Pushing Helldivers 2 Secret Stealth Mechanics to its Limits

[@TDTwo2]

Share this vid with a friend if you enjoyed! It took a LOT of work...

[@Ash3s_97]

Tip, the AI is attracted to explosions. If you throw a frag away from the obj, you can distract them while you do it. A lvl 8 showed me this. Note though, after they inspect the explosion, they’ll check where your last position was. So best if you have both be away from the obj.

[@ajeenius7437]

​@@Ash3s_97 Interesting! Gonna have to try this out next time. I love that we're still figuring out the intricacies of this game, despite it being quite simple at surface level.

[@Shadowclaw25]

u do know theres people soloing t9 in stealth ^^ even on bugs :P@@ajeenius7437

[@sidshorter6486]

@TDTwo2 What are the music tracks playing in the background?

[@vexingrabbit1824]

explosions distracts enemies. also you can "stealth kill" enemies by one shot them as well. Like if you pull ur 6 shooter revolver and just use one shot to kill an enemy that's on a turret or just guarding a point, Nobody reacts to a single shot, It's when more than one shot is fired at a time is when they react. Was able to solo run in a "stealth" play style like this.

[@thedarkness490]

The fact arrowhead said they would be adding suppressed weapons "soon" would make this play style even more viable 😊

[@Spectacular_Insanity]

Until this style of play becomes too popular and they nerf stealth mechanics.

[@admiralcrow7182]

⁠​⁠@@Spectacular_InsanityDoubtful. It’s almost entirely necessary if you want to avoid getting swarmed in Difficulty 7+ or higher, and most of the time you’ll still need to engage without any other choice at some point. Let’s say they *do* try and nerf it, though. Most reasonably, they’ll make it so stealth weapons don’t perform well in an actual firefight. The entire mechanic, though? It’d probably take weeks or months to code for a ‘Nerf’. It just wouldn’t happen, unless the devs happen to have a button that can activate eyes on the back of automatons’ heads. Tl;dr Don’t give them that idea lmao

[@thephoenix4093]

how would that work though. that way if stealth fails the weapons will be too weak to fight off the enemies, no?

[@flamingscar5263]

@@Spectacular_Insanity are you saying this because they nerfed the railgun? it was the best option, it needed to be nerfed, sure "its a PvE game who cares" everyone should, just because its PvE doesn't matter, a meta will form and not using that meta will make the game less fun, you'll constantly feel like anytime you fail its because you were not using the best options, you need balance so everything feels as good to use and the answer isn't buffing everything else up, thats how you get the modern state of Destiny where a single grenade wipes an entire room and build crafting is meaningless its a fine line when it comes to balance, to many buffs and you get power creep, to many nerfs and everything feels like shit Edit: Helldivers 2 is to early on to call if it will go down one of those lanes

[@ladybabe6958]

​@@admiralcrow7182 it feels like playing payday 2 again

[@campbellhansen7533]

All weapons have a sound profile, btw, and when really tested hard, the Senator had the lowest of the pistols.

[@hunn20004]

How? Why?

[@ajeenius7437]

That sounds incredibly counterintuitive...

[@xeikai]

Fun fact. You can engage smaller groups.of enemies and get them to summon the drop ship. Disengage and run, they won't.find you if you get enough distance. Immediately hit the objective and start eliminating targets before they can summon the.dropships again.

[@notsoanonymousmemes9455]

The Senator is effectively the only stealth gun as of yet, it has however, a terrible ironsight, I have noticed that it has a low sound profile, if I were to reason why, I would say "maybe it has subsonic rounds"

[@fwg1994]

From what I heard, the basic pistol, the machine pistol in semi-auto, and the Senator, all can be heard from roughly 10-15 meters away, which is considerably lower than almost every other weapon.

[@beltempest4448]

The challenge is has an unnecessarily difficult with the no primary or strat handicap. Seen a video of a dude fully completing a lvl nine mission using the stealth mechanics. He would take down isolated groups quickly, move onto objective and kick the hornets nest. If things got to hot he would run and break line of sight and then hit another target to draw enemy attention there then return to the objective and complete it. It was less a stealth play than a MGSV play but the stealth mechanics where widely utilised

[@JosekTheNecromancer]

Personally I play a scout sniper build as my main playstyle

[@TheLegless101]

It feels more like MGSV in that you can be stealthy but also blow up everything instead if it comes to it

[@littlebadassgaming]

Video?

[@fluffernutter6633]

That would be why it's "Pushing Helldivers 2 Secret Stealth Mechanics to its Limits" not "Using some of the stealth mechanics but still dropping 500kg bombs all over the map"

[@beltempest4448]

@@fluffernutter6633 fair enough

[@CrispyMuffin2]

Man i seriously overestimated the AI's object permanence in this game I tried doing it earlier today and i atraight up crawled past a group of enemies, did the objective, and left without getting spotted Shit was almost more satisfying than plowing through them all

[@4touchdowns1game29]

now I do all that only to get blown up by meteors.

[@GamerSingularity]

​@@4touchdowns1game29Yeah, space is definitely angry. 😂

[@R3TR0J4N]

Omg the hub-like openworld and the way being able to tackle objectives freely based on players volition is something close to Tom Clancy Wildlands.

[@nohandlesplease]

I like to imagine with the bots that they are so used to standard helldiver behavioral patterns of "FOR DEMOCRACY" and shooting everything that moves that they forgot to account for someone just... not being so obvious.

[@Wozat-is8it]

Might as well just play MGSV then

[@artyom-does-something]

I'm convinced helldivers is a comedy in disguise. The powerful groups of enemies just watching you, the ragdolls, it's all too funny.

[@Largentina.]

It's not even in disguise lol. It's obviously written and developed to be a very on the nose comedy and satire of militarism. The game is quite open about being funny.

