The head of Helldivers 2 describes the conquest of planets as a constant tug-of-war, and one player believes he knows how to win it.
In Helldivers 2, the conquest of planets occupied by bugs or robots plays a significant role. With each operation you complete on a planet, you contribute to the successful democratization.
However, the game does not explain in detail how exactly the conquest of the planets progresses or at what rate the bugs and robots reconquer a planet. Now, the head of the studio has provided insight into the mechanics, and a battle plan from the community is already available.
What does the head say? Johan Pilestedt, the CEO of Helldivers developer Arrowhead, explains on X.com that the community is capable of liberating large portions of a planet when player numbers are at their peak.
Once this peak has passed and relatively few players are online, the Over-Earth’s enemies manage to reconquer the planet. Pilestedt describes the process as a tug-of-war that constantly goes back and forth.
Players devise a plan for successful conquest
Several hours after Pilestedt’s post on X, the Reddit user “ghoxen” reached out to the community and described in more detail how the conquest and reconquest of planets works. He also developed a theory with which the Helldivers can overcome the tug-of-war and completely occupy a planet.
You can see the very long Reddit post here:
What does the plan look like? The Reddit user has set up a sample calculation showing that players can only conquer 3 different planets if they first attack a single planet as a group.
For example, if 360,000 players are online, the Reddit user suggests that all players should first focus on planet 1 and capture it as quickly as possible. Afterward, they move on to planet 2 and, after its conquest, to planet 3.
Currently, however, players are spreading out over the various planets. In his example, he mentions 120,000 players per planet. Due to the division, the planet is captured more slowly, making insufficient progress during peak phases (in terms of player numbers), causing the planets to lose too much conquest progress during low phases.
Are there other plans? Another suggestion that gathered over 2,300 “likes” on X is: If another console were to gain access to the war, the fight could sway more in favor of the Helldivers. Based on the motto: “More is better.”
The player is hinting at the discussion that Helldivers 2, being PlayStation-exclusive, is not playable on Xbox. Some players have wished since the release of the co-op shooter for it to be available on the Microsoft console as well.
Currently, Helldivers 2 is available only for PC and PlayStation 5, including crossplay between both platforms. You can also disable this if you want: Helldivers 2: How to disable crossplay on PC and PS5
