Stop Botching Liberation in Helldivers 2: The Crucial Detail You’re Ignoring
Helldivers 2 diehards have been grinding the wrong targets: Arrowhead’s community manager says only main objectives move planetary liberation—side missions don’t advance the war at all.
Heads-up for my fellow space-fascism enjoyers: if you have been clearing every side objective in Helldivers 2 because you thought it helped planetary liberation, brace yourself. It doesn’t. And yes, that makes a lot of recent grinding feel extremely silly.
"Only the main objective counts for liberation."
Where this came from
This isn’t rumor. Arrowhead community manager Miitchimus confirmed it about four months ago. The confusion keeps spreading anyway because the game’s API still logs all the optional stuff, which looks important on paper. Players see stats for destroyed bot fabricators, activated artillery, cleared nests, etc., and assume it moves the needle. It doesn’t.
The only thing that actually damages a planet’s health pool is completing the primary objective on whatever difficulty you selected. That’s the whole mechanic.
Why it feels wrong (because it kind of is)
On a common-sense level, this makes zero war-logic. Fewer bug nests should mean fewer Terminids to fight, wrecked Automaton fabricators should thin out bot resistance, and SAM sites plus SEAF artillery should make it easier for SEAF forces to push when they roll in. In a grounded campaign, all of that would count for something. In Helldivers 2’s liberation math, none of it registers. Finish the primary, extract, queue the next op.
The speedrun problem
This is one of those things you almost wish you didn’t know, because it can warp how people play. Before, you could justify a 40-minute map clear because it felt like you were helping the front. Now it’s just objectively slower than ripping through primaries in 12 minutes and bouncing. Arrowhead built a ton of side content, and this revelation basically tells a lot of players to ignore it if they care about the galactic bar. It used to feel like thorough squads were rewarded; now the meta says: sprint to the main objective and get out.
Counterpoint: your personal dent in the war is microscopic
Here’s the part that matters if you actually want to enjoy the game: those planetary HP pools are huge. Your individual impact is a rounding error. High Command will move the goal posts again next week, planets will get reinvaded, and your 0.0001% contribution to a Major Order won’t change that.
- Why do side objectives exist, then? Samples for ship upgrades, requisition slips, XP farming, and leveling weapons. Also, because exploring POIs and picking bigger fights is fun. If you need materials, go get them. If you want more chaos, do the optional stuff.
Bottom line
If you’re chasing maximum liberation per minute, beeline the primary and extract. If playing like an efficiency spreadsheet kills what makes Helldivers 2 great — the explosions, the friendly-fire disasters, the dumb heroics — then take the scenic route. The war will keep turning whether you min-max or not.
Your turn
How are you running it now that this is out in the open? Clearing everything or punching primaries and peacing out? Drop your approach in the comments.