Helldivers 2 has been available for Playstation 5 and PC (Steam) since February 8th, 2024, but it was recently announced that Xbox players will be able to play on August 26th. As a veteran Halo player since Combat Evolved, I welcome our Microsoft allies. Y'all haven't had a truly good Halo game since Reach, and you deserve better.
What You Need to Know
The Helldivers community is... enthusiastic... about embracing the absurdity of our dystopian universe THE GLORY OF MANAGED DEMOCRACY AND EXPRESSIONS OF PATRIOTIC FERVOR! Everything that happens in the game is considered canon, so join the fun!
Xbox players, you will see players already make comparisons to ODSTs. You drop planetside in a pod full of weapons and blast aliens in the face. Covenant, Illuminate, same difference, right?
I also argue Halo 3: ODST remains underappreciated. As Dutch said, "Dear Diary: Today I learned some alien scum to not mess with the ODSTs!" If you enjoy bringing justice in the form of hot lead and explosives to alien scum, you'll fit in fine.
Many Warhammer 40,000 players have adopted Helldivers as surrogate Imperial Guardsmen and Space Marines, so expect to see references to that from time to time as well.
How to Get Started
After the opening video, you should find yourself in a Pelican (yes, we have them, too) on your way to the new and improved recruit training facility. The original on Mars where we trained was relocated when the Illuminate attacked Super Earth. After a temporary location on an undisclosed planet served the same role, we secured a new location just for you guys! Well, and for any other new players.
Just follow the instructions and get used to the controls. There aren't many secrets to be found, but maybe before stepping into your cryo-pod for lift to orbit, check off the right side of that plateau and see if the surprise flamethrower is still down there.
Complete your introduction to the Ship Master, then head straight for the map table and pick where to start. It doesn't really matter where you start. The only operation difficulty for beginners is level 1 (Trivial). Beat each level to unlock the next. More difficult operations can have up to 3 missions with increasing rewards for each success. Harder missions have more objectives, tougher enemies, and bigger maps. Don't worry about that for now. Just play Trivial and get a feel for the game. In fact, try some trivial missions against each faction.
The Enemies of Freedom
Super Earth is now facing a 3-front war, and each enemy offers different challenges.
Terminids (the bugs)
These insect-like aliens are definitely just mindless animals, and their only use to humanity is the E-710 we can harvest from their corpses. They are definitely not intelligent, and certainly have no ulterior motives.
These guys tend to swarm Helldivers with many weaker enemies which just want to get their claws bloody. At higher difficulties, bugs with serious shells appear, requiring specialized weapons in response, but in the early game, your basic Liberator primary and Machine Gun stratagem are sufficient.
Watch out for any bugs spewing an orange cloud into the sky. This triggers a bug breach where the ground opens up and insects swarm through for a time. If you shoot the bug in time, you might prevent it. Otherwise, get ready for a few hectic minutes of fighting. Beware fighting on planets with the Predator Strain, a nasty variant encountered on some worlds with even more ambush tactics.
Battles are often in close quarters with many targets, so rapid-fire weapons with light or medium armor penetration are a must. Flame weapons are incredibly effective for both direct damage and area denial from lighting the ground on fire. These guys try to over-run you with sheer numbers, and only occasionally add long-range attacks. Flying Shriekers are only a problem on higher difficulties with secondary shrieker nest objectives. Heavy support weapons or orbital strike and eagle strike stratagems are mainly needed on higher difficulty when encountering chargers, impalers, and especially bile titans.
Automatons (the bots)
Unlike the bugs, most bots prefer ranged attacks with laser weapons. They are generally fewer in number, but no less dangerous. Their bases are often fortified with walls and turrets. Their higher-tier soldiers also often have medium to heavy armor a basic Liberator cannot hope to punch through, but fear not! Their inferior designers often leave important parts unarmored, or at least less-protected. Aim for the head, or any red/orange glowing part, and watch them fall!
As with the bugs, on higher difficulties, heavily-armored units will shrug off all but the most potent firepower. Worry about that later. All the basic human-sized infantry will fall to your basic loadout. Beware the commissar, who can launch a flare into the air to call in a dropship with reinforcements. Shoot anyone pointing their arm into the sky!
Watch out for the Incineration Corps and the Jet Brigade. The former carry lots of flame-based weapons and seek close-quarters combat. The latter have jump packs to quickly close the distance. Either may show up when there's an Automaton offensive to fend off.
Most threats are fought at a distance, and wear at least some armor. Gunships and dropships can be destroyed if you can damage their more moderately armored engine pods enough. Hulks and tanks offer nice visible weak points on the back. These mindless metal menaces will become scrap if you do your part!
Illuminate (the squids)
Our newest, and most dangerous, enemy based on the fact that they threatened our home. The squids spent a long time in the shadows, popping up here and there seemingly at random. Helldivers played a game of whack-a-mole trying to stop their unknown schemes until they revealed their true power. Now we have uncovered a wide region where they built a foothold in secret.
