Guys, a tip on reloading. It has three stages. You can shorten those stages by canceling via diving, running, swapping weapons etc. 1st Mag comes out. Once it’s out, it’s out, so keep going. Crouch again and put mag in. Once it’s in, it’s not coming out. So move! Lastly new ammo goes in and rack the bolt. Good to go! You can pause 3 times to continue reloading this weapon. You do not have to stay still the entire time. Remember that! It can save your life.
You don't have to rack the bolt so long as you keep a bullet in the chamber. Its the reloading stages is kinda bugged. First stage is dropping the mag. Second is inserting a new one AND positioning a round by opening the top cover. If you get up before doing this you have to redo the "placing the new mag" animation all over again. Last stage is racking the bolt if the gun is completely empty.
Do you really think that this is an intelligent strategy? You're not changing anything. You're taking an extremely long reload time and breaking it up into three parts, but you're not actually shortening the reload time. So you either spend seven seconds one time reloading, or three separate times each lasting between 2-3 seconds. You're still having to stop and take a knee during the fight. The strategy isn't unique to this weapon. You can literally do this with every single gun even down to the starting pistol.
Same goes for the recoilless rifle! you can reload cancel a lot in this game if you wait for the emblem to go from red to white indicating the ammo is in. Good point.
First the spear, then the ballistic shield, and now the hmg!? This dude has helped me enjoy the non meta stratems by not only having fun, but showing how powerful they can be.
That's been my goal! Glad you are having fun and getting useful info from the videos! Thank you for giving my Git Gud series a try, my next one is the HMG Emplacement so wish me luck!
@@monomaurie Its never not been good? its always been amazing against bots, block all non heavy piercing damage and able to resist a cannon turret shot? With the pummeler now its even better as it can stagger lock the only real threat to shield builds (berserkers)
Can't believe he didn't mention the resupply backpack, that's my go-to backpack when using the HMG cause it lets me just spray and pray without needing to worry about when the next resupply can be called in
True, I didn't talk about it but I did try that first. I felt that having protection from gunfire or hunters was more useful but if you want to use the HMG in more situations then the ammo backpack is really helpful.
@@renegadetomgaming The thing about resupply is remember that it also gives grenades and stims. You can stop conserving your stuns for hulks or chargers and start using them on entire packs of mediums once you start using it. If managing it right, you can just call in a new ammo backpack between resupplies five minutes later. If you're not running that thing dry, you're not making full use of the backpack.
You can get away without running the supply backpack if you are using the Sickle like in the video. It truly is a great weapon in conjunction with the HMG. While going against the bots, I feel I don't need the shield backpack as much as I used to. I do tend to favor the supply backpack though. As said, you get so much in resourcefulness that it's hard not to bring it.
Also tip : Being prone and laying down SEVERELY reduces the amount of stagger you take from for example bullets so if your facing down shield devastators on a distance just lay down and let 'er rip plus you can cut down the reload time to about 5 seconds if you save atleast one bullet in the chamber ( having one bullet in the chamber makes it so your character doesnt need to cock it )
I've actually noticed a LOT of weapons works like that, not reloading on completely empty I mean. The dominator and incin breaker both work that way as well, and I'm sure many others
What I’ve seen a lot people talk about that would fix this weapon (and I 100% agree with) is giving this weapon a backpack that would constantly feed it ammo so it can fire without reloading The insane recoil and having a backpack slot consumed would hinder it from being to op and still a blast to play
I like the idea but good chance it would smack down usage other machine guns. Think giving it a no manual loading but it has a slow auto loading would make the gun neat/diffrent.
I'm not gonna sugar sugarcoat it. These Helldiver-associated videos with this unique style are going to boost your channel. God bless, keep up the great work.
with gunships i feel like there are better options by far, the time you need to shoot it accurate its already unloading its next barrage on you🤷🏼♂️. takes nearly a whole mag if you hit everyshot. in my experience of course.
@@Elthenar yeah it really depends how you hit it and how MANY there are, if its 1 the hmg will shit on that gunship. if there is more then one and ground troops too, you better off getting in cover and wait for amr or ac to take it down.
@@wes_stef Kills it faster than the laser cannon, Thing you have to remember is that the heavy machine gun's hidden stat is a bonus to damage against large enemies I actually didn't know it.Killed them so fast until I accidentally shot one out of the air when letting rip a full rpm burst, You might say the spear or the quays are but I can clear the sky on a single mag With the hmg.
I would also like to add that bringing a supply backpack can really add to the experience. You fully replenish your supply with 1 supply pack, meaning you get 8 extra magazines. Considering the packs also provide 2 stims and 2 grenades, this greatly increases your operation time between resupply, allowing you to use your HMG more liberally.
The huge reload time and lack of impact for the commitment it asks you makes it really sad. I wish I could enjoy it but its simply terrible on Helldive, hope they buff : 1. its reload speed 2. ammo capacity 3. uncentered sight (make it centered) 4. Reduction on the recoil And the gun will be lots of fun, tho depending on the impact of the buffs, it might even need a bit more than that but I think balancing the most unfun aspects first instead of the damage will go long way to make it a more enjoyable option
tip 3 about changing the RoF on the fly is by far the most important aspect of learning to use the machine guns. I've been using the MG and HMG a ton the past few weeks and theres not many better feelings than seeing a group of enemies and adapting to it immediately with the RoF. I personally keep the machine guns on the lowest setting as a default and only bump it up to medium against berserker rushes while the highest rate is for weakpoint shots on chargers, tanks, turrets, and strider bellies. the main benefit of low RoF is that you can fire into hoards without wasting bullets on already dead or bleeding out enemies and you can keep that angle locked down for much longer than usual
I've been using this gun religiously for a few days, and once you get over the steep learning curve of recoil control it has become one of my favorites for both bugs and bots. A few things I have found: - Supply pack (in addition to just being a really good backpack) is really good with the HMG. It not only lets you carry way more ammo, but also lets you be way more liberal with stun grenades and not just save them for big targets. - Something like a third of the reload animation comes from racking the bolt to chamber the first round. Reloading with one in the chamber can shave off a lot of time and make in-combat reloads a lot more bearable. - The dot on the scope is heavily misaligned (though I think that's intentional). If you're trying to single-shot it to hit something at range, aim well below the dot, but at mid-range and 760 rpm it is actually a decent indicator of where to point the gun to have your burst land after recoil.
I love that your videos aren’t automatically on all our favorite weapons, but rather the unsung heroes that are often overlooked because they seem pointless or too many issues to use. Gives us another perspective how to use them and makes me want to try to git gud at them, instead of taking the easier way out with the better weapons! Great video as always!
In all honesty most of the weapons in the game are situational and I think that frustrates a lot of people because they want every weapon to be versatile but that’s not how the game is
I ran with a ballistic shield a few times and it was fun and effective. If I got to reload with bots in front of me, turn away, reload. The shield takes the shots while I get the gun running again. It's not perfect, but its fun to pull off. Also, thank you for explaining the armor penetration levels, I was not aware of that. There's so much this game DOESNT tell us. I'm glad we have your vids to spread the knowledge, I learn something every time
That's actually really clever! I run HMG all the time and that's a great strategy. I usually run lib drone it'll shoot enemies whilst you reload and if you find a lowish rock, you'll be covered whilst it fires over the top!
The problem with the hmg is that several other support weapons do its job much better. The hmg is basically more unweildy, reduced range, and less ammo effective than the support weapons its competing against. People show clips of the hmg shredding tanks and factory striders, but that's only because the guy with the sniper or railgun already cleared most of the threats on the map and they are waiting for their 500 kg to finish cooldown. Support weapons that are not the best at least have a niche, like the recoiless rocket launcher being able to quickly take out dropships full of enemies. The hmg really has no niche because it does everything poorly.
@@sei_asagiri don't you? The berserkers and drop ships don't feel that way 🤣 I'm there to make sure the ones that try to disrupt said distance are dealt with swiftly. How many people with a lascanon would run TOWARDS a horde of berserkers or devs. They wouldn't (understandably), I do. When the red light of the drop ship just lit up the grass touching distance away. Fear not I just turned the HMG high rpm mode and will literally melt them as they land next to us. I hear you! You are right you do want distance with the bots (I started as an AMR player) but the bots don't play nice haha. Then they meet me with a HMG, lib drone and 6 impacts 😂 I'll keep em back you slot em at range 🙏🏼
@@ReynoldGreenlefe177 my favorite bot loadout is recoilless rocket launcher and the expendable anti tank rockets because they have such a short cooldown. I shoot ships down before they can drop troops. The rockets are great against the hulks and rocket devastators, and since i have so many rockets i can disable factory striders pretty easily. The heavy devastators i just blow their arm off with a shotgun since they cant shoot back while staggered. Impact grenades or stuns for striders and i have all the bases covered.
