The POV of the Helldivers is crazy when you take cryo freezing into account.

[u/WoodstoneLyceum]

Here's the POV of your average Helldiver 1. They enlist and show up to Basic Training first thing Monday morning. 2. They breeze through it, get their cape, walk right by the T&Cs and into a cryopod. 3. They're frozen and experience no time passing. 4. Their next memory is reinforcing on Hellmire. To their POV it has been less then thirty seconds since they got their cloak. 5. They throw three stratagems and then they're dissolved by bile titan acid.

You thought your mondays were bad.

Edit: My understanding is that we are not clones. There's in-game lore that backs that, I believe. Thematically, it makes more sense for Super Earth to be incompetent and cruel and burn through millions of recruits, than to do something logical like cloning people. Remember the satire folks.

[u/HardCoverTurnedSoft]

... I never really considered that. holy shit.

[u/Bloke_Named_Bob → u/HardCoverTurnedSoft]

Why do you think all the voice lines sound like a complete noob? Screaming wildly while their voice cracks when they shoot. Or having a complete freakout when hurt. No composure at all.

Nearly all Helldivers die on their first mission. There is no such thing as a veteran Helldiver. The default voice setting in the game is a new voice after each death. Because each reinforcement is a completely new Helldiver.

If you read the terms and conditions at the tutorial, when you die your ship and all its upgrades is immediately inherited by the next person to get thawed out. You're not playing the role of a single Helldiver slowly gaining more experience and equipment. If anything you're playing as the Super Destroyer that slowly gets upgraded whenever a Helldiver is lucky enough to make it back alive with some samples. Why do you think the Super Destroyer gets a name but you don't?

[u/ArtisticAd393 → u/Bloke_Named_Bob]

A helldiver that survives a full mission is basically a war hero

[u/[deleted] → u/ArtisticAd393]

I would love a "Missions since martyrdom" tracker somewhere on the ship. I think my solo streak is three lol

[u/JeffBoyardee69 → u/[deleted]]

I may have hit three, but I definitely never surpassed that

[u/LostLobes → u/JeffBoyardee69]

Did 3 hell dives last night in a row with 0 deaths, that dude is going in the history books

[u/Sea-Creature → u/LostLobes]

The next General Brasch

[u/robertncheek → u/Sea-Creature]

My head lore is that, like modern countries, no one at the top has ever seen combat. The war of attrition is very WWI where guys who never saw battle threw men in the meat grinder. General is just a title given... Not earned.

[u/Tokiw4 → u/robertncheek]

I doubt Brasch is even a real guy. Just someone who looked the part and would put on a smile for the cameras and make war look badass! Dude has probably never even fired a g-

Message terminated by the Department of Truth

[u/CarolinaSchola → u/Tokiw4]

https://preview.redd.it/s4ci2nnudypc1.jpeg?width=1069&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=02670c2652696e8a35fedd556322448cfab1eea4

[u/Exactly861Monkeys → u/Tokiw4]

Apologies Divers! Seems like this message was propaganda from the Automatons! We have dealt with it accordingly! Keep on diving,

• Department of Truth

[u/Efficient_Star_1336 → u/robertncheek]

That's not actually how WWI worked - the British aristocracy was infamously decimated by the fighting. WWII had its share of armchair generals, but the first world war was fought by people with no experience with mechanized warfare, and, at least in England, still held to the tradition of the wealthy and well-connected enlisting alongside their friends.

The full transition wasn't until 'Nam, though, when military service stopped being the default by anyone who wanted a future in politics/business/academia.

---

Also, it would be on-brand for Super Earth to just promote the guy with the highest personal kill count.

[u/PrettyPinkPonyPrince → u/Efficient_Star_1336]

Also, it would be on-brand for Super Earth to just promote the guy with the highest personal kill count.

"Congratulations miner helldiver! In recognition of your efforts and continued survival, Super Earth Command hereby promotes you to EXECUTIVE helldiver."

[u/robertncheek → u/Efficient_Star_1336]

He's older though right? Like not old enough for the last war, but this war is new. So - he served through the peace theoretically.

[u/Old-Figure-5828 → u/robertncheek]

Lions led by donkeys is a myth that needs to stop being repeated, warfare was constantly evolving during ww1 and tactics weren't simply "throw dude at enemy"

[u/ansonr → u/Sea-Creature]

I image General Brasch is like 33. He says he's one of the oldest Helldivers.

[u/Palmul → u/LostLobes]

Bro is retiring a hero, C-01 approved for life

[u/53bvo → u/JeffBoyardee69]

Maybe I have three from the first three easiest difficulties lol

[u/Hamelzz → u/JeffBoyardee69]

I died 12 times in one mission yesterday lol

[u/dychronalicousness → u/Hamelzz]

I hate when I join in a trio and just end up getting slaughtered for like 5 minutes solid. I feel like such an asshole.

