Beyond the boots-on-the-ground fighting in Helldivers 2 is a wider, persistent war that involves every single player in the community. The enemies of humanity will constantly try to destroy Super Earth, and it's up to the Helldivers to stop them.
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Major Orders play a huge part in this interstellar conflict. Not only do they give the community purpose, but they also drive the story of Helldivers 2 forward. However, whether or not this story gets a favorable all depends on how effective players are at carrying out their duty. If you're here to do your part but aren't quite sure how to do so, here's a brief overview of how Major Orders work.
How to Complete Major Orders
Unlike Personal Orders (which caused a stir in the Helldivers 2 community in the past), Major Orders cannot be completed by a single player. These objectives are community-wide and require the full cooperation of every active Helldiver in order to be completed. Once you see a new Major Order pop up, all you'll need to do is contribute to whatever the objective is. This usually comes in the form of liberating or defending planets in one way or another.
The wording of some Major Orders may be confusing at times. To make things a little clearer, here are descriptions of all known types of orders from SEAF Command so far:
- Liberation Campaigns: Helldivers are ordered to spread managed democracy throughout the galaxy. Here, the job is simple: complete enough Operations until a planet's Liberation counter reaches 100%. Major Liberation Campaigns normally involve multiple planets, including the liberation of some that aren't specifically listed but part of a greater supply line.
- Defense Campaigns: The goal here is to preserve liberty and repel invading forces from Super Earth territory. During Defense Campaigns, a planet's Liberation counter will start ticking down. The job is to keep completing Operations until the Defense Campaign timer ends, or until the required number of succesful campaigns is reached.
- Event/Story-related Orders: Major story beats often come with associated Major Orders. The community first experienced this with the activation of the Terminid Control System in the eastern barrier planets. Gameplay-wise, completion requirements remain the same: do enough Operations until the job is done.
Defense and Liberation Campaigns can be present on all fronts regardless of what the Major Order is. You can tell what campaign is active on a planet by the icon above them on the galactic map —Shields represent Defense Campaigns, and Crosshairs represent Liberation Campaigns.
The main difference between these types of orders is in the kinds of missions that appear on the related planets. In Liberation Campaigns, Helldivers will be bringing in the big guns to eradicate enemy forces and destroy key installations such as Automaton fuel silos and Terminid egg hatcheries. Meanwhile, Defense Campaigns typically feature civilian evacuation missions. Both campaigns may still feature surgical strikes like Sabotage and ICBM missions.
