Helldivers 2 Stratagems to Unlock First: Starter Picks

Helldivers 2 stratagems unlock in two steps: reach the level listed for each one, then pay Requisition Slips at the Ship Management terminal. Two start free. Common community starter picks are an Eagle strike (Eagle Airstrike, level 1, 4,000 slips), an anti-armor weapon (EAT-17 at level 3, or the Recoilless Rifle at level 5), and a cheap 1,500-slip sentry or strike.

This page covers the early game: how the unlock gate works, what each early stratagem costs, and the starter picks players suggest to new Helldivers, with the date of each source. For the full price list up to the level-30 Bastion, see our guide on farming and spending Requisition Slips.

How stratagem unlocks work in Helldivers 2

Arrowhead’s support page on the game’s four currencies says Requisition is earned by completing objectives, missions and operations, and is spent to unlock new stratagems through the Ship Management terminal on your ship. The rest of the details on this page come from the community-run Helldivers Wiki, not from an Arrowhead table.

• Two gates, both required. Each Requisition stratagem has an unlock level and a price. You need your Helldiver to reach that level and have the slips before the purchase goes through.
• Two are free. The Orbital Precision Strike and the MG-43 Machine Gun cost nothing at level 1.
• You start with 1,000 slips. The wiki’s Requisition page says new players get 1,000 after basic training. That is not enough for any paid stratagem, since the cheapest cost 1,500.
• Four per mission. You can take up to four stratagems into a mission, so the goal early on is four you trust, not a big collection.
• The balance caps at 50,000. Anything earned above that is thrown away, so spend as you go.
• Warbond stratagems are separate. Those are unlocked with Medals inside their Warbond, not with Requisition Slips.

Levels come from XP, and how long the climb takes is covered in our Helldivers 2 max level guide. The early gates are low: most of what a new player wants opens by level 5 or 10.

Helldivers 2 beginner stratagems: level 1 costs

These are all the Requisition stratagems the wiki lists at unlock level 1. The table reads the wiki’s “Unlock Level” and “Cost” columns separately, so the level is the gate and the Requisition figure is the price.

Stratagem	Type	Unlock level	Requisition cost
Orbital Precision Strike	Orbital	1	Free
MG-43 Machine Gun	Support weapon	1	Free
Orbital Gatling Barrage	Orbital	1	1,500
Eagle Strafing Run	Eagle	1	1,500
A/MG-43 Machine Gun Sentry	Sentry	1	1,500
MD-6 Anti-Personnel Minefield	Emplacement	1	1,500
M-105 Stalwart	Support weapon	1	3,500
Eagle Airstrike	Eagle	1	4,000
Orbital Gas Strike	Orbital	1	4,000
B-1 Supply Pack	Backpack	1	4,000
APW-1 Anti-Materiel Rifle	Support weapon	1	5,000

Buying all nine paid level-1 stratagems costs 26,500 Requisition Slips in total. That sum is our addition of the wiki’s prices, not a figure the wiki publishes.

Stratagems that open at levels 3 to 10

The next wave is where the anti-armor options appear. This is a selection, not the full list; again, level and cost come from the wiki’s Stratagems table.

Stratagem	Type	Unlock level	Requisition cost
EAT-17 Expendable Anti-Tank	Support weapon	3	3,000
Eagle Cluster Bomb	Eagle	3	4,000
LAS-98 Laser Cannon	Support weapon	5	4,000
A/G-16 Gatling Sentry	Sentry	5	4,000
Eagle Napalm Airstrike	Eagle	5	5,000
GR-8 Recoilless Rifle	Support weapon	5	6,000
GL-21 Grenade Launcher	Support weapon	5	6,000
LIFT-850 Jump Pack	Backpack	8	6,000
AC-8 Autocannon	Support weapon	10	7,000

The Eagle 500kg Bomb, which players often name as an early goal, is further out: level 15 and 10,000 slips.

Helldivers 2 stratagems to unlock first: community starter picks

The picks below are community starter picks, not an official recommendation and not a measured ranking. They come from Steam Community threads where new players asked what to use: two from August and September 2026, after the 7.0.0 update of August 12, 2026, and three older ones from 2024 and early 2025. Each is dated below, because Arrowhead has rebalanced stratagems several times since launch. Reddit threads could not be read for this page.

1. An anti-armor weapon: EAT-17 (level 3, 3,000) or Recoilless Rifle (level 5, 6,000). This is the point the 2026 threads stress most. In a September 2026 Steam thread started by a level-22 player asking for tips, one reply named heavy armor as the problem new players hit and the Recoilless Rifle as the best early answer; another said the expendables (the EAT) are useful for helping teammates. In an August 2026 “tips for a noob” thread, one reply called the Recoilless probably the strongest anti-tank weapon in the game. A February 2024 thread made the same point about armor and named the EAT. The EAT comes two levels and 3,000 slips sooner, so it is the usual stopgap until level 5.
2. An Eagle strike: Eagle Airstrike (level 1, 4,000). In the February 2024 thread, players called it strong against everything except the biggest enemies, cheap and early, and able to destroy bug nests. A January 2025 thread agreed but added: carry only one Eagle strike at a time. In the August 2026 thread, one reply recommended the Eagle Cluster Bomb and another Eagle bombing strike together.
3. One 1,500-slip pick. In the August 2026 thread, one reply said not to underestimate the Machine Gun Sentry because its short cooldown lets you call it often, and another said even starter strikes like the Eagle Strafing Run and Orbital Precision Strike help in big fights. The January 2025 “tips for a new player” thread also called the Machine Gun Sentry “your best friend”. These are single replies, not a poll.
4. Later: the Eagle 500kg Bomb (level 15, 10,000). It came up in three separate replies in the September 2026 thread, and a January 2025 reply said to get it first. Not everyone agrees: a February 2024 reply called the 500kg and the Orbital 380mm Barrage “very situational” and advised against carrying more than one of those.

