The worst Helldivers 2 weapon has become one of the best overnight

helldivers 2 balancing
(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

The Railgun has been dethroned. The one-shot-kill support weapon that could tear through enemies of every toughness at a steady pace has been brought back down to Super Earth with nerfs to its penetration and non-weak-point damage.

With the power vacuum left in its wake, helldivers across the galaxy have gone back to the drawing board looking for a worthy replacement in their loadouts. An early frontrunner has emerged from an unlikely source: the Flamethrower.

At launch, Helldivers 2's Flamethrower was considered so bad that, when my friends and I would find a free one lying around on a map, we'd ignore it. The support weapon was slow to kill even small bugs or automatons, and had the annoying habit of self-immolation when burning enemies closed the distance on you. It was a hindrance, but as noticed by Reddit user BadassMinh, the post-patch Flamethrower has evolved into a Terminid-melting machine.

"Flamethrowers can kill Chargers quite fast now," the post proclaimed. The accompanying video looked impressive, and the Flamethrower did get a damage buff in the patch, so I decided to try it myself.

Turns I hadn't actually unlocked the Flamethrower yet despite being level 26 (that's how bad it was). I jumped into a difficulty 5 bug mission with some randos. Nobody said anything, but I could feel their eyebrows rising as I locked in a pyromaniac build. 

It was love at first barbeque. My earlier attempts to make the Flamethrower useful had all ended in tragedy, but within seconds with Flamethrower 2.0 I was cooking hordes of bugs like instant popcorn. No standard bugs (or teammates) could get within an arm's length without poofing into a pile of ash.

Helldivers 2 Flamethrower 2.0"

But the Flamethrower's true test was against Helldivers 2's persistent and deadly Chargers. Reddit wasn't lying: Chargers do go down pretty quick if you keep a steady flame on them. It's slower than the old Railgun, but competitive against the Recoilless Rifle and similar to the newly buffed Laser Cannon. It's really good, in other words. Like the Railgun, the Flamethrower doesn't require a backpack and can reload on the move.

The best part of the Flamethrower's new power, and why it's way more interesting than the old Railgun, is that using it comes with serious risks. Carelessly spewed flames will kill teammates very fast. Grass and bushes can also burn, creating pockets of danger that linger for a few seconds. As Arrowhead balancing guru Patrik Lasota put it in a blog post published today: "It should be powerful up close and an inconvenience to enemies that are lit on fire or want to walk through the fire and flames."

After today's patch, the Flamethrower isn't just viable, but among the best support weapons in the game. It's certainly one of the quickest ways to take down a Charger, which is reason enough to consider bringing one on any bug hunt.

Morgan Park
Staff Writer

Morgan has been writing for PC Gamer since 2018, first as a freelancer and currently as a staff writer. He has also appeared on Polygon, Kotaku, Fanbyte, and PCGamesN. Before freelancing, he spent most of high school and all of college writing at small gaming sites that didn't pay him. He's very happy to have a real job now. Morgan is a beat writer following the latest and greatest shooters and the communities that play them. He also writes general news, reviews, features, the occasional guide, and bad jokes in Slack. Twist his arm, and he'll even write about a boring strategy game. Please don't, though.

Read more
Helldivers 2 best weapons - A diver in the Freedom's Flame armour
The best Helldivers 2 weapons
A screenshot of Helldivers 2, depicting a Helldiver saluting while wearing an anthropomorphic facemask
Helldivers 2's latest warbond adds a stratagem I've craved since the galactic war started, a portable hellbomb
helldivers 2 polar patriots warbond
'The guns weren't doing what it says on the box': Johan Pilestedt reflects on Helldivers 2 balance changes that disrupted the positive vibes
helldivers 2 killzone crossover
Defending a kinda wimpy Killzone crossover gun, Helldivers 2's Johan Pilestedt says the game's past balance woes were due to weapons being 'seen as game objects' and that 'balance doesn't matter'
helldivers 2 autocannon
Gun of the Year 2024: Helldivers 2's AC-8 Autocannon
Crashing servers, flame wars, and a 60-day path to redemption—the utterly chaotic first year of Helldivers 2 has been a democratic doozy
Latest in Third Person Shooter
Storm trooper hero
Another live service shooter is getting shut down, this time before it even launched on Steam
Marvel Rivals characters - Hulk with his hands out as if he's grabbing the camera.
Marvel Rivals' growing roster of heroes scares me, but the game's director seems sure that all is under control: 'Everything is progressing smoothly'
Titus in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 3 reveal promo image
Praise be to the Omnissiah! Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 3 is officially in development
Marvel Rivals characters - Captain America running towards the camera.
All Marvel Rivals characters - current and upcoming heroes
Marvel Rivals Human Torch
Marvel Rivals is carrying on the tradition of chaotic patches after buffing two of the most annoying heroes, but I main one of them, so I'm not complaining
Mech in dry dock with person standing on catwalk underneath
How long can a live service game last? Theoretically, 'forever,' says Mecha Break developer: 'The last game I was in charge of has been alive and well for 16 years'
Latest in News
Crying laughing emoji with disturbing realistic elements for REPO
REPO's first update will add a new map and a 'duck bucket' so we can finally give that pesky quacker a time out
Man facing camera
The Day Before studio reportedly sues Russian website for calling infamous disaster-game a 'scam'
Will Poulter holding a CD ROM
'What are most games about? Killing': Black Mirror Season 7 includes a follow-up to 2018 interactive film Bandersnatch
Casper Van Dien in Starship Troopers
Sony, which is making a Helldivers 2 movie, is also making a new Starship Troopers movie, but it's not based on the Starship Troopers movie we already have
Assassin's Creed meets PUBG
Ubisoft is reportedly talking to Tencent about creating a new business entity to manage Assassin's Creed and other big games
Resident Evil Village - Lady Dimitrescu
'It really truly changed my life in every possible way': Lady Dimitrescu actor says her Resident Evil Village role was just as transformative for her as it was for roughly half the internet in 2021