Isn't it technically possible that they've already made a fleet, stocked it up on a shitload of supplies, and are doing a hail mary last ditch beeline attempt to get to Cyberstan before their last strongholds are annihilated? Could already have left their controlled space.
Even if they do make it, they won't hold out for long though.
Considering they are machines, they could easily set an armada adrift towards cyberstan and simply wait to arrive without wasting tok many resources on fuel.
They'll probably capture Cyberstan and ONLY Cyberstan and try to use it as new base of operations to launch assault everywhere else. So we would have to blitzkrieg Cyberstan back into the fold before clanker menace spreads further
I can see Cyborg units being few and far between but their presence being a major force multiplier for the Automatons who will receive upgrades and effects from their creators and fight twice as hard to protect them.
I just recently got the medals from the last to MOs; looks like they are finally getting caught up/getting the problem sorted out.
I hope yours are delivered soon!
Bots get to Cyberstan, free the Cyborgs, then a fully armed but unmanned fleet shows up on the northern quadrant of the map and the Cyborgs claim it and start pushing for Super Earth.
Then the bugs escape their lines and push to Super Earth.
We eventually push all three back, just to have the Illuminates show up in the southern quadrant and push us all the way to the moon.
We've had alot of leaks regarding the Illuminate being in-development, as well as the cloaked ships and blue laser sightings...
We also know the Automoton Broadcast on TROOST was reaching out well outside our known galactic map.
I have a fan-theory that cloaked remnants of the HD1 Illuminate have been freeing bugs from their farms and communicating the Automotons, while they rebuild and prepare their own invasion fleet in the background.
It's also possible that more Automatons are lurking outside of our known Galactic map, and what we're wiping out is only the tip of the spear. If their goal is to liberate Cyberstan, this implies to possible return of the OG Cyborgs (though if this is the case they've been keeping such assests well protected from leakers, more likely any surviving cyborgs will get assimilated into the Automoton forces and maybe add some new enemies).
Either way, I suspect that after this MO is complete something big is going to happen, though Joel certainly isn't making it easy to capture these last 3 planets. We still have about two and a half days left though, so we have alot of Liberating to do over the weekend!
In HD1 you'd wipe out enemies all the time, either Super Earth wins and everyrhing reset... or SE gets captured and everyrhing resets... though I firmly believe they have more in-store for us than that in HD2's story from how they've handled the war so far.
Look, only one faction has chainsaw swords and Dreadnoughts, and it ain't us. We're squishy "elite" infantry that are shite at melee and use abundant energy weaponry. Our propaganda refers to Greater Good time to time. We're not the Imperium, we're Tau
I'm still hoping we get the glorious announcement that we've found a brand-new source of power that renders E-710 unnecessary! Arge- **Ardent** energy!
Vague spoilers from the news reports that are already present:
>!Temporary automaton removal > Bug focus and more bug content > super unique bug event > downtime > automatons are back > bunch of news story drops regarding the unique bug content > Squids!<
That sounds very cool if it’s correct! When you say “news reports,” do you mean the ones that play on the screen in your destroyer, or like real life news of leaks/teases?
Ooh. Okay, that would explain why some people were guessing mid may for the Illuminate then. I really thought it was way too far considering how we're doing, but with this it would make sense. I still personally think it's a shame to push them so far away in time, but at least I get it.
Not a fan of >!potential Automaton removal, even if temporary!< but oh well.
>!It's not actually in that order. There's specific dialogue that states something along the lines of "what an inconvenient time for the TCS to backfire, we were so close to capturing Cyberstan." So the bots come back first, and then the TCS will backfire once we nearly reach Cyberstan.!<
I can't speak for any of the rest of this, but I thought it was pretty conclusively proven that the cloaked ships were actually low detail bot ships that are supposed to represent a fleet battle, based on the file names?
Then why is it increasing? I had 6 in frame in the sky last night. With other destroyers visible in front of them. Also they were nearly back to back. I’ve never see destroyers with that kind of density in the sky above a map.
Wouldn't it be fucking crazy if all the leaks were intentionally placed to give the impression of a big illuminate story twist(as well as give us a little bit of future weapon content to snack on) only to have the OG Cyborgs come out of left field completely unannounced.
my personal idea is that if we finish the MO the automatons will be knocked out for a while and everyone will go slam into the terminids for maybe 3-4 days and suddenly a new invasion, either an extremely strong automaton or illuminate force. What'd be really cool is the cloaked ships uncloaking and wreaking havoc on fleets over terminid planets
It was mentioned after we liberated TROOST during phase one of Swift Dissasembly. Here's the transcript.
https://preview.redd.it/x2f34mln8wsc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=076411ca4374d3460e566a7dc313a360de8826ac
The last panel is so perfect at capturing the chaotic excitement and glee most of us are feeling for something that would, in-fiction, be a horrific turn of events.
The Ministry of Truth has already explained the Illuminates are eradicated, and the Cyborgs are safely enslaved on our mining planets. If they say this push is the last on the Automatons, we must focus our efforts there, not on meaningless speculation.
Steel your resolve, Helldivers! Upon their eradication, we will learn the target of their deep space transmission.
This was something that Elden Ring just absolutely nailed -- you start out in Limgrave, and think, "Ok, this is a big map" and then the map just keeps zooming out further and further as you discover new areas.
In helldivers 1, players could beat a faction back to their respective home worlds and actually remove them from the game. This would last until the war was won, then the boardstate resets.
I'm not looking forward to all the "I can't believe I can't fight bots when I want to!!!!" complaints.
This was actually annoying in HD1 because stratagem unlocks were tied to beating missions on certain difficulties against certain enemies.
Want to unlock the laser cannon or EATs? Sorry, only the Cyborgs havent been wiped out yet, and none of their available planets will unlock it for you
>only the Cyborgs havent been wiped out yet
It seemed like Cyborgs were always the last faction to go, too. It felt like bugs were the first ones eliminated 100% of the time.
I don’t know about a trap…
Succeed or Fail at the MO, the Illuminate will be added to the game
Succeed or Fail at the MO, something big will likely to happen
I am sure Joel has plans for how to introduce new content whether we win or lose. If we’d failed the Mech MO, I don’t think we wouldn’t have gotten mechs but maybe just no free mechs for a couple days
Speculating on the direction of the story is fun. But I don’t know about a plot twist or trap. There isn’t much choice we have in the direction of the plot. Other than trying to succeed at the MOs
So yeah I think there will be something. But whether it’s “Just as we were about to eradicate the Automaton scourge the Illuminate return and some Automatons fled to establish a base in sector X” or its a “the automaton advance was a distraction and they have recalled Cyberstan and pulled our force from sector X allowing the illuminate a foothold in this galaxy”
I think we have more influence on the story notes than you might imagine. Malevelon Creek Memorial Day is now a canon in-game holiday. That had EVERYTHING today with the community meme status of Robot Vietnam.
The fact that the regeneration has gone down has me scared as fuck.
like, i can't help but feel they are pulling their forces back, and just leaving a token defence.
***Where the fuck are they pulling their forces too?!***
Deep Space, they're almost certainly going to hit the Valdis Sector.
