Helldivers 2: Best R-36 Eruptor Build (2024)

The elite soldiers of Super Earth in Helldivers 2 always fight to spread managed democracy and reduce the threat that tries to take away their way of life. This sometimes means fighting bugs and bots using newly requisitioned weapons such as the R-36 Eruptor Rifle .

The R-36 Eruptor is an explosive bolt action rifle that blows its targets into pieces. The weapon comes with exploding shrapnel that explodes in all directions upon impact, killing foes and friends if nearby. Even though the damage is the selling point of this gun, you need a proper Eruptor build for maximum survival in the field.

The Best Weapon Choices

Even though most primary guns in the game have decent damage, range, and a balanced feel in the field, the powerplay dynamics change significantly with the R-36 Eruptor. This explosive bolt-action rifle is termed a primary weapon, but ithandles more like a support weapon.

The R-36 Eruptor has very high single-target damage, and once a bullet lands on a target, it instantly deals massive splash damage that kills nearby enemies, which makes it particularly devastating against bugs and bots equally. Most primary weapons take a lot of time to kill medium-armored enemies, but this changes significantly when you can destroy them with precise aim in one shot.

While the R-36 Eruptor is excellent against light armored swarms and blowing medium-armored enemies to pieces, it also shines while fighting heavy ones; defeating a Charger becomes much easier with this gun, as one bullet fired from the R-36 Eruptor can destroy a Charger's exposed back. If you cannot position yourself on its back, the splash damage from the gun will take out the Charger five or less than five rounds.

Secondary Weapon

There will be times when you need to finish off a light-armored enemy at close quarters, and in such moments, firing the Eruptor wastes ammo and damages your Helldiver, so a high-rate-of-fire secondary weapon should be used in situations like this.

For this reason the P-19 Redeemer is the perfect choice for a secondary weapon, as it has an 1100 rate of fire, which shreds light-armored enemies at close range. Instead of wasting the Eruptor's round, you can also use this weapon to detonate the Hellbombs placed at various locations during the longer missions.

G-16 Impact Grenade

The choice of grenade matters little when the R-36 Eruptor has the potential to plug bug holes in one shot. Unlike the grenade launchers where you have to take into account the parabolic arch, one direct round of the Eruptor at the bug hole will destroy it immediately.

The G-16 Impact grenade is a perfect utility grenade for the Eruptor build; it blasts on impact, which is excellent when a pack of hunters is approaching. And even though aiming to fire the Eruptor at fast-moving Hunters is nearly impossible, blowing them up quickly using the G-16 Impact is quite possible.

The Best Stratagems For The R-36 Eruptor Build

While the R-36 Eruptor is, without a doubt, one of the best weapons in the game, its slow rate of fire and each round's reloading mechanic make it unusable in close quarters. You will be damaged to near death if you fire this gun from CQC at a target, so you'll need stratagems that aid you in time of need.

Eagle Airstrike

Running with the Eruptor is great for eliminating swarms or large targets that threaten the team. However, you must avoid the action and attack from a long distance, which can sometimes mean missing all the chaos.

The Eagle Airstrike is one of the chaos-causing stratagems in the game that can potentially blow up a large area in seconds. This is a perfect stratagem for the R-36 Eruptor build, and you must use it whenever an enemy swarm is trying to get close to you.

Orbital Airburst Strike

While the Eagle Airstrike drops deadly bombs, the Orbital Airburst Strike fires shrapnel in a medium-sized AoE in three succession, which proves to be an excellent stratagem for escaping a tough spot.

If you suddenly find that a bot dropship is right above your position dropping a couple of light-to-medium-armored bots, this is the perfect time to use the Orbital Airburst Strike. While it cannot kill Hulks, Devastators, and smaller grunt bots, the shrapnel will crush them.

Eagle 110MM Rocket Pods

The Eagle 110MM Rocket Pods are excellent for destroying Tanks, Hulks, Chargers, and Bile Titans. While the Eruptor is more than capable of killing all these, it takes quite a lot of time before you slay the foe.

On the other hand, throwing the Eagle 110MM Rocket Pods calls down concentrated rockets at a heavy target, destroying them in seconds. This stratagem does the highest damage and kills Tanks, Hulks, and Chargers in one shot.

AC-8 Autocannon

The AC-8 Autocannon is a support stratagem that works well with the Eruptor, as it can stagger medium-sized enemies and do massive single-target damage. Maintaining distance and attacking from afar is the main reason you should run with the R-36 Eruptor build, and the AC-8 Cannon's range and damage perfectly complement this playstyle.

AC-8 Autocannon has more or less the same damage as Eruptor, but this support weapon offers better control and has higher ammo capacity thanks to the backpack.

R-36 Eruptor Build Playstyle

When you run with the R-36 Eruptor build, you take the recon role and pick targets from a distance. Of course, you can be aggressive and charge with the squad, but this will severely reduce your chances of using the Eruptor as you will be engaged in close combat.

Always try to find a higher ground from the main objective and shoot from a distance. If you are playing the Purge Hatcheries mission in the Terminid faction, run around the egg area and find higher ground; fire at eggs from a distance instead of running through the bug-infested lair.

Use the Eagle Airstrike frequently to reduce enemy presence. While playing on Suicide level or above, enemies will frequently swarm you, and Eagle Airstrike is meant to reduce those numbers if you throw and place the stratagem properly.

Always align your throw because the airstrike happens perpendicular from where the stratagem ball lands, and always use the Eruptor against a group instead of single target enemies. The Eruptor does not have a lot of ammo and comes with a slow reload mechanic, which is why the best Eruptor playstyle involves using it against a group tightly placed close to each other.

Switch between Autocannon and Eruptor for maximum combat efficiency; playing the Eruptor build does not mean you need to use this gun from the start of the mission to the end. Sometimes, you must switch tactics and analyze the situation to see whether Eruptor or Autocannon will be better, so don't shy away from experimenting and understanding what works best for you.