The Railgun in Helldivers 2 is fun, but has a Design Problem 

The Railgun having its own health would make more sense - especially when the IRL railgun has the problem of having its rails degraded with every shot (one of the reasons its got the AXE at DARPA)

ok hear me out gunships shouldn't have 100% durability

Railgun is non-viable if there are gunship patrols on that mission. The health idea is cool, but I'd be happy with it just going on a 15 second cooldown in exchange for one shotting a gunship.

not sure who you are, but this video randomly popped up in my recommended and i was pleasantly suprised. keep up the good work!

your buff suggestion would work well with a backpack idea that was leaked a while back as data file titles. it was designed to heal your squad I think. combine that with your buffs, railgun would be a beast combo

this is a really good video, but I had my volume turned up and the fast-forwarded (rewound?) bit at 5:20 or so was a little abruptly loud! keep up the great content man

What I would do is make the safe mode not need to charge up, like a regular gun, but the unsafe mode does have the charge up. This would make switching modes more active, since you would want to be on safe mode until you saw something that required more firepower (and buff safe mode to the 60%)

Problem is there isnt single target in the game that have thicc T5 armor and very little HP to be in one-two tap kill range of the railgun. Every enemy that have T5 armor is a bullet sponge on top of that AND likely to have high durability. Things like tanks, chargers, bile titans and factory striders all can be damaged by railgun but it takes dozens of shots to kill it, more than you would normally able to carry. This gun perfectly fills a nonexistent niche.

Also Changing the scope, The red (green) dot absolutely sucks on this thing. It comepletly covers whatever I'm tryinf to aim at. Also I can't zoom in and use it as the Anti-tank sniper it was supposed to be used as.

Railgun deserves a lot of love, honestly. The buff idea can be really good with a drawback that could render you useless at some point, tbh, if they at least tweak it so that you don't get yourself killed just by accidentally hit 100%, I'd be happier, because it has been too long I haven't played it and I always end up exploding myself and having no support weapon for what seems an eternity, which is why I simply don't play it anymore. The Railgun may need a rework in general for the drawback of Unsafe mode, losing a weapon because you explode it and wait for the cooldown is personally not a fun thing at all.

Degrading the health of the gun when firing high level charges but allowing more piercing shots depending on charge level would be very cool.

What if after the railgun lost its health in the unsafe mode, instead of exploding it would need the magnets to be replaced but has a long reload insted of being destroyed

I just wish Arrowhead would lean in more to making support weapons needing more active input from the player. The railgun having an unsafe mode that explodes or (or alternatively a health pool like you mentioned) are both great ways to have the player constantly making micro-decisions that keep the gameplay engaging. It’s why I was so disappointed by the arc thrower having a set 1.0s charge time. Playing with it before was like a little mini rhythm game seeing how much value you could get out the weapon. It engaged you more than a set charge time did. I get that’s hard to implement, especially for a variety of weapons; needless to say not every one will have a mechanic needing input. But the health pool revamp you suggest I think is a nice step in the right direction towards making weapons more engaging and stand out more. I personally love the risk-reward nature of it.

I think that all of your suggestions are worth considering. As someone who jumped on right after the Rail Gun was nerfed I don't know what it was like in it's original state. I love the way it fires and how it feels but for me, the one thing I'd like it to do is provide a better representation of a a successful hit. I also play at range and often time I'm not sure if I actually got a good hit, even with stagger. We don't see hit points and I'm good with that, but maybe a slight light effect similar to when the scorcher hits? Not a uptick in damage, but purely cosmetic like a bullet tracer?

Arc Striders can tank rockets from the new Commando launcher. Beyond ridiculous.

