Helldivers 2 is getting a mech-themed Warbond that adds two new exosuits—one of which carries a shield and a flak cannon

A mech battles a bile titan in Helldivers 2 — (Image credit: Arrowhead Studios)

While I've always found Helldivers 2's mechs to be more style over substance, it is undeniably fun to call in a hulking exosuit and spend a few minutes going ham on the enemies of freedom. If you're the kind of Helldivers player who likes to go all Armored Core on your foes, I have good news. The next warbond for Arrowhead's sci-fi action game will let you bring not one but two new exosuits into the game.

The Exo Experts warbond doubles the number of exosuits currently available in Helldivers 2. The first of these is the EXO-51 Lumberer, an all-purpose offensive mech equipped with a powerful anti-tank cannon for bringing down armoured foes, plus a flamethrower to keep swarm enemies at bay. Nothing too flashy, but that loadout is more well-rounded than the mechs currently available in the game, and I value effectiveness when bringing stratagems into a mission.

More unusual is the EXO-55 Breakthrough, which strides into battle equipped with a flak cannon and a ballistic shield. I feel like a mech brandishing a shield is a bit like a person wearing a second hat, but I suppose there's no such thing as too much protection. Plus, as a chronic Unreal Tournament sicko, the mention of a flak cannon naturally has my attention, and I'll be intrigued to see how it compares to gaming's greatest weapon.

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While mechs are the main event of Exo Experts, the warbond backs up these mobile artillery platforms with a hefty dose of small arms fire. Heading up the handguns is the MGX-42 Bullet Storm, a disposable machinegun that blasts an intense swarm of bullets from a frankly ridiculous number of barrels. Each drop-pod comes with two of the guns, similar to the expendable anti-tank stratagem. It's a downright disgusting concept that I am 100% here for.

A composite image showing the items available in Helldivers 2's Exo Experts warbond. — (Image credit: Arrowhead)

As for standard firearms, the warbond introduces the SMG-203 Gallant, a rapid-firing submachine gun. Similar to the MP-98 Knight, it sacrifices clip size for increased armour penetration. Finally, there's a new sidearm in the form of the P-33 missile pistol, which literally puts a rocket in your pocket, so make sure you keep the safety on. Outside of weapons, the warbond adds two new armour sets that come with passive boosts to running, sprinting and sliding, plus the usual array of capes, banners, title cards and emotes.

Exo Experts stomps into Helldivers 2 on April 28. Two years on since launch, Helldivers 2 continues to go from strength to strength, with its recent Siege of Cyberstan event bringing some of the most incredible action seen in the game yet. The game also no longer grinds my PC to a halt every time it does a Steam update, which I can only assume is down to its slimmed down install size.

Rick has been fascinated by PC gaming since he was seven years old, when he used to sneak into his dad's home office for covert sessions of Doom. He grew up on a diet of similarly unsuitable games, with favourites including Quake, Thief, Half-Life and Deus Ex. Between 2013 and 2022, Rick was games editor of Custom PC magazine and associated website bit-tech.net. But he's always kept one foot in freelance games journalism, writing for publications like Edge, Eurogamer, the Guardian and, naturally, PC Gamer. While he'll play anything that can be controlled with a keyboard and mouse, he has a particular passion for first-person shooters and immersive sims.

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