Thanks to consistent effort from Arrowhead Studios,Helldivers 2keepsgetting bigger and better.This might make taking the leap and getting into the Hellpod a bit intimidating for fresh recruits, but that doesn’t need to be the case.
How to Play Helldivers 2: A Complete Guide
New players, please play on whatever difficulty you wish.
As every good super citizen knows, Super Earth’s basic training program is more than enough to turn raw recruits into the galaxy’s best warriors; all recruits can rest assured of that. For those who really want to shine in the fight for liberty right from the start, though, here’s some extra wisdom from Helldivers who are already out fighting on the front lines.
10Know Your Stratagems
Knowing what the 380mm actually does will keep you from wiping your squad
There are many stratagems to play around with in Helldivers 2. Some are great for just about any mission, whileothers are a lot more situational. One of the first things a new Helldiver should do is familiarize themselves with each new stratagem they unlock.
Learn the cooldowns, the areas of effect and what kinds of enemies they’re effective against.Figure out which ones are best for one’s playstyle on each kind of map and mission. Doing this early will go a long way towards becoming an essential member of any Helldive.
9Find Your Home Difficulty
Too easy is boring, but too hard isn’t fun either
There are Helldivers out there who will insist thatthe game is meant to only be played on “Helldiver” (difficulty 9),and that anyone who isn’t doing that isn’t really a Helldiver. Those are fanatics who’ve been on the front too long; don’t listen to them. Listen instead to your more rational brethren:all Helldivers are contributing, no matter the difficulty.
Sure, some work well on Helldive, but others are at their best on “Challenging” (difficulty 4). All Helldivers need to find their home difficulty and do so by slowly going up until missions become unmanageable. One can always go higher if things get boring.
8Test Weapons And Stratagems On Lower Difficulties
With how hectic Helldivers 2 can get, bringing untested weapons into high difficulty ops is just asking for trouble. So, rather thantrying out new guns and gearat your highest doable difficulty,scale it down a level or two first.
All Primary Weapons | Helldivers 2
A Helldiver’s best friend
This way, one can put their new hardware through its paces and learn the ins and outs without worrying about getting themselves and their squad into serious trouble. Sure, one won’t know if a gun is really for them until they put it through a real test, but wouldn’t it be better to go into that test knowing more or less what the weapon is capable of?
7Grind Trivials For Extra Super Credits
Faster missions means faster credits
While standard-issue Helldiver gear is great, there are times when something with a little more power is needed. Unfortunately, Super Earth’s military budget is stretched a bit thin these days, so Helldivers need tobuy their own gear through Warbonds.These cost Super Credits, and those credits are often refunded as one progresses through them.
However, one will need another source of Super Credits if they’re going to keep up. Fortunately, there are plenty to be gathered on mission maps.Just go to “Trivial” difficulty and grab them from pods, crates, and bunkers.There are practically no enemies in this difficulty, so one can accumulate funds quickly.
6Call In Support Gear Early
Be ready to deal with heavies as early as possible
Support gear is just like many stratagems in that it tends to have long cooldowns after use. Unlike stratagems, which are mostly situational,support gear is always useful.There’s usually no good reason not to call it in immediately when the mission starts, so make doing so a habit.
If the squad gets its support gear right away, it’ll make the entire rest of the mission easiersince everyone will have more answers to problems, enemies and situations. Getting those cooldowns started early is also helpful, as it’ll allow fallen Helldivers to get back to full strength more quickly.
5Secure Those Samples!
Super Destroyer upgrades cost samples — lots of them
Super Earth’s scientists needplenty of samplesto fuel experimentation and advance technological development. As such, Helldivers who recover enough samples get rewarded with Super Destroyer upgrades. Science division recognizes the need for squad cohesion, soall samples collected on a mission are credited to all squad members.
In other words, samples are shared. There’s no need to shoot squad members for their samples or send them back home before the mission concludes. The science division also recommends dropping valuable samples at extract early for later recovery to ensure they aren’t lost mid-mission.
4Bring The Best Tools For The Job
Don’t bring a knife to an Autocannon fight
A properly equipped Helldiver is a successful Helldiver. Every mission is different, so Helldivers should do their best to tailor their loadouts. Is it a defense mission? Then, turrets, heavy armor and crowd control options are good. Is it a blitz mission? Then bring light armor, stamina buffs, and heavy enemy killers.
Helldivers 2: How To Deal With Shriekers
The fabled flying Terminids are here, and they’re nasty!
Is it a bug mission? TheAX/LAS-5 “Guard Dog” Roveris excellent for crowd control during tunnel breaches. Bot mission? TheSH-32 Shield Generator Packmight just save your life if you’re caught by a storm of bullets outside of cover.Coordinate loadouts as a squad and ensure all bases are covered.Of course, make sure that you’re comfortable with everything you’re bringing so that mistakes are kept to a minimum.
3Communication is Key
Cohesion means survival
Ideally, squads will use voice chat to constantly talk and coordinate with each other. There really is no substitute for it, astalking is the fastest option squaddies have to communicate targets, stratagem timing,targets and objectives.Of course, voice chat isn’t always going to be available for one reason or another, but that doesn’t have to be a problem.
Even just tagging targets and locations using the L2/RMB + R1/Q buttons (PS5 / PC) helps a great deal when no one is actually talking. Making use of the text chat can also help, so verify to get used to both tools.
2The Minimap is a Helldiver’s Best Friend
It’s all the information a Helldiver needs on one convenient screen
The minimap can tell a Helldiveralmost everything they need to know about their mission.It showsenemy concentrations, points of interest, patrols, objectives, player locationsand the direction one is facing, and it allows players to mark important spots for the rest of the squad. Seriously, get used to checking it often, soldier.
It could very well save not just your life but the mission as well. In particular, one should take care to use the marking feature so that everyone’s on the same page. To do it, just open the map, choose a spot and hit X/LMB (PS5/PC).
1Focus On the Mission, Not Kills
Eliminating the enemy is important, but never as important as the objective
Havinghigh kill counts and such at the end of a mission is nice,but even more important is actually taking care of objectives and finishing the mission.Killing everything is worthless if it results in mission failure or the loss of Super Samples.
Not all enemies have to be engaged; not all encounters need to be fought to the bitter end, and just because someone has a low kill count doesn’t mean that they didn’t contribute. After all, there are many ways to advance the cause of Managed Democracy, and directly eliminating Super Earth’s enemies is only one of them.
Helldivers 2: Full Guide Hub
An updated catalog of all of Hardcore Gamer’s guides for Helldivers 2.