Personally, I want 3 changes to the railgun. One, I want it to have a zoomable liberator scope instead of its green dot. Two, literally make it a hit scan, especially at full charge. Insane projectile velocity would also work, but at full charge I should never have to lead shots. Lastly, more durable damage. I have a list of breakpoints that I’d like it to hit, each based on the philosophy that it should be between the AC and AMR at safe charge, roughly on par with the AC at unsafe charge, and stronger than the AC at full charge. The format I’ll use is as follows: (Full/90% charge | Unsafe/70% charge | Safe charge). Gunship thrusters (1 | 2 | 3). Tank vents (2 | 3 | 4) maybe one full and one unsafe could do it idk. Strider turrets (3-4 | X | X). Strider guns (1 (pierces and destroys both) | 1 | 2). Strider eye weakpoint (3 | 5 | 6). Strider belly (4 | 5-6 | 7). Also, to incentivize the use of safe mode, the charge speed of the railgun past safe charge could be increased, increasing the risk of using unsafe mode while decreasing ttk and giving safe mode a reason to exist. I don’t think it’s necessary, but it’s a solution to the problem you presented. Oh, and the railgun needs to open crates, like come on AH.

My idea of rebalancing it would be to just remove safe mode completely, make it charge up twice as fast, but at almost maximum charge allow it to reach insane almost stratagem like damage in exchange. Make it an extreme risk and reward weapon

A tip, use the autocannon the shot the strider's legs. If you hit, the explosion kills the bot.

I like your suggestions. Maybe the devs will give it some thought. Who knows.

Railgun + jetpack is my usual go-to.

Average HD2 clip folder

Railgun is not a optimal pick in bots, but in bugs however...is slaps. Being able to 2 shot a charger's leg and finish with primary grants an insane TTK on chargers (Which there are a ton of now on Helldive), its also great for dealing with Med armor bugs. You can still kill a bile titan with it, although takes a few shots. Better to just drop a Precision strike or 500 on it.

I think the 60% charge save mode would be perfect. For the unsave mode tho i think it should deal extra durable damage so that we can at least take out gunships since thats the main reason people dont take it for bots

Really good video! I know it's cliche but I was shocked when I looked at your subscriber count, keep it up!

Ngl it should have a lock on scope and have it pierce walls so it can potentially take out fabricators and possibly bug holes but I don’t think that is realistic but it could be like a close range spear that specializes in weak points and being silent, and of course the lock would be a second or two with a much smaller circle and can be disabled but it won’t take out buildings since the lock on knows the pin point location for the bullet to pass through

quite engaging helldivers content to watch while eating dinner, nice work dude

The idea that the railgun cant shoot down gunships but the HMG can??? Jesus man. Railgun needs to be entirely reevaluated.

I think I might know how to fix the railgun. Give it a bigger mag size and add on a charge burst function

"bane of my existence"

Love the editing and the suggestion to the railgun quite is unique! Looking forward to more of your videos!

the design problem is the balance devs who are bitter, jaded haters of fun

4:28 That was very clever. 😂 Funny jokes asides though, this is one of the most underrated Helldivers Chanel’s EVER, top notch.

Ayo who's that absolute legend dropping Penguins of The Madagascar references in chat? (0:01 😂) . . . . . . . . . Yeah that was me!

Medic armor is really good for being offensive

Grenade launcher has been my beloved(while supply pack has always been with me since I first saw it and then bought it), it’s got 30 total rounds in three 10 round mags(31 if you do a ghost load with an ammo or supply box), it 1-2 shots everything except for berserkers(these guys are weird as fuck, some die to 1 direct hit, others can take up to 5 to the face?!), tanks, hulks, and artillery, and it has splash that wipes entire squads of troopers The only caveat to it is that it can only hurt the heavy enemies by hitting their vents, but otherwise it takes less than a mag to kill such enemies And this gun makes you feel like a god of destruction when you get the high ground Running it, so long as I don’t get killed by friendly fire or get stunlocked to death(fun how staggering cancels stim animation), I dominate the field, toss in heavy armor with fortified perk, and it also becomes the escape plan when mobbed by enemies(I once survived for 5+ straight minutes on a helldive bug mission while only lvl 9, all the way to extract explicitly because I wore marksman and kept throwing frag grenades at my own feet while also using supply pack to stay stocked up, killing the small bugs as well as sending myself flying away from other bugs, this was before I had the grenade launcher, back then base MG was my gun) I’m currently lvl 29 and don’t think I’ll ever let go of the grenade launcher, it is my gun and I am its user

The railgun righy now is a good weapon for ground units for bots. You'll want to have someone else on tank/tower/gunship duty. I myself, am happy to be the anti tank dude.

