So, when you're about to drop what do you take & why... obviously it matters how rough the planet's going to be and what's there (illuminates, bugs, or borgs). I'm about thirty hours in and generally play on difficulty 10-12 missions now, so I've got a better idea than before of just how bad things can get. First things first:

AR-22C Patriot: Okay not a strategem, but this is a gun I love since it handles like a better Liberator about 90% of the time. Not as accurate but the bigger magazine and faster fire rate make it good for just about anything that's not covered in armor.

Alright, now some of what generally stands out (at least to me):

• Obliterator Grenade Launcher: I think this is my favorite heavy weapon in the game. It really does what it says, and fully upgraded you get a ton of firepower per reload to clear waves of reinforcements. It shoots over hills, it lights things on fire when fully upgraded, and it's got pretty great range to boot.
• Anti-Tank Mines: You get 10 uses on a short cooldown and they really end threats before they begin. When upgraded even tanks aren't safe. They can't get surrounded or sniped in short order like turrets; the only way those mines go away is by blowing up (or, sometimes, glitches) which is usually a good thing
• Incendiary Strike: Short cooldown with fire that lasts a long time, this is great for sealing areas off like narrow canyons. One downside is that the enemy is generally smart enough to avoid walking into the fire once its there, but then it becomes a great way to get some space between you and the enemy
• Triple Thunderer Barrage: More than anything else this has caused a ton of accidentals, and the cooldown is long, but it's insanely powerful and lasts a long time so it's great to lock down an area while your team focuses elsewhere. Huge radius too, but a bad throw = everyone's dead unless they run
• LIFT-850 Jump Pack: This seemed kinda boring initially, but it probably makes you more survivable than any other stratagem in the game if used right. Charging bugs, cyborg gunfire, and just general illuminate bullshit? Just GTFO and shoot from a better position. It's also fun as hell to use and there's 2 per stratagem

There's a bunch of great no-brainer things like ammo, the recoilless rifle, and the cannon APC which are fantastic in their own right too. Now this said, there are other things I had trouble with:

• Light Machine Gun: Carrying a big gun is awesome but the competition for the 2nd weapon is too tough for this to be a solid choice, I find. It's pretty great when fully upgraded but it will never match the Obliterator at a distance, and ultimately it only does the same thing as a main weapon, only better
• Strafing Run: It's got a super short cooldown and infinite uses but there are two problems: it doesn't actually kill that much, and it doesn't last very long meaning its hard to use it exactly when needed. Gotta say this is one of the most disappointing red stratagems I put points into, a shame since it sounds awesome
• Sentry Turret: I used to love this but problems keep occurring which make it harder and harder to use. It gets sniped offscreen by some enemies, especially Illuminates, meaning you gotta babysit the gun. It's also easily killed, especially by friendly fire (often to defend the turret)
• EAT-17: These disposable rocket launchers just never seem to be enough when serious amounts of armor show up. I ended up taking them for a long time but people rarely grab them if there's a recoilless rifle (which is way more powerful anyway) or they already have some other secondary.
• The Mech: This will be controversial but I'm not a fan of these things. They've got firepower but they're slow and the friendly fire potential is huge. It's also not terribly responsive at dealing with patrols before they alert the rest of the map. They're decent in a defense but I don't like them anywhere else.

So yeah, what do you guys think of your favorite and least favorite weapons/stratagems?

For Bugs

• Stratagem Priority
• LAS-16 ' Sickle'
• MLS-4X 'Commando'
• 1x Resupply
• 1x Shredder
• 1x Hellfire

For Cyborg

• Displacement Field
• AR-20L 'Justice'
• MLS-4X 'Commando'
• 1x Resupply
• 1x Shredder
• 1x Distractor Beacon

For Illuminate

• Displacement Field
• AR-20L 'Justice'
• 3x EXO-44 'Stomper' Exosuit
• 1x REP-80

The Illuminate loadout might look foolish to some but I've found that as long as you can avoid getting one-shotted by Illuminate (the Exosuit prevents this), they are incredibly easy to take out. Everything, even Illusionists can be killed with the Exosuit chaingun and with a REP-80 to heal yourself and your group, 2-3 Exosuits lasts an entire Lvl 12 mission. Depending on the mission and what others are bringing I'll sometimes sub a Shredder for the 3rd Exosuit. Only time this loadout fails me is when teammates lollygag and fight enemies between objectives. My friend and I consistently complete Lvl 12 missions against Illuminate just the two of us with both of us running mostly Exosuits.

I generally like to have the Shredder missile because it's much faster than than the Hellbomb, more versatile and has multiple uses. I'll sub it out if someone is bringing an APC or HAV though as they're even faster for AA/Bug Hives and the like. Hellfire is great for cutting off pursuers behind you or limiting the number or sides from which you can be attacked while defending or capturing.

I like the Commando over the recoilless rifle as the Commando can take out up to 2 tanks without reload while the recoilless rifle is anywhere from 2-4 shots to take out 2 tanks. I can't say definitively that it also reloads faster than the RR, but empirically that has been my observation.

I've used the LIFT extensively and it's generally great but I always like to be prepared for tanks since randoms rarely seem to be and you can't carry RR or Commando + LIFT.

I haven't used Anti-Tank Mines much or even seen them used much but the few times I have seen it, people drop them way too close to objectives leaving the group too little room to maneuver IMO.

Bumping because this is a great thread. I slept on Helldivers for like the first three weeks it was out but I've been having tons of fun with it.

I wrote some stuff. Also Cyborg Homeworld invasion going on if people aren't aware.

@fredchuckdave: Wow, awesome list... got any thoughts on ranking strategems in a similar way?

I recently saw someone use the distractor beacons to incredible effect on a few hell dives, making me think it's probably the one of the - if not THE - most powerful stratagems in the game

EDIT: Nevermind, saw you had it linked at the bottom of that post. I don't use reddit often...

When in doubt, take some airstrikes, rail cannon, stasis field, and maybe anti tank mines.

I ussually let my strategem gear depend on what the rest of the team is bringing and don't usually bring backpacks, Mechs or strat weapons, me and one of my buddies have a pretty good thing going with me lugging around the support kit and quickly reloading him watching his back while he shoots and calling in ammo.

as for main weapons and perks

Bugs: LAS-16 Sickle

probably with either the injector or strategem priority depending on what I bring

Cyborgs: AR-20L Justice

displacement field/injector or strategem priority

Illuminate: AR-20 Justice (shot gun is also good for these guys, but you go through ammo quick if the rest of your team isn't taking out the scouts fast enough)

strategem priority, maybe a heavymachine gun for the floaty chair guys (usually not neccesary if the team concentrates fire on them). I will however bring the bubble shield backpack as it seems to prevent getting you controls inverted by the chair guys, if I'm not on reload duty that is.

Anyway I've had a blast playing this game, Bloodborne is eating into it a bit now but plan to keep up playing for a while.

Also anyone have any special loadout for snow maps?