The Helldivers 2 tutorial teaches you the basics of the game very quickly, but in doing so it misses some of the more intricate controls of the game. They are mentioned in tips throughout the game, but I’ll teach you them here to get you started on the right foot.
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Helldivers 2 Controls You Need to Know
These controls relate to squad communication, weapon adjustments, and an extra movement ability. Once you’ve learned them all, practice them in the tutorial to make your next Mission easy as pie.
Controls for Communication with Allies
In the tutorial, you play through the game as a solo player. This means that you’re not taught the ins and outs of pinging or communicating with your teammates through either text chat or voice. I’ll explain the keyboard commands for all three of these things to help you work with your squad efficiently.
Pings
To ping a location, item, or enemy, simply aim your pointer towards them and press the “Q” key. If “Q” is pressed on a regular space, it will issue an eye-shaped icon that shows the distance away and verbally says the direction the spot is from you. To cancel a Ping, press “Q” again while looking at it.
If you ping while looking at a Point of Interest, enemy, or item, the Ping will register that item in the Ping rather than treating it like a general space.
You can also hold “Q” to use eight different preset communications.
Text Chat
The game’s text chat can be seen by all members of the squad on the bottom right-hand side of the screen. This screen will display messages from the game, like when squad members find Points of Interest, as well as personal messages from the members. To type in text chat, press “Enter”, then type your message. Press “Enter” again to send the message to all of your members.
Voice Chat
Like most other team-based game, Helldivers 2 has voice chat capabilities. In the base settings of the game, holding “Caps Lock” will allow you to speak into the chat. If you’re like me and used to the key binds in other games, I’d recommend swapping this key to the one you typically use.
Weapon Scope Controls
In the Tutorial, the Commander teaches you how to aim with your gun in the third person. However, there is actually a first-person angle of the gun that can be used from here. Begin by getting in the original aim position by clicking the right mouse button.
Click on your center mouse button to swap from this position to aiming through your sights.
I find that it’s a lot easier to aim in this position, both because of the sights themselves and because you’re prone while doing so.
Weapon Aim and Recoil
Knowing how to aim through both levels of sights is important, but it is equally important to understand that your positioning does affect your aim. How much it affects is can vary from gun to gun, but generally the best positions for accuracy look something like this:
- Lying prone on the ground.
- Crouching and staying still.
- Standing still.
- Shooting while moving.
Staying still while shooting is going to give you the best aim possible, while moving around is going to make your bullets spread more. Keep in mind that how much this matters also depends on the guns you’re using and the enemies you are fighting.
Holding “R” to Adjust Your Weapons
Typically, the “R” key is pressed in combat to reload your weapons. However, the “R” key actually multiple uses not mentioned in the tutorial. The exact abilities will change depending on the weapon you’re holding. For the Railgun, holding “R” enables you to turn the safety off and on. Holding “R” while holding guns like the Machine Gun will enable you to change the firing rate of the gun. Use this function to customize your favorite guns to suit your playstyle.
Sliding Forward with “C”
We’re all taught to crouch with “C” and dive on the ground by pressing “Alt”. A similar effect can be achieved by pressing “C” while holding “Shift” to run. This slides you on the ground, allowing you to move quickly and dodge enemies, but is easier to recover from than straight diving with “Alt”.
Has been playing video games for her entire life so far. Grew up with the Sega Master System II. Her favourite games include both Resident Evil 2 (OG) and Final Fantasy VIII.
She now writes articles about video games.
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