Helldivers 2 players call for magazine buff to improve “terrible” stratagem
SonyAs a Level 8 unlock, Helldivers 2’s Guard Dog Rover is the Guard Dog Stratagem most players unlock first. The autonomous drone comes equipped with a laser rifle that provides full-range cover in the heat of battle.
Players can access the drone’s alternate version, the AX/AR-23 Guard Dog, at Level 10 for 7,500 Requisition Points. The drone attacks with an AR-23 Liberator, the same primary weapon Divers automatically receive at the start of the game.
Helldivers 2 users don’t favor the so-called Guard Dog Liberator, since its small magazine size and reload limitations make it unviable compared to its laser-powered counterpart.
Reddit user MrZiffie decided to test the drone’s efficiency by firing shots from the Liberator assault rifle alongside the Guard Dog. Their findings show the Guard Dog’s weapon has a significantly smaller magazine than the primary weapon used by Divers.
These findings, coupled with the lack of significant improvements in recent balance updates, have left the community calling for buffs. After all, the regular Liberator has a mag size of 45, compared to the drone’s 20-round mag. And the Rover drone can fire its laser for 45 seconds before needing to reload.
To make the Guard Dog Liberator a more viable Stratagem, one Helldivers 2 player in the thread said a buff to a 45-round magazine would help. Allowing Divers to fill it with more ammo from ammo boxes would add to the drone’s efficiency, as well.
Plus, AI improvements that keep both drone types from firing at anything with armor (including Fabricators) could refine each Stratagem’s usefulness, players argued. As things currently stand, drones burn through ammo on structures and the like that can’t even take damage.
Developer Arrowhead has regularly released balance updates since launch. However, users continue to call for adjustments that will improve Helldivers 2’s primary weapons in addition to Stratagems.