Helldivers 2's 'Escalation of Freedom' Update Announced, Will Add Higher Difficulty, New Enemies and More

Helldivers 2 is getting its biggest update yet, with new enemies, higher difficulty levels, fresh mission objectives and more set to arrive August 6. The Escalation of Freedom update, announced alongside a new trailer on the PlayStation Blog Tuesday, will represent the largest content drop for the online shooter. The free update will also add bigger enemy outposts, alongside bumping up the difficulty.

Developer Arrowhead Game Studios detailed all the new additions coming to Helldivers 2 with The Escalation of Freedom update in August. The major update, set to arrive six months after the game launched, is said to have taken player feedback into account. While Helldivers 2 has received regular content drops, the new update will be the biggest one yet.

Helldivers 2 Update adds higher difficulty 

Helldivers 2 has nine levels of escalating difficulty. The new update will add Combat Rating 10 difficulty level, promising the most “relentless” helldiving experience. CR10: Super Helldive will also bring better rewards in addition to the increased challenge.

Mission variety is also getting a boost with the update, with new mission objectives, bigger enemy outposts for both Terminids and Automatons and new Super Sample rewards. Aside from Super Helldive, the new mission objectives will be playable on lower difficulty levels, as well, the studio confirmed.

New enemy types, QOL changes

The Escalation of Freedom update will also bring new enemies, adding the Impaler, a popular enemy type from the first game. A new variety of the Charger also joins the Terminid ranks. The Spore Charger's location on the map will be unclear until players encounter it directly. The update will also add the Terminid Alpha Commander, a jacked-up and bigger Brood Commander that can call in other bugs for backup. The Automatons are also getting a new enemy type with the Rocket Tank.

Arrowhead Game Studios is also making changes to team kicking to address the issue of grief kicking in the game. With the new update, a player, when kicked, will spawn into a new game session as the host and carry over the team's loot from their previous session. All the loot can then be picked up before extraction from the planet.

The studio is also promising a few quality-of-life changes with the major update, including fixing the social menu for smoother helldiving with friends. The free update will arrive August 6 on PS5 and PC.