GL-21 Grenade Launcher

From Helldivers Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
  Helldivers 2   Helldivers 1    
Last updated: 1.002.003
Current patch: 1.003.001


Stratagems
Engineering Bay
Supply
Support Weapon
GL-21 Grenade Launcher

Weapons
Support Weapons
Heavy Explosives
GL-21 Grenade Launcher

“

A grenade launcher effective against armored infantry. Not intended for use against vehicle armour or fortified buildings.

— Ship Management Terminal

The Grenade Launcher is a Stratagem that calls down a Support Weapon capable of rapidly firing grenades, inflicting large amounts of splash damage.

Procurement

The Grenade Launcher is unlocked at the Patriotic Administration Center (in the Engineering Bay subsection) for Requisition Slip.svg 6000 Requisition Slips at Level 5.

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

GL-21 Grenade Launcher
Fire Rate 160 rpm
Cooldown 480 sec
Call-in Time 3 s
Capacity 10
Reload Time 3.5 s
Tactical Reload 3 s
Spare Magazines 3
Starting Magazines 2
Mags from Supply 3
Mags from Ammo Box 1
Attacks
Grenade 40mm HE Projectile
Grenade 40mm HE Explosion
Grenade 40mm HE
Projectile
Caliber 40 mm
Mass 50 g
Initial Velocity 100 m/s
Drag Factor 120%
Gravity Factor 100%
Penetration Slowdown 25%
Damage
Standard 20
vs. Durable 2
Penetration
Direct Armor AP0 Icon.png Unarmored I
Slight Angle Armor AP0 Icon.png Unarmored I
Large Angle Armor AP0 Icon.png Unarmored I
Extreme Angle Armor AP0 Icon.png Unarmored I
Special Effects
Demolition Force 10
Stagger Force 40
Push Force 10
Grenade 40mm HE
Area of Effect
Inner Radius 3.5 m
Outer Radius 7.5 m
Shockwave Radius 8 m
Damage
Inner Radius 400
Outer Radius 399 - 0
Penetration
Inner Radius Armor AP3 Icon.png Medium
Outer Radius Armor AP2 Icon.png Light
Shockwave Armor AP3 Icon.png Medium
AoE Effect
Demolition Force 30
Stagger Force 25
Push Force 30

