With these Helldivers 2 tips you'll be making valuable contributions to the spreading of Managed Democracy throughout the galaxy, even if you're a new player. The PvE co-op shooter is often exceptionally chaotic, however, with hordes of enemies constantly moving against you, huge explosions going off all the time, and friendly fire considerations. In all that chaos, you've also got to coordinate with your teammates to complete all sorts of primary and secondary objectives.
It's therefore fair to say that Helldivers 2 can be quite a trial by fire when you're new to the game, but understanding its basic mechanics and the flow of the game will go a long way. So, here are 10 tips for new Helldivers 2 to help you make a difference on the battlefield - approved by the Ministry of Truth.
1. Ammo is discarded when you reload
You have probably learned this the hard way, but it's worth repeating: any ammo remaining in your magazine when you reload is lost forever. This is a more realistic approach to ammo use that can take some getting used to if you’re a compulsive reloader like myself, so make sure you fire as many bullets as possible before reloading.
There are some weapons that get around this by having an internal magazine that's reloaded shot by shot, such as the Punisher shotgun or Senator revolver, or a cooling system that limits the need to reload. The Railgun, one of the best Helldivers 2 weapons needs to be reloaded after every shot so it's impossible to waste ammo!
2. Teamwork will help you kill enemies – and not each other
Due to the challenging nature of missions, playing Helldivers 2 solo is not advised and coordinating with your teammates is key – remember, friendly fire is always on. Stick together as best you can, communicate how you're doing and what Stratagems you're using, and help each other out as much as possible. Use spare support weapon Stratagems to hand out armaments, call out where you're using air and orbital strikes to avoid blowing each other up, use your stims to heal friends in need, and work together to rapidly reload backpack weapons for optimal DPS.
3. Coordinate builds and Stratagems with your teammates
Working together during missions is obviously crucial to victory, but you also need to get yourselves organized when choosing your weapons, Stratagems, and Helldivers 2 Boosters. The three enemy factions are incredibly varied, each with different levels of protective armor and attacks, so packing a range of weapons and Stratagems is necessary to ensure that, as a team, you can deal with all foes.
From many, many hours of experience, I'd say it's generally better for all players to bring a bit of everything in terms of firepower (rather than having one person be "the heavy weapons person" or "the sentry guy") so that everyone can contribute a little - combined firepower is always going to be the best option! If you're not sure what gear to bring, I've got some pointers for the best Helldivers 2 loadouts for each enemy faction.
4. Don't forget to use Stratagems
Since you'll be spending so much of your time gunning down aliens and robots, remembering to use your Stratagems in the heat of battle can be a tricky habit to get into when you're new to the game.
Everyone should bring one or two support Stratagems (the blue ones) and call them in as soon as you land so that you can carry them for the rest of the mission. As for the rest, think of them as a get-out-of-jail-free card - something you can quickly throw down to help you clear a horde and get out of danger (though make sure you don't kill your teammates as well). If you're not sure which ones to bring along, here are our picks for the best Helldivers 2 Stratagems.
5. Customize your weapon settings
Many weapons in Helldivers 2 have some extra capabilities you can play around with for added versatility or firepower, and you can access these options by holding the reload button (Square on PlayStation/X for Xbox).
For example, a lot of basic weapons, such as the Liberator assault rifle and Defender SMG, can all have their fire modes adjusted and flashlights switched on. Support weapons like the Machine Gun and Stalwart also get variable fire rates and the Railgun has unsafe mode for added power at the risk of it exploding in your hands.
6. Accuracy is affected by your stance
Your weapon's accuracy varies wildly based on how your Helldiver is positioned. Moving while standing limits your accuracy the most, while lying prone without moving offers the best accuracy. This is obviously important for long-range, precision weapons, such as the Anti-Materiel Rifle and the Diligence and its variants, but you should use the inaccuracy and mobility of close-range weapons to your advantage. Spraying and praying from the hip with an SMG or the Stalwart keeps you relatively mobility, so it's good for battling groups up close as you evade danger.
7. Learn enemy weaknesses to kill things quickly
Every enemy in Helldivers 2, whether they're a Terminid, Automaton, or Illuminate, has some kind of vulnerability that you can exploit to kill them quicker than usual. As mentioned, a variety of weapons in your loadout helps a lot as you'll be able to deal with lots of different armor values and weaknesses.
Headshots are generally effective against all enemies, but the Automatons can be taken out especially quickly with headshots as they aren't nearly as well armored as the rest of them. Terminids are generally all quite susceptible to fire and so are Voteless hordes from the Illuminate, but the rest of the Illuminate wear armor that is best dealt with using explosive weapons.
8. Use the Minimap to spot incoming ambushes and flanks
You can view the map at any point, and not only is it good for marking locations and finding objectives, but you can also use it to spot enemies. It's great in moments like Extractions, where enemies can come from all angles and it's easy to lose track of where the threat is. If you can hear opponents or just need a better idea of the situation, make a habit out of glancing at your map.
9. Side objectives come with both rewards and mission advantages
Each mission after a certain difficulty level will have at least one side objective, marked in blue on the map, and maybe more yet to be found after you land. These side quests vary from mission to mission, but not only will you get more XP and Requisition Slips for completing them (assuming you don't have the Helldivers 2 not getting rewards after mission glitch), but you'll also get some sort of advantage for the rest of the mission. The Radar Tower reveals the whole map, for example, while the SEAF Artillery allows you to call in strikes based on what ammunition you loaded it with.
10. You'll need to do both easy and difficult missions for ship upgrades
It won't be long before you start upgrading from the easier missions to the more challenging ones - but in reality, you should still go back and do an easy mission now and then. As you increase difficulty, it changes the kind of special Samples you're likely to find, but you need so many of the base "common" Samples that you're well-advised to go back and do easy missions periodically to keep up your supply.
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