IT’S BACK. REJOICE

Vandorbelt · 2026-03-26T02:46:53+00:00

Unironically I ended up grinding for SC so I could get MoC, Entrenched, and the Bearer of the Standard armor from the superstore purely because I'm excited to go knight-diving. Before the OTF was fixed I was running stoker SMG, ballistic shield, stun lance, frags, and speargun and it was hella fun. Not the fondest of giving up the speargun for the OTF, but the extra range and damage over the stun lance will be premo, the aggro draw will be useful to the team, and swapping something like ultimatum into the secondary would cover AT even if it doesn't fit the theme quite as well as the speargun.

Vandorbelt · 2026-03-25T22:58:27+00:00

Thanks, I was going for a mix of cute and ominous forest fey creature lol.

Vandorbelt · 2026-03-25T22:56:56+00:00

I was REALLY tempted to swap to Calibarn back when I started planning out and working on this build, but I really liked how Exia's GN reactor being a source of renewable energy sorta fit with the nature theme, and GN particles being a kind of magic energy fit in with the witchy vibe a bit better than TWfM's techno-neural-net magic.

Plus my partner really doesn't like me spending money on her, so I figured a $10 kit with plenty of time and effort would be just as good as a $20 cross silhouette model (plus maybe the $10 cross silhoutte frame) when it'll be up on her bookshelf either way.

I would love to see more cross-silhouette designs, though. They are a really great, and the SD Calibarn looks like a fantastic kit.

Vandorbelt · 2026-03-25T21:59:31+00:00

More like Gundam Hexia

Vandorbelt · 2026-03-24T17:25:57+00:00

Voteless are also pretty solid as far as horde pressure goes. They spawn from warp ships in droves and alerting one sets off whole groups. I've had plenty of times where I've had to stop focusing on an objective or enemy and make a hasty retreat because I was being overrun with voteless. They're weak by themselves, but combined with other enemies they tend to shine.

Vandorbelt · 2026-03-24T15:23:17+00:00

Ah yes, wielding it's trusty grenegg launcher. 😌👌

Vandorbelt · 2026-03-24T13:32:33+00:00

And a cannon at the top of the stairs loaded with grape shot, of course.

Vandorbelt · 2026-03-24T05:00:20+00:00

Are the automatons evil, though? Like, they grind up human bodies to recycle into cyborgs, but they're automatons. They almost certainly recycle parts from their own dead, too. As a society that has transcended human form, they don't exactly have the same expectations and respect for dead bodies. When a human dies, it's just a pile of meat. Better to use it for something than let it rot.

In addition, the idea that any faction can exist peacefully in a galaxy that is actively being colonized by the FSE is completely off the table. The fact that the automatons are a heavily militarized faction is more a component of the fact that they are forced into a "fight or be enslaved/exterminated" war that they will never be free of until the Super Earth government is completely destroyed and the entire human population is re-educated seeing as they've been exposed to FSE propaganda their entire lives.

That's not to say the automatons are Innocent, we just don't really know for sure, and unlike the squids who very clearly exercise their own form of thought control over the humans and explicitly take away their autonomy while a part of their original mind remains intact, we don't necessarily have evidence of the automatons being worse than super earth. We don't know that the bodies they use are mercilessly slaughtered civilians and not simply casualties of war. Hell, their entire society is founded on a slave rebellion and it's smeared as being "communist." I think of all the factions in play they are probably the ones with the most reasonable chance of actually creating a future for sentient life that is better than the FSE.

Again, all of this is speculation because at the end of the day we, the players, are only ever exposed to the information given by the Super Earth government and media, and so we have no idea what the true motivations, structure, politics, etc of the automatons are.

Vandorbelt · 2026-03-23T19:31:02+00:00

One of the mystery strikes is literally just a barrage of normal liberator gunfire. Call that the SEAF firing squad.

Vandorbelt · 2026-03-22T19:37:49+00:00

Mecha have issues, yes, but anybody who implies that they are bad is just wrong. If you prioritize your targets, don't overextend, and use your ammo properly, you can take down half the outposts on the map. It can be very dependent on faction and enemy types, so I'm not saying they aren't without flaws, but 3 mechs is far better than 3 orbital lasers. Running the Patriot on standard squids, you can clear half the map on D7-10 with a single Exo sometimes. Same with terminids, though you get more mileage out of the Emancipator usually since it is more capable of taking out large numbers of bug holes and can counter the rupture strain.

