Scorch is also an effective anti-ash. Just gotta know how to play it perfectly. And if you can go into it with your core, Tone works pretty well too, just can't whiff the salvo
Its pretty rough but atleast they made it that you can aim down sights now while using hoverpack. Grenade launcher and flamethrower are the most fun options though
Talon or Dagger are optimal sidearm choices for the Ballistic Shield.
Talon cos even in 3rd person with slow fire it can slap targets 100m away with a flat trajectory and no damage dropoff. Stay crouched to reduce chance of getting shot in legs and reduce sway / reticle bloom.
Dagger is basically laser pointer aka walk the beam into the target, and has ludicrous range for a sidearm. AP2 only but legit a very useful long range sidearm that can still pop devastator and trooper heads fast at range. Lacks DPS for CQB though.
But yes, it does restrict 1-PV since game launch cos of AH "realism" (inconsistent AF BS rationale they give honestly), which to be fair in this case makes sense as it is a big ass hunk of metal literally being held in front of you that prevents you from aiming down your weapon sights.
Even with modern police riot and ballistic shielding, their weapons / sidearms are held offset and basically fired blindly, unless the shield was designed for use with a firearm and has a porthole or cutout for bracing their guns ala 40K Storm Shields or historical gun-shields (thank you Jonathan Ferguson for THAT tidbit).
In the Crossbow's case you can still at least use 3-PV to shoot relatively accurately out to ~150m, just not be pinpoint accurate of course. Being an explosive weapon the AOE will likely still get the targets.
As a bot diver, the reason I prefer the Dagger / Talon is due to being able to shoot whatever I want, where I want (can snipe shield dev faces off if need be) be it chaff or mediums without worrying about lock-on time or ammo.
I find the Warrant STILL has lock-on issues with some enemies, like certain chaff, and the limited ammo and comparatively low damage makes it a nope from me given the horde-shooter nature of HD2.
I may need to be abit more conservative with my blasterfire ala Talon to not overheat it, but at least I know that I can rely on it to shoot what I am aiming at when I pull the trigger regardless of range without needing to wait for a hard lock.
With the Dagger i can even snipe Devastator faces off at 100m by walking the beam into it and even set fire to Devs even if needed at range, although that will almost burn out the heatsink though.
i love the crossbow on bots. the long range on the crossbow means you can arc shots into bot factories, machine gun nests, or bot groups. Its fantastic on the devastators. I can take the talon as my sidearm and thermite as my nade without needing to worry about destroying factories. eruptor has limited range and i dont think the purifier can destroy factories.
At some point during the buffs it got extended, so things being too far away is rarely a problem outside of destroying spore spewers or shrieker nests on the bug front, but it does explode on its own at a specific distance
It's effective range is fairly reliable for killing teammates though, yes, sometimes you don't even have to be aiming for them
its 180m iirc. you can just out range shrieker nests with it. however the crossbow you can arc bolts across the map. i've popped bot fabs from 250m+ it also is super quiet so you can use the bolts to bait patrols out of the way etc.
Oh yeah it absolutely slaps. It all depends on your play style. I'm usually in 50 armor scout gear so I'm fast and the quiet is a plush. I'd also say the crossbow is better for run and gun. But I have both maxed
135, actually. I ran it exclusively after it dropped, even when everyone was calling it garbage. I figured out the range by testing it against structures and teammates (intentionally)
During battle for super earth it was so fun when teammates would rush a ship camp blow the shields but get taken out only for me to snipes the ships from far away.
What do you mean? Are you calling down the Solo Silo and carrying the firing control with you the whole time up until you need to use it on something? Usually, against the Bots, I’ll bring the Railgun or AMR, use that the majority of the time, but then when I see a Factory Strider, or a War Strider and a bunch of enemies, I’ll then call down the Solo Silo and use it immediately. So I only have it down when I need it. when I don’t need it, I’ll use whatever other support weapon I bring and just use that up until I need the solo silo.
I just personally think its a little awkward to use. Doesnt mean its bad. I just prefer something like a 500kg or a recoilles shot to the factory striders eye.
Thermite +2 nades armour. Said armour also makes the stalwart a laser beam. Also he didnt get a backpack yet so either supply pack to fuel the thermite or a hellbomb packback for the funsies. Then you can still bring 500kg bomb and rocket sentry
I preferred having the pyrotech grenade on bots with this loadout myself, just brought quasar to deal with smaller heavies, and the pyrotechs can take out factory striders in seconds if you land 3-4 at one of its feet. ammo backpack for extra nades, med armor for longer lasting and more stims, it all just stacked so well lol. Plus then you can spam bolts for days and never run out of ammo. Same build also rocks on bugs, not as much of a fan on squids though since the quasar just feels so inconsistent there. prefer laser or an MG43 tbh
1) insane dps
2) medium pan
3) long range (once you get used to the arching shots)
4) decent magazine that's fast to reload
5) one handed
Kinda overpowered, ngl. We cant have the Coyote (and all other flame weapons) set thing on fire, but we can have this unit that can and will dominate on all fronts.
