Buckle up—Helldivers 2 is getting mechs real soon, courtesy of the Tien Kwan Factories

A propaganda poster of a giant mech from Helldivers 2, stood powerfully among a stark orange-and-black background.

(Image credit: Arrowhead Games.)

Helldivers 2's getting mechs—we've known that for a while, thanks to a launch trailer teasing them and some leaked mechs cropping up in suspect games. As announced on the official Helldivers 2 Twitter account, they'll be coming sooner rather than later.

A post that reads: "HELLDIVERS! The EXO-45 Patriot Exosuits are in full production in the factories of Tien Kwan. Ready for deployment on the battlefield soon!" followed by a propaganda image of a mech stood proudly over dozens of tiny little mechs. — (Image credit: @helldivers2 on Twitter/X.)

The Exo-45 Patriot Exosuit is a walking tank with what appears to be both a missile platform and a chaingun, likely capable of punching toe-to-toe with the Automaton's biggest heavies. Players have been hungry for more armour-piercing options (especially after the horrors of Malevelon Creek) since the game's launch, to supplement the existing Autocannon and the all-powerful Railgun.

It'll be interesting to see how strong this thing actually is on the battlefield, though. While it's easy to think becoming a walking turret would even the playing field a bit, I should mention that I've only survived most of my higher-level missions by being a devilish little scamp and manoeuvring cleverly.

Depending on the actual HP of these mechs, clambering into one might be a death trap—easily countered by an Automaton tank shell or two. Despite armour-piercing being the main draw, these things may be more effective against bugs as part of a manned defence, with mortars and other players playing 'protect the president' on the battlefield.

It's unclear whether mechs will be released with the other leaked vehicle options spotted on social media, but they all seemed to be in roughly the same state when they dropped into unwitting players' games so it seems at least a possibility. Arrowhead has been keeping relatively tight-lipped on whether these items are spawning at the hands of rogue datamining Helldivers, or are sneaky blessings from the one-and-only Joel.

As for when it's coming? Apart from "soon", Arrowhead Games didn't give us a date, unfortunately—but that's unpatriotic talk anyway. Our patriots on Tien Kwan are working as hard as they possibly can, and you didn't sign up to ask questions, soldier—report to your nearest Democracy Officer.

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.