Helldivers 2features a varied array of customization options to improve your combat experience. From newPrimaryandSecondary Weaponstoacquire via the Warbonds, to thebest Stratagemsto unlock and bring to the front lines, there’s no shortage of combat options available to you. One of the best upgrades to keep your eyes on as you shoot your way through theTerminid and Automaton hordesis the Ship Module upgrades.
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Similar toBoosters, Ship Modules are permanent buffs (not single-use enhancements), but unlike Boosters, you’ll need tocollect valuable (and rare) Sampleswhile planetside on missions in order to save enough to start unlocking Ship Modules. To collect the Common, Rare, and Super Rare Samples necessary to unlock every Ship Module, you’ll need to delve intoSuicide Mission difficulty(and perhaps beyond). That’s because Super Rare Samples only begin showing up on Suicide Mission difficulty — and their spawn rate continues to increase in the higher difficulties beyond that. Due to how time-consuming collecting Samples can be, it’s important to know which Ship Modules are truly worth your time and investment of resources. We’re breaking down the most valuable and must-have Ship Modules in Helldivers 2 — the ones you simply must prioritize to become the most effective soldier for Super Earth and spread Managed Democracy across the galaxy!
Helldivers 2
10Streamlined Request Process
Get Your Support Weapons When You Need Them
We’ll start things off with a core Ship Module upgrade: the Streamlined Request Process. Decreasing your Support Weapon stratagem cooldowns by 10% isn’t going to be felt every mission — most missions, you’re more likely to simply resupply your Support Weapon, rather thanpunch in the stratagem codeto call down a brand-new one — but when it does come in handy, you’ll be glad for that cooldown reduction.
Whether it’s allowing you to call down an extra Railgun for your lower-level teammate, or you unceremoniously died in a scrambled retreat and won’t be able to go back to your corpse to pick up your dropped gear, this Ship Module upgrade is a solid upgrade worth your time.
Upgrade Effect
Affected Stratagems
Upgrade Requirement
Upgrade Cost
DecreasesSupport Weaponstratagem cooldown by10%.
9Zero-G Breech Loading
Shorter Orbital Cooldown
For a much more noticeable cooldown reduction on your day-to-day missions against the anti-democractic forces pitted against Super Earth, you’ll want to pick up Zero-G Breech Loading. This Ship Module upgrade delivers the same benefits as Streamlined Request Process for Support Weapons — just this time, it’s for Orbital stratagems (some of the biggest and the best). Unlike the Streamlined Request Process upgrade, you’ll definitely notice the cooldown reduction granted by Zero-G Breech Loading, allowing you to deliver precision Democratic hellfire onto your enemies directly from orbit.
Having said that, this Ship Module upgradedoesonly affect Orbital stratagems, so if you tend to rely more on Eagle Stratagems to lay down your heaviest fire, you won’t find much use in this one. Additionally, the pricey requirement of 10 Very Rare Samples makes this upgrade pretty cost prohibitive, so it’s hard to prioritize this one unless you just adore Orbital stratagems — which would be completely understandable, and they look and feel incredible on the battlefield. Definitely worth the investment if you find yourself drawn to Orbital stratagems, since you’ll simply be able to use them more frequently in dire situations… though easy to push further down your upgrade path if you are drawn to other tools to deal with your heavily armored opponents.
Orbitalstratagem cooldown time reduced by10%.
8Targeting Software Upgrade
Faster Orbital…Everything
Part and parcel with the Zero-G Breech Loading, for all you Orbital stratagem enthusiasts out there, the Targeting Software Upgrade makes quick thinking on the battlefield even more viable. Reducing the deployment time for Orbital stratagems by 1 second doesn’t seem like much, but that single second can mean the difference between obliterating that relentlessBile Titan— and dying in a puddle of acid after missing with your Orbital Precision Strike.
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With enough careful planning, you might not get much use out of this stratagem. But any seasoned Helldivers knows that any plan can suddenly go out the window in the face of a couple Bug Breaches or when a few Automaton flares light up the night. When the situation’s under control, this faster deploy time might not mean much, but during those chaotic, crucial moments when you’re suddenly face-to-face with a few tanks or a herd ofChargers, you’ll be glad to have one less second between them being a deadly threat — or just a smear across the impact site. Plus, the low, low cost of only 60 Common Samples makes this an easy pick-up.
Reduces deployment time forOrbitalstratagems by 1 second(s).
7Synthetic Supplementation
Resupply More Often
Synthetic Supplementation delivers another 10% cooldown reduction, but this time for Sentries, Emplacements, and sometimes most importantly,Resupplies. This Ship Module upgrade, like many of the other cooldown reduction upgrades, can make a noticeable difference in the right circumstances. Due to this affecting Sentries, Emplacements, and Resupplies, you’re tripling your chances for feeling the benefits of this upgrade on every mission.
Again, though, the usefulness of this is primarily impacted by how fond you are of Sentry and Emplacement stratagems, but even without utilizing those (damn good) stratagem options, the 10% reduction to Resupply can be a lifesaver during prolonged gunfights, and thus still worth your consideration. On defense-style missions, when you’re aiming to rescue civilians or simply rack up a kill count, this cooldown reduction can be critical in keeping your Sentries active, and keeping you and your allies resupplied.
Reduces cooldown time forSentry, Emplacement, and Resupplystratagem by10%.
6Shock Absorption Gel
More Mortar Mayhem
Pairing beautifully with Synthetic Supplementation’s cooldown reduction, Shock Absorption Gel means your Sentries last longer — 50% longer, to be exact (at least, as far as their ammo reserves are concerned). A well-placed Sentry is less concerned with getting destroyed and more concerned with simply running out of ammunition. With Shock Absorption Gel, especially when paired with the 10% cooldown from Synthetic Supplementation, this becomes a concern of the past (well, mostly).
