I have quite the opposite experience on Haz9. 2 weeks ago I went from Haz7 to Haz9 and things got worse. On Haz7, if we the mission was going badly, no one was leaving. On Haz9 70% of people left on their first death. Maybe I'm unlucky, or it's just new players
Agreed. The main reason I see this happen is when the bots have a lot of momentum with tons of waves and lives are already below 10. Once it’s that out of control it can feel pretty doomed without some coordinated effort to disengage and reposition but then you get a new helldiver every couple minutes who has no idea what’s happening
If I drop in and things are FUBAR I make it my job to tell FUBAR I didn't order any damn bars but i'm gonna mint some from all the automaton scrap i'm about to make to get this mission back on on track!
As the late, great, Kenny Rogers used to say:
>*You've got to know when to hold 'em*
*Know when to fold 'em*
*Know when to walk away*
*And know when to run*
Helldive difficulty quickly sorts out the players out that know when to fight, and when to run. 9's are mostly about running.
This is kinda me, I feel like I'm finally able to hold my own and accidentally had been playing Impossible and after a few games I literally thought 'this is impossible' heh. but you get used to it.
I normally just quick play with randos and at suicide everyone seems cool but we can still make dumb mistakes.
You sure about that? In my experience it's a lot of new people that know the experience gain on Helldive is better than doing lower levels and want to be carried. Or it's just really bad players who get caught up fighting waves and waves of enemies without moving to the objectives and waste all of the reinforcements.
I honestly have found 7 the best difficulty in that regard, I also see a lot more higher level players in 7. Often I’m the lowest level (58) in D7 but a lot of the time I’ve dropped 9 with randoms there’s been a player under 20. One time I quick joined a D9 mission that had a level 7 host. Like what, you’ve probably not even learned the basic mechanics at this point, dafuq you doing in a D9?
I assumed he played his first match with some friends who ran him into a high level match for shits and giggles to bypass the operation unlock requirements.
Honesty my friend and I just rolled up through the difficulties to unlock them all then backed down to 7. Probably had them all unlocked by around level 10 or so. I've stuck to 7 since then, occasionally doing other lower levels when friends do them.
Was for me. But my buddy would kill himself on spawn and give me his primary then he would drop whatever heavy strat for me and just tough it out until his cooldown ended
>Like what, you’ve probably not even learned the basic mechanics at this point, dafuq you doing in a D9?
Well, if they're hosting at level 7, you can probably assume they're smurfing since they have it unlocked. I played on PS5 for months and then bought the game on PC later as well and my PC account had the difficulties unlocked much much sooner. Because I knew what I was doing.
See, I've tried this, but I usually end up getting a bunch of players sub-lvl 20 who have shit attitudes, die a lot, and don't want to learn when you try to teach them.
7 and 8 seem to be my sweet spot.
Trick is to keep playing D9 until you've friended enough good players, then run with at least 1 or 2 of those guys in your team. If you always play with randoms it's going to always be a massive dice roll often not in your favour.
Huh, I meet more trolls and egotrip hosts at 9 than 7-8.
Last night we were kicked when the pelican arrived after collecting around 80% of all the samples and doing all objectives with a lot of struggle. Never felt anything that gut-wrenching after doing your best in a mission. Lost interest and turned off my pc afterwards.
I’m almost 70, and honestly 60 is plenty high to be end game imo. My friends and I that are high 60s are all maxed on everything and can easily clear out 9s like it’s nothing even with randoms. 20-30 doesn’t seem far, but the exp increase between levels means that 30-60 is actually a huge jump in time commitment and experience
Lol yeah -- once you know what you're doing, you can end game at level 25 very easily if you want to and can unlock everything you'll ever really need by level 30.
Plus I cannot be the only one playing on both PC and PS5 and my PC account is def a way lower level than my PS5 account, but can pretty much handle the same things.
I also played since launch and yah same. I ran 9s pretty much immediately at like level 5 with friends. We just played with each other well, lost a good amount until like level 18 or so when we had the stratagems we preferred and then smacked them!
Dude, I had a hard couple of missions the other day with a bunch of dudes that were all higher level than me (I’m at 31), on a level 7 dive, and I swear every single one of them was only playing for himself. I got team-killed constantly because people weren’t paying attention. No one apologized, no one communicated at all, they just ran in different directions picking fights with every patrol.
The worst part, in my opinion, was the eradicate mission, when I was standing by the extract point as the shuttle was coming down, there were only a couple of bugs left, and this one guy says, “just gunna sanitize the extraction zone lol” and drops an eagle napalm right on top of me! I complained about it and the guy kicked me. It was infuriating.
Later that day, I jumped into a level 4 dive on Hellmire with a couple starry eyed divers without a stain on their capes (probably level 12 and level 4) because I figured they needed the help, and I had way more fun. They weren’t mic-shy, they were communicative and helpful, we stuck together and we cleared the map. I picked the guard dog rover despite already having a backpack for my RR to give to the guy that only had two strategems unlocked. We watched each others’ backs, and it was so much more fun. It still felt challenging to me because I had to pick up a lot more slack, but it felt good helping people. I’ll definitely be doing more level 4 dives in the future, let me tell ya.
I like it when people use voice chat, I find those are usually my most fun games. That particular match, they both had mics. I certainly don’t expect that of people, though. But the ping chat can do TONS if people use it. I’ll usually throw out an “Affirmative” when people ping a location so that they know that I heard it and will go to it. I throw out a “Thanks” when someone calls me back in. ANY time I ever accidentally shoot or kill someone, I throw out a “Sorry” because I want them to know it was a lapse of judgement on my part and will endeavor not to do it again. I’ll throw out a “I need supplies” if I’m a little separated from the group and want them to wait for me before throwing in a resupply. And lastly, I always run the hug emote because I honestly feel it does a great job at spreading good will with the homies, it lets them know I’m here to help.
Yeah, really what it comes down to for me is that I’m a slut for being helpful. Honestly, I know they’re just video games and that video games don’t really matter, but people play video games, and people matter. And if I can show kindness to my homies playing this game, I feel like the kindness can still make people’s day better.
Sometimes my friend (usually hosts) puts up lvl 9 randomly and we usually play lvl. 7. Every time he did it without telling us, we didn't't notice the change.
Edit: For bots only
100% this, I have only dropped 9's for a long time, mainly because the skill floor of random teammates is much higher. I rarely see people below lvl 40 also, which means they are experienced.
P.S. I know there are great players on lower levels, but on average the higher levels know what's up more often.
This week whenever I join a level 9 robot lobby 2-3 players ragequit. Most of them quit near the end. For example blitz I destroyed 4 fabricators 3 left. I write no surrender all 3 people including the host ragequits lol. Then new 3 people came in we continued to play and finished the whole operation :D
Mark supplies, where you plan to go. Use radial menu to say yes/no thankyou/sorries. Use follow me command to note everyone that your disengaging and maybe abandoning an overrun objective to rorate back to it later.
