Helldivers 2 Weapon DPS Chart: Damage, RPM & Armor Pen

A weapon’s headline damage in Helldivers 2 means nothing until you check three things together: damage per shot, fire rate, and armor penetration. A 275-damage round that fires 250 times a minute is a completely different gun from a 275-damage round that fires 25 times a minute, and neither matters if the plate it hits is one tier above its pen. This chart puts those three columns side by side for the primaries players actually ask about.

Primary weapon stats chart

Values below reflect the current live balance (verified against community stat tables for Patch 7.2.1, October 2026):

Weapon	Damage (std)	Fire rate	Mag	Armor pen	Paper DPS
AR-23 Liberator	90	640 RPM	45	Light (AP2)	~960
AR-61 Tenderizer	105	600/850 RPM	35	Light (AP2)	~1,488 @ 850
AR-23P Liberator Penetrator	65	640 RPM	45	Medium (AP3)	~693
BR-14 Adjudicator	95	550 RPM	30	Medium (AP3)	~871
SMG-32 Reprimand	140	490 RPM	25	Medium (AP3)	~1,143
JAR-5 Dominator	275	250 RPM	15	Medium (AP3)	~1,146
CB-9 Explosive Crossbow	270 (+350 explosive)	50 RPM	5	Medium (AP3)	~516
R-36 Eruptor	230 (+225 explosive)	32 RPM	5	Heavy (AP4) projectile	~853
PLAS-101 Purifier	100 uncharged / 200 charged	1,000 RPM	15	Medium (AP3)	varies
LAS-17 Double-Edge Sickle	55–70 (heat stages)	642–817 RPM	heat	Light (AP2) → Heavy (AP4) above 91% heat	varies

Paper DPS = damage × RPM ÷ 60, before falloff and reloads. The Tenderizer’s ~1,488 at 850 RPM is the highest sustained output among standard assault rifles, but note its magazine: 35 rounds at that rate empties in under 2.5 seconds.

Why armor pen outranks raw DPS

The pen column decides what you are allowed to shoot. Light (AP2) weapons bounce off medium armor and above, which is why the Liberator’s healthy paper DPS evaporates against Devastators. Medium (AP3) is the universal benchmark — it handles the bulk of what every faction fields. Heavy (AP4) on the Eruptor’s projectile (upgraded from Medium in the 01.002.200 balance pass) is why a 5-round bolt gun still deletes Charger plating and Hulk chassis.

Two exceptions worth knowing:

• The Double-Edge Sickle is two weapons in one. Below roughly a quarter of its heat bar it pens like a light rifle; above 91% heat it becomes a heavy-pen beam. The trade is that it sets you on fire in that top stage.
• Fire DoT bypasses armor entirely. Incendiary effects tick regardless of the target’s plate, which is why light-pen incendiary shotguns stay relevant against armored bugs.

How to actually pick

• Match pen to the faction first. Bugs swarm with light bodies but field armored elites — explosion and fire carry you. Automatons are a medium-armor wall — AP3 is the floor, and precision (Dominator, Counter Sniper) beats spray. Illuminate field lighter armor overall but punish you in open crowds — charged AoE like the Purifier shines.
• Read the reload, not just the mag. The Crossbow’s 5-round mag with a 3.33s reload is a rhythm weapon; the Dominator’s 15 rounds with a 3.8s regular reload punishes misses hard.
• DPS you cannot aim is zero. The Purifier’s charged-shot efficiency and the Eruptor’s 853 DPS both assume hits; their slow projectiles demand lead time most players underestimate.

For the numbers the game hides from this screen — durable damage, demolition, stagger — read our hidden weapon stats breakdown. How those pen tiers map to each enemy’s armor value is covered in the armor penetration guide and the enemy armor values reference. If you just want a shortlist instead of the full chart, our best primary weapons page ranks the current picks.

Related guides

• Helldivers 2 Best Primary Weapons
• Helldivers 2 Hidden Weapon Stats
• Helldivers 2 Armor Penetration and AV
• Helldivers 2 Enemy Armor Values