The moment they nerfed the railgun is the moment it was dead. Stripping chargers with one hit and 2 hitting bile titan was the only reason why it was good. Oh, can kill hulks? Don't even attempt it. If you miss, you are dead.

The problem with the Railgun is ultimately it's just worse than the AMR and it's the same gun functionally. Everything the Railgun can damage the AMR kills slightly slower but the AMR can kill everything unlike the Railgun. The AMR also laps the Railgun in fire rate so the Railgun's shots to kill aren't actually that impressive of a feat and the AMR has more ammo so it can be used as a proper Primary replacement weapon against every bot enemy without running into ammo or horrifically low fire rate issues. The Railgun is so satisfying to get those 1 tap headshots but in every category that matters the AMR just completely gaps it. Similarly on the bug side the Flamethrower also takes the Railgun out of the conversation for a backpackless weapon

You can also one-shot devastators with the safe mode still on. I am not sure if that is the case for every spot on the upper body but hitting the head and a bit around it always works for me

For fabricators and any type of enemy you can use autocannon to take down all enemies quickly Quasar cannon with unlimited ammo but has chargeup time but can destroy the dropships and railgun is just fire at all devestator or bigger type of enemy but is great to use against hulks

Great video, I too experienced similar problems when using the Railgun especially when weighing it against just using the Anti-material rifle that does almost everything the Railgun does but at a further/safer distance without having to time your charge up shots. However, nothing quite beats the satisfaction of using the Railgun and popping a bot in the head.

Was the into a soundsmith reference

Intro made me think yhis was manns guide to X for a micro second

You really need to try the plasma punisher. It trivialises scout striders. It staggers larger bots (especially the ones weilding a shield). Equip a bubble shield and quasar cannon for your utility and now you can chew on missiles, destroy tanks, hulks, drop ships and gun ships. Take two offensive strats of your choice and spread managed democracy. Dont waste time on this railgun.

I think the railgun right now is completely fine, and I absolutely do not believe adding a form of self-destructing meter would be a good answer. Yeah you could make the argument IRL railcannons do that, but these are massive machines designed to be put on ships. The only thing I’d wish they would add now is explosive power of some sort so I can use it to take out gunships.

Lets just charge to 200% and it explodes like an impact grenade when the shot goes off and it kills anything 😂

I'm sure the developers hate the Railgun, to the point of abandoning it completely!

even tho i love the Railgun...the Antimaterial Rifle is just a better railgun at this point, being able to deal with virtually anything exept dropships

Space Musket my Beloved ❤ 💪💀

I thought that the power of the railgun in the release iteration was far too useful for far too little cost. Able to take down the biggest available threats without a back pack or stationary reload? All of that fine, if the gun had any drawbacks beyond don’t let it charge too much. My first idea for the railgun was maintain the launch iterations strength but cut ammo reserve in half and cut the safe mode option altogether. You make a great point though, why would you ever switch back to safe mode?

Personally I can't see any reason to take the railgun against bots when the heavy machine gun will kill every possible bot enemy. Against bugs, I usually go quasar cannon and my primary weapon is good against everything except chargers and bile titans.

I wish new players could have experienced the rail gun on release it had more power on safe mode than the new rail guns unsafe mode

I would personaly remove the safe & unsafe modes, keep the damage of unsafe, but be safe, after each 100% shot it would either be on a cooldown or like you said it would take damage off of It's healthbar, increase the damage & give it much much better scope that will actualy work like a scope, sure if it had a good Sniper kinda like scope what would be the point of AMR? AMR can take out gun shit and pretty well Factory Striders when hitting the stomach as well as tank & turret vents which Railgun can't These buffs in my opinion would justify the fact that you unlock the Railgun at level 20 just like the Spear, I'm saying it because you can unlock Quasar Cannon at level 16 or 18 and you get Rocket launcher with Infinite ammo that also doesn't take backpack slot

Railgun really need to be able to takedown gunship in fews shot. I don't think deal damage to user health for everyshot in nsfw mode is a good idea. For me, offset it with heat system like laser would be cool(but still take an ammo for each shot). Sfw mode will need to fully cooldown before next shot, while nsfw can ignore cooldown, and more charge heat will generate faster.

