Helldivers 2: Best Quasar Cannon Loadouts

Helldivers 2 launched with a wide variety of Stratagems and Support weapons, but since launch, it’s steadily added new and exciting Stratagems to the game, giving players new options with which they can take the fight to their enemies. The Quasar Cannon is, for many, the best Support Weapon in Helldivers 2, offering what is basically an EAT-17 with unlimited ammo. It will one-shot Chargers and Hulks — what more would you want?

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Despite a nerf to its recharge time (moving from 10 seconds to 15 seconds between shots), as well as requiring a 3-second charge-up for each shot, this weapon is still a must-bring on any high-level mission. Due to the long recharge and its laser-focus on dealing heavy damage to a single target, it requires a balanced loadout to survive and clear the path to eliminating those heavy targets. This guide will detail the best loadouts against the Terminids and Automatons to help the Quasar Cannon shine when it needs to.

Best Quasar Cannon Loadout Against Terminids

The Quasar Cannon is extremely effective against some of the most dangerous bugs you’ll encounter when fighting on the eastern front, providing a fantastic tool to inflict serious damage against Bile Titans while also one-shotting troublesome Chargers and Brood Commanders. The rest of the Terminid forces, however, tend to overwhelm with their hordes of fodder, along with pesky units like the Bile Spewer and the nightmare-inducing Stalkers. Below, you’ll find the best loadout to complement the singular power of the Quasar Cannon against the Terminid menace.

Best Primary Weapons: Blitzer Shotgun & Breaker Incendiary

• Blitzer Shotgun: This shotgun pairs fantastically with the Quasar Cannon as it allows for greater crowd control in how it kills the weaker Terminid enemies you’ll contend with. It doesn’t have the stopping/stagger power of the Punisher, but it does a pretty great job deleting the weaker bugs and even offering some light stagger to some medium units. With unlimited ammo, no reload to speak of, and the ability to arc out and hit multiple enemies at once, this shotgun greatly excels at hit-and-run tactics.
• Breaker Incendiary: The Breaker Incendiary has long been affected by the DOT bug affecting the game, but with the May 7 patch addressing this issue, the Breaker Incendiary is coming out as a major player against Terminids. It doesn’t offer the same ‘hold down the trigger to unleash hell’ quality that the Spray & Pray offers, but it’s fantastic at spraying over a large group of bugs, then retreating to allow the fire DOT to do its work. Due to the way fire bypasses armor, you can even use it to deal some solid damage to Brood Commanders and Chargers, though you’ll need to land hits on their fleshier parts, as their heavier armor will still deflect the pellets.

Best Secondary Weapon: Grenade Pistol

• Grenade Pistol: The Grenade Pistol offers you some great, instantaneous explosive damage, but this secondary weapon shines for its utility more than anything else. This choice is primarily beneficial to allow you more flexibility in your Grenade choice (more on that next). The Grenade Pistol will become your bug hole closer, freeing up your Grenade slot for something even more valuable to dealing with swarms of Terminids.

Best Grenade Option: Stun Grenade

• Stun Grenade: The Stun Grenade is the perfect pairing with the Quasar Cannon. Need to put some distance between you and hungry pursuit? Drop a Stun Grenade, then retreat to a better position. Dealing with a tenacious Charger and struggling to line up the kill shot? Drop a Stun Grenade on it, then charge up and blow its face off. The Stun Grenade is phenomenal at keeping you alive, so you can focus on your primary goal: destroying the biggest, baddest targets on the map.

Best Armor Option: CM-21 Trench Paramedic

• CM-21 Trench Paramedic: Light armor is invaluable against bugs; due to their frequent slowing effects, you want to be able to keep away from them as much as possible. If you’d rather trade a little more survivability for speed, you can always go with a medium armor option, though your best bet is to stick with an armor with the Med-Kit passive, which provides +2 to your stim capacity, while also increasing stim effect duration by 2 seconds. This is incredibly useful against Terminids, since using a stim removes the slow effect and makes you somewhat invulnerable for a few seconds while also granting infinite Stamina while the stim is active, giving you extra crucial moments to flee to safety — or gun down the insects clawing at your back.