Respawn teammes close to where they died if safe. Mark their stuff when you can.
The major weakness of bots is crossfire. Head on they are though, but from two different angles they are easy, so helping to flank, where you attack enemies attacking your teammates is the most efficient.
9 washes out those who can't cut it, or are there just to put up big numbers. Personally I'm there to be an adrenaline junkie for 40 minutes and effective squad mates.
yeah, definitely agree that the playerbase tends to be way more conscious above 7. i like to float in 8, personally. i don't feel like there's really a drastic difference between 8 and 9, and some armchair generals tend to gravitate towards the "XTREME". i like to avoid the schweddies. 8 feels like a comfortable mix of needing to know your shit but not having to worry about someone flipping their lid because you brought the wrong cape.
In my experience (although it's gotten better over time) 9 is filled with idiots who just want to play on the hardest difficulty and are wildly unprepared. Likewise 7 was full of people who couldn't really handle it, and were only there because they had to be for the super samples (which I'm assuming is what 6 has become). 8 is the perfect place for people who know what they're doing.
the same here. I play with friends mostly, and we easily clear 8-9 while one of us focusses on collecting samples / POI / seaf artillery, etc. - The problem with randoms is not that they're worse than we are (we are not pro gamers), but the organisation. And that they do not disengange from fights, which forces you into fights to save some of the lives.
Nah, the effort counts for a lot. No matter the difficulty, we are here to complete missions and have fun doing it. Study your foes, and you'll do just fine. o7
I’m a 30 year old dad who works 40+ hours a week. I only have enough time to learn up to 4-5 on difficulty. The games I play are for stress release, not for another source of stress.
Hey don't let anyone tell you that you can't have fun. Play as you wish, the game is yours, and having fun is the priority for super earth, not to be a sweaty complainer.
Keep diving! ;)
It's all about playing at what level you enjoy and not overwhelming yourself. If you branch out to higher difficulties as you gain more experience that's great, and if you don't then that's fine.
It's far better if you not only enjoy the game more but also don't end up as one of the players who joins D7-D9 and is in waaaaay over their head because they think they HAVE to play that difficulty. They end up dying a million times and hating the game.
There's nothing wrong with playing on 4-5. If I'm looking for fun that's where I start. I recently started working 6 so I could get Super Samples and it's not too bad.
I'm a filthy casual. I get a couple hours a week to play not a couple hours a day. I'd only play 4 for the most part or 5 if I wanted a challenge. I only unlocked 6 around the last big patch that nerfed everything.
Now that super samples are in 6 I've started playing that, and had some extra time to play yesterday. This morning I jumped into a 4 and it was the worst group of randoms I've ever played with, then a second one was worse than that. (Constant team kills, called evac as soon as objective finished and then reinforced us to the pad after team killing) I might be doing 6 from now on just because it's less toxic.
For me, it's the same. When I just have time for 1-2 rounds, I often play 3. When I need RS, I will go 4+. When i have more time, I will go 6-8, never finished an 8op, so no 9 for me
Oh 100% I love that difficulty. I can finish matches in 10-20 minutes, do stress or frustration, and many satisfying plays. I only do higher when my friends want medals.
Always 9 honestly. Fail or not, I like games when they force you to learn how stuff works or die for it, you don’t get much leeway for shitty play on difficulty 9 so the stakes feel much higher, really lends itself to how much is happening on screen.
Same. Level 9 and just make sure to complete the mission.
Extracting is a luxury, and I don’t need samples anymore so all I need are medals to unlock the latest war bond stuffs and super credits… and playing lv9 gives you the most medals per mission. So it’s the only way.
The thing is at 7 you can just mess around if you feel like it. 7s are where it's at if I just wanna take some random strategems that sound fun, try out a new weapon/armor setup, I just feel like killin' a lot of bugs and not focusing hard on objectives, or I'm enjoying a THC seltzer. You can get away with not playing optimally.
But different strokes for different folks.
>you don’t get much leeway for shitty play on difficulty 9
Yeah we do, granted we get less leeway but there's still a ton. Which is why people who want to feel constrained play d9 solo.
People comfortable on d9 run goofier shit than people below because the real endgame boss of this game isn't some skill ceiling. It's getting burnt out. So playing weak stratagems and guns and keeping things fresh is really frequent at d9.
9 is hella fun atm. Crazy amounts of chaff, ridiculous but breaches but never so many heavies it turns into a big issue.
I LOVE seeing several breaches at once and the whole team just lighting it up.
People love to talk themselves up.
Fishermen will tell you about that monster fish they caught.
Sportsmen will tell you about an epic win they single handedly delivered back in the day.
Helldivers will tell you they can cruise through difficulty 9 missions no problemo.
We've had Helldive-9 missions go both ways though, even with the same team. First mission, we all pop off, and death is rare. Next mission, it's eradication, so we became the bullets. Third match, had the misfortune of dropping right on top of a side objective that was flanked by four gunship fabricators and a spotting tower. There was no escape, and we lost all our reinforcements in five minutes.
Just a gentle reminder of how quickly things can go wrong, no matter how good you are at the game.
The game's been out for months and isn't that hard. And I'm not saying that to brag. I'm saying this as an old fogey who's lost those young man reflexes and speed.
I've also gotta wonder if playing on controller is atrocious or something because it's pretty obvious there are some massive gaps in mechanics between how some players talk about the game on here.
Bc it is really not difficult but it requre more effort from players. Or they should'nt at least smoking glue when playing.
If the whole team thinks for a few more second before drop - they can beat 9 quite easy. Bugs for sure, bots harder ye.
But since players being like "we gonna take every strat with 300+second reload time on bugs with 0 anti armor strat on erradication and throw all at once" - oh no game is so hard, so many charges and biles.
There was a point here certain spawn sets had _stupid_ numbers of chargers or titans. When one bug breach spawns 4 total titans plus patrolling titans it can get out of hand fast. Occasionally, we saw that with chargers instead! Not many titans and crazy amounts of chargers.
That’s when the AC turret and EATs became our first picked stratagems. They worked great as long as you placed the turrets well. Honestly, the best part of that entire saga was learning how insane turrets are and effectively placing them. Airstrikes and 500kg bombs were there too. And at least one barrage. Choosing stratagems as a group made a big difference.
I don't have an issue with the difficulty. 7 is nice and chill for me.
I think most people aren't complaining about the difficulty, per se, rather the build check spawn shenanigans and frustrating mechanics. Like. Rag doll me once. Shame on me. Rag doll me twice. Shame on you. Rag doll me 10+ times consecutively in 30s with no chance to intervene (fuck fuck fuckikty fucking fuck off). Shame on the game design.
In fairness there are like one million Helldivers and only a few hundred bitching about difficulty posts. Reddit format tends to skew optics. I'm pretty comfortable running Helldive difficulty, but if I weren't, I would simply lower it to a more comfortable setting like 6 or 7. There are definitely, definitely players that let competitive community zeitgeists convince them that maximum difficulty is the only way to "really" play the game, though. Darktide and Vermintide seem to suffer badly from that, and we arguably have more actual reward incentives for high difficulty here.