[@michaelguarino7834]

Ever heard of Starship Troopers???? Great movie

[@AHHHHHHHH21]

​@@michaelguarino7834just watched it again, truly is

[@artyom-does-something]

@@Largentina. I suppose I have myself to blame for the misunderstanding. I'm aware of the blind patriotism, military industrial complex satire and I really appreciate it for lots of personal yet important reasons so thank you for being one to speak up about it. My original comment was more physical and slapstick comedy oriented, like you may have heard people describe soulsborne games.

[@artyom-does-something]

@@michaelguarino7834 Heard of, seen recaps and other fun stuff, never watched the movies or read the books. I'm terrible for that, knowing bits and pieces of a whole even if it's all the most important franchis spoiling details.

[@SnipahBarret50Cal]

knowing the existence of the booty patrol kinda kills the stealth immersion. an arbitrary patrol that always follows you seems like a dubious decision at worst

[@ajeenius7437]

Have to agree with you there. Especially considering how close to you a patrol can just pop into existence... I'd prefer a static amount of patrols tbh. If one or more would constantly track you I could live with that, but it's really frustrating to have your ass covered only to look away for a second and get railed by a freshly spawned patrol... At least make them spawn further from the player.

[@the_neuron]

Have to disagree. If patrols didn't zero in on you you would not need stealt at all. It's not like the patrols just fallow you no matter what, but the will come towards you when they spawn, you can easily avoid them. Stealth would be basically a given if that wasn't the case.

[@wasdwazd]

@@the_neuron Did you not see the small army of bots surrounding the dude when he tried to take the shot on that Hulk? Fuckers were WAITING for him to try something

[@the_neuron]

@@wasdwazd the video doesn't show everything. Try avoiding patrols yourself and you'll see.

[@bruticus1496]

If they would have patrols come existing bases and would stop when all factories are destroyed would be better, or would have bot drops bring in more once you are discovered

[@blazebaker3170]

Gotta love Joel and his scouts patrols

[@lunarshadow5584]

Would call it "Hitman" challenge over "Stealth" challenge because you can very much stealth while throwing a nuke into a base. You just have to not get in enemy line of site when you do. Though that is a stealth mechanic that needs to be tested too "How well does the enemy know where your stratagem came from?" or more specifically "Will the enemy know where you are despite not being where you threw the stratagem or will they only look around where you threw it?"

[@Ash3s_97]

They will check where you threw it from. Don’t get spotted and you’ll be able to reposition

[@wizsword.]

red laser stratagems will always have enemies go straight to you and blue laser stratagems they will investigate where it lands

[@Ash3s_97]

@@wizsword. that, I did not know! Thank you for that info!

[@RomanPunchyBoy]

​@@wizsword.not alway,but most of the time. But i have no clue if its a bug or if there is a mechanic to it

[@Kenionatus]

I'm pretty sure I've had enemies call in reinforcements without knowing exactly where I was, so be prepared to suddenly be surrounded by 100 bots when you throw a beacon into a base.

[@charliemitchell7476]

i once went prone on a helldive vs termanids, a patrol rolled up on me, and i kept crawling, and since they stop to investigate where you were, they constantly stop, realize you moved, move again, see you, stop, investigate, you moved and repeat. its hilarious because you end up having a swarm around you, following you with a set barrier around you, not engaging.

[@kadirbasri]

And automatons too. The booty patrol is real, they’ll keep spawning after a certain set of time. At mark 25mins left, they can go up to 4-5 (suicide diff) patrol units at a time in a single grid. If you don’t engage or move, there’ll always have that 1 Karen in that patrol unit.

[@ShadowNemesis575]

My personal headcanon is Joel personally notices you aren't in combat yet and sends a guy to change that. He is a man on a mission

[@arthurmoore9488]

Reminder that originally they planned to have a human GM watching every game and applying buffs and de-buffs in real time. That's the number of players they were originally expecting.

[@jimvenanzio6561]

@@arthurmoore9488 small count. No wonder they begged us to stop buying the game--WE FOILED EVIL JOEL'S PLANS!!!!!

[@michaeledmunds7056]

Automaton1: "I see the enemy!" Automaton2: "Where?" Automaton1: "Idk figure it out lol."

[@jimvenanzio6561]

this is how CSGo works.

[@johndoe4004]

that booty patrol shit sucks, where is the fog of war /:

[@schishne7546]

that is indeed true aswell as the enemies that suddenly spawn right behind you

[@AshenJobSnow]

In a way it would make sense some enemies went towards your general position, since we fall down the sky in (what it would look like) a big ball of fire, and it could make sense that enemies knew if a patrol or a position went silent, but them just knowing where we are at all times is kinda wack

[@johndiddilyjoe6258]

You're missing the point. The booty patrol is there to keep your ass moving. You don't get to stealth around the map as much as you want, and good. This is a horde game. If you want use stealth you have to be quick and smart

[@siveonfarcloud4190]

@@johndiddilyjoe6258 That's your expectation. But the fact that the game has stealth mission loadouts, scouting mechanics plus are going to add silenced weapon (much like it already existed in Helldivers 1) says otherwise. You are free to engage anything you want, but at higher levels you should be punished for the lack of foresight, instead of constantly running away and thinning down the horde, which goes against the fact the game has immovable emplacement stratagems.

[@johndiddilyjoe6258]

@@siveonfarcloud4190 Stealth in HD1 was completely different don't even, I know for fact my Ninja SMG wasn't stealthy at all. And no it's not my expectations, it's the developers own words. Do you seem them advertising this as a stealth game at all? No, what advertising do you see? Oh war, explosions, orbital lasers. Your expectation changed once you learnt there was stealth, you didn't initially get the game for that. 99% of people didn't want to play a stealth game when they bought this, no one had "your expectation."

[@AB-bg7os]

"Boss, the terminids are an invasive alien species that..." "Hmm, but how do they taste?"

