Helldivers have but one goal:
To serve Humanity by spreading Liberty and Freedom for all.

Before any Helldiver enters the battlefield, we choose our equipment.
What you may and may not bring along can be described as "TOTAL FREEDOM."

Does this mean you should bring only orbital explosives and simply KABOOM everything?
Yes. You are one of the privileged super-citizens who are allowed Freedom of Thought.

Does it mean you should balance your gear based on the mission objectives and balance it with the rest of your squad?
Yes, if that is the choice by which you exercise your Freedom.

Helldivers are experts at war and every expert has their tools.

A Diver may carry each of these at once:

Primary - Held with both hands
Secondary - Held with one-hand (Can be paired with carryable objectives, or with shields)
Support - Carried on back, then used with both hands
Grenades - Spicy meatballs
Backpack - No hands needed. These deploy automatically, or hit "5"
Stratagem - By holding CTRL, you can dial in a variety of booms from the heavens.

Hit "Tab" to view Free Strategems at Mission prep or "C" in the planetary menu.


"These weapons are cool, but I want COOLER weapons."
- John Helldiver

The battlefield offers the riches we crave, for free. You will find temporary weapons scattered around "points of interest" on the battlefield, dropped by Super Earths late defenders.

For Helldivers who want more power, Lady Liberty invented the "Warbond." This is how we permanently unlock new equipment.

Each Helldiver gets access to the first warbond for free. In there we can spend "Warbond Medals" for permanent unlocks.

Access the warbond menu from your destroyer by hitting "R."

To unlock new Warbonds, which can be done in any order, the diver spends "Super Credits"

The currencies are all found on the battlefield and spent at the Super-Destroyer.

Super Credits - Spent on Warbonds
Warbond Medals - Spent on items inside of Warbonds
Requisition Slips - Spent at the Module Upgrade Bay to unlock Strategems
Samples - Spent at the Module Upgrade Bay for long-term bonuses

In the next section we will learn about maximizing mission payout.

The mission objectives do not mention Helldiver survival for a reason; survival is secondary. Your destroyer will *always be paid* for the services of her Helldivers - even if you do not evacuate alive.

The only currency which requires the Helldiver to extract alive.. are our beloved Samples*

(*which must only make it to the Pelican, where they will then be shared to all participating Destroyers.)

Super Credits and Warbonds are deposited instantly, so they will be listed as mission rewards, and you do not need to extract or complete the mission to "collect" them.

The reward for completing missions fully is planetary War Score, which rewards all divers with new equipment and other advantages, if we wage our combined war well.


Warbonds, Req Slips, Super Credits and Samples can be found at all "Points of Interest."

These P.O.I. will often have pulsing beacons of white light over them. They will also be marked with a "?" mark. Or they will look like destroyed buildings with ruined comm towers.

Once your objectives are done, check the remaining mission time. Pelican 1 takes 2.5 mins to reach Evac, so if you have extra time, you can spend it scouting for cash.

You will be able to see on your minimap blank areas of the map. This is a clue that something is there waiting to be discovered. Approach blank areas, and fill them with discoveries if you see any "?" on your compass.

The next section will prepare Helldivers for brutal alien combat.

Sun Tzu said that, and I think he knows a *little* more about fighting than you do, pal.

This section will prepare Helldivers for a variety of combat scenarios.

If you find fighting difficult, remember that every death is a lesson.

Your basic training will have covered the simple things.
But our enemies are more varied than cardboard targets.



Bots, Bugs, Squids and whatever else is out there will come in many shapes - every piece will be differently armored.

"Armor rating" will determine whether your bullet is strong enough to pierce that spot of the enemy.

So you will take some time to learn everything's weak spots, and which weapons are good for which enemy. This will result in a huge variety of feasible combinations for your gear.

While it is heroic to die fighting, it is more heroic to step back a bit and kill even more.

Remember to watch your Minimap for empty areas where you can step away from the enemy.


Administering "Stims" to yourself with "V" will not only restore health but also your Stamina.

This is important because it enables you to maneuver away from the source of your health loss. Usually.

It is easy to forget when numbed by a machinegun - But your trigger is not all you have.

Remember in the heat of battle that you have Stratagems available (Hold CTRL) which can solve most problems.

Try to constantly utilize all available tools, cooldown is quicker than you think.

Always be communicating. Use your markers and pins to turn chaos into order.

You can coordinate equipment with your team for even deadlier combinations.

Remember to "Add friend" in the social menu to team up with capable fellows.

Enemies will try to call in reinforcements.
So try to engage with purpose, and destroy groups quickly. "Clean your plate."

Be cautious about building up "Heat" around an area such as at Evac, resulting in increased patrols.

Rope-a-Dope
"You want me to rope a dope?" - Muhammad Ali of Earth 1

This technique originated from boxing, and is used by Helldivers to solve overwhelming enemy numbers. Originally, this meant to wear the enemy down before delivering the knockout.

Helldivers can use rope-a-dope to escape certain doom.

The method to rope-a-dope is to:
A) Maneuver away from the enemy, lead into a choke-point if possible.
B) Destroy everything behind you as you maneuver.

The next section will cover the concept of "Strategy" - which sounds like a trick, but can actually increase our kills!

Now that the young Helldiver knows HOW to kill (With weapons) and WHY to kill (For liberty, for glory and for cash), we would spare a thought for WHERE to kill.

Interplanetary War shifts and flows at the scale of entire planets.

Additionally, the Helldivers manual reccommends 2.4 seconds to enjoy the scenery each mission. Each planet will have different atmospheric properties, alien moons, and exotic scenery.

You might even recognize planets which may have inspired your favorite Sci-Fi Holovids back on Super Earth!

By selecting your missions carefully, you can achieve effectiveness with a team of any size.

Each Operation will show you what missions are involved with a variety of duration and intensity.

Send in your Hellpods freely to learn which is right for you.

The Command Hub in your ship you can view where your fellow divers are focusing their efforts.



Each mission has a Primary and Secondary Objectives, as well as Enemy Objectives.

Hit "Tab" to view your mission map. You may right-click & scroll to maneuver the minimap.
This will display your Primary Objective. If Intel is available on this planet, then you will also see enemy nests where they produce their villainous numbers. These red areas are where you should exercise your Freedom to its fullest.

Primary Objective: The only task which needs doing to receive full Destroyer payments. Survival and Extraction are entirely optional.

Secondary Objective: The only task which needs doing to receive full Destroyer payments. Survival and Extraction are entirely optional.

Enemy Objective: Destroying these will aid your overall mission by reducing the enemy's force deployment capabilities.

Each of these objectives will also provide additional Planetary warscore, resulting in improved "Mission Ratings."


By selecting a mission, you will engage an entire "Operation" or set of missions.

If you can't do a whole Op, you may take a rest and you will come back to your operation still in progress, the next mission ready to be selected.

By completing the entire Operation, you will see the warscore of the planet be shifted according to mission difficulty and quality of completion.

As of recently, the D.S.S. is out there floating and dispensing justice to freedom's enemies.

You may contribute to the operation by hitting "B" at the Command Hub.

When divers fight together, we unlock powerful and fun tools for all.

Completing our Orders is how we advance the technology and tools of Democracy.
Completing any Order will also result in a large Warbond Medals payout for personal unlocks.

Major Orders: Goals shared by a community which involve whole planets and entire assaults.
Minor Orders: "Personal" goals, that your whole squad shares progress of.

Thank you for completing your mandatory training. Get out there and serve Freedom to all.


o7