Helldivers 2 is a game that revolves around co-op across various levels of difficulty, some really hard. The PC and PlayStation 5 shooter is designed to be played with teammates who join forces to complete missions set on planets infested with alien bugs or overrun by terrifying robots. Helldivers 2 is always wonderful fun, but it can also be a brutal experience. That’s where Skull Admiral .atasu comes in.
It began with a reddit post. “I am that level 50 guy,” declared .atasu, using the Mountain-Leader2722 reddit name. Yep, level 50, after more than 200 hours of play just a month after Helldivers 2’s explosive launch. Having unlocked pretty much everything the game has to offer and with Super Credits the only resource of value left to farm, .atasu went in search of a more rewarding experience. He found it shining bright on the galaxy map.
In Helldivers 2, players can use an SOS Beacon Stratagem to call for help, like firing a flare high into the sky except in this case viewable from orbit. Doing so displays your lobby on the galaxy map alongside a ping. “I like answering distress calls,” said .atasu in the reddit post.
Other redditors remembered playing with someone going by the name Skull Admiral .atasu, confirming the story. “I’ve ran with you too, couple of weeks ago when I was a level 32,” said Mucking_Fagical. “You came onto my ship after the game, ‘Blade of the Stars’ probably don’t remember me, but I appreciate you saving my arse on that hellhole of a mission. My first venture into level eight and two guys had left, called down an SOS Beacon and five minutes later you came in like a pissed off Master Chief and made those emotionless bots learn fear. Now I’m a Skull Admiral too and kept with me what I learned from you that very night, pleasure diving with you.”
Speaking to IGN in a follow-up interview, 28-year-old .atasu explained how he now plays Helldivers 2. “If I’m on an SOS run, I start with level 3-4 difficulty,” he said. “If everything till level nine is free of SOS signals, I start my own level 5-7 operation, so anyone in a search for a group could join and after we can go to higher difficulties.” Once out in the field, .atasu helps other players by providing them with high-tier equipment, tips, and completing objectives. Some of Helldivers 2’s best Stratagems are restricted to high-level players (the recently released mech Stratagem is available to buy at level 25). But you can call them in during a mission and let your teammates use them instead.
If .atasu joins a group of three players clearly struggling, he’ll sometimes head towards the main objective, clearing all the places of interest he comes across and saving all the samples he finds. Once the objective is complete, he’ll head to the extraction zone and tell his teammates they’re free to do whatever they’d like with the remaining time. He’ll wait for them.
Helldivers 2 doesn’t do a great job of explaining how it works, perhaps deliberately so on the part of the developers at Arrowhead. So .atasu often finds himself dishing out tips like a live tutorial narrator. He said he’s helped players understand key mechanics not covered in the basic training, pointing out on multiple occasions that resources found by players are shared. He’ll even teach players how to drop things, how to switch weapon mods, and how to complete certain tasks such as the E-710 minigame that activates pumps. .atasu works as a private tutor in real life, so is already used to helping others learn. “It is very rewarding,” he told IGN. “Also, I remember being a cadet and trying to figure out how to kill a Charger [perhaps Helldivers 2’s toughest enemy]. Now if I see someone struggling with something, I try to reach out and help them.”
Most players, .atasu has found, are initially hesitant to use the high-tier gear he offers them after dropping into their game. To break the ice, he’ll sometimes play a game of rock, paper scissors using Helldivers 2’s emote system. During one rescue mission, .atasu decided to make things just a little bit more fun by using the rock, paper, scissors emote to decide which teammate would activate a Hellbomb [big boom objective specific Stratagem].
.atasu said he’s already answered over 100 SOS signals already. Feedback is positive so far, both in and out the game. Like a 500KG bomb, .atasu’s reddit post blew up, with some players getting in touch directly. On the battlefield, .atasu gets the occasional message of thanks. (“Sometimes people say or write in a chat things like ‘thank you’, or ‘HELL YEAH’.”) .atasu has even started streaming his adventures on Twitch, where there’s already plenty of footage of his rescue operations.
But .atasu is keeping his boots firmly on the ground. “I want to clarify, I’m not flawless,” he said. “I usually kill myself with my Scorcher a few times per operation. And the best thing is when someone you came to help aids you and saves you from a Bile Titan that suddenly appears behind you.”
If .atasu’s exploits sound familiar, it’s probably because they rekindle memories of Let Me Solo Her, the hero who became legend for standing outside the doorway to Elden Ring’s most difficult boss, Malenia, and offering to take her down on behalf of players who were struggling to do it themselves. .atasu has a long way to go before achieving the same status as Let Me Solo Her, but word is spreading. From aboard the Song of Redemption, the hero of Helldivers 2 watches for SOS Beacons, ready to save the day. Perhaps one day, he’ll save you.
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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