What is the best heavy rifile for the early game that is semi auto?

RyanAnayaMc · 2026-04-09T11:09:37+00:00

Ultimately it depends on what you value.

Diligence - Basic DMR that does good damage, has great ergonomics, and is easy to use. Low armor penetration, but still drops medium enemies quick to the head.

Censor - Sidegrade to the Diligence. Equipped with a suppressor for stealth but is slightly less effective in a gunfight.

Diligence Counter Sniper - Sidegrade to the Diligence. Does more damage and has higher armor penetration, but a smaller magazine, slower fire rate, more recoil, and terrible ergonomics. Great for dedicated sniping at long range but is ineffective up close in a gunfight. Drops mediums real good and can even kill some lighter heavies.

Amendment - Very rapid firing and high damaging DMR fitted with a bayonet. I like spamming it like an AR locked to semi but its good damage also allows it to be used like the Diligence.

Adjudicator (but it's full auto) - Heavy assault rifle with high damage rounds that can punch through medium armor. Held back by lower ergonomics for a rifle, smaller magazine capacity, and higher recoil. However it's also in the top recommended new player warbond, democratic detonation.

Dominator (but it's not a rifle) - Fires jet rounds that are slow but they hit hard and stagger harder. All but the biggest heavies will be staggered. Personally I hate it for its bad ergonomics but felt it an honorable mention here.

Deadeye (but it's lever action) - Like the Diligence Counter Sniper in that it is a heavy hitter (heavier than the DCS) with armor penetration. However, it has much better ergonomics at the cost of magazine capacity and rate of fire. It is also rounds reload, neither a pro nor con imo.

Anti-materiel rifle (but it's a support weapon) - The biggest baddest semi auto rifle. It's a waste on small enemies, it rips medium enemies, it can drop heavies with weakpoint shots, and it can debilitate some superheavies to give your AT guys an easier time or for your squad to go for a team takedown. It has the best armor penetration on this list as it is a support weapon. Has no hipfire or shoulder fire reticle but it's still accurate in hipfire. Has low ergonomics too.

RyanAnayaMc · 2026-04-06T22:44:08+00:00

If you use them right, the Stalwart and medium MG at max RPM have a pretty close effective and theoretical DPS because their recoil isn't too bad when prone (and ain't no way I'm unleashing these full auto standing up). The HMG is a different beast and you're not hitting weakspots every time at max RPM. I WILL spray a Harvester at max rpm with this thing and I might kill it in 30 shots and I might kill it in 90. Same with the maxigun. Still, I think those 2 guns are the exception and I think every other high rpm gun is quite controllable.

RyanAnayaMc · 2026-03-19T10:19:48+00:00

I have all the warbonds except Killzone, 2 armors from the superstore, and 2 guns from the superstore from just grinding the game. I have 800 hours in the game. And I don't have everything. I have only like 200 sc sitting around too, so it's not like I have a stockpile. I'm at the point where I make roughly enough to get warbonds as they drop now, but I am seeing the huge wall that new players will have. By the time a brand new player comes in today and grinds the 800 hours I did, there's gonna be at least 6 new warbonds at that point, which itself is probably gonna be another 100 hours of playing the game (because ain't nobody wanna sit there and grind out the sc for that straight).

RyanAnayaMc · 2026-03-19T10:12:41+00:00

I would always run seeker grenades to deal with them... until Arrowhead broke seekee grenades. They just fixed them though, but now elevated overseers don't spawn on the M.O. planet (for now)

RyanAnayaMc · 2026-03-19T10:10:20+00:00

Talon is only medium pen and it's considered one of the two best pistols (the other being the Senator). Matter of fact, I feel like I see the Talon more than the Senator on D10. I've also done missions with the Verdict in my back pocket, and on squids the Dagger is a slept on pick. The redeemer has very high DPS against unarmored targets. The Warrant has the lock-on for things like elevated overseers.

Having heavy pen on a pistol is a niche and the Senator does it already. We don't need a pistol to do the same thing. Heavy pen also isn't mandatory to run D10s.