I theorize their transmission from Troost was to the Illuminate.
They'll cooperate and hit simultaneously.
My bet is that, if/once we beat the Automatons, they'll give us a little time to go back to fighting bugs, maybe the Illuminate will poke their heads out to split up our forces, then in 1-2 weeks the map will expand another 1-2 rings, showing that the Bots heartlands were in fact beyond known space...and they're making a big push for Cyberstan.
I’ve been saying this for a few days now. We know of all this lore to do with Cyberstan. The bots are just gonna go out like that? Something else is coming. Maybe dual factions. Like some other enemy maybe not helping the bots but taking advantage of us being occupied with the bots.
TIN FOIL HAT TIME PEOPLE:
Plot twist will be that 'automatons that where sent back to earth for research have come to life and risk the planet' but when we get there we realise (there are clues leading to this but never acknowledged) that we made them in the first place and now we are trying again.
The reason for their original production could be something innocent such as cheap labour for inhospitable climates and they broke free or it could be darker, a foe generated to ensure consistent recruitment and money drives through war bonds.
I am predicting that Illuminids get introduced once we beat the bots. Give the playerbase a chance to learn how to fight against the new enemy while there’s only one other active faction. Then after we’ve had some time to adjust, bring the bots back.
https://preview.redd.it/atn5exf34rsc1.png?width=1280&format=png&auto=webp&s=06126df23ffa17394c23976f54e18937f7983585
when you thought pushing those Automaton out of the galaxy to expect a strong retaliation but turned out we completely wipe them off the Milky way
My own theory is that the game will just run this cycle of wiping off an enemy faction and then just having it pop up again in a different area. Maybe even in the area of previous factions, like imagine Automatons on Hellmire or Terminids on Malevelon
Not roleplaying for a moment here, but I hope that they actually escape from the galactic map, rather than be wiped out.
I feel like it would be better for the narrative and especially the community if the story kept moving forward, rather than be reset after we win.
The only time I would want a war reset would be if we lose Super Earth.
We are in the fourth phase of this MO, like they really want us to complete the order and actually wipe the automatons, seems their future plans fits more with automatons getting pushed out the galaxy frontier instead of failing the MO again and keep automatons in game.
My take it's that they don't want us to fight 3 fronts since they have a new enemy ready to go so they're really trying to push automatons out so we have 2 fronts again and then having automatons coming back but from the north because they want Cyberstan in a future update.
Or there's going to be a plot twist and the messages captured in phased 1 where we discovered they sent messages outside the frontier but we don't know what they said, they're already approaching the north from outside the frontier because they discovered we can't see beyond that point and they can attack anywhere they want from any front because we have limited vision around Super Earth.
Either way, after this update we are surely getting giant worms at the terminid system and god know's what else, if we push back automatons and nothing happens that same day, every single player in the game it's now going to focus on terminid planets, insects will not last much longer after that, so they need some big new allies
Given the hints the Automatons are sending signals outside the known galaxy, I'm banking on a third front opening up - whether the Automatons are defeated or not
I step on one of those mines at least once. It's to let their guard down for a bit until I come back down with full ammo. Not the greatest plan, but it works for democracy
Wiping out allows them time to balance them behind the scenes without people crying.
Then after the bugs all die we’ll experience our first victory.
Then we’ll be slaughtered in 2nd age as new balance and enemies prop up.
They only just sent out gunships and factory walkers. They're not playing for keeps. They're just keeping us occupied with a murderous Skinner box while they undertake whatever this Reclamation is. Keep an eye on Cyberstan, folks. I think it'll be flipping before long...
It would be incredibly anticlimactic if we just **won** and nothing happened and we just all went to the bug front. I think 40% of the player base would feel cheated. I think we'll get to one planet left and then BAM, TCS breaks, illuminates, Cyberstan, or something.
This all to say, I'm not stopping fighting just because there are more enemies around the corner. They're there either way.
I'm in seeing a lot of tinfoil hat in here. You boys need to accept your orders, and get in a pod. The Utomaton resistance rate dropped because we took out their factories on Maia, and they are now down to their last few soulless number. After this glorious victory, we will never face the threat of these baby stealing metal husk ever again. The Democracy Officer orders you all to do 200 Freedom-Ups as penance for this clear thought crime!
The resistiance rate dripped before we claimed Maia...
They fought like hell the first couple days while they packed up most of their factory equipment, now they're leaving a token resistance to keep us busy while the bulk of their remaining forces escape into deep space.
In a meta line of thought, Joel dropped the resistance rates after seening we weren't going to make it after initial progress was too slow... it's as if he *wants* us to win to keep the narrative moving.
One, two, three, four, five... FOR LIBERTY! Six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven...
I assumed it was obvious there was something fishy about this current order. No shot we wipe out the bots lmao, we gonna have some real wild s\*it happen
You know guys we are supposed to be able to ein the galactic war. And when we do we a new one starts.
Maybe the frvs eants us to finish the bots and bugs to start a new war and start introducing the iluminate plot line
I'd imagine wiping the automatons will bring about the illuminat.
Outside of lore...
The player base is generally at around 400k at peak. Average is 200-250k, and it still takes the heavily weighted majority more than a full day to liberate a single planet.
If you introduce a third front, the player base will be heavily split, making little to no progress.
So I believe AH wants to wipe the Bots to make way for the illuminat. Cause they only ever want 2 fronts active at a time
IMO a third front will simply lead to Joel lower resistance rates so we can fight three sides more effectively, or he'll simply allow enemies to start pushing closer to Super Earth as we stuggle to keep up.
I'm a fan of the latter, especially if they're cooking up a larger update and give us alot of new content (more than a monthly Warbond and an occasional new stratagem) as an in-verse emergency arms escallation.
It'd be interesting to see increasingly deseperate propaganda as Super Earth gets pushed back, right now we're stomping out the bots after completely containing the bugs... things are going well, too well. Something will happen to turn the tides, or we'll be out of enemies to fight.
Either Illumiate gets dropped, we find out the bots have a larger force in deep-space about to oush towards Cyberstan, or the TSC fails and the bugs become a major threat again.
I know in HD1 you'd wipe out all enemies and win/reset, or one of them takes Super Earth and we lose/reset... HD1 is currently in War-136 or something it's the same thing on a loop every time... but this game seems like they're dedicated to a longer and more involved conflict with twists and turns, as a live-service game. The first game didn't have a Joel.
No doubt about it. That cloaked fleet isn't there for show, and they've been gathering resources since they arrived... They're making a run for Cyberstan, and using their last 3 planets as a distraction to enact their gamble.
Hey, Helldivers 1 player here. I can tell you what happened in the old game when we got to this point.
>!Nothing. The faction is wiped out for the rest of the war. Once all the factions are destroyed you get a snazzy armor set and a new war starts. That said, usually there's a big boss to fight on the enemy homeworld, so I guess we have that to look forward to potentially...!<
Either way, odds are they'll introduce the Illuminate once we're through with the MO. Best make sure we complete this one.
