How to Use the SG-8P Punisher Plasma in Helldivers 2

The SG-8P Plasma Punisher in Helldivers 2 is very similar to the PLAS-1 Scorcher and the Grenade Launcher and it doesn’t feel like a member of the “Punisher” shotgun family. Overall though, this gun has some cool features that you can take out on the battlefield. Let's Discuss!

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[inconsideratebox]

I was not expecting the "Dr. Pooplove here" at all. Threw me off so hard that I had to check the channel name if it was actually real, and it sure was.

[asialsky]

One thing you seem to have passed over is the fact that the explosion radius increases up to 2x the longer it's in the air.

[Iamcbueno]

This gun demands a certain level of trigger discipline IMO. For immediate threats, I have to correct my aim and intentionally miss and hit the ground around them, so the splash damage kills them, not me.

[bonk]

I just got this thing, and it's my new main weapon. This thing is OP as fuck. It takes out scout strides in 2 hits from the front, and devastator with shields in 3-4 hits no matter where you hit them.

[giuseppedarat]

In my opinion, this gun doesn't carve enough of a niche to be used over any other options in any particular role, but also is worse at being a generalist than all other generalist options.
I think it would be most usable if you bring a support weapon that makes up for the weapons shortcomings. It can handle chargers and small enemies, but not whole hordes very efficiently, and not hunters without great risk, so I would say pair this with the grenade launcher for horde clearing, then the plasma to clean up whats left and deal with chargers. Feels a little odd bringing 2 grenade launchers, (and self harm galore) but it could work.
I dunno, its in a really odd place, and i might take it because its conceptually cool, but it feels so awkward to try to get it in the right scenario just for it to barely perform well enough in its best use case for me to survive. you gotta LOVE what this weapon is to put up with how this weapon can be.

*edit, i should add i dont believe any primary should alone have horde clearing capability, but it certainly cant handle anywhere near the number of bugs any shotgun can, or the number of automatons any rifle can, which is odd for a splash damage option.

[serioussponge]

The ability to shoot straight up and arc the projectiles high and make them come straight down on top of enemies comes in handy particularly for the currently new 'tower defense' asset protection missions. You can kill enemies that are right up against the gate without having to expose yourself standing up on the platforms and paired with other things like mortar sentries, its stagger effect can make it easier for the mortars to kill them.

Becoming the mortar sentry yourself takes a lot of practice and understanding the trajectory angles in order to get the most of out this niche trait the weapon has, however and some people don't like to use their brain to solve in-the-field math problems. XD

[duumguy]

Use it in combo with melee. Scout hopping at you? Melee in the face for 1 hit kill or send it back far enough to fire. The range on this shotgun is about 100 meters depending on your elevation. Aiming for direct shots on heads deals a great amount of damage except for chargers and green spewers. This gun is great in combination with jump pack as you can get up high and have an easier time raining down shots on groups of enemies, as well as weak points such as the rear of spewers, and chargers.

[sinteleon]

regarding the high arcs, it's GREAT for extractions to lock down an area. Also, aiming at the feet of enemies makes it more consistent at hitting, since you can rely on the AoE instead of the direct hit, which is liable to miss because of the slow projectile.

[troeteimarsch]

I have unlocked this gun early and it brought down my average mission time per mission type by 20-30% at difficulty 4. Thats ~660 XP every 20 minutes for the big mission parts and 220 XP every 6 mins for the smaller ones. I've never regret picking this gun up

[ldhuntel]

got 700 kills with this weapon and i held a huge swarm at bay during 4 min extraction alone

[bloodborne]

It’s my favorite weapon by far but needs a bit of a buff and at least 12 shots

[manateewarrior]

This with the GL is ridiculously powerful. It's also makes other setups more viable, I like to run it with a stalwart or hvmg, weaken them with the plas shotgun then clean it up with a machine gun.

[MadBaymax]

seeing how usefull and powerfull it is, I think it would benefit alot from using any of the two machineguns

[dorkasaurus_rex]

0:22 I use this gun a lot and I didn't know it can kill those tanks from the front, that's a huge and AFAIK unique advantage of this primary.

[LordRazer]

It's a good support weapon for bug breaches. So long as you have a somewhat competent team not a whole lot will get vary far. You just aim for the breach point and unload trying to hit everything that comes out while your team focuses on doing the actual killing of the things moving forward. I pair it with the recoilless rifle since my job is anti heavy and it's the only thing this gun cant really deal with

[ImLazyFatCat]

Bruh 5 to 6 shots to kill a devastador in a mag with 8 rounds is enough to keep me far away from it 😅

[RothAnim]

This has been my weapon of choice on bot runs, usually paired with the Rover and a heavy rocket (Typically EAT, but could be the Quasar recoilless or spear.). Rover and my sidearm take care of the ones close to me, The rockets take out the tanks, hulks and dropships, while the punisher pops Scouts right out of their walkers and keeps devastators stunlocked until they die. The range can be good if you're willing to walk some shots to dial in the right angle.

[ninjazombie]

This is the gun I always use, once you master the arc its devastating

[MRDUALITY]

I love the Punisher Plasma! It has been a boon against the bot menace!

[PaxEmpyrean]

Lots of footage of shooting this thing into groups and just not killing anything.

If you want to bring a grenade launcher, but you don't want to actually kill things, this is the gun for you.