Truth Enforcers leaves a major debate about chemical agents hanging

As the end of 2024 approaches, Helldivers 2 has introduced eight new premium Warbonds since the game was first released in February of this year. Among these new Warbonds, Chemical Agents has been the only premium Warbond to date to include Stratagems, effectively locking them behind a paywall. While Helldivers 2The follow-up to Chemical Agents did not include Stratagems, the Chemical Agents Warbond still leaves the door open for future Warbonds to include Stratagems.

While the Stratagems featured in Chemical Agents Warbond are considered niche compared to the current Stratagems meta, the decision to lock Stratagems behind a paywall has almost turned into another controversy for Helldivers 2with concerns that this could make the game profitable to win. Despite the initial backlash that arose out of Helldivers 2 Adding Stratagems to premium Warbonds arguably has more benefits than risks in making this a recurring trend.

Helldivers 2's Chemical Agents Warbond opens the door for more strategies to appear in future Warbonds

Chemical Agents was the first premium Warbond in Helldivers 2 so far to include Stratagems, which initially raised concerns about this Helldivers 2 could move towards a pay-to-win model. But these two strategies, the TX-41 sterilizer and AX/TX-13 “Guard Dog” Dog Breath, are arguably a cause for concern as they are considered niche compared to the current meta of Stratagems in Helldivers 2. Ultimately, there are valid arguments on both sides of whether or not Warbond-exclusive Stragems can be beneficial to the game in the long run, but so far it seems the benefits of this approach outweigh the potential risks.

The pros and cons of Helldivers 2's future warband including strategies

Pro

• Strategies add more value to Warbonds without increasing their price.
• Premium Super Credits currency can be earned through natural play.
• Premium Warbonds aren't the only way to earn Stratagems.
• Premium Warbonds are permanently available.
• Premium Warbonds are optional content.

Disadvantages

• Earning enough Super Credits for a premium Warbond exclusively from games is a slow process.
• Strategies that become a regular addition to Warbonds may lead to a price increase for premium Warbonds.

On the one hand, Stratagems are some of the best weapons in Helldivers 2so adding them to future Warbonds increases the value of the Warbond without increasing the price. Not to mention, players can earn the premium currency in Helldivers 2Super Credits, of course through games. Premium Warbonds aren't the only source of Stratagems either, with Helldivers 2s large orders that sometimes offer Stratagem rewards for successful completion.

Collecting super samples
Helldivers 2

can be a slow process as players normally only collect 10 Super Samples per pickup, although there is a rare chance for players to find a stack of 100 Super Samples.

On the other hand, Helldivers 2 already has a price tag, and locking more and more coveted items like Stratagems behind paywalls can be frustrating for players who have already purchased the game. If these strategies immediately become the new meta, if the price of future war bonds increases significantly, or both, adding strategies to war bonds could potentially change Helldivers 2 to the always controversial pay-to-win format. But these are incredibly big “ifs” and so far there is no concrete evidence to suggest that this will ever be true.

So despite the strong initial reactions to Warbonds with Stratagems, it is possible that this will become a trend in future updates for Helldivers 2and a harmless one. Since Chemical Agents Warbond already let the cat out of the bag without being too problematic, Stratagems becoming a regular addition to future Warbonds is undoubtedly cause for concern.