Helldivers 2: How to prepare for Super Helldive difficulty (Level 10)

With the addition of the Super Helldive difficulty in Helldivers 2, the stakes will be raised and the mayhem will be much more intense. Difficulty 9– Helldive– is already a tough one to deal with, so we’ll go over how you can prepare for this.

How to prepare for the Super Helldive in Helldivers 2

The following are things to accomplish and will take time to get used to, as the progression into later difficulties can be quite steep and dramatic.

Reach Level 25

Upon reaching level 25 in this game, you can basically purchase any Stratagem you want at your Ship Management terminal. You just need the right amount of Requisition Slips to do so. Having everything available to you will allow you to have more variety as you dive into the harder difficulties. 

For example, if you’re going up against the Automatons, a Flamethrower won’t really suffice. You’ll want something more ranged and devastating, like an Anti-Materiel Rifle or a Quasar Cannon.

In short, reach level 25 and buy all the Stratagems so you can find the right loadout as you get closer to Super Helldive.

Do not stick to one ‘meta’ loadout

Yes, there are items that are clearly more powerful and versatile than others in this game. However, with the number of modifiers, enemy variants, and other variables in the mix, those meta loadouts can be the reason why you fail a mission. 

Since this game is always changing and receiving balance patches, it’s a good idea to get used to playing with different kinds of loadouts. As mentioned earlier in the Flamethrowers against Automatons example, you should get a general idea of what to put during your pre-mission setup.

Unless you’re in a coordinated squad, you should bring a generalist loadout to deal with armored units, light mobs, and outposts. Specialist roles only really work if you can actually communicate with a team. 

Explore your missions more

You’re rewarded for exploring in Helldivers 2. Don’t just jump into a mission, complete the main objective, and extract. The maps are huge and have a bunch of smaller objectives to complete. 

Take out bug hives, Automaton fabricators, bases, or just other enemy outposts. You get rewarded more XP and you’ll find items that will benefit you in the long run. Go find those Minor Places of Interest and loot out everything you can from them. Samples, Super Credits, Req Slips, just take them all. 

You’re going to need the Samples, in particular, to get better stuff down the line. Doing main objectives and extracting will barely yield anything other than XP and Req Slips.

Ramp the difficulty up to 6 and higher

Adding onto the previous tip, start getting accustomed to harder difficulties. The mobs will be denser and the frequency of armored targets will be much higher. It’ll pay off, though. 

Through all the countless deaths you may experience, there are more things to be collected in each mission, namely, the Super Samples. If you ever find that rock that resembles the shape of a keyhole, that’s where the Super Uranium (Samples) are. Gather all of them and extract them successfully.

Don’t skip out on Ship Modules

Much like Stratagems, just buy them all. You get better cooldowns, full ammo, better damage output, and lots of quality-of-life improvements on your Stratagems by upgrading your Ship Modules. 

However, as you further progress through each section of these modules, you’ll need a lot more Samples and Req Slips to get new upgrades. 

Pay attention to Planetary Effects!

This is one that many players, even at higher difficulties, don’t pay attention to. It’s important that you do because you can plan around the negative effects and in some cases, use them to your advantage. 

In particular, weather modifiers like heat or cold can be mitigated by changing your armor and weapons. 

It’s okay to run away

The amount of firepower we have is not enough to deal with the countless hordes of enemies we face, even with a meta loadout. Should you ever find yourself engaged with a patrol of enemies and they call in reinforcements, just run.

Save your ammo and lives. It’s better to lose a minute or two running away than a few lives and your support weapons.

You do NOT have to kill every enemy you see

To add to the previous point, ammo and resources are scarce. If you fight every single enemy you see, you’ll run out of time and get nothing done. Patrols can be avoided entirely if you know how to navigate around them. 

You only really have to kill enemies that get in the way of objectives and when waiting for extraction at the end of your missions.

As you start to get more familiar with how the harder difficulties work in Helldivers 2, the transition from 6 and onward won’t feel so rough. The transition to 9 is going to be steep, but it’ll prepare you for 10 once it’s here.