Hit markers, armor penetration, weak points, and damage can be confusing in Helldivers 2. Let’s explain how it all works and how that will make you a better player.
By Aaron Sampson on
- Helldivers 2 is a fantastic game and while testing out the Polar Patriots Warbond I realized that I still didn’t fully understand how damage works in this game. Did you know that you can kill a Scout Strider from the front with any medium penetrating weapon? That led me down a rabbit hole reading articles from the Helldivers community.
- This video explains how damage, penetration, weak points, and crit spots function in Helldivers 2. You’ll learn that the ricochet symbol means no damage, the white hit marker means half damage, and the red hit marker means full damage. This is calculated by comparing the penetrating stat of your weapon against the thickness of armor that enemies sport. For example, the Liberator Penetrator does medium damage and ricochets off a Scout Strider’s top plate but goes through its pelvis at half damage. In this video, you’ll also learn what to do if you can’t penetrate an enemy’s armor by going for weak points around their body. Those weak points greatly reduce your damage and you can even get around that by using explosive weapons like the Jar-Dominator.
- Helldivers 2 is out now for PS5 and PC.