Helldivers 2 Boosters explained and how to unlock them
Boosters in Helldivers 2 are equipable modifiers that provide helpful bonuses.
Helldivers 2 Boosters are unique buffs equipped just before the mission starts, along with your Stratagems, and serve to provide a team-wide buff that can make a massive difference to your performance and success - especially if everybody equips a different Booster and you have four different perks enhancing the team at once. Every Warbond released so far has included new Boosters, but the game has never adequately explained how they work and what they actually do without just... experimenting, and considering their oh-so-high-cost in Medals, it's worth having some clarity. With that in mind, here's everything you need to know about Boosters in Helldivers 2.
How Boosters in Helldivers 2 work and affect the game
Boosters in Helldivers 2 work in the following way:
- Boosters are NOT single- use - once you have them, they don't expire and you can equip them at the start of any mission.
- However, you can only choose one Booster to equip per mission when choosing Stratagems and Equipment…
- But the effects are spread across the whole team! So if one player equips a Booster that reduces injury chance, everybody has reduced injury chance.
- The team cannot equip the same Booster more than once to make its effects stack. If you can't equip a Booster that you own, it's probably because another player has already equipped it.
- All Boosters are found within Warbonds and can be bought with Medals.
Consequently, the best way to use Boosters is to make sure that everybody in the team has a different one equipped, sharing the effects to the rest of the team and providing some significant buffs. And because Boosters have no drawbacks and can be used infinitely, you should be equipping them in every mission without fail - especially in the highest difficulties where you need every advantage you can get.
Best Helldivers 2 Boosters
There aren't many Helldivers 2 Boosters to unlock but since most of them are late unlocks that require loads of Medals to get, it's good to know which ones are worth prioritizing and which ones you and your teammates should take. Obviously if you're playing with a full four-player squad you can have four different Boosters active, but with fewer than four players, you'll need to make important choices regarding which ones you'll take, so here are the best Boosters in order of priority:
- Stamina Enhancement: Especially on the hardest difficulties, having more stamina and a faster regeneration rate is hugely useful for quickly running around the map to reach objective and running away from enemies.
- Hellpod Space Optimization: Having full ammo, stims, and grenades whenever you come out of Hellpod is hugely useful in all missions and all difficulties. Depending on how many players are in your squad, this Booster can take priority over Stamina Enhancement.
- Localisation Confusion: This booster in the Helldivers 2 Cutting Edge Warbond massively reduces the amount of Bot Drops and Bug Breaches. We can't speak to an exact percentage, but using this Booster we often found that they were occuring at nearly half the rate (though obviously the chaos of Helldivers 2 might change this a little bit).
- Vitality Enhancement: A good general purpose Booster that will make your Helldivers a little more durable.
- UAV Recon Booster: For high-difficulty missions where a stealthier approach, additional radar range will help you spot enemy patrols from much further away, letting you stay out of sight. Pairs nicely with Helldivers 2 armor with the Scout passive.
- Muscle Enhancement: This one is interchangeable with the Recon Booster based on the mission and planet. We advise taking this Booster where weather modifiers, especially snow and rain, are active. Pair it with Stamina Enhancement and your team will barely get hindered by rough terrain.
All Boosters in Helldivers 2 and how to get them
Players can currently obtain the following Boosters in Helldivers 2.
- Hellpod Space Optimization: Helldivers come out of Hellpods fully stocked on Ammo, Grenades and Stims. This includes the initial Hellpod drop and any subsequent drops as a result of being called in with reinforcements. (Helldivers Mobilize free Warbond / Page 3 / 15 Medals)
- Vitality Enhancement: Allows all Helldivers to resist limb and chest injuries. (Helldivers Mobilize free Warbond / Page 4 / 20 Medals)
- UAV Recon Booster: Increases all Helldivers' effective radar range, letting you see enemy red dots on the map further away from your position. (Helldivers Mobilize free Warbond / Page 6 / 40 Medals)
- Stamina Enhancement: Increases all Helldivers' stamina capacity and recovery rate. (Helldivers Mobilize free Warbond / Page 7 / 75 Medals)
- Muscle Enhancement: Allows Helldivers to traverse difficult terrain with ease. Things like deep snow and mud won't slow you down as much. (Helldivers Mobilize free Warbond / Page 9 / 70 Medals)
- Increased Reinforcement Budget: Increases the number of available Reinforcements per player in the squad from 5 to 6. This means a full four-player team gets 24 reinforcements. (Helldivers Mobilize free Warbond / Page 10 / 150 Medals)
- Flexible Reinforcement Budget: Reduces time until new reinforcements are granted once they've been depleted by 12 seconds. (Steeled Veterans Premium Battle Pass / Page 3 / 75 Medals)
- Localisation Confusion: Reduces the amount that enemies summon Bug Breaches / Bot Drops. (Cutting Edge Premium Battle Pass / Page 1 / 18 Medals)
- Expert Extraction Pilot: Reduces the time taken for the shuttle to reach extraction by 15%. (Democratic Detonation Premium Warbond / Page 2 / 55 Medals)
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Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and raconteur with a Masters from Sussex University, none of which has actually equipped him for anything in real life. As a result he chooses to spend most of his time playing video games, reading old books and ingesting chemically-risky levels of caffeine. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at USgamer, Gfinity, Eurogamer and more besides.
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