The ultimate Helldivers 2 Beginner's Guide
Mar. 21, 2024For those starting Helldivers 2, our beginner’s guide will help you learn the basics
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Our Helldivers 2 beginner’s guide is the perfect starting point to teach players how to play HD2, as well as introducing those who aren’t familiar with the game and might be considering getting into the galactic war. Helldivers 2 has been one of the biggest games of the year, and regular updates and changes mean that the game is constantly developing, with new enemies and weapons coming in all the time.
Still, the fundamentals remain the same throughout. Whether you’re fighting the Automaton Bots or the Terminid Bugs, we’ll help explain to you the basics of Helldivers 2 with our beginner’s guide here.
What do you do in Helldivers 2?
Helldivers 2 is a multiplayer co-op game in which you work either alone, with friends or random players to fight various alien enemies across the galaxy. Here’s how it works, very simply:
It sounds simple, but there’s a lot of nuance to it - in part because actually beating those operations isn’t an easy thing to do in the least, and also because the battles are constantly in flux, with new threats, enemies, and more to keep things interesting. Make sure you do the tutorial before starting to play the game, which will take you through the basics of combat!
Otherwise, we’ve laid out the rest of this guide for all the basic questions that new players will have when picking up Helldivers 2, as well as linking to all the useful guides we have when it’s beneficial and if you want further info.
Wondering where to start the war, what planets you should be fighting? Well - any of them! Any sector of the galaxy that’s bright red or orange has enemy worlds where war is raging, and any of them are viable battlefields that the Helldivers are trying to take back. Theorange sectors are controlled by theHelldivers 2 Terminids-aka, the Bugs, giant insects that swarm and overwhelm you with numbers. Thered sectors are controlled by theHelldivers 2 Automatons,armies of advanced robots that use laser guns and armor plating.
You can fight whichever faction you want - or bounce between them - as you choose, but if you’re getting started, I will say thatgenerally people find the bugs easier to fight than the bots. Those getting used to galactic warfare can cut their teeth on the Terminids. Alternatively, check to see if there’s any Major Orders (community wide goals) or Personal Orders (daily challenges just for you) that’ll help give you some direction or a target to aim for!
More guides that might help:
Helldivers 2 missions are very objective focused - you’re dropped into a mission and told to complete objectives (marked in orange on your map).Literally nothing else matters besides the objective- not the amount of kills you get, not the amount of people who die, nothing.
Now yes,there are optional objectives and collectibles you can find while you explore the mission,all of which will get you more XP and rewards at the end, but that’s all optional. Even if you don’textract from the mission safely at the end, as long as the main task has been completed, it’ll get chalked up as a win.
Otherwise, here’s some basic info that might help:
More guides that might help:
Helldivers 2 has all manner of weapons, armor and equipment for players to get, with a great deal of difference in how good they actually are. We put together aHelldivers 2 best weaponstier list for players to compare everything in terms of armaments, but ultimatelyyou want to get the Breaker shotgun on the free battle passas early as possible. If you’re willing to spend money, the first page of theHelldivers 2 Cutting Edge Warbondhas theSickle, a deadly laser machine gunthat’s one of the best guns in the game, and you can have in the first couple of hours.
More guides that might help:
Armor in Helldivers 2 is meant to provide options between balancing weight - how slow and cumbersome you are - over protection, namely how much damage reduction you get. Not only that, but armor has a variety of unique buffs and perks - but as a rule, we’re confident saying two things: firstly, that thebest Helldivers 2 armoris light, not medium or heavy, as heavy armor doesn’t protect enough to be worth losing that extra agility and speed.
Secondly, all the various armor sets tied to being a Medic thatgive extra Stims and increase their effectare almost certainly the best perks overall. Check the Superstore every day for Medical-themed armor, and target the battle passes to earn Super Credits and relevant armor accordingly, but don’t expect to get them soon.
More guides that might help:
Stratagems in Helldivers 2 are the special airstrikes and equipment drops you can call in. It goes without saying that we have a guide to theHelldivers 2 best stratagemsoverall, butas a rule you want to get a wide variety of Stratagems early on,as different stratagems are good for different kinds of missions, such as Sentry turrets being good for defense and certain support weapons being good for specific enemy types. Still, early on start with theMachine Gun Sentry, Eagle Airstrike, Eagle Cluster Bomb and Anti-Materiel Rifle -that’ll give you firm grounding in the basics to move on from.
More guides that might help:
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Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and raconteur with a Masters from Sussex University, none of which has actually equipped him for anything in real life. As a result he chooses to spend most of his time playing video games, reading old books and ingesting chemically-risky levels of caffeine. 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 USgamer, Gfinity, Eurogamer and more besides.
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