Ready to dive into the chaotic world of Helldivers 2? Whether you’re storming alien planets on PC or PlayStation, mastering the art of teamwork, strategic use of Stratagems, and smart combat tactics is key to survival. This beginner’s guide unpacks essential tips and tricks to help you reload faster, dodge deadly attacks by going prone, and make every mission count in the galactic war for Super Earth.
Pay attention to your orders
In Helldivers 2, paying close attention to your orders is crucial for success. You have both personal orders, which update daily and reward you with medals for completing specific tasks, and major orders that span multiple days and involve the entire Helldiver community, offering valuable Requisition Slips as rewards. You can check your current orders anytime by pressing L2 on PlayStation or Z on PC. Focusing on these orders helps guide your missions and ensures you contribute effectively to the larger objectives, enhancing your progression and rewards in the game.
Before you ever go on a mission in Helldivers 2, you should pull up your orders, which you can find in the bottom right of your screen. There are Major Orders, which tell you which of the two factions Super Earth is currently waging a war against. And there’s occasionally a Minor Order, which is more of a side quest.
The Major Orders are things the entire Helldivers 2 community is working toward – like liberating a sector of planets from the Tyranids. Winning a Major Order typically gives everyone in the community a burst of currency.
Minor Orders are more specific and only apply to you and your party. They’ll ask you to do things like kill three Charger enemies or get kills with a certain kind of Support Weapon. These are absolutely worth focusing on, as they’ll give you plenty of Medals to use for unlocking new things.
Complete as much of the mission as you can
When playing Helldivers 2, aim to complete as much of the mission as possible rather than rushing through the main objective alone. Engaging with side objectives, collecting samples, and destroying enemy bases not only boosts your XP and rewards but also benefits the entire team and community effort. Even if you can’t extract safely, completing the primary task counts as a win, so focus on maximizing your mission progress within the time limit. Plan your route to cover multiple objectives efficiently, and work closely with your squad to tackle challenges together, keeping in mind that friendly fire is always on. This approach will help you gain more rewards and contribute effectively to the larger fight for Super Earth.
The fastest way to level up in Helldivers 2 is to drop in, complete the objective, and then leave without doing anything else. However, in order to help your Major Order and get some additional currencies (which we’ll get to in a second), it’s best for your crew to fully clear out the map before extracting.
You definitely want to make sure you finish the main objective early on, that way you can still extract if things go badly. But if you have the revives available, you’ll earn bonus XP and Requisition slips for each side objective and enemy nest you destroy.
The more you clear the map before extracting, the more you’ll contribute to Super Earth’s Major Order. So do your part.
Prioritize grabbing Samples
In Helldivers 2, prioritizing the collection of Samples is essential for progression and enhancing your ship’s capabilities. Samples are rare and valuable resources found by locating plants and Sample nodes during missions. Carrying and safely extracting these Samples benefits the entire team, as they are shared among all party members. The more Samples you gather, especially the uncommon types found at higher difficulties, the more you can upgrade your ship’s departments, improving the effectiveness of your stratagems like airstrikes and orbital attacks. However, be cautious-if you die while carrying Samples, you or your teammates must recover them before extraction, making careful play and teamwork crucial when grabbing these resources.
Requisition Slips and Medals are extremely important in Helldivers 2, but Samples are both the most important resource and the most scarce.
To gather Samples, you’ll need to find plants and Sample nodes during your missions. You’ll then need to pocket them and extract without dying. If you do die while holding a bunch of Samples, you or a party member will need to pick them up from your body before extracting. The good news is that all Samples are shared among party members, so if you pick up the common green Samples, everyone will get five at the end of the mission. As you increase your difficulty in Helldivers 2, you’ll find more and more Samples of rarer and rarer types.
As for why you need them, you’ll use Samples to upgrade your ship and its various departments. These upgrades impact the various Stratagems that come from that area of the ship, allowing your airstrikes or orbital cannon attacks to become stronger or more reliable in the field.
Make sure to bring a Support Weapon
When heading into missions in Helldivers 2, make sure to bring a support weapon tailored to your playstyle and the threats you’ll face. Support weapons like the recoilless rifle offer powerful anti-tank capabilities with a skillful reload technique to maximize firepower, while options such as the airburst rocket launcher excel against aerial enemies but require careful aiming to avoid friendly fire. Other versatile choices include the heavy machine gun for sustained fire and the flamethrower for close-range crowd control. Selecting the right support weapon and mastering its use can significantly enhance your team’s effectiveness and survivability in the field.
