The definitive, patch‑current ranking of armor passives—when to run light, medium, or heavy, and how to build true stealth divers.
If you want consistent clears and clean extracts on higher difficulties, you need the right passive on the right chassis. This guide ranks every notable armor passive in Helldivers 2 as of early September 2025, explains what each does (with up‑to‑date numbers), and shows exactly when to pick light, medium, or heavy. We also include stealth builds—including how the new Feet First passive stacks up against Scout for low‑profile runs.
What armor weight actually does (quick refresher):
Light = fastest run speed + best stamina regen but lowest armor rating. Heavy = highest armor rating but slowest and poorest stamina regen. Medium sits between them. Pick based on whether you need mobility (objectives/stealth), balanced play, or raw survivability (Automaton fire, heavy bile).
TL;DR Tier List (S → C)
S Tier (meta staples):
- Scout (map pings every 2s + 30% enemy detection reduction)
- Med‑Kit (+2 stims, +2.0s stim duration)
- Siege‑Ready (+20% ammo across weapons; no effect on backpack ammo)
- Integrated Explosives (on‑death blast + +2 throwables; recent grenade capacity buff)
- Feet First (50% quieter movement, +30% POI detection range, immunity to leg injuries)
A Tier (excellent, situation‑dependent):
- Fortified (50% explosive resistance; 30% recoil reduction when crouched/prone)
- Engineering Kit (30% recoil reduction when crouched/prone + +2 grenade capacity)
- Democracy Protects (50% chance to survive lethal; prevents chest bleed)
- Reinforced Epaulettes (+30% primary reload; 50% chance to avoid grievous limb injuries)
- Servo‑Assisted (+30% throw range; +50% limb health)
- Acclimated (50% resist: fire, gas, acid, electrical)
B Tier (good, niche):
- Electrical Conduit (95% arc resistance)
- Advanced Filtration (80% gas resistance)
- Extra Padding (+50 armor rating; great on specific light suits)
- Ballistic Padding (25% explosive resistance; prevents chest bleed)
- Gunslinger (sidearm draw/holster +50%, recoil −70%)
- Peak Physique (+100% melee; improved weapon handling)
- Unflinching (reduced aim flinch; now +25 armor and adds map‑ping function—solid, not mandatory)
C Tier (fun/novelty or inconsistent):
- Adreno‑Defibrillator (one‑time self‑revive with health drain; inconsistent triggers)
Details and use‑cases below—with Feet First vs Scout called out for stealth.
S Tier — Why these dominate
Scout
What it does: Markers you place generate a radar scan every 2.0s and enemies detect you from 30% farther away less (i.e., your detection radius is reduced by 30%). Translation: you see patrols sooner and they see you later. This is the most consistent stealth/macro‑information passive in the game. It’s always valuable—solo or in squads. Pair it with UAV Recon for even better map awareness.
Tips: Some community testing says UAV Recon boosts general radar distance, while interaction with Scout’s pings is debated. Either way, the extra radar radius helps you pre‑position around patrols.
Med‑Kit
What it does: +2 stims in your pocket and +2.0s duration per stim. That’s survivability, sprint uptime, and clutch recoveries for the entire mission. It’s universally strong in bugs and bots, scales on all difficulties, and forgives mistakes.
Siege‑Ready
What it does: +20% ammo on all (non‑backpack) weapons. The passive doesn’t make you louder or slower; it just makes your guns last longer—perfect for attrition missions, long horde holds, and any squad that hates mid‑fight resupplies.
Integrated Explosives
What it does: Your armor explodes 1.5s after death, and you get +2 to initial inventory and carry capacity for throwables. A June 2025 patch also explicitly added +2 grenade initial inventory/capacity to the passive, pushing it over the top for grenade‑centric loadouts (Thermites, gas, etc.).
Why S tier: Extra grenades win encounters, and the on‑death blast occasionally trades you up when you get swarmed.
Feet First (new, ODST Legendary Warbond)
What it does:
- 50% quieter movement
- +30% range for discovering Points of Interest
- Immune to leg injuries (no more broken legs)
Both ODST armor sets carry it; it’s expressly tuned for stealth and reconnaissance. In practice it feels like a stealth passive: sprinting behind patrols is safer, and you can path to samples/POIs without aggro.
Context: The ODST crossover arrived with Xbox launch; press and platform blogs list these Feet First perks. If you’re chasing stealth routes or solo runs, Feet First and Scout are the two you compare head‑to‑head.
