Helldivers 2 has its own version of Elden Ring's Let Me Solo Her and they're helping to save the galaxy by playing rock, paper, scissors
To be fair, I might start trying that as an alternative to awkward silence the next time I’m playing online with randoms.
If you’re playing Helldivers 2 and you run into difficulty, firing out an SOS beacon can sometimes be a worthwhile gambit, even if the help it should summon might not always arrive on time, or at all. However, if you’re a low level player, there’s a chance that you might end up getting a huge helping hand from someone who loves a good game of rock, paper, scissors.
Look, I know probably you think of yourself as a hardened defender of Super Earth who can liberate planets and defeat armies of definitely real flying bugs single-handedly, but sometimes we can all use a bit of backup. Especially if you’re a newbie and fancy being charmed by someone’s ability to wrap paper around your rock before teaching you how to drop stuff.
The player who’s been busy doing exactly this kind of thing goes by the handle .atasu and they’ve offered some interesting insight into their playing habits in an interview with IGN. The crux of what they’ve been up to is that they just enjoy responding to the SOS pings of folks who’re trying to complete operations ranging from difficulty level three, all the way up to level nine.
If they can’t find any of those, the player - who seems to work a bit like a Super Earth version of Elden Ring’s Let Me Solo Her, who famously used their talents to help folks defeat bosses - also starts sessions in the hope that folks in need of running buddies will join. How do you get such strangers to trust you when you drop them some higher level gear to help them get through? The player says their answer is sometimes a game of rock, paper, scissors using Helldivers 2’s emotes.
To be fair to them, if someone managed to sweep me in a best of three series, I think I’d consider following them into Oblivion. Interestingly, as well as helping folks to clear objectives and letting them keep most - if not all - of the loot and resources, .atasu also says that they regularly end up teaching parties how to do certain things.
Why? Well, Helldivers 2’s tutorials on stuff like resource sharing, switching weapon mods, and completing some of the minigames required to finish an op are either a bit lacklustre or nonexistent. Though, .atasu says they’re a private tutor in real life, making them a natural substitute teacher in the game.
Thankfully for all of us folks who inevitably react to acts of charity by getting jealous of all the attention and praise the person doing them is getting, the player says they’re “not flawless” at the game, revealing: “I usually kill myself with my Scorcher a few times per operation.”
They also apparently sometimes have to be rescued from ambushes by the folks they’re rescuing, likely starting a chain of events that can only end with another rescuer showing up to rescue the rescuers who’ve gotten stuck trying to rescue their rescuer.
Anyway, the point is that help’s out there in the terrifying cosmic abyss, and it’s cool that players are doing stuff like this. Make sure to check out our regular coverage to stay up to date on where Helldivers 2’s galactic war’s at.