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While one might think Super Earth does little to help its soldiers, it provides many things to help them. After paying the right amount of materials, that is. Ship Modules are a key aspect of Helldivers 2 and one of the best upgrades you can get. By now, you might’ve already brought a few samples back and maybe don’t know what to do with them. Well, that’s where ship upgrades come in. But since they are a bit expensive, knowing which ones deserve your hard-earned bug and automaton samples is important.
The Best Ship Modules to Get First in Helldivers 2
Ship Modules in Helldivers 2 are unlocked after gathering samples. These samples go from common, to rare, and super rare. They’ll show up in certain missions and the more difficult the operation, the higher chances for rare and super rare samples to appear. However, upgrades are quite expensive, so we’ve listed the ones you should focus on unlocking in a certain order.
1. Donation Access License
Undoubtedly, the best Ship Module you can get in Helldivers 2 first is the Donation Access License. You can find it under the Patriotic Administration Center category, which is the first one. This one makes support weapons spawn with the highest amount of magazines, making it ideal for any mission. This way, you won’t have to call in for a resupply or use your backpack to get more ammo.
| Upgrade Effect | Affected Stratagems |
|---|---|
| Support weapons deploy with the maximum number of carriable magazines. | Stalwart Railgun Laser Cannon Grenade Launcher Machine Gun Flamethrower Anti-Materiel Rifle |
2. Liquid-Ventilated Cockpit
The next one you should get is the Liquid Ventilated Cockpit. The Eagle is your trusty air support that drops anything ranging from napalm strikes, cluster bombs, and even smoke bombs to help you escape. This upgrade reduces the cooldown of Eagle stratagems by 50%. Since you have several charges on most Eagle stratagems, unlocking this early in the game will make a huge difference during your operations.
| Upgrade Effect | Affected Stratagems |
|---|---|
| Eagle stratagem cooldown time reduced by 50% | Eagle 500KG Bomb Eagle Airstrike Eagle Strafing Run Eagle Smoke Strike Eagle Cluster Bomb Eagle Napalm Airstrike Eagle 110MM Rocket Pods |
3. Synthetic Supplementation
Located under the Engineering Bay tab, this upgrade focuses on making the best out of your Sentry Emplacements. This Ship Module reduces the cooldown of Sentry and Resupply stratagems by 10%. While it isn’t a lot, having less time to call in a weapon to protect you or more supplies is crucial, especially when extracting or during defense missions.
| Upgrade Effect | Affected Stratagems |
|---|---|
| Cooldown for Sentry, Emplacement, and Resupply Stratagems are reduced by 10%. | Shield Generator Relay EMS Mortar Relay Rocket Sentry Gatling Sentry Tesla Tower Mortar Sentry Anti-Personnel Minefield Machine Gun Sentry Autocannon Sentry Incendiary Mines HMG Emplacement |
4. Exploding Shrapnel
With the vital Ship Modules of Helldivers 2 out of the way, let’s see which others are the best you can unlock as you play. We recommend going for the Exploding Shrapnel one. This isn’t a necessary upgrade at first. However, you’ll need it because it makes orbital strikes more accurate. This one is perfect when facing Bile Titans or clearing hatcheries. If you have the samples for it, don’t hesitate to unlock it.
| Upgrade Effect | Affected Stratagems |
|---|---|
| Reduces damage falloff from center of explosions caused by orbital stratagems. | Orbital Walking Barrage Orbital Railcannon Strike Orbital Airburst Strike Orbital Precision Strike Orbital 380MM HE Barrage Orbital 120MM HE Barrage |
5. Pit Crew Hazard Pay
Moving on to the upgrades that’ll need rare samples, we have the Pit Crew Hazard Pay. Using Eagle stratagems is great since they recharge quickly; once they run out of ammo, though, they’ll need to rearm. This upgrades reduces the rearm time by 20%, making it vital especially when playing solo. It’ll take a while to get rare samples, but unlocking this is worthwhile.
| Upgrade Effect | Affected Stratagems |
|---|---|
| Eagle Rearm time is reduced by 20%. | All Eagle stratagems. |
6. Targeting Software Upgrade
It might seem weird to return to one of the basic Ship Modules, but with the important ones unlocked, we can go for this one. This upgrade reduces the deployment time of orbital stratagems by one second. It might not seem like much, but when you call in an orbital strike, you want it to go off as fast as possible. Since this one is pretty cheap to get, you can unlock it later down the road or when getting the first ones we recommended.
| Upgrade Effect | Affected Stratagems |
|---|---|
| Deployment time for Orbital Stratagems is reduced by 1 second. | Orbital Gatling Barrage Orbital Walking Barrage Orbital EMS Strike Orbital Gas Strike Orbital Railcannon Strike Orbital Smoke Strike Orbital Airburst Strike Orbital Laser Orbital Precision Strike Orbital 380MM HE Barrage Orbital 120MM HE Barrage |
7. Shock Absorption Gel
Sentries are some of the most useful stratagems in the game. However, you’ll be left alone once they run out of ammo. This upgrade provides these emplacements with 50% more ammo, which is great for defense missions or when trying to escape bugs and robots. It’ll cost a lot to get, but unlocking it will be fantastic when facing hordes of enemies or protecting civilians during defense missions. Remember not to walk in front of their line of fire, though.
| Upgrade Effect | Affected Stratagems |
|---|---|
| Ammo for all Sentry Stratagems is increased by 50%. | EMS Mortar Sentry Rocket Sentry Gatling Sentry Mortar Sentry Machine Gun Sentry Autocannon Sentry |
8. Hand Carts
Last but not least, we have Hand Carts as one of the best Ship Modules in Helldivers 2. This one reduces the cooldown of all backpack stratagems by 10%. Given the game’s meta, this one is extremely necessary. Stratagems such as the supply pack, ballistic shield, or Guard Dogs will be available faster. If you’re playing solo like many Helldivers out there, this is a must-have upgrade for your ship.
| Upgrade Effect | Affected Stratagems |
|---|---|
| Decreases cooldown for all backpack Stratagems by 10%. | Shield Generator Pack “Guard Dog” Ballistic Shield Backpack Supply Pack “Guard Dog” Rover Jump Pack |
While you can unlock any upgrade you think will fit your playstyle better, these are the best to get first. Also, getting samples can get tough in higher-difficulty missions, so planning your upgrades before spending your currency is important. Ultimately, the choice is yours, so don’t be afraid to equip your ship as you see fit.
