Helldivers 2: How to Use the Supply Pack Stratagem

Calling in an airstrike or barrage may sound like the perfect way of clearing out enemies in Helldivers 2, but what do you do when your offensive stratagems are on cooldown? You will need to shift to your primary and support weapons, which use up a lot of ammunition when facing hordes of enemies on higher-difficulty missions.

This is where the Supply Pack stratagem comes into play in Helldivers 2. It can be unlocked at level 5 at the cost of 4,000 Requisition points from the Engineering Bay. The Supply Pack gives you and your teammates easy access to ammunition and supplies, but that does not mean you should be giving out extra mags and grenades every second. Understanding how supply boxes work and when to resupply will give you an upper hand during skirmishes.

How to Use a Supply Pack in Helldivers 2

The Supply Pack is a backpack that contains a total of four supply boxes in Helldivers 2. Essentially, you become a mobile resupply crate, handing out ammunition, grenades, and stims to the entire team when needed.

Do note that you use a single supply box every time you resupply. Since you only have up to four supply boxes at a time, always keep an eye on the distinct yellow boxes on your back to confirm how many more times you can resupply.

• While wearing a Supply Pack, approach a teammate and press E/X on a PC/PS5 to resupply them. It’s the same as healing other players.
• To resupply yourself in Helldivers 2, press 5 on your keyboard or down on the D-pad on your controller.

You can refill your Supply Pack by picking up supply boxes from either the Resupply Pods or the ground. Your own ammo needs to be full before your backpack restocks a supply box. Hence, let the player with the Supply Pack take all the ammo.

The best way to efficiently use a Supply Pack is to understand when to use it. This means knowing how much ammunition, grenades, or stims a single supply box restores. There is no point in resupplying players who are down a couple of mags. You will be wasting a whole supply box, which can be far more helpful to a player who is on his last mag.

A single supply box restores the following in Helldivers 2:

• All the empty mags of your primary and secondary weapons.
• Half the empty mags of your support weapon.
• 2x Grenades.
• 2x Stims.

You can confirm whether a player needs to be resupplied if their icons are flashing red in the bottom-left corner of the screen. That, however, is a bit subjective. Helldivers 2 has a habit of keeping important details vague. The red icons only mean that the player has used up around half of his ammunition, and with ammo boxes turning up frequently at points of interest on the map, you might want to save up a supply box or two for a difficult objective ahead.

Supply Packs do not refill half-empty mags currently in use. Hence, reload all of your weapons to gain an extra mag.

Do not equip any other backpack stratagem during the loadout phase if you want to use the Supply Pack in Helldivers 2. You can only wear one backpack in the game and calling in an Autocannon, for example, will force you to choose either the Supply Pack or the Autocannon Backpack. Choosing the former will make the Autocannon inefficient, which is otherwise one of the best anti-tank weapons in Helldivers 2.

What’s the Difference Between Supply Packs and Resupply Pods in Helldivers 2?

With the number of recruits joining the Galactic War in Helldivers 2, there are bound to be many players who confuse Supply Packs with Resupply Packs. Since both of them offer the same four supply boxes, what makes them different?

Firstly, the Supply Pack is a stratagem that you unlock in the game. Resupply Packs are available by default and do not take any slots. They are part of your loadout, the same as Reinforcements. Supply Packs, though, need to be equipped.

Secondly, Resupply Pods are stationary. You have to go to their summoned locations to be resupplied, which can be risky during combat. On the other hand, players wearing Supply Packs can keep resupplying their squad on the go.

Together, the Supply Pack and Resupply Pod can mean an endless supply of ammo and stims in a complete four-player team. That, however, requires the whole team to manage their resources and play around their cooldowns. So do not call in a Resupply Pod when you have a full Supply Pack, or if there is ammo nearby. That would be wasting four supply boxes which could be used in an emergency.