A new Helldivers 2 warbond is coming next week, but if you're one of the Helldivers 2 players accessing unreleased content through cheat software, Democratic Detonation is already here. Thousands are tuning in for an early look at the guns on offer, including a grenade pistol, explosive crossbow, and a scoped rifle that fires jet-assisted bullets. The weapon I'm most interested in, though, is a leaked rocket launcher.
The leaks come from YouTuber WiLLiSGaming, who sourced the gameplay from someone who hacked their way into the new stuff, a practice that's becoming increasingly common in Helldivers as Arrowhead sneaks future content into the game's files.
There's not too much to say about the Democratic Demolitions guns before we can try them out ourselves, but I did notice a few things I'll be looking out for next week:
- That grenade pistol is a bug hole/fabricator closing machine: It's slow to reload and doesn't have much ammo, but a pocket cannon that can shut down spawners at distance is mighty convenient.
- The Adjudicator looks like a slow, strong assault rifle: It appears to fire slowly and kick like a mule, but its impacts stagger more than a standard Liberator. I really want to try this one.
- The Eruptor looks tailor-made for bot headshots: Might have the slowest fire rate of any primary, but an explosive ammo rifle with a scope? Looks like a Devastator's worst nightmare.
I suspect many divers will be more interested in the Airburst Rocket Launcher, a support weapon that has been popping up in leaks for a while now. Its oblong rockets and launcher give it a classic videogame RPG look, but its output is anything but typical—an airburst rocket explodes on impact, then expands into a cloud of a dozen smaller explosions. Players have tested its damage (subject to change by the time we see it in the game) and it's pretty impressive.
The massive AoE on each rocket obliterates closely grouped enemies, and judging by the video above, it's no slouch against a Charger either. The Airburst appears to be almost the opposite of the Quasar Cannon—all splash damage, but not very hard-hitting in any one spot. I suspect that'll make it a strong pick against Terminids that like to clump up, but it might not deal as much direct damage to a Hulk as the Quasar or Recoilless.
What the Airburst will excel at, though, is airborne enemies. Both the Terminids and the Automatons now have their champions of the sky with Shriekers and Gunships. In the leak video, we see a single rocket take out a whole swarm of Shriekers in its explosive cloud.
Based on recent happenings, I don't think it'll be long before we're using this one ourselves. A Super Earth dispatch suggested development on anti-air weaponry has been fast-tracked, so the Airburst Launcher could be the next stratagem in the Helldivers 2 lineup.
