AC-8 Autocannon
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| Helldivers 2 | Helldivers 1 |
“A fully-automatic cannon effective against light vehicle armor. Includes support backpack required for reloading.
— Ship Management Terminal
The AC-8 Autocannon is a support weapon that fires explosive, armor-piercing projectiles which can be changed into flak rounds for crowd control.
Stratagem Statistics
| General | ||
|---|---|---|
| Call-in Time | Standard | 7.75 seconds |
| Upgraded | 4.75 seconds | |
| Uses | unlimited | |
| Cooldown | Standard | 480 seconds |
| With Morale Augmentation | 456 seconds | |
| With Streamlined Request Process | 432 seconds | |
| With All Upgrades | 410.4 seconds | |
Detailed Weapon Statistics
| AC-8 Autocannon | |
|---|---|
| Fire Rate | 190 rpm |
| Cooldown | 480 sec |
| Call-in Time | 3 s |
| Capacity | 10 |
| Reload Time | 5.2 s |
| Tactical Reload | 1.7 s |
| Clip Capacity | 5 |
| Spare Clips | 10 |
| Starting Clips | 10 |
| Attacks | |
| Cannon 20mm APHET | Projectile |
| APHET 20mm | Explosion |
| Cannon 20mm Flak | Projectile |
| Flak 20mm | Explosion |
| Shrapnel | Projectile x 30 |
| Cannon 20mm APHET | |
|---|---|
| Projectile | |
| Caliber | 20 mm |
| Mass | 120 g |
| Initial Velocity | 820 m/s |
| Drag Factor | 30% |
| Gravity Factor | 100% |
| Penetration Slowdown | 55% |
| Damage | |
| Standard | 260 |
| vs. Durable | 260 |
| Penetration | |
| Direct |  Heavy
|
| Slight Angle | Heavy
|
| Large Angle | Heavy
|
| Extreme Angle |  Unarmored I
|
| Special Effects | |
| Demolition Force | 30 |
| Stagger Force | 30 |
| Push Force | 20 |
| APHET 20mm | |
|---|---|
| Area of Effect | |
| Inner Radius | 2 m |
| Outer Radius | 4 m |
| Shockwave Radius | 5.5 m |
| Damage | |
| Inner Radius | 150 |
| Outer Radius | 149 - 0 |
| Penetration | |
| Inner Radius |  Medium
|
| Outer Radius |  Light
|
| Shockwave | Medium
|
| AoE Effect | |
| Demolition Force | 30 |
| Stagger Force | 40 |
| Push Force | 40 |
| Cannon 20mm Flak | |
|---|---|
| Projectile | |
| Caliber | 40 mm |
| Mass | 130 g |
| Initial Velocity | 820 m/s |
| Drag Factor | 30% |
| Gravity Factor | 100% |
| Lifetime | 0.9 sec |
| Penetration Slowdown | 25% |
| Damage | |
| Standard | 150 |
| vs. Durable | 150 |
| Penetration | |
| Direct | Light
|
| Slight Angle | Light
|
| Large Angle | Light
|
| Extreme Angle | Unarmored I
|
| Special Effects | |
| Demolition Force | 20 |
| Stagger Force | 30 |
| Push Force | 30 |
| Flak 20mm | |
|---|---|
| Area of Effect | |
| Inner Radius | 2 m |
| Outer Radius | 7 m |
| Shockwave Radius | 8 m |
| Damage | |
| Inner Radius | 190 |
| Outer Radius | 189 - 0 |
| Penetration | |
| Inner Radius | Medium
|
| Outer Radius | Light
|
| Shockwave | Medium
|
| AoE Effect | |
| Demolition Force | 20 |
| Stagger Force | 25 |
| Push Force | 40 |
| Shrapnel | |
|---|---|
| Projectile | |
| Caliber | 10 mm |
| Mass | 100 g |
| Initial Velocity | 30 m/s |
| Drag Factor | 40% |
| Gravity Factor | 100% |
| Penetration Slowdown | 25% |
| Damage | |
| Standard | 110 |
| vs. Durable | 35 |
| Penetration | |
| Direct | Medium
|
| Slight Angle | Medium
|
| Large Angle | Light
|
| Extreme Angle | Unarmored I
|
| Special Effects | |
| Demolition Force | 10 |
| Stagger Force | 10 |
| Push Force | 20 |
Tactical Information
The AC-8 Autocannon can fire heavy armor-piercing, high-explosive tracer shells or can switch to flak shells for use against crowds and Shriekers.
- It is capable of firing either semi-automatic or fully automatic, with the latter increasing its already substantial recoil.
- It unlocks at Rank 10.
- It is capable of penetrating heavy armor, with a small AoE explosion when the round impacts. The explosions do not have the same damage radius of the GL-21 Grenade Launcher, but do have the ability to deal heavy damage to enemy weak points.
