Helldivers 2 gets its new explosive Warbond full of high-yield treats, plus 4 new bank-breaking ship upgrades to help dispense liberty

helldivers 2 democratic detonation
(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

Helldivers 2's new warbond, Democratic Detonation, has just landed—and it's brought a whole host of fresh goodies for you to get your freedom-loving mitts on, as announced on the game's official Twitter.

As an aside, I just love the Taken 3 reference here. In case you're not familiar, the announcement vid is aping the viral meme "Bryan Mills jumps a fence" in which Mills, played by Liam Neeson, takes 14 entire camera cuts to climb over an object. Hardly a man with a particular set of skills, though extremely fitting since I figure Super Earth's Ministry of Truth just paid an actor instead of capturing real war footage. Anyway, here's what's in store inside the Warbond:

Page 1 has the G-123 Thermite grenade, the BR-14 Adjudicator Marksman Rifle, and the CE-27 Ground Breaker medium armour, which confers the servo-assisted armour passive, increasing your throwing range by 30% and providing 50% extra limb health.

Page 2 has the Expert Extraction Pilot booster, which lowers the time it takes to extract in any given mission, the R-36 Eruptor rifle, and the CE-07 Demolition Specialist light armour, which reduces recoil when crouching or prone by an additional 30% and gives you two extra grenades.

Page 3, lastly, holds the CB-9 Exploding Crossbow, the GP-31 Grenade Pistol, and the FF-55 Devastator heavy armour, which gives you a similar reduced recoil bonus to the CE-07 set while also granting 50% resistance to explosive damage. 

Those aren't the only benefits you'll be getting, though—in a surprise twist, Arrowhead Games has added a whole new tier of Super Destroyer upgrades to grind for. Here's a video, courtesy of the Helldivers 2 Discord:

Also, here's all the new upgrades you can grab starting today:

  • Superior Packing Methodology: Resupply boxes fill support weapons with the maximum number of carriable magazines. 
  • Atmospheric Monitoring: Orbital HE barrage spread reduced by 15%..
  • XXL Weapons Bay: Eagle stratagems that drop multiple bombs will drop 1 additional bomb(s).
  • Enhanced Combustion: Fire damage from stratagems increased by 25%.
  • Circuit Expansion: Lighting arcs, fired from weapons and turrets, jump to one additional enemy.
  • Blast Absorption: Sentries take 50% less damage from explosions.

All of these high-tier upgrades cost a pretty penny. For example, Superior Packing Methodology asks for a whopping 150 common samples, 150 rare samples, 15 super samples, and 20,000 requisitions—so, uh, try not to drop them miles from the extraction, okay? Papa needs a new pair of orbital shoes for democracy.

Harvey Randall
Staff Writer

Harvey's history with games started when he first begged his parents for a World of Warcraft subscription aged 12, though he's since been cursed with Final Fantasy 14-brain and a huge crush on G'raha Tia. He made his start as a freelancer, writing for websites like Techradar, The Escapist, Dicebreaker, The Gamer, Into the Spine—and of course, PC Gamer. He'll sink his teeth into anything that looks interesting, though he has a soft spot for RPGs, soulslikes, roguelikes, deckbuilders, MMOs, and weird indie titles. He also plays a shelf load of TTRPGs in his offline time. Don't ask him what his favourite system is, he has too many.

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