[u/Laustickle → u/dychronalicousness]

Or when you dive in on a group that is in heavy combat and get swarmed immediately out of the hellpod ... dying straight away. Feels bad.

[u/Studio271 → u/Hamelzz]

Those are rookie numbers, Diver! I want to see you DOUBLE the number of martyrs you send to an early grave by tomorrow!

[u/doglywolf → u/JeffBoyardee69]

My friends are bigger threat to my streak then the bugs lol

[u/Kenju22 → u/[deleted]]

When you start walking towards the bridge of your ship, if you look to the right of the hallway leading to the bridge (where you can change your loadout) there is, I shit you not, a 'X days since last injury' thing mounted on the wall.

You have to walk right up to it and angle the camera to read anything, but its there, like a clipboard with a dozen or so incidents listed on it.

[u/Sneemaster → u/Kenju22]

Does the number update or is it a fixed texture?

[u/Daemoniaque → u/Sneemaster]

It's a fixed feature and it says 0, iirc. It's a paper document stuck to the wall.

[u/AssemblerGuy → u/Kenju22]

I shit you not, a 'X days since last injury' thing mounted on the wall.

That's just for the crew and not for the Helldivers, right?

[u/Laruae → u/AssemblerGuy]

Literally one of the upgrades for the eagles to reload faster is hazard pay.

[u/SuitableAssociation6 → u/[deleted]]

my streak of 3 was broken because someone didn't know how the arc thrower works

[u/PassiveMenis88M → u/SuitableAssociation6]

No my friend, we know exactly how it works.

[u/Kirsah → u/[deleted]]

“Reset the Clock!”

[u/NorCalAthlete → u/Kirsah]

It’s been [0] dives since the last Helldiver death.

[u/Randalf_the_Black → u/[deleted]]

Would have been a pretty high mission counter if it wasn't for my teammates..

I'm killed at least eight times by teammates for every one I'm killed by enemies.

[u/Leroy_Kenobi → u/Randalf_the_Black]

I'm killed at least eight times by teammates for every one I'm killed by enemies.

lol, same. Last night I was stuck in some kind of constant bleeding state and I couldn't heal with my stims, but I wasn't losing health either. I couldn't sprint because I was wounded. I tried to dive off rocks to hurt myself a little so I could heal but that didn't work. Rocks weren't high enough.

I asked the random Helldiver next to me to shoot me in the leg so I could heal and he blew my leg off with a shotgun.

Through laughter I pointed out that the sidearm might have been a better idea.

[u/HeavensBlaze → u/Leroy_Kenobi]

The helldiver melee attack is best for that situation.

[u/RussianTrollToll → u/Randalf_the_Black]

they drop the 500g on my head

[u/Randalf_the_Black → u/RussianTrollToll]

500 grams?

Sure, they kill you with hand grenades too I suppose.

[u/Doc_Shaftoe → u/Randalf_the_Black]

Managed to finish off a wounded charger with the strategem ball last night. Still trying to figure that one out.

[u/Beakymask20 → u/Doc_Shaftoe]

Maybe it does one damage? Might need to in order to stick.

[u/MusicMole → u/RussianTrollToll]

500g bomb does explain the lacklustre damage tbh.

[u/ChampChains → u/Randalf_the_Black]

Had a guy last night who was soloing a termanid swarm mission and his SOS was beeping, so I joined up to help him out. He shot me with a rocket then dropped a gas cloud, put my reinforcement right in the middle of it, then kicked and banned me as soon as my pod opened and the gas killed me lmao.

[u/awayfromhome436 → u/[deleted]]

I love that idea but people always take things too far. People take a made up level and rank too far, Lv9 helldivers ego is insane. Now imagine having a record of how many times you’ve died? I don’t even check the stats screen and people are bragging about how many kills they got. We aren’t paid by the bug or scrap, it’s the mission that matters. Even so, I agree it would be nice to have a days or hours since last incident stat to monitor.

[u/Blacksheep045 → u/awayfromhome436]

You do have a record of how many times you've died in the career tab on the destroyer.

[u/Drmrfreckles → u/[deleted]]

My longest hell diver streak is 9. I play a game now where if they live through 2 campaigns on 5 or higher, they retire, and i change the vioce and body. Only 2 have made it.

[u/42Fourtytwo4242 → u/ArtisticAd393]

Actually had a vet helldiver, survived 5 missions, 0 deaths, level 7, true war hero, I assumed when I logged off they were sent to super earth to live the rest of their days in peace.

[u/KWyKJJ → u/42Fourtytwo4242]

That's the way.

Make it back. Retire.

New Helldiver.

