All Stratagems in Helldivers 2 (& How to Get Them)

Death from above.

In Helldivers 2, success in your celestial missions is largely dependent on strategic use of Stratagems. These are combat aids sent from your Destroyer ship orbiting the planet where you’re executing your mission. Here, we’ll explore all the Stratagems available in Helldivers 2, their functionalities, and ways to unlock them. We’ve also updated this guide to answer which we consider the best Stratagems in the game. Also, you can view our list of codes to use the Stratagems to compliment this guide.

Stratagems in Helldivers 2

Stratagems are categorized into six major types, each enhancing different aspects of your battlefield prowess:

Patriotic Administration Centre: This category includes heavy and potent weaponry.
Orbital Cannons: Offers heavy artillery support from your orbiting Destroyer.
Hangar: Provides explosive power and enhanced mobility.
Bridge: Deals with elemental damage.
Engineering Bay: Outfits you with offensive and defensive gear.
Robotics Workshop: Grants access to Sentry turrets.

You can customize your Stratagem loadout using the Ship Management console aboard the Destroyer. Four consoles are provided, enabling all players to choose and unlock their preferred Stratagems. After selecting your Stratagems, they can be confirmed at your loadout post-operation selection.

Stratagems are unlocked as you gain experience and level up by achieving Helldivers 2 operations. Each unlock also comes with a credit cost, which you can cover by completing additional operations and Orders.

Patriotic Administration Centre Stratagems

Stratagem	Description	Unlock Requirements
Machine Gun	A potent machine gun capable of eliminating lower-tiered enemies with a single shot	Unlocked at level one
Anti-Material Rifle	A sniper rifle with immense power against light armor. Requires aiming down sights to use	Unlocked at level two and costs 5000 credits
Stalwart	A machine gun with a large magazine and easy operation	Unlocked at level two and costs 3500 credits
Expendable Anti-Tank	A single-use rocket launcher designed for destroying armor	Unlocked at level three and costs 3000 credits
Recoilless Rifle	A reloadable rocket launcher effective against armored aliens	Unlocked at level five
Flamethrower	A weapon that sets enemies and the environment ablaze. Be careful as it can ignite teammates too. Suitable for close-range combat	Unlocked at level 10
Autocannon	A fully-automatic cannon effective against armored targets	Unlocked at level 10
Railgun	Comes equipped with charged armor-piercing shots	Unlocked at level 20
Spear	A homing missile that requires lock onto armored targets	Unlocked at level 20

Orbital Cannons Stratagems

Stratagem	Description	Unlock Requirements
Orbital Gatling Barrage	Fires multiple high-explosive rounds from the Destroyer	Unlocked at level two and costs 1500 credits
Orbital Airburst Strike	Releases shrapnel rounds from orbit capable of eliminating multiple low-level enemies simultaneously	Unlocked at level five
Orbital 120MM HE Barrage	A small but powerful missile capable of wiping out groups of enemies	Unlocked at level five
Orbital 380MM HE Barrage	Unleashes multiple airstrikes over a vast radius	Unlocked at level eight
Orbital Walking Barrage	A moving barrage with multiple artillery strikes following one after another	Unlocked at level 10
Orbital Laser	A laser that targets enemies within its attack radius	Unlocked at level 15
Orbital Railcannon Strike	A potent strike that targets the largest enemy closest to the beacon	Unlocked at level 20

Hangar Stratagems

Stratagem	Description	Unlock Requirements
Eagle Strafing Run	A fast-shooting artillery attack effective against smaller enemies	Unlocked at level two and costs 1500 credits
Eagle Airstrike	A sequence of bombs detonated in a row, not specific to enemy targets	Unlocked at level two and costs 4000 credits
Eagle Cluster Bomb	A small airstrike capable of eliminating smaller enemies	Unlocked at level three and costs 4000 credits
Eagle Napalm Airstrike	Deploys napalm bombs creating a wall of fire	Unlocked at level five
Jump Pack	Charge the Jump Pack to leap over armored enemies and walls and avoid incoming damage from nearby enemies	Unlocked at level eight
Eagle Smoke Strike	Deploys multiple smoke grenades that obscure enemies’ line of sight, allowing for repositioning and ambushing	Unlocked at level eight
Eagle 110MM Rocket Pods	A small cluster of bombs that target the largest enemy nearest to the beacon	Unlocked at level 10
Eagle 500KG Bomb	A large bomb that destroys anything within its blast radius	Unlocked at level 15