@@sei_asagiri nice work brother in arms. You are the perfect partner to machine gunner worth their salt! Honestly this game is about synergy and "covering all bases" no one player can do it all. Whilst you line up that one shot on the hulk I'll blitz some berserkers trying to rush behind us! Bolt and computer chips will fly everywhere. *Then we reload haha. But yeah sounds like a solid strategy, that's alot of rockets and shells getting yeeted, it's provocative it gets the people going haha. Glad you're having fun man! It's the community dragging this game down at the minute. Even if it does get "too hard" (it doesn't really) at times, they said from the start it's like a D&D game. Sometimes they will make it harder and easier, new tools or new enemies. I thought the whole thing was trick or treat and we just get ragdolled and do cool Rambo shit in between? When I first got blitz by a team mate I laughed. Now when people die against "suicide " difficulty the games broken? We're not supermen, we're hell divers haha. Honestly think they should make a SEAFdivers for all those that moan. They can get dropped off gently in a pelican. 100 at a time on a small outpost. Give them tanks and stuff cos they're weak they'll love it 😂
I feel like HMG is very slept on. I used it in a defence position like crouching behind cover or prone somewhere high. This thing could shred Devastators and Brood Commanders
Jump pack is a good backpack for HMG. You can reload while jumping. You can be aggressive and jump in to eliminate a target fast when safe, or jump away to get a safe distance before unloading. Also you can jump on a tank and dump on the vent and dive out for style pts
Good work, basically all points that I found in my games were explained, full agree. Exception: I do not use a Backpack, instead I bring more Explosions.
Lvl 106 here, i like to use the HMG with EATs and suply pack, you are able to destroy every kind of enemy, using my primary to deal small enemys, my HMG to get the mediums and my EATs when i need to get rid of heavy targets, it is a really fun loadout to use... Against bots i just prefer using autocannon over the HMG
Have been running it with supply pack vs bots on helldive with tons of success. Very fun weapon that rewards a bit of patience and skill. AMR is still my fav but HMG is now close second
I knew it there was more into this gun! I drop it early because how much work you have to put through it but now Im confident I can main this without problem. Just gonna practice at low level just to the feel and get git.
Nice build just pumping out heavy damage! I run: Pummeler - chaff, stun Senator - lone medium armour HMG - multiple mediums or heavies Impact - striders (HMG can but it's quicker and I don't have to reload lol) and general uses Liberator drone + Whatever ever other two slots you want I take heavy or medium recoil armour with extra nades so I can sling em at every strider I see. The lib drone covers my reloads (hiding behind rocks it fires over the top) The pummeler is a nice flex weapon can save you and team mates with stun lock and also you can pin a group by hitting all a few times to allow the lib to do more damage. Lib drone also brings your overall firepower up, so plus HMG you are a front line brick wall of lead 😂
Ive always been personally a fan of the mg over the hmg and i think it comes down to the fact that you sacrifice A LOT of crowd control for utility. For instance, its true that the hmg punches through higher armor, but most enemies like devs have some light armor somewhere on there body, making it easy for any mg even the stalwart at times to rip through those targets. Adding onto this, taking down striders with the hmg is WILDLY INEFFICIENT as you have way less ammo with it, so even if you can punch through, that doesnt mean you should. On the contrary though, its ability to rip apart any turret or tank in a second is absurdly useful at times, but there is a slight issue with that. If you arent able to use crowd control for the weapon, and it's better to use against exhaust weakpoints and tanks... Why not just take an auto cannon or AMR? Sure auto cannon has a backpack, and amr has less ammo technically in comparison, but both are much more ease of use and perform just as well at times. Its doubly so with the amr as it is in the same boat as the HMG being able to kill devs easily or striders while also being useful against heavies, but in comparison its way more efficient and doesn't have a long reload. Idk, i do think they should buff the hmg to some degree as, while yes when you compare it to a mg it looks good in some regards, when you compare it to other weapons doing the same niche it starts to look a bit different.
I find myself flicking between the two and really enjoy both for everything you mentioned! Although hmg can be good crowd control. I found the best way is to rather than aim just try and control a nice fan ark and literally swipe them away haha. Both guns are ace tho
Because the HMG sits in between the Crowd Control MG and the Heavy Killer like Autocannon or AMR. It can somewhat crowd control and take out heavies. Sure Autocannon is better in most situations but you can't use it in close encounters. This fills that gap. Honestly HD2 weapons are diverse enough. Some seem to be 'better' as they fall into the comfort zone of the community. But sure I don't mind a better version of HMG. As long as that design philosophy is intact.
@fediken83 what would you like to see? Genuinely curious. For me just 25 rounds extra or give all machine guns and optional backpack to have one continuous belt at the expense of taking up that extra slot
@fediken83 I like everywhere you went with that! Think there's alot of people wanting something similar. Only thing I would change is leave us with the ability to swap fire rate still! If you crouch you with the recoil armour we have know you can full up auto accurately close to medium distance so would be nice to keep the option. The other thing is I love running a lib drone to cover reloads and also increased overall firepower (I like to get close bots or bugs). So give us the machine guns with the standard size belts we have not or the option of a backpack. Maybe even make it a separate stratagem compatible with all machine guns. I'd rock that for sure! I do still love all the machine guns as they are but lord knows I would love to let off more than 200 HMG rounds in one go 😈! Like the sound of the armour aswell! I thought of another one with the armour they could do power armour. Nothing the size of a mech but making you like space marine size. It can take damage and eventually gets broken down. But it allows you to run fast in bursts and tank more damage. It could also have stand alone strategems you need to be in power armour to wield (miniguns and rocket pod rocket launchers etc). I actually got chatting to one of the Devs the other day on another video. He said there's so much in store and it's just early days. People aren't giving them time especially all things considered. I think they have A LOT more in the pipeline and things we'd never expect. Have a look at the leaked map names there's cities, mines some crazy sounding ones. Possibly weapons modding coming aswell.
7.2s reload on empty, but if you reload when nearly out, you shave that down to 5s reload. You can tell when youre nearly out bc the bullets start turning red instead of their usual yellow. This applies to most ballistic guns both primary and support.
It makes such a difference to your reloads I see it as similar to "active reloads" in gears of war. Although there is no timing skill, a keen eye in the heat of it is a skill and it's rewarding when you get it back to back. The uptime of the weapons changes drastically
Really well produced video and great advice. My relationship with the HMG has been waning since it's come out but seeing it take down a factory strider is insane. Great stuff 👍
Swear down I've been having success since before then! But yeah it's helped a lot. I was wasting rounds before getting on target. Using the tracers to aim but not I can know the first rounds will land and that helps tons with only 75 rounds!
Pretty good guide here. I myself threat HMG like I'd treat autocannon. Except no minmum safe range since there's no explosion. HMG is REALLY amazing against automatons since it can punch through and deliver full damage to most. I tend to bring punisher with my HMG. It just feels right to have the shotty and the HMG working together.
Takes 6 rounds in a hulk's visor to kill. 21 to break tank's treads. Damage wise seems slightly worse than the AC, but doesn't take a backpack and its safe at close ranges. Competes with the Laser Cannon, has higher dps but is held back by reload in comparison and is is very unwieldy. Goes really nicely with Resupply Backpack, honorable mentions to ballistic shield for protected reload, laser drone for light enemies.
Lib drone can be good I've gone to reload behind a rock before. Only for the lib drone to headshot 2 devastators back to back. Devs no less in like 2 seconds. I was like damn drone whilst my guy just casually reloaded in safety.
I was thinking that they should seriously consider giving this thing a backpack upgrade, something like a beltfed backpack so you can turn those 3 mags into 1 super mag that you dont have to ever reload, i honestly dont think it would be broken either because you lose that shield generator pack or the supply pack in order to use it, so the trade off is there as should anything that comes with real power behind it
Remember to leave a couple rounds in the Drum before reloading. So you dont need to pull the cocking handle back. It will shorten the reload by a couple seconds making it far more bearable.
Feels like a cousin to the AMR, since they're both Medium penetration level 2 weapons that don't require backpacks. The AMR has precision, but the HMG has the versatile fire rates. The AMR is surprisingly handy in a close quarters pinch if you rapidly point-shoot it and manage to control the recoil, and the HMG is surprisingly good for ranged takedowns if you tap-fire. Really, the weapons are deceptively similar in use. I guess I'd even say that the biggest tradeoff between the two is that one has a scope and the other has a bigger magazine.
