyalist
The Loyalist is a plasma-based secondary that becomes especially effective when enemies are grouped. Charged shots provide serious damage and useful area coverage, while its ability to stagger enemies makes it valuable against tougher targets.
It is particularly effective against groups of Automatons and can handle several medium enemies efficiently. As difficulty increases and enemy groups become more dangerous, the Loyalist becomes even more appealing.
Talon
The Talon rewards accurate players. It has strong performance against medium enemies and can deliver excellent damage when shots are placed carefully.
Against Automatons, headshots can quickly eliminate dangerous targets. It is also useful against smaller Terminid enemies and can contribute against Illuminate Harvesters by helping break their defenses.
Its low damage against certain heavy targets prevents it from reaching S tier, but it remains one of the strongest ballistic secondary options.
Crisper
The Crisper is a compact flamethrower that excels at clearing groups. Small enemies caught in its flames can be eliminated quickly, while larger enemies can also take meaningful damage if players attack their vulnerable areas.
It can be particularly effective against swarms and can even contribute against tanks and larger mechanical targets when used from the correct angle. Its limited range keeps it below the top tier, but it remains a highly useful specialist weapon.
B Tier: Strong in the Right Situation
Bushwhacker
The Bushwhacker is fantastic against Terminids. Its powerful stagger can interrupt dangerous enemies, and its burst fire gives it enough damage to eliminate several threats at close range.
It is particularly valuable against Stalkers, Hunters, Commanders, and Spewers. However, its usefulness drops considerably against Automatons and Illuminate enemies. For players who frequently fight Terminids, it can feel much stronger than its overall B-tier ranking suggests.
Senator
The Senator remains an enjoyable revolver with heavy penetration and satisfying damage. It is particularly effective against certain medium enemies and can deal impressive damage to Hulks when aimed properly.
However, its effectiveness against larger targets such as Chargers is limited, and the increased presence of heavy enemies makes it harder to justify as a universal choice. It is still a solid sidearm, but its role is more specialized than it once was.
Grenade Pistol
The Grenade Pistol remains one of the most useful utility secondaries. Its biggest advantage is the ability to destroy enemy spawn points such as bug holes and fabricators.
It can also provide emergency explosive damage when your primary or support weapon does not offer enough area damage. Although it is not always the best weapon for direct combat, its utility makes it a reliable B-tier choice.
C Tier: Fun, but More Situational
The Veto offers strong stagger and can knock back several dangerous medium enemies. Its rapid fire and flexible reload system make it enjoyable, but its damage is not exceptional.
The Saber can be entertaining against large groups of Voteless and smaller Terminids, especially for players who enjoy melee combat. However, it works much better with a Ballistic Shield and can leave players vulnerable when surrounded.
The Stim Pistol provides valuable team support by healing allies from range and can interact well with healing-focused armor and boosters. Unfortunately, actually landing shots on teammates can be difficult during chaotic fights, which limits its reliability.
The Stun Baton and Stun Lance also fall into C tier. Both provide useful melee utility, but their limited range and situational effectiveness prevent them from competing with the strongest secondaries.
D Tier: Usable, but Hard to Recommend
The SOCOM Pistol looks and sounds impressive, particularly because of its suppressor and fast firing speed. However, its light penetration and relatively modest damage hold it back.
The Verdict offers medium penetration, but its overall damage and magazine characteristics do not give it a major advantage over stronger alternatives.
The Entrenchment Tool has a unique purpose because it can dig and create defensive positions when terrain allows it. Its melee potential is interesting, but it remains too specialized for most loadouts.
The Hatchet and Machete can both deal heavy melee damage, but slow swings and limited range make them difficult to use consistently. The Machete has excellent damage potential, yet its sluggish attack speed makes mistakes especially punishing.
F Tier: Weapons That Need More Help
The Re-educator has an interesting concept based around gas and confusion effects, but the effect is too inconsistent to justify its slot. Enemies may continue attacking or moving toward you even after being affected, reducing its practical value.
The Warrant suffers from extremely slow projectiles and limited damage. Guided shots can track enemies, but they often target the center of the body rather than useful weak points. Unguided shots are even less comfortable to use.
The Peacemaker is difficult to recommend when stronger alternatives exist. Its performance does not provide enough of a meaningful advantage to justify choosing it.
The Redeemer has a fast firing rate, but its damage output does not translate into enough practical value against enemies with significant durability. For most loadouts, there are simply better choices.
Choosing the Right Secondary for Your Playstyle
The biggest lesson from this ranking is that no secondary has to be useful in the same way as every other weapon. The Dagger and Crisper excel at crowd control, while the Bolt Pistol and Ultimatum can take on heavier targets. Weapons such as the Stim Pistol and Grenade Pistol provide utility that cannot always be measured through raw damage.
The growing strength of secondary weapons also creates more freedom when building a complete loadout. A strong sidearm can compensate for a weaker primary, cover a support weapon’s weaknesses, or let a player experiment with unusual combinations.
Ultimately, the best loadout is the one that matches how you enjoy playing. Some weapons are clearly stronger than others, but experimenting with unusual combinations can make Helldivers 2 more enjoyable. If you want to expand your collection or prepare different builds, you can buy Helldivers 2 Items and create more options for your next mission.