[@SkellyShiroi]

Like oil probably

[@NIGHT-LORE]

You can actually distract unaware enemies by chucking a grenade and they will try to investigate the explosion, it makes it a little easier to lineup the sniper shots. That’s if you wasn’t aware

[@XIIthehangedmanXII]

That's what he tried at the end.

[@CanoCapo]

When i try that they literally look at the grenade until it explodes and just turn to me and start blasting

[@SimianBastard]

seems like he tried doing that to get the hulk exposed, unfortunately we didn't get to see if it worked because of booty patrol

[@NIGHT-LORE]

@@SimianBastard yeah that’s what I was thinking however he got interrupted by the wandering patrol

[@NIGHT-LORE]

@@CanoCapo i think it only works on patrolling enemies

[@Yesnaught]

The mining drill and extraction shouldn't aggro on you, they aggro on the objective. So if you hide long enough, they should get bored and return to patrol. I also argue you should be permitted to use some stratagems like the smoke and maybe one or two turrets as distractions - what's a good espionage thriller without gadgets?

[@declicitous1763]

Nothing is better than subsistence

[@zenks5883]

100% agree based take

[@arcanealchemist3190]

i think turrets is too much. but maaaybe smoke would be ok

[@TLSH12]

Smoke and supply pack

[@Pachiku93]

I know it's not the same, but love playing as a reckon scout against the robots. Getting close to a base without getting detected, calling an artillery strike or eagle run on the base and finishing the survivors with a sniper

[@razatlab2804]

thats the way i play on higher diffs lmao, it makes it so much easier, for gunblastingbullshit i go medium armor and some kind of rocket launcher to destroy the deployment ships

[@kissgergo5202]

2:02 "I'm gonna see how well I can shoot things without them noticing" *immediately misses*

[@AlesMicik]

twice

[@dragonslape345games8]

Average helldiver experience

[@trevordrakenor2063]

The way the patrol works is that they always home in specifically on the location of player upon spawning, not the general area of the player. Hence you will find situation where you could be hiding on the top of the hill, and they patrol straight into the hill you are on. If a patrol spawns while you are running, they will patrol towards that location where you just were few seconds ago when it spawned. What's even more frustrating is that if you have a jetpack that allows you to go up certain places where the patrol can't path find towards you, they will automatically detect you regardless as if there is no wall. For bots, this is even more frustrating because they temporary could shoot through walls, which will result in you blown to bits without even having a line of sight on them. For bugs, the orange fleas will tunnel/teleport to you. At least one of the fleas will do this to immediately trigger a bug breach. Note how they will only do this when you are still stealthing, and never tunnel or shoot through wall if you are already detected. For bugs, you can potentially melee them and get away with thing. But for bots, they currently have some weird thing going on where if you melee and dont kill it in time. The other bots few meter from it, will shoot flares regardless of whether they see you or not. So yes, while stealth is doable, there is some abnormalities with how the enemy detects you happening as well as other game mechanics with how the enemy patrol spawn works. Not completely flawless, just something to keep in mind.

[@MrProthall]

I am actually happy that Helldivers doesn't have that "stealth mechanic" most games have, where enemies are coded to NEVER turn around if you are a few meters behind them. Once you realize that, it takes the sport out of any modern stealth game.

[@Drunk_BOT]

There’s things like that? I’ve never knew. The only stealth game I play are payday and ghost recon

[@tianxiu]

once we know it is coded that way, it does take out the suspension of sneaking by.

[@Cat-sampo]

Man i wish i knew this, every time i play a stealth game as soon as I make a move the enemies always turn around to look at me exactly xD

[@jaybrielrosales9191]

I know that if you stand up or crouch and walk up to an enemy they can hear you. I've tested it a few times. It seems in this video it proves that proning is the quietest option

[@KraNisOG]

I do wish that it didn't have anti-stealth mechanics though.

[@XenonPrimeSBSV]

I find that 'Guerrilla stealth' is far more viable, a jetpack is also essential for reaching hiding places and vantage points, it's also useful for actually getting away from patrols. Traps, aggressive stratagems and positioning are key, I really don't see how a totally stealthy run is possible.

[@yaroslav7458]

yea, this guy really handicapped himself here. the total stealth strat also seems way more boring compared to what you're describing lol

[@johntravoltage959]

I've been taking it even further. solo helldive, no stratagems, no shooting at all, no melee at all, complete pacifist. The only way is through finding ways to stealth objectives around the enemies, or if they spawn to prevent that, aggro'ing enemies away from the objective so I hit max enemies and run to the objective so the enemies can't respawn on it. the benefit of this is that I never have a patrol constantly following me like in this video. I think that the 'booty' patrol is more so patrols that spawn when you do loud things to investigate what is happening. Since im not doing anything loud at all, its actually really easy. I think doing it this way is actually easier than a difficulty 1 mission doing it normally. You just have to learn how the spawning mechanic works, how certain enemies have different stealth rules (patrol/some enemies that spawn on objectives) and then its easy. It is 100% the most boring way to play the game, but it also means I have a fundamental understanding of the baseline of how bots react which is tremendously useful in normal runs.

[@xDragonce]

Guerrilla stealth? I think both armies are pretty evenly matched.

[@datalysjr3339]

@@johntravoltage959how do the enemies work exactly cause I read a comment above talking about how the “Booty Patrol” are in a constant state of suspicion, where as what you explained they follow the patrol, suspicions, alert, and combat rule

[@hugovandyk9918]

​​@@xDragonceguerilla stealth or guerilla warfare isn't about how strong one side is versus another, guerilla warfare is about using hit and run tactics, ambushes, deception and distractions to confuse the enemy, minimize loses taken and maximize damage dealt.