- Unlike most weapons, the AC-8 Autocannon is not reloaded with magazines, but from two 5-round clips from the associated backpack. Due to this, it is not possible to reload while there are more than 5 rounds in the internal magazine and you must either reload from empty or reload with 5 rounds left to have a full magazine.
- The Autocannon has a 10-round internal magazine that is reloaded via 5-round stripper clips pulled from the associated backpack.
- Reloading while carrying the backpack causes the Helldiver to drop to one knee and remain immobile during the animation, so be sure to reload only when it's safe to do so.
- Reloading a single clip takes 2 seconds, but reloading the entire magazine from empty takes about 5 seconds, due to the Helldiver needing to cycle the bolt in addition to loading the two clips.
- The optimal strategy therefore is to never let the magazine run empty, as it is for all other magazine-fed weapons. As long as there's one round left in the chamber, there's no need to cycle the bolt, saving 2 seconds on reload time.
- If the magazine is empty, Helldivers may choose to only load half the magazine and cancel loading the other clip by diving, crouching, switching weapons, or opening the stratagem menu. Helldivers are advised to not attempt to cancel the reload by pressing the fire button, as this will discharge the Autocannon, which during reload is pointed at the ground right in front of the wielder. Helldivers will die instantly.
- The Autocannon's wielder can carry the ammo backpack, but if a teammate carries that backpack instead, reloading is much faster, facilitating more rounds sent downrange.
- Ammo Boxes will add 2 clips to the backpack, and a Resupply box will add 5 ( 10 if Superior Packing Methodology has been unlocked).
- Helldivers are advised to not fire at enemies at point-blank range. The explosion from the Autocannon's explosive rounds will kill the wielder.
- It is the only weapon currently in the game that utilizes stripper clips to feed an internal magazine.
- It is a very well-rounded weapon system and highly effective against the Automatons.
- It is somewhat difficult to precisely aim if not taking significant time to remain stable, and the explosion area on impact is small. Therefore - while it is effective against tight clusters of small enemies, medium-sized enemies, and weak spots of larger enemies, making it a very flexible choice with long-range - its main weakness is dealing with spread-out small targets, like Hunters approaching from multiple directions or a crossfire from Troopers, especially if said enemies should close into melee range. Therefore it is advised to bring a crowd clearing primary such as a LAS-16 Sickle to cover for its weakness.
- It is highly advised to crouch or go prone when possible to fire the weapon for reduced recoil and better handling.
- The Peak Physique armor passive can greatly improve the Autocannon's handling.
- The Engineering Kit or Fortified armor passives can help with reducing the Autocannon's recoil.
- The Autocannon can be reprogrammed in the Weapon Wheel to fire flak rounds, which are proximity-triggered projectiles that explode into shrapnel. They deal less direct damage and has lower armor penetration than the default APHET rounds, but deal more area damage with a larger explosion radius.
- They can be used against the underbelly of Dropships to eliminate most, if not all, of the lightly-armored Troopers and Commissars before they get deployed.
- They are also highly effective for clearing out Shriekers, thanks to the proximity trigger effect.
- Be careful when firing flak shells past fellow Helldivers, as they are able to trigger the proximity fuze.
- Using flak shells at close range is much more hazardous than with APHET shells, especially as shrapnel is liable to fly back toward the user and cause critical injuries.
Applicable Ship Modules
The following Ship Modules affect the AC-8 Autocannon:
| Department | Ship Module | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Patriotic Administration Center |
Streamlined Request Process | Decreases Support Weapon stratagem cooldown by 10%. |
| Superior Packing Methodology | Resupply Stratagem boxes refill Support Weapons with the maximum number of carriable magazines. | |
| Payroll Management System | Reduces reload time for all support weapons by 10%. | |
| Bridge | Morale Augmentation | Reduces cooldown time for all Stratagems by 5%. |
| Engineering Bay |
Streamlined Launch Process | All Support Weapon stratagems launch immediately once called in, reducing overall deployment time. |
Media
- Tutorial Video Demonstrating Use of the AC-8 Autocannon
Image of the AC-8 Autocannon being unlocked
Change History
Patch
Description
1.002.203
2025-04-04
Fix
- Fix for the Auto-Cannon reload bug, it now reloads as intended.
1.001.104
2024-10-15
Changes
- New weapon function: Programmable ammunition now allows you to switch between normal projectiles and flak projectiles
- Flak projectiles are proximity triggered shrapnel explosions with a larger explosion radius
1.001.100
2024-09-17
Changes
- Can now damage heavier enemies like Chargers, Bile Titans, Impalers, Hulks.
1.000.300
2024-04-29
Fixes
- Explosive weapons no longer pull players inward from the blast.
Stratagems by Type
Orbital
Eagle
Emplacement
Sentry
Backpack
Stratagems by Ship Module