Crossing a (Supply) Line – The Least Understood Mechanic in Helldivers 2

The tutorial in Helldivers 2 is an intentional joke. The consequences of leaving mechanics unexplained are less funny. Supply lines are the best example of Arrowhead‘s brilliant world-building getting in the way of the game. They decide which planets connect and are available for Operations. The problem? Players can’t see supply lines without using outside intel such as a third-party app. The result? Players can’t coordinate their actions to liberate or protect the correct planets, making some Major Orders unwinnable. Here’s how supply lines became the least understood mechanic in Helldivers 2.

Why No One Understands Supply Lines

Helldivers held the Menkent Line because they understood the assignment. They also succeeded in killing two billion Terminid to replenish Super Earth’s E-710 reserves. The current Major Order tasks players with defending at least 10 planets, and we are going to fail. Why? Helldivers 2 currently has over 72,000 active players, according to Steam Charts. With no way to coordinate tens of thousands of players, completing complicated Major Orders is impossible. Instead of working together to liberate one or two planets at a time, Helldivers are fighting losing battles on too many fronts.

Forget the game’s many bugs: the biggest problem with Helldivers 2 is the lack of clear explanations. The game doesn’t explain how planets connect. It doesn’t explain why concentrating your forces would be smart. Even if it did, there’s no voting mechanism to let the community decide which planets to prioritize. There’s no NPC like General Brasch handing out advisories to nudge players in a certain direction. There’s just a Major Order to get 10 things done at once, and 72,000 players sprinting in opposite directions. I laugh, but I’m laughing the same way I do right before a fumbled grenade goes off.

How Supply Lines Work in Helldivers 2

You can only liberate planets connected to Super Earth planets (whether they’re fully liberated or are the subjects of Defense Campaigns). Similarly, Automatons can attack any planet that’s linked to an Automaton-controlled planet (including partially liberated planets). How Terminid movements work is less clear. When the Terminid attack a planet, players lose access to all planets previously linked to it. Similarly, when players lose a Defense Campaign against the Automatons, connected planets are lost.

Helldivers 2 explains none of this. It also doesn’t explain how changing the game’s difficulty affects the liberation/defense points you earn. A solo player farming Trivial or Easy missions will contribute more to a planet’s liberation than a full squad doing 30-40 minute Helldives. Arrowhead is aware of these concerns, and it seems likely that the devs will make supply chains and their related mechanics clearer at some point. Until that happens, however, players have little choice but to squander their efforts fighting an unwinnable war. That prospect’s about as cuddly as a Bile Titan, but here we are.

The Joy of Losing for Managed Democracy

There’s nothing wrong with losing Major Orders. The risk of losing keeps the game exciting. It’s also clear that the impossibility of the current Major Order is by design. After turning 2,000,000,000 Terminid into oil in less than a day, Helldivers were feeling cocky. We got slapped for it. In a game that’s all about satirizing fascism and the costs of war, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m not rooting for a future in which we win every Major Order. I just want us to lose fairly. There’s a place for blind fumbling and confusion, and it’s the desert of Hellmire after an Orbital Smoke Strike.

Helldivers 2 is available on PC and PlayStation 5.