The Destroyer ship that acts as your hub in Helldivers 2 has many different upgrades you can unlock for some of the best equipment for you or your squad. These range from powerful Stratagems that provide weapons or orbital to Modules that enhance various aspects of your ship. The best upgrades you can obtain early can redefine a mission's difficulty and make objectives far easier to complete.

Most of the Ship Modules and Stratagems in Helldivers 2 require you to reach a certain level and spend several Credits to unlock them. The easiest way to farm this currency is to complete missions and pursue optional Points of Interest (POI) on different worlds. The more tasks you finish before an extraction, the more money you or your squad will earn to spend on upgrades for your Destroyer.

Best Patriotic istration Center Upgrades To Get First

New Weapons For Your Arsenal

Helldivers 2 character holding a standard machine gun weapon with massive explosion in the background

Out of the five categories of Stratagems and Ship Modules, the Patriotic istration Center provides additional weapons and modifications to your arsenal. The best upgrades to get from this section of the Destroyer in Helldivers 2 are the Expendable Anti-Tank (EAT), Autocannon, and Railgun Stratagems. The strongest Modules to unlock first is the Streamlined Request Process to the previous upgrades.

Ship Modules listed later among your other upgrades can only be unlocked when you buy the enhancements that come before them. For example, Streamlined Request Process cannot be obtained until you purchase Donation Access Line first.

Each of the new weapons in Helldivers 2 you should get all serve the same purpose - to annihilate enemy vehicles and pierce through armor. The EAT acts like a single-use rocket launcher specialized for damaging hostiles with explosive firepower. While it is always discarded after being fired, the Autocannon and Railgun come with backpack that allows them to be used for a longer time.

Streamlined Request Process decreases the cooldown time on all the weapons mentioned by 10%, as well as a variety of other guns provided by Stratagems. This heavily benefits the EAT, making it recover in almost a single minute between uses in Helldivers 2. Having explosive tools nearly always at the ready will help you deal with some of the strongest Terminids and Automatons during a mission.

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Best Orbital Cannons Upgrades To Get First

Destroy Enemies From Space

Helldivers 2 Orbital Stratagem being used to create explosions around Terminid enemies

The best upgrades to get first from the Orbital Cannons section of your ship are the Orbital Walking Barrage or Orbital Laser Stratagems and the Exploding Shrapnel Module. Many of the initial Orbital systems can feel lackluster early in Helldivers 2 missions. Unless you have very specific ones unlocked, many Orbital Cannons upgrades will end up killing your teammates more than your enemies.

One of the unspoken rules of Helldivers 2 is to not accidentally kill your teammates with explosive ordinance from different Stratagems, especially the ones from various Orbital Cannons upgrades.

The Walking Barrage creates a linear line of explosives from your beacon that can drive enemy groups out of cover. This works extremely well in difficult Automaton missions early in Helldivers 2 since the robot enemies typically use cover to tactically hide from your shots. The Orbital Laser fires a beam of concentrated energy perfect for shredding a Terminid's armored carapace and exposing weak points.

Exploding Shrapnel reduces the damage falloff from the center of explosions created by Orbital Stratagems in Helldivers 2. This gives you much wider blasts from Walking Barrage and the earlier Orbital Cannon upgrades you already have at starting levels. This enhancement is excellent for future Stratagems you may want as well, including Orbital Precision Strike within another section of the Destroyer's systems.

Best Hangar Upgrades To Get First

Gather Some Explosive

Helldivers 2 explosion from Stratagem on Automaton base as players charge into battle

The Eagle Napalm Airstrike and Eagle Cluster Bomb are the best Stratagem upgrades to get first from the Hangar along with the Liquid-Ventilated Cockpit Module. Unlike some of the Orbital improvements, these modifications have significantly faster cooldown timers. Both the Airstrike and Cluster Bomb create a carpet of explosions meant to wipe out groups of enemies of all kinds on the battlefield.

