If you’re wondering how to unlock more weapons than the standard assault rifle, submachine gun, and pistol in Helldivers 2, here are two ways to get more artillery in your locker.
How to get more weapons in Helldivers 2
There are two ways to get more weapons in Helldivers 2. You can either purchase weapons on the Warbond battle passes or find random weapons by exploring the map during missions. Refer to the mini-map when looking for new weapons on a mission. You are free to explore everything within the 40 minute mission timer. The mini-map shows multiple points of interest that are worth visiting for ammo, samples, and weapon drops.
You should check any points of interest with the gem icon and crash sites that are well lit, alongside areas that previously held human life (buildings, structures, and places with terminals). These can include weapon drops or weapon caches. New and powerful weapons can either spawn as ground loot or inside caches, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for any loot lying on the ground.
These weapons are more powerful than what you have in your loadout. They are an extension of your pre-existing equipment and they don’t replace your primary or secondary weapons. Instead, you can switch to these by holding the weapon swap button (triangle on the PS5). The downside to these weapons is you cannot exfil with them, so you may as well use every bullet available when you pick one of these powerful weapons up mid-mission.
How to unlock new weapons in Helldivers 2
The only real way to unlock weapons is to purchase them in the Helldivers Mobilise! and Steeled Veterans Warbond battle passes. Weapons are purchasable with acquired Medals you get for completing missions. You can acquire a ton of Medals simply by completing Operations, regardless of the difficulty you’ve chosen. However, the harder the difficulty, the higher the Medal payout for mission completion.
Here are all the weapons you can purchase in the Warbond battle passes:
- SG-8 Punisher: Shotgun (costs four Medals)
- P-19 Redeemer: Pistol (costs five Medals)
- R-63 Diligence: Marksman rifle (costs eight Medals)
- SMG-37 Defender: Submachine gun (costs 15 Medals)
- SG-225 Breaker: Shotgun (costs 20 Medals)
- LAS-5 Scythe: Energy-based weapon (costs 30 Medals)
- AR-23P Liberator Penetrator: Assault rifle (costs 40 Medals)
- R-63CS Diligence Counter Sniper: Marksman rifle (costs 40 Medals)
- SG-225SP Breaker Spray&Pray: Shotgun (costs 60 Medals)
- PLAS-1 Scorcher: Energy-based weapon (costs 75 Medals)
- P-4 Senator: Pistol (costs 15 Medals)
- AR-23E Liberator Explosive: Assault rifle (costs 20 Medals)
- SG-225IE Breaker Incendiary: Shotgun (costs 60 Medals)
- JAR-5 Dominator: Explosive weapon (costs 80 Medals)
There weapons are different to what you can pick up while exploring. This is because the weapons found during exploration are actually Stratagems. You can unlock these weapons by levelling up and paying credits at the Ship Management console.