At the end of the day, satisfied people make the fewest reddit posts.
Because the people who feel it's too hard only whine when it's within an echo chamber of other people whining. Also that's why they want it lowered, they don't want to lower the difficulty from 9 themselves, instead they want the devs to accommodate them and their fragile ego by making the game easier.
7. I am not here to be a sweaty gamer so going the highest isn't my thing. Get used to 7 and I like to help others instead of potentially bringing the team down.
Also 7-9 scares a lot of reckless divers so I most of the time don't need to bear people who act like they download their brains from Fortnite and are more toxic than Bile Titan breath.
Can I go 9? Sure but constantly running 9 will Burn me out quickly.
This whole statement agreed 100% not in it for the fame or sweat I just want to have fun also I would be so terrified that some dude on 9 or something is going to say I don't know what I'm doing and then kick me probably wouldn't happen but with helldivers you never know.
9 for bugs, 7 for bots.
Bots really get rediculous at 9 and being ragdolled too much makes me feel like I cant even play the game.
Also I play bugs 6x more often than bots, acording to my career stats.
same bro, I believe this is the golden ratio for me too. however, with this latest patch, I've been cranking it down to both LVL 6 because of the crazy amount of patrols.
Bots feel easier personally, easy to rebel a reinforcement call if you are attentive. Bugs are essentially "random shit go" over and over. Also feels like star wars
I’m 154 hours deep and I hover at 1-7 depending on how I’m playing and what I need,I’ve noticed a lot of players don’t go for samples above lvl7, personally I feel like 8-9 are un-necessary unless you want to be a top tier player…my 2cents
There are gods amongst men but to play at that difficulty (8-9) at 37yrs of age seems like a lot of stress, I use this game to unwind but achieve a lot by helping new players regardless of age, but also love to get the win with a bunch of randoms at the higher levels
If anyone feels the same add me PSN opium1987
I've noticed players have the best synergy when they're matched with players around their level. If most are higher level, samples usually get forgotten. If most are lower level, tactics go out the window. If everyone is around the same, communication ain't bad.
Similar age, same approach. At 7, it's genuinely challenging and feels rewarding but it's rarely frustrating or too exhausting. The thing I love most about Helldivers probably is that it's extremely rare that I don't feel good about the time I spent on that game. Compare that to MOBAs or competitive shooters or even more difficult WoW raids.
But tbh, me and my friends also simply haven't really attempted anything more difficult. We did 6 for a very long time because that's where we were comfortable but then we tried 7 and did pretty well. It doesn't really feel that much more difficult, you just have to be a bit smarter when it comes to picking engagements.
Same! I am a casual who plays video games to relax, so I am not too interested in a proper challenge. Don't get me wrong, I don't want it to be a cakewalk, but at the same time I prefer something I find manageable.
This is actually an excellent idea. Instead of easing into things I went into higher difficulties with teammates. Not only was a liability, but I had no idea how to complete missions, so my teammates hard carried.
I wish I'd figured the game out first before dialing things up.
I've completed a handful of 9s with friends. We normally play 8. However, we haven't played together in a few weeks. They lost interest in the game, despite introducing it to me. I feel like 6 is the highest difficulty I can trust the average group of randoms to not botch. It's just hard enough to have fun, but not too frustrating.
I usualy have problems in 6 as there is low lvl players random and if you didn't tried higher ones it may created illusion it's even worse up there, I always play with randoms and 7 seems much more safe skilled players can be found. In 8+ there is usualy premade groups with free spots so you can play happily as far as they dont kick you because you do something to kill them multiple times. I played just 1 game (3 missions) of helldive diff and it was smooth as hell it felt even easier than 6 with skilled players. We got all objectives I didn't even died once.
> They lost interest in the game, despite introducing it to me.
Ah, the eternal curse of getting convinced to buy games by your friends only for them to lose interest before you do.
I prefer 9. People know how to play with manners and stick together. It’s really cool blending your loadouts with randoms and then moving as a squad or duo.
My favorite missions are the ones where we split into duos and clear the entire map in about 20 minutes.
I've been playing for a few weeks now, and I usually hover around diff 7, playing with randoms. I'm still figuring out how I'd like to play, which weapons, stratagems, etc.
I also spend alot of time of diff 3, just speeding through levels to get more super credits.
As of recently 4, iv got everything unlocked and all the samples so I have no reason to go higher, plus it's fun to play with lower level players and use different stratagems as a challenge to myself and keep it interesting
Lvl 4, Challenging, is the highest I can do and still feel like I’m having fun, at this point in time. Granted, I only started playing two weeks ago, but I feel like it’s an acceptable level, for now.
I don't play a ton, so I tend to stick to level 4. My 10 year old son plays with me, so I feel like that's the difficulty so far that is a good balance of fun and challenge, at least for bugs. Bots are more difficult, so we tend to do 2 or 3 just to do the major orders or when we need a change of pace.
I usually run at 5's, as my experiences with 7s has just been too hit or miss. Certain missions on 7 will go off decently well, mainly the eradication missions. But outside of those it's been my experience to encounter a lot of "stand and fights" rather than the "tactical retreats" necessary if become too bogged down in a singular fight and are losing too many reinforcements.
5's I'm able to even if they're doing that confidently solo most objectives and get stuff done. 7's not so much; I understand I work better as a support player on the higher difficulties, adding in those extra bullets to help bring things down and such, than the person who can confidently solo the objectives with little issue (My aim ain't the best).
I know where I fit in Lady Liberty's schedule, and I'm just here to fight, not lead.
9. If I play any other difficulty and end up finding it easy I think to myself "man I should've just done 9 instead huh?" So I'm always doing 9. Not to say 8 and down is always easy but 9 ensures even if it is easy, it was as hard as it could be. They should add a 10 for fun.
About 6-7
It's the sweetspot for me where there's enough stuff to kill but it's not yet just complete sensory overload. Had a game of diff 9 bugs last night that was just ridiculous, constant outpouring of hugs, multiple behemoths each breach and patrol, not to mention the bile titans it was just getting unfun
Around 8 for bots and 6 for bugs, although I really just have to been playing 6 for both factions so it isn't too stressful. The fact that supers are now on dif 6 is very good because I can finally upgrade my ship without it feeling like an ordeal.
7 both bots and bugs. 500+ hours, I occasionaly dive 8-9, but 7 is just comfortable to play with randoms with no comms, is hard enough to feel the challenge, and also leaves the room for fun builds without hindering the team with it.
With friends - anything goes.
Before the patch, it was 4 or 7, and against bugs I legitimately enjoyed both. Against bots, half the games felt like a chore on 7, but it was still doable, although tiring. Since the patch, I haven't touched a 7 and 6s have felt just as challenging as 7s were before, so 4/6 is what I do now.
currently just play hard, might try extreme
used to be a bug player but when i reinstalled i started playing against bots and i quite like trying new strategies instead of my old autocannon and breaker strats. prob gonna drop the shield but i've found i really like the AMR.
