How to level up fast in Helldivers 2

Many of the superior weapons and items you can unlock in Helldivers 2 are available as you level up. My favorite weapon you can get is the Railgun, and it unlocks at level 20, which leaves you few options outside of trying to figure out how to level up quickly.

You can prioritize your character’s level in Helldivers 2 in a few ways. It all comes down to focusing on gathering up XP. There are a handful of ways you can do this, which means working together with a squad to maximize your efforts alongside other Helldivers. Here’s what you need to know about leveling up fast in Helldivers 2.

The best way to level up fast in Helldivers 2

The way you want to focus on leveling up in Helldivers 2 comes down to your chosen mission before launching with your friends and completing the side objectives. These are the best ways you can receive more XP at the end of a mission, and this does come down to working alongside teammates to ensure you’re all on the same page. These are some best practices to consider when trying to level up fast: mission level, side objectives, and exploring the entire map.

Manage Helldivers 2 mission difficulty for your team

You want to adjust the difficulty of your Helldivers 2 mission for your team. If you’re playing with a squad of three players, it might be better to stick with the Challenging or Hard difficulties, even though you could go up to Extreme. However, if you have a full team of four players and you’re all in a voice chat together, going to the highest difficulty available to everyone might be a good idea. If you fail the mission, though, bumping it down a notch to complete it is a good idea to ensure you get credit for the mission.

Failing on a mission means you don’t get any fancy rewards. It’s better to succeed on a lower-difficulty mission than to keep banging your head against a wall on one of the harder ones. Make sure to talk with your Helldivers 2 team before accepting a mission to see what everyone is comfortable with, and slowly scale up from there. There’s no harm in testing to see if you can handle these more difficult missions, but it hurts you far more to stick to a higher mission difficulty if you can’t complete it. Plus, you earn a bonus based on the mission difficulty, and that means striking a balance here is vital.

Complete all Helldivers 2 side objectives

The larger, 40-minute Helldivers 2 missions come with a large map for you to explore. There’s the main objective you must complete before calling down the extraction ship, and then there are three side objectives. You should see at least one of these side objectives before touching down, but the other two are hidden. You and your squad need to explore the entire map to track them down; these vary from taking down Stalker Nests, to activating a Radar Tower, destroying Facility Buildings, or activating the SEAF Artillery.

Although these can pull you away from the main objective, completing them is a great way to add additional XP on top of the main objective. You won’t get a massive amount of XP from side objectives, but they add to your total, and when you earn a bonus depending on the difficulty in Helldivers 2, every little bit counts. You might want to avoid focusing on samples unless you find them on the way.

Destroying Terminid Nests or Automaton Factories

Another thing to look for while exploring the larger maps are the Terminid Nests and the Automaton Factories. These are the enemy outposts hidden throughout the map in a Helldivers 2 mission, although you might see a red outline on the map indicating their locations. Similar to the side objectives, these are another great way to stack up XP before departing after completing the main objective.

The more significant enemy outposts offer the most XP. The Heavy and Medium enemy outposts are your top priority, and you can mostly skim over the Small ones. Those offer relatively minor XP points, but if you find them as they cross your path, don’t ignore them. You only need to use a grenade or an orbital strike from your Super Destroyer to take them out.

Play Eradicate Terminid Swarms or Automaton Forces

The last thing you can do if you truly want to earn the most XP quickly is to complete the Terminid Swarms or Automaton Forces missions. These are much shorter missions than the standard 40-minute ones, where you have 15 minutes to eradicate a set number of enemies at a small location. The number of enemies you need to take out depends on the mission difficulty, but after the enemies have been eliminated, you and your squad can leave.

These do not offer side objectives or additional tasks for your squad. However, these can be finished much faster than 15 minutes, and I can complete the Medium ones in under five minutes before having to extract them back to my Super Destroyer. If you and your Helldivers 2 want to focus purely on crunching enemy foes and diving straight into the action, these shorter missions are a great way to earn Medals and XP and get straight to delivering democracy to a planet.