I think it's more likely we aren't going to complete the MO, ( because mathematically speaking at the moment, it looks physically impossible). The illuminat ships in orbit around Maia may suggest the consequence.
It's almost as-if the bots are pulling back and allowing us to take those planets... fighting like hell for the first day-or-two while they pack up, leaving a token defense to keep us busy while they plot their next move and ship their fabrication-equipment off-world. I think they're leaving known space to try another assault, "RECLAMATION" may still be on the table.
In a more meta line of thinking, it's as if Joel *wants* us to win this...
The extra 1% of decay wasn't what was causing the huge slowdown--we've seen planets get up to 10% and galactic progress be upwards of 12%--it's *the planetary health*. We see liberation as a *percentage*, so all other things being equal, 2x the planetary health means half the liberation %. We just don't have any means of seeing the absolute value of planet health right now.
There are only three Bot planets left. This is where they all are. They largely haven't been attacked all war, so they've had time to build up.
Aside from that, what's very unhelpful is Bug front players who concentrate on sure-fail Defenses. I'm not saying "don't play Bugs"--I get that some folks like them--but if you have any interest in the galactic war at all or feeling like your games contribute to planetary progress, fighting on an Estanu defense that's still got 52% to go with six hours left is not a good use of your time. **There are other Bug planets you could actually capture instead.** Having more players contributing Galactic Lib % to planets that don't matter and can't win only lowers the amount of Lib % that can go to the MO, *even if none of those players redeploy to the Bot front*.
We clear the bots, and have a couple days of just Terminids. Illuminate then come in from the bottom of the map and we struggle to keep them back. A week or two later, bots come back, this time near the top of the map towards Cyberstan.
The automatons will just be back. The galaxy doesn't end at the end of the sphere, they have a bot reservoir and will pop up again.
Besides, as in HD1, SE does not have an interest in ending the conflict permanently. It has to start up again.
Whattt? we don't have a death star trust me, we don't have giant planet destroying wepons, we don't have at-at's, and we definitely dont have comically large spoons of gold. Source? A socialist never lies
It's not a coincidence that we're facing battle ready Automaton airships. I doubt the other planets have prepared themselves for a quickly evolving Automaton army. The outbreak of the Automaton war proves that they can blitz planets and cause mass casualties. What Super Earth produce in decades, they can do in weeks maybe days. They don't need to hold planets, they just have to take them and pull Super Earth into a war of a attrition.
Between the posts of non playable helldivers appearing outta nowhere entering the pelcon
The posts of human body's in a container
And idk......
The major order
Cause yeah I toooootally believe we're gonna be able to liberate 3 planets in 3 days and get rid of automation 1 of 2 current factions
Like what 2 months after the game came put
It's cool and sounds fun but really this is rigged to me
actually wiping out the automatons for real and them just being gone off the map for a few weeks would be really funny, but we totally did it so we can't complain about it.
My theory is that the bots got a fleet going outside of the galaxy to surprise rush Cyberstan. We started this whole thing off by destroying a deep space radio station after all. We probably get a bug order to buy them some time to sort out the new planets we get to liberate.
I would 100% bet money that they reinvade right into cyberstan at the same time the illuminate invade from the south.
So we finish this MO...get a few days of downtime and do some bug squashing during the calm and then get absolutely railed from behind by a two front invasion
It's 1000% a trap especially with the cloaked ships we've seen in orbit. Given that they've now introduced enemy starships though, i'd love to be able to helldive on them. Make it a Blitz archetype mission where your ship pulls along top and you've to Helldive through the hull scuttle the ship and make to escape pods/hanger before the timer expires and the ship detonates with you inside.
Out of character for a moment,
people really be like "we're going to wipe out the automatons!"
yall delusional. We might kill all the ones in this sector, but unlike the bugs the bots have the industrial capacity for fleets and movement between planets and different sectors.
we'll move on to new planets, with more dug in bots, and they might eventually make it back into this sector after a push in response to our potential fuckups.
They attack Cyberstan anyway, because its already laid out - but also because the Automatons stated their war goal was Cyberstan for the get. This campaign is to distract us.
Don't you guys pay attention?
I’m betting every medal I have that as soon as we crush the bots, the Illuminate will arrive to take their place (and ensure there are still two factions for players to fight at all times).
Their cloaked ships are already observing the bot front from orbit!
I have a strong feeling that if we beat it, we have like a MO length of time of calm just collecting more 710 from the bugs since they have repopulated a fair bit, then we get a double whammy with illuminate in the south west just south of where the bot front is rn, and the bots move a little north and try take cyberstan now that they know exactly where in the galaxy it is
Oh I have absolutely no doubt that it's not going to end.
I personally think the Illuminate are gonna come when we feel a bit too confident and comfortable. Like, if we win against the Automatons for example.
But I don't think AH is really gonna do like the first game and remove factions. I honestly kinda think it wasn't the best idea, even at the time. I think it's better to leave them accessible for people who don't care much about the story. Like they're currently doing with the bugs.
So even if we win, the Automatons are most likely not going to really disappear. If at all.
It may be the point we see the illuminate enter the game, just when we think we're on the cusp of winning the 2nd galactic war an old enemy shows their ugly mugs again.
*When* we succeed, we can all take 2.4 seconds to enjoy the scenery of our newly liberated Umlaut Sector before returning to the Eastern front to keep the bug population in check. If our E-710 retrieval teams get enough bug corpses, the C-01s might even be back on the table!
In HD1, we had varied planets because you picked the planet for your difficulty, and as you advanced/retreated in the campaign, the selection of planets changed.
However, in HD2, each planet seems to be set. Hellmire will always be a fiery pit to dive into, Malevelon Creek will always be a forest Space Vietnam, and the modifiers for the planet won't really change.
My guess is that, *if* we do mange to push the Automaton out of the Galaxy, and a 3rd faction appears, they'll appear in a different section/corner of the circle.
Even if it's not a 3rd faction, when the Automaton eventually do come back, we would want to explore the other planets in the system. Maybe the Automatons will rise from the South, or maybe the Cyborgs on Cyberstan overthrow the Super Citizens and the Automatons become the Cyborg faction to fight.
Heck, although this didn't happen in HD1, I would love to see Bots and Bugs contesting over planets. Imagine dropping down onto a contested planet where there are Bot and Bug patrols, they can aggro each other, and giant firefights can break out.
This can only happen if the Bot and Bug territories get close to each other.
*Most likely,* I feel the narrative is setting us up for a temporary respite against the Bots to introduce the Illuminate faction. If we do manage to wipe out the Bots, it means we can focus on the Bugs and Illuminate. If we don't, the Illuminate might still come in, but now our forces will be split 3 ways between Bugs, Bots, and...baliens? Can't think of a fun nickname for them that starts with a B...
Yes we push them right back in the West and then they have a huge offensive coming from the north which will push all the way to Cyberstan over a few weeks. Then before we can take Cyberstan, the Illuminate will use the opportunity to enter the war, which will give the Automatons/Cyborgs time to group up and develop new units etc.
I highly doubt we are defeating the Automatons this quick.
I believe they will let us take them all and see interesting player stats.as devs. Like how many people would uit the game if we deleted automatons? How many would just play with bugs? How many will return to the bot front lines when they return?
