Helldivers 2 is a simple game, and it’s in this simplicity that a lot of nuance can be disfigured or overlooked. Helldivers 2 has endless unwritten rules, too, with many relating to basic communication practices that are ubiquitous in a match because a lot of what players’ communications boil down to is contextual. Players might be particularly courteous and input the “Hold position!” response if a Orbital 380Mm He Barrage has been thrown in the vicinity, for example, but not everybody is expected or obligated to engage with each possible comm or ping.
Still, the portion of today’s Helldivers 2 playerbase that indiscriminately condemns friendly fire is frankly absurdly large. Friendly fire is and has always been a monumental pillar of Helldivers 2, whether players themselves have been blown to smithereens with equipment and samples scattered where their corpse lies or have been the ones to activate a nuke, resulting in the ephemeral deaths of squadmates nearby. If a lot of players somehow haven’t been able to stomach that more than a year after launch, it’s almost guaranteed that unbeknownst Xbox recruits arriving at the end of August may find friendly fire alarming, too.

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Players of any level or difficulty have proven to express wildly different opinions on friendly fire based on their experiences with Helldivers 2. Plus, diving into any random Helldivers 2 SOS lobby can queue players together with any number of Helldivers whose proclivities, loadouts, or selfishness might clash with their own. Some Helldivers may adore diving in with the most invasive and explosive loadout, for instance, and this can put a mission’s limited batch of reinforcements in jeopardy.
There are obvious extremes where such actions are reprehensible, but a fluke of friendly fire is much more likely and shouldn’t be treated equally.
Some players may have primed a nuke that is sent activated in place where they happened to fall or ragdoll, for instance, while others may simply find themselves in a bad position where a nuke is ideal. There will probably be a steep learning curve for Xbox players on August 26 when they rightly assume they’ve been killed by their teammates more than actual enemies, and discerning when those deaths have been accidental or mere collateral—something seasoned players have yet to master—would be a great undertaking. In essence, no player should let friendly fire tarnish their Helldivers 2 experience unless it’s demonstrably malicious, though it rarely ever is.
Communication is Key in Helldivers 2
The importance of communication in Helldivers 2, regardless of how little, cannot be overstated. Otherwise, any lobby presents the same risks of kicks and perceivably unjust treatment for actions that another lobby might praise or encourage. Even an “I’m sorry!” can go a long way, though, in an ideal scenario, no lobby should take Helldivers 2 so seriously.
For example, it’s always best practice to ask other players if it’d be acceptable to call for extraction once the primary mission is complete, and it doesn’t appear as if players are attempting to loot or complete side objectives. In terms of friendly fire, it never hurts to relay to others if a nuke is about to be thrown. However, there will always be lobbies where some players remain unresponsive, neither granting nor rejecting permission to do something a bit perilous, and perform kicks nonetheless.
Again, this behavior isn’t exclusive to new players, and so being able to communicate at all is profoundly important so that players can gain some semblance of what the lobby’s host deems appropriate, let alone how they’d like to execute the mission they’ve initiated. So long as players can comprehend this quickly and learn to adapt to the host’s arbitrary rules, much less be unperturbed by unfair kicks, August 26 should be a wonderful celebration of brand-new Xbox recruits in Helldivers 2.