Weapon customization in Helldivers 2 lets you change a weapon's optic, muzzle, underbarrel and magazine, plus its cosmetic pattern, from the Armory on your Super Destroyer. Each weapon earns its own experience while it sits in your loadout, new attachments unlock as that weapon levels from 1 to 25, and from player level 10 you can buy them with requisition slips. This page explains how the leveling works, what every attachment type actually changes in numbers, and which guns cannot be customized at all.
The stats below come from the community Helldivers Wiki's attachment pages and weapon experience table, alongside Arrowhead's patch notes on Steam from the May 2025 launch of the system through the August and October 2026 balance passes. Everything was checked in November 2026.
How Weapon Customization Works
Arrowhead added weapon customization in patch 1.003.000 on May 13, 2025, describing it as a way to tune sights, magazines, muzzles and underbarrels once you have progressed and unlocked them. You can build specific configurations in the menu and switch between them during the mission loadout sequence, so one rifle can carry a long-range setup for Automatons and a close-quarters setup for Voteless hordes.
Two numbers gate everything. Your own level has to reach 10, the Sergeant rank, before you can buy attachments and patterns at all. After that, each weapon tracks its own level from 1 to 25, and the wiki explains that weapon experience is simply the normal mission experience you earn while that weapon is in your loadout. You can pick up and fire other guns during a dive and the full amount still goes to the weapon you deployed with.
- Early levels are quick: each of the first four levels needs only 400 experience.
- The middle stretches out: levels 5 to 9 take 1,000 each, levels 10 to 14 take 1,200 and levels 15 to 18 take 1,400.
- The last levels are a grind: from level 20 onward each level needs 5,400, for a total of 47,600 experience to reach level 25.
All of this happens in the Armory, the section of your Super Destroyer between the Patriotic Administration Center and the Bridge, whose Weaponry tab holds your primary, secondary and throwable. Since the system launched, the weapons displayed on the Armory racks also show the attachments and patterns you have equipped, so you can check a build at a glance before you deploy.
A small icon next to the weapon's name marks every five levels from level 5, and a fully leveled weapon's name turns gold. Patterns, the purely cosmetic finishes, are earned and bought the same way as attachments, so a weapon you use constantly will also unlock its color options.
Muzzles: Trading Recoil for Sway
Muzzle attachments are the main way to tune recoil. Each one cuts recoil in a particular direction but adds sway or costs ergonomics, which is one of the handling stats that decide how quickly and accurately a weapon can be aimed and controlled.
- Muzzle Brake: horizontal recoil down 40 percent, sway up 20 percent, ergonomics down 5. Best for automatic fire that drifts sideways.
- Compensator: vertical recoil down 30 percent, sway up 25 percent, ergonomics down 5. Best for holding long bursts on one spot.
- Flash Hider: a smaller mix, with horizontal recoil down 20 percent and vertical down 10 percent, for only 10 percent more sway and 3 less ergonomics. It also shrinks the muzzle flash.
Shotguns use chokes instead. The Half Choke tightens the pellet spread by 25 percent in both directions and the Full Choke by 50 percent, which stretches a shotgun's useful range. The Duckbill flattens the spread into a horizontal line, 60 percent wider and 70 percent shorter, which is excellent for clearing a row of small enemies; on the SG-8 Punisher it also adds 25 percent sway. A few laser weapons use their own parts instead: the LAS-12 Sai takes a Focus Lens for slower, tighter single shots or a Triple Lens for rapid, wide fire.
Underbarrels and Optics
Underbarrel attachments mostly adjust recoil and sway, with a few adding utility. The Vertical Foregrip reduces vertical recoil by 20 percent for 5 ergonomics. The Angled Foregrip does the opposite trade: it cuts sway by 25 percent and adds 5 ergonomics but increases vertical recoil by 20 percent, so it suits single-shot and burst weapons that care more about a steady sight picture than about climb.
The Laser Sight projects a dot aligned with the barrel for 3 ergonomics, and the Flashlight costs the same. On weapons like the AR-23 Liberator, the default light runs in an automatic mode that switches on when you aim during night hours, and it can be set to always on or off instead. Combined options, such as a flashlight on a vertical foregrip or a laser with a flashlight, merge those functions on one mount.
Optics change magnification and zeroing more than raw stats. The Iron Sight adds 5 ergonomics and the Reflex Sight and Holographic Sight both zero at 25 meters for fast close-range work, while the 4x Combat Scope costs 2 ergonomics and offers 25, 75 and 150 meter settings for picking off Watchers, Devastator heads or Overseer arms at range. A 10x Sniper Scope and tube red dots at 1.5x and 2x fill the gaps on weapons that accept them. Our Illuminate guide explains why a stable long-range optic is worth having against Watchers in particular.
