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- Helldivers 2 Automatons reintroduced into the game
Summary
- Helldivers 2 has two enemy factions: Bugs (Terminids) and Bots (Automatons), but there's speculation of a third soon to be added.
- Fans speculate the Illuminate will be the next addition, but the missing Cyborg faction could return instead.
- The connection between Cyborgs and Automatons, along with the recent eradication of the latter, suggests Cyborgs may make a return soon.
Helldivers 2 Major Order "Swift Disassembly", it appears the Automatons have finally been eradicated once and for all. Of course, there's always a chance they'll return, but for the time being, players are left to wonder what comes next.
UPDATE: 2024/04/09 08:39 EST BY GARRETT ETTINGER
Helldivers 2 Automatons reintroduced into the game
Editor's Note: Automatons have officially been reintroduced to the game, according to a recent tweet by the Helldivers 2 developers on X. The original article is as follows:
Since day one, Helldivers 2 has teased the Illuminate's addition to the game. A highly intelligent, cephalopod-like alien race, the Illuminate were among the most dangerous factions in the original Helldivers. While there's lots of speculation on social media about the seemingly impending arrival of the Illuminate, there's little talk about another missing faction from the first game in the series. However, recent in-game events suggest they may come back - and very soon.
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Cyborgs Could Be Returning To Helldivers 2
Helldivers' Cyborg Faction, Explained
There's plenty of evidence to suggest that the Cyborg faction from the original game could be coming to Helldivers 2 soon. Much like the Automatons, Cyborgs are mechanized units. They're known for their heavy armor and advanced weaponry, which makes them arguably one of the more difficult factions in the game. In lore, Cyborgs are said to be secessionists from Super Earth, rejecting its propaganda and attempting to recruit traitors to their side. They're also not above harvesting the bodies of fallen Helldivers, reviving them and rewiring them to mindless violence in the name of the Cyborg cause.
But like the Illuminate, there appear to be no Cyborgs in Helldivers 2 - at least, not yet. Many players have speculated that they were simply replaced by a similar faction, the Automatons, in the sequel. However, the truth may be far more complicated, and Cyborgs could simply be waiting beyond the reaches of known space waiting to strike.
Some players, like Reddit littleNorthStar, have already pointed out that there are unused regions of Helldivers 2's map that a new faction could easily occupy. Traditionally, Automatons have occupied the regions northwest of Super Earth on the galactic map, and Terminids the regions northeast. However, this leaves huge swathes of southward territory uncontested, which would be the perfect battleground for a new faction to claim.
There's plenty of reason to suspect that a faction from the first game will make a return in an update to Helldivers 2. This may even come with an expansion of known space, with further planets and sectors added to the galactic map to accommodate the new faction's conquests. The only real question is whether it'll be the Illuminate, the Cyborgs, or something else. There are plenty of in-game details to suggest that the Illuminate will be added in a future update, but there's even more evidence to suggest that the Cyborgs could be coming first.
How Helldivers' Cyborgs Became Helldivers 2's Automatons
The Connection Between Helldivers' Automatons & Cyborgs
To make matters worse, the existence of Helldivers 2's Automatons suggests that the Cyborgs aren't far behind. There's already lore in-game to suggest a connection between the two: Helldivers' Cyborgs and Helldivers 2's Automatons both use similar emblems: split arrowhead shapes overlaid over two outward-facing triangles to create a rough outline of a five-point star. What's more, an encoded lore drop, posted to the official Helldivers on X (formerly Twitter) prior to the second game's release, seems to confirm that the Cyborgs created the Automatons as their successors.
The Tweet above is not only written in binary, which can easily be translated into readable text with online tools, but also a combination of an inverse cipher and a Caesar cipher.
The message proved difficult to decode, but fans of the first Helldivers were eventually able to crack it. Once fully translated, the text of the Tweet thread reads:
"We, the collective from Cyberstan, unanimously assert our independence from Super Earth. We have the right to defend our home from the brainwashed Helldivers. Our children, the automaton will not suffer as we have under the oppression of Super Earth!"
Now, this is an older tweet, but it confirms many different connections between the Cyborgs and the Automatons. For one thing, it specifically mentions the planet of Cyberstan by name, which is known to be the Automatons' home base in Helldivers 2. It uses similar language to the Cyborgs in the first game, declaring independence and referring to Helldivers as "brainwashed" by Super Earth's propaganda.
Plus, Automatons just make perfect sense as extensions and successors of Cyborgs. They're incredibly similar in concept, except that where Cyborgs are at least partially human, Automatons are purely mechanical. That makes Cyborgs finite, and difficult to recruit: they either have to counter the entrenched propaganda of Super Earth to draw defectors, or embark on dangerous harvesting missions to claim the bodies of fallen Helldivers. And once a Cyborg's human form perishes, it's unlikely they'll be able to continue their service. Since they're repairable and self-sustaining, the transition to fully mechanical Automatons solves all these problems.
How The Automaton Defeat Could Bring Cyborgs To Helldivers 2
The Implications Of Major Order "Swift Disassembly"
So Cyborgs created Automatons, but they seem to have disappeared from the galaxy in the years following. However, the Helldivers 2 Major Order "Swift Disassembly" creates the perfect opportunity to reintroduce Cyborgs. This in-game event directed players to speed along the war against the Bots, disrupting Automaton control on every planet then held by the mechanized faction. Although this seemed impossible, as of April 7, all Automatons were eradicated, and all their planets back in control of Super Earth. For now, the galaxy is safe, and the Automatons have gone silent.
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But that only means there's never been a better time for the Automatons to come back with a vengeance, possibly with their Cyborg creators in tow. If there are any Cyborgs left alive after the events of the first Helldivers - and there likely are, considering the existence of the Automaton army - now would be the perfect time for them to reveal themselves. If this is the case, Major Order "Swift Disassembly" could even be considered an attempt by Super Earth to draw out the Cyborgs, revealing its old enemy in an attempt to finally eliminate them.
Still, it's unlikely the Cyborgs will occupy that southern region of the galaxy. The encoded message, along with all the lore around Cyborgs and Automatons, suggests they lurk in the north, somewhere in or around their headquarters on Cyberstan. Perhaps the Cyborgs and Automatons could circumnavigate the galaxy, attacking from the south in a surprise assault. Or maybe that territory is being reserved for the future reintroduction of the Illuminate. Either way, the galaxy's unused territory, the hints toward the Cyborgs' reemergence, and the aftermath of the Automatons' defeat remain major, if lesser-known, mysteries for Helldivers 2 to solve.
Sources: littleNorthStar/Reddit, HelldiversGame/X, Helldivers/X
Helldivers 2
-
- Top Critic Avg: 83/100 Critics Rec: 90%
- Released
- February 8, 2024
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence
- Developer(s)
- Arrowhead Game Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Sony
- Engine
- bitsquid
Helldivers II is the follow-up to the 2015 multiplayer top-down single-player/co-op shooter from Arrowhead Game Studios. The sequel, which has shifted gears to a third-person shooter format, drops players into the boots of elite super-soldiers who fight to protect Super Earth from invading alien forces while taking the fight to those who threaten the "democracy of Super Earth."
- Franchise
- Helldivers
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS5
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