Eagle Airstrike creates a carpet of explosions across a wide area that leaves a continuing blanket of fire, while Eagle Cluster Bomb sends a concentrated air strike on a single target zone your character designates.

Liquid-Ventilated Cockpit reduces the cooldown time even further by 50% for all Eagle upgrades unlocked for your ship. With both the Cluster Bomb and Airstrike only having a cooldown of 15 seconds, this allows you to use the Strategems rapidly in half the time. The constant bombardment you can bring to your enemies will help clear groups of low-level foes and damage elite units like Chargers in Helldivers 2.

Best Bridge Upgrades To Get First

Utility And Defense

Helldivers 2 FX-12 Shield Generator Relay Bridge Stratagem upgrade with description, stats, and traits

The Bridge area of your Destroyer benefits the most from the Orbital EMS Strike and Shield Generator Relay Stratagems paired with the Power Steering Ship Module. EMS Strike creates a large electromagnetic pulse that stuns enemies for a short time, giving you and your allies time to escape a dire situation. Similarly, the Generator Relay is meant for utility as well by building a massive barrier for your protection.

The Relay does not prevent enemies from walking into its space, but it does defend your team from enemy fire. This can be incredibly useful during Automaton missions, where you have to deal with a small militia of robots armed to the teeth with laser weapons in Helldivers 2.

Power Steering doesn't relate to the recommended Stratagems with its unique enhancement. This Module gives you greater control over your Hellpod when you drop onto the battlefield with greater steering for the deployment vehicle. The high damage caused by a Hellpod's impact can greatly injure different enemies, which becomes much easier to do with this upgrade in Helldivers 2.

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Best Engineering Bay Upgrades To Get First

Versatile And Convenient Improvements

The Engineering Bay has some of the most diverse upgrades you could unlock, but the Grenade Launcher and "Guard Dog" Rover Stratagems combined with the Advanced Construction Module are among the best to get first. According to a video by YouTube creator Critical Realms, the enhancements from this section of the Destroy should even be your first purchase.

The Launcher fires explosive shells that burst across the ground, destroying armor and eliminating small groups of low-level enemies with ease. The Rover spawns a drone from your backpack that follows you around and attacks enemies in a 360-degree radius around your character. The energy blasts from this unexpected companion in Helldivers 2 can handle foes you may not be able to see.

Advanced Construction s the Rover by increasing the health of all Sentry Stratagems by 50%. Since the Rover has a fairly long cooldown, you'll want to buy this improvement to make it last longer during missions. This upgrade will help additional Stratagems in Helldivers 2 from another area of your Destroyer.

Best Robotics Workshop Upgrades To Get First

Sentry Turret Protection

Helldivers 2 Sentry turret from Stratagem upgrade firing at enemies with propaganda tag from trailer

The only upgrades you should worry about from the Robotics Workshop are the Mortar Sentry Stratagem and the Dynamic Tracking Module upgrades. Sentries are typically hard to use in Helldivers 2, with their function being utilized best during missions where you have to defend an area. The capabilities of a Sentry expand when you obtain the best type of device from your Destroyer.

The Mortar Sentry pelts the battlefield with high explosive shells that hang in the air for a longer time before slamming into enemy groups. These explosions can decimate foes that like to hide behind cover in Helldivers 2. Dynamic Tracking makes it easier to deploy a Sentry by reducing the time it takes to place one, which makes it far easier to get a turret into a strategic position fast.

While there aren't many other Robotics Workshop upgrades worth purchasing at early levels, keep in mind that early missions do not have as many enemies. By the time you reach later levels, you will have an opportunity to buy many other improvements from other ship areas. The best upgrades to get first in Helldivers 2 should help you adjust to mission obstacles as your skills improve.

Source: Critical Realms/YouTube

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Helldivers 2
Released
February 8, 2024

ESRB
M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence
Developer(s)
Arrowhead Game Studios
Publisher(s)
Sony
Franchise
Helldivers
Platform(s)
PC, PS5