Helldivers 2's latest warbond adds a stratagem I've craved since the galactic war started, a portable hellbomb

A screenshot of Helldivers 2, depicting a Helldiver saluting while wearing an anthropomorphic facemask — (Image credit: Sony)

While I've played and enjoyed many complex, nuanced video games in my life, I am ultimately a simple man at heart. I like video games that feature lots of explosions, and the bigger the explosions, the happier I'll be.

So when I first witnessed the colossal fireball created by Helldivers 2's ferocious hellbomb, you can bet that I grinned like a chimp saying 'cheese!'. Well, the first one I witnessed without being annihilated by said explosion, anyway, as like most people I underestimated the hellbomb's vast detonation radius when I first primed it to blow. In any case, as I watched the mushroom cloud billow from the crater that was once an automaton base, a single thought accompanied my glee. "I wish I could take that with me."

Now, thanks to Helldivers 2' latest warbond allows you to do just that. Servants of Freedom introduces the B-100 portable hellbomb, a new stratagem which the official PlayStation blog describes as "a beacon of democratic truth in a convenient backpack format". The hellbomb can be activated by yourself or by a teammate, whereupon it will detonate after a 10 second countdown which, the blog stresses "cannot be cancelled".

A screenshot of Helldivers 2, depicting a Helldiver with a hellbomb on their back — (Image credit: Sony)

Alongside the B-100, Servants of Freedom adds an upgraded variant of the sickle laser rifle. Known as the 'LAS-17 Double Edge', it packs much more power behind the laser-beam, with the slight drawback that it can also burn the wielder. Arguably more interesting is the GP-20 Ultimatum, a miniature grenade launcher that occupies your sidearm slot. The blog says this is designed for "closer-range use" than the conventional grenade launcher, though presumably not too close range, given it's designed to spit out high-explosives.

There's also a pair of new armour sets, the IE-3 Martyr and the IE-12 Righteous. These are both medium armours with anthropomorphic helmet faceplates and additional explosive protections—making them handy to couple with that close range grenade launcher. Finally, the warbond chucks in a new throwable, the G-50 Seeker. This is actually a grenade-sized drone that hovers nearby until an enemy comes into range, or you ping a specific foe, at which point it will home in on that target to give them a very intimate fireworks display.

An image detailing the content of the Servants of Freedom warbond. — (Image credit: Sony)

In short, the whole warbond caters to those with an inclination toward heavy ordnance, making me a happy Helldiver indeed. Servants of Freedom punches the detonator on February 6. Aside from a weak Killzone 2 crossover weapon, Arrowhead seems to have largely eradicated the balance issues that plagued Helldivers 2 through the middle of 2024, and the shooter has been running strong since it added the Illuminate faction toward the end of last year. It shows little signs of slowing in 2025, either despite director Johan Pilestedt taking a sabbatical from the studio.

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.