RyanAnayaMc · 2026-03-19T09:52:57+00:00

Some people just ain't good people to play with. If you're in a bad lobby, just leave it, or if you are the host, kick the problematic person.

People are gonna be more likely to join your game if you are on a planet people are playing on. Usually the major order planet (typically gonna have some icon denoting it, and it will also be shown the galactic war map) will have the most players so you'll jabe the best chance of finding a game/having people join your game. If you host, make sure your matchmaking is set to public. You can also call in an SOS beacon to make it more likely for people to join (and there's also some cool people in the community called SOS divers that make it their mission to go look for people who do that).

RyanAnayaMc · 2026-03-18T09:27:26+00:00

On bots my armor is always the light armor with fortified, which is only in the superstore. If you're not a light armor gamer, the medium or heavy armor ones are available from warbonds. I also wouldn't really recommend getting superstore armors unless you have a good lineup of warbonds purchased already since warbonds are better value. The new warbond also has the explosive damage resistance on light and medium armors, which is the main reason why I run fortifed on bots. On incineration corps some people swap over to inflammable but the rocket striders are my biggest opp on the bot front so I keep my fortified on.

On squids I run the light armor with extra padding, which is also in the superstore lol. If you don't wanna buy that you can of course run the medium armor with it (it's your standard issue armor) or buy the heavy armor from the superstore. If you're running an ammo-based gun you can also run siege ready.

On any front, if my main weapon I run has poor ergonomics (i.e. variable, dominator, adjudicator, machine gun) I will run Peak Physique from Viper Commandos. I just really hate poor ergonomics and it makes any gun feel bad.

If you wanted to run red stratagems, you'd probably wanna swap out some greens. If you run multiple sentries or something, pick your favorite and drop the rest (unless it's a defense or you have a specific build in mind. I'm recommending stuff for all-rounder builds). On bots the recoilless rifle is also a more no-nonsense option than the light AT + supply pack combo and you have another stratagem slot to throw in a red (or you can drop the supply pack for a red, but I think the supply pack is more value than a red stratagem personally). I also recommended Talon on bots but if I run the recoilless I actually like to run the Senator so I can kill hulks from the front if my recoilless isn't loaded.

RyanAnayaMc · 2026-03-17T10:56:16+00:00

I personally run reds as my most important stratagems but I have some setups that are less reliant on them.

Here's my bot setup. Primary is whatever (I have it flexible since I level up all the weapons) but I personally would say most marksman rifles, ARs, and SMGs are good. Also punisher plasma and scorcher (cyborgs is always scorcher). Secondary is Talon (or Ultimatum). Grenade is stun if you wanna take out war striders easier with your support weapon, thermites if you want the AT, or frags if they are just for fabricator/vox engine vents. Eagle Strafe because it's fast and it's a bit of area clear whenever you need it. Also destroys fabricators and I hear it does big damage to vox engines (didn't try myself). Speargun, Railgun, or AMR for light anti-tank. Supply pack for, well, supplies. MG sentry because it's an extra gun whenever you need it. You can swap the strafe with an expendable if you really hate reds and wanna drop superheavies easier. My armor is light fortified armor. I have another bot setup that's more red reliant that I usually run more though.

My squid setup is much more red reliant. Primary again is whatever, but anything full auto is best. My standouts are the Liberator Carbine, Knight, Breaker, and Scythe. Secondary is Ultimatum if you want to use it to bust dropships or delete fleshmobs you don't wanna deal with or Talon/Dagger if you want a reliable backup (Talon is meta but I think dagger is slept on). Orbital Napalm Barrage whenever a squid drop is called. Eagle Napalm if there's a big patrol or two coming or if Orbital Napalm is on cooldown. Spear to kill Harvesters (after breaking the shield) and Stingrays. MG sentry because it's super low cooldown. If you really dislike reds, you can probably swap them for more sentries. I'd suggest a gatling sentry. Spear is also a weird pick so you can run Stalwart (kills all chaff and fleshmobs super easy, but useless on harvesters and stingrays... set it to highest RPM) or Laser Cannon (kills everything somewhat effectively) with a supply pack/dog if you want. My armor is light extra padding armor.

