Beginner's Guide to Helldivers 2 in 2026

Helldivers 2 continues to thrive in 2026, drawing in waves of recruits eager to spread Managed Democracy across hostile star systems. If you’re just dropping into the game for the first time, the sheer number of systems, currencies, and mechanics can feel overwhelming. This guide breaks everything down into clear, practical sections so you can get up to speed quickly and start contributing to the war effort with confidence.

Understanding Major Orders and Personal Orders

When you’re aboard your ship, you’ll notice an Orders panel in the top-right of the screen. This is where you’ll find two types of objectives:

• Personal Orders – Individual challenges just for you, usually straightforward tasks that reward medals.

• Major Orders – Massive, community-wide objectives shared by every Helldiver.

Major Orders often require the entire player base to work together, such as killing billions of enemies or liberating specific sectors within a time limit. If the community succeeds, everyone receives the reward—typically a large chunk of War Bond medals—even if you personally didn’t participate. That said, contributing helps push progress faster and shapes the overall galactic war.

Major Orders also influence the broader narrative. Completing them can unlock new stratagems or tools for the entire community, while failing them can allow enemies to advance closer to Super Earth or lock out potential rewards. You’re free to fight any faction you want, but Major Orders usually hint at where your efforts are most impactful.

Choosing the Right Difficulty

Before deploying to a planet, you’ll select a difficulty level, ranging from:

• Trivial (1)

• All the way up to Super Helldive (10)

New players won’t have immediate access to greater difficulties—you unlock them by completing operations and climbing the difficulty ladder.

The key rule of thumb is simple: Higher difficulty = better rewards.

• Low difficulties usually consist of a single mission, reward very few medals, and only allow common samples.

• High difficulties involve multi-mission operations and reward significantly more medals, while also allowing rare and super samples to spawn.

As you improve, gradually push the difficulty higher. The game becomes more rewarding, and your growing arsenal and experience make tougher missions far more manageable.

Mission Basics and Side Objectives

Once you select a mission and drop in via Hell Pods, your fireteam leader chooses the landing zone. After touchdown:

1. Teammates usually call in support stratagems (weapons, backpacks, utilities).

2. The team opens the map, picks a route, and moves out.

Experienced squads often split into pairs, while newer players may prefer staying together as a group of four. Both approaches work.

Enemy Camps

Large red areas on the map indicate enemy base camps. These contain spawn structures—such as bug holes for Terminids—that continually generate enemies if left intact. Destroying these structures:

• Reduces enemy pressure

• Improves end-of-mission rewards

Explosives are your best friend here.

Side Objectives

Light blue icons mark side objectives. These optional tasks boost mission rewards and often provide powerful advantages. A great example is activating SEAF artillery, which grants your team additional fire support for the rest of the mission.

While optional, completing side objectives is highly recommended, especially on greater difficulties.

Reinforcements and Extraction

Death is inevitable. When teammates fall, you can revive them using the Reinforcement stratagem. Be mindful of where you throw it—revived players drop near that location, so it’s best to reinforce close to where they died.

Reinforcements are limited. If you run out, they regenerate slowly over time, one at a time, which is far from ideal. When the counter runs low, it’s time to tighten up your play.

Once the main objective is complete:

1. Head to the extraction point (or follow the tall blue beam in the sky).

2. Activate extraction at the console.

3. Hold the area until the dropship arrives.

4. Get on board and evacuate.

Even if only one Helldiver survives, mission completion rewards still apply.

Important note on samples:

Samples must be physically carried onto the dropship to count—but they are shared across the entire team. There is no reason to argue, hoard, or teamkill over them.

Stratagems: What to Unlock and Use First

Stratagems are the heart of Helldivers 2. You can bring up to four per mission, and they range from weapons and backpacks to orbital strikes and turrets.

There’s no single “correct” setup. Balance patches frequently shift what’s strongest, so chasing the meta isn’t always worth it. That said, a well-rounded loadout often includes:

• A backpack stratagem – Jump Pack, Shield Generator Pack, or Warp Pack

• A heavy weapon – Expendable Anti-Tank, Laser Cannon, or Quasar Cannon

• Crowd control/structure destruction – Eagle Air Strike is a classic

• A high-impact emergency option – Orbital Laser or Orbital Railcannon

Requisition Slips are capped, so unlock new stratagems regularly to avoid wasting rewards.

Boosters: Team-Wide Buffs That Matter

Before deploying, you can select a booster, which applies its effect to the entire fireteam. Because of this, teams usually prioritize the strongest options.

Highly recommended boosters for new players include:

• Hellpod Space Optimization (widely considered mandatory on great difficulties)

• Experimental Infusion

• Vitality Enhancement

• Stamina Enhancement

• Muscle Enhancement (especially on large or rough terrain maps)

If you feel like you’re missing boosters others have, that’s where War Bonds come in.

War Bonds Explained (and Which to Get First)

War Bonds are content packs unlocked with HD2 Super Credits. They include:

• Weapons

• Stratagems

• Boosters

• Armor

• Cosmetics

While Super Credits can be purchased with real money, they are also found in missions—usually in bunkers or loot-heavy locations—meaning every War Bond can be unlocked through gameplay alone.

A great starting point is Helldivers Mobilize, the first and largest War Bond. It contains many still-meta Helldivers 2 items, including Hellpod Space Optimization, making it an excellent foundation.

Unlocking a War Bond doesn’t give you everything immediately. Individual items must be unlocked with Helldivers 2 medals, which is why Major Orders are so valuable.

Weapons, Armor Penetration, and Customization

Weapon choice depends heavily on enemy faction:

• Some weapons excel against Terminids

• Others shine against Automatons or Illuminate

Pay close attention to armor penetration:

• Light penetration won’t damage medium-armored enemies.

• Medium penetration is required for tougher targets.

Weapons also level up as you use them, unlocking attachments and optics that improve recoil control, magazine size, and handling. Experimentation is key—try different loadouts against different factions to find what works for you.

All Currencies Explained

Here’s a quick breakdown of every currency in Helldivers 2:

• Requisition Slips – Used to unlock stratagems; earned easily through missions.

• Super Credits – Rare; used to unlock War Bonds and cosmetics.

• Medals – Used to unlock items within War Bonds; earned from missions and orders.

• Common, Rare, and Super Helldivers 2 Samples – Found in missions; used for ship module upgrades.

Super Samples are often found near distinctive rock formations (yes, players know exactly which ones). Collecting samples is crucial because ship modules provide permanent upgrades, such as reduced reload times or improved weapon handling.

Final Advice for New Helldivers

Explore maps fully—rewards add up fast. Push difficulty gradually as you improve. Spend Requisition Slips before hitting the cap. Always extract with samples when possible. Don’t stress about meta—use what you enjoy.

MMOexp Helldivers 2 Team