Helldivers 2 Weapon Level: XP Table and Fastest Leveling

Weapon level in Helldivers 2 is a separate 1 to 25 progression for each primary weapon, earned from the normal mission experience you gain while that weapon is in your loadout, and it unlocks the attachments you can then buy with Requisition Slips. As of November 2026, reaching level 25 takes 47,600 experience per weapon, and more than half of that sits in the last five levels. Here is the full experience table, how long a weapon really takes, the fastest normal-play ways to level one and what each level unlocks, using the AR-23 Liberator as a worked example.

We checked these numbers against the community Helldivers Wiki on wiki.gg (its Weapon Experience, Levels, Difficulty, Primary Weapon and AR-23 Liberator pages) and Arrowhead's patch notes on Steam, read in November 2026.

How Weapon Levels Work

Arrowhead added weapon customization, and the weapon levels that drive it, in patch 1.003.000 in May 2025. Each primary weapon tracks its own level from 1 to 25, and the wiki explains that weapon experience is simply the regular experience you earn while that weapon is equipped. When a weapon reaches the maximum, its level and name turn gold instead of white in the customization screen.

The rule that matters most is how the experience is assigned. The wiki states that you can swap to and use any other weapon during a dive, and the full experience still counts toward the weapon from your loadout. Picking up a teammate's support weapon or a gun from a supply crate does not split your progress; whatever primary you deployed with collects the whole amount.

There is also a player-level gate. The wiki says Sergeants, meaning level 10 and higher, can unlock and then purchase attachments and patterns, so very new players earn weapon experience before they can spend it. Our ranks list shows where Sergeant sits among the titles. After that, every new attachment needs two things: the weapon level that unlocks it and the Requisition Slips to buy it.

Experience Needed for Every Weapon Level

The wiki's table uses the same values for all primary weapons. Early levels come quickly and the last five are a long climb.

Weapon experience per level (Helldivers Wiki, November 2026)

Levels	Experience per level	Total experience on reaching the last level in the band
1 to 5	400 each	1,600 at level 5
5 to 10	1,000 each	6,600 at level 10
10 to 15	1,200 each	12,600 at level 15
15 to 19	1,400 each	18,200 at level 19
19 to 20	2,400	20,600 at level 20
20 to 25	5,400 each	47,600 at level 25

The shape of that curve explains why weapons feel quick to level and then stall. Level 20 arrives at 20,600 experience, well under half the total, and the remaining 27,000 is spent on just five levels. If you only need an attachment that unlocks before level 20, you will get there in a fraction of the time it takes to turn the name gold.

How Long Leveling a Weapon Takes

Weapon experience is mission experience, so the question becomes how much a mission pays. The wiki's Levels page breaks it down: 100 for the main objective, 50 for each side objective, 222 for a Destroy High-Value Target side objective, 20 for each Helldiver alive aboard the extraction shuttle, plus the percentage of the mission timer left converted into experience. Nests, outposts and encampments add 5, 10, 20 or 40 depending on size. The total is then multiplied by difficulty, and it is tallied whether the mission succeeds or fails.

Difficulty is the biggest factor. The wiki lists no bonus on Trivial or Easy, then 25 percent on Medium, 50 on Challenging, 75 on Hard, 100 on Extreme, 150 on Suicide Mission, 200 on Impossible, 250 on Helldive and 300 on Super Helldive. A simple example: a mission with the main objective, two side objectives, a full squad extracting and half the timer left adds up to 330 base experience before any outposts. On Medium that becomes about 410; on Super Helldive, four times the base, it becomes 1,320.

Run that example through the table and the difference is stark. At 1,320 a mission, level 25 (47,600) takes about 36 Super Helldive missions; at roughly 410, it takes more than 110 Medium missions. Real missions vary, especially once you add outposts and nests, but the ratio holds. If you are comfortable at the top, the difficulty 10 Super Helldive guide covers what that tier demands, and the XP guide applies the same math to your player level.