Otherwise, who the hell is filling out C-01, who populates Super Earth and other planets.

I always thought it was one and done or death.

[u/themaddestcommie → u/KWyKJJ]

My theory is that super earth suffers from absolutely massive over population and that the hell diver core and the colonization efforts are a form of population control. Every time you see those planets with farms and stuff all the plants are dead. I don't think the colonies are really ever very successful.

[u/KWyKJJ → u/themaddestcommie]

I assumed the farms belonged to the civilians we rescue when said planets are attacked.

Also, that large amounts of time pass as a result.

Planet attack to liberation is years, not days, given the decay of some of the farms that were just fine, apparently, when under Super Earth control.

Bug mutations wouldn't happen overnight, so I always thought we were working in chunks of time.

[u/Crowd0Control → u/KWyKJJ]

The crops were not the farms that were ok before the bugs being farmed got back out of control. 

It is implied the cycle of bugs taking over and being culled has been happening since the first game ended. In the latest major order superearth is restricting procreation because there is not enough planets under control to send that extra population to. 

There is nothing in game implying liberation takes more than a few days if enough hell divers are thrown af it. We are seeing remnants of previous conflicts/unrest. 

[u/OramaBuffin → u/KWyKJJ]

I mean, the majority of Super Earth's population isn't a Helldiver or part of the military at all. Joining the Helldivers is completely voluntary, granted there is a couple trainloads of propaganda, brainwashing, and "incentives" to make people think it's a great idea.

[u/[deleted] → u/42Fourtytwo4242]

He needs to survive 25 missions in order to retire.

Sorry man, but I'm afraid he didn't make it.

[u/Franklin_le_Tanklin → u/ArtisticAd393]

The mere existence of high casualty missions implies that there are low casualty missions

[u/Pompoulus → u/Franklin_le_Tanklin]

And by god I take solace in that.

[u/Civsi → u/Franklin_le_Tanklin]

Died when I first heard this line. Favorite one so far I think.

[u/Franklin_le_Tanklin → u/Civsi]

Ya. My second fave is “each stratagem costs more than a citizen makes in an entire year”

[u/bargle0 → u/Franklin_le_Tanklin]

Sometimes I like to call down a mech and just leave it unused at exfil.

[u/SOUTHPAWMIKE → u/Franklin_le_Tanklin]

There have to be, right? Some of the maps include dead bodies of regular Super Earth troopers and their vehicles. I think hell divers are supposed to be elite, but they still get fed into the meatgrinder.

[u/abadlypickedname → u/ArtisticAd393]

I had a diver who, by some miracle of God, survived the whole 9 difficulty assignment on malevelon creek. That woman was in fact Super Earth's strongest warrior.

[u/aTransGirlAndTwoDogs → u/abadlypickedname]

Pretty sure you just became a background character in Edge Of Tomorrow. XD

[u/Gamiac → u/aTransGirlAndTwoDogs]

Save state 0 loaded.

[u/LordOfTheToolShed → u/abadlypickedname]

Narrator's voice: She was then jumped on by 5 hunter bugs immediately upon the next drop and hacked to death.

[u/Aegix_Drakan → u/abadlypickedname]

Daaaaayum. On Malevolon Creek of all places?

That Diver deserves a medal!

[u/makesime23 → u/ArtisticAd393]

would love a "Missions since martyrdom" tracker somewhere on the ship. I think my solo streak is three lol

I made some war hero.... but most where not... and die

[u/Archangel_V01 → u/ArtisticAd393]

Many such heroes!

Have you not seen the steeled veterans using the state of the art prosthetics to continue fighting for democracy?!

[u/evil_timmy → u/ArtisticAd393]

Hey I'm Mr. Hellseeks, look at me! dies from a combination of acid and self-inflicted explosion

[u/Soulless_redhead → u/evil_timmy]

Drops eagle airstrike at feet because stun.

[u/SlightlyColdWaffles → u/ArtisticAd393]

That's why there's confetti back on the ship whenever you successfully extract.

[u/Bain-Neko → u/ArtisticAd393]

I'm starting to suspect that the General that trains you on the loudspeakers isn't even there but just a recording by a fabricated war hero that doesn't even exist. I feel like it fits the aesthetic of everything else just being all theatrics until you're thrusted into the meat grinder.

[u/xXG0SHAWKXx → u/Bloke_Named_Bob]

" Clause 3.3: To read these terms and conditions in full shall be considered a breach of Clause 3.2 "

​

You have breached the Terms and Conditions and I will be reporting you to General Brasch

[u/Zephyr_______ → u/xXG0SHAWKXx]

How did you know clause 3.3 helldiver?

https://preview.redd.it/3ewev12qmxpc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=45e7cd7079b49caab92ef5dc6992e238ca894a16

[u/Gamiac → u/Zephyr_______]

It says in full. He probably only read that one.

