Helldivers 2 devs forcing players to make impossibly tough choices in ongoing bot war

Just as Helldivers 2 players celebrated their initial victory over the Automatons and moved onto a new Major Order, developer Arrowhead Game Studios stepped in to force them to make an incredibly difficult decision.

Yesterday, the Helldivers 2 community struck a blow for Super Earth against the Automatons by finally liberating Troost. This was the first part of an operation spread across a few Major Orders, and once the second one appeared, players leaped into action, eager to maintain their momentum. As is so often the case in war, though, the celebrations and victory were short-lived, as Arrowhead Game Studios revealed a move from the Automatons that’s going to split players across the galaxy.

Helldivers 2 players face Automaton retaliation, and it could cost them their objective

Helldivers 2 players are currently tackling Operation Swift Disassembly. Phase I required them to attack and liberate a planet called Troost, which itself was hidden behind a few other planets along the game’s supply lines. Phase II is exactly the same, with players aiming to take a planet called Tibit by the end of the weekend.

But there’s a catch. The Automatons are defending themselves from Helldivers as Super Earth’s finest push towards their goal, but they’re also attacking a planet that could see Helldivers kicked out of the sector entirely: Draupnir. As you can see in the image above, Drapnir is the planet on the right-hand side of the screen that allows players to attack Ubanea, the planet neighboring the main objective of Tibit.

If players lose the defense campaign on Draupnir, it’ll fall back under Automaton control. With the way supply lines work, this will mean players can no longer access Ubanea and will be forced to retake Draupnir before they can. Of course, the other route they could take is Malevelon Creek, better known as Space Vietnam, but that supply line would also require players to take the planet Durgen before getting back to Ubanea.

As you can see, the developer is forcing players to make what feels like an impossible decision. At the time of writing, we have just over two days to liberate Tibit. Liberating an entire planet takes roughly a day, though it’s usually a little faster at the weekend. If players don’t focus on defending Draupnir, it could cost them this Major Order.

However, many players are dropping onto Malevelon Creek, much to the Chagrin of others in the community, because it’s an infamous world of war at this point and a symbol of victory over the Automatons when it’s under Super Earth’s control. Strangely, this Major Order might be won or lost based on how much players want to chase a meme or make funny videos on Malevelon Creek. If we all ignore Draupnir, it could be a major setback and cause Operation Swift Disassembly to fail completely.

I once again find myself in awe of the mind games Arrowhead Game Studios can play with Helldivers 2 and how strangely accurate the war efforts from each faction feel. The Automatons attack us where it makes sense while the community struggles to align itself in one direction, causing chaos and confusion through which freedom can slip out of grasp.