HELLDIVERS™ 2: Explosive Weapons Analysis | Dominator | Scorcher | Punisher Plasma

Welcome to my guide, I hope you find it helpful.

If you prefer to watch rather than read, or would like to see the tests in live action, there is a fully animated and voiced video version below:

Explosive weapons appear to come in two categories. Ones that deal area of effect splash damage, such as the Punisher Plasma and the Scorcher. They can kill enemies by shooting at the ground and deal splash damage to other enemies with direct hits.

It is also a good idea to pair these with a Shield Backpack as they can quite easily get yourself killed with that AOE splash.

And others that don’t have splash damage, such as the AR-23 Concussive and Jar Dominator. The Dominator can penetrate through smaller enemies, but this could just be the Medium Armour Penetration rather than the Explosive category that it is in. Because the AR-23P can do the same thing, and neither will penetrate through larger targets.

The Concussive Rifle will kill the Scavenger with a one-shot head kill. But the back will take two. The same goes for the normal Spewer.

The Dominator can one shot kill or even kill multiples with one shot as it penetrates through.

The Scorcher and the Punisher Plasma can do the same and with their splash damage they have the potential to kill multiples in one shot.

The Concussive can one shot the head of the Hunter, but the side shots will be three shots and 165 damage to kill these annoying and deadly enemies.

The Dominator with 300 damage per shot can of course one shot the head. And it is now one side shots to kill it compared to needing two before.

The Scorcher performs exactly the same, but because it has splash it can also two shot the ground and kill the Hunter.

The Punisher can get a one shot kill on any part of the Hunter. The ground splash damage takes two shots though.

The Concussive Rifle takes three head shots to remove it from the Warrior. The side will take seven shots, which is a fair amount considering how often you will see Warriors and the knock-back is very annoying.

The Dominator gets a speedy one-shot head kill. And only two shots to the side are required, again exactly the same as the pre-buff version.

The Scorcher takes two shots to remove head. And only two side shots are needed. With the Punisher in the exact position.

The Scorcher and Punisher can also target the ground for splash kills. For both guns it takes three ground hits, one more than direct hits, a theme continued in the tests to come.

The Concussive rifle takes 19 shots to kill the Hive Guard. It is an absolute pain to do as it will be knocked all over the place.

The Dominator can get a two-shot head kill if you are willing to wait after the green explosion happens. And a two-shot side kill. This is one better than pre-buff and the increased stagger is more noticeable.

The Scorcher gets a five-shot head kill. But there is no green explosion which normally happens when killing the head, also the deflection symbol is being shown. I’m guessing this is not really a head kill but instead the AOE splash damage killing the main body.

This guess is backed up somewhat with my ground splash damage test also taking five shots to bring it down. The direct hits to the side though killing it four shots, one less than the head and splash.

And this is mirrored by the Punisher, four shots required for the head with the deflection symbol showing. Four ground shots and only three direct hits to the side needed.

The Hive Guard is the first bug looked at so far that needs two shots from the Grenade Launcher to kill. Either through the armour, side or ground splash damage.

The same for the Impact Grenade, two grenades no matter if you get direct hits or splash damage that is reasonably close to it.

Shriekers are an absolute pain to kill but the Concussive rifle performs quite well against them. An average of three shots to bring them down.

The Dominator is a bit harder to hit with, but only requires one shot to bring it down. This also goes the same for wing hits.

The Scorcher was by far the easiest to use, one hit anywhere and the Shrieker is killed.

The Punisher is one shot but is much harder to hit with. And beware of the AOE splash damage killing yourself.

The Concussive rifle takes an eye watering 16 head shots and 880 damage to kill the Brood Commander. If you can’t pin them against something you will knock them miles away, almost guaranteeing they will be able to summon additional bugs and one of them potentially calling in a bug breech.

The Dominator gets a quick two-shot head kill. The body will take five shots and 1,500 damage as opposed to eight and 1,600 damage before the buff.

The Scorcher takes seven headshots to remove the head, five more than the Dominator and a lot longer time wise.

Shooting the body though is exactly the same, seven shots. Shooting the ground with splash damage will take eight shots, once again matching the other tests requiring one additional splash damage shot to kill compared to direct hits.

The Punisher takes five shots to kill the Brood Commander and can’t seem to knock the head off. Instead, direct or ground hits can bring it down in five shots and 500 damage.

The Grenade Launcher needs three shots to head or side to kill the Brood Commander.

And the Impact Grenade will get a two shot kill with direct hits or ground splash damage.

The Concussive Rifles knock back against the Stalker works more like a short stun per hit. Making kills a lot safer and aiming easier.

The head area of the Stalker has a very small hit box, if you can shoot it, then it will die very quickly. The Concussive Rifle dealing 220 damage over four shots.

The Dominator kills the Stalker with one direct headshot. The side will take five shots at 1,500 damage. It was seven needed before.

The Concussive Rifle can take over a magazine to bring the Stalker down. Knocking the Stalker around and making some shots hit the side armour.

Utilising the stun, combined with slowing down the fire rate and taking time to aim can drop it much quicker. Using one shot to stun it and then the next shot to go for the head or central area. This will dramatically reduce the number of shots required.

The Scorcher gets a two-shot head kill. Much more likely is quite an easy five shot body kill and 500 damage to kill it.

