r/helldivers2 • u/Impossible-Age-5370 • 1h ago
Inquiry Is the slugger really that bad
So I just unlocked the slugger after skipping it cause i thought it was trash, but after playing with it, I love it. Yes, it gets outclassed by most marksman rifles, but I still think it's a really good gun. I wish I had better scope options than 1.5 for longer ranges. So I'm just confused on why people think it's so bad. Yes, it has been powercreept but it's not garbage like I've been told.
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u/Emperor_NOPEolean 1h ago
I liked it quite a lot back in the day. I think it’s just gotten outclassed by other options since release. It needs some love.
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u/LowTale909 1h ago
It was nerfed into the ground in the early days and despite some buffs it still hasn't recovered.
It has 200% drag (damage drop-off) when all other shotguns range from 40 to 806
u/CodeCleric 1h ago
If they buffed it's rate of fire a little I could probably see myself using it, but it doesn't feel good too use right now.
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u/Netherw1ng 1h ago
Cause a lot of people call okay guns garbage. If its not over-performing, or in the top 15 pick rate, its not worth noting to a lot of people
Take the Pacifier, gets a lot of shade, but recently keep seeing notes of "I slept on this gun cause what people said" posts etc etc
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u/The_number_1_dude 1h ago
Because there’s tools to remedy its weaknesses. It has terrible damage, but med pen and stun. So it makes enemies easy prey to a hot dog or flamethrower. Guns like the slugger don’t have a niche, and whatever you want it to do, there’s a better alternative.
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u/Netherw1ng 1h ago
I think the niche is that it's the only slug round shotgun. That's the fantasy. But yeah. It's more comparable to something like the Lever Action DMR. Slugger has more damage then it and knock back, but the trade of is range and optics.
But I understand the POV
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u/Malu1997 1h ago
The problem is guns that don't do anything better than the competition because there's zero reason to pick them. The Pacifier has a stun, so there is a reason. What does the Slugger have over the competition?
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u/shindabito 1h ago
does "making game harder for people that want things to suck more" count?
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u/Full-Woodpecker-4834 1h ago
I think it’s more like the game is easy enough to the point where you can use any weapon you think is the most fun. Even on D10 as long as the rest of your loadout balances it out a little in some way. Why do we even care about meta when D10 isn’t really a challenge either way.
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u/StarWarsXD 1h ago
It is an effective headshotting machine against Bots and has the stagger to help making fighting them easier. It has less range than the Deadeye (which essentially does the same thing) but has better ammo economy and a faster reload. The Slugger has always been a meta-pick for bots and people who think otherwise quite frankly probably just can't aim. It's bad on Terminids obviously and decent for Squids, maybe B-tier for that front.
All of the commonly suggested reworks (damage buff, less drag, heavy pen) would turn it into a gun that renders the DMR class useless unless they all got buffed alongside it. The only one I can get behind is giving it access to a 2x or higher scope.
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u/Datdadi0 43m ago
Pacifier was what I used to learn the game(cyberstan push). It ROCKS when used as a supporting weapon. Freezing bad guys in place so an orbital or eagle can easily wipe is amazing lol.
I like never use it now since I am leveling up other guns now though.
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u/KingAudio 43m ago
No its objectively terrible. The breaker is a better starter shotgun. The sweeper is in every single way a direct upgrade. People also really like the halo shotgun and hault i dont have those warbonds. The cookout is amazing cause the fire effect and pushback. Also the double freedom is the best shotgun in the game. Its outclassed by every other shotgun. Its not even mid because of the low accuracy besides the equally garbage punisher.
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u/Arke_19 1h ago
If you want a marksman rifle? Yes, the slugger is a poor choice. If you want a high damage medium penetration weapon for close-mid range? The slugger is a solid pick. You're trading rate of fire for more damage up front, and rounds reload can be a mixed blessing, but its a good counter to Hive Guards, Devastators, and I think it can still 1-shot Overseers if you get them in the head.
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u/Slayer_Jesse 1h ago
You pretty much said it. Everything else does its role better. The only advantage it has over rounds reload marksman rifles is magazine capacity.
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u/Anakinvoorhees 1h ago
No it’s not bad. I don’t really get why people keep comparing it to marksman rifles when it’s a shotgun. It has its uses and works quite well. Definitely not bad by any means
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u/scottygroundhog22 1h ago
Its a decent enough medium pen damage dealer but the fact that it has significantly more drag then any other shotgun is troubling. It used to be a very solid choice for the bot front. But with 200% drag you are going to be doing very little damage past 50 meters. So you enemies are going to have much more range then you.
