Hell divers 2 players are already on the front lines against the game’s new, third enemy faction Signs of tyrannya surprising update that appeared on Thursday evening. The Illuminati have arrived – or at least a forward fleet representing the faction – and they’re a nasty bunch of space squids. Developer Arrowhead Game Studios has followed up last night’s surprise update with a new Warbond, which includes another much-requested community feature: melee weapons.
Players can pick up two melee weapons: the CQC-19 Stun Lance, a longer-range Urban Legends Warbond, which costs 1,000 super credits, or the CQC-30 Stun Baton, which is available in the premium shop for 200 super credits. Melee weapons fall under their own category in the secondary weapons slot and can be used in conjunction with Stratagems such as the Ballistic Shield.
Between the addition of a new melee category, the arrival of the Illuminates, a vehicle to drive with your Helldiver friends, and urban environments, the collective cup of Hell divers 2 players defect. Arrowhead has met some of the community’s loudest demands, and players seem quite happy to test their new weapons against the Illuminate and their zombie hordes.
Speaking of the Illuminate, they are very interesting to fight, but I feel like we haven’t seen everything the faction has to offer yet. They’re slow and deliberate compared to the bugs and bots, but they have powerful psychics, intimidating walkers, and old-fashioned UFOs that summon new enemies to the battlefield. Their most numerous unit is the Voteless, a zombified human strongly reminiscent of Husks from the Mass Effect games.
An interesting fact is that the Walkers, Illuminate’s heavy unit, appear even on lower difficulties. The Bile Titan, Charger, and Factory Walker are all units from the other two factions that only appear when the Helldiver selects a specific difficulty setting. With this in mind, it seems likely that we’ll see more squids roll out over the course of future patches. A sick new vehicle and melee weapons are nice, but I wouldn’t feel too comfortable just yet.