Helldivers 2 fans must unite for the game’s best Stratagem & burn every bug in the galaxy

While most Helldivers 2 players are eagerly awaiting the game’s 60-day update to see if it brings back lapsed fans and makes the game feel as fun as it did at launch, they still have a job to do. The Second Galactic War rages on, and we need to get back to strategizing about how we tackle them.

At the time of writing, the current Major Order in Helldivers 2 tasks players with killing 100 million Warriors and 45 million Bile Spewers in Terminid planets. This shouldn’t be too tricky because, as a community, we’ve slaughtered 100 million Terminids in just 3 hours before. However, there’s a secondary element to the Major Order that’s split the community down the middle, and they’re not making progress on either front.

While players could focus all their attention on the Terminid objective, the secondary objective is way too tempting. If they manage to liberate Tarsh and Mastia, two worlds currently under Automaton control, then they’ll be given the Orbital Napalm Barrage Stratagem. I’m sure this is only for the duration of the Major Order, but that doesn’t matter. I and many other players want to get our hands on that Stratagem so they can set Terminid worlds aflame and boss the Major Order goals.

Unfortunately, not every Helldivers 2 player wants the same thing. In fact, it seems as though some players aren’t even aware that they could get this incredibly powerful Stratagem to help us clean up the rest of the Major Order.

It’s been three days, and Tarsh and Mastia still require liberation. There are 8,000 Helldivers in the Automaton system trying to get this Stratagem, but there are 12,000 in the Terminid system just hammering the Major Order.

In the past, they’ve coordinated so well that we’ve been able to make Game Master Joel bend the rules in Helldivers 2 in the past. The community has also worked together so well that it’s actively dodged Stratagems and inadvertently saved the game’s fictional children from annihilation.

Now, though, when I log in to play or check out the Helldivers 2 subreddit, it feels like they couldn’t plan a piss-up in a pub. The problem is twofold in my eyes. First, there’s a genuine lack of coordination because there are fewer players in the game. That’s a symptom of many waiting to see what the upcoming major update does to balance the game and make it enjoyable to play once more.

The second issue is pretty simple to understand. I even fall into this trap myself sometimes. Killing Terminids is just too much fun. Terminid missions feel easier, especially if you have an incendiary weapon as your primary. They explode in a satisfying fountain of green blood, and they don’t have red lasers that light up the screen so much you can’t see or flying drones that spawn camp your reinforcements.

I understand the pitfalls they’re falling into as a community. Honestly, all I want to do is fight bugs and have a fun time. But we need to get out of this funk where we keep missing each other and just work together again.

With just over a day left on the current Major Order, my hope is that enough Helldivers 2 fans swoop in and free those Automaton planets so players have the ability to set an entire planet on fire with napalm and burn bugs faster than ever.

This Stratagem is more than just a bomb with more fire than you’ve ever seen in Helldivers 2. It’s a symbol of our determination. This Major Order is deliberately awkward, forcing players into the two camps they’ve always been split between: Bug Divers and Bot Divers. Right now, players need to be Helldivers if they’re going to be in a fit state for the major update patch notes on September 17, 2024.