New Helldivers 2 Warbond Is Bringing More Of The Chaos That Keeps Me Coming Back

Summary

The next Warbond for Helldivers 2 is called Freedom's Flame, and has a distinct focus on weapons that deal fire damage.
Warbonds have kept the game consistently fresh, but Freedom's Flame seems especially suited to take advantage of the chaos that Helldivers 2 thrives on.
Flamethrowers are already dangerous to the and their teammates in HD2, so a whole Warbond focused on incendiary items should prove hilariously chaotic.

Helldivers 2 has kept an impressively consistent schedule for its battle equivalents, known as Warbonds, releasing one nearly every month since the game launched in February 2024. New items therein aren't necessarily game-changing, but a regular injection of fresh weapons and armor has been nice. I'm not one to normally celebrate battle es – they're often a decent deal monetarily, but they incentivize players to participate in a cyclical grind that I find often starts taking the fun out of their respective games. Warbonds in Helldivers 2 are relatively innocuous, though, and the Freedom's Flame Warbond has a chaotic focus that's gotten me eager to check it out.

The Warbonds' saving grace is how easy it is to get free Super Credits by just playing the game. Without purchasing any Super Credits ( currency used to unlock Warbonds), I've completed three of the five available Warbonds, and I'm currently close to having enough for another. While some items in the last Warbond, Viper Commandos, caught my eye, I'm likely going to get the new Helldivers 2 Warbond instead. Freedom's Flame is focused around weapons that deal fire damage, and it's bound to cause the chaos that keeps me coming back to Helldivers 2.

July is the only month since release to not feature a new Warbond for Helldivers 2.

Everything In The New Helldivers 2 Warbond: Freedom's Flame

Releases August 8, 2024

The new Freedom's Flame Warbond is coming to Helldivers 2 on August 8, two days after the launch of the Escalation of Freedom update, which is set to be the game's biggest content drop yet. Much like previous Warbonds, Freedom's Flame hosts a variety of new items, according to the PlayStation Blog – weapons, armor, an Exosuit skin, a Booster, and more. Here's a table with a quick rundown of the new items:

New Item Name	Item Type	Description
SG-451 Cookout	Primary Weapon	Pump-action shotgun that uses "incendiary phosphorous pellets"
FLAM-66 Torcher	Primary Weapon	Lightweight flamethrower
P-72 Crisper	Secondary Weapon	Handheld flamethrower
Fiery Drop	Booster	Firebomb Hellpods – cover the landing zone in flames
I-09 Heatseeker	Armor	Inflammable armor ive – grants 75% resistance to fire damage
I-102 Draconaught	Armor
Fire Safety Officer	Title	Cosmetic
Safety Orange	Exosuit Skin	Covers a majority of the Exosuit's s in high-vis orange
Purifying Eclipse	Cape & Player Card	Commemorating "the Liberation of Choepessa IV in the First Galactic War"
The Breach	Cape & Player Card	Commemorating the 361st Freedom's Flame Helldiver unit, which entered and erupted a supervolcano to destroy a Terminid swarm.
Big Stretch	Emote	Misc.
Deep Reflection
Thoracic Collision Exultation Manoeuvre Co-Emote

While the number of weapons and armor is lower, Freedom's Flame is reminiscent of Helldivers 2's Cutting Edge Warbond, which was released back in March. Cutting edge brought electricity-shooting weaponry (and an armor ive to match) beyond the Arc Thrower Stratagem. Freedom's Flame is doing much the same for flamethrowing weapons. The Breaker Incendiary has been a staple armament of bug missions especially, but Freedom's Flame certainly appears to be bringing at least a little bit of variety. While the Flamethrower weapon has never really been in my wheelhouse, I'm excited about the additional chaos Freedom's Flame is sure to bring.

The SG-451 Cookout's designation number is a reference to Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, a classic science fiction novel in which "firemen" are tasked with burning books, as all literature has been outlawed.

New Warbond Items Are Guaranteed To Result In Team Kills

Flamethrowers Are Notoriously Dangerous To Helldivers

Two Helldivers and an Exosuit on a mission in a volcanic environment.

As the playerbase of Helldivers 2 has settled from its explosive release window, I find myself encountering a lot of hardcore players, especially on higher difficulties. This is completely fine, I'm down for the surgical mission here and there, but I also still greatly appreciate Helldivers 2 for its penchant for collateral damage. Getting airstriked by my teammates is almost always good for a laugh, and the Airburst Rocket Launcher was hilariously proficient at killing Helldivers before it was reworked. The handful of times I've brought a Flamethrower on a mission, I've found that using it results in a rather high chance of my own demise or a crispy teammate.

I secretly cherish the incidental moments where a bolt bounces through an enemy and zaps another Helldiver into an instant grave.

I don't try to kill teammates, just like I'm sure my teammates aren't (usually) trying to kill me, but the levity of seeing a teammate's head pop off when they accidentally step into my line of fire is one of Helldivers 2's most endearing recurring bits. The similarity of Freedom's Flame to the Cutting Edge Warbond is what specifically piqued my interest. Cutting Edge really got me into using the Arc Thrower more generally, and the ARC-12 Blitzer on Terminid missions. I try my best to give my teammates a wide berth while I'm slinging lightning downrange, but I secretly cherish the incidental moments where a bolt bounces through an enemy and zaps another Helldiver into an instant grave.

I expect to see an uptick in death by immolation via the new toys in the Freedom's Flame Warbond. The FLAM-66 Torcher is going to be an especially interesting addition to the primary weapon lineup. The Flamethrower weapon is great for facing down Terminid swarms, but its tendency to kill the and their teammates means I rarely see it taken over other, more popular options. The Torcher seems like it will be in a similar class as the Blitzer, especially effective at cleaning up swarms of smaller bugs at close range, albeit with limited ammo.

The Fiery Drop Booster is in a similar situation: it's a cool addition that will definitely be useful situationally, but coating the landing zone's immediate surroundings with fire is almost certainly going to result in some needed reinforcements. It doesn't seem quite as powerful as previous new Boosters like Localization Confusion, but it again seems specially equipped to effectively burn some insects.

Chaotic & Deadly Gameplay Is What Keeps Me Coming Back To Helldivers 2

Team Killing Is Part Of The Charm

Four Helldivers surrounded by Automatons and Terminids.

I love when a mission goes off without a hitch – Helldivers 2 is just a very satisfying game to excel at – but I also love it when any semblance of a cohesive strategy goes right out the window. The game's self-serious satire pairs excellently with its slapstick gameplay, and the regular Warbonds have been a great way for new wrinkles to be introduced while awaiting larger content drops like the Escalation of Freedom update.

Monthly Warbonds felt like an overly ambitious and perhaps unnecessary roap when the game first came out, but it's proven to be effective at keeping me interested, even though I'm starting to play more sparingly. Even if there are two Warbonds I haven't unlocked myself, it's nice to know they're always there to keep a sense of progression alive – either I'm searching for Super Credits to buy the next one, or I'm looking for Medals to complete the ones I've already unlocked. It just happens to be an added bonus that they also contribute to the chaos of Helldivers 2, which is the game's most endearing aspect.

Source: PlayStation Blog, PlayStation/YouTube