| 1 | [[quoteright:750:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2024_04_04_at_20_25_27_2c253de3117182b4a09d02ad16ebc51a25d4ea9208a5d057jpg_avif_image_2880_2160_pixels_scaled_34.png]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:750:''"How about a nice cup of '''LIBER-TEA!?'''"'']] |
| 3 | -> ''"Super Earth. Our home. Prosperity, liberty, democracy, our way of life. But freedom doesn't come free.[[note]][[BadBadActing "No... Sweet Liberty! NOOOOOO!!!"]][[/note]] Look familiar? Scenes like this are happening throughout the galaxy, right now! You could be next. That is, unless you make the most important decision of your life. Prove to yourself that you have the strength and the courage to be free. Join... the Helldivers! Become part of an elite peacekeeping force! See exotic new lifeforms, and spread managed democracy throughout the galaxy. Become a Hero. Become a Legend. Become a Helldiver!"'' |
| 4 | -->-- '''Broadcast Narrator/Helldiver''', opening cinematic |
| 5 | |
| 6 | '''[[AC:Attention Citizens. Please observe the following PATRIOTIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:]]''' [[labelnote:*]] [[AC:Any deviation of attention or attempts to exit the page without fully reviewing the contents will be considered treason. Treason is punishable by death.]] [[/labelnote]] |
| 7 | |
| 8 | [[AC:The following page and its contents have been decreed "MANDATORY" reading by the Ministry of Truth. Please read the page and listed trope examples in its entirety for the betterment of DEMOCRACY and LIBERTY! For the Glory of SUPER EARTH!]] |
| 9 | |
| 10 | ''Helldivers II'' is the long-awaited sequel to the 2015 top-down horde shooter ''VideoGame/{{Helldivers}}'' from Creator/ArrowheadGameStudios. It shifts the gameplay perspective from top-down to [[AlwaysOverTheShoulder over-the-shoulder]], was announced at Sony's "[=PlayStation=] Presents" showcase on May 26, 2023, and it was released in February 2024. |
| 11 | \ |
| 12 | Super Earth has (seemingly) reached an era of peace and prosperity following its victories over the enemies in the first game, [[DistantSequel 100 years ago]]. Utilizing technology and resources harvested from the slain invaders, Humanity has reached out to the stars, colonizing other planets in the name of Liberty and Democracy. For many, it really does seem that Humanity has achieved a utopian society, to the point that the original Helldivers are disbanded as there is simply no need for them any more... |
| 13 | |
| 14 | ...or so they thought. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | Unfortunately, the bugs (now named "Terminids") rear their ugly heads again[[note]]After breaking out of the factory-farms that were used to harvest them on an industrial scale[[/note]] and murderous Automatons[[note]]Who seek to free their Cyborg masters from imprisonment in the mines of Cyberstan[[/note]] declare war upon Humanity, once more putting Super Earth at risk. To combat these enemies, the Helldivers are once again reactivated, and a new generation of soldiers ready to fight for Super Earth and her people take to the stars, aiming to utterly destroy those who threaten her safety...with plenty of explosives and firepower in hand, of course. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | Since the game has an EmergentGameplay narrative unfolding in almost real time, a Recap page detailing the most important {{Story Arc}}s can be found [[Recap/HelldiversII here]]. |
| 19 | ---- |
| 20 | !!Our utopian nation at Super Earth provides samples of:[[note]]Reading all these tropes is mandatory. Failure to do so will be considered treason. Treason is punishable by death.[[/note]] |
| 21 | * TwentyFourHourArmor: Helldivers arrive at training suited up, immediately get stuffed into a Cryo Pod upon completion, get defrosted to deploy to a mission, where they are then rendered into LudicrousGibs. They never take off their armor. |
| 22 | * AchillesHeel: Automaton Stratagem Jammers usually require a hellbomb or other superheavy ordnance to destroy, but will sometimes have a fabricator built into their base; take out this fabricator and the chain reaction will blow up the entire Jammer, no need to call in a Hellbomb and deal with all the mooks. |
| 23 | * AirborneMook: |
| 24 | ** Automaton Dropships are flying enemy carriers that will reinforce the enemy ranks by dropping off a squad of Automatons. They ''can'' be taken down by well-placed powerful shots to one of their four engines, causing them to crash and their passengers to be destroyed (or take severe damage, in the case of larger ones). |
| 25 | ** Terminid Shriekers are flying Terminids that attack by performing powerful diving swoops at the Helldivers. They continuously spawn from nests around the map. Their biggest danger occurs when they die -- in a surprising nod to physics, shooting them down when they dive causes their bodies to turn into gravity-boosted projectiles that can one-shot a Helldiver in the way. |
| 26 | ** Automaton Gunships repeatedly spawn from [[MookMaker towering factory structures]] somewhere on the map. Unlike Shriekers, the gunships have lasers and rocket batteries on board and will judiciously apply them from above until brought down. |
| 27 | * AIIsACrapshoot: Played with. The Automatons sure seem like an endless army of human-loathing robots prone to corpse desecration...but listening to some broadcasts will reveal they were built by ''the Cyborgs'', [[UndyingLoyalty and are trying to free their creators from Super Earth's oppression]]. Their spite is more of a focused PayEvilUntoEvil stance, making them antagonistic sentient machines as opposed to rogue ones. |
| 28 | * AllOrNothingReloads: Very much {{Averted|}}, as reloading is done in stages. This even means the phase of ejecting your magazine while your gun wasn't empty will even still leave a single round chambered into it that can be still fired before completely finishing a full reload. |
| 29 | * AlwaysOverTheShoulder: The default aim view, but can be switched to a First Person scoped view with the press of a designated button or key while aiming. Especially useful for the marksman rifles, whose settings include Zoom Magnification. |
| 30 | * AntiAir: |
| 31 | ** Automaton anti-air guns can be seen visibly firing on inbound Eagles, preventing them from dropping the requested ordnance in a large area around themselves. Attempting to throw an Eagle stratagem from outside of their range to the inside simply causes the stratagem to not go through, though this doesn't waste a charge or the cooldown time. |
| 32 | ** Activating Surface-to-Air Missile stations are an optional objective in Automaton missions. When activated, they can shoot down Automaton Dropships and Gunships within their attack range, preventing or heavily sabotaging Bot Drops, or buying space to reach the Gunship Fabricator. |
| 33 | * AntiFrustrationFeatures: |
| 34 | ** It's no longer possible to wipe through all players dying; instead, there will be a short delay and players will drop in close to where the last player died, assuming there are enough reinforcement charges left. |
| 35 | ** The Pelican transport cannot be destroyed, no matter what stratagems the players place on it or how many enemies happen to be surrounding it (in fact, [[MookChivalry enemies will never target it either]])...the players ''inside it'' however can be unfortunate enough to still be killed in action while in their seats. |
| 36 | ** While players can try to move outside the bounds of the mission area and get considered a traitor that will be barraged by heavy artillery, they cannot place the reinforcement beacon to guarantee dropping other players into such places. It is possible for a reinforcing player to direct their hellpod into the out-of-bounds area if their reinforcement placement was about on the line of the area, but it won't be guaranteed. |
| 37 | ** Dropped weapons, equipment and sample containers cannot be destroyed, so a player who has dropped these due to death in combat or via friendly fire always has a chance of retrieving these items, and unlike the first game they can be called in again on a timer. Of course, the area where they were dropped can be overrun by enemies, thus making this more difficult; however, the items will remain intact even if these enemies are cleared with extreme prejudice by the most explosive stratagems in the game. They can still be lost if they fall out of bounds or into an unreachable area though. |
| 38 | ** If a mission has any objective that requires the demolition of a large structure that cannot be destroyed with (most) conventional weapons, the game will provide the ability to call in a Hellbomb when in close proximity to that objective. |
| 39 | ** Eradication missions, the equivalent to the first game's Retaliatory Strikes no longer spawn enemies after the quota has been met, and Pelican-1 will immediately arrive instead of having to wait for two minutes. |
| 40 | * AntiPoopSocking: {{Defied|}} in a loading screen tip. |
| 41 | --> ''"Don’t forget to take breaks! — That is, if you want to be remembered as a coward."'' |
| 42 | * AntiStructure: |
| 43 | ** Explosive weapons are usually capable of taking down enemy structures like Terminid Bug Holes and Automaton Fabricators. However, certain structures (particularly Gunship Fabricators) are too durable to take down with such weapons, requiring the use of a Hellbomb. |
| 44 | ** The Hellbomb is made specifically for destroying structures, even the most durable ones like Automaton Gunship Facilities. The bomb is stationary and takes a good 15 seconds to arm, making it unreliable against mobile targets despite usually being a OneHitKill against most mooks. Furthermore, Hellbombs are only provided when a Helldiver is close to a viable building it can destroy. |
| 45 | * AntiTrollingFeatures: Considering how Arrowhead doesn't wish to disable friendly fire, Helldivers drop collected samples upon death, and how the game grants extra awards to teams who get everyone to successfully extract, players become immune to friendly fire once they board the Pelican extraction aircraft. |
| 46 | * ArchaicWeaponForAnAdvancedAge: the CB-9 Explosive Crossbow fires ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. Notably the actual bolts do almost nothing, being incapable even of killing a single low-level Terminid on a direct hit. Instead their damage is almost entirely due to their [[StuffBlowingUp massive explosive radius]]. |
| 47 | * ArmoredCoffins: The Patriot walkers epitomize Super Earth's [[GlassCannon design]] [[WeHaveReserves philosophies]]. Though they are packed with amazing firepower, they are remarkably fragile, explode violently when taken down, and have no ejection of any kind. |
| 48 | * ArmorIsUseless: |
| 49 | ** Averted, as your armour not only amount of damage you take, but impacts your overall move speed and stamina regeneration. Different armours also come with different perks that carry significant gameplay utility, such as carrying more grenades, taking reduced explosive damage, or outright having a 50% chance to [[NoSell shrug off a lethal blow]]. |
| 50 | ** Played straight, if unintentionally, by a bug affecting the earliest versions of the game that caused Armour Ratings to be ignored, meaning that all armour sets would take the same amount of damage regardless of weight class. |
| 51 | ** Special mention to the sets of armour that provide 50% additional limb health/reduction in limb damage... but in some of those it's clearly because an arm and a leg have been replaced with cybernetics. That is, the Helldiver has 50% less limbs that can take damage. |
| 52 | ** Still played straight for helmets, which all have the same armor rating and don't provide any perks. This means Helldivers are still vulnerable to being critically wounded or instantly killed by headshots regardless of whatever armor they are wearing, even if the helmet is from a heavy armour set and looks more protective than the standard helmet. |
| 53 | * ArmorOfInvincibility: The B-27 Fortified Commando Armor has the best armor rating in the game and achieves that by leaving basically none of your helldiver's undersuit exposed. One wonders how Helldivers can even move in it [[note]] Through Managed Democracy All Things Are Possible[[/note]] |
| 54 | * ArtEvolution: The first game has a more cartoony, less graphically detailed artstyle reminicient of games like ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' or ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}''. ''Helldivers II'' swaps this out for much more extreme realism with its graphics. |
| 55 | * ArtificialStupidity: Enemies' decision-making processes and pathfinding can occasionally bug and cause them to be seen standing around ineffectively. The Automatons are also capable of blundering into their own mines, [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial not that the Helldivers would ever know what that's like]]. |
| 56 | * AscendedMeme: The in-universe styled Super Earth High Command Brief posted by the developers on the Helldivers Discord described Malevelon Creek as, "a bastion of human endurance and a symbol of our resistance against the Automatons," a nod toward the Creek's popularity even when Major Orders directed players elsewhere. |
| 57 | * AttackItsWeakPoint: |
| 58 | ** A lot of weakpoints, such as a Charger's and Bile Titan's soft unarmored section, and the Automaton's tanks, Hulks, and their large turrets have heat vents on the back that can be shot to deal large damage. Explosive weapons particularly (such as the Dominator and Scorcher) deal extra damage to these weak spots, and Automaton Tanks can be taken out with just two impact grenades to the rear. |
| 59 | ** Terminid Chargers have an even less obvious weakpoint: the legs. While shooting the unarmored rear abdomen does significant damage, the fastest way to drop a Charger is to take out the armor on one of their legs (via the Railgun or Autocannon, though this is easier with explosive weapons like the Recoilless Rifle or Expendable Anti-Tank), then shooting the exposed leg a few times with any weapon. |