The Punisher can get a two-shot head kill, but much more likely is the four shot body kill and 400 damage dealt.

The Grenade Launcher can a get three shot kill with direct hits or with splash damage. At range this becomes a lot harder, potentially increasing the amount of shots required.

The Impact Grenade gets a two-shot kill with direct hits or splash damage.

The Concussive Rifle takes 12 headshots to kill the Nursing Spewer the exact same the AR23 Base variant but four behind the Penetration version.

The side takes a crazy 54 shots and 2,970 damage. Still miles ahead of the 84 shots and 4,620 damage for the base variant.

The AR-23P is ahead of both versions though, only requiring 45 shots and 2,025 damage. This is likely due to the hidden “Durability Damage” stat, helping out the Penetration version over the other two. More in my previous video.

The Dominator can now get one shot head kill. But this can be impacted presumably by the angled armour mechanic as sometimes it will need two shots. I found it was about fifty fifty which way it would go, mouth shots though seem to guarantee a one shot kill.

When shooting at the side though, it is now only seven shots and 2,100 damage required. Before the buff it was 14 shots and 2,800 damage, which actually made it worse damage wise compared to the AR-23P. It could be that the Durability Damage has also been increased that is helping out.

The Scorcher requires, six head shots to kill the Nursing Spewer and only five side shots to kill it.

Some people have said the Nursing and Bile Spewer take additional damage from explosive damage. the Scorcher getting a five shot kill and 500 damage does seem to suggest this is true.

This is backed up with the Punisher getting a three shot kill no matter where you shoot, head, side, or ground. 300 damage to kill the Nursing Spewer.

The Grenade Launcher requires two shots no matter where you hit the Nursing Spewer.

And the best performer is the Impact Grenade. One hit killing it. And when grouped up killing multiples with one throw, either from the grenade damage itself or the bug AOE damage when they die.

Because of the Bile Spewers Head Armour, the Concussive can only get side kills, 56 hits instead of the 54 needed against the Nursing Spewer. Showing the Bile version has a tiny bit of a health boost.

The Dominator much like the Nursing Spewer requires two to three shots to the head. Once again I’m guessing this depends on the angled shots with the armour. The side is exactly the same as the Nursing test, seven shots whereas before it was 14.

The Scorcher with only Light Armour penetration takes 15 headshots to kill the Bile Spewer. The deflection symbol appearing for presumably no direct damage, only AOE splash damage. The side though is the same as the Nursing, five shots to kill it.

The Punisher has a similar story, five deflecting headshots for a kill. But only four required to the side or even at the ground to kill it.

The Grenade Launcher is impacted by that small boost in health compared to the Nursing Spewer, with three shots now required instead of two.

And the Impact Grenade remains only needing one direct hit.

The Concussive Rifle takes about 62 shots, 3,410 damage to remove the back of the Charger and leave it to bleed out.

The Dominator can achieve this with ten shots and 3,000 damage. Before it was over one magazine, 18 shots and 3,600 damage. I think backing up the theory the Durability Damage has been increased, making up that difference between 3,600 and the 3,000 now needed.

The Scorcher can get a pretty quick eight shots and only 800 damage required to remove the back. It can also get a splash damage kill. The best I achieved was 16 shots. Direct hits to the back being far more efficient.

The Punisher can get a six shot back kill on the Charger, two ahead of the Scorcher. Both can also get splash damage kills on this area. With a larger AOR area it was eight splash shots, two more than direct hits, but does provide some better firing angles.

The Scorcher can kill the Charger with just four shots to the leg! Some people are saying there is a bug when the Charger is in motion or misses a Charge, the armour seems to disappear on the legs.

This might explain why many guns can get a quick leg kill, such as the Scorcher and Punisher being able to get four shot kills in my tests. Yet this does not work when the Charger is stationary.

In my previous video I said the Grenade Launcher is inconsistent against the Charger, with it getting anywhere between two and eight shots to the back to kill it.

When testing the leg kills I also found similar. I got a couple of two-shot leg kills. I also got a few three shot leg kills.

And other times where no or very little damage was dealt. This seems to all depend on where the shots are placed, and I guess whether the leg Bug triggers or not.

The Impact Grenade works very similar here. Two shot leg kills on the front and back are possible. Although a three shot back kill is far more consistent.

And more often than not, three grenades will be required for the front legs anyway.

You can throw the grenades directly at the leg and strip the armour there, perhaps because of the Bug. It is easier said than done though.

Throwing grenades at the ground can be the consistent option then direct hits. It is easy to miss or hit the top of the armour for no damage.

Here are the damage comparisons for the Nursing Spewer side kill. The most telling part is the right-hand side side. The Scorcher, Punisher Plasma and Impact Grenade all requiring a very low amount of damage to kill the target.

Whether it is a damage reduction that makes the left-hand side require more shots and a higher theoretical damage to kill it. Or a damage multiplier for the explosive damage on weapons with the area of effect splash damage.

It does seem clear that the Concussive and Dominator are not in the same category when it comes to explosive damage and the benefits that can provide against various targets.

This small note in the last few patch notes might help to explain it. You could interpret it that some weapons are not dealing their explosive damage.

If this is fixed, it will be interesting to see if the Concussive and Dominator perform better against the backs of Chargers, Spewers and even close the gap on the Stalker side kill.

Thank you for reading my guide, I hope you found it helpful.

A quick reminder that the video is below.