How to level up fast in Helldivers 2 and farm XP

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If you want to reach max level in Helldivers 2 and farm XP, you need to find bot planets

Helldivers 2 Democratic Detonation Warbond diving
(Image credit: Sony)

Helldivers 2 fast levelling and XP farming methods are something a lot of new players will want to know if they want to blast forward and unlock all the various weapons and gear that fill Helldivers 2. Admittedly you'll still have to pay for them with Requisition Slips even once you reach the required level, as explained in further detail in our guide on the Helldivers 2 progression system, but one problem at a time. For now, we'll just explain how to level up quickly in HD2 and gain XP fast, so even if you can't afford the new weapons and equipment, it'll only be a matter of patience.

How to farm XP in Helldivers 2 and level up quickly

Levelling up quickly in Helldivers 2 requires an XP farming method I've been referring to as the "smash and grab", similar to Sample farming in Helldivers 2, but with some differences. Here's how to do it:

Unlock the highest difficulty you can (higher difficulties grant increased XP modifiers)

Go to a Bot-controlled world and look for a mission type: "Blitz: Search and Destroy"

Equip your team with Mortar Sentries, EMS Mortar Sentries, Orbital Lasers, Autocannon Sentries, and large-scale airstrikes that maximise structural damage.

When you land, deploy the Mortars and start quickly moving to destroy the Fabricators - you don't need to kill anything, just get through them quickly.

Use your Stratagems to damage the factories from outside the bots' outposts, without having to risk going inside where possible.

Don't feel the need to complete the camps and raze everything - you just need to destroy the required fabricators.

Once you're done, immediately go to extract and leave.

Helldivers 2 XP and level farming

(Image credit: Sony)

There's other nuances that might not be clear here. For one thing, the Sentries can draw focus from the Helldivers 2 enemies, allowing you to dash in and ruin the Fabricators, while the EMS Mortar is incredibly helpful during extraction, as it holds all foes back for a decent period of time, even if it doesn't damage them.

The reason we also suggest doing a Bot planet over a Bug planet - picking the nastier of the two Helldivers 2 factions - is that Fabricators are something that your stratagems will actively target (if they have that feature), while nests tend to slip under the radar. Not only that, but if you're running rather than fighting, it's easier to outpace the slow bots - even if it's harder to actually kill them.

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Joel Franey
Joel Franey
Guides Editor, GamesRadar+

Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and Very Tired Man with a BA from Brunel University, a Masters from Sussex University and a decade working in games journalism, often focused on guides coverage but also in reviews, features and news. His love of games is strongest when it comes to groundbreaking narratives like Disco Elysium, UnderTale and Baldur's Gate 3, as well as innovative or refined gameplay experiences like XCOM, Sifu, Arkham Asylum or Slay the Spire. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at Eurogamer, Gfinity, USgamer, SFX Magazine, RPS, Dicebreaker, VG247, and more.

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