Though i did have fun using the hmg it still required a lot of commitment for not to much reward. This thing either needs more ammo or a recoil reduction and at least an accurate sight
been using the HMG for the past 40 hours and i have to say. you can kill alot and almost everything in the game with this pair it with certain stratagems. it works wonders (dont use it in bugs. 9/10 times i just got swarmed using it)
I've been running the hmg since it came out, great weapon for its role. People hating it is a classic case of them not understanding how to use it, which likely stems from a lack of fundamental understanding of the game. Yall need to play the game and learn, instead of just watching TH-cam videos to tell you what to think. Solid video overall, glad someone's out here actually exploring the game beyond what people cling to as "meta" at first glance
Agreed. The ammo economy is definitely a challenge on the weapon but it's not horrible. They just want to hold the trigger down like Rambo instead of shooting in 2-3 shot bursts, or on semi.
Great video! Excellent tips for how to use this piece of junk if you are so inclined. Sadly HMG is still butt compared to AC and even LC. I hope they add a backpack option to make it an endless magazine, and a massive boost to prone recoil control by utilizing the bi-pods. I think that would bring it in line with current AC performance.
This with the pumeller and bshield are my go to for bots atm. Shield gets you close to the fight and when you switch to the hmg the bshield covers you back and head
Pummeler pairs with it so nicely, works nice for chaff, the stun is so good for support. It also feels really nice to use it's snappy and you feel John wick esc with it (has a laser too which is always nice haha). It gives you a bit of finesse which you certainly don't get with the HMG haha. I love the adjudicator but running that and the HMG you just feel like everything is sloppy. The cadence change of pummeler and HMG is such a sweet spot. Not to mention stunning an enemy before pulling out the metal mulcher is god tier
Thanks for the video! Glad that you ran into the very same issues that I did in your initial segments :-) I played it for lots of matches against bots, but I ended up pulling it up only for hulks, gunships (as last resort) and against weakpoints of turrets/tanks/mortars/factory striders. I never got good against devastators... perhaps I need even more training. Whenever I try to shoot at a batch of devastators, I get devastated. Maybe I should not conserve my grenades as much as I did. In the end, it felt ok-ish to play. I always felt safer, stronger, and with more freedom regarding stratagams when using AC, laser cannon, or spear. Well, but maybe I will continue to play it, just to reach a certain level of HMG mastery against bots.
"I never got good against devastators" you need to deal with them going 8+ difficulty because it's only hulk+devastator on 9. try Auto canon/ AMR (+stun) vs devastator, all Machin gun are bad versus those. You can use a primary that can deal with them and striders too like plasma, jar 5 and scorcher. don't forget to take stun grenade for hulk and use it when they come behind your cover to kill them safer from their team (like 5 range rocket devastator9.
@@blankiito3658 I agree with you in all aspects. I only play on 9 and typically bring AC, laser cannon, spear, or recoilless rifle, often with plasma punisher. All great and powerful builds. The heavy machine gun was an experiment to try out something new, and I am somewhat sad that it did not really play out as I hoped. I mean; I still managed to do my part, especially against hulks with stun grenade. It just was never ... as reliable as I would have hoped; it was rather close most of the time. And as you say: devastators and the heavy machine gun,... well, it works if they are stunned or do not look at you . I will take your advice to be more deliberate with stun grenades against devastators, maybe this will make the HMG more feasible .
@@ludewich i feel really useless with spear and recoiless vs bot. The ammo is low and the only good thigh is killing dropship and turret from front. for the recoiless, i think the ammo and reloading time drag it down. i hate the nerf on the quazar, it was top tier because other launcher were bad, even with the nerf it's still the best for me but feel bad compared to AMR/AC. the stun grenade is a must have vs bot (i use it vs bug too but i have to use grenade pistol instead of med pen). i love to try new build for example the eruptor with stalwart was amazing before nerf (without the charger oneshoot trick). btw if you like plasma, try it with supply backpack and stalwart, and since stalw doesn't front kill hulk, use stun+(prec strike/eagle stike/500). My main build vs BOT is plasma/jar, AMR, supply BP, stun gr with med medic armor
@@blankiito3658 Thanks, will keep it in mind! Stalwart is also on my use-in-loadout-list: so far, I only made brief playtests with it (or personal orders). It just feels great!
@@ludewich it will not be S tier but at least you can do some stuff with it (use plasma for med/long range shield devastator, it's the stalwart weak point). for the other 2 machingun i can't make it work, their is something wrong between low bullet in mag, long static reload , low total ammo.
This is actually the only stratagem i haven’t tried im level 70 and ive ignored it because i thought it was just another machine gun but now that ik it takes out hulks thats wild and ill definitely use it
After a couple games of getting a feel for the HMG I'm certain you'll love it! Just don't forget to feed them those stun grenades, doing that is what made my experience a lot better
Very helpful! am looking for the best weapons to deal with tanky bots and I love using machine guns so I wanted to know if this was worth it, this video really helped out!
Kickass! I’m gonna give it a shot, so to speak. I’ve recently discovered that I love the laser cannon, but I’m definitely going to have to bring this to my next bot mission.
amazing video. i use Heaby MG all the time and this is great advice. the only thing i would add as a consideration is trying ballistic shield/smg with it. it lets you get super close to use the heavy better and it can protect your back during those long reloads
I gave it another try. I play mostly in Helldive diff Automaton so the following loadout is for automaton. Diligence Counter Sniper + Revolver + Stun + HMG + Some Eagle + Gas strike + any. I use Diligence for mostly mid range. I'd always snipe the head of devastator out before closing in. Long range? It's fine but you gotta be quite accurate as it only zoom to 200m. The revolver is for the scout unit so I can reserve my primary for larger units or a crowd. For the HMG, I mostly keep it in the lowest rpm as a few hit from this thing deals a lot of damage. I use it take out Hulk exclusively. It's not easy though because the recoil is still high even at the lowest rpm. I sometime find myself tap it instead of burst fire because of the kick. The higher rpm settings are reserved for tank and the factory strider belly. I don't find them necesarily usable at closer range against devastator at closer range because of the kick. If you can predict the kick pattern, then you'll do fine at closer range. With Hulk, you'll need to learn its attacking pattern. They will counter attack you while you are trying your best to hit its eye. You gotta stop firing, dodge, and continue firing. If the hulk keeps closing in, it's time to use stuns. It does WONDER for HMG. I use the armor that gives you 30% less recoil when crouch/prone and +2 grenade. Notice that I don't mention anything about the supply pack. It's because of how I use my loadout I guess. I rarely find myself low on HMG ammo. My diligennce on the ther hand is always at 1/6 or 2/6 before I find myself looking for ammo boxes. The HMG can be used to destroy the mortar emplacement (idk what's it called), the dropshit found in dropshit destroy mission, gunship and the spore tower. I can see why almost nobody uses it because it is a very difficult supporting weapon. Maybe the most difficult one I'd say.
The HMG actually can kill a bile titan, you can shoot it into the broken weak spot and even if it doesn't say it's doing damage, it will actually still kill them
This gun is basically like auto-cannon but whithout splash damage and a option to chose other backpacks other than ammo one. And it can't destroy objectives. So, autocannon is better for bots (burst damage instead of flux damage and stagger) , hmg is better for bugs (can spread lots of damage whith hight penetration across more targets).
Oh yeah I do. Against bots, ya gotta have a shield relay...if the emplacement goes down, you go down. Spray the rocket bois first, then clean up chaff. It's also fun playing chicken with Hulks as the closer they get to you, the better your aim is gonna be on the weak spot. Against bugs, it really shines. You can take down 3 full health shrieker nests in about 24 seconds.
The problem is that the weapon is designed backwards. The way you have to use it is counter to any actual machine gun doctrine ever, so it's just not fun to use as a "machine gun". It doesn't do machine gun things. The usage and damage profile are suited for an entirely different kind of weapon. The way it exists in the game right now is as a fully automatic sniper rifle, which just isn't a thing.
It does feel backward, I had a difficult time with it because of this. I had to change my mindset about how to use it for it to feel fun and useful personally
awesome video! i tried this gun and i loved the sound and look of the thing but could not really find a way to get a lot of use out of it. time to try again!
Give it some time. It is a gun you have to work around. Also try to have the mindset of using it as little as possible. I know that sounds silly but same way you would with quasar say. It is a very situation weapon. Pick something that's good for chaff clear with it. Whether on bots or bugs. You have enough armour pen and punching power. Pummeler works nicely as it's snappy, has a good mag size and can stun lock enemies. Lib drone covering reloads is really nice, lowish rocks it'll shoot over whilst you're safe. It will also occasionally insta headshot not just one but multiple Devs (literally seen it take 3 devs heads in about 4 seconds before haha) I was like damn leave some for me haha
You can take down Bile Titans with this thing. However, it takes nearly a full belt to do so. If the thorax is already destroyed, just like the walker, you get underneath and target the busted thorax. Go max RPM and hold down the trigger. You will eliminate the entire thorax and the Titan will go down. You cannot break the thorax and destroy it in one belt which is where people get hung up. But again, once that thorax is broken and the Titan can no longer spit, a full belt will kill it. Targeting the body won't kill it, only the bottom of the broken thorax.
