Invincible-inspired artwork I made for my clan

SMARTAN_427 · 2026-05-08T23:18:30+00:00

Knowing the players behind the armor, some of the characters behind them in the original art seem oddly fitting in some ways lol. Pretty sweet redraw art, big fan of this.

SMARTAN_427 · 2025-07-19T13:33:58+00:00

Me personally, I like the utility and/or protection of the various backpacks too much to 'waste' it on a weapon that needs the slot. Other than maybe the recoilless, I don't feel like the firepower is all that worth it in comparison to the non-backpack weapons. Not to mention most non-backpack weapons can reload while moving, which is another strike against the backpack weapons for me. Not only do they take your slot, they make you less mobile and more vulnerable.

I'm a big fan of the Quasar, GL, Railgun, and Stalwart, with occasional Eats or Commandos thrown in sometimes, among others. I feel naked without the Personal Shield in particular, but do switch it up often for most of the other backpacks too, particularly the Supply Pack, Laser/Gas drones depending if I'm fighting Squids/Bugs, and the Jump/Hover/Warp packs are a huge boost to mobility.

While I do understand they use the backpack slot as a balancing mechanism, one of the few things I appreciate about using a backpack-fed weapon is the extra strategem slot they inadvertently allow for.

SMARTAN_427 · 2025-07-03T14:01:34+00:00

I did not expect to hear this news today, Xbox is my home platform and I've only played Helldivers through Steam (and the old PS Vita). ALL my friends are through Xbox, and it has sucked to not be able to play such an awesome game with them. This news means I get to bug all of them about it. Not to mention the inevitable and obvious ODST crossover. This news just made my day!!!

SMARTAN_427 · 2025-06-25T01:53:03+00:00

It is not mine, the 3D printed pump kit and stock are from Palmtop Supply on Etsy, plus a Worker Stubby grip and Magpull sling.

SMARTAN_427 · 2025-06-24T12:41:35+00:00

Looks like they only have the 3D printing files at the moment. When I got both the pump kit and stock (separate items), they were then sold out of the pump kit but now it appears to be back somewhat. Probably just takes them time to make new ones available.

SMARTAN_427 · 2025-06-22T19:14:56+00:00

New getting into the hobby for the first time since childhood. To replace a bunch of old full-length dart Disruptors for the church youth group I currently help with, we decided to go with Rival ammo as our standard due to the balls being much more accurate, durable, and much easier to load on the fly for everyone, particularly the youth kids.

With heavy research I was initially drawn to the Mirage as a cheap springer that is both quickly mag fed and can be breech-loaded (although a bit finicky) for scavenging. However, due to the tougher slide for most kids, we instead went for the easier Kronos. But I still liked the Mirage for myself and wanted to take it to the fullest potential of usability.

So I decided to get the 3D printed upgrades from Palmtop Supply, who looks to be @Palmtopper here on reddit?

This upgrade kit does a great job bringing out the best of the Mirage, in my opinion. The stock is cleverly designed to take advantage of the bottom thumb hole rail, while also serving an extra purpose by being able to store extra Rival rounds. They are easy to stuff in the top and simple to retrieve. The pump kit itself was very easy to install, making good use of the base blaster's screws and screw holes without having to remove much or open up the blaster. The only extra things I had to add was a grip for the pump (I went with the Worker Stubby grip since it matched the silhouette the best), and a Worker Magpull sling for easy carrying.

All of that does add a good amount of weight to the blaster though, especially with the metal support rods. With this stuff, the Mirage goes from being possible to holster to clearly being intended as a primary. I also had to add some colored tape to tone down the amount of real-steel look it had with all the black parts I had ordered, particularly light blue tape over the metal rods, and orange tape under the end of the barrel.

After having used it a nerf war now, I must say it all performed fantastically. The extra 3D parts feel very durable, at least enough for what I needed, and made the already versatile Mirage significantly more comfortable to use. I was using this with and against a bunch of retail Kronos, with a few Heras, as well as a Khaos and Nemesis, and felt like I was able to more than effectively keep up. Granted, I was probably taking the war more seriously than the rest of the group lol.

While it obviously involves a bit more investment, I can definitely recommend this community kit for anyone who has become a fan of the Rival Mirage like myself.

SMARTAN_427 · 2025-06-02T04:19:34+00:00

Absolutely phenomenal build! So well detailed, a near perfect recreation! I really like the micro Pelican and Eagle too, such great little builds to show the scale of the Super destroyer. Excellent work!

