What's New In Helldivers 2: Escalation of Freedom?

The first major update for Helldivers 2 called Escalation of Freedom added a ton of new content and made some hefty adjustments under the game’s hood. This content drop cranked up the difficulty on the upper end with new enemies, objectives, and a bunch of other stuff that Arrowhead is yet to reveal.

The Helldivers 2 Escalation of Freedom update is a huge one. There are a lot of things to grasp in this update, and while there’s nothing that’s too convoluted, there are quite a few changes that will have a major impact on gameplay. Here are all the important things you should know.

Helldivers 2 Needs a Loot Thief Enemy to Spark Sample Scavenging Suspense

There is presently no threat to Helldivers 2’s collected samples being left to loot later on and changing that could make such choices harrowing.

New Difficulty: Super Helldive

Fighting bugs in the Helldivers 2 Escalation of Freedom trailer

The call for a harder difficulty beyond Helldive has been answered, and thus Super Helldive was added to the game. True to the game’s fashion, Difficulty 10 throws even more enemies at players, making every encounter that much more overwhelming. Here, you will get a 300% EXP Boost (Difficulty 9 has a 250% modifier), more samples to extract, and more enemies to dismantle or turn into FTL fuel.

Given how the majority of players on max difficulty are often capped out on resources, there’s little point in doing Super Helldive if all you want is to join Helldivers 2’s grueling sample hunt. The EXP bonus is welcome, though, and Super Earth’s strongest soldiers can simply revel in the carnage and chaos that Difficulty 10 offers. However, increased enemy spawns isn’t the only challenge you can expect to face here.

Mega Nests and Fortresses

A Mega Nest in the Helldivers 2 Escalation of Freedom trailer

Super outposts called Mega Nests (Bugs) and Fortresses (Bots) will appear on Difficulty 10 missions, giving Helldivers an extra challenge to complete on the side. These are marked on the map, and you can often see them on the horizon as you’re trotting about. Mega Nests and Fortresses are basically amped-up outposts with more bits and bobs than usual. Bot Fortresses have cannons and detector towers, while Bug Mega Nests have more of everything.

Despite all that, both of these are still outposts at heart — they’re nothing that a good 380mm HE Barrage can’t solve. However, they’ll have either Automaton CPUs or Mutated Eggs that you can take home for even more samples.

Helldivers 2: Incendiary Weapons Should Only Be the Beginning

Since incendiary weapons were introduced in Helldivers 2 to set enemies aflame, then perhaps there’s room for more equipment with unique qualities.

New Enemies

A number of new enemy types across both factions were added in the Escalation of Freedom update. This includes Helldivers 2’s version of the Impaler from the first game. The new enemies included in this update are:

Impaler (Bug)
Spore Charger (Bug)
Alpha Commander (Bug)
- Spawns new Warrior variants
Rocket Tank (Bot)
Armored Rocket Strider (Bot)
New Jetpack Raiders (Bot)

These enemies may appear on lower difficulties, but expect to encounter them frequently on Super Helldive.

New Objectives

Retrieving a Terminid larva in Helldivers 2 Escalation of Freedom trailer

Players can expect to see new objectives across both fronts. For Terminids, there’s Larva Retrieval, where the squad needs to find and hand carry a Terminid Larva all the way back home while endless waves of bugs try to stop them. For Automatons, human processing plants containing Bio-Processors may appear on maps as high-value destruction targets.

For those who missed the past few major orders, the Automaton Orbital Cannon and Terminid Nursery Nuke missions are now available as permanent game modes. You can often find them when liberating (not defending) planets.

Helldivers 2 Fans Shouldn’t Sleep on Earth Defense Force 6

For fans of Helldivers 2’s co-op PvE action, Earth Defense Force 6 provides a new horde of alien robots and giant insects to slaughter with friends.

New Planet Biome and Environmental Hazard

Ongoing acid rain hazard in Helldivers 2

Escalation of Freedom added a fog-ridden version of the Swamp biome seen in Gacrux and similar planets. As far as map layout is concerned, this new biome is very similar to the others with its overgrown trees and large ponds. However, the fog makes visibility an issue, and even more so if you’re facing spore-spreading bugs.

Meanwhile, the Acid Rain hazard in corrosive planets now reduce the armor rating of all units on the map, including Helldivers. Here, players can get more value out of weapons like the Sickle in Helldivers 2, as the armor reduction will let that gun tear through heavier targets like Devastators and Hive Guards more easily. Also, corrosive planets no longer have the Extreme Heat modifier.

Notable Balance Changes

The update also came with some significant balance changes, including:

The Atmospheric Interference (increased Orbital Stratagem spread) has been removed.
Bot planets can now have the Poor Intel modifier, which hides the exact position of objectives on the map.
Gunship Engines are now less durable, and Gunship Patrols are now smaller and spawn less frequently.
The Shield Generator Pack and Shield Generator Relay now block effects like Sandstorms and Blizzards.
Kicked players will be sent to their own instance of the same mission as a form of grief protection.
The Slugger’s stagger force has been increased at the cost of slower handling and decreased accuracy at range.
The Flamethrower support weapon can no longer damage armored parts.
The Breaker Incendiary’s max ammo has been reduced from 6 to 4, and it’s recoil increased from 28 to 41.
The GP-31 Grenade Pistol’s max ammo has been reduced from 8 to 6, but it now gets 4 ammo from ammo boxes.
Orbital Walking Barrage now moves slower and fires 5 salvos (up from 3).
The CB-9 Exploding Crossbow is now one-handed.
Orbital 120mm HE Barrage’s now has a 180s cooldown (from 240s), and the time between salvos has been reduced.