A Tier — Excellent, but situational or role‑specific
Fortified
50% explosive resistance and −30% recoil when crouched/prone. This hard‑counters Automaton splash and Terminid bile spit, stabilizes precision fire, and makes heavy‑weapon prone play comfy. Superb for bot fronts and static holds.
Engineering Kit
−30% vertical recoil (crouched/prone) + +2 grenades (initial and carry). If your team throws things (Thermites, frags, gas), this is nearly always value. Less raw sustain than Siege‑Ready, but better burst control of fights via grenades.
Democracy Protects
50% chance to survive lethal damage + prevents chest bleed. It “spikes” survivability during chaotic moments and helps you finish objectives while wounded. Great on defense/eradicate runs.
Reinforced Epaulettes
+30% primary reload speed and 50% chance to avoid grievous limb injury. It’s two good perks: more gun uptime, fewer ruined sprints. Strong generalist pick when you don’t need elemental resistances.
Servo‑Assisted
+30% throw range and +50% limb health. Mobility and utility: fastball Thermites further, huck objective items farther, and stay on your feet. Excellent for “hit‑and‑run” light builds.
Acclimated
50% resistance to fire, gas, acid, and electrical damage. Pure breadth—less spectacular than single‑element passives in their niche, but covers many hazards in one slot (especially mixed biomes or Illuminate/tech factions).
B Tier — Good tools with narrower lanes
Electrical Conduit
95% arc resistance. If you’re expecting arc traps, Tesla arcs, or Illuminate shock effects, this makes them a non‑issue; otherwise, it’s overkill.
Advanced Filtration
80% gas resistance. Essential on heavy gas‑modifiers or when your team is leaning into gas ordnance; otherwise it’s a wasted slot.
Extra Padding
Flat +50 armor rating. On certain light suits (e.g., the classic Light Gunner) it effectively gives you medium‑tier durability at light speed, which is a stealth sleeper hit. Otherwise, Fortified/Democracy Protects often edge it out.
Ballistic Padding
25% explosive resistance and prevents chest bleed. It’s defensive glue, but Fortified generally outclasses it against explosions; still a reasonable pick if you want bleed insurance without swapping builds.
Gunslinger
Sidearm draw/holster +50% and −70% sidearm recoil. Great if you main a powerful pistol (Verdict/Senator) or riot‑shield setups; otherwise overshadowed by passives that help your primary.
Peak Physique
+100% melee damage and improved weapon handling. Fun for stompy melee memes and niche bugs tech; for most squads, grenades or sustain win more fights.
Unflinching
Reduces aim flinch when hit; June 2025 patch added +25 armor and marker‑ping functionality similar to Scout. It’s now a legitimate mid‑tier choice for precision weapons, but still less universally impactful than Scout/Siege‑Ready/Med‑Kit.
C Tier — Play it for fun, not for wins
Adreno‑Defibrillator
One‑time auto‑revive to full health when you take lethal damage—but your health immediately starts draining, forcing a quick heal or die again. Community reports call out inconsistent triggers and unreliability. It’s spicy for solo memes, but unreliable compared to Med‑Kit/Democracy Protects.
Feet First vs. Scout — Which stealth passive should you run?
What Feet First does: You’re 50% quieter, immune to leg injuries, and you find POIs from 30% farther away—a trifecta that makes movement the stealth. You can sprint out of patrol cones and stay healthy enough to keep moving—huge on maps with bad terrain, mines, or spore modifiers.
What Scout does: Your own map markers scan every 2s and enemies detect you 30% later. It’s more information + invisibility than Feet First’s sound dampening + safety. On paper (and in practice) Scout is slightly better for pure stealth and patrol threading; Feet First is better for fluid, fast repositioning and terrain hazards.
My rule of thumb:
- Solo stealth routing / sample runs / objective speed: Scout edges out.
- Squad play with lots of movement, rough terrain, or leg‑injury risk (spores, mines, drop impacts): Feet First shines.
- If your mission takes you underground (limited Stratagem use in the new “Into the Unjust” update), ammo/sustain passives (Siege‑Ready, Med‑Kit) and stealth passives gain even more value because resupplies and air‑cover are restricted in caves.
When to run light vs. medium vs. heavy
- Light — Take light when information, mobility, and stealth are the win‑condition: scouting, radar tower objectives, long‑distance sample sweeps, and “don’t wake the planet” play. If you love stealth, Scout on light is S‑tier. Extra Padding on specific light suits can mimic medium durability at light speeds.
- Medium — The default for balanced teams. You get survivability without killing your sprint loop. Med‑Kit, Engineering Kit, and Democracy Protects feel great here.
