Playable Helldivers 2 mechs are a thing after community challenge

Players liberated Tien Kwan after just one day

You can control a Helldivers 2 mech now, after players successfully liberated Tien Kwan in the multiplayer game in the span of one day. Developer Arrowhead posted a major order – Helldivers 2’s version of a community challenge, basically – on March 7, 2024, tasking players with fending off hordes of enemies on the planet, and while most folks assumed a mech of some kind would be their reward, Arrowhead was happy to keep silent on the subject until now.

You aren’t getting the mech for free, though. It’s a new stratagem called EXO-45 Patriot Exosuit, and it only unlocks once you reach level 25, and it’ll set you back 20,000 to acquire.

You did it, Helldivers. Thanks to your determination, Tien Kwan stands strong and free. pic.twitter.com/GC1rPmI30C

— HELLDIVERS™ 2 (@helldivers2) March 8, 2024

That’s the highest level requirement of any stratagem so far, and it’s a pretty steep ask. Leveling up in Helldivers 2 takes a fair bit of time, so if you’re new to the game, don’t expect to add the Exosuit to your arsenal permanently any time soon. Arrowhead is alleviating some of the grind with a “temporary permit” that lets you summon the Patriot Exosuit once per mission. That’s once total – not once per reinforcement.

You can probably expect more events such as this one in the future. The liberation of Tien Kwan was the first big community event in Helldivers 2’s Galactic War narrative, and it – plus the threat of delaying the mech stratagem release – evidently drove engagement pretty well. Helldivers 2 hit 363,000 concurrent players after the major order went live, and the focused effort made short work of the fictional planet's liberation.

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