Warbonds FAQ & How to Use This Guide

Understanding the Warbond system and how to navigate our priority guides will help you make the most informed decisions about which content to unlock first. This page answers common questions about Warbonds, earning Super Earth Credits, and interpreting our recommendations.

Warbonds function as themed mini-battle passes in Helldivers 2, but with several key differences from typical premium battle passes in other games. Each Warbond contains a collection of weapons, armor sets with passive abilities, Stratagems (deployable equipment and support options), boosters (team-wide buffs), and cosmetic items like victory poses and player cards.

The crucial distinction is that Warbonds never expire and you unlock them using in-game currency earned through play rather than real money. Once purchased, a Warbond remains accessible permanently, and you can work through multiple Warbonds simultaneously at your own pace. This means there is no pressure to complete any Warbond before moving to another, and you will never lose access to content you have paid for.

Within each Warbond, individual items are arranged in a progression tree. You unlock items by spending Medals, which you earn by completing missions and daily orders. The progression is flexible—you can unlock items in any order within a Warbond as long as you meet the prerequisite connections in the unlock tree.

Each Warbond costs 1,000 Super Earth Credits to access, with one exception: the Obedient Democracy Support Troopers (ODST) Warbond costs 1,500 Super Earth Credits due to being a special crossover collaboration. Once you pay this initial cost, the Warbond becomes permanently accessible in your account.

Paying to unlock a Warbond does not give you all the items inside it—rather, it grants you access to spend Medals unlocking the individual items. Think of the Super Earth Credit cost as an admission fee: you are paying for the opportunity to work through that Warbond’s progression tree.

The initial free Warbond (Helldivers Mobilize) is accessible from the start of the game and requires no Super Earth Credits to unlock. This gives new players immediate access to the Warbond system and lets you earn Medals while deciding which premium Warbond to unlock first.

These are two separate currencies with different purposes:

Super Earth Credits unlock new Warbonds, giving you access to their progression trees. You earn these by finding them during missions (they appear as yellow question mark icons on the map and in Points of Interest), completing mission objectives, and through some special events. Super Earth Credits are the scarce resource that determines which Warbonds you can access, making your choice of which Warbond to unlock first strategically important.

Medals unlock individual items within Warbonds you have already paid to access. You earn Medals much more rapidly than Super Earth Credits—every mission grants Medals based on difficulty level and completion, and daily personal orders provide additional Medal rewards. Since Medals flow in steadily, you will eventually unlock everything within the Warbonds you choose to access.

The practical implication is that your Super Earth Credit spending determines your options (which Warbonds are available), while your Medal spending determines your progression speed within those options (how quickly you acquire specific items).

No, absolutely not. Once you spend Super Earth Credits to unlock a Warbond, it remains permanently accessible regardless of how much time passes or whether you actively work on it. Similarly, once you spend Medals to unlock an item within a Warbond, that item becomes permanently available in your arsenal.

This permanent access is one of Helldivers 2’s most player-friendly design choices. You are never racing against time limits or seasonal deadlines. If you unlock a Warbond today and do not touch it for three months, everything will still be there waiting for you. This design philosophy eliminates the fear of missing out that plagues many live service games and lets you progress at whatever pace suits your play schedule.

The only exception to this permanence is balance patches, which may adjust how weapons and equipment function. However, balance changes affect everyone equally (both those who unlocked items early and those who unlock them later), and the items themselves never disappear from your inventory.

Super Earth Credit acquisition depends on thorough exploration rather than mission difficulty. Each mission can potentially contain 30 to 60 Super Earth Credits scattered across the map in Points of Interest, bunkers, and hidden locations marked by yellow question marks.

The key to maximizing your credit income is exploring every Point of Interest marker that appears on your map and scanning the terrain for yellow question mark icons. These credits are not guaranteed drops—not every Point of Interest contains them—but systematic exploration dramatically increases your collection rate compared to rushing straight to objectives.

Higher difficulty missions do not inherently provide more Super Earth Credits in their base rewards, but harder difficulties often place more Points of Interest on larger maps, indirectly providing more opportunities to find credits during exploration. The most efficient approach balances difficulty (to ensure mission completion and Medal rewards) with thoroughness (to find all available credits during each run).

