Thinking back to early 2024, I'd have written off the idea that I'd still be lugging the LAS-98 Laser Cannon into difficulty 10 lobbies this far down the line, yet here we are, and it still anchors my solo kit whenever I want to buy helldivers 2 items and jump straight into Super Helldive. Bot balance has shifted a bunch since then, dropships feel tankier, Hulks push harder, and city maps are just noise and shrapnel, but the Cannon still owns one niche: infinite, reliable pressure. You're not playing around resupply timers when you're alone; you're playing around heat, line of sight and how long you can stay exposed without getting shredded.
The Laser Cannon's Real Job
The Cannon doesn't win by dumping burst like a railgun; it wins by quietly deleting the stuff that usually ruins your run. You start to aim differently with it. Gunships stop being scary once you learn to track those engines and keep the beam on them for a second or two, and Hulks go from "oh no" to "ok, crouch and burn the eye". On cold planets the thing's almost silly: less heat build-up means you just hold the trigger way longer than feels fair. The downside is obvious though, and you feel it fast: barely any stagger. If a Berserker or Charger closes the gap, the Cannon's not bailing you out. You need a plan before that happens, not after.
Loadout Built Around The Beam
My whole solo bot loadout is basically there to keep the laser talking. I run the Sickle as my primary, so when the Cannon overheats or I mess up my vent timing, I can swap and quickly hose down scouts, snipers or stragglers without wasting time on reloads. For stratagems, Shield Generator Relay has become mandatory. You drop the bubble, step inside, and suddenly you can stand right under a Factory Strider's chin and calmly carve open the weak spot while bullets ping off harmlessly. Eagle 500kg handles tanks and badly placed objectives, and an Orbital Laser is my emergency "ok, this base got out of hand" button when too many heavies spawn at once.
How A Solo Run Actually Plays Out
A clean Super Helldive clear isn't about sprinting from objective to objective, it's about not letting the map snowball on you. I usually land a bit off to the side, go prone, and crawl into a good angle rather than walking straight at the nearest base. Once you're set up, the Cannon lets you quietly strip turrets, spawners and patrols before they even know where you are. When a dropship comes in, you snap to the Gunships first because one ragdoll at the wrong time ends the whole attempt. I used to lean on Quasar for that, but waiting on cooldowns while three ships take turns bombing you is just pain; a vented Laser Cannon with decent aim will solve it without spending a single bullet or charge.
Why It Still Feels Worth Learning
The weapon's not some plug-and-play answer; you'll probably overheat it, whiff on weak spots, and get stomped a bunch before it clicks. Once you get the rhythm though, it turns Automaton missions into this weird slow-control style, where you're almost always in charge of the engagement and your ammo count barely matters. If you're stuck trying to grind out warbonds, or you just want to speed up the grind by picking up extra gear through places like u4gm, pairing this Cannon with a solid infinite-ammo primary and a shield bubble can turn those long solo bot runs from stressful chores into a pretty chill loop of lining up beams and popping vents.