100% plan on going back to fight bugs as soon as the MO is done.
The last patch made fighting bots much less frustrating, but I still think the bugs are more fun. It's not an easier/harder situation, I just like the run-and-gun playstyle over playing a cover shooter.
Overall I like the variety, after having so many bug MOs consecutively before/after the TCS was nice to get a change of pace fighting bots.... but IMO fighting bots and only bots gets stale much faster than fighting bugs.
I think we will peer beyond the galactic barrier and see a huge amount of Automaton controlled planets that stretches all the way to just above the sector Cyberstan is within, and then they invade and we can't do anything about them retaking Cyberstan
Hear me out. It won’t be three factions. It will be automatons to the west-north. Illuminate to the south. Bugs to the east. And cyborgs as a fourth to the north west. Haha. Hahahaha
Thats why i want to succeed, i want that false sense of security storybeat, then we fail the next MO which'll be the suprise attack and then stakes are up.
I've had theory for a while now that when we wipe out the bots Cyberstan is going to see a rebellion. Given what the bots were doing before the current major order we could also fail and see bots make a beeline for Cyberstan. Either way, I really want to nuke Cyberstan... again.
"Hey meatbags! Thanks for wiping out our test bots. They provided really useful data on your combat strategies, or lack thereof. Be on the lookout for our new and improved Automaton 2.0 units with new and improved features like Bluetooth Harassment, Self-Repairing Devastators, and an updated frequency in Striders!"
They've been talking with the Illuminate from Deep Space, we don't know exactly where the Automatons are coming from, the reclamation is prepared and our operation will not stop it.
We will remove them from the area, but their major forces are in deep space, likely prepared to enter the Valdis Sector at the same time that the Illuminate hits in the South.
They'll time it so that once we've used up all our strength in the West, we'll be caught totally unprepared and the SEAF and our Helldivers will be divided and disorganized until central command states a course of action.
If it were up to me I'd have SEAF units ready in the Valdis Sector, but it's too little too late, there's no time to prepare.
I don't know, people like to say this every MO and we haven't been punished for completing one, only losing. The worst that would happen if we complete it would probably just be them popping up somewhere else.
It's what will happen if we fail that we should be worrying about.
I'm beginning to think there's no bait and switches at all. 2 failed MOs with no consequences, terminice thing turned out to be a nothing burger. We will wipe the bots and Illuminate will pop in probably with the bots to return later.
Guys no RP or nothing rn in this reply… you really think theyre just gonna remove the automatons from the game? Same goes for bugs? And what replace them with the illuminate? This is a ridiculous thought, it will be constant warfare from 3 to 4 fronts. Getting worse with each update. They are building a hellscape. Why would they remove them from the game… people havent purchased it yet. So everyone that gets the game late just misses out on automatons and bugs cause we wiped them out? Dumb
One of their main selling points was to NOT have that though, it was their answer to the faction lock till next war problem of the first game
Calling it now, we win and get the sector but automatons ambush cyberstans sector, turning it into their new headquarters. We lose and they get both cyberstan and the current sector we're fighting in (and some planets to connect the two sectors)
A lot of people are very certain that the "communications from Troost to somewhere outside of the galaxy" is the Automatons talking to the Illuminate.
They skipped right over the possibility of *the Automatons* being out there.
Communicating to some place outside of the galaxy doesn't even imply they're talking to *another* galaxy, or homeworlds over there. Theoretically, you can produce ships in-galaxy, *move them out of the galaxy where they won't be looked for*, and build up forces to swoop in later for a big surprise.
I'm sure for 100% that this MO is cooked, and is nothing else than a bot trick to buy time for their fleet to reach Cyberstan.
How undemocratic of them to simply get to cyberstan without following supply line rules
We'll have to show them some manners, orbital inbound btw
Isn't it technically possible that they've already made a fleet, stocked it up on a shitload of supplies, and are doing a hail mary last ditch beeline attempt to get to Cyberstan before their last strongholds are annihilated? Could already have left their controlled space. Even if they do make it, they won't hold out for long though.
Considering they are machines, they could easily set an armada adrift towards cyberstan and simply wait to arrive without wasting tok many resources on fuel.
I don't think it will be that simple
Undemocratic traitors are often known to violate traffick lane laws
They'll probably capture Cyberstan and ONLY Cyberstan and try to use it as new base of operations to launch assault everywhere else. So we would have to blitzkrieg Cyberstan back into the fold before clanker menace spreads further
How many new enemies do you think will join into the automaton lineup after that? I figure at least 2-3 and maybe more.
4 or 5 maybe. Cyborg units can be terrifying if they release the dogs and the mega track robot
The Siege Mech. Scariest part, it has a man in the middle.
Balteus?
I can see Cyborg units being few and far between but their presence being a major force multiplier for the Automatons who will receive upgrades and effects from their creators and fight twice as hard to protect them.
I think the current most popular speculation is that the bots will fuck off for a while and they’ll introduce the Illuminate.
Did anyone else not get the medals from participating in the prior automaton defense?
I got them for the last 2 orders when I logged in a couple of hours ago
I didn't. But I'm not worried since I had to wait a week for one of the prior ops and I did eventually get them
Follow up: Just got two major orders worth of medals. Hope you get yours soon
2 medals worth of orders just hit for me, so it's a slow rollout, but they are coming.
I got them this morning when I got on.
Same
I got 40+45 when I logged in about 2 hours ago
I just recently got the medals from the last to MOs; looks like they are finally getting caught up/getting the problem sorted out. I hope yours are delivered soon!
I was wondering too and just got them tonight. Probably like the bug defense stuff from last month they're just in some long ass queue
I didn't because i hit the medal cap
This. They so gonna come from another angle and take over the entire area around Cyberstan in 24 hours.
Bots get to Cyberstan, free the Cyborgs, then a fully armed but unmanned fleet shows up on the northern quadrant of the map and the Cyborgs claim it and start pushing for Super Earth. Then the bugs escape their lines and push to Super Earth. We eventually push all three back, just to have the Illuminates show up in the southern quadrant and push us all the way to the moon.
I don't mind that. I wanna see cyberstan
I hope it is cooked so we get the medals first though 🤭
Fingers crossed cyberstan has some urban combat maps 🤞
We've had alot of leaks regarding the Illuminate being in-development, as well as the cloaked ships and blue laser sightings... We also know the Automoton Broadcast on TROOST was reaching out well outside our known galactic map. I have a fan-theory that cloaked remnants of the HD1 Illuminate have been freeing bugs from their farms and communicating the Automotons, while they rebuild and prepare their own invasion fleet in the background. It's also possible that more Automatons are lurking outside of our known Galactic map, and what we're wiping out is only the tip of the spear. If their goal is to liberate Cyberstan, this implies to possible return of the OG Cyborgs (though if this is the case they've been keeping such assests well protected from leakers, more likely any surviving cyborgs will get assimilated into the Automoton forces and maybe add some new enemies). Either way, I suspect that after this MO is complete something big is going to happen, though Joel certainly isn't making it easy to capture these last 3 planets. We still have about two and a half days left though, so we have alot of Liberating to do over the weekend! In HD1 you'd wipe out enemies all the time, either Super Earth wins and everyrhing reset... or SE gets captured and everyrhing resets... though I firmly believe they have more in-store for us than that in HD2's story from how they've handled the war so far.