Bridge Stratagems

Stratagem	Description	Unlock Requirements
Orbital Precision Strike	A single precision shot delivered from above	Unlocked at level one
Orbital Gas Strike	Shoots a projectile that releases corrosive gas	Unlocked at level three and costs 4000 credits
Orbital EMS Strike	Stuns and halts enemy movements with an electrical blast field	Unlocked at level five
Orbital Smoke Strike	Creates a smoke screen, reducing enemies’ line of sight	Unlocked at level eight
HMG Emplacement	A manned and stationary turret that rotates slowly but delivers high power with each shot	Unlocked at level 10
Shield Generator Relay	Deploys an energy shield	Unlocked at level 10
Tesla Tower	An electric pylon that shocks nearby enemies	Unlocked at level 15

Engineering Bay Stratagems

Stratagem	Description	Unlock Requirements
Anti-Personnel Minefield	A stationary structure that deploys minefields in a large surrounding radius	Unlocked at level two and costs 1500 credits
Supply Pack	A backpack that provides ammunition to other Helldivers	Unlocked at level three and costs 4000 credits
Grenade Launcher	A grenade launcher effective against low-level enemies	Unlocked at level five
Laser Cannon	Fires a continuous beam that can overheat	Unlocked at level five
Incendiary Mines	Another structure that deploys mines within its radius with incendiary effects	Unlocked at level eight
“Guard Dog” Rover	A drone equipped with a laser rifle	Unlocked at level 10
Ballistic Shield Backpack	A shield effective against small incoming damage	Unlocked at level 12
Arc Thrower	A weapon that fires an arc of lightning, effective only at close range	Unlocked at level 15
Shield Generator Pack	A shield that protects the Helldiver from projectiles	Unlocked at level 20

Robotics Workshop Stratagems

Stratagem	Description	Unlock Requirements
Machine Gun Sentry	A machine gun turret	Unlocked at level three and costs 1500 credits
Gatling Sentry	An automatic turret with a high rate of fire	Unlocked at level five
Mortar Sentry	A turret that fires shells, ideal for long-range battles	Unlocked at level eight
“Guard Dog”	A drone equipped with an assault rifle	Unlocked at level 10
Autocannon Sentry	An anti-tank cannon that auto-fires	Unlocked at level 13
Rocket Sentry	An automated turret effective against armored enemies	Unlocked at level 15
EMS Mortar Sentry	A turret that fires electrical generators that shock enemies	Unlocked at level 20

Best Stratagems in Helldivers 2

Now we’ve listed them all, let’s break down which we actually consider the best in the game. Here’s our top 5:

Orbital 380MM HE Barrage – Ideal for clearing large areas with its continuous explosions, it’s perfect against buildings and armored foes, albeit with a longer cooldown of 240 seconds.
Shield Generator Relay – Offers protection from enemy projectiles while allowing you to return fire, especially effective against Automation enemies with a short 90-second cooldown for frequent use.
Rocket Sentry – Targets large enemies with powerful attacks, making it excellent against armored threats, and has a 180-second cooldown.
Jump Pack – Enhances mobility and allows for quick evasion of charging enemies, though it requires recharging between uses with a 480-second cooldown.
Eagle 500KG Bomb – Delivers unmatched destructive power against large enemies in a single-use, mission-specific application without a cooldown.

So there you have it. That wraps up all stratagems in Helldivers 2 and how to unlock them. Hopefully, you’re enjoying a smooth gameplay experience thus far — many players have encountered a crashing bug.

Tags: Helldivers 2