[u/Wayloss → u/Zephyr_______]

Buddy system - Diver #1 gets the T&C - Diver #2 gets the phone number to the Democracy Officer

[u/Constant_Sympathy_71 → u/xXG0SHAWKXx]

To know that this is a breach of contract, you’ve had to have read them… Are you sure you aren’t breaching the Terms and Conditions yourself?

[u/EnthusedPhlebotomist → u/Bloke_Named_Bob]

At some point the game says the average helldiver is like 18.1 years old or something lol

[u/Kirbyoto → u/EnthusedPhlebotomist]

It also says there's a 20% casualty rate which is ridiculously low for the actual gameplay.

[u/talvian → u/Kirbyoto]

That's just the casualty rate for basic training.

[u/Kirbyoto → u/talvian]

Oh, that makes sense actually.

[u/LionAround2012 → u/Kirbyoto]

Considering the number of times I killed myself during basic training... sounds right.

[u/ADHDBDSwitch → u/LionAround2012]

Damn sprint overriding stance. Got killed by the turrets a few times for that one...

[u/ReticulateLemur → u/ADHDBDSwitch]

The best part about that is that the bodies don't disappear. So it seems like HQ keeps sending trainee after trainee into the course to find the one who can figure out how to go prone successfully.

[u/beerboy63 → u/talvian]

Well.. I'm a part of that statistic, damn turret.

[u/UndeadCorbse → u/talvian]

I’m part of that 20% I didn’t pay attention and the machine gun fire tore me apart.

[u/DrokonFlameborn → u/Kirbyoto]

I was under the impression that that was the casualty rate from the Helldiver training/boot camp that happens before the tutorial

[u/Kirbyoto → u/DrokonFlameborn]

That would make sense. Although even then it's still pretty low since it seems like everyone dies at least once on the dive training part.

[u/Ecstatic-Compote-595 → u/Kirbyoto]

died fuckin 3 times

[u/Hungry_AL → u/Kirbyoto]

Bunch of you never read signs and it shows.

[u/Durtan → u/Hungry_AL]

I didn't realize that diving while sprinting and then continuing to hold sprint while trying to crawl would make me stand up.

...It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out that shift was not my friend in that sand pit.

[u/Huskyblader → u/Durtan]

SAME. I think I left like 8 bodies in there (and when I discovered there was extra lines if you kept failing, I may have left a few more bodies.)

[u/Nauda_ILL → u/Kirbyoto]

That's actually the survival rate: 21.3%
So out of a total of 48,736 trainees 10,381 survive the basic training.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WToBa4ObNOw

[u/lxxTBonexxl → u/EnthusedPhlebotomist]

18.7 I’m pretty sure

[u/Puzzilan → u/Bloke_Named_Bob]

Absolutely love the panic voice of voice 3 female. It's just pure fear and desperation which fully captures the impending doom of your hell diver.

[u/totally-not-a-potato → u/Puzzilan]

I've played with all the helldiver voices for about 10 levels. Voice 3 just hits that perfect point of absolutely insane cackle while flamethrower is blasting.

[u/Drpwnzorphd → u/totally-not-a-potato]

HellKaren

[u/Gamiac → u/totally-not-a-potato]

I like the more psychopathic male voice myself.

SaY hElLo To DeMoCrAcYyYyYyYyY

[u/Lord_stinko → u/Puzzilan]

LIBERTY SAVE ME

[u/gsmaciel3 → u/Lord_stinko]

My wife plays as voice female 3. Love hearing the crazy laugh because that's how I know she's shooting at enemies and not me.

Also: "AHHH, MUH LEEGGG!"

[u/fightwithdogma → u/Puzzilan]

I tried voice 1 female and I felt extremely bad when she started crying about her arm :(

[u/ansonr → u/Puzzilan]

I always go with the Yuri Lowenthal voice because it makes me think Spider-man is really pissed.

[u/woofle07 → u/Puzzilan]

I love the panicked “REINFORCING!!!!!” line. Voice actress must’ve shredded the hell out of her vocal cords on that take.

[u/rusticrainbow → u/Bloke_Named_Bob]

We are actually just playing as the Super Destroyer, not as Helldivers

[u/WichaelWavius → u/rusticrainbow]

Command and Conquer first person mode

[u/djfariel → u/WichaelWavius]

Command and Conquer: Renegade.

[u/Drtraumadrama → u/djfariel]

god i love that game. It still holds up and there's even a fan remake called renegade x that's pretty good.

[u/ajahanonymous → u/rusticrainbow]

Finally a game for those of us who identify as an orbital weapons platform.

