Helldivers 2 Best Weapons. Update 7.0.2

The 4 boards above are the list. Primary, Support, Grenade, Secondary. Difficulty 7 and up. A gun that lands on 2 different letters parks at A.

PLAS-101 Purifier is the primary you take on every front. Charged shots clear chaff. Uncharged shots hold a lane. R-36 Eruptor is the primary you take when the mission is Bug Holes, Bot Fabricators or grounded Warp Ships. AC-8 Autocannon is the support that stays S on Terminids, Automatons and Illuminate. G-123 Thermite is the grenade that deletes a heavy on any of those 3 fronts.

AR-2 Coyote sits on A as the Dust Devils incendiary AR for Terminids and Illuminate. SMG-72 Stoker sits on A after the 7.0.0 magazine-size buff; the underbarrel fire still does the work. PLAS-1 Scorcher sits on A as the Mobilize energy staple. It is the gun you keep until Polar Patriots unlocks Purifier.

CB-9 Explosive Crossbow sits on A. It still closes holes and fabs. 1 ladder still has it in S. 1 ladder has it in A. That split parks it under Eruptor on A.

Castellan's Creed added 4 guns on 12 August 2026. R/40-K Hot-Shot is the marksman primary on C. P/40-K Bolt Pistol is the sidearm on Secondary B. G/40-K Melta Mine is the throwable on Grenade B. 40-K Meltagun is the heat support on Support B. None of those 4 is S.

LAS-58 Talon is the laser secondary that works on every front. GP-31 Grenade Pistol is the pocket demo when Eruptor is not in the primary slot. P-4 Senator is the Automaton head-tap revolver. GP-20 Ultimatum is the AT pistol for a 4-stack that already has a Purifier.

GL-21 Grenade Launcher clears swarms and needs no backpack. GR-8 Recoilless Rifle is the tank pick on bugs and bots. Swap Recoilless off for Illuminate. G-4 Gas holds a breach on Terminids and Illuminate.

How to read a letter. S means you take the gun on a Difficulty 7+ drop without a caveat. A means the gun is strong on 2 fronts or strong on 1 front with a real gap on another. B means the gun works and is new, or the 2 ladders we read today do not agree. C is reserved for a gun that is on the shelf and is not the pick for Diff 9.

Purifier charged shots are ammo-efficient AOE. Uncharged shots dump DPS into a single target. That is why it stays S on Terminids, Automatons and Illuminate. Eruptor explosive rounds close Bug Holes, Bot Fabricators and grounded Warp Ships after the shield drops. Take Eruptor when the timer is on a structure. Skip it when you need close-range chaff.

Coyote is a medium-pen incendiary AR. High capacity. Strong on bugs and squids. Weaker on Automatons than Purifier, so it stays A. Stoker is an SMG with an underbarrel flamethrower. 7.0.0 added spare mags and a faster short-mag reload. It is S on Illuminate in 1 ladder and B on Automatons in the other ladder, so it parks at A. Scorcher is the Mobilize energy gun. Free. S on 1 ladder, A on the other. Parked at A.

Crossbow shares Eruptor's demo package: holes, fabs, grounded Warp Ships. The handling is different. The letter is different. If your 4-stack already has an Eruptor, Crossbow is the 2nd demo primary. If you are solo, Eruptor plus Grenade Pistol is the cleaner split.

Hot-Shot is the Castellan marksman. Medium pen, low recoil, 12-round mag, no attachment tree. 1 ladder rates it A on Automatons, B on Illuminate, C on Terminids. The other rates it B / D / C. That is a new gun with no S. It sits on C.

Punisher Plasma still grades high on 1 ladder. We do not have a unique icon for it on disk, so it stays off the chips. Sweeper, Double Freedom, Torcher and Censor also grade high on 1 board. Same rule: no unique icon, no chip. The boards are the guns we can show. The rest of the arsenal can still work.

Autocannon stays S because it does chaff, mediums and a heavy on every front without a teammate reload. Speargun is AT plus a gas cloud. Take it when the 4-stack already has an Autocannon and still needs a tank answer. GL-21 is the no-backpack swarm clear. Recoilless is the backpack tank clear on bugs and bots. Meltagun is Castellan heat AT. New. B until a 2nd board puts it in S.