| 60 | ** Automaton Dropships can be destroyed by aiming a recoilless rifle round (or similar anti-armour ordnance) to one of their four engines. Should your aim be true, the Dropships will crash and explode, taking out most of its cargo. Heavier units however, such as Hulks, Tanks and Devastators may survive the crash. |
| 61 | ** Automaton Rocket Devastators have a pair of shoulder-mounted rocket pods. These pods are a weak point however, as they can be destroyed with concentrated fire and this will also likely kill the Rocket Devastator in the process. |
| 62 | ** At higher difficulty levels, this starts to become an EnforcedTrope, as higher difficulty enemies take significantly less damage from non-weakpoint hits. |
| 63 | * AvengingTheVillain: The Automatons seek to avenge the defeat and imprisonment of their creators, the Cyborgs, as well as free them from Super Earth's imprisonment. The Cyborgs are supposedly all now slaving away in the mines of Cyberstan, according to Super Earth propaganda. ''That said'', now that Cyberstan has been seized by the Automatons, the fate of the remaining Cyborgs remains to be seen. |
| 64 | * AwesomeButImpractical: |
| 65 | ** The Arc Thrower is a potentially powerful weapon that can chain its shots on tightly packed enemies. However, its main drawback is very poor performance at short ranges, as well as the chance for the Arc Thrower's shots to chain onto friendly Helldivers. Whilst the ''Cutting Edge'' Premium Warbond includes 3 new armors with the Electrical Conduit perk which supposedly reduces Arc damage by 95% (in reality moving it down from "immediate oneshot" to "survivable twice, or three times if you're lucky", this necessitates sacrificing other ''highly'' useful armour perks as a bandaid fix for poor coordination/situational awareness - no enemies inflict electrical/Arc damage (at present, certain Illuminate units might), so it offers no protection against anything but friendly fire. |
| 66 | ** The [=SPEAR=] is supposed to be an upgrade over the Recoilless Rifle, being the handheld weapon with the most power per shot. However, the [=SPEAR=] can only lock on to large targets and cannot be used to combat swarms, has an extremely long reload time, only comes with a measly four missiles, and can only be restocked by a resupply stratagem. Oh, and it's incredibly fussy about when and what it ''does'' want to lock onto, making it a potential liability over the simple point-and-shoot recoilless rifle or expendable anti-tank weapons. It's great when it works and immensely satisfying to watch the missile fly off and just ''obliterate'' something, but it's just so fussy and unreliable that it's not worth taking over the point-and-shoot simplicity of [=EATs=], the Recoilless Rifle, or the Quasar. |
| 67 | ** Both the Orbital 120mm and 380mm HE Barrages are potentially powerful, but their low accuracy over a wide area makes them inconsistent to use, especially if you're trying to aim for a specific facility or mobile units. The 380 might as well be addressed 'Dear Grid Square'; for all of its power, it's not something you want to rely on. Both have received accuracy buffs since launch (and have a Super Destroyer upgrade to further improve their accuracy) and are now more usable, but remain rather unpredictable and inaccurate, and therefore unreliable, compared to most other fire support options. |
| 68 | ** The Rocket Sentry is the most powerful sentry on a per shot basis, but it often refuses to attack enemies that get too close to it, and the relatively slow speed of the rockets it fires means that it is prone to outright completely missing particularly fast moving targets. Plus it has splash damage, so if it tries to 'help' you it may just end up blasting you to bits; at least the machinegun or gatling sentries won't. |
| 69 | ** The EXO-45 Patriot mech is a powerful stratagem that can lock down multiple bot drops or bug breaches with missiles that can easily destroy heavily armored enemies and a minigun that shreds smaller mooks. Its drawbacks are its limited ammo pool that cannot be restocked, a long recharge time (6 in-game minutes) to call another mech and its large frame being vulnerable to ranged attacks especially from Automatons. |
| 70 | ** In-universe, the cape that every Helldiver wears. It looks great, but there are good reasons that no modern military goes into battle with capes as part of their uniform. These reasons include: the potential for capes to impede movement, capes giving enemies something to easily grab onto in close-quarter combat, and even capes possibly being able to lead to disease outbreaks because they're are difficult to keep clean and sanitary in the field. |
| 71 | ** The GP-31 Grenade Pistol, it gives you 8 extra high explosive impact grenades, allowing a properly kitted out player to carry ''fourteen'' grenades at a time. The downsides? It has a minimum arming distance, takes up your secondary weapon slot, it's single shot, and it's unlocked on the final page of a Premium Warbond for 60 medals. (On top of the 340 medals you have to spend to get there.) |
| 72 | * AxCrazy: As a result of the conditioning from-birth that they have undergone on Super Earth, Helldivers will periodically yell in satisfaction or desperation when throwing grenades/stratagems ("EAT THIS!!") and killing their enemies ("Ahahahahahaha!") |
| 73 | * BadassNormal: Special mention goes to a posthumous one; in certain minor locations of interest, you can find a Citizen (possibly a member of the Armed Forces) who was killed in the middle of burying some other Citizens in the field. Occasionally, a dead Devastator will also be present if it's an Automaton-controlled planet. Cause of death? ''ShovelStrike''. Yes, this humble citizen took down a heavily-armoured, roughly-eight-foot-tall war machine with an ArmCannon that could turn them into paste in a single hit with just a ''shovel''. |
| 74 | ** The titular Helldivers themselves, who are barely-trained ordinary human soldiers sent to battle two powerful and implacable foes: a horde of fearsome alien locusts, and an army of brutal, ruthless robots. Both the enemy factions possess units that are much larger and stronger than human soldiers, and Helldivers can expect to encounter multiple of these - along with hordes of weaker units - on any given mission (at least on higher difficulties). While Helldivers are themselves backed by an array of powerful weapons and stratagems, even a single Helldiver with the most basic equipment in the game - the starting medium armour set, default assault rifle, pistol and grenades, and maybe a machine gun as a support weapon - is capable of clearing objectives by his or her lonesome and doing great damage to masses of enemies. |
| 75 | * BattleAmongstTheFlames: One of the planetary biome types present is a hot, arid world periodically consumed by apocalyptic brushfires, which in practical terms means your Helldiver squad will spend a not-insignificant amount of the mission being chased by incredibly lethal fire tornadoes. The best known is a planet pleasantly named [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Hellmire]], but other examples do exist. |
| 76 | * BadassFingersnap: The Helldiver in the intro PropagandaPiece performs one, timed with a MatchCut with him going from civilian to Helldiver, and the music transitioning to the game's main theme. |
| 77 | * BeamSpam: This is the primary tactic of the Automatons, who will fill the area surrounding your Helldiver with ridiculous amounts of energy weapon fire the second you become visible. Some of this is supported by cannons that can one shot even the most heavily armored Helldiver. Players can also get in on the action with the Sickle pulse laser carbine, or by borrowing Automaton gun emplacements. |
| 78 | * BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: In late April 2024, a Major Order dropped in which two planets were slated for liberation, but the players could only choose one of them, while the other planet would be lost. Even more interesting, each planet had a stratagem linked to it that would be unlocked for players once the planet was liberated: planet Choohe would unlock an Anti-Tank Mine Layer, while planet Penta would unlock an Airburst Rocket Launcher. [[TeamKiller Because of mine stratagems' reputation with players]], the fanbase overwhelmingly chose Penta to be liberated... [[TotalPartyKill only to finally use the Airburst Rocket Launcher]] and realize [[WhatCouldHaveBeen it might have been a better idea to pick the mines]]. Many players are thinking [[KillerGameMaster this was Joel's plan all along]]. |
| 79 | * BeehiveBarrier: Both man portable and deployable versions are available. The Shield Generator Backpack will project a golden bubble around the player that helps avert the Slowed state that comes from the otherwise ScratchDamage attacks of the smaller bugs, while the Shield Generator Sentry will deploy a very large bubble that's ideal for weathering incoming fire from Bots. |
| 80 | * {{BFG}}: |
| 81 | ** Automaton bases and fortresses may have tank turrets mounted on towers guarding them, and they have considerable range. If they are alerted to Helldiver presence, they can easily deliver a suppressive barrage of OneHitKill blasts. You are generally encouraged to either stealthily infiltrate and disable them from within, call down a stratagem on their head, or take them out at long range where their accuracy becomes questionable. |
| 82 | ** SEAF Artillery can be found around the maps at random. They must be loaded with five shots from the available ammo that is lying around the site, then uplinked to your Destroyer to use. Also, due to the random spawn nature of the ammo, they are something of a RandomizedDamageAttack. You may get [[TheTokyoFireball all mini nukes]]. You may get [[UselessUsefulSpell all smokes]]. |
| 83 | ** Players also have access to an entire class of weapons that must be air-dropped as stratagems. In addition to Sentry stratagems, there are also man-portable heavy weapons like the Autocannon, Recoilless Rifle, and the [[{{VideoGame/Doom}} Quasar Cannon]] |
| 84 | * BigBulkyBomb: One of the tools in the Helldiver arsenal is the hellbomb, an orbitally-deployed explosive charge nearly as big as a human and chiefly used as a [[AntiStructure demolition charge to destroy various kinds of fortified installations]]. The SEAF, in their infinite wisdom, have opted to [[InventionalWisdom require Divers to use a manual input terminal to arm the device]] rather than provide any sort of remote detonator or automatic arming mechanism. It's a budget-saving measure, you see. |
| 85 | ** Hellbombs that naturally spawn on maps can be detonated remotely...[[SchmuckBait with a grenade]] |
| 86 | * BlackAndGrayMorality: ''Helldivers II'' is a bit more explicit about the satirical aspect of Super Earth and how it is [[SubvertedTrope pretty much just another shade of black]], likely to make sure the satire was more clear. Various in-game tool tips, notes, and so forth openly talk about many oppressive actions Super Earth takes on its own people and in the ways in which it actively endangers them for dubious benefit or are clearly designed to benefit a select few such as: |
| 87 | ** Employing child as young as 7 for the war effort |
| 88 | ** Requiring government approval before any action that might result in a child |
| 89 | ** Farming the terminds for resources, which, given the resultant E-710 comes spewing out of the ground like oil, implies raising the bugs, then mass slaughtering them before burying them in mass graves |
| 90 | ** Glaringly obvious inefficiencies such as utilizing front loading guns... on spaceships |
| 91 | ** Lacking any built-in weather sensors or service on Super Destroyers, thus requiring them to pay for a subscription to a third party weather service |
| 92 | ** Any given Helldiver mission costing more than a Liberty-class cruiser, a bigger ship than the Super Destroyers the Helldivers use |
| 93 | ** Perhaps the most obvious, knowingly continuing the Helldiver program despite knowing that survival rates for Helldiver training are only around 20%, with the program lasting less than a day and taking in around 48,000 trainees a day, meaning an average of 38,000 people die each day in training alone. By comparison, SEAF forces get a whole 72 hour training program. Meaning supposed 'elite' forces are given far less training, presumably under the guise of being 'naturally better'. |
| 94 | ** In addition, the Cyborgs have been replaced by their creations, the Automatons, and giving how their motive is [[UndyingLoyalty saving their creators by any means]], one could make an argument that ''they're'' the Grey in this, mainly failing to be considered the White because you can find things like the corpses of civilians locked in cages in their bases. |
| 95 | * BladeBelowTheShoulder: The Automatons '''love''' this trope, with most of their common infantry units having one or even two arm blades. Most notable in their 'Berserker' close-range heavy unit, which just has [[ChainsawGood chainsaw arms]] and no ranged capacity whatsoever. |
| 96 | * BlingOfWar: One of the better early-game armors is covered in stylized gold accents and has massive gold-winged shoulder pads. It provides a 50% chance to not die upon taking lethal damage, perfect for new players accidentally standing too close to their shiny new strategems or surprised by the power of their latest grenade unlock. |
| 97 | * BlackKnight: Ironically the Knight armor is this, in contrast to [[KnightInShiningArmor the other trope]] listed below. |
| 98 | * BloodierAndGorier: ''VideoGame/{{Helldivers}}'', thanks to its stylized artstyle and distantly-positioned camera, doesn't offer much in the way of graphic violence, with the worst offences being a light red mist. ''II'' makes anything and everything BloodyHilarious, and Helldivers are constantly blowing up into LudicrousGibs, getting crushed into bloody paste and being splattered with the blood of their fallen comrades, themselves, and their enemies. It shows in their ESRB ratings; ''Helldivers'' is rated T, while ''II'' is rated M. |
