There’s One Glaring Problem With Helldivers 2’s Illuminates -

The most recent Helldivers 2 update was a massive success for Arrowhead, resulting in a surge of players ready to fight tooth and nail against the new Illuminate threat. While the addition of the new alien faction is something players have expected for a while, the Illuminate faction still manages to offer an incredibly fun experience that stands apart from the existing Termanids and Automatons. While the latest update has brought back many returning players excited to face the challenges of a new faction, some issues are hard to ignore.

Despite the constant controversies that Helldivers 2 can’t seem to escape, it’s still one of the best co-op shooters currently on the market. The consistent updates and unlockable content also help to provide countless hours of entertainment to the Helldivers 2 experience, made even better when fighting alongside friends. Even with player counts that rival the first few months after the release of Helldivers 2, there’s one issue with the Illuminate the developers need to address fast.

The Illuminates Are Far Too Easy To Fight

Lacking The Bombastic Ambushes Of The Other Two Factions

While the first few missions facing off against the Illuminate will likely leave players struggling to survive the waves of terrifying enemies, the overall challenge of this new threat struggles to match up with expectations of higher difficulty levels. This problem is most prominent when the Illuminates are compared to the overwhelming force of the Termanids or the deadly precision of the Automatons, with the Illuminates heavily relying on overwhelming players. The main issue when it comes to Illuminate reinforcements boils down to the easily identifiable Watcher scouts, giving players more than enough time to eliminate before calling for backup.

The Watchers often trivialize encounters for experienced players.

While the Watchers’ predictable pattern feels significantly more fair compared to the randomness of bug breaches or Automaton drop-ships, the Watchers often trivialize encounters for experienced players who can dispatch them quickly enough. Even when the Illuminates manage to sneakily summon additional forces, the over-abundance of SAM Sites across each city can quickly take down most of the newly arrived enemies before they even have a chance to join the fight. This issue is especially noticeable when extracting from a mission, as more often than not, there are few enemies left to pose a significant challenge to surviving Helldivers.

Four Helldivers looking toward an Illuminate Harvester, a towering squid-like alien, in the distance.

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Despite the somewhat disappointing difficulty of battles with the Illuminate, they’re still an incredibly satisfying addition to Helldivers 2‘s enemy pool, providing some much-needed variation in its mission roster. Difficulty isn’t everything, and there’s still a lot to appreciate about the unique threat they bring to the table.

Future Enemies Could Fix These Helldivers 2 Problems

Providing An Even Greater Challenge For Experienced Helldivers

Especially given the recent addition of Helldivers 2‘s Killzone crossover gear, players have just about all the weapons they need to counteract most of the current Illuminate forces. Although it’s still easy to get caught off guard or overwhelmed by hordes of Voteless and the surprisingly powerful Jetpack Overseers, a well-placed headshot or rocket from a WASP launcher can quickly dispatch these annoying threats. While buffing existing enemies or nerfing player weapons could make the Illuminate more of a challenge, past disasters have made it clear it’s not worth the risk of upsetting fans.

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Another reason for this difficulty issue could also be linked to Helldivers 2‘s recent buffs, which make players feel even stronger than ever. Thankfully, it’s clear there are more Illuminate enemies on the way in future updates that can add more variety and challenge to encounters, with some leaks already showing there’s still more to come from the alien threat. While the true power of the Illuminate remains to be seen in Helldivers 2, it’s likely the developers are saving the best for last, as the current forces are being described as merely hit-and-run tactics from the ancient enemy faction.