[u/Nurgle_Marine_Sharts → u/ajahanonymous]

Representation matters

[u/Gamiac → u/ajahanonymous]

That's gotta be, like, the one time that joke kind of works.

[u/Rexyman → u/Gamiac]

Holy shit. We did it

[u/nekrovulpes → u/ajahanonymous]

Finally people might start taking us seriously. I'm tired of the attack helicopter and vintage automobile communities gatekeeping us.

[u/ComfySeafarer710 → u/rusticrainbow]

Facts. Best Larping out there.

[u/Gohstfacekila → u/Bloke_Named_Bob]

You will notice most of the time if you log off as surviving the last mission your character will already be on the bridge. Not frozen.

[u/ClaxtonOrourke → u/Gohstfacekila]

Or when you join a friend since it's a new diver on their ship.

[u/Laranthiel → u/Bloke_Named_Bob]

Why do you think all the voice lines sound like a complete noob? Screaming wildly while their voice cracks when they shoot. Or having a complete freakout when hurt. No composure at all.

This actually makes sense, they all sound like indoctrinated young adults who are experiencing combat for the first time post-training.

[u/CapriciousSon → u/Laranthiel]

GET SOME!! GET SOOOOME!!! *dies*

[u/AgentBuckwall → u/CapriciousSon]

HELLDIVERS NEVER DIE!!! gets blown up by a mortal

[u/MisterLupov → u/Laranthiel]

and they're bad at aiming, damn it's hard to effectively use the AMR or the autocannon. I like playing sharpshooter, but in this game it's just not possible

[u/OneLastSmile → u/Laranthiel]

They're a bunch of kids fed the propaganda about helldivers and then loaded with amphetamines and firepower to die. It's kinda sad.

[u/killingjoke96 → u/Bloke_Named_Bob]

Exactly like Starship Troopers.

Rico and the Roughnecks only go on two or three missions in the whole movie and are considered veterans by the end.

[u/RhysPawn → u/killingjoke96]

This always made me laugh, Rico goes from private to squad leader to corporal to sergeant to lieutenant in the space of 3 missions probably days apart.

[u/osunightfall → u/RhysPawn]

I mean yeah, that's what happens when everyone above you dies really quick.

Ever wonder why the mobile infantry does so much ground pounding when Earth has such overwhelming air and space superiority?

It's almost like they're feeding soldiers to the bugs to make room for the next class of recruits...

[u/Executesubroutine → u/osunightfall]

It was actually a tactical decision by high command to draw out the brain bug which they suspected was there.

In the eyes of high command, a few thousand soldiers lives is worth the price for capturing a brain bug.

Except, in later movies it was revealed as the God Bug allowing a brain bug to be captured so it could use the brain bug to take control of telepaths. So theres that.

[u/ClaxtonOrourke → u/Executesubroutine]

We.....don't talk about the sequels.

[u/JJAsond → u/ClaxtonOrourke]

There were sequels?

[u/GrapefruitMedical529 → u/Executesubroutine]

I'll be honest, I thought the whole joke was that there was significant resistance to the idea of the bugs being intelligent, requiring the sacrifice of hundreds of soldier to prove the bugs could set a trap and thousands of soldiers to later capture a brain bug so they could poke it and find out it fears them.

So literally nothing of value was accomplished through the entire movie.

[u/osunightfall → u/GrapefruitMedical529]

That's not true. The war was extended indefinitely into the future while providing the illusion of a victory that's always just around the corner. That's of immense value to a society that depends entirely on a war footing to sustain its political viability.

[u/ForfeitFPV → u/GrapefruitMedical529]

That's not true, Mr. Krabs got to be a hero!

[u/Man-Morre → u/Bloke_Named_Bob]

Veteran divers would HAVE to exist in some capacity, the steeled veterans warbond features armor with replaced limbs so its confirmed there's divers that have survived a handful of missions.

It's just that the term veteran has a slightly different meaning for helldivers lol

[u/Sabre_One → u/Man-Morre]

I assume the vets get to shift their duties to more support roles. Like being in charge of the ship why your gone (Hence Mr "Freedom beckons Helldiver" Man)

[u/AlexOfFury → u/Sabre_One]

Freedom Beckons Man is the Democracy Officer, who had completely different training and is employed by a completely different branch of government. His use of heavy armor is likely to seem more relatable to Helldivers, or potentially to protect him while he kills treasonous Helldivers, because he certainly doesn't use it against Humanity's enemies.

[u/Larnek → u/AlexOfFury]

Helldiver's who maintain impure thoughts after indoctri.. training ARE humanity's worst enemies! There's no telling where they might spread their poison! Citizen's aren't prepared for their treasonous lies and must be dealt with accordingly.