| 99 | * BloodSplatteredWarrior: Receiving damage will cause Helldivers to become coated in increasing amounts of visibly dark red blood splatters, whilst [[NotHisBlood killing enemies at close range will add black oil (Automatons) or yellow-green ichor (Terminids) respectively]], and all of these can be mixed together or overlaid. This gore is not washed off between missions either, going away only if you die, quit the game, or switch lobbies. |
| 100 | * BoomHeadshot: The primary weakspot of all Automaton units (well, besides their vehicles) is the head. The largest unit to have one is the Hulk, and theirs is protected by a plate that requires Medium Armour Piercing to take out, but even so, a dead-on headshot with the Recoilless Rifle, Quasar, or any proper antitank weapon can take out a Hulk in one shot. Devastators, likewise, can be taken down with just two hits from either of the Diligence rifles. On the other hand, good luck ''getting'' those shots if they're alerted to your presence. |
| 101 | * BoringButPractical: While the game gives you all sorts of exotic support weapons, from the Terminid purging flamethrower, to the explosive autocannon, the machine gun stratagem you start with can serve you well. Its fire rate can be switched between three states (630, 760, and 900 RPM) and it can punch through up to medium armor. Against Terminids, it can quickly cut down swaths of Warriors, Hive Guards and Hunters, while also quickly killing Brood Commanders and Bile Spewers. Against the Automatons, it will cause them to near instantly become suppressed, throwing off their aim drastically. It will easily destroy anything that isn't heavier than a Devastator, and can make fairly short work of those too. Even Scout Striders aren't safe, as it can simply saw through their legs. The machine gun might not be able to kill Bile Titans or Factory Striders, but in a team a machine gun user can easily cut down chaff and weaker enemies easily, letting the others focus on the heavier targets. |
| 102 | ** The EAT-17 Expendable Anti-Tank support weapon stratagem gives you two single-shot disposable rocket launchers, with a short cooldown period compared to the other anti-tank weaponry. If you die and lose your Recoilless Rifle (or its ammo pack) in a bad spot (or worse, it falls out of the map entirely) you're waiting a good eight minutes to replace it, but the [=EAT=] takes maybe one and a half, two tops. |
| 103 | ** The humble, bog standard Eagle Airstrike that you can purchase as a beginner is an extremely reliable all rounder stratagem that will serve you well into the late game. Its multiple bombs cover a long line parallel to the direction you're facing, combining enough firepower that it can instantly kill or heavily damage anything short of a Factory Strider or Bile Titan with splash radii large enough that it can obliterate swarms of lesser enemies as well. It can take out nests and fabricators, and a well-placed bombing run can flatten an entire outpost (and its occupants) instantly, leaving a smoking husk for you to pick over for samples and supplies. Similarly, the basic Orbital Precision Strike; it's more or less pinpoint accurate to where the beacon lands, does respectable damage over a decent radius with enough power to destroy not just nests and fabricators, but also even Tanks and Hulks; and it even has a relatively short cooldown. Both of these stratagems ''also'' have the benefit of very short and straightforward dialcodes, making them easy to master and input when you're overwhelmed and in desperate need of some breathing room. |
| 104 | ** Running away from fights. If the enemy becomes too overwhelming, it may be better for you and your team to just run away. Getting far enough from enemies will (usually) cause them to despawn. This is more effective against Automatons, who respect line of sight and are generally slower than the Terminids, but it's still possible to run away from multiple Bile Titans if you're wearing light armor. |
| 105 | ** The laser cannon can be a very solid pick when you know that it can deal healthy damage to weakpoints. It's mostly a laser machine gun, see above, but its somewhat worse at dealing with groups in return for being stronger against single larger targets you can hit the weak point on, especially the machines. Even a tank or sentry tower will fall before it can turn around if you focus your aim on the heat vents when they're fully turned away from you. |
| 106 | ** The Orbital Railgun has a long recharge, 4 minutes, and only one shot on use that targets one enemy. That single shot, however, locks on to the tallest enemy near where the beacon landed and deals considerable damage with low risk of harming allies. Anything less than a bile spewer won't surivive, and even the superheavies will eat a chunk of damage. During normal play its great as a "get rid of hulk/charger free" card if you need the breathing room and very rarely misses the best target, although walkers might still be able trick it, and it can hurt larger targets like spore spewers just as readily. |
| 107 | * BorderPatrol: Stray too far past the map's borders and the Democracy Officer in charge of the mission will warn you to get back into the mission zone or be declared a deserter and traitor. Failure to comply will result in [[DeathFromAbove the Super Destroyer shelling the area near you until you die]], even if you return to the mission zone. In particularly desperate situations (probably in an Eradication mission), [[TakingYouWithMe one may even find it beneficial to cause the Super Destroyer to do this.]] |
| 108 | * BrokenArmorBossBattle: Combined with BossInMookClothing, Chargers and their variants especially have extremely squishy insides. Unfortunatley they also have extremely durable outsides, to the point that anything without the "Heavy Armor Penetration" ability will outright deflect off of them. If you can manage to remove that armor though anything will deal massive damage to their squishy orange flesh underneath, with even a single grenade to a now-unarmored leg being enough to kill one. |
| 109 | * BubbleShield: Combined with BeehiveBarrier above, the Shield Generator backpack and sentry strategems. |
| 110 | * ButtCannon: Terminid Bile Spewers function as artillery, shooting long range bile blobs to suppress Helldivers and flush them out of defensive positions. They're far from defenseless at close range though, as they can vomit up a OneHitKill stream of bile at close enemies, or if they miss, slash them apart with their claws. |
| 111 | * BullfightBoss: Terminid Chargers are similar to Bug Tanks. While they can track you better than Bug Tanks, they can also be stunned for a brief but significant duration by baiting them into a wall, letting you shoot their unarmored backside for a few crucial seconds. |
| 112 | * CalculatorSpelling: In ''II'', the Terminids broke out of E-710 (OIL, upside-down) farms. |
| 113 | * CantSeeADamnThing: Some desert and tundra planets can randomly cause inclement weather conditions of a sandstorm/blizzard respectively, which greatly reduces visibility for ''everyone'' on the battlefield. This is very bad for the Helldivers when they're engaged in a close-quarters battle with enemies as they'll be likely to simply trip into more enemies at close-range and shooting at enemies lets other nearby enemies know their location to bypass the weather, but likely advantageous to them otherwise as it can allow them to disengage or sneak around to fulfill objectives while they can use their radars to compensate for their inability to see. |
| 114 | * {{Cap}}: Resources are designer-limited to 50,000 requisition slips, 250 medals, 500 common samples, 250 rare samples, and 100 super samples, to prevent/discourage hoarding and avoid trivializing the acquisition of items from newly-released warbonds. Stratagems can cost up to 20,000 requisition, whilst Super Destroyer upgrades cost varying amounts of resources, with the Tier 4 upgrades in particular costing around 50% of the total amount you can hold. |
| 115 | * CaptainObvious: Several of the loading screen tips |
| 116 | -->''''Tip for Success-Try not to die!'''' |
| 117 | * ClaimingViaFlag: There's a mission mode called "Spread Democracy" where your Helldiver squad is tasked with taking and holding one or more spots on the map, calling down a Super Earth flagpole, defending it while a drone plays the Super Earth anthem and raises the flag... and that's it. Whether this mission has any utility beyond being a symbolic propaganda-building exercise is unclear[[note]]Worth noting is that this is just a more blatantly parodic version of the "Capture Area" mission objective from ''VideoGame/{{Helldivers}}'', which is identical in that it involves defending an area while a flag is raised[[/note]]. |
| 118 | * CloseRangeCombatant: Zig-zagged. The Automatons almost universally use ranged weapons except for the occasional one that uses chainsaws or swords. Likewise, while the Terminids remain a mostly melee-oriented foe, they do include some units that can spray corrosive bile at Helldivers from a moderate range. |
| 119 | * TheComputerIsYourFriend: Downplayed, as it wasn't to the detriment of their actual creators, but the Automatons have empathy, loyalty, and genuine belief in the virtues of their makers... the problem for Super Earth is that their makers are the Cyborgs, and they seem to have picked up PayEvilUntoEvil as well. |
| 120 | * ContinuityNod: |
| 121 | ** As of the time of this writing, Cyberstan, the Cyborgs' homeworld, can be found if you look at the Valdis Sector. The Valdis Sector itself is positioned roughly where the old Cyborgs would have been in ''1''. Keplar Prime and Squ'lath Shrine have yet to make an appearance however. Additionally, the Automaton marching song mentions Cyberstan. "The Reclamation" offensive that took place in April 2024 saw the Automatons launch a massive invasion fleet that captured Cyberstan, along with several other planets in that sector of the Known Galaxy. |
| 122 | ** There appear to be Hive Lord husks or molts on worlds controlled by the Terminids. They do appear to be smaller than the Hive Lords from the first game, so whether this implies that they're still around waiting to come back for round two in a future update, or have evolved into something even ''worse'' is up for debate. After all, the Bile Titan [[NormalFishInATinyPond is only considered ''medium'' sized.]] |
| 123 | * CoolStarship: Your ship - a Super Destroyer - plays a bigger role than in the first game. Your ship is your primary source of supplies and heavy firepower (either directly or via its Eagle fighter-bombers) and can be upgraded through gameplay to enhance its ability to support you on the ground. When you join up with a party of fellow Helldivers, your Super Destroyer joins their formation (or vice versa), and any movement is then done as a group. You can also see fleets of Super Destroyers around embattled worlds. Oh, and you also get to name your ship, from a preapproved set of prefixes and suffixes. |
| 124 | * CranialProcessingUnit: A surefire way kill an Automaton is to aim for the head. Even Hulks can go down in a single hit from a railgun right to the head. While tricky to aim at, especially during hectic firefights, all that armor Automatons wear tend to not matter if you can reliably hit them in the head. |
| 125 | * CrapsackWorld: |
| 126 | ** A crewmember fondly remembers the local [[ThePoliticalOfficer Democracy Officer]] from her childhood giving her and the other kids candy as a reward for spying on their own parents. |
| 127 | ** The propaganda film shows it is apparently completely normal to have soldiers in full combat gear patrolling the streets of what appears to be a peaceful, middle-class neighbourhood. As well, displaying any emotion other than extreme patriotism while watching that film can result in you being arrested or executed. |
| 128 | * CurbStompBattle: The infamous [[https://kotaku.com/helldivers-2-malevelon-creek-lost-planet-1851294327 Fall of Malevelon Creek]] event in February 2024. Despite the player base's concentrated efforts, the planet became 0.000000% Liberated. In the meta-game, it represents the complete failure of Super Earth forces to take the planet from the Automatons, mirroring the [[Film/StarshipTroopers failed Invasion of Klendathu]]. |
| 129 | * CuttingTheKnot: |
| 130 | ** Illegal Broadcast towers are normally dealt with by manually shutting them down from the terminal at the base of the tower itself. However, the side objective can also be achieved by just destroying the tower itself either with heavy weapons or stratagems. A single impact grenade will do the trick, if your arm (and aim) is good. |
| 131 | ** A specific configuration of Stratagem Jammer and Detector Tower can spawn with a bot fabricator right at its base, and blowing it up will take the tower with it; however, whether or not this happens is up to RNG. |
| 132 | ** Spore Spewers, Shreiker Nests, etc are supposed to be destroyed by fighting your way through the hordes of enemies that surround them to get close enough to call in a Hellbomb and detonate it. Or you can shoot it twice from across the map with a Quasar Cannon. Made even easier by the fact that they rise high above the ground and glow through smoke and fog, so you can see them from miles away. |
| 133 | * CycleOfRevenge: While the Automatons are perfectly justified in having grievances against Super Earth for the 'liberation' of Cyberstan and the imprisonment of the Cyborgs, their desire for revenge is so strong that they self sabotage their own case by committing atrocities of their own that equal or even exceed what Super Earth is capable of. On almost every planet where the Automatons have landed, Helldivers can find the corpses of dismembered Helldivers and SEAF soldiers displayed like trophies, as well as entire prison camps full of massacred Super Earth soldiers and civilians, and in Extract Essential Personnel missions, the Automatons have no qualms about shooting unarmed civilians, either. This gives both Helldivers in-universe and players in a meta sense little reason to show any empathy or mercy towards the Automatons. |
