Helldivers 2 gamers have needed to make some powerful selections prior to now few months, and the Meridia Singularity is continuous to advance on Tremendous Earth, consuming no matter unlucky planets lie in its wake. The Galactic Struggle continues apace, however Arrowhead has encountered one downside: Gamers aren’t enthusiastic about preventing the sport’s third faction, the scary and squid-like Illuminate.
The Illuminate arrived with a splash, invading the southern quadrant of the galaxy after a shock announcement at The Recreation Awards on the finish of 2024. Whereas the Terminids are identified for aggressive heavy items and swarms of melee aliens, and the Automatons are a long-range faction with artillery, laser hearth, and flamethrowers, the Illuminate match snugly between these two extremes. They’ve hordes of zombies, often known as Voteless, which might be squishy however quite a few. Then there are armored Overseers with a diverse armory of weapons and terrifying Struggle of the Worlds-style walkers often known as Harvesters.
It’s a cool fantasy, and the alien invasion aesthetic feels contemporary subsequent to the Starship Troopers– and Terminator-inspired factions. For some time, gamers had been pleased to discover the brand new city maps and battle in opposition to the squid menace. Within the larger narrative, they’re essentially the most threatening pressure we face by far — they’ve destroyed two planets and have Tremendous Earth of their sights!
The issue is that they’re half a faction. Their roster is significantly restricted in comparison with the bots and bugs. Within the lore, that is straightforward to elucidate: They’re a vanguard unit, scouting out the galaxy earlier than they ship out the massive weapons. However for now, it implies that preventing them can really feel repetitive, they usually’re considerably easier than the Terminids or Automatons. They don’t also have a monopoly on city maps anymore; now all three factions can have cities to discover and battle over.
Complicating issues additional is that the Illuminate don’t maintain territory. The one option to battle them is to have interaction in a protection mission over a planet, which lasts for a few day. As soon as the planet is both defended or the timer runs out, the Illuminate depart and pop up in one other sector later. A Main Order that asks gamers to defend in opposition to a bunch of Illuminate assaults requires extra timing and coordination to hit each single protection, and it’s tough to herd cats and pull this off — particularly since individuals would reasonably go to a different battlefront and battle a extra entertaining enemy.
Fortunately, it’s clear that Arrowhead has many tips up its sleeve for diversifying an alien faction and introducing new items. We’ve seen new items sneak into the sport earlier than, like flying Terminid Shriekers and terrifyingly environment friendly Automaton Manufacturing unit Striders. Arrowhead has additionally launched short-term variants of acquainted enemies that drastically change the stream of gameplay. The Stalker is a vicious menace at one of the best of instances, however the Predator Pressure launched mutated packs of swarming Stalkers. The Automatons have gotten an enormous buff just lately, with new fabricators which might be larger and more durable to destroy, the introduction of an Incineration Brigade, and maybe most horrifying of all, Manufacturing unit Striders with Stratagem Jammers on the again.
The present Main Orders are centered on the Meridia Singularity, which is managed by the Illuminate, however Arrowhead appears to acknowledge selection is the spice of life. The final string of Main Orders have centered on the unique two factions. On the sport’s launch, Terminids had been thought of the simple faction and Automatons had been much less widespread. It’s possible that, as Arrowhead continues to tweak and rebalance the sport, the Illuminate will come into their very own. For now, although, they’re simply too few and too related. I can’t wait to see their model of a Bile Titan, however whereas I wait, I’ll be specializing in the 2 acquainted fronts of bots and bugs.
