Defending Super Earth will always be your top priority as a Helldiver, but collecting samples is just as imperative. It’s the only way to improve your Super Destroyer and, in turn, yields more bug and Automaton-killing action. Helldivers 2 trades in the top-down angle for some third-person action. You’ll be liberating various planets and defeating bugs and robots while taking on Galactic War missions.
The samples are paramount to the research you can complete on your Super Destroyer—namely, in the ship modules section. The more ship modules you add, the more assets you’ll get in combat, which increases the number of stratagems you can use in battle. With that in mind, here’s everything you need to know about where and how to collect samples in Helldivers 2.
What Are Samples in Helldivers 2?
Samples are arguably the most confusing resource in Helldivers 2 simply because the game doesn’t tell you its functions outright. They’re essentially used to purchase ship modules, which can be considered permanent upgrades to your character. These can range from increasing the ammunition capacity of your Sentries to cooldown reductions for your equipped Stratagems.
Numerous upgrades can be found in the Ship Module section of Ship Management. You’ll quickly realize that each of them comes with a significant cost. For example, the first upgrade—Donation Access License—is priced at 60 Common Samples. It’s an excellent investment since it enhances the number of magazines dropped for your weapons.
Helldivers 2: Types of Samples
You have your Common Samples, which spawn in any difficulty option. They can be found all over the map, and while they aren’t as exciting to collect, they’re pivotal to making meaningful progress in the game.
Then, there are Rare Samples. These appear in higher difficulties—particularly in Hard to Helldivers difficulty. Samples are marked by a small circle icon with a line down the center. If you pick one up, it’ll automatically be added to your mission inventory. Samples are shared by the entire squad, so should other Helldivers in your team pick up samples, you’ll benefit from it as well.
Where to Get Common Samples in Helldivers 2
You can acquire samples by collecting them throughout missions or completing primary and secondary objectives within Helldivers 2. Common Samples are relatively easy to find since they spawn just about everywhere, but here are a couple of general locations you should explore to get them:
- Outposts – You can get a reliable source of samples by searching through destroyed outposts. Whether you’re tasked with destroying Terminid structures or collecting geological samples, these areas are always scattered throughout mission maps.
- Points of Interests – Whenever you’re on a Galactic War mission, always try to explore the area around you—you never know what sort of Minor POIs you might find. Question marks dotted on your compass will always lead you to POIs, where Common Samples can often be found. Certain Points of Interest can also give you ammo, grenades, stims, and even different weapons.
Where to Get Rare Samples in Helldivers 2
Rare samples are quintessential for specific upgrades, but the kicker is that they’re harder to come by. They don’t spawn in missions that are Medium difficulty or lower. If you want to get Rare Samples, you’ll have to take on missions that are at least Challenging difficulty or higher, which isn’t easy if you don’t have the necessary weapons and Stratagems.
Rare Samples are less abundant compared to Common Samples, but they can be found around minor POIs all the same. Other supplies like ammo and grenades often accompany them. To identify if an item is a Rare Sample, look for the distinctive square logo sign with a line across the center.
Helldivers 2 How to Farm Samples
Play With A Team
Tracking down samples can take a reasonable amount of time. While you can find all of them by progressing through the difficulty levels, the best way to get the resources is by working alongside friends and other Helldivers. Jumping into matches with teammates gives you the best chance since whatever samples they collect alongside yours, you’ll also get in the end. That said, make sure to have your crossplay turned on. The more people you have working together, the more samples you can get as you complete missions.
Prioritize Missions Tasked With Eradicating Swarms
Look for missions that involve eradicating a swarm within a short timeframe. These missions are fast and provide a good balance of reward and challenge. You can deploy sentries and other automated defenses to handle the enemies while you focus on collecting samples. This strategy allows you and your team to complete the mission objective and efficiently gather the resource.
Collect Your Fallen Comrade’s Samples Whenever They Die
It’s easy to forget that you lose all your samples when you die whenever chaos ensues. If you die while having samples in your inventory, those will fall on the ground where your character died. The same can be applied to your teammates. You might miss out on these if you can’t return to your body or your team fails to run and collect them before extracting. Losing the samples, especially when you’ve collected multiple of them, can be frustrating. This makes communication extremely critical.
When you die, don’t hesitate to call out to a Helldiver who’s near your corpse to collect your samples. That way, everything can upgrade their Super Destroyer’s ship modules when all is said and done.