Another premium Warbond for Helldivers 2 is right around the corner, bringing new weapons, armor, and more to the game. Helldivers 2 has been a breakout hit since its debut in February 2024, and two months later, it’s continuing its steady stream of content with the Democratic Detonation Warbond. As the Galactic War against the Automatons and Terminids continues, developer Arrowhead Game Studios has delighted the player base with emergent storytelling and regular updates to both fix bugs and bring new items to the co-op third-person shooter.
Democratic Detonation will mark Helldivers 2‘s third premium Warbond, and fourth overall. It follows the Cutting Edge Warbond, which introduced a number of weapons and armor sets that are prototypes in-universe, specializing in lighting, plasma, and laser armaments. Cutting Edge also brought the incredibly useful Localization Confusion Booster, which delays enemy reinforcements, and it’s likely that Democratic Detonation will similarly provide items with strategic importance.
The new Helldivers 2 premium Warbond, Democratic Detonation, will become available for in-game purchase on April 11, 2024, according to the official PlayStation Blog post, roughly one month after the release of Cutting Edge. Cutting Edge itself came a month after the game’s release and that of the first premium Warbond, Steeled Veterans. Since the two have a comparable amount of new content, Democratic Detonation is expected to cost 1,000 Super Credits, roughly equivalent to $10. Democratic Detonation will be available on both PS5 and PC.
PlayStation Blog and the Democratic Detonation trailer show off three new sets of armor, one for each armor rating class – light, medium, and heavy. The three new armors are called CE-27 Ground Breaker, CE-07 Demolition Specialist, and FS-55 Devastator; Ground Breaker is medium, Demolition Specialist is light, and Devastator is heavy, though their exact armor ratings and passive abilities haven’t yet been revealed.
If the new premium Warbond follows the pattern set by its predecessors, all three may share the same passive ability. The Democratic Detonation moniker alongside each of the armor sets’ names implies it will grant a bonus relating to explosive weapons, but the Fortified armor passive already provides a 50% increase in explosive damage resistance. Steeled Veterans and Cutting Edge introduced new armor passives – Servo-Assisted and Electrical Conduit respectively – so Democratic Detonation may do the same, perhaps an increase in explosive weapon damage or the ability to carry more grenades.
Just like Cutting Edge before it, Democratic Detonation will expand the Helldivers’ arsenal with three new primary weapons, a new secondary, and a new grenade type. The three primaries are the BR-14 Adjudicator Rifle, which specializes in armor penetration and appears to be fully automatic. Conversely, the R-36 Eruptor Rifle seems to be semi-automatic, but “fires jet-assisted shells that explode shrapnel in all directions upon impact.” The CB-9 Exploding Crossbow is exactly what it sounds like, and joins the Grenade Launcher support weapon in its projectiles being affected by gravity.
Although smaller in form factor, the new Helldivers 2 secondary weapon, the GP-31 Grenade Pistol, is likely to find a strategic niche. It can only fire one grenade before needing to be reloaded, but will pair nicely with Helldivers who prefer Stun and Impact grenades, both of which are notoriously bad at destroying enemy outposts. Finally, the G-123 Thermite Grenade sticks to surfaces and burns white-hot. It seems especially well-suited for bug missions, where it may be able to continuously damage armored enemies like Chargers for a short time.
Perhaps the single most influential new item in Helldivers 2‘s new premium Warbond is the Expert Extraction Pilot Booster, which reduces the time it takes for the Pelican extraction shuttle to land at the end of a mission. This will be especially useful in missions where the Complex Stratagem Plotting mission modifier is active, which not only increases the time it takes for Stratagems to land, but also the arrival time of the extraction shuttle. Since enemy presence increases as missions drag on, this Booster may be instrumental in helping Helldivers extract more samples before they’re overrun.
Pertinent to fashion-forward Helldivers is the inclusion of three new capes (pictured above) in the Democratic Detonation Warbond. At the time of writing, it is unclear which is which, but they are called Harbinger of True Equality, Eagle’s Fury, and Freedom’s Tapesty. Similarly, the PlayStation Blog mentions “sweet emotes,” but does not reveal exactly what they are. For a succinct summary of every new item coming to the new Helldivers 2 premium Warbond, Democratic Detonation, see the table below:
Much like the LAS-16 Sickle and the Localization Confusion Booster from the Cutting Edge Warbond, items in the new Helldivers 2 Warbond are likely to be quite useful, but not entirely necessary to succeed in any given mission. Arrowhead Game Studios’ strategy thus far seems to be favoring player agency in loadout creation, where variety allows for plenty of play styles, but doesn’t necessarily establish a dominant meta. As the Galactic War rages on, there will be plenty of Helldivers looking forward to the new arsenal coming via the new Helldivers 2 Warbond, Democratic Detonation.
Sources: PlayStation Blog, PlayStation/YouTube