| 134 | * DarkerAndEdgier: To an extent. While the gameplay and tone are largely the same, Super Earth's dystopian corruption is ''much'' more explicit than in the original, the increased graphical fidelity means that pitched battles can quickly become a lot more bloody and harrowing, and your Helldivers will now audibly panic as they get overwhelmed and their health dwindles. |
| 135 | * DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: Downplayed thanks to the reworked reinforce mechanic compared to the original game. Instead of having unlimited reinforces as long as one of your squadmates is alive to throw down the beacon, you have a limited shared pool of reinforces that each Helldiver death subtracts from and which slowly recharges the longer you manage to stay alive. This means that while you can now survive a [[TotalPartyKill squad wipe]], you have to actively pay attention to how frequently your team is dying and take steps to avoid it beyond a mere "low death count" bonus on mission completion lest you run out of reinforces in a hairy situation. |
| 136 | * DeathWorld: Quite a few planets the Helldivers end up fighting over can be considered this. For example, there is Hellmire, which is a desolate desert planet whose surface is quite frequently scorched by massive fire tornadoes, posing a significant threat to both Helldiver and Terminid alike. |
| 137 | * DegradedBoss: You'll be tasked with eliminating high threat Terminid bugs on lower difficulties, that become common at higher difficulties. Level 1 missions need you to assassinate a Brood Commander. They become fairly common on level 4 missions and above. Level 3 missions need you to kill Chargers. At level 6 missions, Chargers become part of Terminid patrols. Level 4 missions see you slaying a mighty bile titan. At level 8 and above they can be found wandering the map or summoned during a Terminid tunnel breach. |
| 138 | * DenserAndWackier: ''VideoGame/{{Helldivers}}'' is mostly a StealthParody of MilitaryScienceFiction not unlike ''Film/StarshipTroopers'' where part of the fun is that it takes itself more or less completely seriously. ''II'' moves away from this and leans much harder into RuleOfFunny as a means of satire, primarily as a way of showing how FascistButInefficient and stupidly repressive of a regime Super Earth is. Look no further than comparing the two games' opening cinematics--the opening of ''Helldivers'' is a recruitment ad which is a little melodramatic but otherwise played straight, whereas ''II'''s is a blatantly obvious PropagandaPiece full of appeals to emotion, DareToBeBadass and BadBadActing which could only fool someone already brainwashed by Super Earth's endless PropagandaMachine. |
| 139 | * DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Super Destroyers can be named from a list of available nouns. The possibilities for a name include "Patriot of Patriotism", "Pride of Pride", "Warrior of War", or to a lesser extent "Dawn of Dawn" (which potentially can have a precise meaning that isn't entirely redundant). |
| 140 | * DevelopersForesight: A recurring sight at places of interest is a drop pod that opens when a Helldiver does a salute; this can either be done by pressing the interact button, or, if the Helldiver has the 'salute' emote equipped, pressing that button instead. |
| 141 | * DiegeticInterface: The AmmunitionBackpack for specific Support Weapons (Recoilless Rifle, Autocannon, Spear) serves as the reserve ammunition counter for them, especially for when it's being operated by a single user instead of a two-man crew. The Resupply Pack also shows how many of its 4 Ammunition Supplies are remaining this way. Charge-based weapons (such as the Railgun and Quasar) also have visible charge meters when using the first-person sights. |
| 142 | * DifficultButAwesome: |
| 143 | ** The Airburst Rocket Launcher can be this outside of, very valid but managable, concerns of friendly fire with the large splash damage. Its a shoulder held airstrike that you can reload in the field but at the same time its slow reload and weak armor piercing making it weak against tougher enemies means you have to pick the right times to use it. Use it well and crowd control is putting its effectiveness mildly as swarms of lesser enemies vanish. Pick the wrong targets or aim it wrong and at best you're saddled with an unreliable support that takes time to reload, at worst you'll kill more of your own team than the enemy. |
| 144 | * DirtyCommunists: Continued with the descendants of the Cyborgs, the Automatons -- parts of the ''Internationale'' are used as a motif in their Franchise/{{Terminator}}-esque [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REaaeck8UEo faction theme]], to rather chilling effect. Played with, however, in that it's heavily implied the real reason Super Earth hates them is that they have viable alternatives to managed democracy, as most of their aggressive war crimes are implied to be a FalseFlagOperation or scapegoating (Cyborgs) or otherwise sympathetic in goals, [[WellIntentionedExtremist just going a bit too far]] in their justified hatred of Super Earth (Automatons). |
| 145 | * DistantSequel: ''Helldivers II'' is set 100 years after the original ''Helldivers'', and the Federation's victory over the three original enemy factions. |
| 146 | * DontCelebrateJustYet: After the resounding success of Operation Swift Disassembly and the destruction of the Automatons at Durgen, Super Earth held massive celebrations in the capital (including a MillionMookMarch) and issued an extra 1-minute break to all Helldivers[[note]]Said break was inclusive of the time spent reading the announcement and was not available to currently deployed Helldivers[[/note]]. Less then a ''day later'', the Automatons returned to the galaxy with their main fleet, ten times larger than [[ThoseWereOnlyTheirScouts the vanguard forces defeated by Swift Disassembly]], and rapidly overtook the entire Valdis Sector. Naturally, Super Earth was caught with their pants down a little bit and [[MassOhCrap hurriedly placed the entire galaxy on LIBCON-1 Alert]]. |
| 147 | * DramaticWind: Apparently the Super Destroyers have their air conditioners going pretty fiercely, because the capes of you, your fellow Helldivers and the Democracy Officer will still be billowing heavily even though you're all inside a spaceship. |
| 148 | * DropInDropOutMultiplayer: Any player can drop into any active Public mission if there are less than four other players present. The host can decide in their options menu whether they want to set their missions to Public or Friends Only, which limits openings to players who have accepted friend requests unless and until a special SOS Beacon stratagem is deployed. |
| 149 | * DropShip: Used by the Automatons in to deploy their troops, and by you to deploy walkers and extract on mission completion. |
| 150 | * DropPod: Helldivers deploy to the surface in Hellpods, as do any support equipment or resupply pods they call in during a mission. These pods can, with careful aiming, be used to crush enemies on landing. |
| 151 | * EarlyGameHell: In two ways: |
| 152 | ** Players start with a limited pool of stratagems unlocked, which significantly limits tactical options and in some cases renders players literally unable to deal with certain enemies. For instance, the only starter stratagem that can damage heavily armored enemies is the Precision Strike, which is also one of the most difficult to effectively use by merit of its long call-in delay and moderate cooldown. As players unlock more stratagems, they're better equipped to deal with all the situations and enemies they might encounter. |
| 153 | ** The Super Destroyer upgrades provide a variety of buffs for the player and stratagems, all of which serve to make the game notably easier, whether by reducing the cooldown for powerful stratagems or increasing the minimap's detection range. Notably, getting the resources for these upgrades requires playing the higher difficulty levels ''without'' the upgrades. |
| 154 | * EasyModeMockery: At release, the mission mode "Spread Democracy," where your objective is to call down a flagpole at a certain location and defend it until the Super Earth flag is fully raised, was exclusive to the lower difficulties (Trivial and Easy). While in-game your Mission Control treats it with the same ''gravitas'' as any other mission, there was an implied criticism in the nature of the mission itself that Helldivers who only chose the easiest assignments were wasting their time on pointless symbolic gestures while their peers on higher difficulties were accomplishing goals of actual strategic importance. This was eventually patched by popular demand to be available on ''all'' difficulties, so now [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Helldivers of all skill levels and on all battlefronts can spend their vast arsenals of heavy firepower engaging in mindless flag-waving exercises at their discretion]]. |
| 155 | * EmergentGameplay: ''Helldivers II'' actively expands on the first game's galactic campaign system, employing an actual GameMaster who is able to react to player response to in-game events and further concoct storylines based around what the playerbase is doing. This was first seen to a great extent in the sequel with the Battle of Malevelon Creek from February to April 2024, which was initally a completely mismanaged disaster for Super Earth but was eventually turned around into a morale-boosting victory after High Command gave the order to liberate the planet once and for all from Bot control. |
| 156 | * EnemyDetectingRadar: |
| 157 | ** It's part of the LevelMapDisplay, where enemies appear as periodic red blips on the minimap. Note that the player cannot attack while using the minimap. |
| 158 | ** One of the uniforms also has the ability to detect enemies from the placed map pin. |
| 159 | * EnemySummoner: |
| 160 | ** Most Terminids (but particularly the most basic Scavengers) and Brood Commanders can let out a pheromone flare that causes a Bug Breach that summons more enemies into the area. Brood Commanders can also summon groups of the mid-size Warriors independent of Breaches. |
| 161 | ** The Automatons have the Commissar, who wield a SwordAndGun and can also fire a flare gun to call in a Bot Dropship that unloads enemies into the area. Most other basic Automaton units can too if no Commissar is available, though most of the larger units cannot. |
| 162 | * EvilVersusEvil: |
| 163 | ** A century later has done little to change the fact that Super Earth is still an authoritarian, corporatist dystopia masquerading as a democratic utopia, nor has it changed the nature of its enemies. |
| 164 | ** The Terminids, the evolution of the Bugs, are used as cattle to be bred, mass slaughtered, and put in graves to produce an oil substance for fuel. Time has not dampened that they are still a HordeOfAlienLocusts. |
| 165 | ** The Automatons, descendants of the Cyborgs, that wish to free them aren’t much better them, given the cages and stone tables with mutilated bodies of both [=SEAF=] soldiers and civilians are found in their bases. They, [[UnreliableExpositor supposedly]], take children, but we don’t know what they do with them. |
| 166 | * ExplosiveOverclocking: By default, Railguns are set to "Safe" firing, which charges it up to about half of its power for respectable, but modest damage. Switching it to "Unsafe" firing allows the Railgun to build up more power to dole out even more damage, but if the Railgun charges too much, it will explode in the user's hands, killing them instantly. |
| 167 | * ExpospeakGag: Several of the Super Destroyer upgrades have descriptions that indicate Super Earth really is FascistButInefficient: |
| 168 | ** One upgrade for turrets enhances them with "cyanoacrylate adhesive" - which you probably know better as ''super glue''. |
| 169 | ** Enhanced Combustion improves all incendiary damage by lacing fuel with a unique chemical compund. The ingredients of this compound include capsaicin and allyl isothiocyanate, otherwise known as ''chili pepper and horseradish'' respectively. They're lacing your flamethrower with ''food spices''. |
| 170 | ** Blast Absorption reinforces sentries with "polystyrene pieces [peanut-shaped variety]". Also known as packing peanuts. |
| 171 | * FailedASpotCheck: Downplayed. While prone Helldivers are much harder to detect than if they're standing or sprinting, enemies can still see them a respectable distance away, especially if they're on open ground with no shrubbery or cover. Using an armour with the Scout perk (reduces detection distance by 30%) can still let you sneak up right behind enemies, though it may not be the best idea to do so -- you're not going to be performing any stealth takedowns on Devastators. |
| 172 | * FantasticDrug: Standard issue Stimpacks, which likely contains more than just combat stimulant given how it enables Helldivers to recover from damage to limbs and the chest immediately. |
| 173 | * FictionalHoliday: In addition to the obviously returning Liberty Day and the newly-declared Malevelon Creek Remembrance Day, Super Earth apparently has gained a more direct counterpart to Halloween called All Heroes' Eve in the hundred years since the first game, according to the Service Technician. |
| 174 | --> '''Service Technician:''' When I was a kid, I always loved All Heroes' Eve. The adults would all dress up as Bugs, and ring out doorbells and we'd have to fire 3 shots in the air and say "[[ArtisticLicensePolitics No Fascism here, insects!]]" At the end of the night, they'd re-enact the Battle of Liberty Peak and we'd all get cake. |