[@thetuerk]

Stealth in my opinion is like a tool, used when the situation calls for it. Say, you are alone at the ICBM Site and ran out of recources. While you wait for your team to catch up, you can attempt to sneak past the patrols and set up the ICBM, delaying possible reinforcements for a couple seconds or even minutes while still completing the mission. I did exactly that once on Fenris III on difficulty 7, and I swear waiting at the terminal with a Terminid Soldier sitting next to you, with only one magazine left was STRESSFUL yet so much fun

[@SaltyBeagleYT]

My friend and I tend to use stealth a lot in our missions. Thing is you you do have to go loud a lot, but sneaking can really help you avoid danger a LOT when you're careful.

[@Spectacular_Insanity]

There's an element of luck involved in stealth runs. It's also easier on heavily forested planets where there's more cover and ability to break line-of-sight at will.

[@4touchdowns1game29]

it's kinda lame how meteors messed up stealth

[@giahuynguyenkim6389]

Malevelon Creek veterans taking note

[@ajeenius7437]

​@@4touchdowns1game29 Not really. I prefer if the enemies don't just lounge around in a meteor swarm... Just play on a planet without that effect if it bothers you that much 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@4touchdowns1game29]

@@ajeenius7437 not the point, the game is supposed to have a stealth aspect and every other planet has meteor showers now ruining that. even the developers said themselves they f ed up and are going to fix it.

[@johndiddilyjoe6258]

​​​@@4touchdowns1game29 you think what they're apologising for it breaking the "stealth", man. The game will NEVER be balanced or tuned around stealth, the fact we have it at all is a blessing. This is a horde game were you use orbital bombardment and team work to wipe out hundreds of enemies and complete objectives. Appreciate it instead of bitching about something that is mostly superfluous.

[@xJB1032x]

For anyone wondering, the song that plays at 3:50~ is called "Big Blue", part of the F-Zero series. Had to comment after hearing this legendary song. Super Smash Brothers Melee version will always be the best to me lol.

[@Vikorlv]

Another interesting tip I learnt the hard way while also trying to stealth: The enemies will see your guard dog. The guard dog is great but if you want to play stealthily it can mess up your cover as enemies will spot it (and since it follows you, spot you as well haha) Edit: By the way I believe that the guard dog distance to be seen directly depends on your stance (like maybe the game treats it as an extension of the players body)

[@Creekmore]

Or just drop the backpack when you wanna moment of reprieve

[@UnknownSquid]

I mean, the Guard Dog will outright ruin your stealth by just shooting everything, let alone being seen. It will also prevent you disengaging by firing and updating enemies on your position as you run. I wouldn't even try to stealth with one, it's just not a good idea, and in a good stealth run you're actively avoiding the exact situation where the guard dog is most useful (out of control chaos). Good stealth Stratagems are things like they EMS strike, smoke, the Tesla Coil, Airstrikes for hitting objectives at a distance, or potentially the gatling turret for distractions and rapid ambushes.

[@armandoacevedo1189]

I’ve been running mostly stealth against the automatons on level 7, 8, and 9, since I saw someone else’s stealth build. Quick tips, you don’t have to hold an objective, draw them away loop back around. You can draw larger units attention from one direction then lose them and come at them from behind. Use your mini map more, when I’m crouched or prone I always hit tab quickly to check if anyone patrols will be coming up on me from behind.

[@rihud8343]

"Remember Snake, this is a sneaking mission."

[@jimvenanzio6561]

That one helldiver when ****

[@Kinohki]

Love the video. There is a guy on YT that runs Helldive 9 difficulty missions in stealth, or at least as stealthy as you can, named Spiked. He runs AMR and often times does full clear of maps and the dude is nuts. One thing I've learned watching him is that if a patrol is called in, you can disengage and run across the map and they either disperse or despawn, I'm not sure which. This may help with the missions like the ICBM one that has multi stage objectives. You can basically go in clear what you can, complete what part of hte objective you can and disengage and come back. He bounces between objectives rather than tries to stay and fight.

[@UnknownSquid]

I've done the same on Helldive after watching his videos, although mostly only clearing the objective and maybe one or two outposts, rather than a full clear. The part I've been finding hardest is extraction. Sometimes you can find a good hiding spot, but other times it becomes a hectic game of crawling in circles.

[@csconnor5160]

Love spiked

[@christophebedouret9813]

The snake eater music is so good. Plus the f-zero remix was way better than I expected.

[@HaydenFideler]

Do you know the song in the intro

[@Saf_Ibn_Sayyad_Bacon]

Big blue remix of some kind ​@HaydenFideler

[@derptomistic]

"This is a perfect position to snipe fro-" "Hello, we'd like to inform you about your car's extended warranty."

[@zenks5883]

oh no, brother u got bamboozled by automaton propaganda, 10:00, THE SHIP WILL LAND but as long as you didnt complete the main objective, it will just stay there on the ground at extraction, it will not fly away without you UNTIL the main objective is complete. The moment you complete the objective it will start the flying away countdown tho so u wont be able to extract most of the time, but the mission will be completed, that is how it works.

[@thebluetuniclink1836]

Should have brought smokes. The smoke grenade and smoke stratagems are severely underestimated for disengagement potential

[@carbonbeaker409]

Only problem with that is when ya used to get the bugged bots that knew where you were through the smoke.

[@BeardGrizzly]

Hit and run, shock and awe and being stealthy are capable in this game. Smoke grenades can assist with this, and if you stretch it, smoke eagle and smoke orbital. I tend to be a "shock and awe" kind of runner and i use stealth to my advantage in all scenarios. Set an eagle strike, run in, clear the rest out. It works very well.

[@snarlbuckle]

Stealth is the big brain way to play the game for sure. But keep in mind that a sniper or scout's greatest weapon is his radio. Call in all of the fire support and never let them see you.

[@thisiswhatilike54]

Seeing the beacon light up as it deploys is one thing, but it makes no sense that EVERYBODY knows which direction it was chucked from when no one noticed it before then

[@schishne7546]

There are still a few things you have yet to learn about stealth in this game, but I like that you're picking it up with this dedication

[@arbitrage2141]

The booty patrol mechanic is super dissapointing... hate things like that, but got to admit that moment on 14:37 where you turn around to see a horde of automatons on top of a mountain behind was you pure gold. Atleast for me, that absolutely sent me to the moon.

