Illuminate reinforcements will come in via teleportation
This is to contrast with the other two factions' methods of spawning reinforcements. Bug Breaches come from under as the bugs tunnel from the ground, and Bot Drops come from above via the use of Dropships. The only direction left to spawn from that isn't on the ground axis plane is "through", i.e. teleporting into the area. The Illuminates are supporting the other factions by proxy
After their defeat and eviction from the galaxy by the Federation, the Illuminates were unable to regroup and replenish themselves by the time of the sequel. Instead, they’re the ones providing the Cyborgs and their Automatons with new weaponry and advantages and are helping the Terminids keep their hold on certain planets by promoting their reproduction and permanence. Unable to fight directly, they’re attacking Super Earth by proxy until they’re ready to stage another invasion.The Automatons will come back
Turns out, the Helldivers didn’t kill all of the Automatons and in reality, the Automatons have been hiding and sending small forces to Cyberstan, with newer updates reintroducing the Automatons and make them an enemy faction again.- Same troper here, turns out I was right, the Automatons fought in Creek were just a vanguard and they are back.
The reinforcement system exists in-universe
It can be handwaved away that the player respawning after getting killed is just video game logic and that you don't need to think too hard about it. However, there may be some evidence that there may be an actual reason for this in the context of the game. One of the stipulations of the Helldiver contract in the tutorial states that they may be used in experiments as part of their service and some of the armors show Super Earth has no problems replacing Helldiver's limbs with cybernetics. My theory is that all Helldivers are fitted with some kind of brain implant that wirelessly transmits their experiences either to a database on their super destroyer or even directly to the next diver that takes their place, allowing them to take advantage of what knowledge they gained.As to where all these extra bodies come from? My guess is that either they are all clones of the original Helldiver, or they are different recruits who have their personalities augmented or even outright overridden by the one who came before them. The latter would certainly explain the randomization option.
There will be a human enemy faction in the future
The return of the Illuminates is a near certainty and won't come as any great surprise. But what would be a surprise would be a faction composed of humans revolting against Super Earth, probably composed primarily of traitor SEAF troops wielding similar weapons to what the Helldivers are familiar with. Such a faction could also plausibly emerge close to Super Earth itself, leading to battles on the core planets or even on Super Earth itself.While the obvious motivation would be some sort of freedom fighters, the Automatons' ideology already fills that role. Instead, I theorize that this faction would be a fanatical religious order with an ideology akin to the Imperium of Man, their faith and devotion serving as a mirror to Super Earth's patriotism and nationalism.
The average Super Earth citizen makes gun nuts look normal
There are clear indications that Helldiver training in II is literally just the ten-minute tutorial. However, with no teamwork practice and almost no weapon proficiency to their names, actually giving Helldivers all of those different fancy support weapons and stratagems to use would probably be more of a danger to themselves than their enemies and Helldivers' budgets might actually be better served just throwing more of them at their objective instead of handing them more powerful weaponry with which they would probably only kill themselves and/or their compatriots. Despite this, Helldivers are consistently effective at loading and handling any weapon they can pick up, even under the stress of fierce close-combat. While this could simply be Gameplay and Story Segregation, it could also be an implication that a Super Earth citizen's basic education is so militarized that most citizens are so thoroughly trained with weaponry that the label Everyone Is Armed rather understates what their civilians are capable of wielding. As Super Earth are flagrantly fascist and have no compulsions against making use of anyone at the age of seven and over, it might not be atypical of them to have all of their citizens militarily trained so thoroughly that induction into the SEAF or Helldivers might practically be just a formality compared to what the civilians have already practiced, and it would explain why the average Helldiver doesn't always kill their entire squad once they actually shoot any of the more exotic support weapons.Arrowhead is preparing to add Master Assaults into the second game
With massive offensives now underway on both fronts (the Reclamation on the Automaton side and the TCS failure on the Terminid side) and the clear indication that new enemies can be added quickly into the game (Factory Striders, Gunships, Shriekers), it's only a matter of time before we are introduced to the Terminid Hive Lord and Automaton Siege Mech, who will only be able to be fought in high-level Boss Battle missions like before.