Helldivers 2's Automatons are now the major threat, and everyone is asked to quell their invasion

Helldivers 2 is proving yet again that it has more than a few clever ideas to turn what are otherwise mundane concepts in live service games into exciting, and maybe even unexpected developments.

Like its predecessor, Helldivers 2’s campaign is driven by the community, so all efforts tend to go towards a single goal. Since the launch of the game, the focus has been on liberating the eastern sectors from the Terminids, but the situation now dictates all attention to be diverted to the opposite end of the galaxy to deal with the robots.

This shift in priority also means there’s a new, two-week Major Order. There are now defence missions to undertake in the Xzar sector, which is what's going to count towards that goal, just like last week’s Major Order required a lot of bug killing.

Only two planets have defend objectives right now, but as we’ve seen in the game’s early days, this will very much change as players liberate individual planets and push back the tug of war. Once the Major Order is completed, everyone gets a major Requisition payout.

This is effectively Helldivers 2’s way of doing a weekly reset, where the weekly quest is refreshed for everyone. But because it ties into the game’s narrative of an ever-changing warfront, it gives it a little more bite than the standard weekly reset in most games.

Indeed, this is how developer Arrowhead wants to tell the game’s story; using the evolving nature of the war as a way to make gameplay changes, and perhaps even unlock new content or bring new additions to the game. This is only the beginning, of course, so it’s going to be interesting to see what plans the developer has for it.

It’s also smart for the focus to switch to the Automatons for the second week. The enemy faction is generally seen as the more difficult, compared to the Terminids, so players who have gotten the hang of things in Helldivers 2 may be looking forward to that challenge. You can still fight bugs, of course, but your efforts won’t contribute to the Major Order.

If you think that sounds intriguing, our Helldivers 2 tips offer many more helpful and interesting observations about the game, which it very much does not tell you. Hit the link for more.