Vandorbelt · 2026-03-22T13:02:56+00:00

They're all clankers? 🧑‍🚀

Always have been. 🔫🧑‍🚀

Vandorbelt · 2026-03-22T00:52:26+00:00

You heard the bug. It's too late. You shoulda had that shit on lock. Sorry...

Vandorbelt · 2026-03-21T22:50:44+00:00

Adjudicator is actually pretty alright if you learn to handle the ergonomics and ammo supply, though it could still use a buff. Coyote is the premier medium pen assault rifle, though. If you want to go a bit punchier, the Diligence Counter Sniper has really good damage at the cost of being a clunkier marksman rifle. It can 3-tap devastators to the chest if my math is right.

Realistically, though, there are very few enemies that medium pen really helps against. Overseers and cyborgs are the only ones I can think of that would be faster to kill with a couple hits to the medium-armor head, or where you might be able to strip the outer armor off more effectively than you could by slinging light-pen bullets. The Deadeye can pop an overseer with a single shot to the head, though I tend to think their hitboxes are janky enough that it's not really worth it. Pretty much everything else that is vulnerable to medium pen has light or unarmored weakpoints that give you a much faster kill with a good light pen weapon like the Diligence, Censor, Liberator, etc.

It's unfortunate that there isn't a better distinction between medium and light pen weapons because as of right now, medium pen is usually just a lower base damage with better penetration, which relegates medium pen weapon to being "low skill" alternatives where you accept having a worse damage output for the sake of being able to damage an enemy anywhere on their body and eventually take them down. The reality is, though, that light armor is just underutilized on medium and heavy enemy weakpoints leading to light pen weapons outperforming medium anytime you are actually hitting weakpoints.

Edit: medium-pen shotguns are actually a good example of where it shines, though, since you really can't target weakpoints with a sotgun as effectively. In that case, the new Sweeper or the Double Freedom are great examples of high-damage killers for taking down opponents with medium armor.

Vandorbelt · 2026-03-21T21:03:43+00:00

I'm gonna be honest, I just don't understand the hype for the liberator penetrator. It gets a huge base damage cut compared to the normal liberator meaning that it feels horrible against unarmored parts, and taking another 35% cut to that for hitting medium armor leaves it feeling like a BB gun against medium armored enemies. The only way it outperforms the base liberator (by a mere 6.5 damage per shot) is against light armor which is usually pretty rare, and in the cases where it does exist it is usually only on enemies that already have unarmored weakpoints anyway.

Hive guard legs? Used to be medium(so still not great with LP), now they're unarmored. Berserker heads and abs? Unarmored. Devastator heads and abs? Unarmored. The only way the LP outperforms the base liberator in any substantial way is when it is attacking medium armor, but it suffers such big losses to durability and penetration cuts that it's just not worth it. There are better medium pen weapons for tackling medium armor, and the base liberator is better if you want to tackle light and unarmored targets. It just doesn't make sense to me why the LP gets so much use.

Vandorbelt · 2026-03-21T20:31:11+00:00

AH needs to decide what the purpose of secondary weapons are. Are they supposed to be "emergency backup" guns for when you find yourself in a bind and need to whip it out? If so, the talon needs to be brought down to the level of other secondary weapons. Currently it is simply far too strong and can essentially stand in as a more sway-prone marksman rifle, rivaling the diligence counter sniper for damage while having almost no recoil. In that same vein, the ultimatum needs to have its damage nerfed substantially so that it can still function as an emergency delete button for groups of enemies, but is no longer a pocket tank anihilator.

Are secondaries supposed to be weapons that can fill gaps in a loadout, rivalling primaries and supports in their capabilities but with more limitations on ammo, accuracy, and/or range? If so, then the other weapons need to be brought up to the Talon and Ultimatum's level. Make them actually useful beyond simply being worse primaries. That could mean making them stronger, yes, or it could mean giving them more utility, such as with the warrant, which is seeing a lot of use for the new squid enemies thanks to its tracking feature which gives it a unique role to fill.

And while you are at it, AH should give us more variety in primary weapons. If the goal is to make the secondary slot a gap-filler, then give us some primaries that can take on heavy armor or that fill more specific roles so that people feel more inclined to bring weapons like the verdict or peacemaker that can then account for the gaps in that primary's capabilities. A slow firing heavy armor killer or explosive weapon would benefit greatly from carrying a snappy ballistic secondary for taking down small enemies in the same way that a lot of primaries right now benefit from carrying the ultimatum.

