Helldivers 2has done a lot to convey how serious its convictions were when Arrowhead stated that it is “very committed to keep going with this game for many more years to come.” Undoubtedly the best new content in a long while,Helldivers 2’s primary weapon customizationis a feast for players who linger with the highest level cap achieved and nothing left to spend Requisition slips on, especially if they’ve no need to tirelessly loot samples anymore with all ship modules unlocked. Still, there are more ways thatHelldivers 2could theoretically enhance progression as development on the live-service shooter continues.
Helldivers 2’s Warbonds in particular are fairly fickle. It’s unpredictable how much content one might have in comparison to another, for instance. As a result, there’s never any way to tell how many medals it will take to fully complete a new Warbond until it has launched and its pages become visible in the Acquisition Center menu. However, regardless of how much content a Warbond offers, there’s an argument to be made that each subsequent one following the release ofHelldivers 2’s upcoming Control Group Warbond should increase the number of medals required per item exponentially.
InHelldivers 2’s ‘Endgame,’ Warbonds are Its Lifeblood
Helldivers 2’s progression systemis quite rewarding, at least to a degree. Even with a number of in-game currencies/resources that are exhausted on profound gameplay upgrades, many upgrades are marginal or subtle until the right contextual occurrence arrives.
Unfortunately, once players have unlocked all ship modules and stratagems, there is nothing left to spend samples and Requisition slips on besides Tactical Actions onHelldivers 2’s Democracy Space Station (DSS)and, for slips, primary weapon customization. Therefore, while there’s always something players can contribute hard-earned rewards to, they may not be as immediately satisfying or significant as a proper ship module.
It’s interesting, then, that medals are spent toward Warbonds exclusively but are arguably even easier to amass than any other resource. If medals aren’t looted from points of interest, for example, they’re doled out in droves whenever players complete an operation, and that includes joining an SOS lobby at the last minute when the existing team is about to win their third operation mission—this can happen often, too, depending on how frequently players request to join an SOS lobby atHelldivers 2’s Galactic War map.
Helldivers 2’s Warbonds Deserve Greater Life Spans
It’s difficult to confidently argue how many medals any piece of Warbond content should be, perhaps aside from more impactful content, such as brand-new weapons or armor with passives, being worth more than less impactful content, such as titles or color patterns. That said, every page being worth far more than they normally are might be a polarizing yet commendable change if it meant that Warbonds wouldn’t be completed so swiftly, and a way to facilitate this could be to have the medal cap increased from 250 to whatever is deemed appropriate.
Indeed, if nothing else, a higher medal cost for each Warbond item would at least delay the satisfaction of receiving it, even if players inevitably decide never to actually wield it.
Arrowhead already cleverly withholds special, rare content for the latter pages of Warbonds; it won’t be surprising, as well, ifHelldivers 2’s Control Group Warbond Warp Packis found on page three. But, by the time players finish a Warbond and decide if they want to bother experimenting with its content, it’ll probably be in players’ rearview as soon as those medals are spent because they’ll have had access to each page and know what to expect from it.
Helldivers 2obviously can’t obscure its Warbond content since it’s paid content, to be fair, and thus the solution to Warbond fatigue seemingly lies with medals, whether that’s an exorbitant increase in how many medals players require or not. Control Group won’t be the Warbond to solve this issue, but it’s worthy of assessment at some point ifHelldivers 2’s Warbondsare intended to be the bulk of progression and what players look forward to from future content when there are intermittent droughts.
