The Arc Thrower in Helldivers 2 is an underrated Stratagem. While its lightning bolt can arc into seemingly random targets (including teammates), in the hands of a master, the Arc Thrower is the best gun in the game when it comes to wiping out an overwhelming tide of enemies. Entire Bug Breaches can be erased from existence when the Arc Thrower looses its electrified wrath on democracy’s foes.

So how do these players wield the Arc Thrower? What are they doing differently, and how can you do the same? This guide will go over how to effectively use the Arc Thrower and what you can practice to improve with this gun.

Updated by Chris Ng on March 21, 2024: This guide has been updated to include additional components that synergize with the Arc Thrower, like the new armor sets included in the Cutting Edge Warbond, as well as the Impact Grenade as a strong complement to the Arc Thrower’s power.

The Basics

Small Quirks You Need To Know

• Infinite ammo
• Deals damage through armor
• Autoaim

The Arc Thrower is a weapon that’s hard to master, but it’s worth the effort to learn. This weapon can do a little bit of everything, but it shines best when taking out large groups of enemies. Unlike most stratagem guns, it can also deal damage through heavy armor, which makes it a useful tool for handling larger enemies in a pinch.

Additionally, it has a few unique quirks to it. First, it has infinite ammo, so Helldivers can rattle off as many shots as their democratic heart desires. Its amazing ammo efficiency is what will allow Helldivers to treat this weapon as their main source of damage until enemies get too close.

Second, this weapon has some autoaim to it. Each shot will always arc toward an enemy’s center of mass, then arc towards another enemy just past your original target. This makes it great for carving out large chunks of small enemies from hordes even if they’re hiding behind terrain. But, this autoaim is also what makes it a finicky weapon to use up close since the lightning bolt might fly into a different enemy rather than the one hitting your Helldiver in the face. .

Can The Arc Thrower Replace The Railgun

The Old King Isn’t Doing Too Well

• The Railgun is only good in Unsafe Mode now
• Arc Thrower is better for hurting groups of large targets and managing swarms
• Arc Thrower shines in a squad where it can clear groups of enemies while Railguns take out large threats quickly

The Railgun is no longer an automatic pick into every high difficulty mission. Does this mean there’s a place for the Arc Thrower now?

Against a lone target like a Charger, a Helldiver accustomed to shooting the Railgun in Unsafe Mode will still make short work of any armored menace (it just takes more time now). But in situations like that, the EAT-17 is a more efficient tool. However, the Arc Thrower has its own niche as the best weapon to use when you want to clear out entire Bug Breaches or Bot Drops of all its small enemies. In higher difficulties, this is an invaluable trait to have because swarms of small but dangerous enemies like Hunters or Rocket Raiders are more likely to bring about your Helldiver’s end rather than the gargantuan monsters alone.

The Arc Thrower’s biggest benefit is how it can both damage groups of heavily armored enemies while still doing its main job of erasing every small enemy around the armored targets. Even after the patch, the Arc Thrower will shine on a team where it can use its powerful crowd clearing abilities to compliment the armor piercing power of an Unsafe Mode Railgun or the flexibility of an Autocannon. A few well-aimed Arc Thrower shots can silence an entire patrol before it calls for help. If a Bug Breach or Bot Drop does happen, then the Arc Thrower can single-handedly reduce the flood of enemies down to a manageable trickle and create enough space for the Railguns calmly place their shots on the weakened armored threats.

Best Way To Shoot The Arc Thrower

Learn To Rapid Fire

• Shoot slightly higher than you’d expect
• Fire a fully charged shot first, then keep releasing shots at 1/2 charge
• Swap to your primary weapon when enemies are too close

The first thing you need to learn to do with the Arc Thrower is how to rapid fire the gun. Start by charging the gun to max and then firing it. After that, you’ll only need 60% charge to fire the gun again for a short time. This becomes an important skill to master since it takes about 6 shots to a Charger’s head to kill it, and when you rapid fire bolts, you’ll be able to bring down Chargers at a crazy fast pace.