| 175 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: As a result of the game's Live Service aspects, the devs have been (not-so-)subtly foreshadowing upcoming plot points, ranging from obvious (repeated comments about discovering the "true source" of the Automatons) to the much less so (mysterious shadow warships visible at certain angles on certain missions). Then there's been things like the [=CEO=] jokingly stating that Terminids can't fly ([[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial purely coincidentially around the time of first player encounters with Shriekers and their nests]]), and in-universe crackpot allegations of the ''Automatons colluding with the Terminids'' when the Automatons rolled out their own flying enemy, the Gunships. |
| 176 | * ForeverWar: Some hints of this. Very occasionally, on certain points of interest, you can find some very old skeletons wearing fairly modern-day looking [=BDUs=] and body armor. Which combined with talks about a 'less patriotic predecessor' of the Helldivers means that Super Earth has been at this for a ''very'' long time. |
| 177 | * FriendlyFireproof: So, very, {{Averted}}. If it kills the enemy, it can definitely also kill Helldivers. This is also actually the case for the enemy as well, and any enemy that uses [[HerdHittingAttack Herd-Hitting Attacks]] is pretty likely to hit some of its allies between the Helldivers and it. |
| 178 | --> '''Training Manual Tips:''' ''Friendly Fire isn't.'' |
| 179 | ** A notable aversion came from a glitch/malfunction with the Airburst Launcher which will detonate in the air if it senses an enemy in a certain range. The huge area of effect was already prone to accidents, but on release it counted friendly Helldivers and structures as valid targets meaning it would detonate on top of allies if you didn't realize it had this flaw. This got patched quickly however. |
| 180 | * GameBreakingBug: |
| 181 | ** As of mid-April 2024, a bug affecting some Automaton missions has led to the spawn rate for bot dropships and gunships being massively over what it should be; some players have reported less than ten seconds between gunship spawns, which essentially leads to an inevitable failure of the mission, as more gunships spawn than can be taken out with weaponry, leading to the reinforcement budget being depleted faster than you can say "Managed Democracy". |
| 182 | ** A major order issued on April 18th, 2024 called for the extermination of two billion terminids; due to a bug wherein each terminid kill counted for about three to the kill count, this was completed in under fifteen hours. While people still got their medal payout, several players complained about not being able to participate in the order due to obligations such as work preventing them from playing. The bug was patched by the time an Automaton version of the major order came up, which led to the players failing to meet the goal. |
| 183 | * GameplayAndStorySegregation: |
| 184 | ** Despite pretty heavy indications that Helldiver training is genuinely only what's seen in the roughly-ten-minute tutorial before they are cryogenically frozen and then dropped into a mission, playable Helldivers are nonetheless fully capable of reliably using every single weapon they can pick up, calling down stratagems, and generally capable of not completely losing their shit...[[RuleOfFun because that wouldn't be very fun.]][[note]] There's also some implication that Helldivers have previous weapons training and physical conditioning, as the player character's skills with firearms handling, grenade throwing, and leaping into a prone position are all identical between the level cap and the second they do these things for the first time in the tutorial[[/note]] |
| 185 | ** Despite Terminids and Automatons both being intelligent factions who are highly capable of prioritizing critical targets, [[MookChivalry they will never attack the dropship during an extraction.]] Even as it [[MoreDakka mows them down]] to clear its landing zone. They are also generally polite enough not to directly attack anyone who has already made it aboard, even if a couple of seconds of fire from a Hulk's flamer would end things quite quickly for the Helldivers inside, though the odd HerdHittingAttack aimed at other Helldivers not currently in the Pelican may still put the seated Helldivers in the ground. |
| 186 | ** Artillery cannons can only load 5 shots period. Even though more than five rounds spawn around emplacements, and when rounds are fired new space opens up in the magazine for rounds to be loaded, the player will be barred from loading more than five. |
| 187 | ** Resupply crates will somehow perfectly stock the exact magazine you need when you pick them up. Even if you called it in at the start of the mission and subsequently replaced all your guns before picking it up. And it's still too small to carry more than half your total allotment of ammo. |
| 188 | * GameplayGrading: A much more complicated system than in ''VideoGame/{{Helldivers}}''; the total amount of stars it's possible to earn on a mission is dependent on the mission difficulty but at higher difficulties the max is now 5 stars instead of 3, and in addition to rewarding the returning stipulation of completing every objective it now also rewards things like avoiding going past a certain time threshold, about 10% remaining, how many helldivers are alive at mission's end, and completing all side objectives. The liberation gained from missions is now the difficulty of the mission as well as the points earned during the mission calculated together and converted into a percentage of total Planet Liberation. |
| 189 | * GenocideBackfire: OPERATION SWIFT DISASSEMBLY was meant to completely wipe the Automatons out. It turned out that they were just fighting the vanguard of the Automatons, who immediately followed with The Reclamation, a new offensive push beyond anything seen before. |
| 190 | * GenreShift: The original ''VideoGame/{{Helldivers}}'' is a top down twin stick shooter, which controls not unlike ''VideoGame/SmashTV''. ''Helldivers 2'' is a third person shooter, with the camera hanging over the player's shoulder, similar to ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4''. That said, the narrative tone of both games are identical: As a Helldiver, you are an elite, yet expendable, soldier, who shoots alien bugs and robots, in a satirical world where you are fanatically loyal to the fascist government of Super Earth. |
| 191 | * GeoEffects: In the sequel, certain planets have certain weather conditions. They are usually a mix of both good and bad. Rain for example limits line of sight for both you and the enemy, while extreme cold throws off your aim but reduces heat buildup in laser weapons. High difficulty Terminid planets may also have Spore Clouds as a mission modifier, which obscures the drop pod map and personal radar. For all you know, you could be jumping straight into a heavy bug outpost with a Bile Titan and its Charger escorts. |
| 192 | * {{Glurge}}: A key element of the in-universe propaganda's StylisticSuck. One typically cloying example: |
| 193 | --> (image of Automaton Troopers looking menacing) |
| 194 | --> The Automatons. Heartless killing machines. [[ExactWords It is an undeniable fact that they do not have hearts.]] |
| 195 | --> (silhouette of an adult playing with a child with happy giggling in the background) |
| 196 | --> And heart is what Super Earth is all about. |
| 197 | --> (shot of Helldivers gazing into the distance patriotically) |
| 198 | --> Prove your humanity. |
| 199 | --> (a family holds hands, outlined against the setting sun) |
| 200 | --> Show you care. |
| 201 | --> (bold ENLIST TODAY message against the SEF banner) |
| 202 | --> Enlist in the Super Earth Armed Forces and [[WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide destroy the Automaton threat]]. |
| 203 | * GodwinsLaw: Super Earth propaganda usually refers to the Terminids as 'fascist'. Given that they're a HordeOfAlienLocusts of unclear sapience who are only at war with the SEAF because humanity keeps slaughtering them for oil, this comes across as nothing more than a lame attempt by the Federation to pretend that they think fascism is something bad to be fought, rather than the driving force of their own ideology. |
| 204 | * GrenadeHotPotato: Helldivers can throw or kick Automaton grenades back with a quick tap of the Interact button. Aiming them is basically impossible and odds are they'll just skitter along the floor wildly, but it's better than standing on top of a live grenade. |
| 205 | * GuiltBasedGaming: Your Democracy Officer gets downright passive-aggressive if you spend just a little too long browsing the Galactic War screen, mixing DareToBeBadass challenges with admonishments that innocent lives are being lost with every second you dawdle. |
| 206 | * HandCannon: Several secondary weapons: |
| 207 | ** The P-4 Senator is a massive, heavy-hitting [[RevolversAreJustBetter revolver]] - and the only sidearm that can pierce medium armor. |
| 208 | ** The GP-31 Grenade Pistol is a single shot ''grenade launcher'' in a pistol form factor. |
| 209 | ** The P-113 Verdict is the size of a Helldiver's thigh, and its description names it as the largest-caliber pistol of its kind. |
| 210 | * HeavyEquipmentClass: Effectively all of the heavy armors are this as a base, as they offer improved defenses in exchange for hindered movement and stamina regen. Worse still several Medium Armors have abilities which offer the same armor rating as Heavy Armors with none of the stamina penalties. Some specific examples stand out, however: |
| 211 | ** The FS-55 Devastator Armor offers a 50% reduction in blast damage and covers 90% of your character's figure, including a HighCollarOfDoom that goes up to your character's ''eyes!'' |
| 212 | ** The FS-61 Dreadnought Armor has ShouldersOfDoom and notably gives 50% additional limb health on a Helldiver who clearly has all their original appendages |
| 213 | ** The B-27 Fortified Commando Armor has [[BoringButPractical the best armor rating in the game]] as its bonus effect, and conspicuously covers [[ExaggeratedTrope ''even more'']] than the Devastator Armor. |
| 214 | * HeroInsurance: Destroying buildings will never negatively affect you or your rewards. Even if you [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential drop your Hellpod directly onto someone's house while they've been ordered to shelter in place]] |
| 215 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: |
| 216 | ** Thanks to friendly fire being a thing, it is entirely possible for Helldivers to pull the classic example of this trope by blowing themselves and their squadmates up with their own explosives, ranging in scale from the simple hand grenade to the [[BigBulkyBomb airdropped 500kg bomb and demolition Hellbomb]]. |
| 217 | ** Terminid Bile Spewers are not a result of the bugs rapidly evolving over the last 100 years. Instead, they are the result of Super Earth genetic engineering on the Terminids, probably to increase E-710 (oil) production. The fact that new mutations are apparently appearing as a result of exposure to the Termicide is "to be expected", according to the Shipmaster, and surely won't have any consequences down the line either. |
| 218 | ** Automaton outposts and bases have manned turrets that they can use to quickly shred any Helldivers caught in their sights. Helldivers can kill its operator and use the turrets for themselves against Automaton forces. |
| 219 | ** In the in-game metanarrative, the Terminid Control System was implemented as a series of planetary-scale pesticide dispensers to eradicate Terminid populations on selected barrier planets to keep their populations in check. In a classic case of "that which does not kill me only makes me stronger," this ended up creating a strain of Terminids who are not only resistant to Termicide but who positively thrive in the stuff, proliferating out of control to the point that one of the planets developed into an irrecoverable supercolony. Helldivers had to be redirected to a massive damage control effort to shut down the very Termicide dispensers they had helped activate earlier in order to save the remaining planets from suffering the same fate. |
| 220 | * HolographicTerminal: The main mission selection interface of the Super Destroyer is a big circular table which shows a holographic projection of the galaxy map or the planet your ship is currently orbiting. Most of the other interface and display systems seem to be more practical touchscreens though. |
| 221 | * HostileWeather: One of the early updates for the game added weather effects that can complicate missions, including tremors (trips up players and enemies), meteor showers (falling space rocks that can hurt players and enemies), rainstorms (persistently obscures vision), ion storms (prevents the use of stratagems and the minimap), volcanic activity (similar to meteor showers, but the debris also lights players and enemies on fire) and [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin fire tornadoes]]. These can work in your favour quite nicely though, as it's possible to see random turrets, fabricators, or nests get perfectly dead-center bullseyed by meteors, saving you the trouble. |
| 222 | * HumanResources: |
| 223 | ** Several pieces of randomly-generated terrain in Automaton missions strongly imply that they're rounding up humans, possibly for forced conversion into more Automaton soldiers. At the very least they're being put in cages and often mutilated, implying that - for all the fan favoritism - the Automatons are just as capable of committing atrocities as the Cyborgs were. |
| 224 | ** One PA announcement on the Super Destroyer goes as follows: "Too old to contribute [to the war effort]? Why not volunteer at your nearest bio-repurposing facility." While this may be more Alien or Animal Resources versus Human, the lack of any indication thereof should give pause. |