I did get a couple bile titan kills this way but I didn't like the experience personally. There's nothing to get the bile titan to stop long enough to make it an efficient counter, but if its your only option then yeah you should 100% kill it this way!
I'd like the option for both! The machine gun backpack should give all of the weapons their entire "cache" of ammo in the backpack which is directly fed and can be reloaded with ammo and supplies. The ammo would reflect the rounds and be fair for each one. Whilst still giving you the option of running smaller mags (belts) if you want the backpack slot. Imagine HMG with 225 rounds in one go. Doesn't sound like alot but imagine tripping the uptime if you needed it hahahaha. Nothing would be left in front of you.
Never realized the HMG had so much going for it. It’s kinda like the Railgun in that it’s a half step between the medium tier weapons and the dedicated anti tank weapons.
I was surprised how many situations I could use it for! When situations got too hot for just my primary it felt like I had an ACE up my sleeve. Very fun!
Really good video, I always thought stun grenades and the HMG would be a good combo but I never liked not having regular grenades to take out nests/factories when my stratagems are rearming.
For sure, I use the grenade pistol whenever I carry stuns to try mitigating that problem. Not a perfect solution, but I find it fun that there's always a give-and-take with any loadout!
You actually can kill a bile titan with the HMG if you shoot the tail portion of the titan. Even after it's popped, the HMG has enough armor pierce that it'll still damage the titan through its armor. It's risky as hell, and if you're the sole source of damage, it takes about a mag and a half, but it is possible, and I have done it.
I like the HMG but if your caveat is that you should be using a stun grenade to make a window to calmly hit the weak spot of heavy enemies you can already do that quickly with many primary weapons
I want to see the HMG use a belt feed from an ammo backpack, I’ve heard this idea several times and I think it could bring the HMG up to speed. Here are my thoughts on how a backpack would balance the weapon: - Higher ammo capacity without further slowing handling - Ammo backpack would make it feel more at home with other heavy hitters (spear/recoilless) - Belt backpack means no guard dog/shield so you have to commit to the role of suppressive fire - resupply grants the most (maybe only) ammo refill for the backpack to encourage staying with the team Do you think I missed anything?
Maybe. The idea behind these Git Gud videos though is how to use a weapon or strategy well, not how it works better than others. Discovering different viable strategies in any game keeps the gaming experience fun and exciting. I will say the HMG worked great for countering hulks, chargers, vented foes, bug structures, stalkers, and devastators when using close up strategies.
Pro-tip - use HMG on default fire-rate, use armor to benefit recoil, run supply pack+ stun grenades + grenade pistol. Always use burst shots (quick-tap releases 2 bullets per burst) and crouch often when shooting. Use 3rd person view for quicker target acquisitions. Strider's weak point is the upper portion of front armor. For berserkers, use stun grenades then mow them down. Same for hulks, devastators, etc. Using crouch and burst shots at 750 fire-rate, you can hit targets far away and have more consistent follow-up shots. Go full-auto only in emergencies when they get too close. Here's a full gameplay (PS5) with my HMG. th-cam.com/video/BNiWbC6AdGQ/w-d-xo.htmlsi=vU_bVXubbGs-ejmj
Low rpm mode can be good for "run and gun" with recoil armour you can just about run around and accurately put down fire. Other than that I pretty much always crouch! Spot on tho the HMG can work if you follow certain principles!
@ReynoldGreenlefe177 you can also run and gun at 750, but just control your burst. That's the key. Having to switch between low and medium ROF is not feasible. But being able to quickly drop to crouch and quick-burst far targets, you'll find landing those 2 shot bursts really help take out those long-range targets. Low ROF cannot 2-shot burst long range because the second bullet flies higher than the first. You can only land single bullet taps at long range. But, if conserving ammo is your main goal, then low ROF is it. Just not for good consistent damage at all ranges.
@ReynoldGreenlefe177 I'm going to try and put out a full vid on my PS5 gameplay where I used my typical HMG loadout. I forgot to mention, on PS5, our controllers have a haptic feedback trigger. It's not a quick click like a mouse. This means that if I pull the trigger too far or too hard, my 2-shot burst ends up being a 3 or 4 shot burst. It's much harder to control than a mouse. I'll try to post up my vid later.
@@Cipher73 I hear you on the bursts and I am kind of for it. However in prone you can fully auto low rpm really accurate I can also fun and gun fullauto at low rpm which I really like as I can keep the weapon up (firing) for longer which also throws the enemies aim. I do sometimes Burts the 750rpm or crouch for full auto mid range. But really I use 750 for close to medium full auto. I'm sure we're both doing it right for us! I've switched rpm so many times I do it without thinking now. High is good as a hail Mary when you're swarmed I just dive backwards then spray from prone.
@@Cipher73 ah yeah sure, that may be where the bursts/rpm switching is coming in. On pc I've got it set really easy. It may be that your method is optimised for controller! I only switched to pc like 3/4 years ago after 20 years of consoles so I hear ya! If you do post the video tag me though! I'm sure I could always learn something along the way!
Definitely will use it on helldive on bots. Not bugs tho. My load-out for bugs on helldive 9: scorcher,senator, impacts. Light armor. Shield pack, quasar canon, 500kg& orbital of choice. ( mostly orbital laser)
Guys, a tip on reloading. It has three stages. You can shorten those stages by canceling via diving, running, swapping weapons etc. 1st Mag comes out. Once it’s out, it’s out, so keep going. Crouch again and put mag in. Once it’s in, it’s not coming out. So move! Lastly new ammo goes in and rack the bolt. Good to go! You can pause 3 times to continue reloading this weapon. You do not have to stay still the entire time. Remember that! It can save your life.
mvp comment
That's honestly smart as fuck.
You don't have to rack the bolt so long as you keep a bullet in the chamber. Its the reloading stages is kinda bugged. First stage is dropping the mag. Second is inserting a new one AND positioning a round by opening the top cover. If you get up before doing this you have to redo the "placing the new mag" animation all over again. Last stage is racking the bolt if the gun is completely empty.
Do you really think that this is an intelligent strategy? You're not changing anything. You're taking an extremely long reload time and breaking it up into three parts, but you're not actually shortening the reload time. So you either spend seven seconds one time reloading, or three separate times each lasting between 2-3 seconds. You're still having to stop and take a knee during the fight. The strategy isn't unique to this weapon. You can literally do this with every single gun even down to the starting pistol.
Same goes for the recoilless rifle! you can reload cancel a lot in this game if you wait for the emblem to go from red to white indicating the ammo is in. Good point.
First the spear, then the ballistic shield, and now the hmg!? This dude has helped me enjoy the non meta stratems by not only having fun, but showing how powerful they can be.
Same!
That's been my goal! Glad you are having fun and getting useful info from the videos! Thank you for giving my Git Gud series a try, my next one is the HMG Emplacement so wish me luck!
Ballistic shield is meta wdymmmm (for autos)
@@ezoni8438na you never hear it talked about or used much cause of the other metas even if it’s good now
@@monomaurie Its never not been good? its always been amazing against bots, block all non heavy piercing damage and able to resist a cannon turret shot? With the pummeler now its even better as it can stagger lock the only real threat to shield builds (berserkers)
Can't believe he didn't mention the resupply backpack, that's my go-to backpack when using the HMG cause it lets me just spray and pray without needing to worry about when the next resupply can be called in
Big and true
True, I didn't talk about it but I did try that first. I felt that having protection from gunfire or hunters was more useful but if you want to use the HMG in more situations then the ammo backpack is really helpful.
@@renegadetomgaming The thing about resupply is remember that it also gives grenades and stims. You can stop conserving your stuns for hulks or chargers and start using them on entire packs of mediums once you start using it. If managing it right, you can just call in a new ammo backpack between resupplies five minutes later. If you're not running that thing dry, you're not making full use of the backpack.
For me, ammo pack is the only way to play HMG. It's one of my go to builds for both bugs and bots.
You can get away without running the supply backpack if you are using the Sickle like in the video. It truly is a great weapon in conjunction with the HMG. While going against the bots, I feel I don't need the shield backpack as much as I used to. I do tend to favor the supply backpack though. As said, you get so much in resourcefulness that it's hard not to bring it.