Make the railgun able to do collateral damage

Railgun su**s donkey a** Because it need to be able to deal with Bile Titans and Gunships. As long as it cannot do that, it's one of the worst support weapons you could possibly pick

No clue who you were before this but damn that’s a great video of you were wanting any feedback I’d say I’m looking forward to more hopefully

If you want mobility then pick the AMR it literrary is the best support weapon even though I would personally place the Autocannon there. AMR kills Striders, Hulks anything else really and much faster than the Railgun. SO yeah give the Railgun buffs because I would love to use that weapon but it just feels kinda bad IDK

Railgun is almost perfect it just need to be able to take out those pesky gunships, cause there is no stratagem to take them out (except EAT ofcourse), so its Scorcher + Railgun or no Railgun thats it

unsafe mode takes 2-3 shots instead of just one, no need to add damage to user mechanic

416gb? Those are rookie numbers. You got to pump those numbers way up.

Just fyi, autocannon can 2 shot striders when you hit the legjoints☝️🤓

You can partially reload the AC and it two-shots striders if you hit them on on the part betweent the cockpit and their legs.(just for info i dont want to be a dick)

I use the rail gun for everything. Both bugs and bots. I also play with others exclusively. Often doing friends with helldivers. I think that having the gun still shoot when you 100% charge seems really fun but i don’t think that it needs much of a change. The railgun is in a good place right now. It has its roles and thats what is important. It has a role. We don’t want to just have one thing be amazing at everything. That’s why we have teams and communication. If i see that the team that im joining of off a SOS has no anti-tank ill switch from my beloved railgun to a quasar or something. If i see there is not enough nest/building clear ill grab an Eagle etc etc. And for the solo players……. Well the game wasn’t designed to be played solo so i don’t think there is a way to fix it for you. I guess the devs could add a bad but versatile weapon. Like a weaker rocket launcher that shoots and reloads faster. Idk

Waiting for people to figure out the railgun is good again. Lol

fucking space musket........

Just make the railgun overheat. Problem solved

I agree this would be a great improvement

HOW DO YOU SWITCH SHOULDER VIEW

Bolt action railgun with drum mag

The railgun is dangerous to use and comes with almost no ammo. And while it's good at some things, it has some nonsensicle problems. • not being able to damage gun ships or heat sycs makes NO sense, given how much it out performs the Anti material rifle at AP everywhere else. • gun should come with more ammo. only 20 shots is a stupidly low ammount. • Unsafe mode, the projectile should go through enemies untill it's done a set amount of total damage or hit ground. While Safe mode should not, BUT, instead causes significant stagger to anything it doesn't kill. • When the gun gets overcharged, it should get stuck into a death sequence where it whirrs louder and louder, with just enough time for you to panic, realize you should throw the weapon away, and run screaming from it, diving away meer moments before it detonates in a lightning filled blast capable of taking out a building or a tank and sending your body flying in a thousand peices because you didn't drop it fast enough. this would be WAY more fun than just suddely being blown up. Not least of which, because it means you can choose to sacrifice your gun for a tactical play.

Yeah, gun with 2 modes but what is the point if you only ever use unsafe mode because it is always better, lol

change overcharge to electrical damage instead of explosive damage. :)

Honestly what would fix this stupid weapon at this point is removing that retarded gimmick of it having a safe and unsafe mode and just have it deal low damage but have the projectile of the weapon have super high penetration that passes through multiple mobs and the larger the enemy the more damage that enemy takes since the projectile passes through all it's body And that it would account for if you shoot it from the side or from the front (Aka if you managed to shoot a brood commander from its side, it would take much less damage than if shot from the front since if you shot it from the front the projectile passes through from its head to tail) Obviously the projectile will still go in a straight line, but it would be nice for the weapon to deal a linear style damage Low damage, high pen, and can pen multiple enemies if aligned properly And yeah,again, safe/unsafe mode is a stupid gimmick tbh

good vidi, please churn out more, thank.

just buff its durable damage to be at least usable against gunships, these are just super painful to fight with

Resupply could repair it

Can't hit *sh** with it , I'm a high accuracy shooter with other weapons, but I find it easier to hit small targets with the darn Quasar Cannon...