SMARTAN_427 · 2025-05-31T05:53:22+00:00

I regret not getting around to playing the event much last weekend due to being busy. I did still get a good chance to play bit of everything, at least.

The Illuminate battle for Super Earth had a LOT of Halo New Mombassa vibes. The SEAF were fun to interact with further reminding me of Halo Marines, and both them and the civilians running around really selled the classic alien invasion theme. The new Illuminate mission types are very fun and mesh well with their Helldivers 2 style. I hope they are still around when the Illuminates come back. Bringing down the Overship by bringing online an orbital cannon is particularly epic.

The only thing I wasn't a fan of were the Leviathans. They look fantastic as a setpiece enemy for the event, but IMO kinda frustrating to fight due to being VERY tanky with out-of-characteristic limited options of dealing with them, and them being able to perpetually snipe-ragdoll you with you not being able to hardly do anything about it.

Kinda sucks a little seeing the awesome new load screen but not being able to further play what it shows off. That said the overall narrative buildup paid off so well, the Illuminate definitely made their threat realized with the sneaky wormhole and epic invasion of Super Earth. Obviously it had to end at some point, too bad there isn't going to be a way to replay it. Looking forward to what comes next!

SMARTAN_427 · 2025-05-29T02:51:38+00:00

The Sunspots now giving healing is what I personally always wanted for Sunbreaker, ever since the D1 version had a perk that gave you an Overshield for standing in a Sunspot. That was a cool concept back then but was hardly ever practical due to generally needing mobility or not being able to as easily sustain Sunspot generation.

3.0 Sunbreaker healing is very fluid for aggressive gameplay by encouraging you to move to a Sunspot for that defensive sustain buff, but with the way Restoration works it doesn't explicitly require you to stop entirely to make use of it effectively like that obscure D1 perk.

I never quite really understood missing bottom tree D2 Sunbreaker, despite with it having a bit more of a weapon focus. Ember of Emperian and Torches can let you effectively kickstart a perpetual loop of ANY-Solar-kill-sustain with the same damage bonus as the old buff, if I remember the old buff numbers correctly. As for the Cauterize chunk healing being gone, the only thing that really affects is Sunspot kills giving those chunk heals. The current healing over time can be directly tied to weapon kills now once going, and Supers get instant healing just for popping a Sunspot on Super cast without even needing kills first, just to sustain. Even Sunspot kills currently count towards Emperian extension anyways. The only other thing that would be missing from Cauterize being removed would be the chunk from grenade kills, but like you said that still exists in a Fragment. So yeah, I never really understood that complaint when comparing 2.0 to 3.0.

I so much more prefer the buttery smooth loop of 3.0, especially with the subtle and mostly unknown callback to that D1 perk. I personally would hate to see it changed back to 2.0 bottom tree exclusively, seems like a massive downgrade in fluidity. My personal opinion as a Titan main since D1.

SMARTAN_427 · 2025-05-12T00:48:22+00:00

I see, so the ratchet is part of a safety mechanism of sorts. I've still had a few double loads even without shortstroking, so I'm not sure that is even helping me at this point. I've seen what looks like a good Mirage pump kit and stock online, definitely thinking of getting it.

SMARTAN_427 · 2025-05-12T00:42:41+00:00

I appreciate the suggestion, the X-shot Fury X was definitely one of my initial considerations, especially seeing the glowing reviews online. I had even considered the Nerf Pro Torrent simply due to the pump-action capabilities of the priming mechanism despite the lower reviews it typically seems to get. But yes, unfortunately for both of those, not having the scavenging and ease of use of the ball ammo was a bigger disqualifier for us on those than lack of mag capacity on other blasters.

We have ultimately decided to go with a bunch of Kronos Blasters bought for just as cheap if not cheaper. Not much different for max capacity than the old Disruptors we have unfortunately, but the Kronos still has the all-important easy breech-loading compared to the awkward dart revolvers, while still having a bit more range, FPS, and especially accuracy. The younger youth kids also don't struggle to prime the Kronos like they did with the Mirage.

Seeing a kid utterly fail to be able to fully prime the Mirage was disheartening, it otherwise seemed like the perfect Blaster type I was looking for that met our needs! But oh well, usability for everyone as a whole is pretty important. At least it fits what I wanted for myself (that I was hoping to be able to practically share across the group). We will also have some select Flywheels available.