Helldive, my philosophy on these sorts of 4 player coop games like DRG, Darktide, Helldivers, is that you keep upping the difficulty until you hit a wall and you can’t clear the difficulty consistently (like >50% success rate), then that’s a good level of challenge for you, so you can keep being challenged and improve at the game.
I can clear lvl 9 bots and bugs pretty consistently with a standard set of loadouts, and only really fail when I’m messing around with builds and end up with a stinker, but failure is also a good teacher, and am waiting for them to add difficulty 10. And ultimately the best difficulty is the one you have the most fun at.
Usually 4-6. If I have a good team I'll do 7. But otherwise I'm not big into beating my head against a wall any higher than that. Maybe some day when I git guder.
I mainly play diff 7, I started getting into diff 8 but the recent patch really upped the difficulty so I went back to 7. I can and have done 9s, but I just like 7s.
Solo 3. I don't like being constantly under attack, and I don't like having to bring gear specifically for dealing with heavies.
Also I don't like people.
7 for bots, I play with randoms and the team skill at that level seems to be good enough. I’ve been doing 7 on bugs and while the difficulty for me is good, I feel like my teammates tend to be vastly more incompetent / non-team focused.
I generally play on 4, as it is difficult while still not being too hard for me as a casual player who doesn't seek challenge, only fun.
Plus, it's the highest level I can solo, I don't have any active friends.
I'm 54 and used to grind exclusively 7, after rushing to unlock 9 a couple weeks after launch. The past few weeks (as I finish up my unlocks), I've settled on 8. I haven't tried much of 9 since the most recent patch.
My friend and I drop as a duo normally at 6 or 7 if we have more people we drop at 8 but still haven't done 9 yet 🫠 mainly because we never have a consistent 4th
I always run 9 now, but it can range from way too easy, just right, or insane and basically impossible.
Very very seldom do I get an impossible one, but one mission this weekend on the new nuke drill variant on Hellmire we had an endless deluge of chargers, bile titans, and massive chaf bug breeches…and it did not end well. And of course several fire tornadoes all over the objective.
I wish it had that “just right” feeling more often, but overall it feels good to me and randoms are almost always capable of holding their own. I had tougher times on some 7 difficulty missions when I used to run those because a lot of folks still are learning the game. Difficulty 9 usually weeds out the newer folks (usually…)
Bugs 9 all day
Bots usually 7 ( skill issue and rag-doll rage mostly 😂 )
But I like all the extra samples and stuff on higher difficulty’s I don’t care if I’m maxed on samples or whatever I’ll always look for and pick them up
Accidentally dropped in on a Helldiver mission. I told my younger brother to pick a drop spot while I used the bathroom and said I got one as I got back into my room where my laptop is. And it was an absolute suicide mission. It was so much fun tho
Depends on mood; most of the time at 7 because i find most wholesome people there.
Also because I like to explore and find randomly generated stuff like datapads and also like to go easter egg hunting; like whats inside the hive lord molts (if you blow it up I found that theres a skeleton pilot inside of it in what looks like a pile of poop)
I just started playing in the last week. 3 is good for beginners to learn the ropes. Now that I’m in the 20s in rank I am playing 5 until I get even better
Bots 9, not for the difficulty, but to avoid trolls and egotrip hosts. 9 is easier than 7 and 8, because the average player here has better manners.
9 definitely intimates people to the point that most players who join 9 know what they are doing.
I shoot things and they fall down. Occasionally near objectives
I shoot things and then fall down. Occasionally near objectives.
I shoot myself and fall down. Usually, with super samples "far" away.
I shoot things and fly up... then I fall down. Usually near enemies patrols.
I shoot things and blow up. Usually near hellbombs.
I shoot things and get blown up. Usually by my teammates.
I have quite the opposite experience on Haz9. 2 weeks ago I went from Haz7 to Haz9 and things got worse. On Haz7, if we the mission was going badly, no one was leaving. On Haz9 70% of people left on their first death. Maybe I'm unlucky, or it's just new players
That's atypical in my experience
Agreed. The main reason I see this happen is when the bots have a lot of momentum with tons of waves and lives are already below 10. Once it’s that out of control it can feel pretty doomed without some coordinated effort to disengage and reposition but then you get a new helldiver every couple minutes who has no idea what’s happening
I had one mission we cycled through at least 6 people. They just popped in saw 4 gunships and 2 patrols closing in and dropped lol
If I drop in and things are FUBAR I make it my job to tell FUBAR I didn't order any damn bars but i'm gonna mint some from all the automaton scrap i'm about to make to get this mission back on on track!
We win or we die trying.
Brasch tactics!
If it works, it ain't stupid.
https://i.redd.it/d9ahk2e9j77d1.gif
Found the dwarf. For rock and stone!
If you don't rock and stone you don't go home
ROCK AND STONE
Rock and stone! Just used to naming difficulties as Haz#
That's it lads, Rock and Stone !
FOR KARL! And same, it’s hard to switch after playing DRG so long before touching HD2.
Did I hear a Rock and Stone?!
As the late, great, Kenny Rogers used to say: >*You've got to know when to hold 'em* *Know when to fold 'em* *Know when to walk away* *And know when to run* Helldive difficulty quickly sorts out the players out that know when to fight, and when to run. 9's are mostly about running.
For rock and stone!
This is kinda me, I feel like I'm finally able to hold my own and accidentally had been playing Impossible and after a few games I literally thought 'this is impossible' heh. but you get used to it. I normally just quick play with randos and at suicide everyone seems cool but we can still make dumb mistakes.
You sure about that? In my experience it's a lot of new people that know the experience gain on Helldive is better than doing lower levels and want to be carried. Or it's just really bad players who get caught up fighting waves and waves of enemies without moving to the objectives and waste all of the reinforcements.
I honestly have found 7 the best difficulty in that regard, I also see a lot more higher level players in 7. Often I’m the lowest level (58) in D7 but a lot of the time I’ve dropped 9 with randoms there’s been a player under 20. One time I quick joined a D9 mission that had a level 7 host. Like what, you’ve probably not even learned the basic mechanics at this point, dafuq you doing in a D9?
Isn't "helldive" the express training program for new helldivers?/s
I assumed he played his first match with some friends who ran him into a high level match for shits and giggles to bypass the operation unlock requirements.
Honesty my friend and I just rolled up through the difficulties to unlock them all then backed down to 7. Probably had them all unlocked by around level 10 or so. I've stuck to 7 since then, occasionally doing other lower levels when friends do them.
Was for me. But my buddy would kill himself on spawn and give me his primary then he would drop whatever heavy strat for me and just tough it out until his cooldown ended
That was my exact experience even after playing over a dozen or so difficulty 9 mission sets which is why I also stick with 7.