Best Stratagems To Pair With The Quasar Cannon Against Terminids

• Shield Generator Pack: Always a strong choice regardless of the mission or faction, the Shield Generator Pack is the best backpack item in the game. Able to keep you alive just a little bit longer, it’s excellent and helping you escape from aggressive Terminids. It helps stave off the slowed condition, perhaps the number 1 killer of Helldivers across the galaxy. The shield recharge can take a while, but it’s a great backpack option that is always helpful. Alternatively…
• Guard Dog Rover: The Rover can be a lifesaver against Terminids, especially when running the Quasar Cannon, since it’ll help take out any of the smaller pesky bugs, helping give you the breathing room to focus on lining up your Quasar Cannon shots. It does run the risk of damaging you and your allies, usually resulting in some unexpected chip damage, but it’ll occasionally deliver a killing blow. Not common enough to outweigh the benefits, but an unfortunate inevitability..
• Orbital 380MM HE Barrage: For many, this is a Stratem to be feared, but for experienced Helldivers in a coordinated team, this changes the face of the battlefield. Ideal for when you come across those massive bug nests on longer missions, drop an Orbital 380MM in the center and fall back with your squad, letting the Stratagem pepper the area for over 30 seconds of destruction. This is terrible when you want to take down a specific target, but dropping it on a massive bug nest will wipe out many of the bug holes, and bugs themselves — it can even take out Bile Titans and Chargers! Just make sure to give the area a wide berth until the bombardment is concluded.
• Eagle 500KG Bomb: The classic big boom in a surprisingly small area, this powerful Stratagem is one of the best in Helldivers 2 — though it doesn’t achieve its true effectiveness until after acquiring the Expanded Weapons Bay and Pit Crew Hazard Pay Ship Modules, allowing you to drop two 500KG Bombs back-to-back before initiating the ~2-minute Eagle Rearm. It offers a deceptively small blast area, but it will eliminate a Bile Titan when placed correctly. Best used during hectic encounters where you don’t have the space to line up your Quasar Cannon shots.

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Best Quasar Cannon Loadout Against Automatons

The Quasar Cannon is going to be your first line of defense against Tanks, Hulks, and Factory Striders (and those pesky Cannon Turrets). There are still plenty of other enemies that can easily overwhelm you with endless volleys of laser fire, plus the frequent murder squads of Berserkers. You’ll want to bring a loadout that will help you deal with those smaller (but equally deadly) enemies to free you up to focus on the larger, more dangerous targets on the battlefield.

Best Primary Weapon Options: Defender Or Sickle

• SMG-37 Defender: Most players tend to overlook SMGs, along with default weapons, but the Defender should not be ignored! This SMG hits hard, has minimal recoil, and you can wield it one-handed, which is awesome for those missions when someone needs to carry an SSSD drive. Against Automatons specifically, though, the Defender pairs phenomenally with the Ballistic Shield Support Pack. You’ll see more on their synergy below in the Stratagems section.
• LAS-16 Sickle: The Sickle behaves a bit differently than many of the other energy weapons in Helldivers 2, delivering a steady stream of smaller lasers, rather than a constant beam of energy. Despite that, it is still laser accurate and offers a fantastic scope for ADSing at extreme ranges. Targeting Automaton weak points is extremely effective, and this weapon’s long-range scope will help you blow of bot heads with ease. It relies on an overheating mechanic, rather than bits of ammo, and even with its available reloads being halved, as long as you’re diligent with not overheating the gun, you’ll never have to worry about ammo — a perfect pair with the Quasar Cannon.

