Highlights

  • Helldivers 2's permanent Battle Pass eliminates FOMO and allows players to earn rewards on their own schedule.
  • Players can accelerate their progression by playing on harder difficulties and earning more Warbond Medals.
  • The Battle Pass system discourages solo play and lacks variety, which can be frustrating for players expecting more content.

While players already expect more content and features to come to Helldivers 2 in future updates, the game is currently fully-released, instead of being in early access. With this in mind, the current amount of content in the game is rather lacking in a few areas. Specifically, Helldivers 2’s equivalent of a Battle Pass has some merits, but it ultimately seems to be caught between a rock and a hard place for the time being.

After Halo Infinite switched to a permanent Battle Pass progression system, the ambitious prospect of this feature has caught many gamers' attention. Despite Halo Infinite’s permanent Battle Passes being locked behind a paywall, a Battle Pass that doesn’t expire otherwise seems like a unanimously favorable alternative to limited-time Battle Passes. However, much like Halo Infinite, Helldivers 2 goes to show that while a permanent Battle Pass has its advantages, it often isn’t without a catch.

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Helldivers 2's Permanent Battle Pass System Is a Double-Edged Sword

The Pros of Helldivers 2’s Battle Pass System

Naturally, the main appeal of a Battle Pass that doesn’t expire is that it eliminates FOMO for players who have limited playtime. Seasonal events in video games are a slippery slope because, on the one hand, they can be highly enjoyable, but on the other hand, they compete with a player’s limited playtime in other games just for the sake of earning exclusive rewards. Since Helldivers 2’s Battle Passes are permanent, this isn’t a problem, so players are free to hop into the game and earn rewards on their own schedule.

Another advantageous feature of Helldivers 2’s Battle Passes is that players can accelerate their progress by playing on harder difficulties to earn increased quantities of Warbond Medals. While there are microtransactions in Helldivers 2, the game currently doesn’t allow players to skip levels or shortcut their progression in the Battle Passes with premium currency, which is understandable considering that the Battle Passes are one of the main progression systems in the game.

The Cons of Helldivers 2’s Battle Pass System

  • Discourages solo-play
  • Lack of variety at launch
  • Long grind

The main downside to Helldivers 2’s Battle Passes is that they discourage solo play since the higher difficulty levels aren’t as accessible for solo players as the lower difficulties are. The higher tiers of the Battle Passes require an increasing number of Warbond Medals to unlock each item, so players who don’t regularly play on the harder difficulties will have to play many more missions to be able to earn sufficient amounts. While Helldivers 2 is ultimately an online-only cooperative game, it might have been wise to be more inclusive to solo players in hindsight of Helldivers 2’s Server instability issues since the game’s launch.

Additionally, the Battle Passes that are currently available in Helldivers 2 have a relatively underwhelming variety of rewards. While there is anticipated to be more Battle Passes added in future updates, the expensive price of the current Battle Passes’ higher tiers arguably doesn’t feel justified between the variety of rewards and how expensive they can be to unlock. Even while earning increased Warbond Medals from playing on the harder difficulties, missions can often take around an hour each to complete, which is a commitment that some players can’t regularly afford.

Considering that the Battle Passes are one of the main progression systems where players unlock new armor and weapons in Helldivers 2, the current lack of variety can be quite frustrating for players who purchase the game at launch expecting more. Not to mention, compared to the original Helldivers, Helldivers 2 is currently missing out on a few signature features, like rideable exosuit mechs and expanded weapon variety.