The squids have armies of enslaved former humans now infected with what appears to be alien genetics. These voteless hordes mindlessly roam like zombies until alerted to the Helldivers, whereupon they rush in as a tide of cannon fodder. Individually, they are weak, but if you get dogpiled, you're done for.
Another recent enemy which can appear even on Trivial missions is the Fleshmob, a massive bullet sponge that will steamroll you straight to a spot on the Wall of Martyrs. I hope you paid attention to dodging in basic training! A quick dive to the left or right at the last moment can save your skin. Then keep pouring lead into it until it's dead.
Watchers are the enemy who call for squid reinforcements. These are a high-priority target! They may also shoot Helldivers with electricity, and seem to coordinate attacks by the Voteless. If one launches a series of four blue flares unto the air, a flying saucer will soon bring in more enemies.
In higher difficulties, expect to encounter more Overseers. These are serious threats, but most can be killed with your starting Liberator and the Machine Gun stratagem. Even the Harvester tripod and Stingray strafing attack ship can be killed with medium armor penetration if your shots hit the right point. The challenge here is the blend of up-close mobs and distant shooters acting as a combined-arms force to keep the pressure high.
Upgrades
Once you have some missions under your belt, you should have accumulated some common samples and some requisition slipss. Head over to the ship management console next to the Ship Master and buy some improvements! These include more orbital attack stratagems, Eagle aircraft ordinance, and weapons you can call from orbit with your stratagems. As you unlock upgrades for different sectors of your Super Destroyer, it will change to visually represent your growing capabilities. Fully upgrading everything will take time, so keep checking in every few missions to see what you might be able to do next.
Warbonds and the Superstore
You will start with one unlocked Warbond. Don't bother spending Super Credits on anything else just yet, because this free Helldivers Mobilize list is 10 pages of absolute gems. Pump-action and semi-auto shotguns, Liberator variants, precision marksman rifles, armor with new passive abilities, new grenades, and useful boosters to help everyone on your team will enhance your gameplay without spending even a dime of real money!
In fact, not only do Warbonds never expire, you can earn enough Super Credits from those warbonds and gameplay to just keep unlocking warbonds as you play. Once you have had time to get a feel for different weapons, and unlocked all the goodies in the default warbond, you can take your pick from the rest. Many youtubers break down the pros and cons of each, discuss their favorite weapons, and offer suggestions for facing off against different factions.
I would generally advise against buying anything from the Superstore until you already have enough spare Super Credits in reserve for another Warbond. As of the last major update, most items are permanently available, and only the first slot has special rotating options every few days. There's no real FOMO here, either.
Planets
The galaxy is full of worlds destined for humanity to colonize, but these bugs, bots, and squids ruthlessly invade our frontiers to thwart our righteous expansion. We can only access planets under attack by our despicable foes or those in border zones as we retake what is ours by right.
Each planet has a predominant biome, but maps can have modifiers like settlements, and some now have a special capital megacity zone. Planets may also have unique hazards. Some may have earthquakes, which impede movement temporarily. Sandstorms or blizzards reduce your movement and visibility for a longer duration. Meteor storms or fire tornadoes are a very direct hazard, but tend to have visual warnings you can avoid. Watch out for pits in the ground, whether natural formations or bug dens, as these are all instant death. If you can't see the bottom, it's not safe. Deep water also means you can drown due to the weight of your gear.
Mission objectives vary based on faction, but usually you reactivate Super Earth systems, retrieve Intel, evacuate colonists, and/or destroy alien bases.
Bugs hives have nests with several holes you need to close using explosives, and sometimes there are variations like egg hatcheries to wipe out. Bots have fabricators which spawn soldiers, but also may have artillery, jammers, detectors, and more to be sabotaged. Squids are usually limited to landed dropship encampment spawn points, monolith objectives, and stratagem jammers.
Higher difficulties mean more objectives, more steps per objective, more spawn points, more secondary objectives, and bigger maps to traverse. A good crew becomes all but essential very quickly.
Missions
Each mission has a time limit and one or more primary objectives. When you choose your mission, some info is available, including primary objective locations and the extraction zone. Try to choose a drop point only after considering the best path between objectives.
To succeed on a mission, complete the primary objectives. Ideally, you then call in extraction, fend off a final assault, and board the Pelican when it lands.
You don't need to board the Pelican immediately when it lands. Make sure the rest of the crew is present. If at all possible, don't abandon your teammates. Once the first player boards, a countdown to liftoff starts. Don't be a jerk. If nothing else, you need the samples your buddy is probably carrying from across the map, so don't be the n00b who jumps on board immediately. It reduces mission rewards and contribution to the planetary defense/conquest when not everyone extracts.
You have a limited number of reinforcements in case your first helldiver meets their untimely end. This will probably be needed. Don't worry if you somehow die after getting on the pelican, though. You still count as getting out alive. And worst case scenario, if your main objectives are done before everyone dies and no reinforcements remain, it still counts as a success, no matter how Pyrrhic the victory
Basic objective completion doesn't earn the best rewards, though. You also want to keep an eye out for secondary objectives. Bug nests, bot fabricator bases, and illuminate dropship encampments not part of the main mission should still be destroyed if at all possible. Radar/LIDAR stations, SAM sites, SEAF (Super Earth Armed Forces) artillery, and more can add tactical benefits for your team. Completing all secondary objectives and wiping out all enemy bases means the best possible mission rating and rewards.