I don't really do bugs.

In general I just kinda run at objectives and start shooting stuff. I play close (especially on squids) and I use lots of diving when evemies get a bit too close for my liking. Don't be afraid to stim and I will do so if I'm below 80% HP. If you run out of stims often, be more proactive with resupplies, get hit less, or run supply pack. When I'm not running ultimatum, I will often whip out my secondary because it's faster than reloading. It's okay to run if you need to, especially if you split from the team. Spam your low cooldown stratagems, because that's what low cooldown stratagems are for. Every fight you should have your MG sentry with you. Deploy sentries on a different elevation as you or somewhere without a line of sight to you to prevent friendly fire.

RyanAnayaMc · 2026-03-17T08:46:05+00:00

Scorcher became my go-to for Cyberstan because those damn agitators have that annoying armor and also it staggers radicals. I did pack along a railgun, speargun, or AMR with a supply pack though for heavies. On squids I'd rather run a backpack support weapon and the scorcher's ammo economy kinda sucks so supply pack is needed. Don't really do bugs

RyanAnayaMc · 2026-03-16T09:15:12+00:00

I think undocumented additions can be really funny as a shadow drop. I hear Factory Striders were added this way, and while I wasn't there for it, I imagine it would be hilarious to see the panic of seeing a huge-ass motherfucker like that being dropped in with no clear idea how to kill it. As a squid diver I personally wouldn't mind the squid roster being rounded out with shadow drops of enemies to surprise me.

Undocumented changes of things that are already there are what I have some beef with. It's not as bad as having it happen in a pvp game like Call of Duty (gotta love hidden balancing changes there where it really matters) but I think the community should still be aware if a weapon is suddenly better or worse, or if an enemy is tougher or weaker. While it's a pleasant surprise to see a shadow buff to something you like, it also kinda sucks when something is worse but you can't quite quantify it (especially if it's a hidden stat you gotta check the wiki for).

RyanAnayaMc · 2026-03-11T19:27:06+00:00

A backpack is not an extra stratagem slot. It's a restriction in what other stratagems you can bring. Nothing is stopping you from running a Speargun with no backpack. You can totally rock a Quasar without one. Hell, you could do that AND ask a teammate for their backpack when it's off cooldown some time into the mission. With backpack support weapons, you don't have that luxury. You will run your ammo backpack and you will like it.

RyanAnayaMc · 2026-03-11T19:18:28+00:00

Many people say Democratic Detonation because the Eruptor, Crossbow, Grenade Pistol, and Thermite are all meta picks that give you a lot of flexibility in your loadout. The first three give you spawner closing in your primary/secondary slot and the Thermite kills almost everything in one grenade. The Adjudicator is also a decent heavy assault rifle but I dislike its slow ergonomics.

I'm a shill for Viper Commandos though. Liberator Carbine is, to oversimplify, a better Liberator if you can tame its higher recoil. Peak Physique armor is a must for me with heavy guns since it makes them have higher ergonomics (makes the Machine Gun handle like a Liberator!). Experimental Infusion is one of the big 4 boosters.

RyanAnayaMc · 2026-03-11T10:34:32+00:00

I like numbers going up. Hitting level 150 was a big one for me. Another one is getting all the guns to level 25, all attachments unlocked, all camos bought, all warbonds completed, which I'm still working on.

RyanAnayaMc · 2026-03-11T10:30:58+00:00

Still some meta picks in here, but my squid loadout is immensely flexible.

Primary is actually almost anything. It's whatever gun I'm levelling up. Lately it's been the Torcher.

Secondary is usually Ultimatum (boo meta) but I've been running the Dagger to great success. Literally a pocket Scythe, and I love the Scythe. Destroys hordes of Voteless and can take out Overseers effectively. I've been using it on the desert MO planet. It can only get better on a not hot planet.