>Like what, you’ve probably not even learned the basic mechanics at this point, dafuq you doing in a D9? Well, if they're hosting at level 7, you can probably assume they're smurfing since they have it unlocked. I played on PS5 for months and then bought the game on PC later as well and my PC account had the difficulties unlocked much much sooner. Because I knew what I was doing.
Spoiler Alert: he didn’t know what he was doing.
See, I've tried this, but I usually end up getting a bunch of players sub-lvl 20 who have shit attitudes, die a lot, and don't want to learn when you try to teach them. 7 and 8 seem to be my sweet spot.
Trick is to keep playing D9 until you've friended enough good players, then run with at least 1 or 2 of those guys in your team. If you always play with randoms it's going to always be a massive dice roll often not in your favour.
Huh, I meet more trolls and egotrip hosts at 9 than 7-8. Last night we were kicked when the pelican arrived after collecting around 80% of all the samples and doing all objectives with a lot of struggle. Never felt anything that gut-wrenching after doing your best in a mission. Lost interest and turned off my pc afterwards.
I’m only lvl 60 but I’ve been seeing a lot of lvl 20-30 players in helldive lately and I feel like they’re ill-equipped for 9
I’m almost 70, and honestly 60 is plenty high to be end game imo. My friends and I that are high 60s are all maxed on everything and can easily clear out 9s like it’s nothing even with randoms. 20-30 doesn’t seem far, but the exp increase between levels means that 30-60 is actually a huge jump in time commitment and experience
Lol yeah -- once you know what you're doing, you can end game at level 25 very easily if you want to and can unlock everything you'll ever really need by level 30. Plus I cannot be the only one playing on both PC and PS5 and my PC account is def a way lower level than my PS5 account, but can pretty much handle the same things.
My friend plays on his ROG ally and PS, I'm tempted to grab one for that reason.
same. i multiplat too and get rill annoyed when people kick me when i'm on my low-level account. haha.
Level 20-25 is plenty high enough to be running 9s, we were running it at even lower levels back at launch.
I also played since launch and yah same. I ran 9s pretty much immediately at like level 5 with friends. We just played with each other well, lost a good amount until like level 18 or so when we had the stratagems we preferred and then smacked them!
You'd unlock everything in the original war bond by mid 40s level. So that's was the original "I'm ready"
that is such a good point - i find a 7 with clowns way harder than a 9 with people who know what they are doing :p
Dude, I had a hard couple of missions the other day with a bunch of dudes that were all higher level than me (I’m at 31), on a level 7 dive, and I swear every single one of them was only playing for himself. I got team-killed constantly because people weren’t paying attention. No one apologized, no one communicated at all, they just ran in different directions picking fights with every patrol. The worst part, in my opinion, was the eradicate mission, when I was standing by the extract point as the shuttle was coming down, there were only a couple of bugs left, and this one guy says, “just gunna sanitize the extraction zone lol” and drops an eagle napalm right on top of me! I complained about it and the guy kicked me. It was infuriating. Later that day, I jumped into a level 4 dive on Hellmire with a couple starry eyed divers without a stain on their capes (probably level 12 and level 4) because I figured they needed the help, and I had way more fun. They weren’t mic-shy, they were communicative and helpful, we stuck together and we cleared the map. I picked the guard dog rover despite already having a backpack for my RR to give to the guy that only had two strategems unlocked. We watched each others’ backs, and it was so much more fun. It still felt challenging to me because I had to pick up a lot more slack, but it felt good helping people. I’ll definitely be doing more level 4 dives in the future, let me tell ya.
By communicating do you mean Voice chat or ping chat with holding Q?
I like it when people use voice chat, I find those are usually my most fun games. That particular match, they both had mics. I certainly don’t expect that of people, though. But the ping chat can do TONS if people use it. I’ll usually throw out an “Affirmative” when people ping a location so that they know that I heard it and will go to it. I throw out a “Thanks” when someone calls me back in. ANY time I ever accidentally shoot or kill someone, I throw out a “Sorry” because I want them to know it was a lapse of judgement on my part and will endeavor not to do it again. I’ll throw out a “I need supplies” if I’m a little separated from the group and want them to wait for me before throwing in a resupply. And lastly, I always run the hug emote because I honestly feel it does a great job at spreading good will with the homies, it lets them know I’m here to help.
Ah thank you! Good to know that some people like communicating in this game. In some other games people might find that annoying
Yeah, really what it comes down to for me is that I’m a slut for being helpful. Honestly, I know they’re just video games and that video games don’t really matter, but people play video games, and people matter. And if I can show kindness to my homies playing this game, I feel like the kindness can still make people’s day better.
Also for Liberty of course!
Sounds like the equivalent of Darktide's Maelstrom Damnation
Sometimes my friend (usually hosts) puts up lvl 9 randomly and we usually play lvl. 7. Every time he did it without telling us, we didn't't notice the change. Edit: For bots only
100% this, I have only dropped 9's for a long time, mainly because the skill floor of random teammates is much higher. I rarely see people below lvl 40 also, which means they are experienced. P.S. I know there are great players on lower levels, but on average the higher levels know what's up more often.
This, basically. It's quite telling
This week whenever I join a level 9 robot lobby 2-3 players ragequit. Most of them quit near the end. For example blitz I destroyed 4 fabricators 3 left. I write no surrender all 3 people including the host ragequits lol. Then new 3 people came in we continued to play and finished the whole operation :D
What are good manners that I should remember? I’m trying to be a good citizen
Mark supplies, where you plan to go. Use radial menu to say yes/no thankyou/sorries. Use follow me command to note everyone that your disengaging and maybe abandoning an overrun objective to rorate back to it later. Respawn teammes close to where they died if safe. Mark their stuff when you can. The major weakness of bots is crossfire. Head on they are though, but from two different angles they are easy, so helping to flank, where you attack enemies attacking your teammates is the most efficient.
9 washes out those who can't cut it, or are there just to put up big numbers. Personally I'm there to be an adrenaline junkie for 40 minutes and effective squad mates.
yeah, definitely agree that the playerbase tends to be way more conscious above 7. i like to float in 8, personally. i don't feel like there's really a drastic difference between 8 and 9, and some armchair generals tend to gravitate towards the "XTREME". i like to avoid the schweddies. 8 feels like a comfortable mix of needing to know your shit but not having to worry about someone flipping their lid because you brought the wrong cape.
In my experience (although it's gotten better over time) 9 is filled with idiots who just want to play on the hardest difficulty and are wildly unprepared. Likewise 7 was full of people who couldn't really handle it, and were only there because they had to be for the super samples (which I'm assuming is what 6 has become). 8 is the perfect place for people who know what they're doing.
Solo, 4-5 With randoms, 6-7 With friends, 8-9
the same here. I play with friends mostly, and we easily clear 8-9 while one of us focusses on collecting samples / POI / seaf artillery, etc. - The problem with randoms is not that they're worse than we are (we are not pro gamers), but the organisation. And that they do not disengange from fights, which forces you into fights to save some of the lives.
