Arrowhead, the developers behind the hit co-op shooter Helldivers 2, have recently been struggling to get a bit of weaponry into the hands of its community. Helldivers 2 players have consistently failed to unlock a new stratagem—deployable weapons and tools to use mid-match—for months on end. Things have gotten so dire for those poor things that the community now suspect they’re being tricked into unlocking them by Arrowhead through the latest and most obscure major order.
First teased as an unlockable stratagem back in April, the anti-tank mine stratagem have suffered an especially cruel fate in Helldivers 2’s five month lifetime. When they were first offered, it was as a choice between two stratagems: either the mines or a rocket launcher. Players had to choose between the liberation of two planets, which correspond to one of the stratagems, and whichever was freed first awarded its weaponry. The rocket launcher won and the mines were shelved till the next major order.
A little later down the line, the community was tasked with the even larger major order with the goal of killing two billion Automatons—one of Helldivers 2’s enemy factions, and a particularly brutal one to fight. As a reward for completing the major order, players were offered a second chance at the anti-tank mines. This time around, the Helldivers 2 player base fell short of the goal, though it’s unclear whether it was due to dwindling numbers, lack of interest in the reward, simply coming up short against such a tall order, or some mix of all these forces.
Last month, Arrowhead once again offered the mines as a choice between two outcomes: Helldivers 2 players were placed in their very own trolley problem and forced to pick between saving the literal children of Super Earth or a factory that’d manufacture the mines. The community picked the kids.
Which brings us to the present major order and its pretty simple goal: the liberation and defense of the planet X-45. It’s so straightforward that the major order has already been completed with days left on the timer. Helldivers 2 players fear there’s an ulterior motive behind the defense of X-45, though. You see, most major orders are clear about the rewards that’ll be handed out upon completion, but the current one mostly obscures that fact.
Instead, this major order’s reward has been referred to most often as “weaponry from the First Galactic War.” At first, players suspected this might be the return of a weapon from the original Helldivers, which could still be the case. That notion hasn’t completely swayed the conspiratorial sort, who are now utterly convinced that this is Arrowhead’s (and specifically Joel’s) way of tricking players into finally unlocking the mines.
Folks in the Helldivers 2 subreddit, have been popping off with posts joking about the conspiracy. One post is, in all caps, titled, “ITS TRAP. RETREAT. RETREAT. THEY WANT TO GIVE US THE MINES.” The trap language has carried over to other posts, and one of my favorites even uses a familiar Star Wars meme template to great effect. One player earnestly asked if the language of the major order suggested that they’d be unlocking an older Helldivers weapon, and the replies are filled with folks clamoring about the great mine conspiracy of 2024. I’m kind of inclined to believe them and here’s why.
Mines aren’t as sexy as a new gun, which makes sense why players aren’t too keen on getting them. The order to kill two billion automatons was poorly timed, seeing as how the game was still recovering from the PSN kerfuffle that nearly cost it and Arrowhead their respective good reputations, and was suffering from lower playcounts than usual. The trolley problem seemed to be poking fun at the mines’ unique situation, but also seemed like a tacit admission from the developers that it was an unpopular choice. How else could the developers get these tools into our hands outside of outright tricking us into earning them? It’s like hiding a dog’s medication in their food.
X-45 has become a popular planet since Arrowhead rolled out the new jungle biome. Players have already been flocking to any planet rocking the new look, so why not place a major order there to ensure that the bulk of the active player base is supporting the completion of the major order? Besides that, most major orders have been more drawn-out affairs split across the defense or liberation of several planets. In the case of this one though, we literally just need to hold one planet, and everyone’s already there. It’s no wonder that there are still 3 days to complete the goal and it’s already done.
I don’t know what to believe at this point, but I do know that it’d be really fucking funny for Arrowhead to have duped its community into backing this effort just to give them the mines. I’m on my knees literally praying that next week rolls around and we’ve all got them unlocked. It’d make my entire life.
