All factions in Helldivers 2
There are two kinds of enemy in Helldivers 2 - but will there be a third faction?
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The Helldivers 2 factions are the two main armies that players will be going up against, but many are hoping for a third faction who made their presence known in the previous game - the Illuminate. Whether they’ll show up still remains to be seen, or whether there’ll be different factions new to the canon altogether that can be added to the already-expansiveHelldivers 2 enemies list, but below we’ll explain all the factions in Helldivers 2, and what you can expect from each of them.
What are the factions in Helldivers 2?
Right now there are two enemy factions in Helldivers 2 that players can go up against:
Will the Illuminate or a third faction be added to Helldivers 2?
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Helldivers 1 launched with the same two factions in play, only for a third to be added later on - the Illuminate. If the Terminids are stand-ins for the bugs from Starship Troopers, and the Automatons for the Terminators, then the Illuminate are generally representative of a certain kind of high-minded, robed alien seen broadly in fiction similar to the Covenant from Halo, or the Kaminoans from Star Wars, though their technology has something of a “space magic” vibe to it.
At time of writing, Arrowhead Game Studios has not revealed any plans to add the Illuminate- or any other faction - to the game. That being said, many players suspect that a new faction is coming, owing in part to the fact that Helldivers 1 also launched with just two factions, and partly because the Galactic Map is currently one-third empty, with the other two thirds controlled by the Terminids and Automatons respectively. That means there’s a perfect empty space for a new force to enter the fray - but right now it’s just theorising.
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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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