GamesThird Person ShooterHelldivers 2Just days after saving the children, Helldivers 2 players are ordered to annihilate bug children in a weeklong nuke-a-thonWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

GamesThird Person ShooterHelldivers 2Just days after saving the children, Helldivers 2 players are ordered to annihilate bug children in a weeklong nuke-a-thonWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

helldivers 2 democratic detonation

Helldivers 2 celebrated a moral victory last week when the community made the collective decision tosave scores of innocent Super Earth childreninstead of unlocking a new stratagem. Taking strike three on the Anti-Tank Mines suggests wereallymust not care about new forms of minefields, but it’s also a sign that the Helldivers player base has a soft spot for kids. Well,humankids.

In a cruel and unfortunately funny inversion of fates, Super Earth’s newest major order is to wipe millions of Terminid children off the face of the galaxy.

“Reduce the Terminid population and clear planets for citizen settlement, utilizing the new Hive Breaker Drill to cleanse their nurseries,” reads themajor order.

The Hive Breaker Drill mission I played today at level 7 called for the culling of three nurseries on opposite ends of the map. The nurseries themselves look like huge nests with lots of bug spawners. At the center of the nest, a prompt to call down the Hive Breaker appears. A pelican drops a cargo box on the battlefield and the drill neatly unpacks itself in place. After a quick activation, the drill barrels its on-board nuke deep into the underground nursery, detonating after a 10-second countdown.

A drawing gifted to the helldivers from Super Earth’s children.(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

helldivers 2

The new mission was also my first extended time with last week’s big balancing patch. I’m really liking the buffs to machine guns and non-explosive stratagems—auto turrets and gatling strikes really pack a punch now—but what stood out more than anything is how relatively chill that level 7 mission felt. Do lower spawn rates for Bile Titans and Chargers make Helldivers 2 a bit easier? Yes, but all Arrowhead has really done is reduce the need for cheesy strategies at higher levels.

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For the first time since launch, I don’t feel pressured to always have an all-powerful Orbital Laser or Railcannon in my loadout. I’m also seeing fewer frustrating scenarios where enemies spawn at unbelievable rates and the whole mission snowballs out of control. Even still, my squad of randoms completed that Hive Breaker mission with no spare respawns.

The major order asks for a deep cleaning of five planets (Hellmire, Nivel 43, Estanu, Crimsica, Fori Prime) in a week. With just under five days remaining, divers are making steady progress with nearly two planets liberated.

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