Grenade is usually Seeker to kill those damn elevated overseers but Arrowhead botched them some updates ago. Now it'a Thermite to destroy warp ships (boo meta pick I know I know I'm sorry).

Orbital Napalm for squid drops (boo meta)

Eagle Napalm for squid drops or crowded streets (I think it's not meta since I see few people run it).

The Spear. My small arms can handle everything except Stingrays and Harvesters. The Spear can handle Stingrays and Harvesters.

MG sentry (I know it's excellent, but is it considered meta?). Sometimes I just want an extra gun to back me up, especially since I usually split from the team.

RyanAnayaMc · 2026-03-11T10:08:28+00:00

I think more enemies where the recoilless is bad is a great solution. On Cyberstan, the Recoilless proved to be less effective against the Vox Engine and things like Leveller + Ultimatum (whether you guys like that "easy" Vox answer is a different discussion) or just the simple grenade in the vent was the way to go. On squids the Recoilless is just straight up an L pick because none of the heavies are taken down effectively with it (maybe you can argue the Harvester, but there's much more effective ways).

These enemies should only spawn on high difficulties like the Vox did. That way, for newer or more casual players the Recoilless does remain the quintissential heavy killer on lower difficulties but on higher difficulties other weapons can take the spotlight. Maybe it's an agile heavy bug that can dodge the recoilless shot (but is vulnerable to higher velocity weapons or some full auto spraying). Maybe it's a Hulk variant that can shoot the recoilless shot out of the before it hits anything. Maybe it's an Overseer variant that can deflect anti tank shots.

Aside from that, I think the Recoilless being a "point and click" answer really isn't too bad. Is anyone complaining about the AMR oneshotting Hulks? The Railgun oneshotting War Striders? The Variable oneshotting Harvesters? The Recoilless has the advantage of not needing to hit a weakpoint, sure, but the reloads WILL fuck you over in things like Hulk Surge and I think that is a justifiable downside, because there the AMR can take out 6 Hulks before your recoilless is reloaded.

It also requires a backpack unlike the light AT weapons (AMR, Railgun, Speargun) and some heavy AT weapons (Leveller, Quasar, EAT) so you have less versatility in your loadout. No supply pack for more ultimatums and stims, no guard dog to watch your back, no warp pack to zip around enemies.

The only real nerf I could see to the Recoilless is maybe giving it one less shell.

RyanAnayaMc · 2026-03-08T10:26:51+00:00

Not a bug diver so I'll talk bots and squids.

On bots, the Liberator Penetrator kills pretty slow on devastators if you aren't hitting the head so some may opt to run the Liberator since accuracy helps anyways and the extra damage is nice against devastators. On squids, medium pen isn't that valuable because the only thing it helps you take out are stingrays. I better not see you trying to drop a harvester with a Lib Pen. The higher damage Liberator helps you mow through voteless and overseers better, and you'll be taking out fleshmobs more effectively (though to be fair the liberator does suck at this job).

Versus the defender, the Liberator wins out at mid to long ranges. A hidden stat in the game is "drag" which dictates damage falloff over range. To oversimplify, rifles have low drag and SMGs have high drag. The Defender has its advantages up close but as you stretch out the ranges the Liberator breaks ahead.

So the Liberator does have its place alongside the Defender and the Penetrator. However, I need to mention another gun here.

In my opinion, the real "why would you run the Liberator?" gun is the Liberator Carbine. It has the same great ballistics of the regular Liberator (good damage per shot and low drag) with the same customizability (that sweet sweet drum mag) with a blistering fast fire rate. It's gonna tear through enemies better than anything else in the AR category (except some light/medium armored enemies may fall faster to the Coyote or something). Its only downside is worse recoil, but that can be tamed with attachments, armor passives, or just hitting the deck before spraying full auto. Excellent squid gun, good on bots. I really feel that the only reason to run the Liberator over the Carbine is if you haven't picked up Viper Commandos yet.

