Helldivers 2 players say this weapon is underwhelming

Helldivers 2 has a large selection of weapons, and more are added on a regular basis, including the new Grenade Pistol from the recently released Democratic Detonation Premium Warbond. Each weapon has its pros and cons, with some suiting long or close-ranged engagements, and some being more suited for the Automatons and some for the Terminids.

One of these weapons is the Marksman Rifle, commonly called a DMR. This weapon sits between an Assault Rifle and a Sniper Rifle, with its ability to pick off enemies at a far distance, while also having a fast enough fire rate for close-range encounters. Despite this, it’s not a perfect weapon and the way that Helldivers 2 is designed and its mechanics can make it a weapon that many choose to avoid. 

U/ReasonableDwarf took to Reddit to discuss the Marksman Rifles in Helldivers 2 and that it doesn’t seem to have a place in the game. This comes after Arrowhead Game Studios released a poll asking the community what they thought of the weapon, with the majority saying it is underwhelming.

“The recent poll shows that an overwhelming majority of players think the DMRs are currently underpowered. The problem isn’t exactly the weapon design, however, but the way that missions and enemy behavior are structured.”

They then went on to explain where the Marksman Rifle is supposed to sit in the list of weapons types and its use case saying it is “intended to sit somewhere between an assault rifle and a dedicated sniper rifle. It gives a squad the ability to hit multiple targets outside the range of most of their weapons while sacrificing some close-range utility.” Unfortunately, “in Helldivers 2, you almost never want to shoot enemies that are far away.”

They then finished the post by giving some suggestions on how to make it more viable. 

“Re-building the way both factions fight, reinforce, and function at a basic level just to make DMRs a decent pick is probably a bit much to ask. Buffing the rifles so that they’re good at both close-range and long-range fighting will just make them superior to every other option out there. The best solution I can come up with is to introduce mission types, terrain features, or unique conditions that put enemies holed up in distant locations to plink at.”

U/Ironyinabox pointed out a problem with Helldivers 2 that is often echoed by the community, and that is that as soon as you fire your weapon, enemies immediately know your position and just swarm you saying, “I think long-range weapons would be a lot more effective if the time-to-detection was increased as well. Like, the further away you are, the longer it takes enemies to track you down.” 

U/Marcola42 also echoes this saying, “Not making the enemies auto-detect you once you shoot should fix this. You should be able to snipe 3-4 enemies before they pinpoint your position.”

One major problem in Helldivers 2 is that most planets have very poor visibility, which can make it difficult to use weapons such as the Marksman Rifle or Sniper Rifle as you can’t see far enough to pick enemies off, instead having to opt for more close range engagements where other weapons can be more viable, as U/YHL6965 noted saying, “So many planets have so much fog, making any long-range weapon pointless.” 

I typically agree with what most Reddit posts say, but this is one that I disagree with to an extent. I have been using the Marksman Rifle since I began playing the game a couple of weeks ago. As the Automatons were the focus of the game at the time I immediately jumped into some robot missions with an Assault Rifle and I wasn’t a big fan, so I tried the Marksman Rifle. I really enjoy using the Battle Rifle in Halo to pick grunt enemies off in one or two shots and try and land headshots on the tougher enemies. I figured I could find a similar use for the Marksman Rifle in Helldivers 2 and I was correct. 

Using the Marksman Rifle makes it easier to pick off the grunt Trooper enemies with one or two shots, and it does somewhat against tougher enemies. It is possible to line up the cross hair with the Trooper inside of the Devastators and eliminate them quickly, as well as take out the Trooper driving the Scout Strider if you’re behind it and it hasn’t become aware of you, meaning you can avoid the tough enemy. When it comes to engaging heavily armored enemies in combat I find most regular weapons don’t do much damage so I use Grenades and Stratagems to take them out and so far have found success.

Although I will note for solo play I usually stay at the Challenging difficulty and have so far played up to Hard difficulty in a group, so I may discover that the Marksman Rifle isn’t suitable at difficulties higher than this. But at least right now it works well for me. When it comes to the Terminids I find the Marksman Rifle isn’t a good option as it is too easy to get overwhelmed by them so I use a regular Assault Rifle due to its faster fire rate. 

There are many weapons to choose from and it can be difficult to figure out which one is right for your play style as well as the type of mission you are playing. To make sure you’re using the ideal loadout to bring Democracy, we highly recommend checking out our Helldivers 2 best weapons guide and best armor guides so you and your team can serve a hot cup of Liber-tea.