Quick Links
Helldivers 2is a well-polished game when it comes to bothits amazing graphicsand menu layouts. There are games that make things overly complicated and can have players wondering where they need to go to change something. Thankfully, Helldivers 2 presents everything you need to know when you are at the relevant menu points.
10 Best Storylines In Shooter Games, Ranked
If you want a good reason for all the bullets, these are the games for you.
How a player selects difficulty settings can vary from game to game, with some telling players to choose it at the start of the game and not being able to change it afterward. Other games will let you pause your game and change the difficulty without even needing to restart the current session. Helldivers 2 handles difficulty on a mission-to-mission basis.

Helldivers 2
How To Unlock Each Difficulty Mode
Helldivers provides players withnumerous difficulties to choose fromas they dive into thisamazing sci-fi shooter. If ever a player feels missions are going too smoothly or enemies are not posing a challenge, they can opt to try a harder setting. There are atotal of 9 difficultiesto choose from, but you will not have access to all of them from the very start. You will need to prove you are up for the challenge byovercoming the previous difficulty type— this will occur each time you complete a mission.
Once you havecompleted a mission on Trivial difficulty, the game will allow you to ready the next mission using the difficulty above Trivial —which is called Easy. Whenever you access a mission overview from theGalactic War Console, you will have the option tochange the difficulty setting. This can be done usingL1 and R1if you are playing on the PS5, or using a controller on the PC. If you are playing with a mouse and keyboard, then you will be able to change between your unlocked difficulties using theQ and Ekeys on your keyboard. Using any difficulty less than the highest available one willprevent you from unlocking a harder difficulty. Once you complete any mission on Easy,you will unlock Medium difficulty. This will be what most players will find delivers a core experience.

For those who have masteredall the basics of the gameand are nowready to be challengedand overcome significantly harder missions, keep playing the highest difficulty to climb upHard, Extreme, Suidice Mission, and Impossiblein order to unlock the final difficulty —known as Helldive. As you may imagine, completing a missionwith a harder difficulty will give more Medalsthan the other difficulties.
Difficulty Name
How To Unlock
This difficulty is available from the very start of the game and does not need to be unlocked.
Complete any mission in the game on the Trivial difficulty to unlock this difficulty.

Complete any mission in the game on the Easy difficulty to unlock this difficulty.
Challenging
Complete any mission in the game on the Medium difficulty to unlock this difficulty.
Complete any mission in the game on the Challenging difficulty to unlock this difficulty.

Complete any mission in the game on the Hard difficulty to unlock this difficulty.
Suicide Mission
Complete any mission in the game on the Extreme difficulty to unlock this difficulty.
Impossible
Complete any mission in the game on the Suicide Mission difficulty to unlock this difficulty.
Complete any mission in the game on the Helldive difficulty to unlock this difficulty.

DualShockers Definitives: 10 Best PS5 Multiplayer Games
From Diablo 4 to Fall Guys, the PS5 has some of the best multiplayer titles around. Let’s look at what made our top 10 of all time.
How Do The Difficulty Modes Impact The Game
Missions in Helldivers 2have many elementsto them. You will havevarious kinds of enemiesall over the map, you will havemultiple tasksthat you will have to complete, there will benumerous enemy outpoststo destroy, and to top it all off, there isa timer in the corner of your screenticking down — and if it hits zero before you’ve completed your primary objectives, you fail. Every time you crank up the difficulty, yourroom for error drops, and your risk of failure increases.
The higher the difficulty, theharder the enemies become to kill, the more dangerous andstrongerthese enemies will become, and the number of enemies from previous missions on lower difficulties will becomedwarfed by the new hordes you will faceat higher difficulties.
There will also be aneven higher number of enemy strongholdsat these higher difficulties, along with anincreased number of tasksyou will be expected to complete for each of your missions. Thinking that this might make managing your time limit harder is an understatement, asyou will have even less timeto complete all this additional work and take out vastly harder hordes of increased enemies. Luckily, the increased medals are well worth it — if you survive.
How To Choose The Right Difficulty For You?
Cranking up the difficulty isnot something you need to do. However, if you feel that you could still be clearing missions, even if there was more of a challenge,you should attempt itto test your skills. Steadily increasing the difficulty this way can give players a verydeep sense of accomplishment. You will want to get as many Medals as you may, and upping the difficulty will be a great way to do this. These Medals will be used to get yourself some new weapons to tear through your enemies, new cosmetics to look great while playing the game, and get your hands on some new body armor.
You’ll gain rewards at an increased rate the higher difficulty you venture, so there comes a fantastic risk/reward balance you should take into account with each nudge of the difficulty setting.
The best way to figure out your ideal difficulty as a new recruit or returning Helldiver will be to steadily increase the difficulty setting as you go, and meeting the increased challenge head-on. If you push up to Hard difficulty, you might find that too punishing, so you slip back down to Challenging. As you continue to tweak your experience and grow more confident and effective at a given difficulty, it’s important to continue adjusting to find that right balance of danger and accomplishment.
What Does Each Difficulty Setting Add
In addition to things getting all around harder for players, some elements will be present in harder difficulties that were previously not a factor. There aremany different enemies to facein the game, and some of them will only be present once you tackle these harder difficulties. You will also be gaining access to different Samples rarities by increasing the difficulty. You will definitely want better samples as they will be required for the best ship modules as you progress through the game.
Added Enemies
Obtainable Samples
Scavengers, Warriors, Hunters, Trooper, Raider, Marauder, Commissar, Dropship
Stalkers, Brood Commanders, Berserker
Bile Spewers, Chargers, Scout Strider, Devastator
Bile Titans, Hulk
Common, Rare
Common, Rare, Super Rare
To get the most out of your Helldivers 2 experience, check out our guide detailing thebest graphics settings for visuals and performance, as well ashow to unlock all of the Stratagemsin the game.
10 Best Tactical Shooters, Ranked
From Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to PUBG, these are the best tactical shooters ever made.