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The goal of every soldier in Helldivers 2 is to drop into a mission, complete all the objectives set by High Command, and escape safely. Some soldiers prefer to bravely carry out the operation alone, while others prefer to complete the objectives with a full squad. Both are perfectly reasonable ways to play the game. However, it’s not rational and ruins the spirit of a controlled democracy if a few traitors decide to kick your ass before you escape. Or even worse, they might kill you while you’re already on board the dropship.
Imagine this: you’ve just spent 30 minutes on Helmire killing bugs, plugging nests, completing tasks, and dodging fire tornadoes. You reach the extraction point first, so you activate the terminal and call in a dropship. After a few minutes of battling Terminids desperate to get you out of their territory, a Pelican swoops in with guns blazing, preparing to land and save you and your squad from being overrun. You run to your plane and thank your luck that your nightmare is almost over.
But in a final, totally unexpected surprise, one of your teammates decides to shoot you while you’re sitting defenseless in the dropship. As soon as you’re dead, everyone else boards the Pelican, which flies off into the sunset, leaving you to reflect on your life as a Helldiver. I wish this scenario was just fiction, but unfortunately, in Helldiver 2, escape killing (and kicking) is the latest trend.
Over the past few days, there have been several posts on Reddit complaining about players being kicked or team-killed right before escaping in Helldivers 2. While some of these incidents had a cause, such as accidentally killing or taking the host’s weapon, most seem to have been done out of pure malice. u/xplosivshroom shared a clip of another player purposely shooting them as they sat unaware in a pelican. Luckily, they were hosting the game and quickly kicked the culprit, but some players were not so lucky.
Unfortunately, with no way to counter these dangerous acts of violence, incidents and complaints will only continue to grow. Hopefully, Arrowhead Game Studios can find a solution that doesn’t ruin the endgame scenario, otherwise distrust may take root among the Helldiver squads and ultimately cost them the galactic war.