Highlights

  • Helldivers 2 should improve its stealth mechanics to create a more engaging gameplay experience.
  • Introducing new stealth mission types and stealth-friendly weapons with suppressors could enhance replayability and variety.
  • Utilizing stealth in Helldivers 2 can save time and resources, making it a valuable strategy, but currently players are forced to go loud far too often for the approach to be viable.

If there’s one aspect of Helldivers 2’s fun gameplay loop that could use some more depth, it’s arguably the stealth mechanics. Consequently, future updates for Helldivers 2 should consider stepping up to the challenge of expanding upon the game’s existing stealth mechanics, as this could naturally bring a lot of value to the game.

When it comes to the question of how Helldivers 2 can take its stealth gameplay to the next level, addressing a few areas in particular could go a long way toward reaching this goal. For starters, there is a clear opportunity to introduce more variety to the mission types in Helldivers 2 by encouraging players to complete them without being detected. Additionally, adding new weapons that can be used to silently take out enemies could also be a game-changer.

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Helldivers 2’s Stealth Mechanics Have A Lot Of Room For Improvement

More Mission Variety in Helldivers 2 Would Be A Win-Win Scenario

For the most part, stealth in Helldivers 2 is currently very limited in terms of what players can and can’t do while remaining undetected. This is because most of the main and side objectives throughout missions in Helldivers 2 will force players into combat encounters. There’s usually the option of running away from these fights until players are no longer detected by enemies, but this just prolongs the inevitable, or means abandoning an objective. Not to mention, this kind of tactic can cost players precious time, whereas extracting in Helldivers 2 is believed to become increasingly difficult as missions grow longer.

One way to address this problem head-on is for future Helldivers 2 updates to introduce new mission objectives that can be fully completed while undetected. This could mean adding entirely new main and side tasks, making the existing mission objectives more stealth-friendly, or a combination of both. More mission variety in Helldivers 2 in general could shake things up and help to mitigate repetition for the game in the long run, meaning that introducing stealth missions would kill multiple birds with one stone.

Suppressed Weapons and Melee Weapons Could Be Game-Changers For Helldivers 2

Apart from how the majority of available mission objectives will result in a firefight, another aspect that highlights the lack of depth in the game's stealth mechanics is the limited variety of weapons. While there have already been several new weapons added to Helldivers 2 since its release in early February, there still aren’t any stealth-friendly weapons in the game.

Even throwing a Stratagem in Helldivers 2 or striking an enemy with a surprise melee attack will cause players to get detected, which can be a frustrating lesson for players to learn for the first time. Consequently, introducing suppressed weapons or possibly even melee weapons could allow players to take out enemies while remaining undetected. Given that the first game featured a dedicated melee weapon, it would seemingly be a natural progression for the Helldivers franchise to introduce a wider variety of melee weapons.

Stealth Should Be A Player’s Best Friend In Helldivers 2

While the game is encouraged to be played co-op with teammates, there’s nothing stopping players from playing Helldivers 2 solo. No matter whether players are jumping in solo or with a group though, using stealth on any difficulty can save players a lot of time, ammo, stims, and redeployments in Helldivers 2. But while having even limited stealth mechanics in Helldivers 2 is beneficial, especially for solo players, the stealth system could be so much more than it currently is.