Magazines: Capacity Against Reserves
Magazine choice can change how a weapon plays more than any other slot, because it trades rounds per magazine against spare magazines and reload speed. The Liberator family shows the pattern clearly, and the numbers below include the extra short magazines Arrowhead added in the August 12, 2026 Devoid of Liberty update, when short magazines across several rifles and SMGs gained spare and starting magazines to compete with drums.
| Magazine | Rounds | Max magazines | Starting magazines | Full reload | Ergonomics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short Magazine | 30 | 16 | 9 | 2.5 s | +10 |
| Extended Magazine (default) | 45 | 8 | 6 | 3 s | 0 |
| Drum Magazine | 60 | 6 | 4 | 3.5 s | -15 |
The Short Magazine gives you the most total ammunition and the fastest reload, which makes it a strong pick for players who tap-fire and top up from supply boxes. The Drum Magazine holds a full 60 rounds before reloading, which helps when a horde is on top of you, but carries the fewest reserves and the worst handling. Laser rifles such as the LAS-5 Scythe swap magazines for heatsinks: the high-capacity version stores more heat before it overheats, while the high-dissipation version cools down faster.
Which Weapons Can and Cannot Be Customized
Most primary weapons accept attachments, and some secondaries do too; the wiki lists flashlight options on sidearms like the P-4 Senator and P-19 Redeemer, and Arrowhead's June 2026 patch notes mention a player setting that keeps your chosen secondary customization after death. Not every slot is open on every gun, though. Some combinations are blocked for balance, such as magazine changes on the BR-14 Adjudicator, and others follow the weapon's design, which is why heatsinks only appear on laser weapons.
The big exception is Legendary Warbond gear. Arrowhead's October 20, 2026 patch notes state plainly that legendary warbond weapons do not get customization, and the same patch raised their base stats to compensate: the M90A Shotgun's damage went from 605 to 726, the MA5C Assault Rifle lost a large share of its recoil and gained durable damage, the StA-52 Assault Rifle gained a spare magazine and much lower recoil, and the StA-11 SMG hits harder and kicks less. If you love a Legendary weapon, what you see in the Armory is what you get.
Arrowhead described the system as covering the bulk of its primary weapons, and support weapons got a smaller convenience instead: since the October 20 patch, support weapon settings such as fire mode persist between uses and sessions, which removes one small annoyance from every mission.
Building Configurations That Make Sense
Treat attachments as answers to a specific problem rather than upgrades to max out. A few combinations follow directly from the numbers above:
- Long-range bursts: Compensator plus Vertical Foregrip stacks a 30 percent and a 20 percent vertical recoil cut, at the cost of extra sway, ideal for a Liberator picking off Automaton weak spots.
- Steady single shots: Angled Foregrip with Iron Sights trims sway and adds 10 ergonomics in total, which suits marksman rifles and semi-auto fire.
- Horde control: a Drum Magazine with a Muzzle Brake keeps an automatic weapon firing and on target against Voteless or bug swarms.
- Shotgun reach: a Full Choke halves pellet spread so your shots still land at medium range.
Match the optic to the front as well. Against Automatons, a 4x Combat Scope set to 75 or 150 meters makes small weak spots like Devastator heads far easier to hit, while on the bug front a reflex or holographic sight zeroed at 25 meters keeps fast close targets in view.
Because every attachment costs requisition, focus on one or two primaries you genuinely enjoy and level them deep instead of buying a little for everything; our requisition guide shows how attachments compete with stratagems and ship modules for the same 50,000-slip wallet. The older best primary weapons post helps pick which rifle deserves that investment, our settings guide covers the options that keep your customizations saved, and new players can find when customization opens up in our beginner guide.
Want More Slips for Attachments?
Unlocking every attachment and pattern across several weapons adds up to a lot of requisition on top of what stratagems and ship modules already demand. The store's Helldivers 2 boosting hub lists requisition slip farming and level boosting among its services for PC and PlayStation accounts, for players who would rather not grind the slips or the first ten levels themselves. Each listing explains its platform options, delivery details and current availability.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you unlock weapon attachments?
Reach level 10, then use a weapon in your loadout to raise its weapon level. New attachments unlock as it levels, and you buy them with requisition slips in the Armory.
What level do you need for weapon customization?
Player level 10, the Sergeant rank. Before that you can still play with every weapon you own, but you cannot buy attachments or patterns.
How much experience does it take to max a weapon?
47,600 experience takes a weapon from level 1 to level 25. The first levels need only 400 each, while levels 20 to 24 need 5,400 apiece.
Can you customize Legendary Warbond weapons?
No. Arrowhead confirmed in October 2026 that legendary warbond weapons do not get customization, and buffed their base stats to make up for it.
Does weapon experience count if I swap guns mid-mission?
Yes. The experience goes to the weapon equipped in your loadout, even if you spend the mission using a support weapon or something picked up on the map.
Is the Muzzle Brake or the Compensator better?
It depends on your recoil. The Muzzle Brake cuts horizontal recoil by 40 percent, the Compensator cuts vertical recoil by 30 percent, and both add sway, so pick the one that fixes the direction your gun drifts.