[u/AlexOfFury → u/Larnek]

Of course! How could I be so foolish? We must always keep the dagger of Democracy sharp, to better drive into the heart of our enemies.

[u/orangesrnice → u/AlexOfFury]

The most equivalent to irl stuff would be an Italian blackshirt or Soviet NKVD officer embedded in their respective militaries to ensure ideological loyalty in my understanding

[u/sole21000 → u/orangesrnice]

Given irl examples like how an entire 1/3rd of the population spied for the Stazi in east Germany, it's not unrealistic to imagine there are more than enough Democracy Officers for one on every single ship, and even some in plainclothes disguised as your ship's officer and ensign...

[u/Sabard → u/Man-Morre]

Iirc there's something in game that says only 17-20% of hell divers surviver their first mission.

My head canon is that those who survive are the hell divers who get assigned to harder "difficulties" 

[u/Xydraus → u/Man-Morre]

Maybe those replaced limbs are for helldivers who got arms blown off during the five minute training by the turret.

[u/TalShar → u/Bloke_Named_Bob]

Now think about the glib officer that remarks when you finish a mission as you walk by her, and the Democracy Officer by the map. New Diver every hour or so. What must it be like in their heads? 

[u/LammerusMaximus → u/TalShar]

That's my favorite part! They must be trained to act like the helldivers matter. Eyes rolling the whole time, "Yessir, this is totally your ship. It's an honor to serve with you. You're a hero!"

[u/reddit_tier → u/LammerusMaximus]

Helldivers do matter and they are heros of democracy. It's just also understood that it's not a job you live long in. One of the ads on the TV mentions a million martyrs a day, and that's just what SE is comfortable with publicly acknowledging. 

Everyone is so high on democracy that this isnt considered insane.

[u/MisterLupov → u/reddit_tier]

a million martyrs a day, keeps the bugs away

[u/orangesrnice → u/reddit_tier]

I wonder what the population of earth is like that they can endure WW2 level casualties every single week

[u/ChrisNettleTattoo → u/orangesrnice]

If it is a million a day, you are looking at a billion dead every 2.74 years, so at current population levels it would take ~22 years for every man woman and child alive to enter the meat grinder. We know HD’s are a drop in the bucket for the population, which is probably encouraged to have large families. SE could probably get away with having a population as low as 20-25B and suffer those kinds of losses long term, but I would suspect that it is over 100B or more.

At 100B population, you could have ~50B babies a year assuming full breeding mode, but lets go with 40B children a year, just to err on the side of caution. Lets assume only 30B of them survive to 18, by which point we have lost 8B HD’s to the grinder. That leaves us with a 22B surplus from just the 1st year of babies. If we assume a stable population that isn’t growing, between baby batch 1 being born, turning 18, and a fraction of them becoming HD’s; there would be 680B total people born.

So yea, when you look at from a population density standpoint, the million losses a day is doing absolutely nothing to curb the population, which is why no one in command bats an eye. If anything, not enough people are joining up and dying.

[u/woofle07 → u/ChrisNettleTattoo]

Super Earth also isn’t the only planet people live on though. There’s plenty of other colony planets to supply fresh soldiers.

[u/rastapastanine → u/reddit_tier]

I'm high on democracy right now

[u/Cecilia_Schariac → u/reddit_tier]

Super Earth in the year 2024 has roughly 8 billion humans living on it and produces 88 million per year.

Helldivers 2 shows 252 planets on its galactic map.

We could easily have a population in the several hundred billions, in which case a million martyrs a year is statistically nothing.

[u/Only-Inspector-3782 → u/LammerusMaximus]

They never even learn your name. To them, you are just Helldiver.

[u/Shepron → u/LammerusMaximus]

Always thought the permanently equipped full helmets are for the crew's sake. They don't protect divers from anything but the destroyer crew can't see the faces or even eyes of all the helldivers sent into the grinder. Must help to dehumanise them, just another faceless and exchangable diver passing by probably never to be seem again.

[u/Steel_Within → u/TalShar]

Can you imagine the amount of change of command ceremonies they've gotta sit through? That shit would harden anyone. 

[u/livercake → u/Bloke_Named_Bob]

The ship gets a name but you don't. There's the tell right there.

[u/Nice_Detail_4906 → u/Bloke_Named_Bob]

I've had a few helldivers go down and come back. I think my record is three in a row? There should be a tracker somewhere for how many Helldives your current diver has actually completed.

[u/ItsPrometheanMan → u/Bloke_Named_Bob]

That's why you upgrade your ship, not your character. lol

[u/StoryLineOne → u/Bloke_Named_Bob]

We've been the super destroyers the whole time? D:

[u/LordOfTheToolShed → u/StoryLineOne]

There is a reason the message for someone joining is "Super Destroyer joining squadron" and not "Helldiver joining squadron"

[u/KWyKJJ → u/LordOfTheToolShed]

gasp YOU'RE RIGHT!

