All the lightning guns, laser rifles and fancy armour you can eat
Helldivers 2’s Cutting Edge Premium warbond, aka DLC battle pass, is now available to buy in-game, and it is chock-full of oddball gadgetry such as lightning shotguns, burst-fire laser rifles and experimental armour. As with the Arc Thrower stratagem, the lightning shotgun fires arcs of electricity that conduct between players and enemies alike, but there’s a fresh armour perk, Electrical Conduit, which reduces arc damage by 95%, allowing close-knit teams ofHelldiversto roll around the battlefield frazzling themselves without much penalty.
Still, I think the real star pick here is surely the Localization Confusion booster, which extends the time between enemy spawns, allowing weirdo solo players such as myself to disentangle from a dragged-out gunfight a little more gracefully.
Asdetailed earlier this week by Sony, the pack costs 1000 Super Credits (technically, 700 Super Credits given that it includes a 300 Super Credit payout), which can be either earned or bought from the Acquisition Centre for $9.99/£7.99. You’ll then need to earn the included goodies by spending medals from your victories, near-victories or honourable defeats. The passes aren’t time-sensitive, so there’s no rush to grind out the goods.
One question invited by the addition of the arc-resistant armour perk is whether it’s preparation forthe return of the Illuminate faction from the first Helldivers- the Illuminates being pretty big on Tesla weaponry, asThe Loadoutnotes. Arrowhead are currently focussed on fleshing out the Terminid faction - there are now flying bugs in the game (despite Arrowhead’scounter-propaganda), andnew missions involving pesticide towersthat will supposedly put paid to the bug menace for good. But in-game Super Earth broadcasts hint that the Illuminates are out there, and there are some alleged leaked images in the wilds as well.
New enemy leaks (Illuminate)#HellDivers2pic.twitter.com/GFTCSGasKd
Another question invited by the warbond is a familiar one: will players feel pressured to buy it so as to keep pace with the game’s PvE meta? Hopefully not: back in February, Arrowhead’s CEO Johan Pilestedtcommentedthat the developers “really applied ourselves to not make it [pay-to-win]” as part of Arrowhead’s broad objective to develop a"systems-first" gamein which experimentation is rewarded (or at least, punished in an entertainingly bloody way).
Food for thought while waiting for the dropship! Don’t think too hard, mind you - it’s bad for your patriotism. Anyway, here’s a trailer breakdown of the Warbond’s contents.
