The BULLET STORM Isn't A STALWART. Stop Using It Like One! | Exo Experts | Helldivers 2

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]This is the MGX42 Bullet Storm. When the Bullet Storm dropped with the Exoexperts Warborn, the community had one question.

[00:00:09]Why take this over the stalwart? And on the surface, it's a fair one. Similar stats, light pen, expendable looks like a stalwart with a coolown timer instead of a reload. But that comparison is only surface level because the stalwart is a weapon you carry. The bullet storm is a weapon you share, drop, and replace. And that single difference is what makes it the centerpiece of one of the most fun and interesting mobile loadouts I've played with so far. So if you're only using it like the stalwart, you're probably not making the most out of its potential. I'll share some small tips and tactics that maximize the use of the bullet storm and answer an interesting question. Is it faster to reload an empty stall wart or to call in a new bullet storm? But first, let's get to know the bullet storm a little more.

[00:00:54]Like the Eats, it has the lowest cooldown of any expendable weapon. 70 seconds at base down to 66.5 with morale augmentation fully upgraded. Each colin drops two, meaning your teammates can grab one as well. It fires 300 rounds at 1,300 RPM, deals 100 standard damage and 25 durable damage at AP2, and takes exactly 13 seconds to empty from trigger pull to dry. pick up the second one immediately and you're looking at around 27 seconds of near continuous fire. Then a 36-second wait before the next pair arrives. For an expendable weapon, that downtime is remarkably low. And as we'll see later, you can build an entire loadout around that cycle that turns you into a one-man mobile arsenal for your team. But before we get there, let's see how it actually stacks up against the stalwart. Right away, the bullet storm wins on almost offensive stat. and more standard damage, three more durable damage, 50 more rounds, and a fire rate that beats the sawwad even at its maximum setting. That durable damage difference is actually more significant than it seems. Just three points sounds negligible, but the small gap makes the bullet storm between 12 to 16% more effective against 100% durable parts like the bile spewer's butt. On pure chaft clear, where most everything dies to AP2 anyway, the breakpoint difference is usually a single bullet. Not something you'll notice in the middle of a firefight. On top of that, the bullet storm has almost no recoil and an extremely tight spread, making it practically pinpoint accurate at close to medium range. Where it does lose ground is at the bottom of the table.

[00:02:27]Half the bullet velocity, twice the drag, worse ergonomics. Against targets that are moving or at longer ranges, those stats compound. shots connect for significantly less damage and tracking becomes noticeably harder. The stalwart doesn't hit as hard on paper, but it does stay very consistent across far more situations. Which brings us to the one set I left out on the table it deliberately. Reload speed. Is it actually faster to call in a new bullet storm than to reload the stalwart? On paper, an upgraded bullettorm call-in takes 3.75 seconds. A stalwart reload from empty takes 5.3 seconds at worst and 4 seconds at best. The bullet stom is faster. Case closed. Except that 3.75 seconds doesn't include keying the strategy code or the throw. From the beacon hitting the ground to the weapon in hand, it's actually 6.6 seconds, longer than the slower stalwart reload, and you're standing still or waiting the entire time. In a live firefight, that can be the difference between getting back to holding your ground or getting mauled by the incoming bug tide. So, from this comparison, a stalwart reloads faster than calling in a new bullet storm. But here's the thing, that's not actually a problem for the bullet storm.

[00:03:35]It was never designed to be reloaded. It was designed to already have a second one waiting next to it. That's the entire philosophy of this expendable weapon. And once you build around it, everything sort of just clicks. So now you know exactly what the bullet storm is on paper and where it stands against the stalwart in practice. But numbers only tell you so much. The more useful question is, what does AP2 and 2,167 DPS actually mean when you are standing in front of something that wants to kill you? Because this weapon isn't designed to handle everything. It's designed to handle the right things efficiently and without hesitation. And once you know exactly where that line is, you stop wasting ammo fighting the wrong battles.

[00:04:13]Let's go faction by faction. The bullet storm won't crack heavy armor. That's not its job. But there's more flexibility here than AP2 suggests if you know where to aim. Behemoth charges are a grind if you go at the butt directly. 38 rounds or 1.75 seconds of continuously firing at close range.

[00:04:31]Doable, but wasteful, especially now that they turn around quicker. The smarter play is pairing it with an anti-tank weapon like the pis to blow the front leg armor off first, then finishing with 17 rounds into the exposed flesh. Half the ammo, twice the efficiency. Regular charges have less butt health, but share the same leg health as a behemoth, so the combo approach works identically with both.

[00:04:51]Impalers need their face plate down before the bullet storm can do anything meaningful. Eyes only 29 rounds if every shot connects at close range. Like the charger, breaking the leg armor first with an anti-tank weapon drops the requirement to 21 rounds. Worth knowing if you have the tools available, but I find poking at it until it drops its face plate to be the best course of action. For bile spewers, their butt is 100% durable, which means it can absorb a lot of punishment, needing 30 rounds to pop it in the ass. But if the opportunity to shoot it in the mouth opens, no pun intended, then you can bring it down in just three shots. The bot front is where the bullet storm feels most at home against medium threats. Berserkers go down pretty fast through the belly, easier to track than the head at range, and reliable even when they're closing a distance on you.

[00:05:36]All Devastators die from a burst at the head or a sustain spray at the belly.