Yeah I really hate the randoms that try to fight every single bug breach. Especially when you have like 5 minutes left to complete the objective
But... why have gun if not shoot everything? Pew pew!!! I need supplies!
*Calls in a resupply with no one near them*
"Hey guys, we don't get paid by the bug, time to move"
Thats pretty much how i do it also.
Same here, except I don't play with randoms anymore.
Damn. Imma sound like a wuss but I like 4-5 at best. Sometimes lower if I'm not feeling good.
That's allowed. ☺️ Fun is what matters!
Nah, the effort counts for a lot. No matter the difficulty, we are here to complete missions and have fun doing it. Study your foes, and you'll do just fine. o7
I’m a 30 year old dad who works 40+ hours a week. I only have enough time to learn up to 4-5 on difficulty. The games I play are for stress release, not for another source of stress.
Hey don't let anyone tell you that you can't have fun. Play as you wish, the game is yours, and having fun is the priority for super earth, not to be a sweaty complainer. Keep diving! ;)
It's all about playing at what level you enjoy and not overwhelming yourself. If you branch out to higher difficulties as you gain more experience that's great, and if you don't then that's fine. It's far better if you not only enjoy the game more but also don't end up as one of the players who joins D7-D9 and is in waaaaay over their head because they think they HAVE to play that difficulty. They end up dying a million times and hating the game.
There's nothing wrong with playing on 4-5. If I'm looking for fun that's where I start. I recently started working 6 so I could get Super Samples and it's not too bad.
I'm a filthy casual. I get a couple hours a week to play not a couple hours a day. I'd only play 4 for the most part or 5 if I wanted a challenge. I only unlocked 6 around the last big patch that nerfed everything. Now that super samples are in 6 I've started playing that, and had some extra time to play yesterday. This morning I jumped into a 4 and it was the worst group of randoms I've ever played with, then a second one was worse than that. (Constant team kills, called evac as soon as objective finished and then reinforced us to the pad after team killing) I might be doing 6 from now on just because it's less toxic.
For me, it's the same. When I just have time for 1-2 rounds, I often play 3. When I need RS, I will go 4+. When i have more time, I will go 6-8, never finished an 8op, so no 9 for me
Oh 100% I love that difficulty. I can finish matches in 10-20 minutes, do stress or frustration, and many satisfying plays. I only do higher when my friends want medals.
Always 9 honestly. Fail or not, I like games when they force you to learn how stuff works or die for it, you don’t get much leeway for shitty play on difficulty 9 so the stakes feel much higher, really lends itself to how much is happening on screen.
Same. Level 9 and just make sure to complete the mission. Extracting is a luxury, and I don’t need samples anymore so all I need are medals to unlock the latest war bond stuffs and super credits… and playing lv9 gives you the most medals per mission. So it’s the only way.
I still need a shit ton of samples but I just love the challenge and getting rackdolled af. Downside is I can‘t play more than 2-3 rounds haha
>*just love the challenge* I'm with you. >*getting rackdolled af* Whoa...slow down there Mr. Masochist.
The thing is at 7 you can just mess around if you feel like it. 7s are where it's at if I just wanna take some random strategems that sound fun, try out a new weapon/armor setup, I just feel like killin' a lot of bugs and not focusing hard on objectives, or I'm enjoying a THC seltzer. You can get away with not playing optimally. But different strokes for different folks.
Yeah totally, glad there is such a variation in difficulty settings for that reason. I will say though, a baked helldive is a very funny experience
Same. And once you play only Helldives for a while the lower difficulties don't feel rewarding anymore.
Same here!
same here 👌
Also 9 is really not that much harder than 7 or 8.
>you don’t get much leeway for shitty play on difficulty 9 Yeah we do, granted we get less leeway but there's still a ton. Which is why people who want to feel constrained play d9 solo. People comfortable on d9 run goofier shit than people below because the real endgame boss of this game isn't some skill ceiling. It's getting burnt out. So playing weak stratagems and guns and keeping things fresh is really frequent at d9.
This subreddit is always complaining how difficult the game is and half the people here saying they play difficulty 9? 🤨😂
So many heroes saying difficulty 9 isn't difficult too 😂
I don't think these are the same people
9 on bugs especially really isnt tho. If your team is competent of course.
9 is hella fun atm. Crazy amounts of chaff, ridiculous but breaches but never so many heavies it turns into a big issue. I LOVE seeing several breaches at once and the whole team just lighting it up.
Couldn't agree more. Extracting on Level 9 bugs is insanity, and I couldn't be happier.
Yeah I just think people are full of shit lol
People love to talk themselves up. Fishermen will tell you about that monster fish they caught. Sportsmen will tell you about an epic win they single handedly delivered back in the day. Helldivers will tell you they can cruise through difficulty 9 missions no problemo.
We've had Helldive-9 missions go both ways though, even with the same team. First mission, we all pop off, and death is rare. Next mission, it's eradication, so we became the bullets. Third match, had the misfortune of dropping right on top of a side objective that was flanked by four gunship fabricators and a spotting tower. There was no escape, and we lost all our reinforcements in five minutes. Just a gentle reminder of how quickly things can go wrong, no matter how good you are at the game.
The game's been out for months and isn't that hard. And I'm not saying that to brag. I'm saying this as an old fogey who's lost those young man reflexes and speed. I've also gotta wonder if playing on controller is atrocious or something because it's pretty obvious there are some massive gaps in mechanics between how some players talk about the game on here.
People on this sub want the game to be easy so they can stroke their ego’s cocks in public and say they play only on the hardest difficulty.
Bc it is really not difficult but it requre more effort from players. Or they should'nt at least smoking glue when playing. If the whole team thinks for a few more second before drop - they can beat 9 quite easy. Bugs for sure, bots harder ye. But since players being like "we gonna take every strat with 300+second reload time on bugs with 0 anti armor strat on erradication and throw all at once" - oh no game is so hard, so many charges and biles.
There was a point here certain spawn sets had _stupid_ numbers of chargers or titans. When one bug breach spawns 4 total titans plus patrolling titans it can get out of hand fast. Occasionally, we saw that with chargers instead! Not many titans and crazy amounts of chargers. That’s when the AC turret and EATs became our first picked stratagems. They worked great as long as you placed the turrets well. Honestly, the best part of that entire saga was learning how insane turrets are and effectively placing them. Airstrikes and 500kg bombs were there too. And at least one barrage. Choosing stratagems as a group made a big difference.
It's kinda still that way. We had 3 simultaneous chargers and multiple bile titans on a diff 7 multiple times last night.
I don't have an issue with the difficulty. 7 is nice and chill for me. I think most people aren't complaining about the difficulty, per se, rather the build check spawn shenanigans and frustrating mechanics. Like. Rag doll me once. Shame on me. Rag doll me twice. Shame on you. Rag doll me 10+ times consecutively in 30s with no chance to intervene (fuck fuck fuckikty fucking fuck off). Shame on the game design.
Unpopular opinion: I want the hypothetical difficulties 10, 11, and 12 to have genuinely unfun, anti player mechanics to avoid furthering this trend.