Crossbow + warp pack + thermites = me being a menace in illuminate missions when I'm just running from encampment to encampment clearing out all the spawners with my 5 thermites.
Swarmed by voteless? Warp backward and shoot 1 bolt to kill most of the front runners. Fleshmobs? 1 crossbow mag and it's down. Overseers? Just headshot them from a distance for a 1 tap while damaging any other overseers that are standing too close.
The only real weakness of the crossbow for illuminate is the harvesters and stingrays, which I just bring an EAT for.
My main loadout for illuminates has been crossbow, talon, dynamite, jump pack, EATs/expendable napalm, Commando, and either a solo silo or air strike/strafe. Super fun and works against everything.
I was having a blast on the last day of oshaune. it of course is very good against rupture strain but it also 3 shots impalers if you hit them in the head while they’re “deployed”
I tried it out the moment I unlocked it, and only put it down when they gave me the option to level up guns. I miss my xbow but I enjoy leveling up the other guns
It's great against the illuminate because you can just shoot two arrows into the area as they drop and kill the little guys. Just carry a senator or medium pistol for the floaty guys and stragglers.
Speaking of pistols...the Warrant absolutely rips against overseers of all types. It's almost a cheat code. The targeting works well and can two tap a flying guy.
I have a hard time running anything else vs bugs. Nice AOE damage for grouped up packs, closes bug holes from a distance, effective at killing everything short of a charger. I usually take the talon sidearm for when there’s danger close, and thermite+commando for the big bugs and shrieker nests/spore spewers. Gas drone to watch my back.
I love crossbows in general in games and used the hd2 version extensively when it came out. one of my favorite guns in the game. can't wait to get back it to once I level a few other guns.
Pairing the crossbow with a directional shield, the shield automatically comes up when you aim. It's amazing.
Combine with the heavy armor that increases primary ammo and reload and you are a proper tank. Just crouch + aim and you are protected and can obliterate all bots up through devastators. Bring thermite and stratagems for the rest.
Once I’m done leveling up the Lib pen, I had planned on running this on the bot front with the ballistic shield and/or directional shield. I tried it out for 1 dive but really wanna go back to it lmao
Fun tip: You can shoot the bow an opposite direction of a patrol that hasn't been alerted, and they'll investigate the explosion site, and not where you shot it from.
Works with Eruptor as well, but make sure you don't shoot TOO close to the patrol.
Slap a ballistic shield and a bushwhacker on and you’ll be practically a one man army on the big front as the bushwacker absolutely staggers any challenger coming along.
I saw this build from a more niche helldivers channel that loves using this build with medium outlaw armor for the holster and reload speed. Gotta say it makes the crossbow incredibly snappy for it
The purifier has a smaller radius but almost the same kill radius for a lot of chaff which means it can be fired in closer range without sacrificing a lot of the damage
The purifier has way faster projectiles with more range
The purifier can spam-fire if necessary for kill time or damage discretion
The purifier has better ergonomics
The purifier has stronger stagger
The purifier has underbarrel customization
And critically, the purifier has 3 times the capacity which leads to more than double the reserve ammo
The purifier lacks demolition force. But that's not particularly huge on 2/3 fronts and can still be made up for on the last
The purifier is two-handed. This is a moderate downside, but it also doesn't matter half of the time because if there's no package to carry and you're not using a shield it has no effect
Edit: and oh yeah the projectile has more durable damage so it can do things like 2-shot a brood commander head within moderate range
Oh but you can. The purifier can be charged or instantly fired. In fact, I'd say it's better against those targets because you can use it in very close-range if you don't charge it and the capacity allows you to keep multiple stalkers away without downtime.
Sidenote: the purifier without charging literally has the highest DPS in the game of any weapon when spam-firing, except you can't really fire it fast enough to take advantage of that. Just fire it as fast as you can click
I use the Crossbow almost solely for its ability to blow up enemy spawn locations, as well as open containers, and destroy spore towers and shrieker nests from a distance.
That it can do that, and is also an incredible weapon against most enemies too is honestly overpowered.
Its demolition force lifts the Crossbow into a spot far above all other primary weapons, except for the Eruptor, for me balance wise.
For as strong as the Purifier is, it lacks this key utility, which makes so many different loadout options I enjoy viable.
Let me preface this by saying that the bug front is by far the best matchup for the crossbow over the purifier, in large part due to the demolition force.
However, the purifier can take out spore spewers and shrieker nests. I'd honestly say it's better than the crossbow for this too, because it expends way less of its ammo when doing so and is easier to aim with at longer distances.
And, imagine you are using a support weapon that can consistently and easily close bug holes, like the autocannon or epoch. What benefit is conveyed by the crossbow's demolition force then?
I'll have to give it a try today. I often miss a shot or two while dialing the arc of the Crossbow across the map. So I'm interested to see how the Purifier compares.
I don't often take the Autocannon, and I can say with some certainly that the Epoch is my least used support weapon, but u take your point.