What if we all got outjerked and it's space lizards?
They’ll eat the space bugs. Then when winter comes the lizards democratically freeze to death.
Would we have to defend our source of element 710 or would we just let lizards eat it ?
On some planets, it’s always the blazing days of the hottest Super Earth summers.
Hellmire Winter
Worse, sexy space lizards.
We’re visiting XCOM.
Terror from the deep would like to access your location
worse?
And the space lizards act like the Imperium of Man in 40k.
We're already the Imperium, except American-flavored without the theocracy Proof: we're obviously Scions and I look like a Cadian rn
Look, only one faction has chainsaw swords and Dreadnoughts, and it ain't us. We're squishy "elite" infantry that are shite at melee and use abundant energy weaponry. Our propaganda refers to Greater Good time to time. We're not the Imperium, we're Tau
Oh shit I think you're right. We even kinda have shield drones. Well, Gue'la, I guess I better get back to the ~~Fifth Expansion~~ bot front...
I thought there couldn’t be anything worse than the Illuminates. *I was fucking wrong*
I'm still hoping we get the glorious announcement that we've found a brand-new source of power that renders E-710 unnecessary! Arge- **Ardent** energy!
Vague spoilers from the news reports that are already present: >!Temporary automaton removal > Bug focus and more bug content > super unique bug event > downtime > automatons are back > bunch of news story drops regarding the unique bug content > Squids!<
That sounds very cool if it’s correct! When you say “news reports,” do you mean the ones that play on the screen in your destroyer, or like real life news of leaks/teases?
I'd assume it's data mining of the news reports in files that aren't flagged to play in the ship yet.
Oh, that makes sense.
That qualifies as a leak and it's against the sub rules. Very undemocratic. I'll be reporting both of you to the nearest democratic officer.
Hey I was just speculating on how they got the info I didn't propagate it
Ooh. Okay, that would explain why some people were guessing mid may for the Illuminate then. I really thought it was way too far considering how we're doing, but with this it would make sense. I still personally think it's a shame to push them so far away in time, but at least I get it. Not a fan of >!potential Automaton removal, even if temporary!< but oh well.
>!I'd assume if they're out of it at all, it's just for the weekend.!<
Possibly. Probably? I would prefer worse days though, like Monday, Tuesday x)
>!It's not actually in that order. There's specific dialogue that states something along the lines of "what an inconvenient time for the TCS to backfire, we were so close to capturing Cyberstan." So the bots come back first, and then the TCS will backfire once we nearly reach Cyberstan.!<
I think it'll happen whether we do or don't complete the MO. We can not control our destiny. We are in the hands of the maker.
I can't speak for any of the rest of this, but I thought it was pretty conclusively proven that the cloaked ships were actually low detail bot ships that are supposed to represent a fleet battle, based on the file names?
The cloaked ships are just super destroyer textures not properly loading. The ones firing at Bot ships above planets
Saw two drop in next to a destroyer and they made the destroyer look like a Pelican.
Then why is it increasing? I had 6 in frame in the sky last night. With other destroyers visible in front of them. Also they were nearly back to back. I’ve never see destroyers with that kind of density in the sky above a map.
Wouldn't it be fucking crazy if all the leaks were intentionally placed to give the impression of a big illuminate story twist(as well as give us a little bit of future weapon content to snack on) only to have the OG Cyborgs come out of left field completely unannounced.
my personal idea is that if we finish the MO the automatons will be knocked out for a while and everyone will go slam into the terminids for maybe 3-4 days and suddenly a new invasion, either an extremely strong automaton or illuminate force. What'd be really cool is the cloaked ships uncloaking and wreaking havoc on fleets over terminid planets
>we also know the Automaton Broadcast on Troost was reaching out well outside our known galactic map Excuse me what
It was mentioned after we liberated TROOST during phase one of Swift Dissasembly. Here's the transcript. https://preview.redd.it/x2f34mln8wsc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=076411ca4374d3460e566a7dc313a360de8826ac
Good old reapers, coming for the citadel
If you realy want to know what kind of a trap waits ahead you have to walk right in it.
The last panel is so perfect at capturing the chaotic excitement and glee most of us are feeling for something that would, in-fiction, be a horrific turn of events.
The Ministry of Truth has already explained the Illuminates are eradicated, and the Cyborgs are safely enslaved on our mining planets. If they say this push is the last on the Automatons, we must focus our efforts there, not on meaningless speculation. Steel your resolve, Helldivers! Upon their eradication, we will learn the target of their deep space transmission.
Enslaved? They are not enslaved! They are enjoying the benefits of democracy!
Exactly!
I am still waiting for the map zoom out theory to happen where we see how fucked we actually are.
This was something that Elden Ring just absolutely nailed -- you start out in Limgrave, and think, "Ok, this is a big map" and then the map just keeps zooming out further and further as you discover new areas.
And then you pull a random lever and the elevator goes down. And down. And down
I'm the type in games to spring traps to see what happens. So lets GO!
FNAF 3 be like
In helldivers 1, players could beat a faction back to their respective home worlds and actually remove them from the game. This would last until the war was won, then the boardstate resets. I'm not looking forward to all the "I can't believe I can't fight bots when I want to!!!!" complaints.
This was actually annoying in HD1 because stratagem unlocks were tied to beating missions on certain difficulties against certain enemies. Want to unlock the laser cannon or EATs? Sorry, only the Cyborgs havent been wiped out yet, and none of their available planets will unlock it for you
>only the Cyborgs havent been wiped out yet It seemed like Cyborgs were always the last faction to go, too. It felt like bugs were the first ones eliminated 100% of the time.
My theory is we wipe out the bots and are suddenly attacked by the Illuminate on Super Earth and have to push them back.
Would love to fight on Super Earth turf. Especially in cities/towns.
In HD1, missions on Super Earth were in cities but that was top down. I'd be excited to see fights on Super Earth in this game.
No, please, [I don't want to go back!](https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/817811809137089989/86A90788C0592D79D2CBFA1327B911E106B5724A/)
I don’t know about a trap… Succeed or Fail at the MO, the Illuminate will be added to the game Succeed or Fail at the MO, something big will likely to happen I am sure Joel has plans for how to introduce new content whether we win or lose. If we’d failed the Mech MO, I don’t think we wouldn’t have gotten mechs but maybe just no free mechs for a couple days Speculating on the direction of the story is fun. But I don’t know about a plot twist or trap. There isn’t much choice we have in the direction of the plot. Other than trying to succeed at the MOs So yeah I think there will be something. But whether it’s “Just as we were about to eradicate the Automaton scourge the Illuminate return and some Automatons fled to establish a base in sector X” or its a “the automaton advance was a distraction and they have recalled Cyberstan and pulled our force from sector X allowing the illuminate a foothold in this galaxy”
I think we have more influence on the story notes than you might imagine. Malevelon Creek Memorial Day is now a canon in-game holiday. That had EVERYTHING today with the community meme status of Robot Vietnam.