Once you’ve mastered that, the next thing to learn is how to aim the bolt itself. Each bolt will always try to arc into the center of a target. This means if your target’s center of mass is hidden behind a wall, the bolt will arc into the wall every time. To fix that, aim slightly above your target and let the bolt arc downward. Against armored targets, repeated lightning bolts will weaken armor plating enough for most main weapons to deal damage through it, even if it doesn’t break the armor the way a Railgun would.

Finally, the last lesson you need to learn is when to swap to your primary weapon. The Arc Thrower is an unreliable weapon at close range, and it will slow your Helldiver down while it’s charging (which can be a death sentence if you’re trying to kite a horde). If you find yourself tangled up in groups of Hunters or Berserkers, swap to your main weapon and pick apart these problematic enemies until you have enough breathing room to swap back to your Arc Thrower and finish the rest of the horde off.

How To Avoid Friendly Fire

Aim Over And Away From Them

• Aim above your teammates so the lightning can arc over them and into enemies
• Don’t shoot the last enemy if it’s close to your teammates
• Don’t shoot an enemy if your teammates are just past them

Besides its slight struggle with heavily armored enemies, the Arc Thrower’s next biggest issue is how easily it can find and disintegrate your teammates. Plenty of Helldivers will have grim tales of a time when their teammate fired an Arc Thrower and blasted all of their allies back into the Reinforcement screen.

To avoid being one of those Helldivers, make sure you aim above your teammates so the lightning bolt has a better chance of arcing over your allies and into the enemies behind them. The initial lightning bolt will not autoaim into your allies; however, the follow-up arc will not be so merciful. Keep in mind that the follow-up arc usually targets enemies behind or besides your initial target, so as long as your allies aren’t behind your target, you’ll usually be fine.

Cutting Edge Warbond Armor

• These armors give 90% damage reduction from Arc sources
• They come in heavy and medium variants
• Shooting an ally to arc into more enemies can clear waves of enemies

The ‘Cutting Edge’ Warbond adds three new armors with 95% resistance to arc damage: the EX-03 Prototype 3, Ex-16 Prototype 16, and EX-00 Prototype X. These armors allow Helldivers to survive multiple Arc Thrower shots and even act as a useful target to arc into other enemies. If an ally is using an Arc Thrower, equip one of these armors, and you’ll not only avoid dying, but you’ll be a useful asset to the Arc Thrower player.

These armors are best used against bugs where the Arc Thrower can thin out swarms and take down Chargers, Spewers, and Bile Titans with enough arc shots. Shooting your teammates in the back with an Arc Thrower may also save them from packs of Hunters and Stalkers.

Recommended Loadouts For The Arc Thrower

Best Stratagems For The Arc Thrower

• Jump Pack is amazing with this gun cause you need breathing room
• Anti-heavy stratagems like the Orbital Laser, Orbital Railcannon, and Eagle 500KG fill a weakness for the Arc Thrower
• Stratagems that can help close Bug Holes or destroy objectives will save your grenades

The Jump Pack is a standout stratagem for this weapon. You can jump away when there are too many enemies that are too close to you, you can leap on top of terrain where enemies will struggle to reach you, and you can charge the Arc Thrower while you activate your jump pack.

As far as other stratagems go, you’ll want to bring stratagems that can handle Elites like the Railgun Cannon, and a stratagem that can handle objectives for you. Stratagems that can do both like the 500kg Bomb and the Eagle Airstrike are always welcomed in an Arc Thrower’s toolkit — it’s no wonder they’re part of popular meta loadouts.

Best Weapon Loadouts For The Arc Thrower

• Breaker/SMG are great to get small enemies off if they’re too close
• Impact Grenades can help finish off armored threats and complete objectives

On the weapons side, the Breaker is still an amazing choice because of its raw damage to enemies up close, but SMGs also work well because you can shoot and run at the same time to create some space between you and your arc targets. On a similar vein, the Redeemer is the perfect secondary because it’s an SMG to have just in case you need to spray bullets at something that’s in your face.

For grenades, the Impact Grenade is the perfect compliment to the Arc Thrower. While it can complete objectives for you like most other grenades, it can also finish off armored enemies like Bile Titans after the Arc Thrower weakens them.

If you’re looking for more information about how the war effort is crafted in Helldivers 2, check out our article explaining who Joel, the Game Master, is and what he does for the game.

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