Helldivers 2 has just received two new Support Stratagem weapons — the MG-206 Heavy Machine Gun and the LAS-99 Quasar Cannon. This new Quasar Cannon acts similarly to the EAT-17, except it has a few key differences that make it a highly effective tool against the enemies of democracy.

While it’s capable of laying even the strongest of enemies low, the Quasar Cannon has some pretty significant negatives to balance out its awesome power. Let’s take a look into its nitty-gritty details and find out whether you should be using this brand-new weapon.

Quasar Cannon Basics

Small Quirks You Need To Know

• Unlimited Ammo.
• Armor piercing similar to the EAT-17 and Recoilless Rifle.
  • Can destroy objectives like Bot Fabricators (with the right angle) and illegal broadcast towers.
• 10 second cooldown time between shots.
• Doesn’t take up a backpack slot.

The Quasar cannon is a weapon that’s capable of one-shotting Chargers, two-shotting Bile Titans, and destroying almost every kind of objective you point it at. Its damage and armor penetration values are similar to the EAT-17 and Recoilless Rifle allowing it to make short work of heavily armored targets — including Automaton dropships. Unlike its competitors, however, the Quasar Cannon has infinite ammo, near limitless range, and doesn’t take up a backpack slot.

In spite of that, all of this incredible firepower comes with two downsides:

1. The cannon must charge for three seconds before it can fire.
2. It has to vent heat for 10 seconds between each shot.

This makes it a little more difficult to use when hordes of enemies are chasing after you to flay your freedom-loving skin from your democracy-loving bones, but if you’re confident in your aim, and you find a 3-second window to fire this weapon, you’ll obliterate anything unlucky enough to be caught in your crosshairs.

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Quasar Cannon Vs Similar Stratagem Weapons

A Universal Tool Against Everything

• The 10-second, hands-off cooldown makes it better than the Recoilless Rifle.
• Infinite Ammo makes it more flexible than the EAT-17.
• Strong armor piercing makes it effective against more targets than the Autocannon, but without the Autocannon’s ease-of-use.

Compared to other Stratagem Support weapons, the Quasar Cannon shines as a general answer to large targets without the need for a backpack slot.

Against the EAT-17, the Quasar Cannon allows Helldivers to dance around hordes of enemies and repeatedly fire the cannon. In comparison, the EATs can only fire two shots back-to-back and requires the player to return to the supply pod to get the second launcher. This can be great when you need to fire from a position where you can easily access the drop pod, but it can be problematic if you have to constantly move or if you need more than two rockets for the situation at hand.

The Recoilless Rifle is the closest comparison to the Quasar Cannon. Both have similar usage cases, but the biggest cons of the Recoilless Rifle are its long, stationary reload time and reliance on ammo packs. In this regard, the Quasar Cannon is practically a straight upgrade. The only argument to use the Recoiless Rifle is if you have someone else use the backpack to reload your missiles instantly. But even then, having two players using the Quasar Cannon will take down threats at the same pace as two Recoilless Rifles, and each player will still have their backpack slots available.

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Best Way To Shoot The Quasar Cannon

Aim At Weak Points; Give Yourself Space

When you’re facing down the biggest armored threats to managed democracy, you’ll want to aim at their weakest armored points. For Bile Titans and Chargers, this will be their head. Against Tanks and Cannons, you’ll want to aim for the bright panels behind their turrets. Hulks can be shot either in their red glowing eye or the panels on their backside, and Dropships can be downed by shooting their engines.

Specifically against Automatons, charging the Quasar Cannon behind cover for a second or two then peeking out for the last second of charging to fire at your target is a good way to minimize your exposure to enemy fire. Just be aware that this won’t work very well against Hulks. Against those armored walkers, run away and create as much space as you can before turning around and aiming for their red glowing eye. If you ever trigger a Bot Drop, get your Quasar Cannon ready to shoot down one of the oncoming Dropships.

For Terminids, make sure you stay ahead of the swarm and bring weapons that can get Stalkers and Hunters off of you so you can fire the cannon safely. If you’re aiming at a Charger and don’t have a clear line of sight to its head, it’s also okay to shoot its leg instead so you can finish it off with your regular weapons.

Recommended Loadouts For The Quasar Cannon

Bring Tools For Small Enemies

• Make the most of the open backpack space by bringing the Energy Shield pack or Jetpack
• Bring tools that will efficiently handle small enemies
• Medium and Light Armor are the best compliments for the Quasar Cannon
  • Med-kit armor tends to synergize fairly well with the Quasar Cannon
• Stun Grenades help keep big enemies in place to land your shots with ease

Since the Quasar Cannon can handle the majority of large threats, the best thing to do is bring weapons and armor that can help you deal with large groups of small enemies. Both kinds of Breakers, the Slugger and the Punisher are perfect for tearing through swarms of smaller enemies. This is especially important against automatons where Devastators need to be disposed of quickly before they can one-shot you.

For your best armor options, medium armors are preferred against Automatons since there’s a good chance you’ll be looking at an enemy that can shoot back at you while you’re charging the Quasar Cannon. Armors with the Med-kit ability are also preferred here, so you can use a stim that lasts 4 seconds and charge your shot safely for 3 seconds. Against Terminids, light armor and medium armor are recommended since they have enough speed to let you get far enough ahead of swarms so you can safely rattle off a cannon shot.

In the grenade slot, stun grenades provide amazing value since they can keep large enemies stuck in place long enough for you to aim your Quasar Cannon and shoot them where you need to. These grenades can also help you manage large groups of enemies in a pinch.

Best Stratagems With The Quasar Cannon

Stratagems will vary based on what you’re fighting. Against Terminids, the Eagle Airstrike and Cluster Bomb are fantastic options to clear out entire waves of enemies while the Quasar Cannon picks off whatever remains. Automatons, by comparison, will require more ways to crack armor quickly. The Railcannon, Orbital Laser, Eagle Missile pods, and Orbital Precision Strike are all amazing options for this.

But one of the greatest strengths of the Quasar Cannon is how it doesn’t require a backpack slot to be effective. This allows you to take a Jetpack, Shield Generator pack, or Guard Dog Rover — depending on the mission and how self-sufficient you want to be. If you wanted to help your team more, you could take a Recoilless Rifle’s backpack or the Supply Pack and fight much closer to your team.

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