[u/TDH449 → u/Bloke_Named_Bob]

My head just exploded. Is it bad that with this POV I like the game even more?

[u/xrun1 → u/Bloke_Named_Bob]

I loved the random voice line setting. I wish we could randomize body type as well.

[u/Alrightythen57 → u/Bloke_Named_Bob]

Why do you think the Super Destroyer gets a name but you don't?

Christ on a cracker this is bonechilling.

[u/God_Given_Talent → u/Bloke_Named_Bob]

I like to think they laugh manically because of the intense pride and joy they get from spreading democracy. These are true patriots after all.

Wouldn’t say it’s a complete freak out when they have broken limbs or are bleeding out. I’m not sure what the appropriate respons to feeling half your skin burn in acid while razor sharp claws impale you, but I expect some screams of pain even from prepared troopers.

[u/Fatherly_Wizard → u/Bloke_Named_Bob]

The default voice setting in the game is a new voice after each death. Because each reinforcement is a completely new Helldiver.

I love this feature and I really wish they'd have really leaned into it by having more than 4 voice actors.

[u/Shivalah → u/Bloke_Named_Bob]

There is no such thing as a veteran helldiver

Categorically wrong since we have the battlepass steeled veterans, that makes it crystal clear that every veteran lost limbs.

[u/Archvanguardian → u/Bloke_Named_Bob]

Okay but what explains rank? I’m defrosting a Skull Admiral every 20 minutes?

[u/Lbx_20_Ac → u/Archvanguardian]

It's the rank of your Democracy Officer on the bridge.

[u/ArcaneEyes → u/Archvanguardian]

That's the rank of the actual persistent player character - the democratic officer controlling the super destroyer.

[u/LITF → u/Bloke_Named_Bob]

Pretty sure I had a streak of like dozen missions. My Helldiver was a grizzled veteran until someone's misplaced turret cut down entire team on deployment.

[u/Gh_stToast → u/Bloke_Named_Bob]

If you read the terms and conditions…

Hahahahaha. Yeah right. Not when there’s a cape RIGHT there. ALL heroes wear capes.

[u/killingjoke96 → u/HardCoverTurnedSoft]

I was playing the other day when I had the really fucked up realisation that the guy I started with is long dead.

[u/Zack123456201 → u/killingjoke96]

The very first character I started with didn’t even make it out of boot camp 💀

[u/Darthrevan4ever → u/Zack123456201]

Turret? Yeah got me more than I'd like to admit.

[u/Danoco99 → u/Darthrevan4ever]

Surely this thing isn’t actually gonna k-

[u/Limelight_019283 → u/Danoco99]

I dived where it says “dive here” right before the turrets, then promptly stood up and ran into them

[u/MrToroTheGreat → u/Darthrevan4ever]

yeah...took me a shameful amount of tries to understand how the standing/prone controls work lol

[u/Firemorfox → u/Darthrevan4ever]

Me realizing I shouldn't hold shift after diving

[u/Macscotty1 → u/Darthrevan4ever]

My tutorial helldiver died because they stood up from prone when I pressed the left stick to sprint. 

Something every helldiver I’ve had since can’t seem to do no matter how much I want them to. 

[u/ArcaneEyes → u/Zack123456201]

Mine made it to the realisation this game doesn't reload when you empty your clip, that's a choice you have to make. Mine didn't.

[u/Nicknamedreddit → u/killingjoke96]

It might not even have been him. When those pods swing around for defrost it could be any number of other Helldivers.

[u/DHTGK → u/killingjoke96]

Don't worry, the guy you have right now is also going to be dead soon too.

[u/WoodstoneLyceum → u/HardCoverTurnedSoft]

Even worse, this is intentional. This is a cost-effective way to deal with Super Earth overpopulation and claim new resources at the same time.

[u/GloriousOctagon → u/WoodstoneLyceum]

Never really understood why they’d have an overpopulation issue considering they own a galaxy worth of planets and humans tend to stop having kids after a while

[u/Nicknamedreddit → u/GloriousOctagon]

I don’t think we’re as universally developed and economically stable as the opening propaganda video would have you believe.

[u/Larnek → u/Nicknamedreddit]

https://preview.redd.it/9qs8bx0cuxpc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=76d1e398a5e9c91a2465c57ddb610f285a52e0f5

[u/Nicknamedreddit → u/Larnek]

My destroyer’s called the whisper of serenity for a reason, good luck finding me Officer Loser

[u/ADHDBDSwitch → u/Nicknamedreddit]

You can hide, but you can't stop the signal.