Best Secondary Weapon Option: Grenade Pistol

• GP-31 Grenade Pistol: For similar reasons as the Terminid loadout, the Grenade Pistol simply gives you the Bot Fabricator destruction in your secondary weapon, freeing up your Grenade slot for something a little more tactical. It’s invaluable to have something to take care of the Bot Fabricators, so if your grenade slot is being used more for utility, this is a must-pick.
• P-4 Senator: The Senator offers some big iron energy. With the addition of the speedloading option when your cylinder is empty, the Senator finally feels more viable, and it really shines against the Automatons. Especially with the Ballistic Shield (more on that below), you’ll be able to line up headshots and take out bot enemies with impunity.

Best Grenade Options: Stun Or G-12 High Explosive Grenade

• G-23 Stun Grenade: For the same reasons as in the Terminid loadout, the Stun Grenade offers the strongest utility on the battlefield — as long as you’ve got something else to reliably take out Bot Fabricators. This is extremely useful when rounding the corner into a squad of Berserkers, or especially when you have a Flamethrower Hulk rapidly advancing on your position, the Stun Grenade will let you reposition or simply line up that killer shot with the Quasar Cannon.
• G-12 High Explosive Grenade: If you’re opting for the big iron energy of the Senator, the G-12 High Explosive Grenade is a great Bot Fabricator destroyer. It’s also just great to whip out in a hectic situation, delivering heavy damage to whatever you just don’t want to see anymore.

Best Armor Option: B-24 Enforcer

• B-24 Enforcer: Possibly one of the coolest armor sets in Helldivers 2, the Enforcer is perfect when going up against Automatons due to its armor passive: Fortified — the best armor passive in Helldivers 2. It’ll reduce recoil by 30% when crouching, which can be useful when lining up headshots, but more importantly, it provides 50% damage resistance to explosive damage. With the abundance of rockets you’ll face against the bots, the Enforcer will help you through the worst of it.

Best Stratagems To Pair With The Quasar Cannon Against Automatons

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• Ballistic Shield (if paired with SMG): This is a fairly niche option, but paired with the Defender SMG and Quasar Cannon, you’ll become shockingly sturdy. The Ballistic will deflect laser fire, rockets, and it will even negate the destructive blast of one of the Tower Cannons (the Cannon will destroy the shield, but you’ll still be alive). While aiming, you’ll hold the Ballistic Shield in front of you, but with your Quasar Cannon out, your back will be shielded from fire — great for retreating. Wielding this shield allows you all the space you’ll need to line up headshots with your Defender SMG.
• Shield Generator Pack: If you’re opting for the Sickle or another two-handed primary, the Shield Generator Pack is a solid classic. It simply helps you withstand more punishment out on the battlefield, which is great when you’re fielding rockets from any direction. It’s also a great option to call one down for an ally who is lacking a backpack (the Ballistic Shield really only shines with a one-handed primary).
• Orbital Gas Strike: Previously a bit hit or miss due to the DOT bug, this Stratagem’s time to shine is finally here. Throw this into a big Automaton base to soften it up, or drop it right where a Dropship is about to deliver some deadly enemies just ahead. Or, you can use it to cut off some aggressive pursuit. The Gas Strike will take out all weaker enemies and soften up even the strongest opposition you’ll encounter. Plus, with a quick cooldown of just over a minute, you’ll be able to drop this quite a bit throughout your mission.
• EMS Mortar Sentry: This Stratagem doesn’t do any damage, but it makes everyone’s job easier. The EMS Mortar Sentry is one of the most useful Stratagems in Helldivers 2 because it lasts a while, doesn’t draw as much aggression as other damaging sentries, and it stuns all ground enemies (aside from the Factory Strider). Bonus: it won’t hurt you or your allies. Delivering an EMS field that stuns and disables enemies temporarily, this can help slow an enemy’s advance, reduce resistance as you push in on a base, or give you extra moments to line up a Quasar Cannon shot.

Helldivers 2

Released

February 8, 2024

Developer(s)

Arrowhead Game Studios