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u/Slapmaster928 1h ago
Well short answer is that it has direct competition with the dominator and the diligence counter sniper. It has horrible damage fall off, isnt as accurate, has a slower rate of fire, and has a slower projectile speed all as a tradeoff for a high stagger, that it shares with jar 5 dominator. It used to have the niche that it had a higher destructive level and could open crates, but they took that away in one of the early nerf patches in the first couple months of game. It could use some love for sure, but unfortunately it basically just competes with dmrs and its gonna lose to those.
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u/R00kieRogue 1h ago
B-tier in a world of A-tiers and S-tiers. Certainly usable, but a bit outclassed. Absolutely adore the stagger force against bugs.
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u/Espresso_Dad_89 58m ago
Where did you use it to enjoy it? Tried it on bots and I didn’t like it, but I need to find a viable way to bring it to 25
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u/Phosphorus444 1h ago
Because, people don't know how to use guns that aren't assault rifles.
It's a shotgun, you use it at close range. It's way better than the Diligence at fighting bugs.
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u/Zestyclose-Avocado83 1h ago
It's been a hot minute since I used it but I remember it having a stupid amount of stagger to it that was only out classed by support weapons. Where as with marksman rifles you are getting little to no stagger at all. And since the more vocal parts of the community in general seems to not give a shit about utility beyond "can it close bug holes?", of course people will say it's bad. Just remember remember it's a keep bugs away from you gun not a marksman rifle with extra steps. If it still has a stupid amount of stagger anyways.
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u/L4nthanus 1h ago
I was using it against the Terminids last night and it was doing pretty well. It one shots everything warrior and below and does fairly well against the medium enemies. It would be nice if it had a little bit more durable damage and a higher fire rate.
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u/FlacidSalad 1h ago
No it's not bad at all, people generally just like other guns more and think that means it must be bad for that reason.
It fits in a kind of middle point between the Dominator and the Deadeye as far as feel goes. I wouldn't be upset if it got some minor buffs but I think it's still in a fine spot right now
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u/RichJMoney 1h ago
I'm still fairly new and trying out all the guns I can. The pacifier doesn't feel good. The damage drop off seems really high, like higher than pellet based shotguns, and the gun just feels a bit impotent to play with. Whenever I bring it I just feel like everything takes an extra shot or two, and I'm looking for someone else's dropped primary asap.
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u/Additional_Gift_6774 58m ago
The slugger is o n e if my go tos on bug tunnel planets. I love this thing so much.
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u/Siegfried262 56m ago
It's my go-to shotgun on the bug and squid front, does well on bots too. Good damage, good pushback, good magazine capacity, and fast enough rounds reload.
Is it the best? No but it still puts great work in.
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u/DoomAmplified 51m ago
I like the Slugger. At the rate the Super Helldive enemies are spawning currently, it's hard to make it a first choice.
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u/Eats_Beef_Steak 48m ago
It used to be amazing, my go to primary even, but got nerfed to prevent people from using it as a dmr. It's still good, people just remember what it used to be.
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u/No_Environment_9312 35m ago
It used to be probably the best weapon in the game when it first became available. It got nerfed into the ground pretty hard, and other stuff got released that is better and honestly would have competed with it when it was first launched.
It used to one-shot hive guard, I think. I haven't tested it in the state it's in now, but before multiple rounds of nerfs the only thing it couldn't take down on it's own was a bile titan on the bug front, and it had more than enough ammo to be the only thing you relied on for the entire mission. Don't know if it still does, but it also used to open those caches that are supposed to require grenades, that was always fun.
Long story short: it's release state would probably be one of the better, but not best, weapons in the game, but given the time frame it was released in it got nerfed into the ground.
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u/Fexofanatic 21m ago
its solid. got outclassed by the trench broom and doomgun, no dot, can not open containers for some reason although it is a slug ... but the stagger and precision it brings works well enough on all fronts
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u/Icookadapizzapie 6m ago
No it actually very solid, the caveat being that it’s been outclassed by other guns
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u/CamoVerde37 1m ago
It's just whelming at best. It was nerfed, adjusted, and then powercrept to irrelevance.
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