Helldivers 2’s Lance and Baton Suggest a Sad Truth About Future Melee Weapons

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home January 5, 2025 36 Views 6 Min Read
Helldivers 2's Lance and Baton Suggest a Sad Truth About Future Melee Weapons



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The surprise release of Helldivers 2’s latest update at The Game Awards 2024 was a sweet treat that delivered several of the community’s most highly requested features. Not only did this update introduce a new enemy faction to fight against in Helldivers 2’s ongoing Galactic War, but among several other noteworthy additions, players can now use proper melee weapons in Helldivers 2.

While the two new melee weapons introduced in Helldivers 2’s Omens of Tyranny update may only be the first of many more melee weapons to come, the future of this weapon type doesn’t seem too bright so far. Compared to other secondary weapons, the existing melee weapons in Helldivers 2 are quite powerful, but beyond this though, melee weapons will likely never be able to compete with the constantly evolving meta for primary and support weapons.

Helldivers 2 primary weapons edit with Dead Sprint Booster GAMERANT

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The Stun Baton and Stun Lance in Helldivers 2 Rely Too Heavily on Their Stun Capabilities

One of the biggest strengths of the new CqC-19 Stun Lance and the CQC-30 Stun Baton in Helldivers 2 is that they can stun enemies and leave them vulnerable to a practically endless combo of follow-up attacks. However, if not for the stun capabilities allowing players to repeatedly attack enemies, these two melee weapons would be much less viable since it often takes multiple attacks to kill some of the weakest enemy units from each faction in Helldivers 2.

Ultimately, if future updates for Helldivers 2 introduce more melee weapons, they might not be worthwhile alternatives to the Stun Lance and the Stun Baton if they don’t have stun capabilities. Otherwise, intentionally getting within proper range to use melee weapons would be an even bigger risk than it already is, one that could cost players a couple of Stims at best, or a reinforcement at worst, which is quite a costly investment either way.

Anti-Armor Weapons and Stratagems Are a Must for Helldivers 2’s Higher Difficulties

Compared to some of the best secondary weapons available in Helldivers 2, the Stun Lance and the Stun Baton are both relatively powerful weapons. Admittedly though, this is quite a low bar to clear since secondary weapons are categorically some of the weakest weapons in the game.

One of the main reasons why secondary weapons are at the bottom of Helldivers 2’s current meta is that they generally have little to no armor penetration. This isn’t as much of a problem when playing on Helldivers 2’s lower-difficulty settings where heavily armored enemies are few and far between, but anti-armor weapons and Stratagems essentially become must-haves when playing on higher difficulties. So, unless future melee weapons come with innate armor penetration or a complimentary buildcrafting tool that provides this buff, like a body armor perk or a booster, melee weapons will likely never be able to compete with some of the best primaries and support weapons in Helldivers 2.

For the time being, it remains to be seen if future updates for Helldivers 2 will continue to add more proper melee weapons to the game beyond the Stun Lance and the Stun Baton. However, unless they have a stun utility and/or heavy armor penetration capabilities, future melee weapons in Helldivers 2 may be doomed to remain more of a gimmick than a viable alternative to the latest metas.

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