Helldivers 2 Best Stratagems Guide

Stratagems are what make Helldivers 2 feel like Helldivers 2. Called in with directional code inputs, they rain orbital strikes, drop eagle airstrikes, deliver support weapons and backpacks, and plant sentries and emplacements that fight alongside you. You get four slots, and how you fill them does more to define your capabilities than your primary weapon ever could. Choosing well means thinking about those four slots as a complete toolkit rather than a list of your favorite explosions.

This guide was checked in October 2026 against the in-game stratagem list, the Helldivers community wiki, and discussion on the r/Helldivers subreddit. Arrowhead rebalances stratagems frequently, buffing underused ones and tuning dominant ones, so treat every recommendation as qualitative and verify a stratagem's current performance in-game.

The stratagem categories

Stratagems fall into a few broad families, and understanding them is the first step to building well. Support weapons are the heavy-hitting guns you call down and carry, from machine guns to anti-tank launchers, and they are usually the backbone of a loadout because they answer threats your primary cannot. Backpacks occupy your back slot and provide sustain or utility, such as the Supply Pack that refills your ammo and stims, the Shield Generator that absorbs damage, or a guard-dog drone that fires automatically.

Then there are the offensive call-downs. Eagle stratagems are fast airstrikes with multiple uses before a rearm, excellent for repeated bursts of damage. Orbital stratagems are called from your Destroyer and range from precise single strikes to wide, long-lasting barrages, generally hitting harder but with longer cooldowns. Sentries and emplacements are automated defenses you place, turning a position into a kill zone, and they shine on defensive objectives and extraction. Finally, mines and support emplacements add area denial and utility. A strong loadout usually draws from several of these families rather than loading up on one.

It is also worth remembering that stratagems are not only weapons. Several of the most impactful calls are utility: a Reinforce to bring teammates back, resupply to refill everyone's ammo and stims, and mission-specific tools like the Hellbomb for certain objectives. On top of that, cooldowns and the number of uses before a rearm shape how a stratagem actually plays out in a mission. A powerful orbital you can only use once every few minutes fills a different role from an eagle you can call several times in quick succession, and a loadout that ignores cooldown rhythm can leave you with every button greyed out at the worst moment. Thinking about availability, not just raw power, is part of choosing well.

Support weapons: the backbone

For most loadouts, the first stratagem to lock in is a support weapon, because it determines how you handle the threats your primary struggles with. Anti-tank options such as expendable launchers and heavier recoilless-style weapons let you delete Chargers, Hulks, and tanks, while sustained-fire options such as machine guns and the laser cannon mow through crowds and medium enemies. Some support weapons, like arc-based ones, chain damage through groups and can stagger tough units.

The right support weapon depends on the front and your role. Against bugs you often want something that answers the big armored chargers and titans; against bots you want reliable anti-armor that can crack Hulks and tanks at range. Many players bring a backpack-fed support weapon, which ties up both the support and backpack slots but delivers enormous firepower. Whatever you choose, the support weapon is the piece the rest of your loadout is built around, so pick it first and fill the other slots to complement it.

Eagles, orbitals, and when to use each

Eagle and orbital stratagems cover your heavy offensive needs, and the choice between them is about rhythm. Eagles rearm in batches, giving you several quick uses before a trip back to the Destroyer to restock, which makes them ideal for frequent, on-demand bursts, clearing a bug breach, dropping an airstrike on a bot drop, or softening a group as it approaches. They are responsive and forgiving.

Orbitals generally hit harder or cover more ground but come on longer individual cooldowns, so they suit big, decisive moments: wiping a heavy cluster, locking down a chokepoint with a barrage, or dropping a precision strike on a priority target. A balanced loadout often carries one of each, an eagle for routine crowd clearing and an orbital for the heavy hitters, so you always have an appropriate button to press. As with everything in Helldivers 2, the exact standout picks shift with balance patches, so judge them by the role they fill rather than their reputation.

Sentries, backpacks, and utility

Sentries and emplacements turn a loadout defensive. Placed well, a sentry covers an angle you cannot watch, holds a flank during an objective, or adds a wall of fire to an extraction. Their weakness is that they are stationary and can be destroyed, and a poorly placed sentry will shoot you in the back or draw aggro into your position, so placement discipline matters. On defensive missions and extractions, a sentry or two can transform a desperate hold into a manageable one.

Backpacks are the quiet workhorses. The Supply Pack keeps you and your squad topped up on ammo and stims, which is enormous for sustain, especially solo. The Shield Generator absorbs chip damage and surprise hits, smoothing out the moments that would otherwise force you to stop and heal. Guard-dog drones add passive damage against swarms. Because the backpack slot competes with backpack-fed support weapons, choosing between sustain and extra firepower is one of the core tensions of loadout building, which our best loadout guide explores in depth.

Building a balanced four-slot set

The single most useful principle for stratagem selection is coverage. Across your four slots you want an answer to crowds, an answer to armor, a way to create breathing room when you are overwhelmed, and something that sustains you or defends a position. If your four stratagems tick those boxes, almost every situation a mission throws at you has a button you can press. If they do not, you will find yourself staring at threats you simply cannot answer.

The common mistake is loading four damage call-downs with no sustain or crowd control, or four of your favorite flashy orbitals that all share the problem of long cooldowns leaving you empty-handed between them. Variety wins. Pick your support weapon first, add a backpack that fits your sustain needs, then round out with offensive and defensive call-downs that cover the gaps. For the weapons side of the equation, our best weapons overview pairs naturally with this, and against the Automaton front specifically our how to beat the bots guide covers which stratagems answer their heavy units.

Adapting stratagems to the front

Your ideal stratagem set shifts with the faction. The bug front rewards crowd control and anti-charger firepower, so area-effect orbitals, incendiary tools, and reliable anti-tank earn their slots. The bot front rewards precision anti-armor, cover-aware offense, and tools that handle their ranged, armored units, so weapons and strikes that crack Hulks and tanks at range matter more. The Illuminate front mixes pressures, so a balanced, flexible set is the safe starting point until you learn its specific threats.

The best habit is to build a default set you trust, then swap one or two slots based on the mission type and front. A defensive objective wants a sentry; a sample-hunting run wants mobility and sustain; a heavy-elite front wants more anti-armor. Treat your loadout as adjustable rather than fixed, and you will handle a far wider range of missions than a player who brings the same four stratagems everywhere.

In a squad, stratagems multiply when they are coordinated rather than duplicated. If all four divers bring the same anti-tank call, you have overwhelming heavy-killing power and nothing to deal with the swarm, whereas a squad that divides the labor, one player on crowd control, one on anti-armor, one on defensive sentries, one on sustain and support, covers every situation at once. Before a hard mission, it is worth a quick glance at what your teammates are bringing so you can fill a gap rather than stacking a strength. The same four stratagems that feel mediocre in isolation can be excellent as the missing piece of a balanced squad, which is another reason to judge your picks by the role they fill rather than their raw numbers.

Putting your stratagems together

Stratagems are where Helldivers 2's depth lives, and a well-built four-slot set is worth more than any single overpowered pick. Lock in a support weapon, choose a backpack that matches your sustain needs, and fill the rest with offensive and defensive call-downs that cover crowds, armor, breathing room, and holding ground. Adapt to the front and the mission, and verify current performance in-game, because the stratagem meta moves with every balance pass.

Since stratagems and weapons work as one system, read them together. Our best loadout guide shows how all four slots and your weapons combine into a coherent kit, and the best weapons overview covers the guns that fill the gaps your stratagems leave. With both in hand, your four slots will carry you at whatever difficulty you run.

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