To aid our heroic Helldivers, the Ministry of Science is disseminating this spreadsheet of the damage of every weapon versus every enemy. The information comes from careful laboratory testing and is verified by field experiments. No Helldivers were killed during the creation of this report, but many enemies of Democracy were!

All weapon damage & breakpoints[docs.google.com]

Last reviewed by the Ministry of Science on: 9/18/24
Last updated by the Ministry of Science on: 9/18/24 (Breakpoints updated for the patch of many buffs. Some of the text in the guide still needs updating.)

This report is considered "CLASSIFIED MATERIALS" as per section 3.1 of your contract with Super Earth Armed Forces(SEAF). It is TS//Helldiver eyes only. Sharing this report on Discord to impress non-Helldivers could cause exceptionally grave damage to Liberty.

The spreadsheet provides the damage of each weapon versus a representative selection of targets on difficulty 10. The breakpoints tab tells you how many shots it takes to kill the target.

At longer ranges, the damage from most weapons falls off. For the vast majority of situations the damage fall off will not change the breakpoints listed in the spreadsheet. The breakpoints already assume 1 point of damage is lost to fall off.

Explosions do reduced damage if the target is farther away from the center of the explosion. The damage calculations assume maximum damage from explosions.

The shotgun breakpoints are listed per pellet. The number of pellets fired is listed in parentheses after the weapon's name. For example, the Punisher(9) fires 9 pellets per shot.

The spreadsheet is for the highest difficulty, Super Helldive. When playing on lower difficulties some enemies are replaced with versions that have less hp and need fewer shots. The Hunter and Bile Spewer are the main examples.

The JAR-5 Dominator is grouped with the battle rifles instead of the explosive weapons because the Ministry of Science uses the Cutter Firearm Classification system rather than SEAF's Dewey Decimation system.

General Brasch here.

I see these eggheads have written a long report about your weapons without addressing the most important question every Helldiver wants to know!

"What weapon would General Brasch use?"

The Dominator is the highest dps primary weapon against medium armor targets. It fires faster and reloads faster than the Slugger. It hits harder than the Diligence Counter Sniper, while having just as many rounds per magazine. It can kill Hunters in one body shot. Its high recoil and poor turn speed must be managed. Armor with Peak Physique will help.

The Scorcher's explosive damage makes it the highest dps primary against durable enemies by far. Durable enemies includes: Bile Spewers, Chargers, Tank vents and Factory Strider Miniguns. Like the Dominator it can kill Hunters in one body shot, while other battle rifles need two shots.

The Breaker is the highest dps primary weapon in the game against light armor targets. The Breaker can tear through Brood Commanders, Hunter packs and Berserker packs with ease. However, due to pellet spread and damage fall off, it is not effective against distant targets.

The fire dot is too small to be effective against large enemies but is sufficient to kill small enemies like Hunters in a reasonable time frame. Only one pellet needs to hit to inflict the fire dot, so the Incendiary Breaker is effective at much longer ranges than the normal Breaker Shotgun.

Now report to your Hellpod soldier! Wars are won by fighters like you and me! Not by eggheads.

General Brasch, over and out!

This section will explain how damage is calculated. It is only necessary for Helldivers with a curiosity score that is above average, but below the treasonous level. If you do not know your curiosity score your Democracy officer can administer the test.

To calculate damage there are three main steps:

1. Weapon penetration verse target armor
   
2. Target's Durability factor
   
3. Explosive damage (if any)

This essentially amounts to a Go/No-Go test. If the weapon has enough penetration you do damage. If not, it does nothing and deflects. This is why weapons like the Liberator Assault Rifle can't damage Charger heads.

• AP > armor: Red hitmarker - 100% damage
  
• AP == armor: White hitmarker - 50% damage
  
• AP < armor: Deflect hitmarker - 0% damage

Weapons all have two damage numbers, normal damage and durable damage. The former is what you see in the game menu.

Durable damage is always less than or equal to normal damage. Most weapons do significantly less durable damage than normal damage. Anti-Tank weapons (like the Recoilless Rifle) have durable damage equal to their normal damage.

Enemy parts each have a durability factor which determines if they take the weapon's normal damage or durable damage. For example:

• A Warrior has 0 durable: takes all of the normal damage
  
• A Bile Titan has 1 durable: takes all of the durable damage
  
• A Brood Lord has 0.6 durable: takes 40% of the normal damage and 60% of the durable damage

Some weapons (like the Scorcher and Autocannon) do projectile damage and explosive damage. For most enemies explosive damage is only taken to their torso. This prevents the explosive damage from being double counted by applying to their head and their torso.

This is why the 140 damage Counter Sniper can kill Devastators in one headshot but the Scorcher can not. The Scorcher has a 100 damage projectile and a 100 damage explosion, but the explosive damage is not applied to the Devastator's head.

There are a few enemies which are exceptions to this. They will be discussed the enemy specific section below.

The Fire damage over time (dot) is 50 normal damage and 25 durable damage per second. Because Dots damage the main health pool and do not stack, they are only effective against smaller enemies.

How long it takes for different enemies to burn to death:

• Scavenger: ~1.5 seconds
  
• Hunter: ~3.5 seconds
  
• Warrior: ~5 seconds
  
• Automaton Infantry: ~2 seconds

Weapons like the Laser Cannon, Scythe, and Dagger have their breakpoints listed in 0.1 seconds. A breakpoint of 4 means it takes 0.4 seconds of continuous fire to kill the target. All of these weapons have a 0.45 second wind up time.

