Helldivers 2 is never removing friendly fire, but it is adding a heavy armor set with 90% explosive resistance to help you survive things like 380mm barrages

Helldivers 2 Democratic Detonation Warbond heavy armor helldiver
(Image credit: Sony)

Helldivers 2's friendly fire "will never change," meaning that blasts from fellow grunts and enemy bots will kill you just the same for as long as the galaxy is undemocratized, but an upcoming armor set should make accidental deaths much less common with a whopping 90% explosive damage resistance perk.

Developer Arrowhead Studios announced that its co-op shooter will receive a new premium Warbond on April 11 called Democratic Detonation, which as you might have guessed, is fixated on the things that go boom. The Warbond includes a grenade pistol, an explosive crossbow, a booster that speeds up extraction, and most importantly, the FS-55 Devastator armor.

The FS-55 Devastator is a heavy armor that allows "colonial farmers to safely plant crops and mines side-by-side while staying in one piece," according to the PlayStation Blog. Community manager Spitz elaborates on the game's Discord channel, writing that the set "gives 90% explosive resistance," which should safely protect you from friendly barrages and unfriendly rockets alike.

Spitz had some cheekier advice for rogue divers, though. Their Discord correspondence encourages soldiers to "leave the map boundary" until High Command mistakes them for a deserter and fires a 380mm barrage at their location. Once the destroyer begins to fire, "run into the middle of all the enemies." Third step? "Profit." You'll still (probably) be alive when all the booms and bangs are over. 

Helldivers need all the help they can receive right now in their final push against the Automatons, but they sadly won't receive this frankly overpowered suit until after the current Major Order ends. High Command has asked divers to liberate all Automaton planets - Tibit, Durgen, and Maia - though the main problem is that many players just don't think fighting Automatons is fun. That rift in the player base also sabotaged the previous Major Order.

Helldivers 2 lead says his childhood dream might finally be coming true as the series is due to join PlayStation’s pantheon of big hitters. 

Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.