Knowing what level for each difficulty you should be in Helldivers 2 can feel intimidating at first. Fortunately, it doesn’t completely rely on your character level but rather your skill as well. And with that how well your team works together too.
Similar to roguelike games where your knowledge is the biggest thing, it can also make a huge difference in Helldivers 2. Certain tricks like how our tips and tricks list explains dealing with Chargers is more important than your level. However, if you don’t have the right stratagems, you still may struggle to fight them.
This is why it’s a balance in deciding what level for each difficulty you should be. A safe strategy is to start low and work your way up until you have an enjoyable challenge. Many players will find the lowest difficulty of trivial to be easy, but it works well for learning the basics.
While someone playing on Impossible will immediately feel how tough Helldivers 2 can get. Regardless, before you unlock the next difficulty, you’ll need to complete an operation below it. For those who don’t know, an operation is a set of missions within an area when clicking into a planet.
This organically gives you an idea of what difficulty you can complete. Because at a certain point, you won’t be able to progress if you can’t complete your missions. Assuming other players don’t carry you through the tougher ones.
The only reason your level matters is to meet the requirements for more stratagems. Fortunately, some feel better than others so you don’t need them all. This makes it easier when you’re grinding Requisition Slips to afford them. Personally, I love the Expendable Anti-Tank for Chargers. While also using the Orbital Gas and EMS Strikes.
So even though your level isn’t the biggest deciding factor, you’ll still need the currency and samples to unlock upgrades. Aside from stratagems, there are also ship modules that provide minor upgrades too. And then if you want to experience other armor types and weapons, you’ll need to spend Medals on the battle pass. But, I do just fine with the first battle pass armor and first weapon.
All that said, here are some quick bullet points below for what to expect on harder difficulties. Afterward, the next section shows the descriptions for each Helldivers 2 difficulty. Which doesn’t tell you too much about what level for each difficulty, but it gives you a general idea.
How Helldivers 2 Gets Tougher With Each Difficulty
- Heavy enemies start to appear such as Chargers, Bile Spewers, and Bile Titans. After introducing them, they’ll become more common as the difficulty increases.
- Missions will become more complex requiring extra steps and sometimes more sub-objectives.
- Patrols become more common which leads to frequent bug breaches and dropships.
All Helldivers 2 Difficulty Traits
It’s worth mentioning that there’s a large disparity in difficulty going from fighting the Terminid bugs to Automatons. I’d recommend lowering your difficulty if you’re trying Automatons for the first time.
- 1 – Trivial – Primary Objectives, Enemy Patrols (Common Samples)
- 2 – Easy – Allied Tactical Objectives, Light Outposts (Common Samples)
- 3 – Medium – Secondary Objectives, Medium Outposts, Heavily Armored Enemies (Common Samples)
- 4 – Challenging – Enemy Tactical Objectives, Heavy Outposts, Heavily Armored Enemies (Common Samples, Rare Samples)
- 5 – Hard – Operation Modifiers, Massive Enemies, Heavily Armored Enemies (Common Samples, Rare Samples)
- 6 – Extreme – Tactical Objectives Increase, Massive Enemies, Heavily Armored Enemies (Common Samples, Rare Samples, Super Samples)
- 7 – Suicide Mission – Tactical Objectives Increase, Massive Enemies, Heavily Armored Enemies (Common Samples, Rare Samples, Super Samples)
- 8 – Impossible – Increased Enemy Presence, Multiple Operation Modifiers, Heavily Armored Enemies (Common Samples, Rare Samples, Super Samples)
- 9 – Helldive – Increased Enemy Presence, Multiple Operation Modifiers, Heavily Armored Enemies (Common Samples, Rare Samples, Super Samples)
Overall, I wouldn’t pay too much attention to your level. You’ll increase it without even trying to and it only matters for stratagem requirements. As long as you’re having fun, that’s all that matters. And if you need a little help, make sure to check out our best Helldivers 2 tips and tricks guide.
Jeff is a journalist with over 10 years of experience writing, streaming, and making content about video games. With an associate degree in journalism, he’s a sucker for RPGs, survival games, roguelikes, and more.