Almost every modern multiplayer game features emotes in some form, which are short animated actions that characters perform to greet, gesture, or dance. Helldivers 2 is no exception. In most games, emotes are useless, but in Arrowhead’s co-op shooter, a specific emote can save you from death.
How do players protect their friends from death? In Helldivers 2, there is an emote that allows you to perform a hug with another player. This hug can temporarily protect you from certain death – for example, when a hellbomb explodes next to you.
Of course, a simple hug won’t save you. One of the two players needs a shield generator backpack. This backpack creates a round barrier around the wearer that protects them from attacks as long as it is active.
The shield generator backpack is part of the current meta builds of Helldivers 2, so it’s very likely that you’ll find someone in your lobby carrying the backpack. To protect another player from an explosion, for example, you need to pull them into the shield of your shield generator backpack with the hug.
To do this, you just have to press the emote button, and your brave soldier spreads their arms and awaits a hearty hug. Another teammate does not need to have the emote equipped but can respond to the hug with a simple keystroke.
The YouTuber Standard-Ace demonstrated this heartwarming strategy in a 34-second video:
Players are moved: “Damn, that’s cute.”
What does the community say about it? Many players of Helldivers 2 are commenting under StandardAce’s YouTube video, expressing how great they think it is and praising Helldivers 2 for that.
- grubbus7922: “Hugging your teammates to protect them is the sweetest thing in the world.”
- boo.1337: “You know someone figured out the emote thing because they tried to spend their last moments hugging their buddy.”
- beefnerd_sadboi3680: “Damn, that’s cute.”
- CentauriTTJ: “Hold me, brother. Tight. For the weapons of democracy.”
- EarthBoundBean: “God, that’s so cool. I assume it’s unintentional, but it makes sense. It doesn’t seem overpowered since it’s so situational. Hopefully, it won’t get patched.”
Even weeks after the release, many players are still enjoying Helldivers 2 and appreciating small things like a hug emote that can save you from death.
However, some fans of the co-op shooter are also patiently waiting for new content and looking forward to future updates. We already know that mechs will soon expand your tactical gear.
There are also hints about what else might come. Here you can see an overview of all the content that has been officially announced or unofficially shared by dataminers with the community: Helldivers 2: Roadmap – All about the mechs, the armored vehicles, and the new enemies