Also tip :
Being prone and laying down SEVERELY reduces the amount of stagger you take from for example bullets so if your facing down shield devastators on a distance just lay down and let 'er rip
plus you can cut down the reload time to about 5 seconds if you save atleast one bullet in the chamber ( having one bullet in the chamber makes it so your character doesnt need to cock it )
I've actually noticed a LOT of weapons works like that, not reloading on completely empty I mean. The dominator and incin breaker both work that way as well, and I'm sure many others
What I’ve seen a lot people talk about that would fix this weapon (and I 100% agree with) is giving this weapon a backpack that would constantly feed it ammo so it can fire without reloading
The insane recoil and having a backpack slot consumed would hinder it from being to op and still a blast to play
Nah, that'll just turn this into the autocannon. Being able to bring a backpack is a key perk of the weapon.
I’m fine just running a supply pack tbh, never suffering from lack of ammo 😅
@@thatoneguy1741 It's a machine gun. You get about five second of fun before the fun's over. I want to lay on the trigger.
@@zhoufang996 I agree. It just needs a little more ammo in the magazine. Say 25 to bring it to 100.
I like the idea but good chance it would smack down usage other machine guns. Think giving it a no manual loading but it has a slow auto loading would make the gun neat/diffrent.
I'm not gonna sugar sugarcoat it. These Helldiver-associated videos with this unique style are going to boost your channel. God bless, keep up the great work.
Yeah the HMG is wild, it's always been. That reload man, though. The 3rd person crosshair is game changing.
One thing you never touched on is this is actually very good at shooting down gunships
with gunships i feel like there are better options by far, the time you need to shoot it accurate its already unloading its next barrage on you🤷🏼♂️. takes nearly a whole mag if you hit everyshot. in my experience of course.
@@wes_stef Not if you hit it in the engine nacelles. But, as you say, that's not so easy when you are under fire.
@@Elthenar yeah it really depends how you hit it and how MANY there are, if its 1 the hmg will shit on that gunship. if there is more then one and ground troops too, you better off getting in cover and wait for amr or ac to take it down.
@@wes_stef If there are ground troops, the other guys won't have it much easier if they are being targeted.
@@wes_stef Kills it faster than the laser cannon, Thing you have to remember is that the heavy machine gun's hidden stat is a bonus to damage against large enemies I actually didn't know it.Killed them so fast until I accidentally shot one out of the air when letting rip a full rpm burst, You might say the spear or the quays are but I can clear the sky on a single mag With the hmg.
I would also like to add that bringing a supply backpack can really add to the experience. You fully replenish your supply with 1 supply pack, meaning you get 8 extra magazines. Considering the packs also provide 2 stims and 2 grenades, this greatly increases your operation time between resupply, allowing you to use your HMG more liberally.
That 500Kg hitting the Bile Titan
In the forehead. LOL
“ oh……… in the FOREHEAD “
Finally someone appreciate the HMG. It's a fun gun, treat it like a burst gun rather than a full auto to take out thos hulks and devastarors.
It really is one of the more fun guns in the game!
The huge reload time and lack of impact for the commitment it asks you makes it really sad. I wish I could enjoy it but its simply terrible on Helldive, hope they buff :
1. its reload speed
2. ammo capacity
3. uncentered sight (make it centered)
4. Reduction on the recoil
And the gun will be lots of fun, tho depending on the impact of the buffs, it might even need a bit more than that but I think balancing the most unfun aspects first instead of the damage will go long way to make it a more enjoyable option
i watched this whole video in one reload of the hmg! now once the reloads finished i'll be ready!
tip 3 about changing the RoF on the fly is by far the most important aspect of learning to use the machine guns. I've been using the MG and HMG a ton the past few weeks and theres not many better feelings than seeing a group of enemies and adapting to it immediately with the RoF. I personally keep the machine guns on the lowest setting as a default and only bump it up to medium against berserker rushes while the highest rate is for weakpoint shots on chargers, tanks, turrets, and strider bellies. the main benefit of low RoF is that you can fire into hoards without wasting bullets on already dead or bleeding out enemies and you can keep that angle locked down for much longer than usual
I've been using this gun religiously for a few days, and once you get over the steep learning curve of recoil control it has become one of my favorites for both bugs and bots. A few things I have found:
- Supply pack (in addition to just being a really good backpack) is really good with the HMG. It not only lets you carry way more ammo, but also lets you be way more liberal with stun grenades and not just save them for big targets.
- Something like a third of the reload animation comes from racking the bolt to chamber the first round. Reloading with one in the chamber can shave off a lot of time and make in-combat reloads a lot more bearable.
- The dot on the scope is heavily misaligned (though I think that's intentional). If you're trying to single-shot it to hit something at range, aim well below the dot, but at mid-range and 760 rpm it is actually a decent indicator of where to point the gun to have your burst land after recoil.
i usually dont like "weapons guide" videos like this but this one show me uses i never tough possible for this weapon tks a lot for the tip !!
I love that your videos aren’t automatically on all our favorite weapons, but rather the unsung heroes that are often overlooked because they seem pointless or too many issues to use. Gives us another perspective how to use them and makes me want to try to git gud at them, instead of taking the easier way out with the better weapons! Great video as always!
In all honesty most of the weapons in the game are situational and I think that frustrates a lot of people because they want every weapon to be versatile but that’s not how the game is
Thanks! I think it makes the game more interesting to see how well each weapon can be used and create more versatile strategies!
I found a whole new play style…. And I absolutely LOVE IT. I enebw have a whole new set of drip to play it with!
I ran with a ballistic shield a few times and it was fun and effective. If I got to reload with bots in front of me, turn away, reload. The shield takes the shots while I get the gun running again. It's not perfect, but its fun to pull off.
Also, thank you for explaining the armor penetration levels, I was not aware of that. There's so much this game DOESNT tell us. I'm glad we have your vids to spread the knowledge, I learn something every time
That's actually really clever! I run HMG all the time and that's a great strategy.
I usually run lib drone it'll shoot enemies whilst you reload and if you find a lowish rock, you'll be covered whilst it fires over the top!
@@ReynoldGreenlefe177 Thanks, ya I found it out accidentally during a crazy "tactical withdraw". Been doing it on purpose ever since lol
@@Gamer_In_Yellow thanks for sharing!
Using low fire-rate at a distance and swapping to higher up close makes the hmg feel dynamic. I like all three MGs but rarely take hmg against bugs.
The problem with the hmg is that several other support weapons do its job much better. The hmg is basically more unweildy, reduced range, and less ammo effective than the support weapons its competing against. People show clips of the hmg shredding tanks and factory striders, but that's only because the guy with the sniper or railgun already cleared most of the threats on the map and they are waiting for their 500 kg to finish cooldown. Support weapons that are not the best at least have a niche, like the recoiless rocket launcher being able to quickly take out dropships full of enemies. The hmg really has no niche because it does everything poorly.
The role it fills. No other support role can do as well. Close quarters medium armour enemies.
@@ReynoldGreenlefe177 except you do not want to be close quarters with bots to begin with.
@@sei_asagiri don't you? The berserkers and drop ships don't feel that way 🤣
I'm there to make sure the ones that try to disrupt said distance are dealt with swiftly. How many people with a lascanon would run TOWARDS a horde of berserkers or devs. They wouldn't (understandably), I do.
When the red light of the drop ship just lit up the grass touching distance away. Fear not I just turned the HMG high rpm mode and will literally melt them as they land next to us.
I hear you! You are right you do want distance with the bots (I started as an AMR player) but the bots don't play nice haha.
Then they meet me with a HMG, lib drone and 6 impacts 😂
I'll keep em back you slot em at range 🙏🏼
@@ReynoldGreenlefe177 my favorite bot loadout is recoilless rocket launcher and the expendable anti tank rockets because they have such a short cooldown. I shoot ships down before they can drop troops. The rockets are great against the hulks and rocket devastators, and since i have so many rockets i can disable factory striders pretty easily. The heavy devastators i just blow their arm off with a shotgun since they cant shoot back while staggered. Impact grenades or stuns for striders and i have all the bases covered.
@@sei_asagiri nice work brother in arms. You are the perfect partner to machine gunner worth their salt!
Honestly this game is about synergy and "covering all bases" no one player can do it all.
Whilst you line up that one shot on the hulk I'll blitz some berserkers trying to rush behind us!
Bolt and computer chips will fly everywhere.
*Then we reload haha.
But yeah sounds like a solid strategy, that's alot of rockets and shells getting yeeted, it's provocative it gets the people going haha.
Glad you're having fun man! It's the community dragging this game down at the minute. Even if it does get "too hard" (it doesn't really) at times, they said from the start it's like a D&D game. Sometimes they will make it harder and easier, new tools or new enemies. I thought the whole thing was trick or treat and we just get ragdolled and do cool Rambo shit in between?
When I first got blitz by a team mate I laughed. Now when people die against "suicide " difficulty the games broken?
We're not supermen, we're hell divers haha.
Honestly think they should make a SEAFdivers for all those that moan. They can get dropped off gently in a pelican. 100 at a time on a small outpost. Give them tanks and stuff cos they're weak they'll love it 😂
I have been using the stun grenade and heavy machine gun pairing for a bit now but I run it with the supply pack so that I can rock the HMG more.