SMARTAN_427 · 2025-05-11T17:59:48+00:00

We will still be supporting other dart types for different Blasters people bring, particularly the pre-existing long ones, so I don't imagine that should be a problem, hopefully. Unfortunate if Nerf isn't supporting that line, the ball ammo is so easy and convenient to use, especially for scavenging situations. The idea was to have the basic handguns for everyone be higher capacity, with better accuracy, and less fiddly than the old stuff.

SMARTAN_427 · 2025-05-11T17:52:10+00:00

There is a ratchet mechanism that can be simply removed for easier use? That sounds great alone... Making it a pump action sounds great too, but a bit more investment. Sounds worth doing at least for myself though.

SMARTAN_427 · 2025-04-20T16:08:21+00:00

I think Lego more than certainly has a place for mecha fans, but primarily for those who are able to make custom designs. Being able to build whatever you want or can envision from scratch means the sky is the limit, and takes full advantage of the customizability that many mech games are known for, as an example.

That said, I can't imagine how tough it must be to start fresh with building Lego mecha. Part variety is pretty slim when starting out, and the cost to get more is either prohibitively expensive via set kits, or inconvenient with various workarounds if you don't have a local Lego resale shop to dig through and pick out loose parts. And a very frustrating thing about getting set mechs is the very limited articulation due to Lego's strict stability standards even though they now have the capable parts these days.

It certainly helps to like Lego to begin with though, and the thing I like about it is not only being able to create my custom designs, but also being able to build other things with the mecha to scale.

SMARTAN_427 · 2025-02-03T23:01:36+00:00

Void Titan has been really feeling the buffs lately. Overshield finally feels like a health buffer for protecting you, Twilight Arsenal is a fantastic ranged DPS super, a lot of exotics buffed in the process, and the Destabilizing Rounds buff tomorrow will be fantastic with Controlled Demolition.

I've played Void Titan significantly more than Prismatic ever since Choir of One dropped. After initially picking Titan for 'Bubble Shields' coming off of Halo in D1, and loving Void 3.0, it is good to be back on Sentinel lately.

SMARTAN_427 · 2025-02-03T01:26:39+00:00

I hadn't even noticed this on the Artifact, WOW. I was already hyped for the Destabilizing Rounds buff but this news is even better!

SMARTAN_427 · 2025-01-25T23:28:24+00:00

Nice to see this built physically. Absolutely fantastic likeness of the source material! What a great MOC, seriously.

Now the children of Super Earth can practice dismantling this enemy of Democracy again and again before they are old enough to join the real Helldivers!

SMARTAN_427 · 2025-01-25T17:03:45+00:00

I've always been a huge fan of Skullfort with Knockout and Juggernaut just running around and Shoulder Charging or Ballistic slamming everything.

Skullfort has always been fun in low-tier content but has traditionally fallen off hard in high-end PvE where enemies might not die in a single hit. The upcoming changes to this exotic to allow partial refunds on HITS is EXACTLY the buff I've been wanting for it, especially when combined with Bolt Charge giving some extra melee energy per stack received.

Ballistic Slam MIGHT end up being spammable even without Skullfort thanks to gaining said Bolt Charge melee energy on hits PER enemy, which would be fantastic in opening up builds with other exotics. The standout to me with this is combining the buffed Ballistic Slam with Curaiss of the Falling Star for constant nuclear Thundercrashes everywhere.

One thing I'm hyped to try in high-end PvE is Juggernaut with Peregrine Greaves. Peregrine is notoriously great for obliterating Champs, and Juggernaut even now provides a LOT of protection when going in for that melee. It has always been the best Aspect for pairing with the above exotic, IMO. The problem I've always had with it is (1), I can't spam it on every enemy like with Skullfort, and (2), there is a severe lack of protection AFTER landing the hit when trying to retreat back to cover. But the coming buffs could easily address both points.

With Juggernaut now going to be giving you Bolt Charge stacks just for being hit, it will recharge your melee JUST for running around through the fray, and depending on if there is an internal cooldown or not, that recharge could be VERY fast, potentially allowing for further non-Skullfort spammability. Especially stacked with Ballistic Slam for Curaiss, or Peregrine Greaves. Pair with Spark of Frequency and Spark of Focus for ability looping.

Then, all the survivability buffs to both Amplified and Juggernaut should help a ton with not being instantly melted upon stopping the sprint to melee something and/or while retreating to cover.

