Unlike war, Helldivers 2 is always changing. The hit alien shooter’s latest big update is live with a Servants of Freedom Warbond arriving later this week. But all fans really care about at the moment are mysterious new shovels that aren’t mentioned in the patch notes but can be used to dig trenches and potentially much more.
Tuesday’s update rebalanced some of Helldivers 2‘s weapons, allowed players to throw stratagems while in jeeps, and made it so we can now sprint while carrying barrels and SEAF Artillery Rounds. But overall the patch notes didn’t contain anything big or out of the ordinary. When players loaded Helldivers 2 up post-update, however, they started to discover these shovels during their latest galactic war expeditions. The melee weapons aren’t just for smashing robots in the face, either. They can dig up dirt from the ground and reveal hidden caches of resources below.
Players are already freaking out over the potential. What weird secrets might be lying just below the surface? Can squads now dig out trenches to create makeshift fortifications wherever they are? And why stop at just holes? Maybe shovels are just the start of a wild new era of Helldivers 2 that updates the tried-and-true shooter formula with new Minecraft-style survival crafting elements.
While players are still testing the limits of what these new tools make possible, it feels like Arrowhead Game Studios has fundamentally blown the top off what Helldivers 2 could evolve into someday. Of course, shovels haven’t completely come out of nowhere. Players have been requesting them since the game came out. And they laid out exactly how they should work, which seems to be pretty similar to how they’ve currently been implemented.
Shovels aren’t the only new big deal for Helldivers 2 this week. The Servants of Freedom Warbond that goes live on February 6 will introduce, among other arsenal upgrades, a new B-100 Portable Hellbomb. Yes, it’s basically a giant bomb players can carry around on their backs. Fans are already salivating at all of the ways they can use it to more efficiently prosecute the war against the bugs, Automatons, and Illuminate, including now destroying those pesky signal jamming towers with ease. If you’ve been away from Helldivers 2 for a bit, this feels like the week to come back.
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