AR-14D Paragon

> *"The AR-14D Paragon is in reality an old assault rifle rarely seen in use amongst the armed forces. It uses the same cartridge as the AR-20L Justice but in a heavier, semi-automatic rifle. The rifle has been modernized and now fires a poison-laced round causing targets hit to spasm and slow. Part of the Hazard Ops equipment kit."
>  - Armory Description*
>
>

## Unlock Requirement

The AR-14D Paragon is part of the Hazard Ops Pack and is automatically unlocked by purchasing the respective DLC.

## Upgrades

**Bayonet**

* Affixes a long blade under the barrel of the gun, turning it into a simple but formidable melee weapon. Greatly increases melee damage and range but slows down melee speed.

**Burst Fire**

* This upgrade makes every press of the trigger fire three shots with virtually no spread. Rapid fire will still result in inaccurate groupings at range.

**Extended Magazine**

* Increases the number of rounds in the magazine from 20 to 25. The number of spare magazines that can be carried remains unchanged.

**Armor-Piercing Ammunition**

* This ammunition type has been specifically designed to counter light to medium armor. AP rounds have no trouble punching through light armor and deal increased damage to targets with medium armor. Like all AP Ammo upgrades, this upgrade will not make it possible to damage Cyborg IFVs and enemies with heavy armor. Refer to Enemies/Detailed Statistics for details on AP Ammo mechanics.

## Weapon Stats

* Helldivers start with 5 magazines of toxin-laced ammunition and can carry up to a maximum of 10. Each magazine contains 20 rounds by default (25 with the Extended Magazine upgrade). If 2 or less rounds remain in the magazine when the weapon is fired, the 'low ammunition' warning sound will play and red tracer rounds will fire.

* The Paragon takes 2.5 seconds to reload when empty and 1.25 seconds with ammunition remaining in the magazine. Performing a tactical reload with ammo left in the magazine keeps a round in the chamber as well, giving the Paragon with the Extended Magazine upgrade a maximum of 26 shots before needing to be reloaded again.

## Gameplay Tips

* The Paragon's signature toxic ammo only applies to enemies that can take damage from regular firearms, however the slowing effect is a very useful tool. Firing into a crowd of swarming enemies or enemies with a lot of health will slow them down to a crawl and give ample time to safely finish them off with a bayonet thrust or use Stratagems and heavy weapons. This can also be used to save teammates in some situations as the slowing effect will give them ample time to escape, recover from being downed, or concentrate fire on their now helpless assailant. Note that the toxic effect does not damage enemies.

* Compared to the other assault rifles, the Paragon boasts the highest burst damage while still remaining reasonably accurate at range. Unloading an entire magazine in a few successive bursts will make short work of all but the most resilient enemies, however this rapidly depletes its limited ammunition supply.

* Proper management of ammunition is a must with the Paragon; it has the lowest total ammunition of any of the assault rifles and burns through it very quickly with the **Burst Fire** upgrade. To conserve ammunition, consider purchasing and using the **Bayonet** to finish wounded enemies after slowing them down. This can greatly extend how long you can use the Paragon when ammo is low or Resupply is on cooldown. Bringing a Resupply Pack can also counter the Paragon's small ammo reserve.

* Note that it is still possible to fire single shots with the **Burst Fire** upgrade. By slightly depressing the trigger or quickly tapping fire on PC, single shots will be fired instead of the full burst. This "half-tap" is extremely useful for conserving ammo since burst fire is linearly less efficient than single fire depending on the target; some enemies may only need a single shot to be killed, while others may require 4 or 5 rounds which means one to two shots per burst may be wasted. It is recommended to learn the "half-tap" technique to minimize wasted ammo.

* As with all weapons with the **Bayonet** upgrade, the bayonet increases the recovery time between melee attacks and unshielded Helldivers can be killed with a single bayonet attack unless they are wearing Heavy Armor. Exercise caution when using melee near teammates!
	+ The bayonet upgrade extends the range covered by the 'Melee Dodge' technique, allowing for more distance to be covered and a larger snap-aiming window with weapons while moving. Without a bayonet, this technique requires more precise timing to reliably use. Consult the Advanced Gameplay Techniques page for more information on Melee Dodging.

## Notes

* The Paragon appears to be based on the Springfield M1A rifle with an aftermarket "Archangel" stock. Both weapons are large caliber mid-to-long range marksman rifles with 20-round magazines, however the M1A does not come with a burst fire trigger group or selector.

* The Paragon features an uncomfortably short stock and a small magazine on its armory icon, despite the weapon description stating that it uses the same cartridge as the Justice. The icon appears to be horizontally compressed to fit into the same space as the other rifles as in-game the magazines used are the same size as the other assault rifles and the rifle model is longer than its icon would imply.

* The magazine size of both the stock and upgraded Paragon does not match up perfectly with its 3-round burst upgrade. The final burst will only fire two rounds without the capacity upgrade and one round with **Extended Magazines**. However, with the extra ammunition capacity it will be possible to fire 8 bursts of 3 rounds, then have a single bullet left to perform a tactical reload.