[@eeppss]

7:08, oohh my that frame, standing there, MENANCINGLY

[@gespenjaeger2370]

The problem with stealth is if you do things alone the AI has only you to focus on but you if where with other helldivers their attention gets divided witch make sneaking somewhat easier until you make more noise.

[@Bombsuitsandkilts]

Joel watching his perfectly crafted planet defense crumble as you melee the 100th robot knee

[@nuclearadventuresvr5749]

I cant with the Doug Doug music lol. I know Doug Doug does not one the music but its still funny.

[@GoBIGclan]

I can usually stealth the ICBM launch while my buddies grab the other objectives for it. Feels like being a navy seal every time. By the way, smoke airstrike and smoke grenades are invaluable for disengaging, by breaking line of sight. Me and my buddy's default playstyle is hit objectives hard and fast with multiple airstrikes and aggression to minimize breakouts, disengage with smoke, rinse and repeat 'soft stealthing' the entire match. You learn to run around the world space with your map open, watching those red dots and avoiding them, threading the needle between them. I stare at my map when traversing the world like I'm playing pac man lmao. Get the ship module that gives you better radar range.

[@alphtheor.879]

You could add the minefield placing strategems to your arsenal, since you can set traps in hitman.

[@CoffeeKitty.]

a bit of information for you, when the shuttle comes down, it stays down, and will wait for you - forever. so long as no one else gets in, so you can do the entire mission, get every sample, make some tea, and get on the shuttle, but you dont have access to strategems, which is irrelevant given your challenge

[@ShinnyMetal]

What version of Big Blue was that?! That was boppin

[@TDTwo2]

F-Zero GX AX Music Big Blue (Arranged Version)

[@SeohnAranys]

I’m actually amazed more people don’t notice this. I’ve never seen anybody use the sneaking approach. But watching several people play the game I’ve noticed multiple times that enemies weren’t attacking until the player ran towards them. Hell, I even saw a person throw a stratagem into the middle of a group of enemies that were just standing around. And they didnt move until he shot at them. Which drew their attention and it caused the orbital bombardment to not take them all out cause most moved away from it. In fact, part of the reason I want to play the game is because I wanted to test to see if sneaking around was even a viable option because it looked like it was. And no one I was watching play the game even attempted to use the stealth method. This just confirms one of the things I thought was possible.

[@jakegordon1575]

Whats the music at 4:00?

[@Hamonchi]

Love this version of Big Blue @ 3:55

[@stephanmilius3598]

I personally do not like that the game spawns patrols with preknowledge of your position (spawning them is another thing). With the stealth mechanic you are already fighting the clock of the match and your are not stealthy anyway if the patrol knows your whereabouts. Total immersion breaker.

[@Squngus]

This was quality man - just got me to subscribe. Love your editing and vid progression. Keep it up.

[@uberx2447]

Stealth main here. The best way to do this playstyle is to kill literally everything that may be an issue. There is RNG when it comes to enemy placements, but it's possible. A good example was when you wanted to kill that turret soldier, you made the poor decision of leaving the other two alive, which alerted everyone else with the flare. You can, so long as you are not close to other atuomatons when throwing a grenade, but throw one away or use a supportive stratagem to distract the enemy. Throwing a grenade into the field (when you're not next to an enemy), summoning something like another sniper, non-lethal mortar turret are all viable ways to stealth into a base. Distraction itself is a very strong tool for stealth players, so we can temporarily reposition enemies. Hope this helps!

[@DillonMeyer]

I've been enjoying stealth gameplay to some extent in solo play in even bug missions. You can actually create distractions with grenades or even gas strikes. If you go unseen while the grenade or gas strike goes off, enemies will instead investigate the location of the blast instead of you. After a short period of them investigating it, they will be on a "yellow alert", actively searching for what caused the disturbance. If you leave and come back after about a minute, they will have stopped being on alert. You can actually use this to lead away enemies from an objective. The scout teams that hunt you down don't actually know where you are, but are told by the overall mission AI what your proximity is. When they get close, they lose this information and can pass right by you if you are in stealth, and will continue to go a distance away from you until either a second scout spawns and is given that info, or the original scout is given your proximity once again. The longer the mission goes on, the more scouts will exist, and the more units a scout unit might have, making it ultimately more difficult to sneak around the map. On top of all this, scouts can actually spawn very close to you, as they have set zones on the map they are allowed to spawn; not exact points, but areas. They might even spawn literally right behind you; but they STILL don't know you exist until they directly spot you. You can also re-enter stealth during combat, but you need to be a certain proximity away from enemies without giving line of sight or causing any noise. Enemies who were in combat with you that lose you will not go into a "Yellow alert" and will still be in a "red alert", firing where they last think you were. In addition, while enemies are in "Red alert" they are much more easily able to detect you. With enough distance and time, these enemies eventually return to "Yellow alert" but seemingly never stop being that until combat resumes. Larger explosions such as airstrikes or missile barrages will alert enemies to your exact position, even if you're hidden and behind cover. Gas strike and EM strategem are the only two that are immune to this, and instead act like grenades, distracting foes if you stay undetectable. Finally, if someone else in your squad is being loud, you can still be stealthy. Enemies won't consider the whole squad in combat just because one person entered it. They will, however, be in "Red alert" causing stealth to be much more difficult to achieve.

