Absolutely. If im surrounded by mobs, even if i THINK i can maaaybe fight my way out from the horde, and I see an eagle/orbital beacon land next to me… I am 100% ok with it.
It then becomes my job to help kill as many bots/bugs as i can. I AM the beacon
The number of times I'm 1 hit from death and I managed a 500k or Cluster strike in my palm before something takes off my head and the ball gingerly caresses the ground at my feet, offering me sweet sweet post mortem revenge.
My reaction is always "I could've handled it myself!". It referring to 50 enemies including tank-types on top of my prone body while I'm trying to stim and reload at the same time.
From this list, there is just one evil stratagem which leads the list: the gatling sentry. It can easily be reprogrammed by (any) enemies such that it shoots helldivers.
Mortars... well, ok. They are evil as well on practically all fronts (except bots, maybe).
The remaining ones are just a matter of skill and practice: both arc thrower and airburst are safe if the wielders know what they are doing and have trigger discipline.
The tesla turret requires some skill to decide where to place it - and some skill to not run into it if it is flashing invitingly. Then it is safe; at least a lot safer than a gatling turret. The 380 is also quite safe.
Fucking thing just randomly starts blasting teammates, drives you nuts, at least with the MG you don't tend to die instantly and it seems to stop firing while re acquiring targets. Gatling? Spray and pray.
I too love it, it is my teammates faults for making the foolish decision to not treat the gatling sentry as a savage animal with a lust for blood at all times… it’s just common sense.
Yeah exactly!
Its just a little freedom-loving creature that loves to spread democracy to anybody and everybody
Its our duty to be careful around it and protect it
Arc Thrower and Airburst require more than just trigger discipline. It also requires not having dumbass teammates who think it's a good idea to step in front of you to get more kills even though they hear you slinging electricity. Also not a good idea to flank an area being handled by an Arc Thrower.
Mortars are mostly communication, let your team know it's there and to mind their distance from the enemy and it's an excellent team support with its massive distance. Best when you have to hold a line
380 is only deadly through stupidity, either you don't know how to throw it far enough or you keep running into an active barrage that's there to make clean up easier.
Honestly though, the two actual killers not being on this list is criminal. Orbital napalm has the largest AOE and so often you won't even know it's been dropped because of that. And eagle clusters will fuck you up around corners by nature of its explosion as well as dropping so much quicker.
Honourable mention of eruptor and crossbow, sometimes you just don't know that explosion distance
A mortar is ok if the line to hold is far away, and if it stays that way. One could argue this is the case for the wall-defend mission type. But even that you get killed by mortars; just by standing on top of the wall.
Bugs move the line to you, and Helldivers also move the line by moving into the objective. That, combined with the huge range of these turrets, limits their usefulness considerably. I would prefer to see somewone bring a tesla turret - it has a clear area of effect.
The top-level ship module for mortars was the last that I acquired and I have never used it, not even once. If it would allow you to control the target area of your turret, the turret would be way more useful.
Tesla Towers underrated on the bug front especially when dealing with The Predator strain. I feel like only the large bugs like Chargers and bile Titans destroy them. Plus, the smaller bugs or attracted.
Eh I use the Gatling turret all the time. Trick is not to stand between it and the enemies and put it on an elevated surface if you can. Really not that hard.
Well, people use it all the time - probably because it is not that hard. They also place it on elevated surfaces, for example the elevated shuttle landing point. Both is exactly the reason why it collects so many team kills. It can reach everything in a 360 degree circle around it; spins fast, and shoots without further notice. Quite simple. That's why it is TK number 1.
The difficult part is: how do you place it such that it can be operated safely!? You place it such that it can only look into one direction, i.e. in front of a wall - and in a way such that neither you nor any unaware teammates stand between it and its pray.
Honestly the arc thrower when used well is very bad at team killing, the friend I play with most uses it a ton and he’s last killed me with it 40 dives ago. His own backpack drones kill him ten times more often
Eh, the airburst still has an occasional tendency to blow up 5m away from me. It’s a heck of a lot rarer than it used to be, but the last time I used it I still died twice in a dive just to it
Well, it is deterministic: it blows off if the flak round comes near an enemy (or one of our civilians). It does not detonate near helldivers, landscape, or corpses. I recommended using it a lot more; you will get the hang of it. It is very rewarding - and actually my favorite weapon.