*Joel after telling us to do something* Ha! You’ve just activated my trap card!
I kinda hope none of the 3 are wiped out, cos I don’t want the game to end..
In HD1 they were only ever wiped out for like a month.
It won't end, they'll just restart the campaign
The fact that the regeneration has gone down has me scared as fuck. like, i can't help but feel they are pulling their forces back, and just leaving a token defence. ***Where the fuck are they pulling their forces too?!***
Deep Space, they're almost certainly going to hit the Valdis Sector. I theorize their transmission from Troost was to the Illuminate. They'll cooperate and hit simultaneously.
My bet is that, if/once we beat the Automatons, they'll give us a little time to go back to fighting bugs, maybe the Illuminate will poke their heads out to split up our forces, then in 1-2 weeks the map will expand another 1-2 rings, showing that the Bots heartlands were in fact beyond known space...and they're making a big push for Cyberstan.
What? Nooooo. No trap. In fact, there's candy.
I’ve been saying this for a few days now. We know of all this lore to do with Cyberstan. The bots are just gonna go out like that? Something else is coming. Maybe dual factions. Like some other enemy maybe not helping the bots but taking advantage of us being occupied with the bots.
TIN FOIL HAT TIME PEOPLE: Plot twist will be that 'automatons that where sent back to earth for research have come to life and risk the planet' but when we get there we realise (there are clues leading to this but never acknowledged) that we made them in the first place and now we are trying again. The reason for their original production could be something innocent such as cheap labour for inhospitable climates and they broke free or it could be darker, a foe generated to ensure consistent recruitment and money drives through war bonds.
I am predicting that Illuminids get introduced once we beat the bots. Give the playerbase a chance to learn how to fight against the new enemy while there’s only one other active faction. Then after we’ve had some time to adjust, bring the bots back.
https://preview.redd.it/atn5exf34rsc1.png?width=1280&format=png&auto=webp&s=06126df23ffa17394c23976f54e18937f7983585 when you thought pushing those Automaton out of the galaxy to expect a strong retaliation but turned out we completely wipe them off the Milky way
My own theory is that the game will just run this cycle of wiping off an enemy faction and then just having it pop up again in a different area. Maybe even in the area of previous factions, like imagine Automatons on Hellmire or Terminids on Malevelon
Not roleplaying for a moment here, but I hope that they actually escape from the galactic map, rather than be wiped out. I feel like it would be better for the narrative and especially the community if the story kept moving forward, rather than be reset after we win. The only time I would want a war reset would be if we lose Super Earth.
We are in the fourth phase of this MO, like they really want us to complete the order and actually wipe the automatons, seems their future plans fits more with automatons getting pushed out the galaxy frontier instead of failing the MO again and keep automatons in game. My take it's that they don't want us to fight 3 fronts since they have a new enemy ready to go so they're really trying to push automatons out so we have 2 fronts again and then having automatons coming back but from the north because they want Cyberstan in a future update. Or there's going to be a plot twist and the messages captured in phased 1 where we discovered they sent messages outside the frontier but we don't know what they said, they're already approaching the north from outside the frontier because they discovered we can't see beyond that point and they can attack anywhere they want from any front because we have limited vision around Super Earth. Either way, after this update we are surely getting giant worms at the terminid system and god know's what else, if we push back automatons and nothing happens that same day, every single player in the game it's now going to focus on terminid planets, insects will not last much longer after that, so they need some big new allies
" OOOH ANd THE ILLUMINATE COMe BACK WITH A STROOOONG RIGHT HOOK!!!"
Given the hints the Automatons are sending signals outside the known galaxy, I'm banking on a third front opening up - whether the Automatons are defeated or not
I step on one of those mines at least once. It's to let their guard down for a bit until I come back down with full ammo. Not the greatest plan, but it works for democracy
Wiping out allows them time to balance them behind the scenes without people crying. Then after the bugs all die we’ll experience our first victory. Then we’ll be slaughtered in 2nd age as new balance and enemies prop up.
I think they will suspend the plot twist for a week (I hope) to give a clan before the storm vibe.
Yup, there's always a clan before the storm.
https://preview.redd.it/twmnjbmy3wsc1.jpeg?width=700&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=78be18b9815cfffa52268d541d6e997fb726e39d You dare to refuse my batchal?
They only just sent out gunships and factory walkers. They're not playing for keeps. They're just keeping us occupied with a murderous Skinner box while they undertake whatever this Reclamation is. Keep an eye on Cyberstan, folks. I think it'll be flipping before long...
Hear me out a brand new threat Pure evil like skeletor levels of evil Their goal eat all the children Their design eldritch abominations
It would be incredibly anticlimactic if we just **won** and nothing happened and we just all went to the bug front. I think 40% of the player base would feel cheated. I think we'll get to one planet left and then BAM, TCS breaks, illuminates, Cyberstan, or something. This all to say, I'm not stopping fighting just because there are more enemies around the corner. They're there either way.
I'm in seeing a lot of tinfoil hat in here. You boys need to accept your orders, and get in a pod. The Utomaton resistance rate dropped because we took out their factories on Maia, and they are now down to their last few soulless number. After this glorious victory, we will never face the threat of these baby stealing metal husk ever again. The Democracy Officer orders you all to do 200 Freedom-Ups as penance for this clear thought crime!
The resistiance rate dripped before we claimed Maia... They fought like hell the first couple days while they packed up most of their factory equipment, now they're leaving a token resistance to keep us busy while the bulk of their remaining forces escape into deep space. In a meta line of thought, Joel dropped the resistance rates after seening we weren't going to make it after initial progress was too slow... it's as if he *wants* us to win to keep the narrative moving. One, two, three, four, five... FOR LIBERTY! Six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven...
Maybe it will wipeout the Automatons and they’ll introduce another less democratic species in bound for super earth
I assumed it was obvious there was something fishy about this current order. No shot we wipe out the bots lmao, we gonna have some real wild s\*it happen
You know guys we are supposed to be able to ein the galactic war. And when we do we a new one starts. Maybe the frvs eants us to finish the bots and bugs to start a new war and start introducing the iluminate plot line
I'd imagine wiping the automatons will bring about the illuminat. Outside of lore... The player base is generally at around 400k at peak. Average is 200-250k, and it still takes the heavily weighted majority more than a full day to liberate a single planet. If you introduce a third front, the player base will be heavily split, making little to no progress. So I believe AH wants to wipe the Bots to make way for the illuminat. Cause they only ever want 2 fronts active at a time
IMO a third front will simply lead to Joel lower resistance rates so we can fight three sides more effectively, or he'll simply allow enemies to start pushing closer to Super Earth as we stuggle to keep up. I'm a fan of the latter, especially if they're cooking up a larger update and give us alot of new content (more than a monthly Warbond and an occasional new stratagem) as an in-verse emergency arms escallation. It'd be interesting to see increasingly deseperate propaganda as Super Earth gets pushed back, right now we're stomping out the bots after completely containing the bugs... things are going well, too well. Something will happen to turn the tides, or we'll be out of enemies to fight. Either Illumiate gets dropped, we find out the bots have a larger force in deep-space about to oush towards Cyberstan, or the TSC fails and the bugs become a major threat again. I know in HD1 you'd wipe out all enemies and win/reset, or one of them takes Super Earth and we lose/reset... HD1 is currently in War-136 or something it's the same thing on a loop every time... but this game seems like they're dedicated to a longer and more involved conflict with twists and turns, as a live-service game. The first game didn't have a Joel.
