Not all heroes wear capes, and one, in particular, comes decked out in spacesuit armour. The honour goes to a legendary Helldivers 2 player with the username .atasu, who has been helping beaten-down helldivers across the galaxy by answering more than 100 SOS beacons.
Detailing his process of rendering aid, he explained to IGN, “If I’m on an SOS run, I start with level 3 to 4 difficulty. If everything till level nine is free of SOS signals, I start my own level 5 to 7 operation, so anyone in a search for a group could join and after we can go to higher difficulties.”
In the Arrowhead Game Studios shooter, players can use a Strategem — used to refer to a variety of powerful ordnance and war material that players can call to the battlefield — called an SOS beacon to call for help. Doing so puts a ping on their lobby, alerting the rest of the galaxy to their location.
For .atasu, lending a hand to struggling helldivers involves giving them high-tier equipment, clearing objectives, and offering tips. “I will try to save you from imminent danger and lead you towards victory. If I see three dudes constantly dying into a useless bug hole — I will head to the obj cleaning all places of interest I come across and save all the samples I see,” shared the 28-year-old.
“After I will head to the extr. zone and call pelican-1. And I will tell you, ‘don’t worry, shuttle can wait till the end of the game, you can finish everything you, don’t worry.’ And that’s true — shuttle will wait after landing.”
According to his post on the Helldivers 2 subbreddit, .atasu, who introduces himself as “that level 50 guy”, “like(s) answering distress calls” because it fulfills his desire for a more rewarding experience. At level 50, the player has unlocked almost everything in the game, with only Super Credits left to farm.
“It is very rewarding,” he added. “Also, I remember being a cadet and trying to figure out how to kill a Charger [arguably the game’s toughest enemy]. Now if I see someone struggling with something, I try to reach out and help them.”
His exploits have drawn comparisons to Let Me Solo Her of Elden Ring fame, who rose to legendary status for assisting players in their fight against Malenia, arguably the game’s toughest (but optional) enemy. The player ended up defeating her a grand total of 1,000 times, making him a certified badass and honourary receiver of an actual sword from publisher Bandai Namco.
It’s likely that .atasu will soon claim the same status in Helldivers 2 as he shows no signs of slowing down, despite making rookie mistakes every now and then. “I want to clarify, I’m not flawless,” he said, “I usually kill myself with my Scorcher a few times per operation.”
In the meantime, Helldivers 2 continues to be the gift that keeps on giving. The shooter is one of the most surprising hits of the year so far, capturing the hearts and minds of players with its dynamic, enthralling gameplay and a healthy dose of humour. It was riddled with server issues in the first few weeks, but has since bounced back with a host of new content.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
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