[@hermidon]

A wise man once told me.. "No one can say you're not stealthy if there's no one to live to tell the tale"

[@dubbydan1361]

This is what's missing from Helldivers 2 content. Forget all the info giving/hard core mission whatever channels, give me a silly objective with some fun moments and good commentary any day. Hope to see more :)

[@OutriderPeril]

I've gotten airstrikes and did a lvl 7 airbase sabotage all by myself with infiltrator and SMG. I've never ran into the "Booty patrol" I just had regular patrols going around, their pathing is made to intersect with yours but you can usually go around them easily if you stay crouched and 10 meters away from them. I brought airstrike along because it's the smallest strategem that causes an explosion capable of destroying bunkers and aircraft objectives. Airbase radar station was the hard part, but even those huge outposts are made with stealth in mind. I found a minefield and barbed wire filled back entrance and had to prone walk my way through that before hiding from a patrol that walked through the base. My heart was pounding so much when I got to the top and called the SSSD for the terminal, bots come to investigate the drop but I shot 2 in the head and no more came to investigate. Then I planted the SSSD, blew up the tower and ran off to extract in 34 minutes. Stealth is definitely possible and quite a fun challenge, just make sure your lobby is on friends only so randoms don't drop in and go guns blazing while you're crawling between 3 hulkers

[@mukakruda8474]

As someone who plays a lot of Helldiver missions solo, stealth mode is a must. I still use stratagems when I need to, but its usually for taking out objectives and bailing or to shake stuff off me when I've been caught. Most the time it's just me, my sniper, and marksman rifle Nothing is quite as satisfying as low crawling up to a jammer tower completely undetected, completing it's terminal undetected, then throwing a stratagem down and bailing without ever being noticed. I usually go in with the Smoke on me for fixing a mistake and being detected before it gets out of hand, and a 500kg for objectives and/or if things get totally out of hand

[@legenscar_deyt4333]

Each booty patrol has a commissar. You can engage the patrol without too many issues if you take out the commissar first (they shoot the red flares as a first response to contact. They have a "sword" and a blaster in the other hand. ping them to show what kind of troop they are when in doubt) it gives you time to take down the other bots (just a few seconds before another bot calls a botdrop). Focus on the light units (marauder, trooper etc.) as they can also call in dropships. After that you can engage the heavier troops (devastator, walkers etc) with all the time in the world.

[@ELD-VRC]

THANK YOU! I've been waiting for someone to focus on this

[@RobAlberto_4]

I come for the tips. And I stay for the F-Zero sound track. Big blue I think. Thumps up!

[@Tinytraveler]

Know what sold me on subscribing? That rendition of Fzero music, was awesome

[@Lucca-An-Aspiring-Poet]

It´s this version btw: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXm6eGqHiN93b9E

[@neuroticgothguy]

fun fact the devs confirmed a few things when they did a Q&A/play session with a youtuber where they mentioned the enemy AI and how it reacts/tracks players. they said that all the enemies in the game can detect you via sound, sight and "feeling" (the bugs only, thankfully) and that the "patrols" are alerted by all drop-pods except the initial one you drop in on, everything after that (equipment call-ins, etc), they'll be alerted and move to that location. They have also said that they're looking to add more to the stealth mechanics of the game but that its not a real focus.

[@arctother5176]

Thank you. Recently I did my first stealth solo mission on difficulty 7, I did use strats and not just AMR, but damn it felt amazing to complete a sabotage mission this way AND stay safe at extract with the jump pack and a grip of pink samples.

[@sandllc1361]

I've seen some people do pure stealth missions, it's possible but very very difficult, the easiest one to do pure stealth is the lauch icbm

[@AspectX17]

8:14 small tip, to save bullets on that gun, you can change it to Semi auto, just hold the reload button until you something shows up showing the gun’s settings and what you can change on that gun, and you can also see the exact amount of bullets that are currently in your mag, one thing is that not all guns have this, support weapons don’t usually have this, but it’s worth checking if it does 11:57 bro exposed the fact that he used other stratagems lol (Guard Dog)

[@Caragoner]

Here are some tips i have as a stealth player (i adore it) 1. Not bringing strategems is dumb. Always have an escape plan in your pocket as you will get caught eventually. Use your fuckin resources 2. Dilligance: This DMR is a god send. It has a low sound profile and can one shot small bots, has an adjustable scope, and can 2 tap medium bots if you're fast, not to mention being true semi auto means in a pinch its a good defense as high ammo means it can cleave though butchers fast even at hip fire if you shoot their stomachs 3. Run and gun: Alway keep moving, changing spots, ect. Like you said bots track individually meaning even flubbed stealth can be recovered with a quick brutalist sweep causing no signals. Fast shots win battles. 4. Factories: Factories exploding, oddly, do not alert bots. At best if they see the grenade they'll go on alert. This reduces enemies when sweeping popping up behind you and will save your ass. Just make sure your grenade lands in the hole. 5. Bushes: they suck, they're annoying, they slow you down but also increase your concealment. As a Malevalon Creek vet I have escaped many a patrol diving into bushes after breaking line of sight having tailers walk right past. Just be careful as its not fool proof, as the cover is a bit wonky. 6: Big targets: They aren't worth it. Always go for small bots first to avoid drops as big bots can't call in reinforcements. Hulks and tanks are generally not worth engaging ever, avoid if possible. While they are oppressive they're slow and clunky, keep moving if they know you're there and rely on strategems to hit key objectives or distract (smoke is great for this if you know where you're going)

[@__flyentologist_1_0_7__6]

Idk why more people arent telling you, but you were right. All that happens when the time runs out is that you cant use stratagems and extraction shows up. But extraction wont leave without you. Sometimes we'll call in extraction early, run out and do camps/poi/mini objectives, and then book it back and hop on without having to wait. Also extraction calls in drops like the objectives you were having problems with, so it might honestly be optimal to wait for the game to call it in for you. Idk, you totally had that one mission down, launching the icbm would have been the hardest part tho... That objective is wayyy easier with a full squad

[@thatonguy2407]

If you want to go full stealth, the improved radar booster you can get is extremely effective. Another tip to significantly improve your experience sneaking in HD2 is this: DO NOT TRY TO SLOWLY CLEAR A BASE. If you aren't using stratagems, avoid bases. If your objective is in a base, sneak past the enemies, rather than killing them, or fire off a few shots from outside the base, to draw their attention and then circle around into the base to do your task before they come back. Fighting openly using the AM Rifle or Marksman Rifle is extremely difficult to do on high difficulties. These 2 are the best stealth options in the game, but they cannot handle large groups of enemies in your face. Both have very high damage per shot, but low fire rates and a lot of recoil. To avoid the "Booty Patrol", all you need to do is simply stay on the move and open your map to keep tabs on your vicinity using your radar. I've been able to solo clear every mission type for bots, Eradication aside, solo stealth on Suicide difficulty. If your stealth mission against the bots is taking more than ~20 minutes and you aren't trying to clear the entire map of every base and point of interest, you are playing stealth wrong. Use your map to keep tabs on enemies near you, run from location to location, and break line of sight ASAP if you are detected.