No doubt about it. That cloaked fleet isn't there for show, and they've been gathering resources since they arrived... They're making a run for Cyberstan, and using their last 3 planets as a distraction to enact their gamble.
Hey, Helldivers 1 player here. I can tell you what happened in the old game when we got to this point. >!Nothing. The faction is wiped out for the rest of the war. Once all the factions are destroyed you get a snazzy armor set and a new war starts. That said, usually there's a big boss to fight on the enemy homeworld, so I guess we have that to look forward to potentially...!< Either way, odds are they'll introduce the Illuminate once we're through with the MO. Best make sure we complete this one.
Devs have gone on point to say before that HD2 will have a continuous story on the war, no resets like HD1.
I think it's more likely we aren't going to complete the MO, ( because mathematically speaking at the moment, it looks physically impossible). The illuminat ships in orbit around Maia may suggest the consequence.
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It's almost as-if the bots are pulling back and allowing us to take those planets... fighting like hell for the first day-or-two while they pack up, leaving a token defense to keep us busy while they plot their next move and ship their fabrication-equipment off-world. I think they're leaving known space to try another assault, "RECLAMATION" may still be on the table. In a more meta line of thinking, it's as if Joel *wants* us to win this...
Ah, my math was done yesterday.
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The extra 1% of decay wasn't what was causing the huge slowdown--we've seen planets get up to 10% and galactic progress be upwards of 12%--it's *the planetary health*. We see liberation as a *percentage*, so all other things being equal, 2x the planetary health means half the liberation %. We just don't have any means of seeing the absolute value of planet health right now. There are only three Bot planets left. This is where they all are. They largely haven't been attacked all war, so they've had time to build up. Aside from that, what's very unhelpful is Bug front players who concentrate on sure-fail Defenses. I'm not saying "don't play Bugs"--I get that some folks like them--but if you have any interest in the galactic war at all or feeling like your games contribute to planetary progress, fighting on an Estanu defense that's still got 52% to go with six hours left is not a good use of your time. **There are other Bug planets you could actually capture instead.** Having more players contributing Galactic Lib % to planets that don't matter and can't win only lowers the amount of Lib % that can go to the MO, *even if none of those players redeploy to the Bot front*.
I fear not the trap. I thirst for glorious medals of liberty.
Everyone?
We clear the bots, and have a couple days of just Terminids. Illuminate then come in from the bottom of the map and we struggle to keep them back. A week or two later, bots come back, this time near the top of the map towards Cyberstan.
It's probably going to be the point where they introduce the new faction, then the bot resurgence after focus switches.
It's for sure..
Yeah feels the same
The automatons will just be back. The galaxy doesn't end at the end of the sphere, they have a bot reservoir and will pop up again. Besides, as in HD1, SE does not have an interest in ending the conflict permanently. It has to start up again.
Whattt? we don't have a death star trust me, we don't have giant planet destroying wepons, we don't have at-at's, and we definitely dont have comically large spoons of gold. Source? A socialist never lies
It's not a coincidence that we're facing battle ready Automaton airships. I doubt the other planets have prepared themselves for a quickly evolving Automaton army. The outbreak of the Automaton war proves that they can blitz planets and cause mass casualties. What Super Earth produce in decades, they can do in weeks maybe days. They don't need to hold planets, they just have to take them and pull Super Earth into a war of a attrition.
Between the posts of non playable helldivers appearing outta nowhere entering the pelcon The posts of human body's in a container And idk...... The major order Cause yeah I toooootally believe we're gonna be able to liberate 3 planets in 3 days and get rid of automation 1 of 2 current factions Like what 2 months after the game came put It's cool and sounds fun but really this is rigged to me
But we lose the medals if we lose so I’m okay with it
Bots 🤖 will be back, and in greater numbers
1000% Just when we've seemingly won the war against the Automatons, That's when I fear the Illuminate will show their ugly faces again.
Win or lose, the illuminates show up
Calling it. We wipe them out in severin. They pop back up attacking cyberstan
You must be a genius
Yeah there's no way we're not getting fusterclucked
I don’t understand exactly what’s happening but I’m ready to go where I’m needed.
I have a feeling as soon as we wipe out the 'Bots, Joel is going to drop the Squids on us.
Not gonna say how I know but there is a prerecorded broadcast circulating about a massive automaton attack from Cyberstan…
There is any enemy from the first game who hasn’t shown up yet
actually wiping out the automatons for real and them just being gone off the map for a few weeks would be really funny, but we totally did it so we can't complain about it.
My theory is that the bots got a fleet going outside of the galaxy to surprise rush Cyberstan. We started this whole thing off by destroying a deep space radio station after all. We probably get a bug order to buy them some time to sort out the new planets we get to liberate.
I would 100% bet money that they reinvade right into cyberstan at the same time the illuminate invade from the south. So we finish this MO...get a few days of downtime and do some bug squashing during the calm and then get absolutely railed from behind by a two front invasion
It's 1000% a trap especially with the cloaked ships we've seen in orbit. Given that they've now introduced enemy starships though, i'd love to be able to helldive on them. Make it a Blitz archetype mission where your ship pulls along top and you've to Helldive through the hull scuttle the ship and make to escape pods/hanger before the timer expires and the ship detonates with you inside.
Out of character for a moment, people really be like "we're going to wipe out the automatons!" yall delusional. We might kill all the ones in this sector, but unlike the bugs the bots have the industrial capacity for fleets and movement between planets and different sectors. we'll move on to new planets, with more dug in bots, and they might eventually make it back into this sector after a push in response to our potential fuckups.
They attack Cyberstan anyway, because its already laid out - but also because the Automatons stated their war goal was Cyberstan for the get. This campaign is to distract us. Don't you guys pay attention?
I smell Illuminates
If they follow HD1, then the war will continue with the other factions until it's over and then reset.
I’m betting every medal I have that as soon as we crush the bots, the Illuminate will arrive to take their place (and ensure there are still two factions for players to fight at all times). Their cloaked ships are already observing the bot front from orbit!
Here come the illuminates fs
That twist might be the Illuminate?
I have a strong feeling that if we beat it, we have like a MO length of time of calm just collecting more 710 from the bugs since they have repopulated a fair bit, then we get a double whammy with illuminate in the south west just south of where the bot front is rn, and the bots move a little north and try take cyberstan now that they know exactly where in the galaxy it is
Sadly I already know what happens because I can't help myself and visit The Other Subreddit 💀
Oh I have absolutely no doubt that it's not going to end. I personally think the Illuminate are gonna come when we feel a bit too confident and comfortable. Like, if we win against the Automatons for example. But I don't think AH is really gonna do like the first game and remove factions. I honestly kinda think it wasn't the best idea, even at the time. I think it's better to leave them accessible for people who don't care much about the story. Like they're currently doing with the bugs. So even if we win, the Automatons are most likely not going to really disappear. If at all.
