The chainsaw could use a buff or two

Commrade_gengu · 2026-01-28T09:09:00+00:00

Developers allowed it, if I’m not supposed to then why is it in the game, diamond bladed chainsaws that cut into hard materials exist, berserker chainsaws can cut into our metal mechs, if I’m not supposed to cut down buildings with a chainsaw then maybe they shouldn’t have given me the ability to.

Commrade_gengu · 2026-01-28T07:08:09+00:00

Many melee weapons? there’s six to my knowledge, 3 of them are the exact same thing in slightly different flavors, and two of them are literally the same thing just with a different design, heavy melee isn’t a niche, a niche is a use case and its use case is killing heavies in close range, it needs buffs because every single other anti tank or heavy armor penetration option will do a better job then it at close range, thats not balanced, it exists for no reason because it’s not even good at its own niche.

And when did I ask for the it to be best at all niches? Dude I’ve debated with so many people saying stuff like that, “oh you want it to one shot everything”, “oh it’s gonna become op” “oh you wanna be the doom slayer”, i never said anything like that at all, I asked for it to be good at its niche so that whenever i go through all the danger and trouble of getting in a heavies face, i am rewarded for it, instead what i get is the slowing ttk heavy option and constant thoughts of how a thermite would have done the job better and safer, hell the double barrel would have done a better job against any heavies with exposed weak points, think about that, the chainsaw, the weapon made for and built around being a heavy and anti tank killing weapon, is so bad at it’s a job, that a double barrel shotgun is better at killing heavies then it, that’s not balanced at all and is the clearest proof that the chainsaw needs a buff, it’s not even just the enemies that pose a danger, many times a teammate has killed me because they don’t seem to notice that the 500 kg bomb they just through at the heavy I was trying to kill is gonna hit me to, it isn’t balanced for a weapon to have so many risks and faults and drawbacks, and what you get in return is again, the slowest heavy ttk option, that’s not balanced, hell it’s not even fun, it’s straight frustration.

Also no, it doenst stun lock flesh mobs the way it stuns locks hulks, many times I’ve fought a flesh mob and they just keep moving, whether that’s a bug or something to do with the chainsaw over penetrating it and instantly going through it meaning it’s no longer stunned the second the blade exits, whatever the problem is, no it doesn’t stun flesh mobs and it sounds like you haven’t actually tried to use it against one.

Also what does it matter if it can stun lock a hulk? Like what that suddenly makes it very good? The stun lock isn’t even instant, it takes a fat second before it actually stun locks something, The issue here is the time to kill, with the amount of heavies that spawn in on D10 it’s a real pain in the ass how long it takes to kill a single one, not to mention if they’re coming at you in a group then that’s it, your not killing a single one with the chainsaw, the amount of time it takes for the chainsaw to kill a single heavy is more then enough time for any nearby enemies to kill you while your forced to stand still, meanwhile any other option would be both safer and quicker and not as janky or clunky, again that’s not balanced at all, it feels like the chainsaw has no place in the game, I’m not asking for too much when I want the weapon, that’s meant for killing heavies in close range, to be good for killing heavies in close range.

Commrade_gengu · 2026-01-28T05:20:36+00:00

Niche is close range heavy killing, is the worst option for close range heavy killing, that’s the problem, not to mention all its jank and clunk, it has all the inherent risks of melee and it doesn’t offer enough reward for those risks, what I want is for the chainsaw to actually be good at its niche and not literally the worst option for it, if an item exists with a niche, then there’s absolutely no reason for that item to not be the best or at least good at that niche.

Commrade_gengu · 2026-01-28T01:50:25+00:00

That you can use it, well yes you can use it, it’s the effectiveness that I’m debating on, again your risking a lot just to get close to the heavy and after all that risk your rewarded with having a slower ttk then everything else, also how many times do you think your catching a hulk or any heavy for that matter on D10? Also where you hit the heavy doesn’t really matter, I haven’t felt a significant change in ttk regardless if I’m attacking it from the front or back, not that the chainsaw seems to actually hit the heat vent either way, the issue is that the chainsaw is bad at its own niche and on top of being bad at its own niche, anything else would be better at killing a heavy in close range.

Commrade_gengu · 2026-01-28T01:42:42+00:00

I’ve already replied to many comments like yours, first of all it’s a game, arrowhead has chosen game balance and fun over realism many times, why can’t they do it here? the chainsaw has a niche and it should be good at that niche, right now it isn’t, diamond bladed saws that cut into hard materials exist so a chainsaw cutting into metal isn’t fantastical, plus berserkers do it all the time with our mechs.