Two more picks appear in the September 2026 thread: the Supply Pack for a support role (two replies), and the Machine Gun and Grenade Launcher for smaller enemies with the Recoilless or Spear for heavies (one reply). Several replies across all five threads also say the same thing: try things and follow what is fun rather than the meta.

How a 2026 media tier list rates the same picks

For a second view, GamesRadar+’s stratagem tier list, last updated January 9, 2026 (before the 7.x updates), ranks every stratagem for general use rather than for a first purchase. Among the early ones, it puts the EAT-17, Orbital Gas Strike, Orbital Precision Strike, Autocannon and Jump Pack in its top tier; the Eagle Airstrike, Eagle Strafing Run, Eagle Cluster Bomb, Recoilless Rifle, Grenade Launcher, Machine Gun Sentry and Gatling Sentry one tier below; and the Supply Pack and Stalwart a tier lower again. It is one outlet’s ranking, not a community vote.

The first three buys (Eagle Airstrike, EAT-17 and a 1,500-slip pick) come to 8,500 Requisition Slips, minus the 1,000 you start with. How many missions that takes depends on difficulty; the farming guide linked above has the wiki’s reward multipliers, and Requisition Slip packs are listed on our Helldivers 2 items page.

Requisition Slips PackThe nine paid level-1 stratagems alone add up to 26,500 Requisition Slips; if you'd rather not grind slips yourself, this pack tops up your balance.No account login · just your friend codeFrom $5.99View offer

Anti-armor stratagems for new Helldivers

Early on, a common gap is armor. The community threads above, from 2024 through September 2026, made the same point in their own way: your loadout needs something that can hurt heavily armored enemies, or you have little to do when one shows up.

The EAT-17 is the first of these you can buy, at level 3. The wiki describes it as the first unlockable support weapon built to penetrate tank armor. It also places the EAT in the middle of the anti-tank weapons for damage, with the Spear and Recoilless Rifle hitting harder, which fits the 2026 replies that point new players toward the Recoilless Rifle once level 5 opens it.

Requisition Slips versus ship modules: where to spend first

Stratagems are not the only thing that takes Requisition. Ship module upgrades use Requisition and Samples too, and the wiki says the tier 4 modules start at 20,000 to 35,000 slips each. Early on that competition is small, because low-tier modules cost far less, but it matters once your stratagem list fills out.

One reply in the January 2025 Steam thread suggested unlocking the ship module that gives Eagles an extra use early. Our ship module cost breakdown lists every upgrade’s price if you want to plan both at once.

Helldivers 2 leveling and stratagem unlock services

If you would rather skip the early levels or the slip grind, these are the related options on our Helldivers 2 boosting page:

Frequently asked questions

Do you need a certain level to buy stratagems in Helldivers 2?

Yes. According to the Helldivers Wiki, each Requisition stratagem has an unlock level as well as a price, and you need both. Most early picks open at level 1, 3, 5 or 10.

What is the cheapest stratagem in Helldivers 2?

Apart from the free Orbital Precision Strike and MG-43 Machine Gun, the cheapest cost 1,500 Requisition Slips: the Orbital Gatling Barrage, Eagle Strafing Run, Machine Gun Sentry and Anti-Personnel Minefield, all at level 1.

Can you buy stratagems with Super Credits?

Not the base stratagems. Arrowhead’s support page says Requisition unlocks stratagems at the Ship Management terminal. Super Credits buy Warbonds, and Warbond stratagems are then unlocked with Medals.

When do you get the EAT-17 in Helldivers 2?

At level 3, for 3,000 Requisition Slips, per the wiki.

Is there a best first stratagem in Helldivers 2?

There is no official answer. In the Steam threads used here (2024 to September 2026), the picks that come up most are an anti-armor weapon (the EAT-17, or the Recoilless Rifle from level 5) and an Eagle strike, but players disagree past that and many say to follow your own playstyle.

Can you refund a stratagem you bought?

Not confirmed. We found no Arrowhead support article that covers undoing a Requisition purchase, so plan purchases as permanent.

Sources and update history

• Arrowhead Game Studios Player Support, “What type of currencies are in the game?” (updated September 7, 2026): arrowhead.zendesk.com
• Helldivers Wiki, Stratagems (unlock level and Requisition cost tables), checked September 30, 2026: helldivers.wiki.gg/wiki/Stratagems
• Helldivers Wiki, Requisition Slips (starting balance, 50,000 cap, tier 4 module costs), checked September 30, 2026: helldivers.wiki.gg/wiki/Requisition_Slips
• Helldivers Wiki, EAT-17 Expendable Anti-Tank, checked September 30, 2026: helldivers.wiki.gg/wiki/EAT-17_Expendable_Anti-Tank
• Steam Community, “can anyone give me tips for me” (September 27, 2026): steamcommunity.com
• Steam Community, “Tips for a noob?” (August 16, 2026): steamcommunity.com
• GamesRadar+, “Helldivers 2 Stratagem tier list and the best ones to choose” (updated January 9, 2026): gamesradar.com
• Steam Community, “I need unlock recommendations” (February 10, 2024): steamcommunity.com
• Steam Community, “As a new player, what should you do first?” (November 24, 2024): steamcommunity.com
• Steam Community, “Tips for a new player?” (January 17, 2025): steamcommunity.com

Update history: Published September 30, 2026. Facts last checked September 30, 2026 against the sources above.