Your Helldiver has three weapon slots in Helldivers 2: primary, secondary, and Support Weapon. Before loading into your mission, you can select the first two, but you won’t be able to fit a Support Weapon into your drop pod. In order to get one, you’ll need to either rely on an ally’s death, get lucky in the open world, or equip a Support Weapon Stratagem.
Those first two options aren’t great, because they rely on luck and stealing things from teammates. Instead, try to dedicate one of your Stratagem slots to a Support Weapon so that you can utilize that slot and make the most out of Resupply ammo packs. Plus, Support Weapons are extremely powerful, and are the best non-explosive options for dealing with armored enemies.
Watch out for your teammates
In Helldivers 2, watching out for your teammates is crucial for survival and mission success. Always keep an eye on their health and positioning to provide timely revives, as quick revives can turn the tide of battle and prevent a total wipeout. Communicate clearly to warn about incoming threats and coordinate attacks, ensuring everyone is on the same page. Share resources like ammo and equipment to keep the team well-equipped, and build complementary loadouts so each player covers different roles and weaknesses. By staying aware of your teammates’ status and working together seamlessly, your squad becomes a formidable force against the alien hordes. Teamwork truly makes the dream work in Helldivers 2.
As mentioned in the intro, Helldivers 2 has friendly fire. That means you can blow up your friends just as easily as your enemies. In fact, accidentally killing a fellow Helldiver is much easier than taking down a Hulk or Charger.
Here are just a few ways I’ve accidentally been killed by my allies in Helldivers 2:
- Shot by their gun
- Shot by their turret
- Blown up by their badly placed mines
- Annihilated by their airstrike
- Blown up by their barrage
Some of these were funny at the time, I’ll admit. But even goofy betrayal can get old after a while – especially when it costs your team the mission. Keep in mind that your allies are the most useful tools you have against the enemies of Super Earth, so keep an eye out for them when you’re launching explosives and other deadly Stratagems.
Change your loadout to compliment your allies and the mission type
To maximize your effectiveness in Helldivers 2, it’s crucial to tailor your loadout to complement both your allies’ gear and the specific mission type. Different enemy factions and mission objectives demand varied weaponry and Stratagems; for example, using energy weapons and crowd control grenades works well against the Illuminate, while heavy-hitting weapons like the Quasar Cannon and Railgun are better suited for combating Automatons. Coordinating with your team to balance short- and long-range weapons, explosives, and support items prevents overlap and ensures comprehensive coverage of threats. Additionally, selecting Stratagems that align with the mission-such as airstrikes for large enemy hordes or turrets for defensive holds-can turn the tide of battle. Being adaptable and strategic with your loadout choices will greatly improve your chances of mission success and team survival.
Some mission types in Helldivers 2 call for a loadout change. If you’re going against a massive Bile Titan, you probably want an Orbital Laser and a Railgun. But if you’re just holding off an army of robots, turrets and mortars are your best bets for success. When the loadout screen pops up, consider what you’ll actually be doing in the mission and try your best to be flexible.
This is also something to keep in mind when it comes to dealing with your allies. Maybe you don’t like running Stratagems like the Orbital Laser, but if you’re the highest level member of your party, it might be best for you to swap over to it. Similarly, if you have a party member that’s using a lot of Stratagems that have very long cooldowns, maybe you should swap to some with short cooldowns, like the Eagle Airstrike.
Just try your best to be flexible with each mission.
Stick with your party for an Operation
In Helldivers 2, sticking with your party during an operation is crucial for survival and mission success. The game emphasizes teamwork since friendly fire is always on, and coordinated efforts help manage overwhelming enemy forces effectively. Moving together allows you to cover each other, share resources, and execute tactical retreats when necessary. Solo play or straying too far from your squad can lead to being quickly overwhelmed by enemies, so maintaining close proximity and communication with your team maximizes your chances of completing objectives and extracting safely.
Operations are groups of missions in Helldivers 2, and they become very important the more you increase your difficulty. Every mission you complete in Helldivers 2 gives you Medals. But completing subsequent missions in the same Operation will give you even more Medals. For example, the first mission completion for a Hard Operation would give you four Medals, while the second would give you six, and the finale would give you eight.
Whenever possible, you should start an Operation with the intention to finish it. You’ll miss out on a lot of bonus Medals if you just do the first two missions and then quit before the third.
