The Helldivers 2 Stalwart and how to use it

Helldivers 2 Stalwart shooting hunter bug
(Image credit: Sony)

The Helldivers 2 Stalwart is one of the game's best weapons for early players, a light LMG summoned as a Stratagem that has a good mix of control, portability and firepower. We also see frequent personal orders in Helldivers 2 to kill 200 enemies with the Stalwart, so understanding how it works and how to use it is essential to earning those precious medals. If you want to know how to beat those orders or just want an explanation on how it's best used, here's how to get kills with the Stalwart in Helldivers 2.

How to kill enemies with the Stalwart in Helldivers 2

Helldivers 2 Stalwart light machine gun firing in first person

(Image credit: Sony)

The Stalwart is a Support Weapon Stratagem that you'll need to choose when putting together your loadout before a mission in Helldivers 2. It's likely that you've already got this light machine gun weapon as you unlock it for purchase at level 2 at your Ship Management console and it costs a mere 3,500 Requisition Slips to add to your Stratagem armory. However, it's also possible to find at points of interest and objective areas during missions, though I wouldn't rely on this for any challenges. Make sure you also don't confuse it with the regular Helldivers 2 Machine Gun, or even the Heavy Machine Gun as these won't contribute towards challenge progress

If you're aiming to complete this challenge to get 200 kills with the Stalwart as quickly as possible, the best way to go about is to load into a low-difficulty mission – no harder than Medium if you're playing Helldivers 2 solospecifically against the Helldivers 2 Terminids. The bugs have far less armor compared to the Automatons, and the Stalwart has minimal armor penetration, so it'll be useless against many of the bot enemies. Not only that, but the bugs swarm you in such large numbers that spraying and praying an entire magazine of the Stalwart is quite effective and great for getting this challenge done fast.

Reload and repeat until you've slain 200 of the filthy bugs, then finish the mission to get back to your ship and receive your 15 Medals. You can then spend those on all sorts of cosmetic items and on unlocking weapons in Helldivers 2 across the various Warbonds like Helldivers 2 Cutting Edge.

On a more general level, the Stalwart is best against bugs, as mentioned above, and on-the-fly play about backing up and firing into the approaching horde. It won't do much against the heavier foes, but all the different machine guns are good against crowds of low level enemies, and the Stalwart is no exception.

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Will Sawyer
Guides Writer

Will Sawyer is a guides writer at 12DOVE who works with the rest of the guides team to give readers great information and advice on the best items, how to complete a particular challenge, or where to go in some of the biggest video games. Will joined the GameRadar+ team in August 2021 and has written about service titles, including Fortnite, Destiny 2, and Warzone, as well as some of the biggest releases like Halo Infinite, Elden Ring, and God of War Ragnarok.