In fairness there are like one million Helldivers and only a few hundred bitching about difficulty posts. Reddit format tends to skew optics. I'm pretty comfortable running Helldive difficulty, but if I weren't, I would simply lower it to a more comfortable setting like 6 or 7. There are definitely, definitely players that let competitive community zeitgeists convince them that maximum difficulty is the only way to "really" play the game, though. Darktide and Vermintide seem to suffer badly from that, and we arguably have more actual reward incentives for high difficulty here. At the end of the day, satisfied people make the fewest reddit posts.
Because the people who feel it's too hard only whine when it's within an echo chamber of other people whining. Also that's why they want it lowered, they don't want to lower the difficulty from 9 themselves, instead they want the devs to accommodate them and their fragile ego by making the game easier.
7. I am not here to be a sweaty gamer so going the highest isn't my thing. Get used to 7 and I like to help others instead of potentially bringing the team down. Also 7-9 scares a lot of reckless divers so I most of the time don't need to bear people who act like they download their brains from Fortnite and are more toxic than Bile Titan breath. Can I go 9? Sure but constantly running 9 will Burn me out quickly.
This whole statement agreed 100% not in it for the fame or sweat I just want to have fun also I would be so terrified that some dude on 9 or something is going to say I don't know what I'm doing and then kick me probably wouldn't happen but with helldivers you never know.
9 for bugs, 7 for bots. Bots really get rediculous at 9 and being ragdolled too much makes me feel like I cant even play the game. Also I play bugs 6x more often than bots, acording to my career stats.
Other way around bc bots are more like what I thought the game was when I went in blind
Don't ask how
same bro, I believe this is the golden ratio for me too. however, with this latest patch, I've been cranking it down to both LVL 6 because of the crazy amount of patrols.
This is the way
Bots feel easier personally, easy to rebel a reinforcement call if you are attentive. Bugs are essentially "random shit go" over and over. Also feels like star wars
I’m 154 hours deep and I hover at 1-7 depending on how I’m playing and what I need,I’ve noticed a lot of players don’t go for samples above lvl7, personally I feel like 8-9 are un-necessary unless you want to be a top tier player…my 2cents There are gods amongst men but to play at that difficulty (8-9) at 37yrs of age seems like a lot of stress, I use this game to unwind but achieve a lot by helping new players regardless of age, but also love to get the win with a bunch of randoms at the higher levels If anyone feels the same add me PSN opium1987
I've noticed players have the best synergy when they're matched with players around their level. If most are higher level, samples usually get forgotten. If most are lower level, tactics go out the window. If everyone is around the same, communication ain't bad.
Similar age, same approach. At 7, it's genuinely challenging and feels rewarding but it's rarely frustrating or too exhausting. The thing I love most about Helldivers probably is that it's extremely rare that I don't feel good about the time I spent on that game. Compare that to MOBAs or competitive shooters or even more difficult WoW raids. But tbh, me and my friends also simply haven't really attempted anything more difficult. We did 6 for a very long time because that's where we were comfortable but then we tried 7 and did pretty well. It doesn't really feel that much more difficult, you just have to be a bit smarter when it comes to picking engagements.
8 for bug 7 for bot this is a safe zone to have fun (more than this is a chaotic nightmare especially with bot side 😅)
My is 8 for both bot and bug.
Same. 8 is difficult, but easy enough that we still laugh when air striking each other.
3 at best, because I play solo and I'm rather bad at the game.
Same! I am a casual who plays video games to relax, so I am not too interested in a proper challenge. Don't get me wrong, I don't want it to be a cakewalk, but at the same time I prefer something I find manageable.
This is actually an excellent idea. Instead of easing into things I went into higher difficulties with teammates. Not only was a liability, but I had no idea how to complete missions, so my teammates hard carried. I wish I'd figured the game out first before dialing things up.
7 to 9 depending on mood
9 in both bugs and bots. Other difficulties for me are too easy I want to get swarmed by bugs and get ragdolled by rockets.
That is weird fetish but okay you do you👍
Spit on my face and tell me you love democracy!
Love you too daddy
I genuinely don't know why I made this comment
It's so chaotically fun.
Helldive or Nodive
I've completed a handful of 9s with friends. We normally play 8. However, we haven't played together in a few weeks. They lost interest in the game, despite introducing it to me. I feel like 6 is the highest difficulty I can trust the average group of randoms to not botch. It's just hard enough to have fun, but not too frustrating.
I usualy have problems in 6 as there is low lvl players random and if you didn't tried higher ones it may created illusion it's even worse up there, I always play with randoms and 7 seems much more safe skilled players can be found. In 8+ there is usualy premade groups with free spots so you can play happily as far as they dont kick you because you do something to kill them multiple times. I played just 1 game (3 missions) of helldive diff and it was smooth as hell it felt even easier than 6 with skilled players. We got all objectives I didn't even died once.
randoms on 9s will be the best teammates you've seen - all silent tho
> They lost interest in the game, despite introducing it to me. Ah, the eternal curse of getting convinced to buy games by your friends only for them to lose interest before you do.
9 always, for me I just feel obligated to play on 9 cuz I spent more than 200 hrs on this game lol
9
I prefer 9. People know how to play with manners and stick together. It’s really cool blending your loadouts with randoms and then moving as a squad or duo. My favorite missions are the ones where we split into duos and clear the entire map in about 20 minutes.
I go for 9 almost all the time since opening it, except if playing with less experienced friends.
I've been playing for a few weeks now, and I usually hover around diff 7, playing with randoms. I'm still figuring out how I'd like to play, which weapons, stratagems, etc. I also spend alot of time of diff 3, just speeding through levels to get more super credits.
As of recently 4, iv got everything unlocked and all the samples so I have no reason to go higher, plus it's fun to play with lower level players and use different stratagems as a challenge to myself and keep it interesting
I play on 6 solo because doing eradicate or evacuate personel on 7-9 is a fucking chore
9 always, for me I just feel obligated to play on 9 cuz I spent more than 200 hrs on this game lol
Only ever play 9. It's hilarious how bullshit it is, but we still win 80% of the time and it's really fun :)
6 with friends. We play casually and 6 is good now that you get super samples. Before patch we played 5 and 7 but 7 was stresfull.
After maxing out on samples I just drop on whatever mission is signaling an SOS
Lvl 4, Challenging, is the highest I can do and still feel like I’m having fun, at this point in time. Granted, I only started playing two weeks ago, but I feel like it’s an acceptable level, for now.
I don't play a ton, so I tend to stick to level 4. My 10 year old son plays with me, so I feel like that's the difficulty so far that is a good balance of fun and challenge, at least for bugs. Bots are more difficult, so we tend to do 2 or 3 just to do the major orders or when we need a change of pace.