If time runs out, no further reinforcements or orbital stratagems are available, and the mission goes into a sort of sudden death. The Pelican rescue ship is launched automatically, and sets a 20-second countdown timer the moment it lands. Get in or get left behind. Do note, however, that if a SEAF artillery objective was completed, it can still be used even in these dire straits.
What Else To Do
Learn to look for Points of Interest (POIs) which show up as question marks on your compass. They can also sometimes be visible on the mini map once you know what to look for. These can contain several potential rewards.
- Ammunition, grenades, and stims to resupply your Helldiver
- Random support weapons to try out
- Samples (resources used to upgrade your Super Carrier)
- Requisition Slips (improve your Super Carrier, unlock new stratagems, and upgrade weapons)
- Super Credits (unlock Premium Warbonds or buy items from the Superstore)
- Medals (unlock Warbond items)
Medals, Super Credits, and Requisition Slips seem to be awarded immediately when picked up and are awarded simultaneously to all players, so even if you lose connection, you have these resources. Samples are also shared across the team, but they must be brought to the Pelican and physically carried off-world. Then, everyone shares the team's total haul. If nothing else, this is why no Helldiver should be left behind.
Example sample potential from a high-difficulty mission:
- Player 1 has 12 common samples, 5 rare samples, and 3 super samples.
- Player 2 has 1 common sample.
- Player 3 has 3 common samples and 4 rare samples.
- Player 4 had some samples, but failed to extract for some reason.
All four players in this scenario would earn 16 common samples, 9 rare samples, and 3 super samples to use. This is a team success, not an individual award.
Other Helldivers
If you don't already have a crew, you can find other players. You can drop an S.O.S. beacon to call for help when you're planetside, or you can search for squads to join instead of choosing a mission when examining the map on the bridge of your Super Destroyer, which can mean answering someone else's call!
Player skill is a gamble. You may find yourself working with a competent crew willing to show you the ropes, or you might land in a mess too far gone to recover. Such is life as a Helldiver. Occasionally, you'll even encounter players who seem to be enemy agents, deliberately sabotaging other players. This is thankfully rare.
The game has built-in text chat and voice chat, but most players seem to have absolutely terrible mics. If you have a good headset, they'll serve you well, and your team will appreciate it too. If they're running off a laptop mic, you may get only garbled incoherence. I suggest you turn off your mic, but keep listening for useful info. On PC, text chat is easy, because we have keyboards by default. Modern consoles may well allow you to run a Bluetooth or USB keyboard for the same functionality, though.
Final Thoughts
I really like the way this game manages weapon handling. Your crosshair is always in the center of the screen, but another floating marker indicates where your muzzle is actually pointed. Heavy weapons are noticeably slower to respond to your movements. You can turn to look at stuff before you can bring your weapons to bear on it. Get used to the tempo, and it feels very natural.
The game also manages the tempo of enemy encounters well. As difficulty ramps, so does the way your enemies seem to keep you on edge. Manage the chaos, and you'll come out on top. If you don't watch out, though, it can start to feel absolutely overwhelming. If you're smart, you can still usually salvage things, though. Break contact with a tactical retreat using terrain as cover and concealment. Throw a turret as a distraction. Use smoke grenades or the giant puffball mushrooms on some planets to obscure your movements. Coordinate with the rest of the team if you've been split up, and push back.
Any armor with the "Democracy Protects" passive ability gives you a 50% chance to cheat death, so consider trying that out once you unlock it. When it fails, it's like normal, but when it hits, you feel immortal! Well, until that weak enemy you overlooked hits you one more time for the single health point you have left and the die roll fails. But still, it's by far the most hilarious way to play, and it has allowed me to perform superhuman feats like taking down the last bot objective across a map and walk all the way back to extraction when it looked like I was done for many times over, my stims were all gone, and there are no remaining reinforcements.
I've played a fair few online games over the years. MMORPGs, shooters ranging from Call of Duty to Halo to Team Fortress 2, 4-player co-op games like Payday 2, they all have their moments of fun, but Helldivers 2 is special. While it isn't a role-playing game per se, the community adopts the universe as its own, and Joel is telling us a story in real time through the game and its Major Orders. It's a 3rd-person shooter with solo or co-operative action and excitement aplenty. It shares elements of a heist from Payday2 where anything could go wrong at any moment, but you plan, adapt, and overcome on the fly no matter what. Do your duty, and enlist today! I'll see you on the battlefield.
Next post: Stratagems, or How We Spread Democracy!
Images in this post are from the Helldivers wiki, a great source for both the fluff and crunch in this game. Check it out, too.
If you're not on Hive yet, I invite you to join through InLeo or PeakD. If you use either of my referral links, I'll even try to delegate some Hive Power to help you get started.