Fastest Ways to Level a Weapon

Everything that raises mission experience raises weapon experience, so the best methods are the ones that make each dive pay more:

• Play the highest difficulty you finish reliably. Failed missions still tally experience, but the timer and extraction bonuses favor clean runs, and the multiplier only helps if you survive long enough to complete objectives.
• Do the side objectives. At 50 each, two of them match the main objective's 100, and a high-value target at 222 is worth more than double it.
• Clear nests, outposts and encampments. A mega nest or fortress adds 40 before the multiplier.
• Extract together. Each Helldiver aboard the shuttle adds 20, so a full squad extracting earns 80 before the multiplier.
• Move with purpose. Time left on the clock converts into experience, so efficient routes pay twice: more missions per hour and a bigger timer bonus.
• Rotate your loadout weapon. Because the deployed primary collects all the experience, bring the gun you want leveled even if you plan to rely on a support weapon or a teammate's drop for the hard fights.

Solo players can apply all of this, but the multiplier only helps if you live to extract. Our post on the best difficulty for solo divers helps you pick a level you can finish alone, which usually beats a higher one you abandon.

What Each Level Unlocks: The Liberator Example

Attachment unlock levels differ from weapon to weapon, so the AR-23 Liberator, the starting assault rifle, is a useful worked example. Its wiki page lists these unlocks and Requisition Slip prices:

• Level 1 (free defaults): 2x Tube Red Dot, Extended Magazine, Laser Sight with Flashlight.
• Level 2: Vertical Foregrip (3,000). Level 3: Flash Hider (3,000). Level 4: Reflex Sight (5,000).
• Level 6: Angled Foregrip (5,000). Level 8: Holographic Sight (7,000). Level 11: Reflex Sight Mk2 (7,000).
• Level 12: Muzzle Brake (5,000). Level 14: Short Magazine (7,000). Level 16: Flashlight Vertical Foregrip (5,000).
• Level 18: Iron Sight (7,000). Level 21: 4x Combat Scope (25,000). Level 22: Compensator (13,000).
• Level 23: Laser Sight Angled Foregrip (7,000). Level 24: Drum Magazine (25,000).

Two lessons stand out. First, most of the Liberator's options unlock before level 20, so the long grind from 20 to 25 is mainly for the scope, the compensator and the drum magazine. Second, slips add up: buying every paid Liberator attachment costs 124,000 Requisition Slips, while the wiki caps your slip balance at 50,000. Plan purchases weapon by weapon, and see the existing Requisition Slips guide for the fastest ways to earn them.

Choosing Which Weapons to Level

Because only one primary earns experience per mission, every weapon you level is a choice not to level another. A sensible plan is to sort your guns into two groups. The first is the one or two primaries you use against every faction; those are worth taking all the way to 25 for the late scopes and magazines. The second is everything else, where reaching level 20 at 20,600 experience usually opens most of the attachments for well under half the cost of maxing.

Your player level comes along for the ride. The same mission experience that levels a weapon also levels your Helldiver, so a long weapon grind on high difficulty pushes you toward the new ranks Arrowhead added up to level 300 in August 2026. The existing fast leveling guide covers player level in more depth.

Finally, keep an eye on your slips while you level. Unlocking an attachment does not buy it, and the 25,000-slip scope and drum magazine on a weapon like the Liberator each cost half of a full slip bank. If you are leveling several guns at once, decide which attachments you will actually use before spending, rather than buying everything the moment it unlocks.

Weapons That Do Not Follow the Usual Rules

Not every gun has the full set of options. The wiki notes that some attachments are withheld for balance reasons, such as magazines on the BR-14 Adjudicator, and others follow a weapon's physical design, which is why heatsinks only appear on laser weapons. A weapon's level can therefore unlock fewer items than the Liberator's list suggests.

Legendary Warbond weapons are the bigger exception. Arrowhead's 7.2.0 patch notes on October 20, 2026 state that legendary warbond weapons do not get customization, and the same patch raised the base stats of several Killzone and Halo Legendary weapons to compensate. If you are leveling a gun for its attachments, check first that it is a standard primary rather than a Legendary one.

Free Up Time for Weapon Leveling

Weapon levels only come from playing, but the other currencies competing for your time do not have to. The store's Helldivers 2 Super Credits, Medals and Samples Bundles page lets you select a bundle that is delivered in-game through a lobby invitation from staff, with no account login needed, and it lists PlayStation, Xbox and PC (Steam). That leaves your missions free for leveling the guns you actually use.

Separate services for Super Credits, medals, Requisition Slips and more are on the Helldivers 2 boosting hub.

Frequently Asked Questions