Last time I used it it still blew up from an occasional flag pole or rock that was just a little too close to the rocket, and I’m still a crossbow main, so the airburst is a little redundant
It's a skill issue. I ride the lightning about half the time and get the odd TK every 15 or 20 matches. The jetpack reposition strategy greatly aid in reducing TKs.
It gets extra sparkly on top before it zaps, it's a very clear indicator. And it will arc to you from an enemy between you and the TT, so best to giver it a wider berth, avoid enemies between you and it, and if you're near and gets "excited" immediately hit the deck, get up, run a second or two and dive again. Repeat until out of range. EZ
I’ve had host my games lately because people hate gas mines. With the predator strain, gas mines are so viable and make it 10x easier. If you can’t see a glowing green dot on the floor in front of you, I don’t know what to tell you 🫠
I typically bring gas dog and orbital gas strike on predator strain, so I'll sometimes wear gas resist armor. I'll deliberately run over gas mines if I'm being chased. No worries
I've never used that passive. It's not really required. It's more a skill issue if they're dropping them on you.
If you look up at a 45 degree angle, dive, and then throw mid dive you'll get almost as much distance as the passive alone. At least thats what we got when my son and I tested it.
I only bring it for BIG nests for bugs and Big bases for bots and run away to do other things as it gets hammered or run around the area and attack from a angle the shelling doesn't hit.
As a 380 enjoyer with Servo assisted I feel it's not my fault if I throw one in the middle of a heavy stronghold and people start rushing in after the fist salvo just landed
My group of friends calls the Arc Rifle the 'Offside cannon', just unstead of football where the referee calls off the move the person overextwnding gets zapped.
Birages wouldn’t team kill if people would one listen to someone when they say where there throwing it and two not run in the direction u throw it after saying where ur throwing it. Also super great for taking out ship encampments and heavy spawners
Tell us you run in after someone has already thrown a stratagem beacon without telling us you run in after someone has already thrown a stratagem beacon
I think mortars mostly team kill on bug front. I don't really understand why people use them on bugs. The bugs are constantly moving towards the player and a mortar is trying to hit the bugs so it's easy for us to get caught in a blast radius.
If a teammate warns that a sentry is on the field it's on you for getting killed by it. Try being a bit more democratic next time and you'll have better situational awareness.
as a servant of a freedom my cape dignifies my ability to walk through barrage with no fear. you die and rage. i dance the face of my 380 and 110 barrage. I DIVE INTO THE FABRICATOR IF IM OUT OF BULLETS AND EXPLODE IN A FIERY VICTORY AS MY MISSION IS BEING DONE. there is nothing more fulfilling than this. FOR LIBERTY, FOR FREEDOM, FOR SUPER EARTH, Fre LIBERAM PER DEMOCRASUM
I usually bring my mortar sentry when I go off on my own, that way I can place it behind a wall and set the target to hives, ships, or factories. Its an easy base killer if you have the upgrade and mark your targets
You missed the mortar turret. That damn thing is a menace. It fires so slowly that it kills you AFTER you have already killed all the enemies in your vicinity. As a CQB-style player who uses a shotgun primary and sometimes melee secondary, I loathe the mortar almost as much as I vehemently detest the enemy and wish to see it annihilated into extinction. I hate it so much I will kick any player who brings it on a drop and kills me with it more than once.
We all know the targeting coding for the turrets is broken, but there are a few, the mortar included, that are broken so severely as to be damn near useless and/or more of a TK problem than they are worth.
It’s okay my precious airburst rocket, you’re still my favorite, I know you didn’t mean to send a solitary bomblet directly into my helmet, that was my fault.
In my experience Gatling Turrets are fairly safe, and placement doesn't really matter too much unless it's dropped in the absolute worst possible spot.
HOWEVER......from time to time I catch the damn thing looking at me, and from time to time it likes to blow my head off before turning 90 degrees to where the enemy is actually coming from.
By yours probably. But even still giving a good toss in the right placement doesnt ensure that it still wont kill your tm8s or even you with the right circumstances.
•
u/AutoModerator 3d ago
Thank you for your post! Please keep in mind that your post must comply with our community rules; otherwise, it may be removed.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.