1. Understanding Match vs. Overmatch Armor Penetration (65% vs 100% Damage)
Every weapon projectile and enemy armor plate in Helldivers 2 is assigned an hidden Armor Value from 0 to 7. Inspect the reticle hitmarker when firing: a Blue Ricochet icon means your weapon’s Armor Penetration (AP) is lower than the armor plate (0% damage). A White Hitmarker means your weapon’s AP equals the enemy armor value—dealing 65% of base damage. A Red Hitmarker means your weapon’s AP exceeds the armor value, delivering 100% full damage.
2. Durable Part Health vs. Main Health Pool Deception
Many players wonder why a high-damage light rifle takes three magazines to pop a Charger’s exposed orange rear abdomen or a Bile Titan’s belly sacs. Large fleshy body parts possess a "Durable %" stat (often 80% to 100%). Standard hollow-point rifle bullets deal only ~10% of their listed damage against Durable parts, whereas explosive weapons (Autocannon, Grenade Launcher, Crossbow, Eruptor, Scorcher) deal 100% Durable damage, popping sacs in 2 to 3 shots.
3. Instant Fire Extinguish Dive & Acoustic Detection Radii
The millisecond your Helldiver catches fire from a Hulk Scorcher, Fire Tornado, or Napalm barrage, press the Dive / Prone button BEFORE pressing Stim. Diving immediately extinguishes burning status in mid-air, saving your health while the Stim animation completes on the ground. For solo Super Helldive objective stealth: standing detection radius is ~50m, crouching reduces detection to ~32m, and crawling prone drops enemy visual detection down to ~14m.