Spend your medals wisely
In Helldivers 2, spending your Medals wisely is crucial for progressing effectively. Medals are earned by completing missions, especially when finishing entire Operations at higher difficulties, which reward more Medals for subsequent tasks within the same Operation. To maximize your rewards, always aim to complete full Operations rather than stopping midway, as this grants significantly more Medals. Use your Medals strategically to upgrade your loadout and unlock essential gear that fits the mission type and complements your team. Thoughtful investment in Stratagems and equipment will enhance your survivability and mission success, making every Medal count toward becoming a more effective Helldiver.
Warbonds are your Fortnite-like unlock tracks in Helldivers 2. Basically each Warbond has multiple pages of rewards. You start with only one page unlocked, and you’ll need to spend Medals in that Warbond to unlock subsequent pages. This means that if you want a weapon on page six, you’re going to need to buy a lot of items in the first five pages.
It’s important to look through the Warbonds early on in your Helldivers career – especially if you’ve purchased the Steeled Veterans premium Warbond or any of the post-launch Warbonds. Figure out what items you want first so you can invest your Medals in the right places. If you spread your Medals between Warbonds, you might find yourself behind for your level.
Helldivers 2 is better with other people
Helldivers 2 truly shines when played with others, as its cooperative gameplay emphasizes teamwork and shared objectives. Whether you’re playing solo, with a friend, or in a full squad of four, the game remains fun, but having more players means increased firepower and better chances against tougher enemies. The game fosters a strong sense of community by sharing rewards and resources equally among teammates, encouraging players to support each other rather than compete for individual glory. Even when playing with strangers, the cooperative mechanics and unspoken rules promote efficient communication, strategic play, and mutual aid, making every mission a rewarding team effort. This cooperative spirit turns Helldivers 2 into one of the best co-op shooters in recent years, offering a thrilling and communal experience that is hard to match solo.
There’s a lot of fun to be had solo in Helldivers 2 – it’s a great game that feels great to play. But Helldivers is very much a multiplayer franchise, and is best experienced with a group.
Thankfully, Helldivers 2 has a very easy-to-use matchmaking system (now that the post-launch issues are mostly sorted), and you can just drop into another player’s Operation by selecting it on the map. Even better, Helldivers 2 with friends is a hilarious experience that can also be very satisfying. Assuming you have cool friends instead of jerks who want to kill you as much as they want to kill the enemies, co-op with pals is by far the best way to experience the game.
What are the most effective beginner tips to survive longer in Helldivers 2
Most Effective Beginner Tips to Survive Longer in Helldivers 2
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Master Movement and Shooting Mechanics: To improve accuracy and avoid friendly fire, stand still, crouch, or go prone when firing your weapon. Moving while shooting causes inaccuracy, which can harm teammates since friendly fire is always on.
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Use Your Radar and Map: Immediately open your map after dropping in, as Helldivers 2 lacks clear audio cues for enemy detection. Rely on your radar to spot enemies early and plan your movements cautiously to avoid unnecessary combat.
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Communicate and Coordinate with Your Team: Use a microphone to communicate effectively with your squad. Friendly fire is always active, so clear communication helps prevent accidental team damage and ensures strategic use of abilities and loadouts.
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Utilize Stratagems Frequently: Stratagems are vital tools for survival and combat advantage. Use them often to call in reinforcements, ammo, or defensive equipment to turn the tide of battle in your favor.
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Practice Stealth and Avoid Unnecessary Fights: Avoid triggering enemy patrols and reinforcements by traveling cautiously and using stealth when possible. This helps conserve resources and reduces the risk of being overwhelmed.
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Manage Ammo and Fire in Bursts: Conserve ammo and improve accuracy by firing in controlled bursts rather than continuous fire. This also reduces the chance of friendly fire incidents.
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Prepare for Increasing Difficulty: The game’s challenge escalates over time, so focus on improving your skills, teamwork, and strategic planning early on to handle tougher enemies as you progress.
Applying these tips will significantly increase your chances of surviving longer missions in Helldivers 2, especially as a beginner navigating its challenging cooperative gameplay.
How does standing still or crouching improve shooting accuracy in Helldivers 2
Standing still or crouching in Helldivers 2 improves shooting accuracy primarily by reducing weapon recoil. When you stand still, recoil is at its baseline level, but crouching lowers recoil by about 40%, and going prone reduces it even further, making your shots more stable and precise. This recoil reduction means your crosshair kickback with each shot is minimized, allowing for tighter bullet grouping and less spread. Additionally, moving while shooting increases recoil and bullet spread, so staying still or crouching helps maintain better aim and reduces the risk of friendly fire.
