Helldivers 2’s rollout of new content with the Escalation of Freedom update is a lot slower and steadier than some players may have anticipated, and while Arrowhead is busy reevaluating its approach to balance changes it will be interesting to see when other new missions and enemies eventually appear. There’s another lull in what players can earn now if they’ve already unlocked everything in the“Freedom’s Flame” Premium Warbond, which is to be expected, though the level 10 difficulty, Super Helldive, bears enough of a challenge for any veteran Helldiver.
Still, certain characteristics of progression being reconsidered wouldn’t hurt. Personal orders are regurgitated and banal inHelldivers 2, for instance, and there aren’t many incentives to experiment with stratagems or loadouts players wouldn’t try out otherwise unless they’ve been affected by recent nerfs and buffs. All some players have to look forward to aside from Premium Warbond content is new player title unlocks and their associable icons. These titles add to the wide catalog of customization inHelldivers 2, but they are also limited and restricted to level-ups or unlocks in the latest Premium Warbonds, and that is a shame seeing as how there’s potential for gameplay-oriented rewards associated with them.
Helldivers 2’s Player Titles Could Use a Bit of a Refresher
Character titles are currently earned every five levels until level 50 and every 10 levels afterward with a level cap of 150. Titles grant players fun decorations ofservice in Super Earth’s bombastic military forces, such as Death Captain or Hell Commander, and leveling up through repeated play is the only way to currently earn them in-game.
Otherwise, without leveling up players can unlock titles via the latest Premium Warbonds that feature them, such as the Fire Safety Officer title available in “Freedom’s Flame.” Of course,Helldivers 2’s Super Citizen editionbestowed its titular title onto players as well. Generating endless titles doesn’t seem like the best feature to pool all resources toward, but having an infinite amount on hand is probably necessary when titles are one of the primary aspects of customization inHelldivers 2that players are still working toward if they haven’t already hit level 150.
Some players have chosen to keep previously earned titles like Cadet equipped even if they’ve reached a far higher level, perhaps because they prefer the actual title or the color-coded portrait icon that accompanies it. But unless they are taking on a handful of missions daily, it is unlikely that players are progressing through levels at a tremendous rate.
Helldivers 2 Should Tie Rare Titles to Actions on the Battlefield
Instead, it would be complementary to endgame customization and progression if there were unique titles earned by way of rare in-game accomplishments. This would go a long way in communicating to different players what others had achieved; if theFire Safety Officer titlecould only be earned by surviving a certain amount of accumulated fire damage or dealing a certain amount of fire damage to enemies, for example, players would have an understanding of that player’s playstyle and what they’re most proud to display as an in-game achievement.
As of now, titles are purely ornamental, like the name players can generate for their personal ship. However, making certain titles action-dependent would help usher in new ways of experimenting with non-meta builds and loadouts. It’s quite easy to get stuck playing with the same primary and secondary weapons, and if titles were rewarded for a number of kills with something players don’t normally equip it would be, if nothing else, a nice method of switching gameplay up for a while with a goal in mind.
Liberating overrun planetsis always tough work regardless of what players bring with them and to have valid reasons for supplying themselves with an otherwise random arsenal could reinvigorate moment-to-moment gameplay.Helldivers 2is only truly monotonous if players are repeatedly diving into the same mission types, but while titles are the main source of ongoing customization in-game it would be great to see them flourish by being more gameplay-related somehow.