[00:05:40]Either works. For heavy devastators specifically, I've stopped trying to aim for the head entirely. The moment you miss once, it flinches and throws off the rest of your shots. The leg, however, is unprotected, easy to track, and goes down reliably. I've got the bullets, they will be defeated. Speaking of defeat, both the scout and reinforced riders can be destroyed by taking out their legs as well. Of course, if the opportunity to shoot the pilot or the rocket pods presents itself, that would be an easier kill. Against the squids, the bullet storm has a narrower toolkit, but two targets in particular are worth highlighting. Overseers are straightforward. Their head is medium armor, so don't bother. Chest and crotch goes on faster and is an easier target to maintain. Flesh mobs are a slug match. They're tanky with no fatal weak spots, and the bullet storm will eat through ammo fighting them head-on. Aim for the head chunks where you deal 50% more bonus damage to their main health pool. It's not elegant, but it works pretty well. Veracitors and gatekeepers are the surprise of this section. Both the shield and the pilot are lightly armored with zero durable health. a clear shot to the pilot drops either one in as little as 20 bullets, which for something that size is genuinely shocking. The veractor also has a fatal hit zone on its hips and upper legs if the pilot isn't exposed. But honestly, just shoot the pilot. It's a lot more hassle trying to bring it down from shooting the legs. The gatekeeper equivalent zones are medium armor, so shield first then pilot. That's really the only reliable approach against the illuminate. Overall, the bullet storm has one clear job. Overseers and veractors should be your priority. that and taking down these stupid flying bastards that appear out in thin air.

[00:07:14]So, that's the full picture of what the Bullet Storm can and can't handle when it comes to key targets. Against bugs, it's a chuff machine with some surprising teeth if you pair it right.

[00:07:23]Against bots, it's consistent and reliable on everything below heavy armor. Against the squids, it has one job, overseers, flesh mobs, and veractors, and it does that job very well. As you can tell, the bullet storm was never meant to solve every problem.

[00:07:37]It was meant to solve its problems constantly, cheaply, and with enough leftover to share. And once you build around that idea, its identity becomes clear, and how you want to trade this weapon does, too. A few things I've learned that change how the weapon feels in the field. First, deploy your second bullet storm right next to where you're fighting. The rearm speed advantage only exists if you can pick it up without breaking position. Standing next to a fresh one feels completely different to sprinting back for it in mid-en engagement. This is the single habit that brings this weapon's performance closer to the Maxi Gun than it does the stalwart. Second, and this one sounds obvious, but it genuinely isn't in my experience. Tell your teammates that expendables are free to take. From my recent games, random teammates will almost never pick up your weapons unprompted out of consideration. A quick ping or a simple line at the start of a mission changes that. More bullet storms firing at once is always better. Modaka for everyone. These habits matter most when you start building the load out I've been running, which is where the bullet stom stops being a support weapon and starts becoming the centerpiece of something I'm calling the expendable mobile arsenal. The core idea is simple.

[00:08:41]Pair the two fastest cooldown expendables in the game and keep your team continuously supplied with firepower as you push objectives. That means the bullet storm plus the eats.

[00:08:51]Between the two, you're dropping two chaff clearers and two anti-tank rockets roughly every minute. Every one of them is sharable. You're not just a hell diver, you're a supply line. You're a supply diver. Pair that with the pistol in your secondary slot and you've got precision anti- arour on demand without touching your strategic from 200 m covered. I did a full deep dive on the pistol if you want the complete breakdown. For bigger problems, factory striders, Vox engines, drop ships, the leveler slots in as your heavy answer. One shot and problem gone.

[00:09:22]Mostly freeing up your bullet stom and eats to carry on cleaning up. The one challenge with this play style is that you're strongest when you and your team are near your deployed weapons. Get pushed back and the whole system kind of breaks down. So, here's how I protect against that on bugs. Gas mines. Long cool down at 120 seconds, but they deny approach routes, slow breaches, and kill most chaff passively. Toss one on a breach and your bullet stom can focus on the tankier ones like commanders and impalers. If you can't afford to take gas mines, a gas grenade does the same job in a pinch. for a more active defensive anchor, the machine gun sentry. At 77 seconds fully upgraded, it's only 11 seconds slower than your bullet storm cooldown. Deploy it facing the approach and position yourself nearby with your expendables and you've become a temporary fortress. Large enemies will attack the sentry first, which means they're not attacking you, so you can use it as bait or use it as cover just as long as you stay prone or on top of it to avoid the inevitable friendly fire. For mobility, the warp pack is a solid pick. It lets you close distances fast, reach your pods under pressure, and creates the separation the bullet storm needs when your enemies get in your face. The trade-off is it costs a strategy slot, and dying means either losing it or retrieving it. Whether that cost is worth it depends on your play style, but in my experience, the mobility it provides fits the weapon's close-range nature almost perfectly.

[00:10:42]Honorable mentions, anti-tank imp placement on the bot front for when you need a fixed heavy answer, and the supply pack if you're running the pistol or ultimatum alongside for extended sustainability. The bullet storm isn't the flashiest thing Arrowhead has added in terms of lethality. It doesn't one-shot bile titans, crack heavy armor, or has the utility of say the pisile, but what it does consistently, cheaply, and with enough to share is keep your team armed and dangerous for an entire mission. That was missing from the expendable lineup. And now that it's here, I don't think I can go all expendable without picking up the bullets anymore. So, thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next one. Hell divers.