Valiant Helldivers 2 players across Xbox, PC, and PS5 have been fighting a fierce Cyborg-led Automaton counter-attack tooth and nail ever since our invasion of Cyberstan ended in failure, but that doesn't mean Managed Democracy's other rivals have been resting on their laurels. In the southern sectors of the Galactic War, a new Illuminate threat has been brewing...and when the new Uncover the Truth update drops, we'll find ourselves in our next major engagement against the squids.
Developer Arrowhead announced the surprise new update with a trailer (watch it below) after teasing it through news reports of cultist activity on social media. The trailer — riffing on cheesy retro alien invasion media — confirms that the Illuminate are constructing strange new Exospire structures that create electrical "Exostorms" in their vicinity, and are linking to Exospires on other nearby worlds.
The Ministry of Science isn't yet sure what these huge towers are for, but the Ministry of Defense says it can't possibly be anything good, so the Helldivers will soon be sent in to begin destroying them. Ground zero of this strange new activity is Seasse; we'll have to take Heze Bay and Rirga Bay before we can reach it, which the community is very likely to do by the time Uncover the Truth's March 20 release date rolls by later this week.
Notably, some completely new Illuminate units — both large and small, with one appearing to be energy shielded — are visible in the trailer, which means this patch is finally expanding the faction with more depth to bring it in-line with the Terminids and Automatons. Patch notes released early confirm that there are three: a "Veracitor" piloted construct that fights in close quarters, a "Gatekeeper" one that favors long range, and a variant of the Watcher drone called the "Obtruder" that "inserts itself where it is not wanted."
The patch notes also detail new Illuminate subfactions, the "Mindless Masses" and the "Appropriators." The former are actually active on Heze Bay and Rirga Bay already, and exclusively field hordes of Voteless zombies and Fleshmob abominations, while the latter only consist of the squids themselves. That means Overseers, Harvesters, Stingrays, and likely all of the new units. The Appropriators will be active on Seasse.
Once we get to Seasse, we'll get access to new "Destroy Exospire" missions. In these, Helldivers will have to push through the Exostorms that surround these ominous Illuminate structures, disable their shields by disrupting their access to shield generators at access nodes, and blow up their core by damaging the Dark Fluid cells powering it within the spire.
We've got a tough fight ahead of us, but the good news is that the March 20 update is also bringing some sizable buffs to several stratagem support weapons, either by giving them more ammo reserves or improving their reload speed.
All flame-based weapons are getting a buff, too, as flamethrower streams will now slow down small to medium-sized enemies; this reduces the risk of your burning targets running into you and setting you on fire. Also, most units will now become confused while being burned, disrupting their behaviors and giving flamethrowers some more crowd control utility.
And last but absolutely not least, some Vox Engine nerfs for those still on the bot front! These hulking Cyborg supertanks definitely needed some adjustments, and they've come in the form of reduced spawn rates, a nerf to their turning speed and the accuracy of their laser cannons, and instant destruction of their side-mounted miniguns when the main vehicle is destroyed. Thank Liberty.
Capping it all off is the reveal of Helldivers 2's first content roadmap that shows we're getting a Terminid-themed update in April with a new enemy variant, two new biomes, a new Warbond, and new Galactic War campaigns. Then, in June, we're getting another new map biome and Warbond, as well as further battles to fight.
🗨️ Excited for more Helldivers 2?
Helldivers 2 may be over two years old now, but it's still going strong, even as plenty of other newer shooters compete with it for attention. How often do you play it, if you do? Will you return to the game for the Uncover the Truth update?
Let me know in the comments below, Helldivers, and vote in our poll as well!
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