PSA: The new Helldivers 2 Warbond isn't replacing the old one—so don't feel obliged to grind a bunch of super credits in a democracy-fuelled fugue

An image of three helldivers, posed in heroic fashion, advertising Helldivers 2's latest Warbond: Cutting Edge.

(Image credit: Arrowhead Games)

Helldivers 2 is getting a new Warbond tomorrow: Cutting Edge, a 'battle pass' filled with high-tech zappers, stylish armours, and a few new fancy capes.

If you're used to the live-service grind and haven't been keeping up-to-date with the game, that news might fill you with dread, prompting you to rummage around for medals and super credits. Well, I've got an order from Super Earth high command, and it says you need to take a deep breath and relax.

As mentioned by the devs before launch, Warbonds aren't designed to be FOMO machines—not only can you earn them through elbow grease (as I personally did after around 30 hours of shooting bugs and bots), they don't vanish when a new one appears. To reiterate: When Cutting Edge comes out, Steeled Veterans will remain.

However, if you want to access Cutting Edge right away, you might want to stock up on super credits (the game's premium currency). Helldivers 2 has a store page with rotating pieces of gear, and it's mighty tempting—but the game's free and premium Warbonds award a limited amount of super credits. Grinding them in-game is less consistent, so if you spend your super credits now, it'll be harder to cash out on Cutting Edge later.

Going forward, that might be the play for cash-strapped players. Cap out at 1,000 super credits before spending any extra dosh—then let the new Warbond's freebies contribute to the next one.

I do, however, wonder if Arrowhead plans to make any changes to super credit acquisition in the coming years. Don't get me wrong, as my fellow staff writer Morgan Park pointed out last month, Helldivers 2 has some of the fairest monetisation we've seen in a while. This system objectively rules—but it might require future-proofing.

If we wind up with eight Warbonds or so in a year, new players are going to be faced with a big ol' grind to unlock everything. That's not inherently a bad thing, and it's better than these items simply vanishing—but I can definitely see things getting overwhelming, especially with no way to test out a Warbond's particular weapons before you buy it.

Harvey's history with games started when he first begged his parents for a World of Warcraft subscription aged 12, though he's since been cursed with Final Fantasy 14-brain and a huge crush on G'raha Tia. He made his start as a freelancer, writing for websites like Techradar, The Escapist, Dicebreaker, The Gamer, Into the Spine—and of course, PC Gamer. He'll sink his teeth into anything that looks interesting, though he has a soft spot for RPGs, soulslikes, roguelikes, deckbuilders, MMOs, and weird indie titles. He also plays a shelf load of TTRPGs in his offline time. Don't ask him what his favourite system is, he has too many.