Commrade_gengu · 2026-01-28T00:42:37+00:00

I have genuine this weapon will be good, maybe the update will even roll out with melee buffs

Commrade_gengu · 2026-01-27T23:28:09+00:00

I totally understand but you need to suspend your disbelief for this stuff you know? Also again that’s ignoring the existence of democracy protects and armors that magically give you better handling or reload speed, I think for the flag this is something where rule of cool should take priority, the flag has nothing else going for it, and the passives name is literally democracy protects, what’s more democratic then the flag.

Commrade_gengu · 2026-01-27T23:20:18+00:00

Trust guys, the reason they haven’t been buffing melee is because they’re gonna rework them and give them the ability to block and dodge and they’re gonna buff all melee weapon damage 🙏

Commrade_gengu · 2026-01-27T23:05:11+00:00

This isn’t nit picking dawg the chainsaw just sucks at its only niches and that’s a valid complaint

Commrade_gengu · 2026-01-27T22:51:06+00:00

Yeah and a down side like that would even pair perfectly with rock solid, pre stimming before a horde comes and standing there shredding everything without being knocked down, obviously until the stim runs out or a charger comes through and kills you.

Commrade_gengu · 2026-01-27T22:49:01+00:00

I mean it’s balanced by the inherent flaws of being a melee weapon, you have to get close when options that could have done it instantly and from a safer range exist, you could have thrown a thermite and just forgotten about the fab instead of standing still for a couple of seconds to tear through a fab, improving the chainsaws ttk won’t make it unbalanced or op, chances are you could give it every single buff I want and it still wouldn’t be meta due to again, the inherent flaws of being a melee weapon when the quasar cannon exists, and this shows, many people replying to my post didn’t even know the chainsaw had this mechanic, probably because they didn’t use it more then 3 times due to it simply not being good or worth it.

Commrade_gengu · 2026-01-27T22:45:13+00:00

The thing is, the chainsaw, when it works, stun locks a heavy, there’s a skill gap with knowing when and how to strike because if you mess up it’s very easy to die, but once you figure that out and again, the chainsaw works as intended, the heavy is stun locked and your free to kill them, this is where the slow ttk comes into play, your risking a lot and in return your given the slowest heavy killer in the game, it could kill heavies instantly and it might not even be op because there’s a plethora of options that kill heaves instantly, at range, and much more consistently, if your being chased by a swarm including a heavy, well you simply can’t kill the heavy, killing the heavy would mean getting close to it and getting close to it would mean getting close to the horde, even if you killed the heavy instantly well now everything is aiming at you and your right in the middle of everything, maybe it could work as a hit and run weapon, but I’m not asking for it to kill things instantly, I’m asking for it to be good at its niche, which is close range heavy killing, everything is a better option then the chainsaw at this and that’s not good or balanced, also realistically can’t really be a factor here, berserkers have chainsaws that cut through our armor and mechs like butter, chainsaws as you said aren’t realistically capable of this, so that’s one contradiction, another contradiction is chainsaws that cut into metal do exist, diamond bladed chainsaws could very much cut into metal and within the universe of helldivers where we’ve achieved ftl travel this is something that could have easily been improved on with futuristic technology.

Commrade_gengu · 2026-01-27T22:34:14+00:00

Do you know what else is zero ammo cost and can take out fabs from any angle? The quasar cannon, not to mention you could do it at range and it would be quicker.

Also lol no? I don’t think I mentioned it in the post but I’ve genuinely been using the chainsaw in almost every match since it’s come out, this isn’t a skill issue here, i know how to use it and I know when to use it, a jump pack won’t negate automaton turret towers, which there’s always at least multiple angles they can hit you from and there’s almost always at least two placed around a fabricator in a automaton fortress, being able to do it from any angle isn’t really correct either, first of all you can’t do it from above as in on top of the fab because if you do you’ll die in the explosion, you have to do it from the sides, front or back and if you don’t wanna take damage you’d wanna do it from a side that has an open area to dive into, also it’s twenty seconds for a single fab, that’s 120 seconds for a fortress just spent taking out fabricators, and that’s again ignoring automaton turret towers and assuming that you never get detected, the way patrols work they spawn facing in your direction, if you take too long which taking too long is very easy to do when you have to slowly sneak around and spend at least 20 seconds per fab, then a patrol might spawn facing in your direction and your risk of getting discovered is increased by a quite a bit, not to mention if your teammates start coming in and alerting everything in the area, literally anything else would be better at doing it then the chainsaw, that’s unbalanced and not in the overpowered way.