| 225 | * IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace: One of the planets in the "eastern" quadrant of the Galactic War map is Hellmire. It is a scorching desert world which frequently spawns [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_whirl fire tornadoes]]. One imagines that Super Earth's colonization bureau must have a ''very'' slick marketing team to make a place like that sound ideal to settle down and raise a family in a prefabricated sufficiently sized house. |
| 226 | * IgnoredEpiphany: One bit of NPC dialogue aboard your Super Destroyer has the speaker reflecting on how, by using the E-710 the Terminids produce to sustain their war effort, Super Earth is "using corpses to create more corpses." It almost sounds like she's on the verge of having a HeelRealization before she concludes "[[GuiltFreeExterminationWar There's something satisfying about that]]." |
| 227 | * ImmuneToBullets: Made a little more distinct than in the first game, where weapons are noted as having Light/Medium/etc. Armour Penetration capabilities and the deflection effects are more noticeable. |
| 228 | * ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Bile Titans have four very big, pointy legs, and won't hesitate to use them to stab anything that gets on their bad side. Or that just happens to be underfoot at the time. Even other bugs aren't safe. Even more egregious, if you're unlucky, you might kill the Bile Titan, [[PosthumousVillainVictory only for it's leg to hit you flush as it collapses]]. |
| 229 | * ImprovisedWeapon: The Hellpods that deliver the Helldivers and their supplies aren't supposed to be a weapon but they can be used to crush enemies, but only in a direct hit. A Helldiver can steer their drop pod to aim at whatever they want while, with some ''very'' good timing, the call in supplies can be used as emergency ordinance. Its still very hard to hit in either case. |
| 230 | * IncrediblyLameFun: On board your Super Destroyer is an arcade minigame called Stratagem Hero. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin It's literally inputting various stratagem codes over and over and over again]], without anything as basic as visual feedback or graphics. This could, however, be an InUniverse reason why the replacement Helldivers are so familiar with their equipment, as their games and entertainment were various forms of training. |
| 231 | * IncrediblyObviousBomb: Automaton Contact Mines are big grey metal things with lots of glowy red bits all over. And yet they're still surprisingly easy to trip over in the heat of battle. Sometimes, [[ArtificialStupidity by the Automatons themselves]]. |
| 232 | * InstakillMook: |
| 233 | ** Terminid Bile/Nursing Spewers and Bile Titans can kill you if enough of their bile manages to hit you. Unless you have a shield and heavy armour, the amount required is not very much at all (and even with them, it won't take much). |
| 234 | ** [[AirborneMook Terminid Shriekers]] don't have an instakill attack while alive... but when they're killed, their entire body becomes a deadly projectile boosted by momentum and gravity. Due to how object impacts work, a swooping Shrieker's dead body can one-shot its intended target. Toned down in recent updates though. |
| 235 | ** Automaton Cannon Turrets, Mortars and Tanks can instantly gib you with a well placed shot. Their Rocket Devastators and Rocket Raiders are also notorious for sniping players with a single rocket from unexpected angles. Apparently most of this was due to a bug that caused Helldivers to take an explosion's damage multiple times, which has since been fixed; rocket devastators and raiders are now much more forgiving (especially if you have heavy armour with explosive resistance), though a tank turret can still atomize you with a direct hit. |
| 236 | ** Automaton Scorcher Hulks have two attacks: a circular saw, and a flamethrower. The saw is an instakill but because of at least one bug the flamethrower is more mixed; sometimes the flamethrower may deal no damage at all, sometimes it may set you on fire, and sometimes it may kill you instantly without visibly touching you. |
| 237 | * InterfaceScrew: Certain effects can also cause ShellShockSilence as the screen blurs and all noise is drowned out. It's most often caused by getting grazed or otherwise knocked around by a Charger or Brood Commander. Jamming (e.g. from an Automaton Stratagem Jammer, or an Ion Storm) will also StaticScrew your stratagem icons and garble their names whilst it's ongoing. |
| 238 | * InterfaceSpoiler: The total number of primary and secondary weapons available in the Armory on launch ''noticeably'' outnumbers the number of weapons that can be unlocked through Warbond progress, indicating that developers plan to add many more. The galaxy map is also ''conspicuously'' large for the two factions present thusfar, and includes both Super Earth and ''Mars'' as potential locations. |
| 239 | * InvasionOfTheBabySnatchers: Super Earth propaganda claims the Automatons kidnap infants in a couple places. [[AmbiguousSituation It's unknown as of yet]] if this is MaliciousSlander (as the Automatons' political agenda is freeing their Cyborg creators), or if they are actually abducting new potential Cyborgs to indoctrinate in their DirtyCommunist ways. Another possibility is that [[PetTheDog despite how much they hate Super Earth, they're not going to kill children for the crime of existing]] and are getting the kids out of the way. |
| 240 | * ItsRainingMen: The Helldivers' M.O. is dropping from orbit in [[DropPods Hellpods]], as is most of their equipment. |
| 241 | * IwoJimaPose: Parodied in the [[PropagandaPiece Helldiver recruitment video]], where several divers [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impale a bug]] with a flagpole bearing Super Earth flag and enthusiastically celebrate with a chest bump. |
| 242 | * JackOfAllTrades: The Autocannon support weapon is a {{BFG}} that fires potent medium-armor-piercing explosive rounds with moderate accuracy and excellent range. It's semi-automatic by default, but can be switched to full-auto if you really want to spray something (or a horde of somethings) with PowerfulButInaccurate explosive doom. To further sweeten the deal, it has unusually deep ammo reserves for a support weapon, with ten rounds in its integrated magazine and enough spare rounds for five full reloads or ten half-reloads before you have to seek out a resupply drop[[note]]as a comparison, the heavy machinegun you get as your first support weapon only has a maximum of two reserve reloads[[/note]]. This makes it capable of dealing with groups of light enemies, medium armour, destroying weak points of heavy enemies and even destroying buildings like shrieker hives, bug holes and bot fabricators[[note]]fabricators require a trick-shot off of one of the vents or aiming through the open door[[/note]] from across the map. It even reloads with half-clips quickly so it can take advantage of slight lulls in battle better than other support weapons (and that's ''without'' a loader!). The main downsides are its manageable-but-sluggish handling, its exploding rounds being quite capable of killing other Helldivers without care, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard including the user]], the slow reload animation if you empty the entire magazine, as well as requiring a backpack slot for the ammunition (which makes an autocannon user a bit of a GlassCannon, since most backpack items they could otherwise wear are either partially or entirely defensive). Despite all this, it remains a reliable weapon that's pretty good against nearly everything, and is a common sight in Helldiver teams as a result. |
| 243 | * JumpJetPack: |
| 244 | ** A common Automaton unit is a jetpack trooper. Whilst they're quite fragile, their jetpack also has a nasty habit of ''violently exploding'' if it takes too much damage. These units themselves don't actually fly, but instead use their jetpack to leap into melee range so they can use their BladeBelowTheShoulder on you, with predictably lethal results for the Helldiver on the end of that leap attack if they aren't careful with their aim or their trigger finger. |
| 245 | ** Players can also gain one, it's a great way of [[NotTheFallThatKillsYou accidentally gibbing yourself]], but equally great for escaping ravening hordes of Terminids. There's an achievement for ragdolling yourself whilst using it too. |
| 246 | * KnightInShiningArmor: Several armors have this appearance, to whit: |
| 247 | ** The FS-11 Executioner Armor is literally shining white and designed to resemble "futuristic" medieval armor. |
| 248 | ** B-24 Enforcer Armor is similarly shining white and has a more Renaissance-era armor aesthetic to it |
| 249 | ** The Champion of the People, Hero of the Federation, Savior of the Free, and Cavalier of Democracy armors are all themed around this, including sharing the same effect with slightly different flavors of Knight aesthetics. |
| 250 | * KillItWithFire: Intended. There are numerous weapons that shoot flaming or ignition rounds, such as the G-10 Incendiary grenade, the SG-225IE Breaker Incendiary, and the Flamethrower Stratagem. |
| 251 | * KillSat: Your Helldiver's Super Destroyer functions as an orbital artillery platform during missions, capable of firing anything from single-shot precision strikes to area bombardments to ground-sweeping laser cannon barrages provided you've unlocked the proper stratagems. |
| 252 | * LevelMapDisplay: The game allows bringing up the minimap in the corner, zooming in/out, and placing navigation pins for other players to see. |
| 253 | * LosingYourHead: Downplayed with some Terminids, which can still function for one [[LastBreathBullet last charge and attack]] even if their heads have been blown off, before dying shortly after. |
| 254 | * LuckBasedMission: The Stratagem Jammer sub-objective on Bot-occupied planets can go one of two ways: either a squad pushes up onto it and has to manually disable the terminal before calling in a stratagem to destroy it, whether that be a Hellbomb or an Eagle 500kg... ''or'', you get lucky, and a bot fabricator spawns in just the right position where, when it goes boom, so does the jammer. |
| 255 | * MiniMecha: The EXO-45 "Patriot" Exosuit is the brand-spanking new descendant of the [[VideoGame/{{Helldivers}} EXO-44 "Walker"]], armed with the same arrangement of a powerful rotary gun and eight AT missiles. Slower than Helldivers on foot, but more heavily armored and equipped with ''much'' heavier firepower, though it's vulnerable to getting smashed to pieces by heavier units and [[ArmoredCoffins has a tendency to malfunction and explode randomly]]. |
| 256 | * MissionControl: The Democracy Officer on your Super Destroyer serves as mission control. Not just for you, but for Super Earth as [[PoliticalOfficer they're responsible for maintaining "democracy" on the ship and in the field]]. In a meta sense, there's also a channel on the official Discord server that has in-character dispatches from "High Command", providing information on the ongoing war effort and additional insights and commentary into events. |
| 257 | * MoneySink: The Tier 4 Super Destroyer upgrades ''each'' cost somewhere in the region of 20,000 requisition, 200 common samples, 150 rare samples, and 50 super samples. Released not long after an increase to the maximum rank (from 50 to 150), they're quite transparently there to soak up resources from dedicated players. |
| 258 | * MonsterOrganTrafficking: After defeating the Bugs in the first ''VideoGame/Helldivers'', the Federation realized that they produced a useful material, E-710, often used as fuel. Thus, the Bugs were not exterminated, but were kept in huge farms where their E-710 was harvested. Part of the conflict of this game is caused by the decedents of the original Bugs, now called Terminids, escaping containment and running wild across the galaxy. |
| 259 | * MookChivalry: While it would be logical and simple for enemies to attack the Pelican transport when it arrives and/or touches down for Helldivers to extract, they never try to. [[AntiFrustrationFeatures Fortunately for the players, it seems to be invincible anyway.]] They also do not specifically target the Helldivers seated in it, though targeting Helldivers nearby it with a HerdHittingAttack can end up killing these seated Helldivers. |
| 260 | * MoreDakka: |
| 261 | ** Automaton Heavy Devastators trade the slow-firing high-power ArmCannon of the standard Devastator for a rapid-fire cannon to go with their armoured shield, making them incredibly dangerous to unprepared Helldivers. Two or three of them can lay down absolutely withering amounts of suppressive fire, to the point that returning fire is almost impossible. |
| 262 | ** A couple of weapons can have their firing mode changed. For the basic assault rifle this lets you toggle it into burst or semi-auto modes, but for the support-slot machineguns it's their ''rate of fire''. You can either dial it down to make the weapon more controllable, or dial it up for More Dakka. The Stalwart's high setting in particular is 1100rpm. The Heavy Machinegun used to be able to set up to an eyewatering 1200rpm, but the max firerate was dialled down to a more reasonable 950 not long after it was released. |
| 263 | ** The first Sentry you can unlock is a machinegun. Not long after that, you can get a full on GatlingGood version. |
| 264 | ** The Patriot Exosuit solves problems by dispensing thousands of rounds per minute from an arm-mounted gatling. For anything bigger, it's got a rocket pod loaded with armour-piercing explosives. |
| 265 | * MundaneMadeAwesome: The phrase "Shield/Sword of Steel" is usually a pretty ordinary one, but it'll seem a bit cooler when it's the title attached to your massive Super Destroyer. The preceding noun for the list of ship titles also includes job titles which would be a good bit more mundane in most contexts like Custodian, Comptroller, Elected Representative, or Ombudsman... but yet again, attached to a roughly half-kilometer long warship. |