[@asakayosapro]

Fast stealth commando melee takedowns with the ‘throwing’ knife. Actually stealth armor. Suppressed Weapons that don’t attract attention when fired. High accuracy, low rate of fire, or however they can be balanced to not be abusable for normal gameplay, or for other louder weapons to be better at it.

[@darkstormww7479]

13:06 thats why you do your recon in a stealth mission, dont go to unneccesary places if your target isnt there

[@kevinngo6601]

One of my most successful stealth runs with the anti material rifle included picking off the small guys first and then sniping the big guys. The senator is good for stealth bc it kills most enemies in a headshot. Until they release the ninja, “its a stealth mission if no one is alive to report you”

[@actualidiotdum]

"i give my life!! not for honour but for super earth!!"

[@tylersmith9942]

14:40 The council has determined your fate

[@mitchellbenbrook2041]

Did something similar to get one of the rarer achievements (Hold my primary, I'm going in!), ran a blitz mission with only the auto pistol and offensive strategems on hard and it was extremely painful but doable. Gave me a good appreciation for the stealth mechanics such as they are.

[@happylemon999]

I’ve done a lot of stealth myself, never actually noticed the booty patrol. I think one of the issues you have is you commit to doing whatever you were doing whereas it’s easier if you just go back and forth to different objectives and let things cool off. I am almost always running around when I stealth, except when I go in to do something. I always end up with a massive distance covered. Also ends up saving you on time so you don’t get timed out.

[@JohnClam]

"a two foot drop killed me?!" Brother, you dropped at least 15 feet already injured. If you'd stimmed beforehand it would negate fall damage and you'd be fine. The more you know.

[@volvofreak64]

if u would look more carefully before writing something, you can see he has no stims

[@newalo7395]

3:57 what version of big blue?

[@HavocHounds1988]

This challenge I feel is almost impossible now with the increase in enemy patrols with less than 4 players.

[@Jimov]

Loved the FZero theme tune kicking in

[@Concerned_Custodian]

Just starting the video, and just want to mention some stuff I noticed about stealth today. Its really damn good. Seriously, if you've been having trouble with automaton missions, try taking out an enemy from a fair distance away, then going prone in some far off bushes, they'll just shoot in the general direction of the gunshot while checking where you were, giving you time to just go around them entirely or sneak an objective.

[@itzaleaf405]

Another detail I would personally include: Basic infantry are your worst enemy, this goes for all types of play but especially stealth. They're the only ones who *can* call in bot drops/bug breaches. No basic infantry? No reinforcement calls, just other patrols at worst. Meaning it's often better to actively hunt down basic infantry first if you can before taking out heavy infantry/specialists (Devastators, scout strider, Hulk, tanks, etc.), since the biggest issue is that reinforcements can cause things to spiral cause they can also call in more basic infantry who might also get a flare off perpetuating the issue for longer and more bullets than needed.

[@deaneatsgreens]

wait what the heck, this is a really well made video! I was not expecting that. Great job man!

[@marcdoran5994]

I'm pretty sure pelican 1 will hover above the extraction zone until you get there. However, I'm not sure this applies to when you run out of time.

[@Phil-kt6ud]

I feel like using smokes is such an understated mechanic and the coming of silenced weapons and more stealth tools will make this playstyle waaay more viable and fun

[@RCblaze121]

With stealth follow these rules Rule number 1 is stay prone. The range of detection goes up when you stand and crouch. Also you can't get away with as much if your stood or crouched. Lastly it's harder to loose agro if your not prone. (The enemy will loose your position if you prone and hide) Rule 2 is take out bugs & bots who call for reenforcement. Get behind cover and take out priority targets (breaking the line of site of all enemy's other than the one your killing is key.) Rule 3 sound and distractions Throwing grenades can cause the enemy to turn and investigate also killing them while prone will. A lot of the time the enemy will turn to your direction if you shoot or make noises. This doesn't mean your detected it means the've heard something and will try find out Rule 4 don't panic and read the enemy. Read the enemy's movements and mannerisms before shooting. Don't shoot unless shot at. Sometimes the enemy will know your general location but not the exact spot so you'll b able to prone and hide. The more stealth you play and avoiding fights the better you will understand when to fight.

[@miked7728]

Whoa! I didn't know you could get so close to the enemy without them noticing you. I used "stealth" mechanics mainly when I am playing solo and trying to complete a mission without fighting every patrol in between. I also noticed they lose you if you break LOS and hide somewhere, which is super cool. The AI can always be improved, but it is damn impressive as it is right now. So many hidden mechanics and behaviors. Wicked.

[@arxpharms9755]

Look at you blowing up like never before!! Happy for you man i knew you would

[@Gutiotyu]

Here's what I've learnt. When enemy can't see you or haven't detect you and even so if you wore scout armor. If you throw any offensive stratagems the enemy will engage on the pinpoint location of the last known where you thrown it. But you remain unspotted.

