Ever since Helldivers 2’s explosive launch on PC and PlayStation 5, players have had two alien factions to battle against: the terrifying robot Automatons and the brutal bug-like Terminids.
One ongoing theme coursing through the wonderful metanarrative that is Helldivers 2’s Galactic War is that the wider player base enjoys playing against the bugs more than the bots. This debate surfaces whenever a Major Order — Helldivers 2’s time-limited, community-wide missions – revolves around battling on Automaton planets. And almost every time, try as it might, the hardcore Helldivers 2 community that fusses over the success of the Galactic War can’t quite wrestle the majority of players over to the Western Front.
It’s happening again now, after Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead granted a bonus to planet liberation, but only if training facilities on Automaton planets (Vernen Wells) liberated in the prior Major Order remain under Super Earth control.
The problem is, most Helldivers 2 players are perfectly happy playing on bug planets, putting Vernen Wells, and thus the bonus liberation, at risk. Players have a number of theories why this sort of thing happens. The lack of in-game communication is certainly a valid suggestion. Helldivers 2 itself does not flag to players that Vernen Wells is a particularly important planet for players to focus on right now, so most won’t be aware it’s in need of attention. Players have called on Arrowhead to add more in-game communication to help drive the wider player-base to Major Order-focused planets, rather than rely on social media posts and the likes of Discord and Reddit.
But, as many Helldivers 2 players have also suggested, the simple truth is many players prefer fighting against the bugs. The Terminids are, after all, the alien faction that realizes the Starship Troopers fantasy Helldivers 2 so heavily leans upon. And bugs are just a lot more squishy than their metal clad counterparts. On the harder difficulties, all Helldivers 2 missions can be nightmarish. But the Terminids are thought of as being more easy going than the Automatons.
Then there’s Automaton fatigue. The bots were the recent focus of a Major Order, so asking players to keep on top of bot planets when they might fancy a change is a tall order. In short, there’s no single reason at play for the Helldivers 2 community’s clear preference for Terminids, but the overriding sense is bugs are just more fun.
So, what’s to be done? Some Helldivers 2 players are now calling on Arrowhead to make fighting against the bots more rewarding by dishing out bonuses of some kind. There are also suggestions that planet liberation should be tweaked to reflect the number of players fighting in a system at any given moment. Arrowhead, fresh from the all-encompassing PSN debacle it is now trying to move on from, has said it will take its time to focus on game balance, among other things. Perhaps some user interface tweaks are also in order.
“I think it’s time to admit Automatons need a carrot dangled above them for players to touch the Western Front,” redditor CouldBeBetterTBH suggested. “We just got a galaxy-wide buff not even two days ago and we’re already going to lose part of it in 13 hours because no one likes the bots. 90k Divers online and 60k are on Terminid worlds.
“What else can we do at this point besides cheat the game-rules and add some kind of Medal/Sample multiplier effect onto Automaton planets? Nobody wants to play against the Bots, we are always the minority of the playerbase and keep failing all of our Orders and keep losing planets because nobody wants to touch our worlds with a 100-mile long pole.
“Something needs to draw players onto this side of the Galactic Map or else we’re never going to make any progress in the West unless Joel keeps tweaking the numbers and throwing pity wins at us every single time the Automatons become a focus or even a part of a Major Order.”
Whatever your preference, Helldivers 2 is a smash hit, becoming Sony’s fastest-ever selling PlayStation game. It shifted an astonishing 12 million copies in just 12 weeks after going on sale, and has continued to push hard with its live service elements.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
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