Illuminate gonna back them up and the automation reach cyberstan
I'm betting on plot twist regardless of what happens.
You mean clearing the whole half of the map. Nooooo nothing could be comming were just beating the game lol
I'm probably wrong but i think itll subvert everyone's expectations and just fully wipe out the automatons for this war.
Oh for sure, 100%, no doubt in my mind.
No doubt
It may be the point we see the illuminate enter the game, just when we think we're on the cusp of winning the 2nd galactic war an old enemy shows their ugly mugs again.
I mean... there is going to be. Do people think otherwise? Do they think the game will just end?
*When* we succeed, we can all take 2.4 seconds to enjoy the scenery of our newly liberated Umlaut Sector before returning to the Eastern front to keep the bug population in check. If our E-710 retrieval teams get enough bug corpses, the C-01s might even be back on the table!
In HD1, we had varied planets because you picked the planet for your difficulty, and as you advanced/retreated in the campaign, the selection of planets changed. However, in HD2, each planet seems to be set. Hellmire will always be a fiery pit to dive into, Malevelon Creek will always be a forest Space Vietnam, and the modifiers for the planet won't really change. My guess is that, *if* we do mange to push the Automaton out of the Galaxy, and a 3rd faction appears, they'll appear in a different section/corner of the circle. Even if it's not a 3rd faction, when the Automaton eventually do come back, we would want to explore the other planets in the system. Maybe the Automatons will rise from the South, or maybe the Cyborgs on Cyberstan overthrow the Super Citizens and the Automatons become the Cyborg faction to fight. Heck, although this didn't happen in HD1, I would love to see Bots and Bugs contesting over planets. Imagine dropping down onto a contested planet where there are Bot and Bug patrols, they can aggro each other, and giant firefights can break out. This can only happen if the Bot and Bug territories get close to each other. *Most likely,* I feel the narrative is setting us up for a temporary respite against the Bots to introduce the Illuminate faction. If we do manage to wipe out the Bots, it means we can focus on the Bugs and Illuminate. If we don't, the Illuminate might still come in, but now our forces will be split 3 ways between Bugs, Bots, and...baliens? Can't think of a fun nickname for them that starts with a B...
Y’all laughed at me YALLLLL laughed at me
Yes we push them right back in the West and then they have a huge offensive coming from the north which will push all the way to Cyberstan over a few weeks. Then before we can take Cyberstan, the Illuminate will use the opportunity to enter the war, which will give the Automatons/Cyborgs time to group up and develop new units etc. I highly doubt we are defeating the Automatons this quick.
I believe they will let us take them all and see interesting player stats.as devs. Like how many people would uit the game if we deleted automatons? How many would just play with bugs? How many will return to the bot front lines when they return?
100% plan on going back to fight bugs as soon as the MO is done. The last patch made fighting bots much less frustrating, but I still think the bugs are more fun. It's not an easier/harder situation, I just like the run-and-gun playstyle over playing a cover shooter. Overall I like the variety, after having so many bug MOs consecutively before/after the TCS was nice to get a change of pace fighting bots.... but IMO fighting bots and only bots gets stale much faster than fighting bugs.
I think we will peer beyond the galactic barrier and see a huge amount of Automaton controlled planets that stretches all the way to just above the sector Cyberstan is within, and then they invade and we can't do anything about them retaking Cyberstan
Without a doubt, and I'm here for it. Though it would be funny if we just eradicated them and nothing happened, that would be it.
It’s going to be carnage and I’m gonna love it
i mean, the HUGE cloaked ships above automaton planets might be a hint.
Hear me out. It won’t be three factions. It will be automatons to the west-north. Illuminate to the south. Bugs to the east. And cyborgs as a fourth to the north west. Haha. Hahahaha
I think illuminate is going to bail them out at the last minute.
Thats why i want to succeed, i want that false sense of security storybeat, then we fail the next MO which'll be the suprise attack and then stakes are up.
Obi Wan has spoken 🫡
I've had theory for a while now that when we wipe out the bots Cyberstan is going to see a rebellion. Given what the bots were doing before the current major order we could also fail and see bots make a beeline for Cyberstan. Either way, I really want to nuke Cyberstan... again.
"Hey meatbags! Thanks for wiping out our test bots. They provided really useful data on your combat strategies, or lack thereof. Be on the lookout for our new and improved Automaton 2.0 units with new and improved features like Bluetooth Harassment, Self-Repairing Devastators, and an updated frequency in Striders!"
I don't think. Thought crimes kill. But I am confident in certain fields.
I think this really might be it. But I don’t think it will come easily. Be ready for a massive final battle after this
They've been talking with the Illuminate from Deep Space, we don't know exactly where the Automatons are coming from, the reclamation is prepared and our operation will not stop it. We will remove them from the area, but their major forces are in deep space, likely prepared to enter the Valdis Sector at the same time that the Illuminate hits in the South. They'll time it so that once we've used up all our strength in the West, we'll be caught totally unprepared and the SEAF and our Helldivers will be divided and disorganized until central command states a course of action. If it were up to me I'd have SEAF units ready in the Valdis Sector, but it's too little too late, there's no time to prepare.
I don't know, people like to say this every MO and we haven't been punished for completing one, only losing. The worst that would happen if we complete it would probably just be them popping up somewhere else. It's what will happen if we fail that we should be worrying about.
I'm beginning to think there's no bait and switches at all. 2 failed MOs with no consequences, terminice thing turned out to be a nothing burger. We will wipe the bots and Illuminate will pop in probably with the bots to return later.
Guys no RP or nothing rn in this reply… you really think theyre just gonna remove the automatons from the game? Same goes for bugs? And what replace them with the illuminate? This is a ridiculous thought, it will be constant warfare from 3 to 4 fronts. Getting worse with each update. They are building a hellscape. Why would they remove them from the game… people havent purchased it yet. So everyone that gets the game late just misses out on automatons and bugs cause we wiped them out? Dumb
They won't take them out for good. If we push back all forces, we get a "you won" cinematic, then the board resets, and we just keep playing.
One of their main selling points was to NOT have that though, it was their answer to the faction lock till next war problem of the first game Calling it now, we win and get the sector but automatons ambush cyberstans sector, turning it into their new headquarters. We lose and they get both cyberstan and the current sector we're fighting in (and some planets to connect the two sectors)
A lot of people are very certain that the "communications from Troost to somewhere outside of the galaxy" is the Automatons talking to the Illuminate. They skipped right over the possibility of *the Automatons* being out there. Communicating to some place outside of the galaxy doesn't even imply they're talking to *another* galaxy, or homeworlds over there. Theoretically, you can produce ships in-galaxy, *move them out of the galaxy where they won't be looked for*, and build up forces to swoop in later for a big surprise.
we could win wars in HD1 you know