I feel like HMG is very slept on. I used it in a defence position like crouching behind cover or prone somewhere high. This thing could shred Devastators and Brood Commanders
Jump pack is a good backpack for HMG. You can reload while jumping. You can be aggressive and jump in to eliminate a target fast when safe, or jump away to get a safe distance before unloading.
Also you can jump on a tank and dump on the vent and dive out for style pts
Damn I didnt know you could reload and jump simultaneously, badass
Good work, basically all points that I found in my games were explained, full agree. Exception: I do not use a Backpack, instead I bring more Explosions.
You have my respect. By not equipping a backpack and bringing more explosions you can carry your fellow helldivers on your back 🫡
Brave man, I main the supply pack and it’s definitely helps massively for a weapon like this
Lvl 106 here, i like to use the HMG with EATs and suply pack, you are able to destroy every kind of enemy, using my primary to deal small enemys, my HMG to get the mediums and my EATs when i need to get rid of heavy targets, it is a really fun loadout to use... Against bots i just prefer using autocannon over the HMG
And against bugs, just use Flamethrower or Stalwart. There's no use for the HMG.
Great tips for the HMG. Have been looking to incorporate it more into games.
Honestly when you get good you realise most are sleeping on it!
Have been running it with supply pack vs bots on helldive with tons of success. Very fun weapon that rewards a bit of patience and skill. AMR is still my fav but HMG is now close second
I knew it there was more into this gun! I drop it early because how much work you have to put through it but now Im confident I can main this without problem. Just gonna practice at low level just to the feel and get git.
Man I love this gun good vid. I run it with heavy engineer armor & supply pack & plasma punisher.
Nice build just pumping out heavy damage!
I run:
Pummeler - chaff, stun
Senator - lone medium armour
HMG - multiple mediums or heavies
Impact - striders (HMG can but it's quicker and I don't have to reload lol) and general uses
Liberator drone
+ Whatever ever other two slots you want
I take heavy or medium recoil armour with extra nades so I can sling em at every strider I see.
The lib drone covers my reloads (hiding behind rocks it fires over the top)
The pummeler is a nice flex weapon can save you and team mates with stun lock and also you can pin a group by hitting all a few times to allow the lib to do more damage. Lib drone also brings your overall firepower up, so plus HMG you are a front line brick wall of lead 😂
Ive always been personally a fan of the mg over the hmg and i think it comes down to the fact that you sacrifice A LOT of crowd control for utility.
For instance, its true that the hmg punches through higher armor, but most enemies like devs have some light armor somewhere on there body, making it easy for any mg even the stalwart at times to rip through those targets. Adding onto this, taking down striders with the hmg is WILDLY INEFFICIENT as you have way less ammo with it, so even if you can punch through, that doesnt mean you should.
On the contrary though, its ability to rip apart any turret or tank in a second is absurdly useful at times, but there is a slight issue with that.
If you arent able to use crowd control for the weapon, and it's better to use against exhaust weakpoints and tanks... Why not just take an auto cannon or AMR? Sure auto cannon has a backpack, and amr has less ammo technically in comparison, but both are much more ease of use and perform just as well at times. Its doubly so with the amr as it is in the same boat as the HMG being able to kill devs easily or striders while also being useful against heavies, but in comparison its way more efficient and doesn't have a long reload.
Idk, i do think they should buff the hmg to some degree as, while yes when you compare it to a mg it looks good in some regards, when you compare it to other weapons doing the same niche it starts to look a bit different.
I find myself flicking between the two and really enjoy both for everything you mentioned!
Although hmg can be good crowd control. I found the best way is to rather than aim just try and control a nice fan ark and literally swipe them away haha.
Both guns are ace tho
Because the HMG sits in between the Crowd Control MG and the Heavy Killer like Autocannon or AMR.
It can somewhat crowd control and take out heavies. Sure Autocannon is better in most situations but you can't use it in close encounters. This fills that gap.
Honestly HD2 weapons are diverse enough. Some seem to be 'better' as they fall into the comfort zone of the community.
But sure I don't mind a better version of HMG. As long as that design philosophy is intact.
@fediken83 what would you like to see? Genuinely curious.
For me just 25 rounds extra or give all machine guns and optional backpack to have one continuous belt at the expense of taking up that extra slot
@fediken83 I like everywhere you went with that!
Think there's alot of people wanting something similar.
Only thing I would change is leave us with the ability to swap fire rate still!
If you crouch you with the recoil armour we have know you can full up auto accurately close to medium distance so would be nice to keep the option.
The other thing is I love running a lib drone to cover reloads and also increased overall firepower (I like to get close bots or bugs).
So give us the machine guns with the standard size belts we have not or the option of a backpack. Maybe even make it a separate stratagem compatible with all machine guns. I'd rock that for sure!
I do still love all the machine guns as they are but lord knows I would love to let off more than 200 HMG rounds in one go 😈!
Like the sound of the armour aswell!
I thought of another one with the armour they could do power armour. Nothing the size of a mech but making you like space marine size. It can take damage and eventually gets broken down. But it allows you to run fast in bursts and tank more damage.
It could also have stand alone strategems you need to be in power armour to wield (miniguns and rocket pod rocket launchers etc).
I actually got chatting to one of the Devs the other day on another video. He said there's so much in store and it's just early days.
People aren't giving them time especially all things considered. I think they have A LOT more in the pipeline and things we'd never expect.
Have a look at the leaked map names there's cities, mines some crazy sounding ones. Possibly weapons modding coming aswell.
7.2s reload on empty, but if you reload when nearly out, you shave that down to 5s reload. You can tell when youre nearly out bc the bullets start turning red instead of their usual yellow. This applies to most ballistic guns both primary and support.
It makes such a difference to your reloads I see it as similar to "active reloads" in gears of war. Although there is no timing skill, a keen eye in the heat of it is a skill and it's rewarding when you get it back to back. The uptime of the weapons changes drastically
thanks a lot bro, your video is that last push i needed to use this weapon regularly
I do and have great fun, give it a little time and you'll find you're way with it
Been swapping rof on the fly as needed. Medium for crowds, low for further out, and 900 for cutting charger/bile titan butts off
Really well produced video and great advice. My relationship with the HMG has been waning since it's come out but seeing it take down a factory strider is insane. Great stuff 👍
This is a very high quality video for your sub count. well done, man.
its actually very usable now that they added the crosshairs.
Swear down I've been having success since before then! But yeah it's helped a lot. I was wasting rounds before getting on target. Using the tracers to aim but not I can know the first rounds will land and that helps tons with only 75 rounds!
Pretty good guide here. I myself threat HMG like I'd treat autocannon. Except no minmum safe range since there's no explosion. HMG is REALLY amazing against automatons since it can punch through and deliver full damage to most. I tend to bring punisher with my HMG. It just feels right to have the shotty and the HMG working together.
Takes 6 rounds in a hulk's visor to kill. 21 to break tank's treads. Damage wise seems slightly worse than the AC, but doesn't take a backpack and its safe at close ranges.
Competes with the Laser Cannon, has higher dps but is held back by reload in comparison and is is very unwieldy.
Goes really nicely with Resupply Backpack, honorable mentions to ballistic shield for protected reload, laser drone for light enemies.
Lib drone can be good I've gone to reload behind a rock before. Only for the lib drone to headshot 2 devastators back to back. Devs no less in like 2 seconds. I was like damn drone whilst my guy just casually reloaded in safety.
I was thinking that they should seriously consider giving this thing a backpack upgrade, something like a beltfed backpack so you can turn those 3 mags into 1 super mag that you dont have to ever reload, i honestly dont think it would be broken either because you lose that shield generator pack or the supply pack in order to use it, so the trade off is there as should anything that comes with real power behind it
Gimme a call when it has a 150 round mag and it reloads in less than a century 😂
That and more than 2+1 belts, should be 3 or 4 just like the Stalwart, then fix the ADS optic, it's still broken and off by a mile.
Remember to leave a couple rounds in the Drum before reloading. So you dont need to pull the cocking handle back. It will shorten the reload by a couple seconds making it far more bearable.
Feels like a cousin to the AMR, since they're both Medium penetration level 2 weapons that don't require backpacks. The AMR has precision, but the HMG has the versatile fire rates. The AMR is surprisingly handy in a close quarters pinch if you rapidly point-shoot it and manage to control the recoil, and the HMG is surprisingly good for ranged takedowns if you tap-fire. Really, the weapons are deceptively similar in use. I guess I'd even say that the biggest tradeoff between the two is that one has a scope and the other has a bigger magazine.