The most efficient Super Earth Credit farming strategy combines mission selection, thorough exploration, and team coordination:

Choose appropriate difficulties: Run missions on difficulty levels you can complete comfortably while still having time to explore. Higher difficulties increase Medal rewards and may offer more Points of Interest, but only if you can still complete objectives and extract successfully. For most players, difficulty four through six provides the best balance of challenge and exploration time.

Prioritize exploration missions: Some mission types naturally allow more exploration time. SEAF Artillery defense missions, for example, have downtime between waves where you can freely explore the map. Similarly, missions with fewer strict time pressures (like Geological Survey or Retrieve Essential Personnel) give you more freedom to search for credits without risking mission failure.

Coordinate with your squad: When playing with a team, assign roles—some players push objectives while others systematically explore Points of Interest. This division of labor lets you make progress toward extraction while still collecting credits from every location. Use the map markers and ping system to communicate what you have already searched.

Complete daily personal orders: These provide small but reliable Super Earth Credit bonuses. While individual orders might only grant 5 to 10 credits, completing them consistently over weeks adds up to entire additional Warbonds.

Be thorough in every mission: Even when not specifically farming, always check Points of Interest as you move between objectives. Credits found during normal play accumulate steadily and require no additional time investment beyond slight route adjustments.

Realistically, dedicated farming can net approximately 100 to 200 Super Earth Credits per hour depending on your efficiency and luck. This means a new Warbond requires roughly 5 to 10 hours of focused farming, or will accumulate naturally through perhaps 15 to 20 hours of normal play with casual exploration.

This is entirely personal preference. Super Earth Credits can be purchased with real money through the in-game store, allowing you to unlock Warbonds immediately rather than farming them through gameplay. The game is designed to be fully playable and enjoyable without ever spending additional money beyond your initial purchase—nothing in any Warbond provides a pay-to-win advantage, and you will eventually earn enough credits to unlock everything through normal play.

Consider purchasing credits if you value your time more than the cost, if you want to support the developers, or if you have limited gaming time and want to access specific gear immediately. However, recognize that part of Helldivers 2’s progression loop involves working toward unlocks, and purchasing everything instantly may actually reduce your sense of progression and achievement.

For most players, the recommendation is to earn at least your first two to three Warbonds through gameplay before considering any purchases. This lets you experience the natural progression system and ensures you are investing real money in a game you know you enjoy. If after twenty to thirty hours you are still enthusiastically playing and want more options immediately, then purchasing credits becomes a reasonable consideration.

Our tier system ranks Warbonds by their practical impact on your effectiveness in cooperative play, not by subjective preference or aesthetic appeal. Understanding what each tier represents helps you make decisions aligned with your priorities:

Tier 1 (Highest Priority) contains Warbonds that provide multiple best-in-class weapons or Stratagems that remain relevant throughout the entire game. These should be your first unlocks because they offer the most versatile and powerful arsenals for any playstyle. Every player benefits from Tier 1 Warbonds regardless of their preferred weapons or enemy factions.

Tier 2 (Highly Recommended) includes Warbonds that each provide at least one game-changing weapon or Stratagem, but whose overall content leans more specialized. These are excellent choices after securing your foundation, with selection depending on your squad’s needs and the enemy factions you fight most frequently. You will eventually want most Tier 2 Warbonds, but the order matters less than completing Tier 1 first.

Tier 3 (Situational Value) features Warbonds offering decent gear that complements specific playstyles or fills particular niches. Each provides one to two useful items but lacks universal impact. Consider these after securing higher tiers, or prioritize them if they align closely with your personal preferences and team composition.

Tier 4 (Low Priority) groups Warbonds with mostly cosmetic value or highly niche gear with limited effect on general cooperative play. Unlock these last, if at all—your Super Earth Credits provide significantly better value elsewhere unless you specifically want the aesthetic or niche gameplay elements they offer.

The tier rankings assume you prioritize gameplay effectiveness and team utility. If you value specific aesthetics highly or have strong preferences for certain weapon types, you might reasonably adjust the order within Tier 2 and 3, but the Tier 1 Warbonds remain the foundation of effective loadouts regardless.

Disagreement is natural and often valid! Our rankings reflect community consensus from multiple reputable sources and prioritize measurable effectiveness in cooperative play, but Helldivers 2 supports diverse playstyles and personal preferences legitimately influence value assessment.