[@serijas737]

My wish for Stealth Features: -> Suppressed weapons / Weapons attachments -> Higher Melee Damage from the back and/or Takedowns (Getting locked into animation is shit tho) -> Actual melee weapons (think Energy Knife, stolen tech from bots) -> Sounds / Noise indicator for when you move at the bottom left of your screen with the stats -> 1 Ton Eagle Bomb (for those extra spicy stealth missions)

[@vineveer4358]

All these mechanics are still very useful to know! It helps to get into a good position before starting a fire fight, and it also helps calm an intense mission if you break line of sight and reposition elsewhere. Another consequence is that if you can clear a base fast enough you can clear it by itself without getting swarmed.

[@kasumihimura]

It's actually a little funny how the stealth in Helldivers 1 & 2 are pretty similar. Its arguably easier in the first game because of the top-down perspective limiting the vision of both the enemy and the player, but also enemy patrols seem easier to kill because you can be as loud as possible to make sure a flare isn't put up with limited consequence. Though this is from a person who never went on a helldive and similarly hardest difficulties, so take it with a grain of salt if you know otherwise.

[@strafenone]

Awesome video, since there is a suppressed weapon coming I'm hoping to see a little reworked stealth mechanics. Notes for other snipers and stealth players. The compass turns red and flashes like an alert and you can break contact using terrain, smoke, or various environmental objects like spores or smoke clusters, when you are no longer being hunted it will return to white. [This doesn't mean no-one sees you or isn't attacking just you are not being spawned on with increasing waves] You can tell which enemies are able to call in reinforcements among patrols or positions, for instance Automatons with one arm blade and a pistol, the bugs it's the regular small mobs almost any of them unfortunately, but this makes it easier to avoid or quickly take out dense patrols of smalls or know that you can clear out bigger threats that are alone without consequence. It's better to move place to place often and avoid/break contact before entering a new OBJ, this will make them way less hot. You CAN kill enough enemies to stop an "alert" this really is specific to your position and if you are able to kill quick enough. You can't do this on many OBJs as they actively alert enemies or trigger spawns. "Alerts" cover specific areas and don't track YOU as a player but can follow you if you're keeping aggro, if you go in hit your target the break contact quickly you can avoid direct combat. So while shooting moving then shooting to thin your pursuers is effective you are basically dragging the enemies with you and making it way harder. Visibility effects you and the enemy almost equally, it's more in your favor though, so as the weather changes it's easier to avoid them. Patrols and spawn frequency is directly tied to time in game, possibly directly tied to time AFTER completion of the main objectives and % of completion, the more you've done the more the enemy tries to stop you. If you are swarmed at an objective instead of dying and holding position, break contact or draw the enemy away then return, you can significantly reduce the density of outposts and buy time to complete your tasks. Enemies seem to have a spawn limit, you can have another team or player get aggro and take away tougher enemies across the map making clearing outposts a breeze.

[@Chingloves]

I love playing as a sniper/spotter/stealth role. Jetpack up to a high point to cover my team. Its really satisfying. especially when taking out big targets with a well aimed rifle shot or two

[@gaboderflinger7854]

Melee weapons would be awesome for sneaky players. . . Also you can use the ballistic shield with the submachine gun in semi-auto and it’s awesome against automatons.

[@igoshan9664]

Ballistic is hella buggy You do something that uses a completely different animation? Get stuck in an A pose. Plus sometimes enemies hit bullshit shots that leave you wondering "how the fuck did that hit me?"

[@wulfleyn6498]

I think the lightest scout armors would be best as they provide just a bit more speed to get through a mission faster.

[@bookofgrim]

stealth is mercy, and mercy is treason

[@TheVoracity]

Just to share, even if you run out of time and the emergency pickup is called in, you actually can still go complete whatever objectives you want. You'll just have to do it without any sort of stratagems, which really isn't an issue with this sort of challenge since you already weren't using them.

[@Queue3612]

From my experience: Running in LOS of the enemy will get you spotted EASILY, even with the scout armour. Crouching makes you way more hidden. Its only the small bots that call reinforcments, and only if they actually see you OR if the base/objective they are guarding is attacked. This makes them #1 priority in killing first. If there are multiple near eachother, hide and block line of sight so they only see you right as you kill them, shooting them before they shoot their flare interupts them. Enemy knowledge on your location (with the exception of patrols) is based on when any one of them last saw you. They all share knowledge, if one sees you others will move in to engage but only the ones that can activly see you know where you are. Otherwise they dont know where you are exactly ( they can still here gunshots and investigate on that. ), only your last know position and i think they look around a bit before returning to their post. Patrols will just spawn in and go right for you even if no one has seen you. Once i was about to extract, only 4 footmen spread out guarding the evac point when 2 patrols both spawned in at once on both sides of the evac point and came right for me. If you ever see a patrol. MOVE. You can use the map marker to sort of scout ahead and watch were enemies are, i have watched them sprint right to where i was. I think maybe getting into a fight, even if they dont call reinforcements, has a higher chance of a patrol coming over to investigate. Sometimes statagems alert enemies, sometimes they dont. I have used the laser stratagem to take out the airbases and when it blows up the aircraft they send up flares, but then i tried to use 500kg on the air control tower, nothing, i use the laser, it kills almost every bot in the facility except for the forward defence posts outside, again nothing. I think maybe its tied to if the objective is destroyed they call them in as to destroy the tower you need to use the SSSD and the terminal, you cant just bomb it. So im not certain on how stratagems come into this..

[@R3TR0J4N]

I'm happy they're adding suppressor and subsonic rounds, I'll fleshed out the stealth mechanic of the game since it'll be helpful for higher difficulties. I know people often go loud but having this option is a welcome one

[@CyFed_Republic_of_Kaltovar]

I was wondering when someone was gonna make a video about this! You can stealth SURPRISINGLY far in this game.

[@starbomber]

I appreciate the Snake Eater music for this. Truly tactical espionage action. :P Edit: 5:30 It's especially annoying in the Terminid missions because terminid booty patrols are full of Hunters, who are as fast as a Helldiver (and faster than one wearing heavy armor!)