Prefer lazer cannon personaly. Infinite ammo not as good armor pen but still really good and pairs well with sickle
Select the lowest rpm with the viper armor is so nice
Though i did have fun using the hmg it still required a lot of commitment for not to much reward. This thing either needs more ammo or a recoil reduction and at least an accurate sight
been using the HMG for the past 40 hours and i have to say. you can kill alot and almost everything in the game with this pair it with certain stratagems. it works wonders (dont use it in bugs. 9/10 times i just got swarmed using it)
I've been running the hmg since it came out, great weapon for its role. People hating it is a classic case of them not understanding how to use it, which likely stems from a lack of fundamental understanding of the game. Yall need to play the game and learn, instead of just watching TH-cam videos to tell you what to think. Solid video overall, glad someone's out here actually exploring the game beyond what people cling to as "meta" at first glance
Agreed. The ammo economy is definitely a challenge on the weapon but it's not horrible. They just want to hold the trigger down like Rambo instead of shooting in 2-3 shot bursts, or on semi.
Looks like some people don't understand that there are better options in the game.
I love using this thing with the supply pack. And now they changed it to have heavy armor pen
Great video! Excellent tips for how to use this piece of junk if you are so inclined. Sadly HMG is still butt compared to AC and even LC.
I hope they add a backpack option to make it an endless magazine, and a massive boost to prone recoil control by utilizing the bi-pods. I think that would bring it in line with current AC performance.
Dude I use it every day and it's really powerful.
This with the pumeller and bshield are my go to for bots atm. Shield gets you close to the fight and when you switch to the hmg the bshield covers you back and head
Pummeler pairs with it so nicely, works nice for chaff, the stun is so good for support. It also feels really nice to use it's snappy and you feel John wick esc with it (has a laser too which is always nice haha). It gives you a bit of finesse which you certainly don't get with the HMG haha. I love the adjudicator but running that and the HMG you just feel like everything is sloppy. The cadence change of pummeler and HMG is such a sweet spot. Not to mention stunning an enemy before pulling out the metal mulcher is god tier
Thanks for the video! Glad that you ran into the very same issues that I did in your initial segments :-) I played it for lots of matches against bots, but I ended up pulling it up only for hulks, gunships (as last resort) and against weakpoints of turrets/tanks/mortars/factory striders. I never got good against devastators... perhaps I need even more training. Whenever I try to shoot at a batch of devastators, I get devastated. Maybe I should not conserve my grenades as much as I did. In the end, it felt ok-ish to play. I always felt safer, stronger, and with more freedom regarding stratagams when using AC, laser cannon, or spear. Well, but maybe I will continue to play it, just to reach a certain level of HMG mastery against bots.
"I never got good against devastators" you need to deal with them going 8+ difficulty because it's only hulk+devastator on 9. try Auto canon/ AMR (+stun) vs devastator, all Machin gun are bad versus those. You can use a primary that can deal with them and striders too like plasma, jar 5 and scorcher. don't forget to take stun grenade for hulk and use it when they come behind your cover to kill them safer from their team (like 5 range rocket devastator9.
@@blankiito3658 I agree with you in all aspects. I only play on 9 and typically bring AC, laser cannon, spear, or recoilless rifle, often with plasma punisher. All great and powerful builds. The heavy machine gun was an experiment to try out something new, and I am somewhat sad that it did not really play out as I hoped. I mean; I still managed to do my part, especially against hulks with stun grenade. It just was never ... as reliable as I would have hoped; it was rather close most of the time. And as you say: devastators and the heavy machine gun,... well, it works if they are stunned or do not look at you . I will take your advice to be more deliberate with stun grenades against devastators, maybe this will make the HMG more feasible .
@@ludewich i feel really useless with spear and recoiless vs bot. The ammo is low and the only good thigh is killing dropship and turret from front. for the recoiless, i think the ammo and reloading time drag it down.
i hate the nerf on the quazar, it was top tier because other launcher were bad, even with the nerf it's still the best for me but feel bad compared to AMR/AC.
the stun grenade is a must have vs bot (i use it vs bug too but i have to use grenade pistol instead of med pen). i love to try new build for example the eruptor with stalwart was amazing before nerf (without the charger oneshoot trick). btw if you like plasma, try it with supply backpack and stalwart, and since stalw doesn't front kill hulk, use stun+(prec strike/eagle stike/500). My main build vs BOT is plasma/jar, AMR, supply BP, stun gr with med medic armor
@@blankiito3658 Thanks, will keep it in mind! Stalwart is also on my use-in-loadout-list: so far, I only made brief playtests with it (or personal orders). It just feels great!
@@ludewich it will not be S tier but at least you can do some stuff with it (use plasma for med/long range shield devastator, it's the stalwart weak point). for the other 2 machingun i can't make it work, their is something wrong between low bullet in mag, long static reload , low total ammo.
This is actually the only stratagem i haven’t tried im level 70 and ive ignored it because i thought it was just another machine gun but now that ik it takes out hulks thats wild and ill definitely use it
After a couple games of getting a feel for the HMG I'm certain you'll love it! Just don't forget to feed them those stun grenades, doing that is what made my experience a lot better
Very helpful! am looking for the best weapons to deal with tanky bots and I love using machine guns so I wanted to know if this was worth it, this video really helped out!
I can't wait to use this with the new viper commando armor that reduces recoil with no need for crouching
Kickass! I’m gonna give it a shot, so to speak. I’ve recently discovered that I love the laser cannon, but I’m definitely going to have to bring this to my next bot mission.
"High RPM is good for mid range things too" *proceeds to burst fire*
yeah dude, i want what you're smoking
amazing video. i use Heaby MG all the time and this is great advice. the only thing i would add as a consideration is trying ballistic shield/smg with it. it lets you get super close to use the heavy better and it can protect your back during those long reloads
I love that idea!
You helped me find the missing piece of my next load out.
Thanks you
Great guide man ive always liked the HMG gonna give it more love after this you've got me keen again
4:56
What the Helldiver hears: "Die Fahne hoch die Reihen fest geschlossen.
S. A. marschiert mit ruhig festem Schritt..."
I used the liberator rover with this, and it really was helpful, to deal with the small enemies in fact it headshot devastators
I gave it another try. I play mostly in Helldive diff Automaton so the following loadout is for automaton. Diligence Counter Sniper + Revolver + Stun + HMG + Some Eagle + Gas strike + any.
I use Diligence for mostly mid range. I'd always snipe the head of devastator out before closing in. Long range? It's fine but you gotta be quite accurate as it only zoom to 200m. The revolver is for the scout unit so I can reserve my primary for larger units or a crowd.
For the HMG, I mostly keep it in the lowest rpm as a few hit from this thing deals a lot of damage. I use it take out Hulk exclusively. It's not easy though because the recoil is still high even at the lowest rpm. I sometime find myself tap it instead of burst fire because of the kick. The higher rpm settings are reserved for tank and the factory strider belly. I don't find them necesarily usable at closer range against devastator at closer range because of the kick. If you can predict the kick pattern, then you'll do fine at closer range.
With Hulk, you'll need to learn its attacking pattern. They will counter attack you while you are trying your best to hit its eye. You gotta stop firing, dodge, and continue firing. If the hulk keeps closing in, it's time to use stuns. It does WONDER for HMG. I use the armor that gives you 30% less recoil when crouch/prone and +2 grenade. Notice that I don't mention anything about the supply pack. It's because of how I use my loadout I guess. I rarely find myself low on HMG ammo. My diligennce on the ther hand is always at 1/6 or 2/6 before I find myself looking for ammo boxes.
The HMG can be used to destroy the mortar emplacement (idk what's it called), the dropshit found in dropshit destroy mission, gunship and the spore tower.
I can see why almost nobody uses it because it is a very difficult supporting weapon. Maybe the most difficult one I'd say.
The HMG actually can kill a bile titan, you can shoot it into the broken weak spot and even if it doesn't say it's doing damage, it will actually still kill them
Good video is nice to see some love for a weapon with so much potential
you did so well with these weapon set ups that i think AH is going to nerf the setup next patch
Great video man. Gonna give it a go tomorrow!
Short bursts...3-5rnds each pull...you're good.
Wish we could have an even heavier MG with team reload.
This gun is basically like auto-cannon but whithout splash damage and a option to chose other backpacks other than ammo one. And it can't destroy objectives. So, autocannon is better for bots (burst damage instead of flux damage and stagger) , hmg is better for bugs (can spread lots of damage whith hight penetration across more targets).
Great vid. I love the raw power of the HMG punching through armor...which is why I run HMG Emplacement 😊
Maybe worth it's own "Git Gud" video...
That's the next one on my list! I can't wait to figure that one out. If you have any pointers let me know!
Oh yeah I do. Against bots, ya gotta have a shield relay...if the emplacement goes down, you go down. Spray the rocket bois first, then clean up chaff. It's also fun playing chicken with Hulks as the closer they get to you, the better your aim is gonna be on the weak spot.
