Just as the Helldivers 2 community was trying to make sense of mysterious cloaked ships and get to grips with a balance-changing update that adds new planetary hazards, players found more additions to the game developer Arrowhead failed to announce up front in the patch notes.
Spoilers for Helldivers 2 follow.
The Automatons, Helldivers 2’s alien robot faction, now have new aerial gunships at their disposal. These were signaled in flavor text from a recently completed Major Order, and are causing havoc on the battlefield by firing deadly red lasers from above. Thankfully, the aerial gunships can be destroyed, although you’ll need sufficiently powerful weaponry to do so. Heavy duty Stratagems such as the Expendable Anti-Tank and the recently released Quasar Cannon appear to be well-suited to dealing with the aerial gunships. The Spear looks handy, too.
Aerial gunships aren’t the only stealth drop added to the game. Players have also come up against imposing AT-AT-style quadruped tanks. Based on early reports, these beasts take a hell of a lot of punishment, so be prepared to drop the odd Orbital Laser or two when you take one on.
The bots have AT-ATs now !! pic.twitter.com/mBjwyBnKPr
— Helldivers 2 Media (@Helldiversmedia) April 2, 2024
These fun additions are all part of the ongoing Helldivers 2 live service, and tie into its wonderful meta narrative driven by Game Master Joel. Yesterday, April 1, Arrowhead delivered a new Major Order to Helldivers 2 players, giving them a 24-hour window to finally take back Malevelon Creek, the Automaton map dubbed ‘Space Vietnam’ by fans. The planet was liberated in only about five hours. Today, April 2, Arrowhead launched a new Major Order to fend off the Automaton counterattack. Now we know the bots are not messing about.
Meanwhile, it appears Arrowhead made another fun change to Helldivers 2 with today’s patch that it failed to disclose: post-game gore. As players have reported, and IGN has witnessed in-game, Helldivers are now bringing blood and guts back with them when they return from a mission, proudly displayed on armor.
If you’re looking for more on Helldivers 2, check out IGN’s feature on the Let Me Solo Her of Helldivers 2, a player who has answered over 100 SOS Beacons as part of a mission to help others.
Helldivers 2 has become one of the surprise hits of 2024 since launching in February, topping the charts on Steam and reportedly selling around three million copies. According to at least one analyst, it’s still growing. Check out IGN’s Helldivers 2 review to find out why it’s going down so well.
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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