Spreading democracy all over the galaxy is no picnic; the space is crawling with deadly bugs and murderous metals. As a stalwart guardian of Super Earth, you definitely want to eradicate these menaces by tackling tougher missions as fast as you can, no? Well, you have to be patient. Before you can take on higher difficulty levels in Helldivers 2, you will need to temper your abilities first.
What Are the Available Difficulty Levels in Helldivers 2?
Helldivers 2 offers nine difficulty levels, from the walk-in-the-park-easy Trivial to the frustratingly tough Helldive. You will have to complete one Operation in your current level to unlock the next difficulty level; completing Trivial will unlock Easy, and so on:
- Trivial.
- Easy.
- Medium.
- Challenging.
- Hard.
- Extreme.
- Suicide Mission.
- Impossible.
- Helldive.
However, take note that higher difficulty levels don’t increase Helldivers 2 enemies’ health and damage. Instead, they increased the amount and changed the enemy types you’re facing. When accessing the War Table, press Q and E keys on the keyboard or L1 and R1 on a controller to change the difficulty levels. You can see what difficulty you’re in by looking below the Quickplay button.
Operations work the same in each difficulty, but harder ones consist of more Missions and give more rewards as well as liberation progress. For example, in Hard, you need to clear three Missions to successfully complete an Operation compared to just one in Easy. The Mission objectives also get more varied the higher you climb Helldivers 2 difficulty levels. Listed below are the modifiers and Samples to upgrade the Destroyer ship that you can find in each difficulty.
| Difficulty | Difficulty Modifiers | Obtainable Samples |
|---|---|---|
| Trivial | Primary Objectives, Enemy Patrols | Green Common Sample |
| Easy | Allied Tactical Objectives, Light Outposts | Green Common Sample |
| Medium | Secondary Objectives, Medium Outposts, Heavily Armored Enemies | Green Common Sample |
| Challenging | Enemy Tactical Objectives, Heavy Outposts, Heavily Armored Enemies | Green Common Sample, Orange Rare Sample |
| Hard | Operation Modifiers, Massive Enemies, Heavily Armored Enemies | Green Common Sample, Orange Rare Sample |
| Extreme | TBA | Green Common Sample, Orange Rare Sample |
| Suicide Mission | TBA | Green Common Sample, Orange Rare Sample, Purple Sample |
| Impossible | TBA | Green Common Sample, Orange Rare Sample, Purple Sample |
| Helldive | TBA | Green Common Sample, Orange Rare Sample, Purple Sample |
In terms of faction difficulty, though, we believe that the Terminid is easier than Automaton. The bugs mostly attack with melee and can be dispatched as long as you keep your distance. On the other hand, the robots can pick you off from a distance using sustained fire and explosives. Their rockets can easily gib you in one unlucky shot, too.
Helldivers 2 is available on PlayStation 5 and PC.
