A new Warbond is on the way to Helldivers 2, and it’s the first step in Arrowhead shaking up the game’s update schedule. The Viper Commandos Warbond is themed after jungle combat — camo prints, red berets, bare arms, throwing knives, skull masks, and everything else you can equip while CCR’s “Fortunate Son” blasts over a speaker nearby.
Warbonds can be unlocked with 1000 Super Credits, which can be purchased with real money or collected around minor points of interest on the map. Fans have criticized Warbonds for coming a little too frequently without enough unique items to justify them, and the Viper Commandos Warbond takes that feedback into account.
“Based on player input, we’re changing our approach to Warbonds moving forward in a couple of ways,” wrote community manager Katherine Baskin on the official Sony site. “Firstly, we’re slowing down the pace at which we release Warbonds to give us a little bit more time to polish these designs before they’re released. Secondly, we are changing the arrangement of items in each Warbond to make room for new item types. It’s time to focus on quality over quantity.”
Players can unlock a new Liberator Carbine, designed for close quarters combat, as well as a new secondary weapon that packs a lot of punch in the SG-22 Bushwhacker triple-barrel sawed off shotgun. The PH-9 Predator armor is a clear reference to, well, Predator — and I’m tempted to unlock it just for the cute beret. For those who prefer heavy armor, the PH-202 Twigsnapper keeps similar aesthetics with a little more protection. Both armors feature bare arms and a new Peak Physique passive, which improves melee damage and weapon handling.
The most exciting weapon is a new utility item: a throwing knife. I’m not sure if throwing knives will pack the same punch as shotguns and orbital lasers, but it definitely scores points for being cool and stylish.
The Viper Commandos Warbond also features camo skins for the hellpods, Exosuits, and Pelican-1. It should be nice to be able to customize these things, adding a certain panache to the otherwise plain-looking mech suits and hellpods. A new booster, Experimental Infusion, makes stims even more of a life-saver by giving injections a boost to movement speed and damage reduction.
The Warbond also comes with the typical rewards of capes, player cards, and emotes.
It’s interesting to see Arrowhead shake things up. There are some big narrative happenings right now, since players turned the super colony of Meridia into an ominous black hole. If things escalate further, at least we’ll have these fun new toys to throw at our alien enemies. The Viper Commandos Warbond will release on all platforms on June 13.