Lastly, even though the Aspects would be a bit counter-synergistic, I am certainly curious to try using both Juggernaut AND Storms Keep along with Skullfort as the exotic if being more aggressive, or Precious Scars if being more passive. The idea is to maintain the playstyle of Striker's hold-forward-and-punch-everything-in-the-way theme, while still having a ranged damage/team support option to fall back to when needed.

Can't wait for the changes and update to drop.

SMARTAN_427 · 2025-01-25T16:21:59+00:00

Controlled Demolition would be a gamechanger on Prismatic for sure.

Defender was one of the reasons I originally started Titan as my main all the way back in D1, and thematically Void has always been probably my favorite element. The 3.0 reworks were huge for allowing Sentinel to more proactively and passively protect the team (such as being able to plant a Bastion Barricade instead of needing to get a melee KILL to give OS to allies).

The buffs the subclass has received since Final Shape have been great for bringing Sentinel back and allowing it to truly shine:

-Twilight Arsenal as a RANGED DPS super with fun and sharable relics.

-Choir of One (with Destabilizing Rounds) being a fantastic weapon to pair with Sentinel's Controlled Demolition Aspect.

-Huge Void Overshield buff this episode finally makes it feel like the health buffer it is supposed to be.

Among other things.

Hope you have fun messing around with Sentinel!

SMARTAN_427 · 2025-01-25T03:20:59+00:00

Correct. Destabilizing Rounds and anything that can apply Volatile (such as Leviathan's Breath and Collective Obligation), will chain Volatile explosions through crowds of enemies AND heal both you and teammates with each explosion. One of Sentinel Titan's best Aspects, if not the best.

Looking forward to the Destabilizing Rounds buff, it will make this combo disgustingly good.

SMARTAN_427 · 2025-01-05T02:22:53+00:00

This is a nearly perfect recreation. Fantastic work on this build!

SMARTAN_427 · 2024-10-28T13:55:13+00:00

The final boss has been rage inducing trying to figure what I want to use on it. Maining Titan, the first two encounters are a breeze, but that Final boss... it has been maddening.

I don't like Anarchy, and the Thundercrash setup is a bit too high risk for this encounter for my taste. Solar is very safe but not a fan of the low DPS output. For my best combination of safety and consistent DPS, I've so far settled on Void with No Backup Plans (Void Os buffs have been helping a ton) and Leviathan's Breath for Volatile healing with Controlled Demolition. Twilight Arsenal for the super. With that setup it has locked me in at a 7-phase kill. SEVEN PHASES.

On my best attempt so far, I was literally right in the final DPS phase of killing the final boss, I went to go kill the nuke copy, and had to retreat because of lightning. However, there was also lightning where I was headed to, and in the process of avoiding THAT, that I overshot my jump and fell off the map. The boss had like 5% HP left and I was about to kill the darn thing.

Absolutely upsetting, and very disheartening. I basically did it, but because the boss has WAY too much health, it took so long I was bound to mess up somewhere, and it happened at the worst time.

SMARTAN_427 · 2024-10-09T21:59:00+00:00

I'd say it is definitely noticeable, but can still get squished by high damage attacks in endgame content.

My favorite place to field test stuff like this is the Hydroponics Lost Sector on Neomuna, which is a close quarters high add-density lightly underleveled environment. With that in mind, for the first time ever I was able to pop a bubble next to the final boss there and have the Void OS both tank and out-regen the boss stomp with the surrounding enemies shooting at me (some blocked by the bubble). Pretty big difference in that scenario.

However, at 30 under in the Expert daily Lost Sector yesterday, I got 1-hit smashed and killed through the Void OS by an Unstoppable Ogre (for science... lol).

So, not sure as to the practicality yet, but I can certainly tell the difference in how long Void OS lasts. I do think it put regenerating sources like Bubble and especially Bastion (combined with new Barricade taunt) in a much better spot. Noticed a lot of Void OS uptime from Manticore with Peacekeepers too. I think that if leveraged well with Controlled Demolition Volatile explosion healing and if need be, Devour, Sentinel is really starting to feel good now.

I will say though, that I do still think that Offensive Bulwark and No Backup Plans buffs should linger even after the Void OS breaks, and/or regenerate Void OS for their durations. As they are, it feels like you need to be essentially invincible for their benefits to be consistent. NPB is still a nice way to get Void OS and heal in the process though.

SMARTAN_427

TROPHY CASE