Due to this upgrade working exclusively with only Sentry stratagems, this becomes an easy choice, depending on how frequently you tend to deploy turrets (and how much tolerance you have for Mortar Sentries maybe accidentally blowing up your allies occasionally). Due to the high resource cost of this upgrade, it’ll take some focused saving to grab this, but if you find yourself regularly utilizing Sentries on your missions, this is a must-have.
Increases ammo for allSentrystratagems by50%.
5Nuclear Radar
Avoid Patrols More Easily
Everything above this has been useful for various scenarios, but Nuclear Radar is one of the most crucial for higher level missions. Nuclear Radar allows you to spot enemies on your minimap another 50 meters out. This effect ishugelyimportant forhigher level difficulties(we’re talking Suicide Mission and up), where your missions shift dramatically away from bombastic aggression across the map to a much more stealthy, deliberate path, snaking between patrols toward objectives. It’s fun to stumble upon a patrol and dig in for some explosive combat, but on higher difficulties, those encounters become more and more likely to leave you in a rapidly deteriorating situation.
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Increasing your enemy awareness by another 50 meters can be a life-saver in helping you navigate around patrols — especially at night, on maps with dense foliage (looking at you, Malevelon Creek), or during missions with unique modifiers like dense fog. Even on lower difficulties, you’ll still get plenty of use out of this Ship Module. Sure, it’s not a super flashy upgrade, but Helldivers 2 is a game about constantly planning ahead (and adapting when plans go awry), so an upgrade that delivers valuable information to you more quickly to give you those extra crucial moments to decide your next moves is invaluable.
Increases enemy ping radius on minimap by50meters.
4Liquid-Ventilated Cockpit
Eagle Stratagems Back-To-Back
Liquid-Ventilated Cockpit should be one of those first few upgrades you purchase from the Ship Module. Reducing Eagle stratagem cooldown times by 50% is an upgrade that will be immediately felt in any given combat scenario. Orbital stratagems are cool and all, but the rapid deployment and lightning-fast devastation caused by Eagle stratagems makes them a fantastic pick for those tense encounters that require quick thinking and even quicker explosions.
Reducing their cooldown makes for swift deployment of wall-to-wall destruction raining down on your enemies. Plus, due to the (comparatively) simple cost of 80 Common Samples, you’ll be able to start taking advantage of this increase in power fairly early in your career as a defender of Super Earth.
Eaglestratagem cooldown time reduced by50%.
3Donation Access License
Max Support Weapon Ammo From The Start
Donation Access License is thefirst Ship Management upgrade you should pick up, and for good reason. Normally,Support Weaponsdeploy with only half their max amount of ammo. With Support Weapons delivering some of your most frequent and focused damage to high-armored foes, you always want to make sure your ammo is topped up and ready to deliver lead-based Democracy to your enemies.
With this upgrade, your Support Weapons will instead deploy with max ammo, ensuring you are fully locked and loaded as soon as you arm yourself at the start of a mission. This upgrade isn’t super flashy, but you will feel the benefits from this inevery single mission, and you will regularly be thankful for that extra ammo when your back is up against the wall. Plus, for 60 Common Samples, it’s an easy first choice. No matter if you’re playing on Trivial or Helldive difficulty, you’ll be glad to have picked up Donation Access License with your first batch of Common Samples.
Support Weaponsdeploy with the maximum number of carriable magazines.
2Pit Crew Hazard Bay
Eagles Are Back Into The Action More Quickly
Making up part 2 of the 1-2-3 punch that starts with Liquid-Ventilated Cockpit’s deployment time reduction, this Ship Module further elevates Eagle stratagems to new heights. Normally, after you activate your set number of uses of an Eagle Stratagem, you’ll then need to wait on the Rearm, which sends the Eagle pilot back to your ship for its own resupply. This typically takes around 2 to 2-and-a-half minutes, give or take. With Pit Crew Hazard Bay, the time it takes to Rearm is reduced by a whopping 20%.
This upgrade ensures the Eagle Stratagem’s supremacy over most Orbital stratagem uses. The 20% reduction in Rearm time is really noticeable on hazardous missions, ensuring you are as frequently ready for high-intensity combat as is humanly possible. Ensuring you’re (almost) always ready to deploy your most devastating stratagems on your enemies is your most important duty as a Helldiver. You not only owe it to your squad, but you owe it to Super Earth to pick up this Ship Module upgrade as soon as you are able.
ReducesEagleRearm time by 20%.
1Expanded Weapons Bay
Double Your Eagle 500KG Bombs
Completing the march toward Eagle stratagem’s total victory over all other stratagem types, Expanded Weapons Bay grants each Eagle stratagem an additional use before need to Rearm. On its face, having a single extra use might not sound like much, but it makes ahugedifference — but especially once you unlock and bring along the Crème de la crèmeEagle 500kg Bomb, you’ll really be feeling the power.
The Eagle 500kg Bomb is a single-use Eagle stratagem — after using it just one time, you’ll need to Rearm. This isbasically due to the fact that the 500kg Bomb is the most devastating weapon in your arsenal. And, with the Expanded Weapons Bay upgrade, you just doubled the number of times you can deploy this stratagem on your enemies before need to Rearm. Paired with a quicker deploy time from Liquid-Ventilated Cockpitandthe 20% reduced Rearm time from Pit Crew Hazard Pay, Expanded Weapons Bay establishes your complete domination over the battlefield.
