First details on Helldivers 2 co-op and combat gameplay

Greetings, future Helldivers. It’s Katherine, Arrowhead’s social media and community manager, back again to bring you new Helldivers 2 gameplay details: a more in-depth look at our cooperative play* and combat. 

Gearing up

After your Helldiver defrosts on your ship, you and your squadmates must prepare for a mission by customizing your armor, your weapons, and your stratagems together. 

Creating your loadout feels like part of the mission prep: changing your weapon to suit not only your appetite for destruction but the mission and enemy types you might encounter. Your greatest aids as a Helldiver are stratagems: powerful tools that can be summoned with short button combinations. Everything from airstrikes to Hellpods containing bigger, badder weapons to defensive gear and extra supplies are at your fingertips.

When selecting stratagems, it’ll be essential to coordinate with your team to select the best possible load-outs for the enemies and mission type. If you’re going up against armored enemies, like the Terminid Charger, you or a squadmate can equip armor-piercing weapons, like the AT-48 Recoilless Rifle or the AC-8 Autocannon, which feature a teammate-assisted reload to keep battles even more chaotic.

But don’t sleep on those defensive stratagems either. While one Helldiver is handling the heavy fire, another Helldiver can call down a shield generator to protect teammates as the enemies push back. In a four-person team, you’ll be able to select a mix of stratagems and weapons that will lead to a unique victory every time.

Ready for action

Once your Hellpod lands on a planet, you can start calling in support stratagems, which include more powerful weapons, shield generators, and supply backpacks.

Each member of your squad can play according to their own style: some of you will charge into the fight, others will call down a sniper rifle stratagem and maintain a safe distance while picking off the enemies. You can even sneak past encounters if your team moves carefully. You’re all free to decide how you want to spread Managed Democracy: up close and personal, or with tactical oversight.

Of course, once the action really picks up, get used to dying. Not only are the enemy hordes relentless, but you might run into some stray bullets from your fellow Helldivers. Either way, it’s your team’s first priority to use a Reinforce stratagem to call your brand new Helldiver down to the planet to pick up right where you left off. You can even grab the guns your previous corpse left behind.

There’s not only cooperative combat, but you’ll have cooperative objectives to tackle with your team as well. You’ll be able to share locations with each other and move together across the map. You’ll also encounter optional objectives to complete, requiring a small detour with your teammates, and of course, requiring more ammunition. But you’ll be rewarded for your efforts.

That’s it for now, soldier. Get ready to give ‘em hell! 

Helldivers 2 launches on PS5 and PC this year.

*Gameplay requires internet access and paid for PlayStation Plus membership (sold separately) on PS5. PlayStation Plus membership subject to recurring subscription fee taken automatically until cancellation. Age restrictions apply. Full terms: play.st/psplus-usageterms.