- Heavy — Pick heavy vs. Automatons or explosive‑rich missions, especially with Fortified. When you expect prolonged gunfights, Siege‑Ready on heavy is excellent. Accept the slower repositioning and manage stamina smartly.
Booster synergy for stealth:UAV Recon (~50% more radar distance) helps you see threats before they see you; combine with Scout or Feet First for safer routing.Localization Confusion increases time between enemy reinforcement calls—more room to complete objectives quietly.
Ready‑to‑run stealth builds
1) “Ghost Diver” (Feet First)
- Armor: ODST A‑35 Recon or A‑9 Helljumper (both run Feet First)
- Primary: M7S SMG (suppressed) for low‑noise patrol clears
- Booster: UAV Recon (map awareness) or Localization Confusion (fewer reinforcement spikes)
- Why it works: Feet First halves movement noise, protects your legs (no limp after near‑misses), and expands POI detection—so you chart low‑threat routes and stay durable while sprinting. M7S lets you clean up stragglers without waking the neighborhood.
2) “Warping Scout” (Speed‑Stealth)
- Armor: Light armor + Scout
- Stratagem: Teleport Pack (warp)
- Weapons: Community‑proven options include quiet lasers (e.g., Scorcher) and accurate sidearms like Senator for surgical picks
- Why it works: You’re simply hard to find (−30% detection), you see patrols first (marker pings), and Teleport lets you break line‑of‑sight instantly. It’s one of the strongest solo Automaton routing kits.
3) “Hybrid Sneak & Clear” (Scout or Feet First + grenades)
- Armor: Scout or Feet First depending on your terrain/modifiers
- Passive focus: Pair with Engineering Kit or Integrated Explosives in the squad to multiply grenade control (Thermites to erase nests quietly, smoke/gas for line‑of‑sight denial)
- Why it works: You route quietly, then use precise grenade bursts to delete problem nodes without calling in big, loud support weapons.
Stealth fundamentals still matter: Crouch around patrol cones, avoid sprinting across open high‑ground, and pick off stragglers. There’s a deep community meta on stealth basics—worth a refresher if you’re new to quiet clears.
Notes on other passives & patch changes
- Unflinching got buffed in June 2025 (now also +25 armor and, per current wiki, gains the marker‑ping effect). It’s good on precision kits (DMRs/beam weapons) but still less universally useful than Scout or real sustain.
- Integrated Explosives received a +2 grenade capacity addition in 01.003.101, making it a real competitor to Engineering Kit for throwable‑centric squads.
- Ballistic vs. Fortified: Fortified’s 50% explosive resist usually outperforms Ballistic Padding’s 25% in the scenarios that matter (Automaton rockets, bile). Only stick to Ballistic if you specifically want the chest‑bleed immunity without Fortified’s playstyle.
Final recommendations by mission/faction
- Automatons (gunlines, rockets, turrets):
Fortified (heavy/medium) or Siege‑Ready for sustained firefights. Scout remains useful for avoiding patrols and pre‑aiming ambushes. - Terminids (patrol density, bile, underground hives in “Into the Unjust”):
Med‑Kit for sustain; Integrated Explosives/Engineering Kit to burn chokepoints with Thermites; Feet First or Scout for quiet routing to objectives. Caves restrict Stratagems—build for self‑sufficiency. - Illuminate/Arc hazards:
Electrical Conduit (arc), Advanced Filtration (gas) or Acclimated for broad coverage if you’re unsure what you’ll face.
The bottom line
If you remember only three things:
- Scout = the most reliable stealth/information passive in the game.
- Med‑Kit/Siege‑Ready = the two easiest ways to raise your team’s floor.
- Feet First = a real stealth passive: quieter feet + leg safety + better POI routing. It won’t replace Scout everywhere, but it absolutely earns a spot in your rotation.
Alternate builds to try this week
- Ammo Economy Squad: 2× Siege‑Ready, 1× Engineering Kit, 1× Med‑Kit. Endless bullets, endless nades, lots of stims.
- Quiet Control: Feet First diver routes; an Engineering Kit diver drops Thermites on spawners; a Scout diver anchors patrol scanning; one Med‑Kit anchor for heals.
FAQ: “Does Feet First make me as stealthy as Scout?”
- No, it’s different. Scout reduces detection radius; Feet First reduces sound (and saves your legs). On open maps with clear sightlines, Scout’s −30% detection usually wins. In rough terrain, mines/spores, or cave runs with lots of sprinting, Feet First is fantastic. Run both in the squad and you get the best of both worlds.
