Forget the Major Order – Helldivers 2 Soldiers should not be diving into a mission when this Operation Modifier is active

At the risk of sounding un-democratic – sorry Super Earth – Helldivers shouldn’t be attempting to complete a mission when the Helldivers 2 AA Defenses Operation Modifier is active – it’s just far too deadly.

When it comes to fighting for democracy, it’s not about the Helldivers, it’s all about the mission and ensuring liberty is spread to all the Automaton and Terminid-infested planets. That’s what the Major Orders are there for, and that’s why Helldivers are continuously losing their lives.

However, nothing makes your job harder than the AA Defenses Operation Modifier. In fact, it’s so frustrating that perhaps we just shouldn’t even bother completing that mission – even if a Major Order asks you to.

The AA Defenses Operation Modifier limits your Stratagem slots by one, taking your Stratagems down from four to three. Because of this, most players have to take away one of their pivotal selections, dramatically impacting builds and the entire meta.

Of course, this is likely the intention of Super Earth (and Arrowhead Studios). Still, it’s far too limiting and can feel more frustrating than challenging, especially at higher levels when you need all the support you can get from Pelican One.

An alternative to fewer Stratagem slots could be to make one of the slots more limited. Perhaps one slot has a slower call-in time, or can only be called in a certain amount of times? This would still cause a change in tactics, but it wouldn’t lead to quite so much frustration.

The same problem has been echoed throughout the community, with many calling for changes to the AA Defenses modifier and slamming its implementation. Some suggested allowing Helldivers the chance to take down an AA objective to gain their slot back, in the same way as SEAF Artillery, while others are simply calling for the modifier’s removal.

Ultimately, with very few positives and quite the hit on the players’ strength, these missions with AA Defense modifiers can become almost impossible and it’s clear it needs to change – for democracy of course.

If you’ve been enjoying Helldivers 2 and its tricky dives for liberty, ensure you’re prepared for all the game’s enemies, or make sure you’ve got the best Terminid build, Solo build, or Automaton build to help spread democracy with ease.