SG-225 Breaker

> *"A reliable, low-maintenance, automatic shotgun. Perfect for quickly taking out unarmoured targets and handy for close encounters."
>  - Armory Description*
>
>

## Unlock Requirement

The SG-225 Breaker unlocks at rank 2 (1st Private).

## Upgrades

**Increased Range**

* Improved internal components and higher quality shot allow for increased effective range.

**Flechette Rounds**

* Replaces standard buckshot rounds with flechette rounds. Flechettes are small aerodynamic darts that fly further, faster, and straighter than the lead or steel balls used in regular buckshot and have increased penetration vs soft targets. Allows projectiles to pass through all enemies they damage but does not grant any bonuses vs armored enemies.

## Weapon Stats

* Helldivers start missions with 4 drums of shotgun shells and can carry up to a maximum of 8. Each magazine contains 12 shells. If 4 or less rounds remain in the magazine when the weapon is fired, the 'low ammunition' warning sound will play.

* The Breaker takes 2.5 seconds to reload when empty and 1.25 seconds with ammunition left in the magazine. Performing a tactical reload with ammo left in the magazine keeps a round in the chamber as well, giving the Breaker with the Extended Magazine upgrade a maximum of 13 shots before needing to be reloaded again.

## Gameplay Tips

* The Breaker is the middle ground between the Punisher and Double Freedom shotguns: its moderate spread and fully automatic nature make it best suited for short-to-mid-range combat, or for dealing with enemy patrols at range once fully upgraded. Its pellets only take the angle of impact into consideration for damage calculation and have no center mass bonus, allowing it to easily deal maximum damage versus lightly armored or unarmored enemies. Due to its spread and lack of an armor piercing upgrade, the Breaker suffers at range and has trouble dealing with armored enemies, making it ill-suited to deal with high-level Bugs or Cyborgs.

* Like all shotguns, the Breaker has a fixed firing cone and does not become more inaccurate with sustained fire, allowing users to liberally spray an area with impunity. Heavy use of full-auto fire can quickly deplete its relatively limited supply of ammunition; consider positioning yourself to catch as many enemies as possible in its cone of fire to save ammo, or bring Stratagem Priority or a Resupply Pack to counter its high ammo usage.

* The Breaker has excellent DPS against patrol units and crowds with its **Flechette Rounds** upgrade, most notably Cyborg Butchers. Note that this comes at the cost of potentially hitting other Helldivers or objectives if they are near or behind your targets; pay special attention to what's between and *behind* your target before firing.
	+ The **Flechette Rounds** upgrade does not penetrate Illuminate shields, severely limiting its effectiveness in dealing with swarms of shielded enemies. Consider using stratagems or grenades to disable shields to save the Breaker's limited ammo.

* Firing the Breaker causes empty shells to be ejected up into the air. These shells are actually modeled objects in the game-world and can collide with other objects, specifically with projectiles fired from the Obliterator Grenade Launcher and M-25 Rumbler (part of the Weapons Pack DLC), causing their projectiles to explode mid-air. Any player or NPC on the ground caught in the effective radius of these mid-air explosions may experience severe damage or death from the initial explosion and/or the appropriate status effects of these weapons.

## Notes

* The mention of "handy for close encounters" in the Breaker's Armory Description is a clear shout out to the classic 1986 Sci-Fi movie *Aliens*.