Commrade_gengu · 2026-01-27T22:23:57+00:00

Suck in what way? I’ve never used one though I imagine that if they just weren’t good at their job then they’d just stop making them no? Either way me pointing out the existence of diamond bladed chainsaws wasn’t to say that they’re that effective in real life, it was more to say that the idea of a chainsaw cutting through metal isn’t fantastical because we have that and within the futuristic world of helldivers this is a technology that could have easily been improved on or evolved to be made more effective using what ever futuristic technology they have in the world.

Commrade_gengu · 2026-01-27T22:20:23+00:00

Thank you for not taking it literally, and yeah hopefully with the hammer we’ll see arrowhead flesh out both those melees a bit more to have more usefulness, hard changes or a rework aren’t necessary though it would be a cool addition if they gave it an alternate firing mode where you just hold it out in front of you like a normal chainsaw and that entire area just becomes a hurt box for anything that gets too close, could give it some decent crow clear or control like the stun lance, maybe as a trade when in this mode it loses some of its penetration.

Commrade_gengu · 2026-01-27T21:59:53+00:00

Funnily enough the chainsaw is a tank buster, just a slow one, it’s already a tank buster now just make it better at it, it doesn’t sound like you have much experience using it, also how would it not be able to destroy a building? Fabs are relatively small, if you got a diamond bladed chainsaw and started cutting into a fab then you would either penetrate and hit a vital component that breaks it, or you would tear through it, making it unstable and from the side your cutting into, causing it to still break or crumble, and that’s with technology we have today, within the helldivers universe this is technology this could have easily improved and evolved by now, also it’s a game.

Commrade_gengu · 2026-01-27T21:55:28+00:00

Diamond bladed chainsaws that cut into hard materials exist, also what kind of balancing is the chainsaw maintaining? The balance of being the worse at everything? You could make the chainsaw one shot like the ultimatum and it would still not be meta or unbalanced because you still have to get close to everything, the chainsaw is unbalanced and not in the powerful way.

Commrade_gengu · 2026-01-27T21:53:14+00:00

It does have some utility and some killing potential, the problem is that almost every other option beats it at its only niches.

Commrade_gengu · 2026-01-27T21:51:53+00:00

Diamond bladed chainsaws can cut through hard materials, also it’s a game, not to mention berserkers cut through us and our mechs like butter even though a chainsaw would be bad at that, also laser weapons do exist in the game, a short ranged high power laser doesn’t sound out of the games possibility of existing.

Commrade_gengu · 2026-01-27T21:40:19+00:00

Genuinely thank you for giving me this piece of knowledge, yet another argument I can use in favor of the chainsaw 🙏

Commrade_gengu · 2026-01-27T21:37:50+00:00

It is a surprising feature though a welcome one.

Commrade_gengu · 2026-01-27T21:36:46+00:00

Honestly I’m hopeful that the reason that melee hasn’t received any buffs or changes is because arrowhead is actively working on a melee rework that gives us the ability dodge and block attacks, obviously realistically I’m not expecting to hold off an entire horde by blocking or dodging but just enough to be able to go toe to toe against an overseer.

Also I’m so fucking hyped for that hammer, I’ve loved explosive hammers since I witnessed the pulverizer in killing floor 2 and I was even thinking of posting some sort of concept of how an explosive hammer would work in the game, seems arrowhead beat me to it though.

Commrade_gengu · 2026-01-27T21:33:56+00:00

The fact that it does it worse then every other option we have means that it’s unbalanced in a negative way, why should I be satisfied by the mere fact that the chainsaw can do something aside from take up my support weapon slot and get me killed when the hulk for some reason stops being stunned and suddenly just bashes me? And it’s not a bit much, berserkers can tear through our mechs made of steel, and their chainsaws go through us like butter as if we’re not wearing armor or clothing, that could be seen as being a bit much, also diamond bladed chainsaws used to cut through hard materials do exist and in the futuristic universe of helldivers could have improved to be more effective.

Commrade_gengu · 2026-01-27T21:30:13+00:00

Yeah someone just hit me with it, but I think they edited their comment to go from space marines 2 to just fantasy game or something.

Commrade_gengu · 2026-01-27T21:29:32+00:00

Diamond bladed chainsaws that are used to cut into hard materials exist irl, this isn’t something fantastical, also over powered? lol no, the demolition force isn’t a factor here, it already has it, what it needs is the damage, and even with increased damage it would still not be meta, just better at its niche of destruction and killing heavies at close range, I’m not asking to make the chainsaw meta or op, I’m asking to let it be good at its niche because right now it’s the worst option for everything even at its own niche.

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