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- What Are Ergonomics In Helldivers 2?
- How To Improve Your Ergonomics In Helldivers 2
- Ergonomics And Weapon Sway, The Contested Connection
On its surface Helldivers 2 may seem like your run of the mill squad shooter, but there’s a lot of heavy hitting mechanics just under the surface that are worth looking into. From helpful facts like knowing your penetration ability to the benefits of squad synergy, Helldivers 2 has a lot of moving parts that are fun to chew into if you have the time.
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PostsOne particularly interesting facet of the game is ergonomics. Now this won’t greatly affect your overall average playstyle, but if you want to shave off a few seconds of your reaction time to threats then grab a chair, sit down, and read a little. Because here’s what you need to know about ergonomics in Helldivers 2.
What Are Ergonomics In Helldivers 2?
People familiar with firearms will already be familiar with ergonomics, but for those that aren’t then don’t worry it’s not particularly complicated. Boiled down to its basics, ergonomics refers to how quickly your weapon snaps up to the centre of the screen whilst either turning the camera, moving, or standing still. In Helldivers 2 the ergonomics of a firearm are represented by a weapon stat, and the higher the number, the faster you can pull it up.
For example, something small like a side arm will have a high ergonomic value. This is reflected in gameplay as you are able to whip it right up there to the centre of the screen super quickly. Whilst if you held an LMG, a heavy machine gun, or a chunky sniper rifle that you called in as a support weapon then you’re going to feel it chug a little as you lift that heavy weapon up.
A good way to remember this is, the smaller the weapon, the faster your lift speed. This also applies to launchers and support weapons.
This is something you can then factor in for your weapon choices when facing a particular threat and it will allow you to respond to things just that little bit faster. Which is often the difference between surviving for a few more brief minutes, or being turned into a blood covered ragdoll that's flying across the battlefield at Mach five.
As an example to elaborate further, Terminids are fast moving threats. So high reaction speeds are required to deal with them, especially the sneaky Predator boys that like to cloak as they approach. The Automatons on the other hand are often big, slow, and lumbering. So you can lean more toward the heavier gear. Then there’s the Illuminate, which are a mix of both. It’s a small stat difference that can often make the difference in a firefight.
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PostsHow To Improve Your Ergonomics In Helldivers 2
Originally when Helldivers 2 launched there wasn’t much you could do to improve the ergonomics of weapons, you could only grab whatever suited the moment. But now, at time of writing, there’s a few things you can do to buff up those stats.
The first thing you can try doing is to swap around some attachments. A lot can be tweaked on your weapons and a general rule of thumb, if you want those lighter ergo stats, is to aim for lighter attachments. These tend to have a higher ergonomic rating than something a bit chunkier hanging off your gun. Removing things from other weapons can also help with your ergonomics.
For example, pulling scopes off a high powered rifle that you can then use at short range with an iron sight, or taking off an under barrel that might be weighing you down. Or getting rid of a laser sight on an assault rifle that doesn’t need to be there. Chop and change your kit without remorse and you’ll find what works for you fairly quickly.
Whilst changing attachments keep in mind the golden rule for your ergonomic stats. Green is good and light, red is bad and heavy.
Outside of attachments, the other thing you can tweak with to boost your ergonomics is your Perk choice. Although it does require buying a Warbond and equipping an armor set. In this case your main choice should be Peak Physique with the PH-9 Predator armor which increases weapon handling and is available from the Viper Commandos set. It also boosts melee damage as an extra bonus.
Ergonomics And Weapon Sway, The Contested Connection
It’s a bit of a hot topic in the Helldiver 2 community that even the developers themselves have had to weigh in on, but there is a tenuous connection between sway and weapon ergonomics. They’re two separate stats, but they can synergize with your ergonomic stats to impact your weapons overall handling.
Sway is essentially how much your weapon reticle moves around whilst you’re standing still and aiming, or firing whilst aiming. According to Arrowhead, this can be impacted by things like your stance. Which means standing, crouching, or lying prone. And the type of weapon that you’re holding.
In gameplay terms, the lighter the weapon, the more it will sway. The heavier the gun, the less it will sway.
So something like a pistol will snap up to the centre fast, but it will wobble around quite a bit depending on your stance and the situation. Whilst if you popped off a few rounds with a heavy machine gun, or a high calibre sniper rifle then it’s not going to sway too much.
There’s a bit of debate around the community about whether this makes a noticeable change, but there’s been enough balance patches to suggest that it does. Such as the time Arrowhead increased the sway stats of small arms like pistols and SMGS in a hotfix.
Keeping this in mind whilst tweaking your ergonomic stats will help you build a gun that should hit the centre fast and barely twitch afterwards as you send some democracy downrange.
Sway also applies to one-handed and two-handed weapons. One hand has increased sway, whilst two-handed guns are significantly more stable.
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Shooter Systems 10.0/10 OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 83/100 Critics Rec: 90% Released February 8, 2024 ESRB M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence Developer(s) Arrowhead Game Studios Publisher(s) Sony Engine bitsquidWHERE TO PLAY
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