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All Helldivers to Hell Pods, it’s time to suit up and enter the dropzone inHelldivers 2. A massively successful follow-up to the original which was plenty popular in its own right, Helldivers 2 has taken the Indie scene by absolute storm, and rightly so.
Combining brutal third-person shooter combat with tactical squad gameplay mechanics on hostile alien worlds in short 30-minute bursts was a winning mix for Arrowhead and it shows. There’s plenty to do on those drops and with a multitude of difficulty modifiers the war and battles you dive into are ever-changing. So for newbie divers and old vets alike looking to spice up their next drops, here are all Helldiver 2 difficulty levels, explained.
How Many Difficulty Levels Does Helldivers 2 Have?
On top of havingrandom mission objectivesthat are rotated out on each drop to keep fights relatively fresh, Helldivers 2 also pulls more toys out of the box when you startcranking up that difficulty level. In total, there arenine difficulty levelsand we’ll go through them in a moment but it’s worth knowing why it’s worth making things harder for your squad.
For example, the most notable change is that you’ll have tocomplete more difficult tasks, and extra secondary objectives and there will also be a lot ofadditional side distractionsto complete in your zone. The other big change is thatthe enemy horde gets absolutely juicedthe further up the difficulty scale you go.
WithSuicide and Helldive difficulty being recommended only for endgamehigh level players as it throws an absolutely ungodly amount of enemies at you. Which is great as it encourages you totweak your loadoutand trynew weapons and builds.
Helldivers 2 Difficulty Levels Explained
As previously mentioned there arenine difficulty levels in totaland we’ll go through each one and what they change about the base game. To increase your difficulty level you’ll need tohit a level prerequisitewhilst also playing at least once on that difficulty level.
It will take you a little while tounlock all of the difficulty levelsas they’re not open right out of the gate. But it’s a good choice from the developers as iteases you into the game, lets you earnstronger gear, and gets you used to the mechanics at different paces as yougradually scale things up. Here’s what each difficulty level in Helldivers 2 brings to the table:
Medium
Objective
Primary Objective, Allied Tactical Objective, Secondary Objective. Permanent Optional Tactical Objective.
Small Enemy Patrols, Heavy Armored Units, Light and Medium Outposts.
Challenging
Primary Objective, Allied Tactical Objective, Secondary Objective, Enemy Tactical Objective. Optional Objectives marked in Blue.
Enemy Patrols, Heavy Armored Units, Light, Medium and Heavy Outposts.
Rewards
Three Medals for First, Five for Second, Common and Rare Samples.
Hard
Enemy Presence
Enemy Patrols, Heavy Armored Units,Hulks, Titans and Large Units, Light, Medium and Heavy Outposts.
Four Medals for First, Six for Second, Eight for Third. Common and Rare Samples.
Modifiers
One Operation Modifier.
Operation Modifiers addbuffs or penalties to a mission. Such as weather, extra Stratagems, or othergameplay-changing additions.
Extreme
Enemy Patrols, Heavy Armored Units, Hulks, Titans and Large Units, Light, Medium and Heavy Outposts.
Five Medals for First, Seven for Second, Nine for Third. Common and Rare Samples.
With each difficulty scalethe number of objectives also increases. Whilst it may not change in our table, in-game it means you havemore things to dobefore extracting.
Suicide
Patrols increase in size and number, Heavily Armored Units, Titans and Hulks, Light, Medium, and Heavy Outposts.
Six Medals for First, Eight For Second, Ten for Third. Common, Rare, and Super Samples.
At Suicide Difficulty, you will start encounteringSuper Samplesto recover. You will need these,collect themwhenever you can.
Impossible
Patrols increase in size and number again, Heavily Armored Units, Titans and Hulks, Light, Medium, and Heavy Outposts.
Seven for First, Ten for Second, Twelve for Third. Common, Rare, and Super Samples.
Helldive
Patrols increase in maximum size and number, Heavily Armored Units, Titans and Hulks, Light, Medium, and Heavy Outposts.
Eight for First, Eleven for Second, and Fourteen for Third. Common, Rare, and Super Samples.
Two Operation Modifiers.
To change your difficulty settings just go tothe world map on the bridgeand you’ll see that it can be switched with a button press.
