What you need to know
- Helldivers 2's armor penetration mechanic is rather confusing, as several weapons have the same "Light Armor Penetrating" or "Medium Armor Penetrating" tag even though some of them punch through armor better than others that have the same classification.
- In a post, CEO of developer Arrowhead Game Studios Johan Pilestedt has explained that armor penetration (AP) is a value between 0 and 10, and is measured against an enemy's armor value (AV).
- If AP is higher than an enemy's AV, the weapon does 100% damage. If AP is equal to AV, the attack deals 50% damage. If the AP is lower than the AV, rounds from the weapon will ricochet off the armor.
- Weapon AP and enemy AV aren't shown anywhere in-game, as Pilestedt says "it was deemed [too] complex for players." However, he also noted that the decision to hide these stats "might have been a bad call," suggesting they could be made visible after a future update.