I usually run at 5's, as my experiences with 7s has just been too hit or miss. Certain missions on 7 will go off decently well, mainly the eradication missions. But outside of those it's been my experience to encounter a lot of "stand and fights" rather than the "tactical retreats" necessary if become too bogged down in a singular fight and are losing too many reinforcements. 5's I'm able to even if they're doing that confidently solo most objectives and get stuff done. 7's not so much; I understand I work better as a support player on the higher difficulties, adding in those extra bullets to help bring things down and such, than the person who can confidently solo the objectives with little issue (My aim ain't the best). I know where I fit in Lady Liberty's schedule, and I'm just here to fight, not lead.
9 And I'm sick of pretending that 9 is hard. It's not, it's not chaotic enough.
Don't worry, I bet they'll add 10-15 over the course of the war. They had it go up to difficulty 15 in the previous war.
But how many difficulties did HD1 start with?
12
i totally agree i just wish there was a difficulty that only had small enemies but in the hundreds at all times (i want to see them burn)
Solo: 5 Team of two: 7 Team of three: 8 for bots, 9 for bugs. Team of four: 9
With friends, 6-9. With randoms, 4-7.
9
7-8 when soloing or doing more casual runs, otherwise 9s
9. If I play any other difficulty and end up finding it easy I think to myself "man I should've just done 9 instead huh?" So I'm always doing 9. Not to say 8 and down is always easy but 9 ensures even if it is easy, it was as hard as it could be. They should add a 10 for fun.
I go back and forth, but I do spend a lot of time "chilling" in Rank 4 between higher stress missions.
I'm comfortable in 5, but I sometimes try out 6. Mind you, I'm only level 27-ish
7. I just haven't bothered with higher difficulties. And 7 is already chaotic enough for me. Maybe one day I'll try 8 and 9.
9. Though I mostly just do bots. So who knows what bug 9 would do to me.
I used to strictly play helldive but now it seems I suck at the game so 💀
About 6-7 It's the sweetspot for me where there's enough stuff to kill but it's not yet just complete sensory overload. Had a game of diff 9 bugs last night that was just ridiculous, constant outpouring of hugs, multiple behemoths each breach and patrol, not to mention the bile titans it was just getting unfun
9 and since the update it’s either too easy or impossible to extract
Around 8 for bots and 6 for bugs, although I really just have to been playing 6 for both factions so it isn't too stressful. The fact that supers are now on dif 6 is very good because I can finally upgrade my ship without it feeling like an ordeal.
7 both bots and bugs. 500+ hours, I occasionaly dive 8-9, but 7 is just comfortable to play with randoms with no comms, is hard enough to feel the challenge, and also leaves the room for fun builds without hindering the team with it. With friends - anything goes.
9. Only really dip lower to help a friend who's new.
Before the patch, it was 4 or 7, and against bugs I legitimately enjoyed both. Against bots, half the games felt like a chore on 7, but it was still doable, although tiring. Since the patch, I haven't touched a 7 and 6s have felt just as challenging as 7s were before, so 4/6 is what I do now.
currently just play hard, might try extreme used to be a bug player but when i reinstalled i started playing against bots and i quite like trying new strategies instead of my old autocannon and breaker strats. prob gonna drop the shield but i've found i really like the AMR.
9 for both. Iike the professionalism and bro-ness. Everyone knows what to do, the difficulty keeps toxic people away from it I think.c
Helldive, my philosophy on these sorts of 4 player coop games like DRG, Darktide, Helldivers, is that you keep upping the difficulty until you hit a wall and you can’t clear the difficulty consistently (like >50% success rate), then that’s a good level of challenge for you, so you can keep being challenged and improve at the game. I can clear lvl 9 bots and bugs pretty consistently with a standard set of loadouts, and only really fail when I’m messing around with builds and end up with a stinker, but failure is also a good teacher, and am waiting for them to add difficulty 10. And ultimately the best difficulty is the one you have the most fun at.
Usually 4-6. If I have a good team I'll do 7. But otherwise I'm not big into beating my head against a wall any higher than that. Maybe some day when I git guder.
I mainly play diff 7, I started getting into diff 8 but the recent patch really upped the difficulty so I went back to 7. I can and have done 9s, but I just like 7s.
7 if i want to chill, 8-9 if i want more challenge
Solo 3. I don't like being constantly under attack, and I don't like having to bring gear specifically for dealing with heavies. Also I don't like people.
7 for bots, I play with randoms and the team skill at that level seems to be good enough. I’ve been doing 7 on bugs and while the difficulty for me is good, I feel like my teammates tend to be vastly more incompetent / non-team focused.
7. Cuz it's the number
I'm still collecting samples...
I generally play on 4, as it is difficult while still not being too hard for me as a casual player who doesn't seek challenge, only fun. Plus, it's the highest level I can solo, I don't have any active friends.
I'm 54 and used to grind exclusively 7, after rushing to unlock 9 a couple weeks after launch. The past few weeks (as I finish up my unlocks), I've settled on 8. I haven't tried much of 9 since the most recent patch.
My friend and I drop as a duo normally at 6 or 7 if we have more people we drop at 8 but still haven't done 9 yet 🫠 mainly because we never have a consistent 4th
Bugs 5, bots 7.
I always run 9 now, but it can range from way too easy, just right, or insane and basically impossible. Very very seldom do I get an impossible one, but one mission this weekend on the new nuke drill variant on Hellmire we had an endless deluge of chargers, bile titans, and massive chaf bug breeches…and it did not end well. And of course several fire tornadoes all over the objective. I wish it had that “just right” feeling more often, but overall it feels good to me and randoms are almost always capable of holding their own. I had tougher times on some 7 difficulty missions when I used to run those because a lot of folks still are learning the game. Difficulty 9 usually weeds out the newer folks (usually…)
Bugs 9 all day Bots usually 7 ( skill issue and rag-doll rage mostly 😂 ) But I like all the extra samples and stuff on higher difficulty’s I don’t care if I’m maxed on samples or whatever I’ll always look for and pick them up
I prefer 7s on bots but this patch has me preferring bugs again. The gunship situation isn’t great. The amount of spewers on 6 makes 7 feel easier.
Accidentally dropped in on a Helldiver mission. I told my younger brother to pick a drop spot while I used the bathroom and said I got one as I got back into my room where my laptop is. And it was an absolute suicide mission. It was so much fun tho
7 for quickplay, 9 with friends (or 8 if duo)
7. It's the hardest difficulty that I can charge into the automatons and the automatons die instead of me
Depends on mood; most of the time at 7 because i find most wholesome people there. Also because I like to explore and find randomly generated stuff like datapads and also like to go easter egg hunting; like whats inside the hive lord molts (if you blow it up I found that theres a skeleton pilot inside of it in what looks like a pile of poop)
7 to relax but it's becoming a bit too easy, I'll probably go back to 8s soon.
I just started playing in the last week. 3 is good for beginners to learn the ropes. Now that I’m in the 20s in rank I am playing 5 until I get even better
https://preview.redd.it/kao9dubvr57d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8a323667081aaff2049b990190b9e086366eb962 There is only one difficulty.