| 266 | * MusicalNod: |
| 267 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5hCkh2AH58 A Cup of Liber-Tea]], the sequel's main title theme has a short nod to the original Helldivers' title theme, at 30 seconds in. |
| 268 | ** The Stratagem Hero MiniGame uses snippets of a retro sounding remix of the ''Helldivers 1'' theme. When put together, you can [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILww6K_zZdc hear the original theme.]] |
| 269 | * {{Nerf}}: The March 6, 2024 patch nerfed both the Breaker shotgun and the Railgun.[[note]]The Breaker's magazine capacity was slightly reduced along with its damage per shot and its recoil was increased, and the Railgun's armor penetration capabilities were reduced in Safe Mode plus its damage was reduced against durable enemy parts, necessitating more skill-based use of the Unsafe mode for maximum effect.[[/note]] |
| 270 | * NoBloodForPhlebotinum: The Terminids produce a substance called E-710 which is essential for Super Earth's FasterThanLightTravel to properly function. In the sequel, it's mentioned that Super Earth had managed to corral some broods into massive underground farms until some broke free and kickstarted the latest crisis. |
| 271 | * NoSell: One of the armor perks, "Democracy Protects," gives a 50% chance to survive what would have been lethal damage, up to and including standing next to a Hellbomb as it detonates. |
| 272 | * OhCrap: The game adds more to this than the first with voice lines that range from 'cool headed professional' to 'about to have a psychotic break', depending on how stressed the Helldiver is. This can result in Helldivers screaming their lungs out when calling in reinforcements or essentially screaming propaganda to themselves in order to keep themselves hyped up. |
| 273 | * OneBulletClips: Entirely averted - not only are the remaining bullets in a magazine discarded when you reload, they are discarded at the very start of the reload, so if you interrupt it before finishing (by, say, dodging, meleeing, or bringing up the map), your gun will be empty. |
| 274 | ** Rendered moot by the Punisher and Slugger shotguns, which reload one shell at a time. Given how long it would take to reload 16 shells into two empty tubes, it's more practical to top them off as often as you can unlike the detachable magazine-based firearms. |
| 275 | ** Likewise the Senator revolver reloads one bullet at a time, making it ''painfully'' slow -- offsetting its otherwise fairly high accuracy and power when used correctly. However, the latest patch gives the Senator a speedloader that fills all 6 chambers at once if you reload from a completely empty cylinder. |
| 276 | * OneHitKill: The Spear is capable of downing a Bile Titan or Automaton tank in a single hit, if the missile strikes the victim dead center. |
| 277 | * OnlyAFleshWound: Downplayed, especially relative to the first game. ''II'' removes the Downed mechanic in favor of [[HealThyself Helldivers being able to heal themselves with Stims]], meaning that while there are still attacks that will knock a Helldiver prone or put them close to death, there's an in-universe explanation for why they can recover so quickly and Helldivers now only need to worry about attacks which will instantly kill them. However, ''II'' also introduces [[SubsystemDamage broken limbs]], which ''can'' get instantly fixed by a healing stim with little to no explanation. |
| 278 | * OnlySaneByComparison: General Brasch, the officer in charge of Helldiver training, appears to be an authentically OlderAndWiser FourStarBadass, and his advice is worth paying attention to... by the standards of the Super Earth Armed Forces, which appear to be locked in a fierce internal competition to discover the stupidest possible ways to fight a war. By the standards of any competent military, he's a bloodthirsty meathead CaptainObvious who's too high on his own supply of propaganda to offer any particularly deep insight. |
| 279 | * OutsideTheBoxTactic: One of the fastest ways to defeat a Terminid Charger isn't to shoot the less-armored, glowing rear spot, but to break the armor off one of their legs and then shoot that leg. Doing so will kill the Charger faster than shooting it in the rear. |
| 280 | * {{Overheating}}: As in the first game, the flaw of otherwise infinite-ammo laser weapons is that they overheat and cool off over time; if you manage to max out the heatsink, it needs to be swapped out for a replacement - except for the Quasar, which always spikes to 100% and then requires several seconds to cool down again. Automaton bases also have various emplaced turrets that operate on similar principles (instead of needing a heatsink replaced, they just lock up and can't be used for several seconds), and can be used by Helldivers. Complicated by the fact that the GeoEffects of hot and cold planets influence heat generation, nerfing or buffing the effective capacity of energy weapons respectively as a result. |
| 281 | * PocketRocketLauncher: the R-36 Eruptor bolt-action rifle is effectively a [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Bolter]], just in bolt-action. It fires rocket propelled explosive warheads and is capable of killing the user by accident ''very'' easily. |
| 282 | * PointOfNoContinues: Once the mission timer runs out, all stratagems and [[VideoGameLives reinforcements]] become unavailable, and an emergency dropship is called in. Die before you get there, and the mission ends without you, although it's still a success if the primary objectives have been completed. |
| 283 | * ThePoliticalOfficer: |
| 284 | ** Automatons have "Commissar" officers that can fire off flares to call reinforcements with lightning speed if alerted. It's not entirely clear if the Automatons themselves require the usual duties of such an officer to maintain party loyalty or not. |
| 285 | ** Helldiver destroyers are staffed with a "Democracy Officer" near the mission select station who informs the divers of attacks on Super Earth worlds and otherwise [[ContinueYourMissionDammit urges them to join the fray]]. |
| 286 | * PoweredArmor: Downplayed, but all of the Armors with "Servo Assisted" are clearly powered and augment the wearer's strength. |
| 287 | * PremiumCurrency: Super Credits, which are used to buy armors and helmets in the cosmetics store, and to unlock new Warbonds. You can find them in missions though, making it possible to earn any cosmetic or warbond simply by playing enough (though the pickup amounts are usually just 10 [=SC=] each where a Warbond usually costs ''1,000'', so you'll have to play ''a lot''). Warbonds also typically have at least one Super Credit reward option per Tier, effectively reimbursing you some of your investment as you progress; the primary ''Helldivers Mobilize'' bond includes a total of 750 Super Credits spread across its tiers, whilst the Premium warbonds have only ~300 across their three tiers. |
| 288 | * ProceduralGeneration: Toned down from the first game, where all of the basic details about planets appear to be relatively hand-made, but the individual missions themselves still take place on randomly-generated maps with shared elements and predesigned points of interest (that may have semi-randomized sub-elements, such as one part might sometimes be a pool of water and other times it might be drained with a collapsed mineshaft, etc.). |
| 289 | * PropagandaHero: The Helldivers themselves are confirmed to be this. This can be deliberately invoked by the player as well by equipping any of the propaganda armors, such as the Cavalier of Democracy, the Hero of the Federation, or the [[ProductPlacement Ambassador of the Brand]]. |
| 290 | * PunnyName: |
| 291 | ** The Element 710 which allows for Faster-Than-Light Travel. If [[CalculatorSpelling you rotate '710' 180 degrees, it looks like "OIL"]], which is exactly what it's an allegory for. |
| 292 | ** Super Earth has declared the current conflict the "Galactic War on Tyranny" ([[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror GWOT]]). |
| 293 | ** The EAT-17. Or "Eat It" |
| 294 | * PurelyAestheticGender: It's taken a step further from the first game, as the bodytypes are merely described as 'Bulky' or 'Lean', and the voiceprints are just 'Helldiver Voice' with a number after them. |
| 295 | * PutOnABus: The Illuminate are absent from the sequel, on account of having been defeated and disarmed (and their technology apparently used to enhance Super Earth's own FasterThanLight travel tech). Observant players will however notice that there is a conspicuously wide gap at the bottom edge of the galaxy map; the Terminids and Automatons were not placed ''directly'' opposite one-another, leaving plenty of room for the late arrival of a potential third front to the war. Players have also reported seeing ominous shadows of unknown warships against the backdrop, and of being sniped at by blue energy bolts during certain missions... |
| 296 | * RedshirtArmy: SEAF and the Helldivers. On missions where half the squad fails to extract the announcer can even note that casualties were below average for a Helldiver operation. SEAF meanwhile has precisely zero living units in the game. Every single SEAF soldier you find is dead, and often dismembered. |
| 297 | * RecurringRiff: Segments of "A Cup of Liber-Tea", the main theme, can be heard in multiple places. Most prominently, the loadout select, dropping, and successful extraction. |
| 298 | * RegeneratingShieldsStaticHealth: The Shield Generators will recharge for free (and have unlimited battery with which to do so) while your health can only be restored with limited-use stimpacks |
| 299 | * RewardsPass: The sequel's Warbonds, which are unlocked with Super Credits and progressed with Medals (acquired by completing missions, and through semi-rare in-mission pickups). All players start with the ''Helldivers Mobilize'' Warbond for free, and Warbonds don't go away once unlocked, offering various rewards split across several tiers that are unlocked by spending a sufficient number of medals in the prior tiers in that Warbond, allowing players to progress through them however they like. So far, a new warbond has been released on the second thursday of each month since launch. |
| 300 | * RidiculouslyFastConstruction: Even if they're actively invading a planet, Automatons have generally already made a good amount of buildings and encampments by the time the Helldivers show up, and their already built foundries [[WeHaveReserves are churning out new soldiers]] ready to defend them. JustifiedTrope for the Helldivers' defensive stratagems, which were already constructed beforehand and are simply dropped onto a location using hellpods. |
| 301 | * RobotWar: Subverted. The Automatons definitely have this thematic, being inhuman socialist machines who hate everything the fine organics of Super Earth stand for... ''specifically'' Super Earth. They are actually out to save their creators, the Cyborgs from the first game, they don't hate life as a concept and it's mostly Super Earth refusing to acknowledge their demands that prolongs the ForeverWar. |
| 302 | * SameCharacterButDifferent: The two factions we fight against are basically just the Bugs and the Cyborgs of the first game all over again, just changed a bit now. |
| 303 | * ScreamingWarrior: Especially compared to the [[LargeHam boisterous but still reserved Helldivers of the original game]], the Helldivers in ''II'' have NoIndoorVoice and will yell and scream every single thing they are doing. If you lay down sustained fire on the enemy for a few seconds they'll let out a cacophony of sound that is somewhere between laughing hysterically and crying. Very obvious with the first and second voice packs, with Creator/EricaLindbeck and Creator/YuriLowenthal going all-out on the maniacal laughter. |
| 304 | * ShortRangeShotgun: Most shotguns are highly effective at realistic ranges and have decent pellet spread to kill a small enemy at a hundred yards. They instead suffer an entirely realistic shotgun drawback in that the pellet-based shotguns have no armour penetration whatsoever -- so whilst they can rapidly reduce ''unarmoured'' enemies to nothing more than a pile of mulch, they can't do a damn thing to heavily armoured enemies unless you can find (or create) an exploitable weak spot. On the other hand, some shotguns like the Breaker Spray-And-Pray do indeed have a fairly extreme damage falloff (in the case of the SP, it's because it fires lots of small, low-powered pellets with little muzzle energy, and basically sandpapers enemies to death), while others like the Blitzer tesla shotgun have a hard maximum range that their special projectiles (a lightning bolt, in the Blitzer's case) can reach to, and are useless beyond that. |
| 305 | * ShoutOut: [[ShoutOut/{{Helldivers}} Has a series-wide page]]. |
| 306 | * SituationalSword: Some stratagems are good for fighting one faction, but useless or poor choices for others. The flamethrower can make a nice Terminid flambé, but its short range means it'll be useless against the LongRangeFighter Automatons - and setting the Berserkers on fire just means that you have flaming Berserkers trying to cut you in half. Conversely, the Ballistic Shield can easily keep you protected from the hail of laser fire from the Automatons, but will not do anything against the swarming melee oriented Terminids. |
| 307 | * SmokeOut: This is especially powerful against the Automatons, as smoke screens will prevent them from tracking and firing on your location. While it won't prevent the occasional lucky hit, it will still dramatically reduce their accuracy, and can cause them to stop firing and start advancing towards the smoke in an attempt to find any Helldivers. Smoke screens can even be used against melee enemies with the aid of terrain, as the smoke may cause the enemies to lose sight of Helldivers long enough for them to hide behind something else and keep out of sight. |
