Summary
Congratulations are in order forHelldivers 2players achieving a swift liberation of Penta and awarding themselves the RL-77 Airburst Rocket Launcher. But while this major order’s rewards and stipulations were a terrific exercise, it was debatably one-sided from the beginning and highlights an inherent concern regarding such player choice inHelldivers 2.
Helldivers 2’s RL-77 Airburst Rocket Launcher wasn’t Everyone’s Stratagem of Choice
On the one hand, whichever stratagem reward was bound to win was always going to be a majority vote and therefore it’d seem as if the one most people wanted was earned. On the other hand, any individual player who wanted the MD-17 Anti-Tank Mines and fell into the minority vote may have never been able to turn the tide on their own and ever have a chance of winning it. This decision was always going to come down to which side of players could reach a majority quicker than the other.
Anyone who was fighting for theAnti-Tank Mines instead of the Airburst Rocket Launcherdidn’t get the stratagem of their choosing, for instance, and no matter how much managed democracy they spread in that time it wouldn’t have changed that unless a large portion of the already-established majority had suddenly began working away at liberatingHelldivers 2’s Choohe. With any luck, the Anti-Tank Mines will become available later on inHelldivers 2somehow, but having that be one of the next stratagem drops would be a huge mistake.
Helldivers 2 Players Need to Sleep in the Bed They’ve Collectively Made
The Choohe/Penta major order would now lack all the consequence and weight it previously possessed if players were idly given the losing stratagem immediately after, even if it appeased those who are upset that the Anti-Tank Mines hadn’t been won. But because it’s seemingly already fully designed and ready to be shipped inHelldivers 2if it was up for grabs as a major order reward, it would be absurd to thinkdeveloper Arrowheadhas no plans whatsoever to offer the losing stratagem at some point down the line.
Therefore, this ‘choice’ may be far less important than it initially seems, even if it’s incredibly arresting and certainly got many players to pick a side. The major order also had a far shorter time limit for completion, meaning that a choice needed to be made as soon as possible while players worked tirelessly tofirst liberate the Lacaille sector’s Lesath system. Even so, decisive and divisive major orders could be here to stay as they are one of the more brilliant goal designs and encourage active play.
Helldivers 2’s Choohe Never Stood a Chance
Players can normally depend on the community at large to work on major orders without them actually contributing to them, yet theChoohe/Penta major orderwas a great way of making it seem vital that every player participates if they wanted a chance for their stratagem of choice to win. What’s egregious is that for Penta to be liberated all players needed to do was first liberate Lesath.
But for Choohe, players would’ve needed to first liberate both Lesath and Chort Bay, meaning there was a whole other system to liberate before players would even be able to touch down on Choohe. An adjacent sector, Hydra or Andromeda, could have presumably given access to Choohe in time, though the Menkent system alone was only halfway liberated by the time Penta itself was halfway liberated anyway.
Once a landslide majority had been established early it was nearly impossible to overturn that with Penta taking an early lead and holding it until its liberation was guaranteed. Maybe this speaks volumes, inferring Penta and itsAirburst Rocket Launcher stratagemwere an obvious favorite to win, and it’ll be interesting to see how long players have to wait now until the Anti-Tank Mines stratagem is eventually released afterward—if ever.
Helldivers 2
WHERE TO PLAY
Do you believe in freedom? Can you stand in the face of oppression – and defend the defenceless? Wage war for peace. Die for democracy.Join forces with up to three friends and wreak havoc on an alien scourge threatening the safety of your home planet, Super Earth, in this multiplayer co-op shooter for PS5 and PC from Arrowhead Game Studios.Step into the boots of the Helldivers, an elite class of soldiers whose mission is to spread peace, liberty and Managed Democracy using the biggest, baddest and most explosive tools in the galaxy.Helldivers don’t go planet side without proper backup, but it’s up to you to decide how and when to call it in. Not only do you have a host of superpowered primary weapons and customizable loadouts, you also have the ability to call on stratagems during play.Helldivers 2 features Arrowhead’s best cooperative gameplay yet. Collaboration will be vital: Teams will synergize on loadouts, strategize their approach for each mission and complete objectives together.1Enlist in Super Earth’s premier military peacekeeping force today. We are heroes… we are legends… WE ARE HELLDIVERS.
