There are dozens of Stratagems to choose from in Helldivers 2, ranging from Support Weapons, Sentries, Backpacks, and of course Eagles and Orbitals. Which ones are the best?
Eagles vs Orbitals
Eagles and Orbitals both offer incredible firepower, large explosive shells or bombs to deal with heavily armored enemies, and scattered payloads to deal with waves of lighter armored enemies. The real difference comes down to call-down time and cooldowns.
Eagles
Eagles feature an ammo system and no call-in time, so they are much quicker than Orbitals. Once an Eagle has been called in, it will use up one of its payloads. Once you’re out, the Eagle will have to return to your destroyer to rearm. Eagles are also disabled by Automaton Anti-Air Batteries if you’re too close to them.
Orbitals
Orbitals typically have longer cooldowns and take longer to call down, but they don’t operate off of an ammo system. The exception is the Orbital Laser, which can only be used 3 times per mission. Orbitals can also track enemies if you attach a beacon to them, while Eagles will strike wherever the beacon first lands. Both Orbitals and Eagles are disabled by Stratagem Jammers and Ion Storms.
The Best Eagles
The Eagle Airstrike is unlocked at level 2 and costs 
4,000. It is one of the most popular Eagle Stratagems in the game and is effective against almost every enemy type in the game. It has decent AOE damage, hits Heavily Armored enemies hard, and has several Ship Module upgrades that can improve its stats dramatically:
– 2 base uses per rearm
– 15s base cooldown
The Eagle 500KG Bomb is unlocked at level 15 and costs 10,000. It used to be one of the weaker stratagems in game, with a massive visual explosion that did next to no AOE damage.
After the balancing patch, the Eagle 500KG is now one of the strongest bombs in the game, capable of killing almost every enemy in the game in a single hit.
The 500KG has two parts, first the projectile itself deals damage, and after a delay a massive explosion obliterates everything in the area.
– 1 base use per rearm
– 15s base cooldown
The Best Orbitals
The Orbital Laser is unlocked at level 15 and costs 10,000.
It fires a laser beam directly from your Super Destroyer, so the positioning of your ship in the sky can affect target accuracy.
The laser lasts 25 seconds, dealing direct damage to the target, as well as applying a burning effect. The ground where the laser passes over is also temporarily lit ablaze. If a target dies, it will move by itself to the next target until the entire area is cleared.
It can target Automaton Buildings, Bug Holes, and absolutely shreds cannon fodder enemies. The full duration of an Orbital Laser will usually kill a Bile Titan, Hulk, or Impaler.
The Orbital Laser can only be used 3 times per mission.
– 1 base use per rearm
– 300s base cooldown
– 2s call-in time
The Orbital Precision Strike is unlocked at level 1 for free, and is the first Stratagem players will use in the tutorial.
It fires a single 380mm directly from your Super Destroyer, so the positioning of your ship in the sky can affect target accuracy.
The precision strike is often disregarded as a beginner Stratagem, but it’s one of the strongest and most versatile Stratagems in game.
It is capable of killing Hulks, Tanks, Bile Titans, and Impalers with a single accurate direct hit.
Factory Striders can be killed with one direct headshot, or two body shots.
Stun Grenades can be used to stun Hulks and Chargers in place to allow for easy targeting.
– 90s base cooldown
– 2s call-in time
The Orbital Railcannon Strike is unlocked at level 20 and costs 10,000.
It fires a single high velocity shot directly from your Super Destroyer. The railcannon strike locks onto the largest target closest to where you throw the beacon and will almost never miss.
The projectile travels to the target incredibly fast and will reliably kill every enemy in the game in a single hit, with the exception of Factory Striders.
Due to its high cooldown, you should take an additional anti-armor solution as the railcannon strike won’t be off cooldown for every engagement.
– 210s base cooldown
– 1s call-in time