Against bugs, it really shines. You can take down 3 full health shrieker nests in about 24 seconds.
It needs to have a massive scope selection as well, i want to have a medium range support weapon!!!!
I agree, On the low fire rate you could really make use of a scope
Imma try this, generally i dont like the HMG cause it makes me be 'still' but so does the quasar i guess lol
The problem is that the weapon is designed backwards. The way you have to use it is counter to any actual machine gun doctrine ever, so it's just not fun to use as a "machine gun". It doesn't do machine gun things. The usage and damage profile are suited for an entirely different kind of weapon. The way it exists in the game right now is as a fully automatic sniper rifle, which just isn't a thing.
It does feel backward, I had a difficult time with it because of this. I had to change my mindset about how to use it for it to feel fun and useful personally
awesome video! i tried this gun and i loved the sound and look of the thing but could not really find a way to get a lot of use out of it. time to try again!
Give it some time. It is a gun you have to work around. Also try to have the mindset of using it as little as possible. I know that sounds silly but same way you would with quasar say. It is a very situation weapon. Pick something that's good for chaff clear with it. Whether on bots or bugs. You have enough armour pen and punching power. Pummeler works nicely as it's snappy, has a good mag size and can stun lock enemies.
Lib drone covering reloads is really nice, lowish rocks it'll shoot over whilst you're safe. It will also occasionally insta headshot not just one but multiple Devs (literally seen it take 3 devs heads in about 4 seconds before haha) I was like damn leave some for me haha
all weapons are meta when I use them
This right here. The attitude of an Absolute Legend!
You can take down Bile Titans with this thing. However, it takes nearly a full belt to do so. If the thorax is already destroyed, just like the walker, you get underneath and target the busted thorax. Go max RPM and hold down the trigger. You will eliminate the entire thorax and the Titan will go down. You cannot break the thorax and destroy it in one belt which is where people get hung up. But again, once that thorax is broken and the Titan can no longer spit, a full belt will kill it. Targeting the body won't kill it, only the bottom of the broken thorax.
I did get a couple bile titan kills this way but I didn't like the experience personally. There's nothing to get the bile titan to stop long enough to make it an efficient counter, but if its your only option then yeah you should 100% kill it this way!
Ive learned to love the heavy hmg and the ballistic shield pack. Wish they had team reloading on it with support packs though.
They should ditch the magazine entirely and give it a beltfed backpack with triple the ammo count.
I'd like the option for both!
The machine gun backpack should give all of the weapons their entire "cache" of ammo in the backpack which is directly fed and can be reloaded with ammo and supplies.
The ammo would reflect the rounds and be fair for each one.
Whilst still giving you the option of running smaller mags (belts) if you want the backpack slot.
Imagine HMG with 225 rounds in one go. Doesn't sound like alot but imagine tripping the uptime if you needed it hahahaha. Nothing would be left in front of you.
Another great video. Very much looking forward to you doing a laser cannon video if you're so inclined.
Never realized the HMG had so much going for it. It’s kinda like the Railgun in that it’s a half step between the medium tier weapons and the dedicated anti tank weapons.
I was surprised how many situations I could use it for! When situations got too hot for just my primary it felt like I had an ACE up my sleeve. Very fun!
Really good video, I always thought stun grenades and the HMG would be a good combo but I never liked not having regular grenades to take out nests/factories when my stratagems are rearming.
For sure, I use the grenade pistol whenever I carry stuns to try mitigating that problem. Not a perfect solution, but I find it fun that there's always a give-and-take with any loadout!
You actually can kill a bile titan with the HMG if you shoot the tail portion of the titan. Even after it's popped, the HMG has enough armor pierce that it'll still damage the titan through its armor. It's risky as hell, and if you're the sole source of damage, it takes about a mag and a half, but it is possible, and I have done it.
So.....looks like this is back on the menu. Was digging AMR Lately against bots, but this is dope as hell.
Thanks for the video. I've been wanting to branch out to other weapons. I just need to find a good primary to pair this up with.
“In control” sounds like a similar build with the flamethrower
Exactly what i needed!
Thank you!
I like the HMG but if your caveat is that you should be using a stun grenade to make a window to calmly hit the weak spot of heavy enemies you can already do that quickly with many primary weapons
I want to see the HMG use a belt feed from an ammo backpack, I’ve heard this idea several times and I think it could bring the HMG up to speed. Here are my thoughts on how a backpack would balance the weapon:
- Higher ammo capacity without further slowing handling
- Ammo backpack would make it feel more at home with other heavy hitters (spear/recoilless)
- Belt backpack means no guard dog/shield so you have to commit to the role of suppressive fire
- resupply grants the most (maybe only) ammo refill for the backpack to encourage staying with the team
Do you think I missed anything?
You’re putting a lot of effort into making a gun work when easier solutions just exist.
Maybe. The idea behind these Git Gud videos though is how to use a weapon or strategy well, not how it works better than others. Discovering different viable strategies in any game keeps the gaming experience fun and exciting. I will say the HMG worked great for countering hulks, chargers, vented foes, bug structures, stalkers, and devastators when using close up strategies.
Thank you Renegade Tom
No one has problems with difficulty 6 or 7 on anything. If it comes to this difficulty there are easier and better support weapons for these tasks
Nice overview! Loved the Jeremy overlay at the beginning lol
I'm sure if Jeremy was a Helldiver he would exclusively use the HMG and 500kg bomb LOL
Supply pack + spray and pray = winning
Dang I need to give this weapon another try!
also fun little fact you can take out gun ships with the HMG its a little tricky and honestly a waste of ammo but it is something you can do lol
A rail cannon strike will possible kill a titan, but if it doesn't then the cracked back armour is a prime machine gun target
I had no idea the HMG could take out the Hulk's eye. I swear by the autocannon for bot missions but I do want to switch it up. I gotta try this
This shit makes me feel like I'm playing dark souls I love it
Pro-tip - use HMG on default fire-rate, use armor to benefit recoil, run supply pack+ stun grenades + grenade pistol.
Always use burst shots (quick-tap releases 2 bullets per burst) and crouch often when shooting. Use 3rd person view for quicker target acquisitions.
Strider's weak point is the upper portion of front armor. For berserkers, use stun grenades then mow them down. Same for hulks, devastators, etc.
Using crouch and burst shots at 750 fire-rate, you can hit targets far away and have more consistent follow-up shots. Go full-auto only in emergencies when they get too close.
Here's a full gameplay (PS5) with my HMG.
th-cam.com/video/BNiWbC6AdGQ/w-d-xo.htmlsi=vU_bVXubbGs-ejmj
Low rpm mode can be good for "run and gun" with recoil armour you can just about run around and accurately put down fire. Other than that I pretty much always crouch!
Spot on tho the HMG can work if you follow certain principles!
@ReynoldGreenlefe177 you can also run and gun at 750, but just control your burst. That's the key. Having to switch between low and medium ROF is not feasible. But being able to quickly drop to crouch and quick-burst far targets, you'll find landing those 2 shot bursts really help take out those long-range targets.
Low ROF cannot 2-shot burst long range because the second bullet flies higher than the first. You can only land single bullet taps at long range. But, if conserving ammo is your main goal, then low ROF is it. Just not for good consistent damage at all ranges.
@ReynoldGreenlefe177 I'm going to try and put out a full vid on my PS5 gameplay where I used my typical HMG loadout. I forgot to mention, on PS5, our controllers have a haptic feedback trigger. It's not a quick click like a mouse. This means that if I pull the trigger too far or too hard, my 2-shot burst ends up being a 3 or 4 shot burst. It's much harder to control than a mouse. I'll try to post up my vid later.
@@Cipher73 I hear you on the bursts and I am kind of for it. However in prone you can fully auto low rpm really accurate I can also fun and gun fullauto at low rpm which I really like as I can keep the weapon up (firing) for longer which also throws the enemies aim.
I do sometimes Burts the 750rpm or crouch for full auto mid range. But really I use 750 for close to medium full auto. I'm sure we're both doing it right for us!
I've switched rpm so many times I do it without thinking now. High is good as a hail Mary when you're swarmed I just dive backwards then spray from prone.
@@Cipher73 ah yeah sure, that may be where the bursts/rpm switching is coming in. On pc I've got it set really easy. It may be that your method is optimised for controller! I only switched to pc like 3/4 years ago after 20 years of consoles so I hear ya! If you do post the video tag me though! I'm sure I could always learn something along the way!
Definitely will use it on helldive on bots. Not bugs tho. My load-out for bugs on helldive 9: scorcher,senator, impacts. Light armor. Shield pack, quasar canon, 500kg& orbital of choice. ( mostly orbital laser)