Hey fellow Helldivers,
I just installed the game and went through the tutorial and did my first mission where I had to blow up some transponder on some planet with robots.
Whats next? Should I just start picking random sectors and missions and keep playing? I still feel a little lost, like I don’t really feel like I know what I’m doing still lol. Is there a way to get more tips and tricks about how to play? Weapons and builds?
And how do I catch up on lore for the game so far? Sounds like we just lost something big (or maybe won something big) related to a Wormhole? How do I catch up on that?
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The next mission is simple. You are to spread democracy to every corner of the galaxy. You have your orders.
Here is a list of all the Major Orders we have had to date plus the outcomes of them. It doesnt come with actual “lore” of what happened during that time, including the PSN debacle or the infamous traitor, but its a good start.
Your next order of business should be to either try to follow the current major orders objective OR pick a faction planet and dive it!
So for the over arching story from major orders is just another layer, frankly it’s just that, a story. If you just want to shoot enemies of managed democracy then go ahead, gameplay wise you’re not missing much, except a goal to fulfill for medals (currency to unlock in war bonds which are like battle passes that never expire).
Basically so far the lore of current events is Merida used to be a bug planet, we got some neat pesticide but theory of natural selection kicked in and we got bugs that could breed even faster as well as being resistant and turned the planet into a super colony altering the planets surface and crust layer. Yeah it was bad. Anyways we turn it into a black hole using dark fluid, an illuminate weapon we got from them in helldivers 1 after we beat them. Fast forward a bit everyone thinks the illuminate are gonna come out of it then they just show up in the southern sector of space. The black hole effect goes from a deep purple to a vibrant bright purple as well as spooky sounds similar to monoliths on illuminate held planets, then it uhm moved. And that brings us to today
As for what to do, keep playing, keep diving, keep spreading the cleansing light of liberty
Each faction is different. Terminids (aka bug, yellow front) are very melee, in your face, hoard enemies, that are a combination of power in numbers and elite units. The other factions also are hoards (given everyone outnumbers you 1:100) but especially the bugs
The automatons (aka bots, red front) are more like a conventional army. They got guns, they got guys with chainsaws, they got big guys, they got canons and fortresses/encampments. I like the bots personally cus different bugs to me look similar (just shoot it till it’s dead) but to me bots are easier to distinguish as well as more manageable.
Finally illuminate (aka squids purple front) employ hit and run tactics, they don’t have an established presence mostly just show up on a planet, get repelled by the mighty helldivers, repeat. They’re the newest faction and are a combination between the other 2 and are harder compared to low difficulties on bots and big of the same level, but easier than a level 10 bot or bug mission, basically squids meaner on low level (hopefully this makes sense). But they have the voteless (zombies) which employ bug melee swarm tactics as well as the overseers (grounded ones use melee and jetpacks use guns) as well as a war of the worlds type tripod (the harvester)
The harvester is nigh indestructible, can take anti tank hits, 500 kg bombs (big booms), you name it this thing is terrifying walking through the smoke of your destruction seemingly unscathed, unless you hit it in the weak spot which is…
The shoulder, basically the leg joint that connects the long leg to its body that runs parallel to the body
Play what ever faction suits you in what ever way (solo or group play) and feel free to ask in this community
Join other divers! I can maybe think of one or two matches in about a year that had a mean or toxic player, don’t be afraid to use the quickplay button from the galactic map! HD2 shines when you’re with other players. If you want the best chance of finding people, pay attention to the population count of the planet you’re diving on, which pops up when you hover over a planet or sector.
Don’t feel pressured to use a mic, the in game responses (yes, no, thank you, sorry, need supplies, wait, follow me) are great and so is chat
Try everything! New weapons, stratagems, etc.
I just did my second mission and a random level 56 guy came down and helped me. It was so nice! I accidentally killed them once, but they seemed understanding about it lol. (Well, none of us had mics on but it seemed like it.) Then they went to my ship but I had to head out and get ready for work, so I guess to them it looked like I randomly left. I’ll miss them.
Maybe I should’ve added them as a friend or something lol.
Congratulations. 1 accidental friendly fire is within acceptable parameters.
Phew! I can continue to spread democracy.
Honestly, just play missions read the broadcasts and check out the official helldivers youtube channel to catch up on some lore as you go.
You can google weapons and builds, but make sure to look at more recent stuff as weapon and enemy balance changes regularly. Try stuff out because most stuff is solid in the right situations but that is more of a higher level issue. At low mission difficulties try out whatever you want as you get used to the game.
There are rarely wrong loadouts other than focusing too much on one thing. Take some heavy hitting stuff and some crowd control stuff and you can handle most missions.