If you feel strongly that a lower-tier Warbond deserves higher placement for your specific situation, consider these questions to validate your assessment:

Does the Warbond solve a problem you specifically face? If your team constantly struggles with a particular challenge that a lower-tier Warbond addresses directly, prioritizing it makes sense for your situation even if it has less universal value.

Do you already own complementary equipment? A Warbond rated lower overall might have exceptional value if it fills a gap in your current arsenal. For example, if you already have excellent primary weapons but lack mobility options, Borderline Justice’s Hover Pack might be more valuable to you personally than another top-tier weapon.

Do you strongly prefer certain weapon types or playstyles? If you absolutely love flamethrowers, Freedom’s Flame will provide more personal enjoyment than a technically stronger but less preferred option. Enjoying your loadout improves your performance through engagement and familiarity.

The tier list provides a starting framework for players who want efficient progression, not a rigid rulebook. Use it as a guide, but trust your own assessment of what will improve your effectiveness and enjoyment. The worst choice is not making a suboptimal unlock—it is unlocking something you will not use because you followed rankings without considering your preferences.

Helldivers 2 receives regular balance patches that adjust weapon damage, armor penetration, Stratagem effectiveness, and enemy behavior. These patches can shift individual weapons between strong and weak, potentially affecting Warbond value.

However, several factors provide stability to our tier rankings despite balance changes:

Warbonds contain multiple items: Even if one weapon gets nerfed, Tier 1 Warbonds typically contain three to four strong options, so a single balance change rarely ruins the entire Warbond’s value. Democratic Detonation, for example, has remained top-tier through multiple patches because its arsenal is diverse enough that something always performs well.

Core utility persists: Unique capabilities like the Warp Pack, Anti-Tank Emplacement, and gas grenades maintain their value even when specific numbers change. If a Warbond’s main appeal is a unique mechanic rather than pure damage numbers, balance patches affect it less severely.

Community testing corrects quickly: The Helldivers 2 community actively tests weapons after each patch and rapidly identifies what remains strong. If a major balance change significantly affects a Warbond’s standing, community consensus adjusts within days and updated tier lists appear promptly.

Foundation recommendations stay stable: The Tier 1 Warbonds have maintained their positions through substantial balance changes because their comprehensive value and versatility remain consistent even when individual items rise or fall in power.

Practically, you should check for recent balance patches if you are reading this guide more than two to three months after its publication date. Look for updated community tier lists or patch notes discussing major weapon changes. However, the general framework of unlocking Democratic Detonation and Cutting Edge first has proven remarkably stable since the game’s launch.

No, Warbond purchases are final and cannot be refunded. Once you spend Super Earth Credits to unlock a Warbond, those credits are gone and the Warbond is permanently added to your account. This makes the initial unlock decision important—you want to be confident in your choice before spending credits.

To minimize regret, follow these strategies:

Research thoroughly before purchasing: Use our comparison tools and tier lists to understand exactly what each Warbond provides and whether those items align with your needs. Watch gameplay videos showing the weapons and Stratagems in action if you want to see how they function in actual missions.

Prioritize safe choices first: Tier 1 Warbonds have proven value across all playstyles and mission types. By unlocking the foundation first, you build a reliable arsenal before exploring more specialized options.

Ask your squad: If you play with a regular team, coordinate Warbond purchases so you collectively cover different roles and capabilities. This reduces individual risk while maximizing team effectiveness.

Wait if uncertain: Since Warbonds never expire, there is no penalty for waiting to decide. If you are torn between two options or unsure whether you will enjoy a Warbond’s playstyle, save your credits until you have more information or until you have earned enough to unlock both.

The permanent nature of Warbond purchases reinforces why our guides exist—providing you with enough information to make confident decisions that align with your goals and playstyle.

Clearing up frequently confused aspects of the Warbond system:

When in doubt, follow this simplified priority framework:

View the complete Warbonds Priority Guide → for detailed tier rankings and standout items from every Warbond

Use the Warbond Comparison Tool → to see side-by-side breakdowns when choosing between specific options

Return to Helldivers 2 hub → to explore our other guides including meta loadouts, enemy strategies, and optimal settings