Thermite sticks and burns a heavy. Gas holds a breach. Melta Mine is the new Castellan throw. Talon is the infinite-ammo laser secondary. Grenade Pistol is pocket demo. Senator is the bot revolver. Ultimatum is the AT pistol. Bolt Pistol is the Castellan sidearm on B.

The live numbered line is 7.0.2, published 25 August 2026. The notes list crash fixes: Vehicle Customization, Dynamic Resolution Scaling, and a 3rd crash line. No magazine line. No damage line. No handling line.

7.0.1 on 17 August 2026 fixed fullscreen-terminal crashes, superwide-window crashes, and a Weapons and Stratagem display bug. No retune.

7.0.0 on 12 August 2026 is the last pass that touched guns. Short magazines on the Liberator family, Defender, Pummeler, Stoker and Breaker family gained spare and starting mags. P-113 Verdict, M6C/SOCOM and P-19 Redeemer gained spare and starting mags. R-2124 Constitution gained a stripper-clip reload. Level cap moved 150 to 300. SEAF troops can spawn as a planet modifier. Illuminate gained Crusher and Wretch. Castellan's Creed opened that day.

6.3.0 on 16 June 2026 is the last pass that raised throwable start, refill and max counts. Those capacity numbers still hold on 7.0.2. 6.3.1 on 7 July 2026 was a stability pass. Voice-chat and FRV crashes. No gun retune.

The S row you see here is the same S row the page held on 25 August 2026: Purifier, Eruptor, Autocannon, Thermite. What moved is the Crossbow letter and the 4 Castellan guns, which now have their own chips.

7.0.0 magazine numbers, for the attachments that actually moved. Liberator family short mags: spare 12 to 16, starting 7 to 9. Defender and Pummeler short mags: spare 9 to 12, starting 6 to 8. Stoker short mags: spare 10 to 13, starting 6 to 7, reload 2.8s to 2.3s. Breaker and Breaker Incendiary short mags: spare 9 to 11, starting 6 to 7. Breaker Spray and Pray short mags: spare 16 to 20, starting 11 to 12. Those numbers come from the 7.0.0 notes. They still hold on 7.0.2.

What did not move. Purifier damage. Eruptor demo. Autocannon grade. Thermite stick. A clip that says 7.0.2 nerfed any of those 4 is reading a crash note as a balance note.

1 dive kit per front. Keep the roles. Swap cosmetics.

Faction	Primary	Secondary	Support	Grenade	Why
Terminids	Coyote or Purifier	Grenade Pistol	Autocannon or Speargun	Thermite or Gas	Medium pen and fire clear chaff. Thermite deletes Chargers. Gas holds a breach.
Automatons	Purifier or Eruptor	Senator or Ultimatum	Recoilless or Autocannon	Thermite	Energy or explosive for fabs and Hulks. Recoilless for tanks. Senator for head-taps.
Illuminate	Purifier or Coyote	Talon or Grenade Pistol	Autocannon or GL-21	Gas or Thermite	AOE plus fire for Voteless and Overseers. Autocannon beats Recoilless on this front.

In a 4-stack, designate 1 AT player. Recoilless, Speargun or Ultimatum. Everyone else can run Purifier plus Autocannon and the dive still has demo, chaff and a heavy answer.

Unlock Polar Patriots Purifier and Patriotic Administration Autocannon 1st. That is 1 primary and 1 support that work on every front.

Primary path: Liberator to Scorcher on Mobilize, then Purifier on Polar Patriots. Take Coyote if you already own Dust Devils.

Secondary: stay on Redeemer until Grenade Pistol or Talon. Take Senator if you fight bots a lot.

Support: Autocannon before Quasar or Recoilless skill checks. EAT-17 is fine as a no-backpack AT while you learn.

Grenades: High Explosive to Thermite as soon as Democratic Detonation unlocks. Gas is the 2nd throw on bugs and squids.

Castellan's Creed is 1500 Super Credits. Hot-Shot, Bolt Pistol, Melta Mine and Meltagun are fun. They do not replace Purifier plus Autocannon plus Thermite.

Need medals or a faster ship level so those warbonds unlock? The cards under this section price leveling and the 2 warbonds that hold the S row.

