The last couple of weeks have been pretty demoralizing in Helldivers 2, but developer Arrowhead is looking to motivate its community with a chance to unlock a shiny new mech. This week’s major order is live, and it’s simple enough: Valyria 5 needs to be liberated and players need to take over an Automaton “petafactory” before it’s too late.
The reward for this objective will be a new mech-suit strategem: the EXO-49 Emancipator Exosuit. This model rocks a pair of Dual-Autocannons, making it an absolute beast for demolishing enemy forces. The mech leaked a few months ago in Helldivers 2, and each arm carries 75 Autocannon rounds, which is more than enough firepower to demolish an overpopulated Terminid hive.
MAJOR ORDER: Surveillance has uncovered an Automaton “Petafactory”; its only purpose to mass-produce heartless weapons of war.
Liberate it and we can convert it to produce en masse the dual-Autocannon EXO-49 EMANCIPATOR EXOSUIT. pic.twitter.com/r2yZeCvY2D— HELLDIVERS™ 2 (@helldivers2) May 23, 2024
It also looks better than the first mech unlocked by players, as the Patriot Exosuit originally had a small design flaw that would cause it to violently explode if its rocket launcher was fired while it was turning. This major order also comes on the back of several losses in Helldivers 2, as these events have steadily become more difficult to complete, partly due to the Helldivers 2 community naturally shrinking since the game was first released in February.
Hot off the momentum of a successful launch, Arrowhead has begun taking the next steps to grow as a studio. Johan Pilestedt has stepped down as CEO and is now the studio’s chief creative officer, with his former role being filled by Shams Jorjani. Arrowhead wants to become the next From Software or Blizzard, and it plans to do so by focusing on making “really great” co-op games, retaining a manageable number of employees, and staying independent.