Tactical Information

  • Because of its ability to rapidly fire explosive projectiles, the Grenade Launcher excels at inflicting area damage at long range, decimating lightly armored enemies with little difficulty. Its generous magazine allows for multiple grenades to be sent downrange to inflict large area damage, making it particularly effective against crowded enemies.
    • Unlike the shells fired by the Autocannon, grenades inflict little direct impact damage, and the vast majority of its damage is dealt through its explosion, which has a significantly wider splash radius. As such, it is much more effective at dealing with crowds, but also unable to effectively dispatch large foes with explosion-immune body parts.
    • Additionally, keep in mind that grenades fired by the Grenade Launcher are incapable of penetrating heavy armor. While it is capable of easily destroying groups of lightly armored enemies, it has trouble against large armored foes. Be sure to equip other stratagems to deal with armor, or ensure that a teammate does.
  • Grenades fired from the Grenade Launcher have a safety fuse that prevents them from exploding if they hit a target shortly after firing, causing them to harmlessly bounce off objects and enemies at close range. However, after ricocheting, the grenade will be capable of exploding once it travels beyond this safety range and impacts the ground or any nearby object.
  • Beware that the Grenade Launcher is an inherently inaccurate weapon, especially while standing or moving. Precision-aiming the grenades is very difficult even under the best of circumstances, so it is best not to attempt it except at very close range against stationary targets. The splash nature of the grenades makes precision unnecessary, so instead focus on properly arcing the grenades to land close to targets.
  • Like many other explosive weapons, the Grenade Launcher is capable of destroying Bug Holes and Automaton Fabricators by shooting down into the hole or into the exhaust vents, respectively. For the latter, this can be more difficult because of the impact tip of the grenades, requiring precise aim to accomplish.
  • Because of its explosive splash nature, the Grenade Launcher excels at dispatching Terminids in the vast majority of situations.
    • The swarming nature of Terminids renders them vulnerable to area splash damage, making them perfect targets for the Grenade Launcher. Simply landing a grenade within the midst of a crowd is enough to score multiple kills with a single projectile while also inflicting significant damage against any survivors.
    • Nursing Spewers and Bile Spewers are explosion-immune to most of their body parts, however their large durable acid sacs are weak to explosive damage, usually requiring only two or three grenades. Additionally, their tendency to cluster up leaves them vulnerable to chain reaction explosions, as bursting one acid sac will inflict splash damage to others nearby, meaning that killing one will usually kill them all.
    • Hive Guards, while explosion-immune, have comparatively low amounts of health that allow them to be dispatched with direct explosive damage to their main body. They will usually require two grenades to kill.
    • Brood Commanders have moderate health pools and explosion-immune limbs, making them sub-optimal targets for the Grenade Launcher; it is often better to use the primary weapon to directly destroy their limbs or head. Grenade impacts can deplete its main body HP in two or three hits, which will also prevent it from triggering its berserk state due to not destroying its head. Its stronger variant, the Alpha Commander, has a larger health pool which makes them more difficult to exterminate but the same tactics apply.
    • Chargers are protected by armor thicker than what the Grenade Launcher can penetrate, rendering them almost completely invulnerable with the exception of its underbelly and butt. While damage to the belly inflicts damage to its extremely large Main health pool, the butt is significantly weaker and can be burst with upwards of three or more direct grenades, but will send the Charger into a bleed-out state where it can no longer charge.
    • The Bile Titan is invulnerable to medium armor penetration, with the sole exception of its ventral bile sacs. These can be destroyed either with the Grenade Launcher or any other small arms, rendering the Bile Titan incapable of performing projectile attacks and opening up its inner body to potentially lethal damage. Additionally, if its armor can be cracked with the aid of heavy armor piercing support weapons or stratagems, grenades can be sent into these openings to help finish it off.
    • The Impaler has an extremely large health pool and is protected by thick armor that grenades cannot penetrate. However, its head becomes exposed when it burrows its tendrils, and this can be destroyed with direct grenade impacts for a kill.
  • Automatons tend to be armored and well-spaced, making them poor targets for the Grenade Launcher. Additionally, the vast majority of them have explosion-immune body parts, meaning that they can be defeated only through direct explosive damage to their main body rather than destroying vulnerable limbs like legs or heads.
    • While Troopers and Commissars possess explosion-immune limbs, their small health pools allow the explosives to dispatch them with direct damage to their main body.
    • Berserkers are very durable with large health pools and explosion-immune limbs. However they do tend to cluster up while chasing down targets, which renders them vulnerable to splash damage. This means that while using grenades to damage and stagger groups of Berserkers is ideal, using the Primary Weapon to dispatch them is more optimal if they have been whittled down to individual numbers.
    • Hulks are protected by heavy armor across almost their entire body, rendering it immune to the Grenade Launcher; additionally, all but its main body and heat sink are explosion immune. Luckily, its rear heat sink is vulnerable to all weapon types, so if it can be flanked or stunned it can be quickly dispatched with direct grenade impacts. Even when facing it from the front, it is possible to shoot grenades between its legs to explode on the ground behind it, dealing splash damage to the heat sink.
  • The Grenade Launcher's greatest weakness is that it can only carry three spare grenade belts for a total combat load of 40 grenades. Additionally, this small supply of grenades can be quickly depleted since the semi-auto nature of the weapon encourages rapidly firing as many grenades as possible at targets. A Resupply not upgraded with Superior Packing Methodology will refill all three belts, while an Ammo Box refills one.
    • While it is capable of firing in a full automatic mode, this can result in wasting grenades if the weapon's recoil cannot be accounted for. It is far better to keep the weapon in semi-auto mode and make each grenade count.
    • Under normal circumstances the Grenade Launcher should be used judiciously, only shooting at groups of targets when optimal results can be guaranteed. However, equipping the Supply Pack can greatly mitigate this weakness, allowing the player to more easily keep large groups of enemies at bay. Additionally, combining this loadout with the Stun Grenade can greatly aid in locking down groups of clustered enemies so that the Grenade Launcher can dispatch them more easily.
    • Unlike most other weapons, it is not optimal to perform tactical reloads with the Grenade Launcher, as doing so will waste any grenades still in the currently loaded belt. As a single grenade has the potential to kill multiple enemies or destroy an enemy spawner, it is best to fully expend a belt before reloading.
    • Because an Ammo Box will replenish 33% of its reserve ammo supply, try to prioritize exploring Minor Places of Interest, particularly when not equipped with the Supply Pack. Ammo Boxes also provide opportunities to replace the currently loaded belt if reserve ammo is at full capacity, reducing the hazard of running empty in the middle of battle and having to reload with enemies nearby.

Applicable Ship Modules

The following Ship Modules affect the GL-21 Grenade Launcher

Department Ship Module Effect
Patriotic
Administration
Center 		Donation Access Licence Support Weapons deploy with the maximum number of carriable magazines.
Streamlined Request Process Support Weapon stratagem cooldown reduced 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 when called in, reducing overall deployment time.

Media

Tutorial Video Demonstrating Use of the GL-21 Grenade Launcher
  • Weapon Wheel for the GL-21 Grenade Launcher.
    Weapon Wheel for the GL-21 Grenade Launcher.
  • First-Person. It is the only available option.
    First-Person. It is the only available option.
  • Third-Person on the GL-21 Grenade Launcher.
    Third-Person on the GL-21 Grenade Launcher.

Trivia

Change History

Patch
Description

1.002.201
2025-03-25

Change

  • Fixed an issue with wrong drag setting on the GL-21 Grenade Launcher projectiles that made them lose velocity faster than they should have

1.002.200
2025-03-18

Undocumented Change
Unintended Change

  • Drag factor increased from 120% to 600%

1.001.100
2024-09-17

Changes

  • Starting spare magazines increased from 1 to 2.
  • Max spare magazines increased from 2 to 3.
  • Explosion radius slightly increased.
    • Inner Radius increased from 2.5m to 3.5m.
    • Outer Radius increased from 6.5m to 7.5m.
    • Shockwave Radius increased from 7m to 8m.

1.000.400
2024-06-13

Changes

  • Increased explosion damage from 350 to 400.

Undocumented Changes

  • Explosion Push Force reduced from 40 to 30.

1.000.300
2024-04-29

Fixes

  • Explosive weapons no longer pull players inward from the blast.


Retrieved from "https://helldivers.wiki.gg/wiki/GL-21_Grenade_Launcher?oldid=67391"