Helldivers 2 Armor Passives: A Comprehensive Guide and Tier List
Helldivers 2 categorizes armor into light, medium, and heavy, impacting mobility and defense. However, the real game-changer lies in armor passives – powerful perks significantly altering gameplay. This guide provides a complete list and tier list of these passives, helping you optimize your loadouts for maximum effectiveness.
All Armor Passives and Their Effects
Helldivers 2 currently boasts 14 armor passives, each impacting your strategy and combat performance. Note that only body armor offers passive abilities; helmets and capes provide no additional bonuses.
| Armor Passive | Description |
|---|---|
| Acclimated | 50% resistance to acid, electrical, fire, and gas damage. |
| Advanced Filtration | 80% resistance to gas damage. |
| Democracy Protects | 50% chance to survive lethal attacks (e.g., headshots); prevents chest injuries like internal bleeding. |
| Electrical Conduit | 95% resistance to lightning arc damage. |
| Engineering Kit | +2 grenade capacity; 30% recoil reduction while crouching or prone. |
| Extra Padding | +50 armor rating. |
| Fortified | 50% resistance to explosive damage; 30% recoil reduction while crouching or prone. |
| Inflammable | 75% resistance to fire damage. |
| Med-Kit | +2 stim capacity; +2 seconds stim duration. |
| Peak Physique | 100% increased melee damage; improved weapon handling (reduced weapon movement drag). |
| Scout | 30% reduced enemy detection range; map markers generate radar scans. |
| Servo-Assisted | 30% increased throwing range; 50% additional limb health. |
| Siege-Ready | 30% increased primary weapon reload speed; 30% increased primary weapon ammo capacity. |
| Unflinching | 95% reduced recoil flinching. |
Armor Passive Tier List (Version 1.002.003)
This tier list assesses passives based on overall value, utility, and effectiveness across various missions and enemy types.
| Tier | Armor Passive | Why? |
|---|---|---|
| S | Engineering Kit | Extra grenades are invaluable for diverse tasks: sealing bug holes, destroying fabricators/warp ships, using thermites, and stun-locking enemies. |
| Med-Kit | Significantly boosts survival, especially when combined with the Experimental Infusion booster, effectively allowing you to cheat death. | |
| Siege-Ready | Substantially improves ammo management and reload times, crucial for handling large enemy groups, particularly with high-ammo weapons. | |
| A | Democracy Protects | Provides a strong defensive boost, especially early game, mitigating lethal damage. |
| Extra Padding | Offers consistent armor rating increase for broad damage resistance. | |
| Fortified | Extremely useful generally, but exceptional against Automatons, improving survivability against rockets from Devastators, Hulks, and Tanks, while enhancing weapon effectiveness. | |
| Servo-Assisted | Highly effective against Terminids; increased throwing range allows for safe stratagem deployment and grenade use, while increased limb health mitigates claw attack damage. | |
| B | Peak Physique | Less valuable due to the general avoidance of melee combat; reduced weapon drag is helpful against mobile enemies, but other strategies often prove more effective. |
| Inflammable | Ideal for fire-based builds, particularly useful in environments with fire tornadoes; effective against Terminids and Illuminate. | |
| Scout | Useful for revealing enemy positions; would rank higher if it also highlighted objectives. | |
| C | Acclimated | Limited value as you rarely face all four elemental damage types in a single mission. |
| Advanced Filtration | Only beneficial for gas-focused builds, with limited overall impact. | |
| Electrical Conduit | Primarily useful against Illuminate, but other options often prove superior, unless friendly fire is a major concern. | |
| Unflinching | Minimal impact on combat effectiveness. |
This guide should help you make informed decisions about your armor passives in Helldivers 2, leading to improved survival and mission success. Remember that this tier list is based on a specific game version and may change with future updates.