Unpopular opinion but I think the stats of the railgun are simply too polarizing and the self destruction weaknesses doesn’t hold it back nearly enough. And while it may feel weird the low durable damage is the sole thing keeping this weapon in check. It doesn’t need a straight buff, it needs a rework.

3:06 🤣

This gun is ass unless your in a organised group and it’s definitely not new player friendly at all you get clipped so often trying to make shots I don’t think it’s ever worth over anything else

Just make unsafe mode use 2 shots instead of one.

Ive never liked the railgun. There are better, more reliable options.

Yeah

Your like the TDT of helldivers 2

Autocannon

When the game out it was viable it is garbage now even with the little button they put on it that does nothing it went from most used to never thought about anymore

Thing is, the Railgun nerfs put it in a good spot. 1.0 Railgun could do _everything_ without exception. Now... it _does_ have downsides.

Heres what i dont get, people will say a gun needs changing because they arent ewuipped to deal eith every threat in the game, when thats the whole point. Its a co-op game, your team is meant to deal eith threats you cant. One guys bound to have anti tank if youre focusing on anti-infantry. I dont get why people expect to be able to tackle every issue in the game solo. Is it a problem for solo dives? Yeah probably, but i think the solution there would be a 5th strategem slot, or some kind of AI companion like Bosco from DRG. The railgun excells at killing elites, but not quite tanks, and its fine staying in that niche

Not in the mood to listen to somebody whining about a game they say they like.

Hates Hunter head shots, fights the bots instead.......you see the contradiction there right? Bots are more traditional fight with more BS deaths. Bugs are a swarm management fight with deaths from ambush or bad spacing. Just saying a random bug hasn't popped my head from 100 yards with a rocket or "lucky" shot while wounded.

The railgun is fine the way it is, learn how to charge pls

Why should your unsafe mode shot be buffed just cause you didnt charge it as much and its im unsafe mode? Just get rid of safe mode entirely then. The logic behind this makes no sense. Your getting extra with no actual reason. Oh cause the limiter is off but you stull charge lower than 60 = stronger shots? Just no. That's stupid. Imo the biggest downside is the lack lf usability in the gun in unsafe mode. Especially in 3rd person view where its nearly impossible to tell the visual status of the guns charge. And audible beat near 90-99% would make more sense and i would also make that last 10% into the extra strong bit. You should be rewarded for not killing yourself but you shouldn't be rewarded for being bad either.

good video

Sci-fi games be like “we’ve created interstellar FTL travel and harness the power of a black hole but damn it we just can’t figure out how to shoot something with magnets”

This was a sleeper hit, this was an extremely enjoyable watch, and an excellent breakdown on the railgun. I actually found myself having some of the same issues you had in your 3 reasons breakdown (striders and tanks). Please keep making more helldivers content, I'll watch all of it.

From a gameplay point of view, not gonna lie, I hate the idea of my railgun losing health just to do more damage when I can bring other stratagems that can deal with larger enemies. Since the nerf to the titans, railgun has become a viable option against the bugs because it can literally kill anything or strip enemies of their armor for an easy kill. The only buff I would give it against the automaton would be the ability to penetrate and destroy the guns on a factory strider, basically rendering it useless even if I can outright kill it with the gun. Makes it a lot easier for your teammates to get closer and destroy it from under.

This gun should lean more into the armor penetration factor. Maybe give it less ammo but more power.

The railgun eating away at its own health in unsafe mode is honestly a good idea imo...

Welcome a -mann's- diver's guide to the Railgun.