Helldivers 2: How to choose the best payload for the SEAF Artillery

Stratagems are powerful tools in Helldivers 2, but you’re typically limited to four per mission. But if you’re fortunate, you may be able to up that count. The SEAF Artillery found on a map adds an extra Stratagem to the mix, but it works best when you choose the right payload.

There are multiple payload variants. The best payload options you can use for the SEAF Artillery can be based on preference, but it also depends on the difficulty and enemy type in Helldivers 2. If you’re against bugs, tossing down a napalm strike to defend points is ideal. But when fighting Automatons, a calculated EMF strike is wiser. For high-level missions, you can pick smoke to cover your retreat. Both factions die to explosives, though, and those are likely the ones you want to know about the most.

The SEAF Artillery counts as a Secondary Objective, which means it can spawn randomly on some maps. It can also appear regardless of the enemy faction, so bugs and bots will feel its fury. The weapon, once activated, will give you an extra Stratagem to use in the fight for Liberty and Justice. It’s a good idea to load it up with payloads to prep it for war. The payloads are large munitions found around the artillery and must be manually loaded into the gun.

How to pick the best payload for the SEAF Artillery in Helldivers 2

In my experience, newer players of the game tend to grab whatever payload they find and load it up without knowing what it can do. I did the same until I started paying attention. The SEAF Artillery is powerful, not just because it makes kickass explosions, but because you can change how it functions with different payloads.

To find the best payload you want with the SEAF Artillery, approach a warhead and read the description that appears. It shows next to the button or key required to pick the payload off the ground. The type appears like this: “SEAF ARTILLERY: [PAYLOAD TYPE]”. If you want napalm, look for “SEAF ARTILLERY: NAPALM”, etc.

There are six types of payloads for the SEAF Artillery, which are differentiated by color. They are all capped with cones, making them more akin to spicy crayons.

All SEAF Artillery payloads and appearance:

• Mini-Nuke
  • Yellow cone
• Explosive
  • Green cone
• High-Yield Explosive (like the Eagle 500kg)
  • Orange cone
• Napalm
  • Red cone
• Smoke
  • Gray cone
• Static Field
  • Blue cone

How to load and fire the SEAF Artillery in Helldivers 2

Loading the SEAF Artillery and firing it in Helldivers 2 is a simple enough affair. First, you can locate and access the terminal to power up the gun. Fully loaded, the weapon takes five shells you can find scattered around its proximity.

You can only move one payload at a time. Pick up a payload using the button or key prompt and carry it to the breech at the gun’s base. Press the button again near the loading section of the breech, and you’ll load the shell. Once you have all five loaded, return to the terminal to activate the artillery.

You use the SEAF Artillery just as you would any other Stratagem in Helldivers 2. Open up the Stratagem menu, where you should see its name and icon with the number ‘5’, showing it’s fully loaded and ready.

Tips and tricks:

• Drop and pick up the payload as you make your way to the gun to move more quickly
• Don’t activate the terminal until you have all five payloads, since that can cause enemy attacks
• The load order is the firing order, so if you want to shoot a Mini-Nuke first, put it in the first spot
• The location of the strike will tell you the payload type before it drops
• Look around the artillery for ammo and samples

That’s about all you need to know on how to pick the best payload for the SEAF Artillery in Helldivers 2. It’s a powerful stratagem, so activating it during a mission is almost always worth the effort.

Can you use the SEAF Artillery in Helldivers 2 after the Destroyer leaves orbit?

The SEAF Artillery can be used as a Stratagem option even after the mission timer hits zero and the Destroyer Ship departs. You may have lost access to your Destroyer Stratagems, but the Artillery will never let you down. Keep that in mind if you feel a mission is running a little too long. It’ll be a good idea to get the gun working just in case things go awry. The SEAF Artillery will also still work while near Stratagem jammers or in Ion Storms.