Helldivers 2: How Does Armor Penetration Work?

One of the best parts of Helldivers 2 is, without a doubt, the amount of freedom you have when customizing your character. From weapons to body armor, there are many different loadouts you can create, tailored specifically for the various missions you are going to tackle on the Galactic Map. All of this equipment comes with different stats and perks, allowing you to mix and match your gear depending on your preferred playstyle.

While Helldivers 2 is not the most complicated game, some of the different stats might be confusing to players. One of these stats is Armor Penetration, which allows you to shoot through the armor of your enemies. With the game having many different types of armored foes, such as Chargers and Bile Titans, let's take a look at how Armor Penetration works in Helldivers 2.

How Does Armor Penetration Work in Helldivers 2?

Many players have been wondering how Armor Penetration works in Helldivers 2, as many of the enemies you will find seem to react differently based on the weapon you are using. Against some enemies, your bullets might ricochet, while against others, you seem to be able to penetrate their armor. So how does this all work? The CEO of Arrowhead Game Studio recently responded to a similar question on X, finally revealing how the stat works in-game.

Armor Penetration and the Armor Value of your enemies both have a set value between 0 and 10. Depending on these stats, your weapon is either going to deal full damage to your enemies or ricochet entirely. Here is how it works based on the post by Pilestedt:

• If your Armor Penetration stat is higher than the Armor Value of your enemy, you are going to penetrate their armor and deal 100% damage.
• If your Armor Penetration is equal to the enemy's Armor Value, you are going to deal damage through their armor at a rate of 50%.
• If your Armor Penetration is lower than the Armor Value of your enemy, your bullets are going to ricochet off them.

Here is the post in question:

Armor pen is a value between 0 and 10 - if the AP is equal to the enemies armor value the damage is 50% if the AP beats the armor you do 100%. If AP is less than the AV the bullet ricochets.

I don't know what the light ap condition is. I think it might be if AP is 2 or less. But honestly I don't know either.

While this does explain how Armor Penetration works, it is not that helpful, as we have no idea what the Armor Values of our enemies actually are. The game is currently lacking a 'Bestiary', which would allow us to take a look at the different stats of every enemy type. We fully expect this feature to be available in the future, but until then, the best course of action might be to just use the Railgun, which seems to penetrate everything like butter.

That is everything you need to know about the Armor Penetration stat in Helldivers 2. Make sure to check out the stats of the many different weapons in the game before diving into one of the higher difficulties. If more information about some of the confusing aspects of the game is shared, we will do our best to keep you updated. For more Helldivers 2 content, make sure to check out the rest of our website!