One of the best things about Arrowhead Game Studios' acclaimed Xbox, PC, and PS5 co-op shooter Helldivers 2 is that it supports and enables countless different power fantasies. With all the gear and stratagems in the base game and from various Warbonds, you can be everything from a mobile jet pack-wearing sniper to a laser revolver-slinging space cowboy to a minigun-wielding heavy gunner, and anything between.
Notably, though, one playstyle that hasn't been supported by the game's sandbox very much is stealth. With how bombastic and chaotic the action can get in Helldivers, many forget it has stealth mechanics, with most enemies unable to detect you provided you're well-concealed and keep quiet.
At the heart of the Redacted Regiment Warbond is the R-72 Censor marksman rifle and the AR-59 Suppressor assault rifle, both of which have integrated silencers for quiet firing. They'll pair perfectly with the RS-89 Shadow Paragon (light) and RS-67 Null Cipher (medium) armor sets that feature the Reduced Signature passive; this trait significantly reduces the noise you make and the distance enemies can detect you from.
There's also the B/MD C4 Pack for attaching explosives to objectives or heavily armored units Battlefield-style, as well as the P-35 Re-Educator secondary that fires a gas dart, stunning and confusing any democracy-hating extra-terrestrials that become aware of your presence. You can also distract enemies with the grenade-replacing TM-01 Lure Mine that beeps and lights up to draw targets in before detonating (think Left 4 Dead pipe bombs).
Other items in the Warbond include the Concealed Insertion booster that — based on the icon for it — will likely create a large cloud of concealing smoke whenever you land in a Hellpod, along with player banners, capes, a player title, and a "Target Sighted" emote that match the style of the armor sets and Redacted Regiment as a whole.
All in all, this looks like a terrific Warbond, and will be a literal game changer for Helldivers 2. Provided that Reduced Signature armor passive is as effective as it sounds, stealth will become a lot more viable than it is now, especially when paired with smoke and gas-based stratagems that confuse enemy forces. And if it's not, Arrowhead will likely buff it, as they've frequently done in the past with underwhelming armor traits.
One big thing I'm hoping for is that the silenced weapons from the Helldivers 2 x Halo crossover Warbond — the SMG and the pistol, namely — are considered as quiet as the new DMR and assault rifle are, as they're a blast to use and having more stealth-viable options would be great. Fingers crossed.
Are you excited for stealthier playstyles to become more viable in Helldivers 2 thanks to the Redacted Regiment Warbond? Will you be getting it right away when it comes out, or will you wait to see how its unlocks perform? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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