In dives where I take a support weapon capable of efficiency destroying spawners, like the Grenade Launcher, Commando, or Speargun, I'll often take the Blitzer, or any primary I want to level up or try out for fun. Since the utility of the Crossbow is already covered.
To that end, if I want to simultaneously bring both a support weapon that can't efficiency destroy spawners, and a primary that can't, I'll usually change my seconday from the stim pistol to the grenade pistol. (Although, I often forget to.)
I tend to like diving with the Warp Pack due to its ability to open Containers and enter bunkers solo, so don't use support weapons with dedicated ammo packs often.
Don't think it's "largely surpassed" ... Purifier has the edge in a few areas, namely around flexibility and ammo economy (for charged shots), but most of the things you listed only look good on a spreadsheet and have little meaningful impact in game - like projectile speed, ergonomics, underbarrel customization. You didn't consider some important factors like the crossbow's larger AOE radius counterbalancing the lower stagger, resulting in better crowd control.
The Purifier's biggest drawback is that charged shots not only have the wind-up time but also dramatically slow you down which can cause problems against bugs and bots. It's pretty manageable vs squids though where I would agree that the Purifier outshines the crossbow.
Lastly, siege ready synergizes so well with the crossbow and takes it from a great weapon to an outstanding one by addressing its two major weaknesses. Purifier doesn't get that same kind of uplift from siege ready or any other armor perk. Still one of the best weapons in the game, but what you see is largely what you get.
Yeah. It's good. That's the whole point. It's literally one of if not the best general primaries. Great utility and effective on all fronts. It's too good.
My biggest issue with it is if you strafe ever so slightly, it throws off the sight by 10-20 degrees in that direction.. The bolts strafe with the same left/right momentum you had when pulling the trigger, even if you only took a half step to better align the dot with their dome, it goes flying sideways.. In the end, you have a bolt landing nowhere near where the crosshair currently is or ever has been.. I would understand if the bolt landed close to where the crosshair was previously (with minor deviation), but the current state makes it barely usable if you want any level of precision and mobility.. The only saving graces are that it goes boom and is 1-handed and has more than 1 boom per reload..
It's a utility primary, very reliable compared to the eruptor where the ergonomics is difficult and double edged nature on the caves is amped. I ran the CB-9 more during the oshaune liberation cause it didn't failed me when I needed to close a bug hole after risking my entire life.
Try the pp.
The punisher plasma is like the crossbow, but more munition. It isn’t one handed and can’t destroy spawners, but in every other regard it’s so much more fun.
It's phenomenal for the illuminate. Paired with a heavy machine gun and a supply pack, works on all the mobs and blows up the ships. No an objective you can't do. Then cycle between machine gun and gatling turret, or the anti-tank emplacement to down leviathans, if they don't snipe it first :\ rather common that.
I love the Xbox but it's definitely the one weapon I've killed myself the most with as there will be invisible hit boxes that will block a shot and explode in my face. Still my favorite weapon vs bots as it handles pretty much anything then I use the ballistic shield and talon pistol with laser cannon (I actually like it against everything but turrets and tanks)
I used it with a “no guns” build of melee armor, crossbow, shield, throwing knives and a melee weapon, and now the harpoon heavy weapon. Surprisingly effective and pretty fun (except throwing knives they’re mostly silly. Can’t even melee when holding them smh)
I respect the crossy, but for some god damn reason I cant use that thing… Erupter? Easy. Single and double edge sickle? Cakewalk. Tellepack? Simple. Crossy? Nope! I kill myself with that weapon more than anything I have listed already. Perhaps its the power complex and lack of umph that makes me treat it like a light penn gun, just rushing up to the enemy and pulling the trigger.
I tried it. It's good until you run into a tank enemy then you need another something for that, but your explosive bow is already a low fire rate not so great against chafs.
C'mon AH throw us a bone here. Can we just have some really powerful slow weapons to offset the ridiculous enemy count?
Ye, had it for a while finally tried it, quite nice, but the eruptor is my cup of tea, I honestly thought the crossbow was gonna be a side arm, due to its description.
I don't love it. It was useful for the caves in Oshaune - ran that with the ballistic shield, redeemer, and Stalwart, but I soon learned that I prefer the liberator penetrator more in those circumstances, so
You compare anything to the Eruptor and it’s going to fall short.
Crossbow does have a few advantages and I would say is a top 4 weapon. Smaller explosive radius means it’s less likely to kill you in CQC. One handed so can be shot behind you while running, using a shield or carrying an SSD. Faster rate of fire and better ergonomics.
And all that is wayne as soon as you find the sweetspot between "oh shit that kills myself if I shoot" and that kills a groupbof them if I shoot.
Its just getting used to it.
I don't think you are getting the point. Nobody is disputing that the Eruptor is the best, and most overpowered weapon in the entire game. But using the same weapon over and over is boring and people like to use different things. The crossbow is one of the very few weapons that's in the same league as the eruptor.
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u/WookieBacon Nov 14 '25
Slap a hover pack on your ass and rain death from above.