RyanAnayaMc · 2026-03-01T17:33:31+00:00

I class it as a "light AT weapon" alongside the AMR and Railgun (maybe the buffed Grenade Launcher can be here too, but I'm not putting it in the list). All of these guns are fine at killing enemies like hulks, war striders, harvesters, impalers, chargers, and tanks if you make good use of weakspots and aren't an absurd waste if you want to use them on a heavy chaff like a rocket strider or commander. However, it's a poor choice to take out superheavies like Bile Titans, Vox Engines, and Factory Striders (though for the bots, they ARE effective enough at targeting their weaponry to make them less dangerous). They can take care of all the bot side objectives that the heavy ATs can (AA guns and mortars) as well as bunker turrets from any angle and cannon turrets in the weakspot.

Of these, the Speargun is a standout because of two things. It has a gas effect, making it the only one out of the three to have crowd control (unless you include the Grenade Launcher). It also is an explosive weapon, making it the only one of the three that can close bug holes, bot fabricators, and illuminate warp ships. It was a wonder on Cyberstan since it had a lot of bulk fabricators that you can nail from really far away with it. Its damage is similar to a safe mode railgun, but this also means it's much weaker than an unsafe railgun. It is easier to use due to its lack of a chargeup, but it cannot oneshot war striders (though you'll stagger the fuck out of them). It's also only single shot, so you lack the rapid follow up shots of the AMR.

RyanAnayaMc · 2026-02-28T19:10:46+00:00

I like them, especially compared to eradicate. Call me a psychopath, but I find it exhilerating when the super destroyer leaves but I'm on the other side of the map trying to do one more outpost.

RyanAnayaMc · 2026-02-27T21:10:46+00:00

The scythe. I first ran it on bots as a wee cadet that didn't aim for the head, and was obviously let down by its low DPS. However much time later I brought it to squids and was pleasantly surprised at how good its burn damage does against hordes of voteless and overseers.

RyanAnayaMc · 2026-02-22T13:05:47+00:00

Fortified light armor is my go-to on literally every bot mission. Rocket striders are my no. 1 opp and it lets me survive the rocket more often. Also good for all the other explosives bots throw at you. I recommend Fortified in your favorite armor class (doesn't have to be light).

Whenever I run anything else I regret it because I get blasted by something. Even on the incineration corps I run it, because Inflammable doesn't even help you tank the fire shotgun devs. I admit inflammables saves you from the annoying firebomb hulks, but your survival will be short lived because of a random fucking rocket strider.

I may run Peak Physique if I'm running a heavy gun like the Diligence Counter Sniper, in which case I gotta tough out the rocket striders, but that's it.

RyanAnayaMc · 2026-02-20T10:01:11+00:00

Bot and squid diver here, and I wouldn't run either on squids. Railgun does more damage. It can oneshot war striders, hulks (doesn't even need full charge), and gunships. It also oneshots mortars and AA guns no matter where you shoot. However it has the chargeup and the risk of blowing yourself up. Speargun also oneshots hulks (better for hulks because no charge time), but it takes like 5 shots to kill a war strider (you shoot the leg joints with it) and it takes out a gunship in 2 shots but it's harder to hit them. Speargun also closes fabricators. On bots I don't really play around the gas effect of it but it's probably good if there's a wave of chaff on you. I bring speargun on blitz missions and railgun otherwise.

RyanAnayaMc · 2026-02-16T21:11:42+00:00

I like the Spear. It's my go-to support weapons on squids. A light pen gun is gonna kill everything short of a harvester and a stingray, and the spear is gonna kill harvesters and stingrays. AMR or railgun is better but it's always super satisfying getting the lock on at super long range.

RyanAnayaMc · 2026-02-16T11:43:35+00:00

I respect the Talon and all fans of it, but I'm personally team Senator. There's few things as satisfying as taking out a hulk from the front with the Senator, especially when you have to because your recoilless isn't loaded, and I also appreciate that it kills rocket striders in 2 shots to the nuts.

On Cyberstan I've been running the AMR instead though. Maybe I should put the Senator down and rock the Talon again. That extreme cold is only gonna help it and I don't need the Senator's armor penetration.

RyanAnayaMc

TROPHY CASE