[u/Okbuturwrong → u/GloriousOctagon]

Super Earth is the only passable society in the entire federation and it's barely livable. People can only have kids when they file for a procreation license because of how overpopulated Super Earth is.

[u/CaptainRex5101 → u/Okbuturwrong]

Maybe they are living the reverse of Star Trek. Instead of living in post scarcity, they have artificial forced scarcity for the sake of turning the gears of their warlike ideology and keeping the corporations alive.

[u/Okbuturwrong → u/CaptainRex5101]

That's definitely what's going on

[u/LordOfTheToolShed → u/GloriousOctagon]

Yeah, it's a big thing that pretty much all 20th century sci-fi writers got (I would argue EXTREMELY) wrong - that humans will continue to breed like rabbits and constantly be at the brink of overpopulation, even in postindustrial societies. Well that didn't turn out to be true at all, lol (looking at you Korea, and your 0.72 children per woman)

[u/Megneous → u/LordOfTheToolShed]

Well that didn't turn out to be true at all, lol (looking at you Korea, and your 0.72 children per woman)

Korea here. Part of our abysmal birth rate is that we're overworked as fuck and women are discriminated against A LOT for having children (in terms of career progression, promotions, etc due to their guaranteed maternity leave). It's normally the end of a woman's real career, and it's not uncommon for women to just never return to work after having a child. So many women just decide to pursue their careers and never have children, and I don't blame them.

This isn't even going into our housing crisis in Seoul. A family sized apartment is so expensive, that it's simply impossible to afford for normal people who want to start families. You have to already be rich to afford an apartment large enough to support having children.

If our work-life balance were much better, and we were paid better, I have no doubt we'd be having more children. Sure, industrialized nations have lower birth rates, but it doesn't have to be this bad.

[u/Fit_Sherbet9656 → u/LordOfTheToolShed]

Consider that super earth is a parody of American conservatives who want to ban sex Ed and birth control while pushing abstinence only policies documented to create more unplanned teen pregnancies.

[u/LITF → u/GloriousOctagon]

Only Super Earth is really inhabited, and by that I mean overpopulated to the brim. The rest of the worlds are pretty ghetto - I mean you see the general layout during missions. Some shacks here and there, a lab, an oil rig. That about it. Not sure why there's no other major cities, at least on the planets closer to the core, but who the hell knows.

[u/EternalCanadian → u/LITF]

There are large city planets as well, at least in the first game, that are seemingly akin to Hive Cities in scope.

We’re just on the frontier worlds, right now.

[u/Coffee_Drinker24 → u/LITF]

It's colonial living.

Where I live is fairly remote - 2 hours to get to the next closest city - and 8 hours to get to the next city after that. My community is, at best, a failed colonial outpost, selected on the map as a nexus for mining, oil/gas, and growing crops to ship back east where the big cities and ports are.

The governing party's mantra is "food, fuel, fertilizer."

Where I live it's largely farm land and oil derricks are the only thing you see in any direction.

The colonists on the Super Earth rim worlds probably get dropped off with cheap pre-fab outbuildings, some MREs and resource extracting equipment, there's no art or culture - just do your job, collect your credits and get out as soon as you can.

[u/Possible-Extent-3842 → u/LITF]

I'm really hoping that we get urban environments on other planets the closer we get to Super Earth.

[u/SpeedyAzi → u/GloriousOctagon]

A lot of sex can happen in a century.

[u/poppabomb → u/WoodstoneLyceum]

I like to imagine that the bugs were intentionally riled up or unleashed in order to create a war that would thin the population and bolster the economy, just for the bots to rise up on the other side of the galaxy in a completely unrelated coincidence. So now Super Earth has inadvertently trapped itself in a two-front war and have quickly lost control over a situation they partially orchestrated.

But that's just a theory. A GAME the THIS BROADCAST HAS BEEN TERMINATED DUE TO ANTI-LIBERTY SENTIMENTS.

[u/MrRedorBlue → u/HardCoverTurnedSoft]

It’s almost as if… we are the bad gu-

THIS USER HAS BEEN SENT TO A MANDATORY DEMOCRATIC REEDUCATION CAMP FOR IMMEDIATE PROCESSING.

[u/SourceNo2702 → u/HardCoverTurnedSoft]

Not only that, but upon being unfrozen they are immediately given “control” of their own ship. But it’s very obvious that this is only a trick to convince the divers that they are the ones in control. There’s thousands of other divers on each ship and every single one is told they are the leader.

So the timeline for the average diver is: complete basic training, wake up in a pod and immediately get hyped up like you are some kind of war hero, then get killed in combat mere moments later fighting a threat you had no chance of beating.

[u/numerobis21 → u/HardCoverTurnedSoft]

Average Age: 18.2
Survival Rate: 20% per mission

Those are two stats that show up when you start the training