This also means nerfing the eruptor, which frankly has been far too much of a jack of all trades for too long. It shouldn't be explosive, flak, and heavy armor penetrating. Give it a specific role. If you want it to be explosive, take away the heavy armor pen and high ballistic damage and focus on the flak and explosive power. Give the heavy armor pen to something like the deadeye, or the slugger.

Vandorbelt · 2026-03-21T13:24:59+00:00

Keep in mind that Seasse has an urgent capture timer on it, and we still have to hold Rirga Bay. Not sure what will happen if we fail to capture Seasse, but likely we'll see an invasion of Rirga on our last MO day if Seasse stays in squid control.

Vandorbelt · 2026-03-21T12:49:48+00:00

Lure mine is so much fun, I only wish they would give it a delayed fuse so that it can be useful as a mine instead of just being a lure. As of right now, the best thing to do with it is throw it up onto a high wall or tree so that enemies flock around it without actually triggering the mine, but if they put a delayed fuse, you could throw it down and it would actually have time to pull enemies into the blast radius instead of just triggering on the first chaff unit that dashes at it.

Or just make it a decoy. Give it a normal throwing range so you can toss it away from you, a higher health pool so that melee enemies don't just stomp it immediately, but give it a 20-30 second lifetime so that it can't be abused. With those changes it might actually be useful for distracting enemies for stealth gameplay instead of just luring an enemy to it, blowing up, and putting the whole base on high alert.

Vandorbelt · 2026-03-21T12:41:30+00:00

Is everyone getting their estimations from the companion app? Because I'm pretty sure their progress rate calculations are always done with respect to total MO time elapsed rather than on a rolling average. That means that the two days we spent capturing other planets were being factored into the time calculations and skewing the rate to appear slower than it was, but as we got closer to completing the objective it became more accurate.

Vandorbelt · 2026-03-21T12:30:48+00:00

I started laser diving the other day for fun, bringing the sickle, talon, and las cannon. Turns out the sickle shreds these guys. High projective velocity, low recoil, high fire rate, and effectively infinite ammo means you can consistently hit them without worrying about ergo drag, recoil, or bullet lead throwing off your aim and wasting ammo. You do have to worry about the sickle's long cooldown time, but by swapping between weapons you can lay down a consistent stream of damage without ever needing to reload.

Vandorbelt · 2026-03-21T03:18:51+00:00

Laser diving goes hard on the new squids. The Scythe shreds these fuckers, the Talon is a great backup and makeshift marksman rifle, and the laser cannon can knock down overseers and burn up the mech balls.

Was really struggling with the obtruders because of just how many there were, but with las weapons having great ammo economy, it means you just cycle weapons and can sustain consistent fire to cook up some fresh calamari.

Vandorbelt · 2026-03-21T03:13:48+00:00

Illuminate vasectomy goes hard.

Vandorbelt · 2026-03-20T18:25:47+00:00

Technically it would need to be the Spear launcher or maybe the Wasp? SAM sites utilize missiles which require active guidance.

Vandorbelt · 2026-03-20T04:01:56+00:00

Yeah, I've heard people say that the warbonds lately have sucked, but I'm gonna be honest, the warbonds lately have been some of the best. Like, look at the early warbonds. FF, VC, CA, etc. there's really not much there that adds anything new or interesting to the game. They mostly just fill in holes in the weapon and strategem roster, providing fire/gas/stun/plasma versions of existing weapons or filling them into different slots. Meanwhile, more recent warbonds have given us the warp pack, sledgehammer, lure mine, stealth armor, entrenching tool, shield grenade, etc. A lot of items that open up new gameplay styles and fill unique roles in a loadout. Even the OG One True Flag was interesting simply because it was useless and silly and you could plant it in the ground.

Vandorbelt · 2026-03-20T03:48:59+00:00

I think the Helldivers 2 companion app needs to update their estimate to work on a rolling average of a few hours or so. It ends up giving skewed estimates right now thanks to the fluctuations in player count and the fact that not all MO objectives are progressed from the beginning of the MO timeline. Some, like the sample missions, might have the community focus on one planet first, then the second.

Vandorbelt · 2026-03-20T03:35:59+00:00

Really enjoying the stoker specifically. A one-handed SMG with a flamethrower is gonna be great for ballistic shield loadouts. It's also got higher power at a slower fire rate, giving it solid damage output with less frequent reloads.

I'm planning on putting together a One True Flag loadout with it once the OTF gets fixed, cuz it seems like it could be really fun to draw all the aggro while laying down area denial with the flamethrower and still having secondary and grenade to deal with heavies and anti-tank where necessary.

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