Medal order if you are starting from Mobilize. Patriotic Administration Autocannon. Polar Patriots Purifier. Democratic Detonation Thermite and Eruptor. Dust Devils Coyote if you dive bugs. Cutting Edge only if you already have those 4. Castellan's Creed last unless you specifically want the 40-K set.

Weapon XP is separate from medals. Shoot the gun you intend to keep. Liberator XP does not transfer to Purifier. A booster that farms samples and medals is the fast way into the S row if you do not want to grind the ship.

The boards answer what is strong. This table answers which S picks match the dive you are about to start.

How you play	Bring this	Skip this	Why
Solo or duo on Diff 7-9	Purifier + Grenade Pistol + Autocannon + Thermite	Recoilless as your only AT	1 kit covers chaff, holes and a heavy. Autocannon does not need a teammate reload.
Designated AT in a 4-stack	Eruptor or Crossbow + Recoilless on bugs and bots, Autocannon on Illuminate	A 2nd Purifier when 3 teammates already run 1	Someone has to delete tanks and fabs on a timer. Eruptor does that from the primary slot.
Mobilize only	Scorcher + Redeemer + Autocannon + High Explosive	Waiting for Polar Patriots before Diff 7	Scorcher is the free energy staple. 7.0.0 magazine buffs help Liberator, Breaker and Redeemer. They stay below S.
Castellan's Creed owned	Keep Purifier. Add Meltagun or Melta Mine next to Thermite	Hot-Shot as your only primary on Diff 9	The new 4 guns are on the boards. Hot-Shot sits on C. The other 3 Castellan guns sit on B.

Players searching 7.0.2 patch notes are asking whether yesterday's unlock got nerfed. The 25 August 2026 notes say no.

Patch	Published	What it did	Weapon balance
7.0.0 Devoid of Liberty	12 August 2026	Castellan's Creed; level cap 150 to 300; SEAF modifier; Crusher and Wretch; magazine-size buffs on Liberator short mags, Defender, Pummeler, Stoker, Breaker family, Verdict, SOCOM, Redeemer; Constitution stripper clip	Magazine size and reload only
7.0.1	17 August 2026	Crash fixes for fullscreen terminals and superwide windows. Weapons and Stratagem UI fix	None
7.0.2	25 August 2026	Crash fixes: Vehicle Customization, Dynamic Resolution Scaling	None

If a clip dated after 12 August 2026 claims a Purifier or Eruptor retune, that claim is not in these notes.

These 3 sit near the top and they do different jobs. Bringing 2 of them in a 4-stack is correct. Bringing all 3 on a solo drop leaves you with no demo or no AT.

	PLAS-101 Purifier	R-36 Eruptor	AR-2 Coyote
Warbond	Polar Patriots	Democratic Detonation	Dust Devils
What it is	Charged plasma. AOE chaff plus uncharged DPS	Explosive rifle that closes Bug Holes, Bot Fabricators and grounded Warp Ships	Medium-pen incendiary AR
Best front	All 3	All, especially Automatons	Terminids and Illuminate
Skip when	3 teammates already run it	You need sustained chaff clear and no demo job	The front is Automatons and you own Purifier

Scorcher on Mobilize holds the energy slot until Polar Patriots unlocks. It is A, and it is free. Need Polar Patriots or Democratic Detonation unlocked? Leveling and medal farm sit in the cards above this section.

Purifier does not close a Bug Hole. Bring Grenade Pistol or Eruptor if the mission is holes. Eruptor punishes you if you panic-fire at 10 meters. Bring Talon or Scorcher if you fight inside a room. Coyote will not delete a Hulk. Bring Recoilless or Ultimatum if the front is Automatons and you already spent the primary slot on fire.

A 4-stack that owns Polar Patriots, Democratic Detonation and Dust Devils can split the 3: 1 Purifier, 1 Eruptor, 1 Coyote. That covers chaff, demo and fire. A solo drop should pick 1 of those 3 and fill the holes with secondary, support and grenade. Purifier plus Grenade Pistol plus Autocannon plus Thermite is the default solo kit on 7.0.2.

If you do not own Polar Patriots, Scorcher plus Autocannon plus High Explosive still clears Diff 7. If you do not own Democratic Detonation, keep Grenade Pistol as the demo and save medals for Thermite. If you only own Castellan's Creed, Meltagun and Melta Mine sit next to a Mobilize Scorcher. They do not replace Purifier.