| 308 | * SnowballFight: Stand still for a few moments in the snow on a suitably frosty world and you may get a prompt to make or pick up a snowball, which you can then throw. There's not really any situations in which this is particularly ''useful'', but hey, it's there. |
| 309 | * SnowMeansDeath: The Battle of Marfark saw some of the most heated battle against the Automatons during the Reclamation since Malevelon Creek, as the bots concentrated all their attack power on the planet and deployed much greater numbers of [[BossInMookClothing Factory Striders]] than previously seen. Marfark also just happened to be an [[SingleBiomePlanet ice world ravaged by freezing blizzards]]. |
| 310 | * SpaceSector: The Federation divides the space around Super Earth into named sectors (the Akira Sector, the Severin Sector, and so forth) each containing multiple planets. Unlike in ''VideoGame/{{Helldivers}}'', these sectors aren't made up of randomly generated planets and have specific named locations within them. |
| 311 | * StrawmanNewsMedia: Appears repeatedly amongst other propaganda shorts viewable aboard the player's Super Destroyer. Appropriately, the news organization in question is [[PunnyName even called "Strohmann News."]] |
| 312 | * SterilityPlague: The {{Crawl}} on Strohman News reveals that the fertility rate among citizens of Super Earth is 1.4%, and that's worth celebrating, because it's up from a previous low of 1.36%. It's unclear what, exactly, this is caused by. Though, since it's known that Super Earth tightly regulates procreation by requiring a permit for it, this low fertility rate may in fact be intentional on their part. |
| 313 | * StuffBlowingUp: A staple of the gameplay in general (it would probably be easier to list the things that ''don't'' explode when they're destroyed), but also the specific theme of the ''Democratic Detonation'' warbond, which adds a crossbow that fires exploding bolts, a grenade launcher pistol, sticky thermite grenades, and a ''bolt-action rocket-propelled explosive sniper rifle''. |
| 314 | * SubsystemDamage: Both Helldivers and their enemies can suffer from this. |
| 315 | ** Helldivers that have their arms damaged will be unable to aim properly, and will be unable to throw their stratagem beacons (and grenades) as far. Should their legs be crippled, they will move slower and lose the ability to sprint. If their chest is hemorrhaging, they will suffer DamageOverTime till they die or use a stim. |
| 316 | ** Terminids that have their legs destroyed will be forced to hobble on their remaining legs (except for Chargers, who ''die'' if a leg gets destroyed). For heavier armored Terminids such as the Charger or Bile Titan, a Recoilless round can destroy their armor and expose the fleshy bits to shoot at with regular bullets. |
| 317 | ** Automatons can have their arms blasted off, preventing them from firing their weapons, throwing grenades, slashing at you with melee blades, or signaling in a dropship. Beware that they can still kick or stomp you. Cyborg and Automaton tanks can have their treads blown up, immobilizing them, but beware; their turrets are still fully functional and capable of killing you. There's even an achievement in ''II'' for leaving a mission whilst an armless Hulk is still alive. |
| 318 | * SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Enemies can easily perform TakingYouWithMe with their own dead bodies if they're moving too fast or are too massive. Being under a Bile Titan as it dies is asking to be crushed, and a Shrieker that's killed as it swoops at you can all too easily take you out with the force of its high-velocity dead body. One video circulating around also shows a Charger somehow being catapulted backwards on death (due to a physics glitch of some kind, most likely) and plowing into a ''Bile Titan'', killing it instantly. |
| 319 | ** Shooting down Automaton Dropships can have all the destructive effects you'd imagine for anyone (or anything) that happens to be in the way as it's coming down. |
| 320 | * SuperWristGadget: Helldiver armour has a wrist-mounted computer that serves as the dialling interface for stratagems, conveys situation information whilst on the Destroyer, and for the map whilst in missions. Automaton infantry units also seem to have a similar wrist-mounted interface that they sometimes pause and refer to. As an added bonus, if you mess around with the camera angles and your character position (easiest on the Super Destroyer), you can position the camera in someone else's model in such a way that you can see that the display reads 'Personal Hellpad System'. |
| 321 | * TacticalShooter: Though not a full example -- the sci-fi setting and fantastic technology do limit the amount of realism present by their very nature -- the game does take definite cues from the genre. Helldivers are fragile, vulnerable to friendly fire, and are restricted to three weapons (primary, secondary sidearm, and optional support weapon) and a small amount of grenades and stims. Excessive damage to specific limbs impairs their ability to function (crippled arms can't throw as far and have trouble aiming weapons, crippled legs slow you down, etc.). With limited exceptions, the priority is always on completing the mission over scoring "kills" or "points," and Helldiver teams must work together and pick their battles carefully to succeed -- particularly at higher levels of play. |
| 322 | * TakeCover: One "Brasch Tactics" video advises this, providing a very clear indication that Helldivers are woefully undertrained despite [[ElitesAreMoreGlamorous their supposed elite status]]. Players should probably still do it, though. |
| 323 | * TakeThat: |
| 324 | ** The entire game is one to the futility and impotence of American imperialism, but special mention goes to the [[https://twitter.com/helldivers2/status/1777058473311625238 "Mission Accomplished" poster]] following the [[DontCelebrateJustYet alleged]] victory over the Automatons. The phrase used and how flagrantly it was [[https://twitter.com/helldivers2/status/1777665666654306566 invalidated just two days later]] make it an obvious jab at the "Mission Accomplished" speech by George W. Bush during the Iraq War. |
| 325 | ** After a series of failures to stop the Automatons and Terminids, Super Earth declared that they were declaring a [[PunnyName Galactic War on Tyranny]] ([[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror GWOT]]), and that all fighting up to this point had merely been a "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_conducting_a_special_military_operation special military operation]]." |
| 326 | * TakingYouWithMe: |
| 327 | ** Assault Raiders have jetpacks that tend to explode on death, taking out any Helldivers near them. This is exacerbated by the Assault Raider's tendency to JumpJetPack into close range with the Helldivers to perform melee attacks. |
| 328 | ** Shriekers are AirborneMook Terminids with a decently-damaging swooping attack, but their most dangerous trait comes when they're killed while doing so, as the momentum turns their entire body into a deadly projectile that might one-shot any Helldiver it hits. |
| 329 | * TechTree: {{Averted|}}. There is no upgrade system for specific weapons and stratagems like the first game, instead having you collect various tiers of samples (common, rare, and super) in order to upgrade your CoolShip, which in turn enhances various aspects - such as reducing the cooldown for all Orbital stratagems. |
| 330 | * ThoseWereOnlyTheirScouts: As it turns out, the initial Automaton forces that gave the players such hell on places like Malevelon Creek were just the ''vanguard'' fleet. Helldivers forces celebrating a crushing victory against the bots in the Valdis Sector were soon overrun by the main fleet, which is comprised of tens of thousands of warships and quickly retook several worlds, including Cyberstan itself. ''[[UnderestimatingBadassery Super Earth really thought it would be that easy to keep Cyberstan down, did they]]?'' |
| 331 | * TriumphantReprise: A slightly more bombastic remix of "[[RecurringRiff A Cup of Liber-Tea]]" plays upon victory of a mission. |
| 332 | * TheTurretMaster: Players can be this if they so choose once they've unlocked enough turret strategems to fill out their list. Each turret has its own cooldown time so they can be paced out or all in the same area. Despite this its not recommended to go all in on turrets without team coordination as support weapons and strikes can save a Helldiver a lot of bother if used right and enemies tend to piroitize turrets once close enough as well as turrets not caring who's in the way meaning if you're not extra careful its all too easy for Helldivers and friendly turrets to get shot by an abundance of turrets. |
| 333 | * UnconsciousObjector: Even when disabled, many Automaton units will continue thrashing around as their cybernetic components try to execute the last commands they received. Very easily observed with the Berserkers. |
| 334 | * UnexpectedlyRealisticGameplay: While the game is not a hardcore simulator, there's still plenty in the game that would make perfect sense following real logic that might be unexpected for a co-operative third-person shooter like it, such as players being unable to check their map and stratagems at the same time because both are read off of the player's left hand, or players being able to be [[OneHitKill killed instantly]] from [[BoomHeadshot being struck in the head]]. Players can not only suffer damage from falling, but even be killed or damaged from being knocked through the air or having things crash into them. Then there's reloading, with tactical reloads (that is, reloading before the magazine is empty) for most weapons preserving the round in the chamber - unless the weapon fires from an open bolt. Your shots might even be deflected against enemy armor due to hitting them on an oblique angle, which is the reason for [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloped_armour sloped armor]] in reality. |
| 335 | * UnlockableContent: Equipment is unlocked by spending warbond medals on warbonds, and new stratagems are unlocked for purchase as you level up. Similarly, samples are used to upgrade your Super Destroyer, giving more incentive to players for taking on higher difficulty missions, as Rare and Super samples can only be found on difficulty 4+ and 7+ respectively. |
| 336 | * VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: Killing civilians during missions where you need to protect them as they move to evacuate or reach a more secure location will subtract from your rewards and prolong the mission, potentially resulting in getting overrun and failing entirely. |
| 337 | * WeaponRunningTime: |
| 338 | ** Offensive stratagems take anywhere from a second to twenty to call in. They're supposed to be aimed at the enemy, but in the chaos, a teammate can throw one down dangerously close, prompting a terrified scramble out of the way. Of particular note is the 500kg bomb, which has a one-second fuse--when it lands on the cliff you're on instead of the valley you aimed it at, you have just enough time for an OhCrap |
| 339 | ** Artillery--whether the SEAF's, the automaton's mortars, or the bugs' bile spewers -- takes many seconds of arcing through the sky to land. |
| 340 | ** In a volcanic eruption or meteor shower, you have just enough time to spot incoming rocks and dodge them. |
| 341 | * WeHaveReserves: |
| 342 | ** Justified with Automatons, as they are robots with RidiculouslyFastConstruction; literally any Automaton mission has at least some foundries that churn out troops ready to fight, so it isn't hard to realize the drops are from more established factories on the same planet. |
| 343 | ** One of the ship [=NPCs=] comments along the lines of "The existence of high fatality missions implies the existence of low fatality missions. And that's heart warming." |
| 344 | ** Another [=NPC=] will note that the cost of an average Helldiver mission exceeds that of a Liberty-class cruiser (with cruisers typically being larger ships than even the largest destroyers in real life). |
| 345 | ** You can have your character voice randomized to change each time you die on a mission, [[LampshadeHanging hanging a huge lampshade]] on the trope. To say nothing of how you can literally see the body of the previous "you" when the next "you" comes along. |
| 346 | * WeNeedADistraction: Enemy patrols like to home in on the objectives once Helldivers are there. On higher difficulties, this will inevitably result in a Bug Breach or Bot Drop. However, there can only be one ongoing Bug Breach or Bot Drop. Therefore, it is highly advised that one Helldiver becomes TheBait and purposefully [[DrawAggro alert a patrol far away from the objective.]] This will give those at the objective a lot more time to work with. |
| 347 | * WeWillSpendCreditsInTheFuture: The primary currency is Super Credits, given out for completing missions and spent on equipment. Also mentioned in NPC dialogue where it is made clear it is also used as currency by the populace to buy things. |
| 348 | * WeWillWearArmorInTheFuture: Notable as despite being capable of superluminal travel speeds, orbital bombardment, flawless cryogenics, instant healing through chemical injection, etc, power armor is extremely rare and limited. The overwhelming majority of armors that provide better protection do so simply by nailing more mass to the user. |
| 349 | * YouHaveResearchedBreathing: Some of the ship modules you can get include streamlining paperwork, providing hand carts, and applying superglue to your turrets to buff your stratagems. |
| 350 | * ZergRush: The Terminid's entire strategy. The threat they pose from individual weapons is almost nonexistent, with even Bile Titans being fairly manageable one on one for a Helldiver. But there's never just one. On higher difficulties the game notably throws a terrifying amount of [[TheGoomba the weakest Terminids]] at you, rather than simply replacing every enemy with stronger ones. |
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