Charging this weapon in unsafe mode provides up to a 50% increase in damage and armor penetration. You get the full 50% bonus right as the weapon is about to explode. The +20% entry represents a slightly charged shot, while the +40% entry represents a greatly charged shot.

These sentries do the same damage per shot. The Gatling Sentry fires much faster.

When you shot an enemy you will either hit their main health pool (usually their torso) or one of their body parts (such as their head or leg).

The main health pool, and each body part, has its own armor rating and durability factor which are used to calculate how much damage is dealt.

Body parts (but not the main health pool) can be explosive immune, which means any explosive damage the part takes is ignored. For most enemies, every body part is explosive immune. This means only their main health pool takes explosive damage, instead of explosive damage being double counted for hitting multiple body parts.

If you do enough damage to the enemy's main health pool, they die. If you damage a part instead, you can break that part. Some parts (like most heads) kill the enemy when they break.

For example, A Warrior has 250 main health, but its head only has 110 health. This is why it is easier to kill Warriors by shooting their head.

The following sections will discuss the way each enemy uses this health system.

This section provides additional context on what each body part means.

These enemies have 80 and 90 health respectively. Any weapon will kill them in one headshot.

Shoot them in their head. Once it breaks they will die after a short period of time.

Any weapon will kill them in one headshot. Hitting their limbs instead of their body will increase the shots needed to kill them by 1. The Anti-Material Rifle and Autocannon are capable killing Hunters in one limb shot.

The face is the section of the Hive Guard with heaver armor. Unlike Warrior heads, Hiv Guard heads do not disappear when broken. The Hive Guard will die after a short period of time once its head is broken.

Shoot them in their head. Once it breaks they will die after a short period of time.

The spreadsheet does not list the Nursing Spewer because anything that is effective against the Bile Spewer also works against the Nursing Spewer.

The butt and plate refer to the rear sac area of the Spewer. The Spewer dies if the butt, plate, or head is killed.

The Bile Spewer is one of the few enemies that can take extra damage from explosions. It has 750 main health but can almost be killed by a single 400 damage Impact Grenade. This happens because its butt and plate parts are not immune to explosions.

When you throw a 400 damage Impact Grenade at it, it takes 400 damage to its main health pool. 400 damage to its butt, which also deals ~240 to the main health pool. And 400 damage to its plate, which deals ~80 damage to the main health pool. 400 + 240 + 80 = 720, just shy of the 750 needed.

If you break the head, the Charger will die immediately.

If you break the leg part listed in the spreadsheet, it will be replaced with an unarmored leg that can easily be killed by any weapon. When the unarmored leg dies, the Charger dies.

If you break the rear, the Charger will bleed out after a short period of time.

The Behemoth functions similarly to the Charger, except it has more health. It is better to go for its leg than its head.

The breakpoints tab says you need two shots from the Recoilless Rifle, EAT, or Quasar to break the leg because it is accounting for damage fall off. However, there is a way to break the leg in one shot. Be moving toward the Behemoth as you fire.

Ministry of Science biologists and physicists disagree if this is due to a genetic mutation in the Behemoth or a side effect of turning Meridia into a Black Hole. They agree that the effect is very wierd.

When the Impaler sends it tentacles underground it exposes its unarmored, but durable, head. If you try to run away the tentacles will chase you. Instead try to put as much damage on the head to kill it.

The Bile Titan is complex with many parts that are not listed in the spreadsheet.

In general you want to fire your anti-Tank weapons at its head or butt. The Bile Titan's butt refers to its armored tail. You must hit the top side of the tail, as the bottom side of the tail is the belly.

If you do not have anti-Tank weapons you can shot the sacs and then try to damage the belly. However, killing a Bile Titan via its belly is often infeasible.

If your anti-Tank weapons miss the head or tail, they will damage the Titan's main health pool, which is 3500. The Bile Titan's legs have higher armor and take half damage from anti-Tank weapons.

The Bile Titan is one of the few enemies that can take extra damage from explosions. Its legs, sacs, torso, and other parts are not immune to explosives. However, the only explosions in the game with enough armor piercing to damage those parts are the Orbital Precision Strike and the 500kg bomb.

Each of these stratagems only does 1000 or 1200 damage, but is able to kill a 3500 health Bile Titan by hitting multiple parts and triple counting the explosive damage.

Their head is much more vulnerable than their body, but it can be tricky to hit such a tiny target.

This section provides additional context on what each body part means.

The basic infantry of the Automaton faction. They have 100 health. Any weapon will kill them in a single headshot.

Shoot them in their head. The berserker heads have 150 health while shooting them in their body or legs requires dealing 1000 damage.

The driver has the same stats as the basic infantry. Explosions can often kill the driver without having to damage the vehicle.

The chest, pelvis, and leg each have their own health pools, but killing any one of them will kill the Devastator.

Devastators are one of the few enemies that can take extra damage from explosions. This happens because its arms are not immune to explosions.

Cannon Tower and Tank Turrets all use the same stats.

Most support weapons can kill Hulks by shooting them in their eye. A stun grenade can make it much easier to land the shot.

The most effective way to deal with these enemies is usually to destroy the two miniguns on its chin and then run under the Strider and shoot its belly. If it's too dangerous to get underneath the Strider you can shoot the eye slit.

Shoot them in a single engine (aka thruster).