Objectives

Objective Types
In any given mission, a random selection of Objectives are assigned. Most objectives must be completed, though a few can be failed; failing an objective reduces XP and influence accordingly. Additionally, objectives may require you to search an area to locate them, with the size of the area varying from mission to mission, though the Humblebee UAV drone can reveal the location of objectives when upgraded.

There are two other ways to locate hidden objectives without the Humblebee UAV:
 * Use your map to locate a group of patrols. If you see a clump of red dots, there is a good chance there's an objective nearby. This requires some degree of stealth on the part of the Helldiver attempting it, as triggering an alarm will quickly fill the map with more red dots than a Predator rave party.
 * Some terrain elements (specific rock formations, volcanoes) tend to spawn in predictable configurations with specific objectives. For example, large clusters of Bug Nests will often be hidden near a long, vertical mountain ridge.

As with Stratagem Beacons, an active or threatened objective tends to draw a great deal of attention from enemy patrols. Whilst the degree varies from objective to objective, caution should be exercised. Prepare defenses before activating Launchpads or Geological Surveys, and be ready to fend off incoming enemies!

Exterminate
The most simple objective available; kill a specific number of enemies. The quantity of enemies that must be killed depends on the threat level of the planet, ranging from as low as 40 or 50 to as high as 200. Numbers are usually double this for Retaliatory Strikes, in which this is the only objective (besides Extract).

During a Retaliatory Strike, a large kill counter (with progress bar) will appear at the top of the screen.



Destroy
Each faction has its own spin on this otherwise-simple task;
 * For the Cyborgs, you must destroy three AA Guns that are protected by a jamming field. This requires using anti-tank weapons, or you can disable the generator; this will temporarily shut down the jamming field and allow the use of stratagems.
 * For the Bugs, you must destroy between two and five Nests. Whilst the nests are not heavily guarded, activity near them is sure to draw attention from scouts; be prepared to deal with them quickly before they can summon bigger, angrier bugs.
 * For the Illuminate, you must destroy a pair of shielded Beacons. The shield is strong enough to withstand the blast of a Hellbomb, so the shields must be disabled first; this is accomplished by shooting the shield with any conventional weapon.

Destroy Objectives can also be eliminated using most anti-tank weapons and stratagems, such as (but not limited to): Note that not all weapons and stratagems are effective against all targets, particularly if the area of effect for their Anti-Tank or Explosive element is especially small. While the MLS-4X Commando can theoretically destroy objectives, its missiles require precise angle and distance as they do not home in on objectives; to make things worse, any nearby enemies will attract the missiles instead.
 * Anti-tank Supply stratagems:
 * EAT&#8209;17 Expendable Anti-Tank weapons;
 * REC-6 Demolisher satchel charges;
 * RL-112 Recoilless Rifle shots;
 * M-25 Rumbler mortar grenades.
 * The anti-tank rounds fired by the AT-47 Anti-Tank Emplacement and several vehicles:
 * The EXO-51 Lumberer Exosuit's cannon arm;
 * The M5-32 HAV Heavy Assault Vehicle's turret;
 * The TD-110 Bastion Tank Destroyer's main gun.
 * Anti-tank capable Offensive stratagems:
 * Vindicator Dive Bomb (when upgraded to the Mk3 'Vindicator Bunker Buster Bomb')
 * Airstrike
 * Missile Barrage
 * Thunderer Barrage
 * Shredder Missile Strike

Also note that the only attack stratagems capable of destroying a shielded Illuminate Beacon are the Thunderer Barrage and Shredder Missile Strike; the Missile Barrage's spread is random and it will occasionally manage it, but all other approaches require the beacon's shield be disabled first.

Nests and Beacons may require searching an area; Beacons emit a distinct electrical hum that will help you easily identify when you are close to them. AA Guns never require searching.

Lone Cyborg AA Guns can also be found on most missions in Cyborg territory, and will project a small jamming field of their own. As the single AA Guns are not powered by generators that can be disabled, their radar jamming is only shut down when they are destroyed. For this reason, non-objective Cyborg AA Guns are not vulnerable to the NUX-223 Hellbomb or any of the Offensive anti-tank stratagems: none of those can be used their vicinity. Anti-tank weapons remain a viable option.

Retrieve
Simple, in theory; Retrieve objectives task you with recovering a Black Box or Illuminate Power Core and bringing it to the randomly-placed bunker. Whilst carrying the item in question, a Helldiver can only use one-handed weapons such as pistols (like the P&#8209;2 Peacemaker or LAS-16 Tanto), SMGs (like the SMG-45 Defender) and the sawn-off DBS-2 Double Freedom.

The carrier cannot get into vehicles (nor store the objective in a free seat) or use stratagem beacons without dropping the box. Going prone or engaging the LIFT-850 Jump Pack will drop the objective where the Helldiver was standing. This can also be used to drop a Retrieve objective off at the bunker instead of using the Interact command ('X' on the PlayStation).

The above carrying mechanics also apply to the artillery shells players are required to locate and load to complete the Artillery objective.

Retrieve objectives can be failed by dropping the item into an inaccessible area, such as a bottomless pit, lava pool, etc.

Both Black Boxes and Power Cores may sometimes need to be searched for. Power Cores are typically easier to locate, as they are always surrounded by the 'structure' shown in the image below, while lost Black Boxes are typically found near the corpse of an unfortunate Super Earth Regular Army soldier.

Escort
There are two variations on the Escort objective: Survivors, and the Resource Convoy;
 * Survivors must be found at a crashed shuttle and brought to the bunker; there will be four Survivors in total. They are slow, unarmed, and have only minimal protection - but they are oddly immune to most slowing hazards (such as snow or deep water) and can walk through an Obelisk's wall.
 * Resource Convoys are slow and follow a fixed route (indicated as a grey line on the map, and a visible track on the terrain). They will stop moving if an enemy or Helldiver comes into extremely close proximity. Once the convoy is parked safely within its bunker, the objective is complete.

Enemies will ignore Survivors and Convoys until a Helldiver interacts with them, though stray shots and the like can still injure (or even kill) Survivors. Survivors can be knocked down and helped up just like Helldivers, though as Survivors and Resource Convoys are vulnerable to friendly fire, care should be taken around them.

Survivors will automatically die/despawn if left behind.

Escort objectives can be failed if all four Survivors die, or if the Resource Convoy is destroyed. Even if only one Survivor makes it to the bunker or the Convoy is damaged, XP is not deducted for 'partial' completion.

It is sometimes necessary to search for the crash site when escorting Survivors.

There is a bug which can sometimes occur if Survivors are still active off-screen while one or more have already entered the bunker. This is triggered when the Helldivers move too far away past the bunker before the off-screen Survivor manages to get inside. The bug can lead to Survivors getting stuck outside of the playable area (still showing up on the map), which prevents the mission objective from being completed or failed with no Extraction possible. Therefore, it is good practice to make sure that all Survivors following you end up either safely inside or safely splattered before moving on.

Deploy
There are several variants on this type of objective;
 * SAM Sites: Deploy and activate between one and three surface-to-air missile launcher turrets. Each site has two input stages; the first stage is the same for every SAM site (up-down-down-up), the second stage is randomized and fairly long. Once all the sites are activated, the objective is complete.
 * Truth Transmitter: usually seen in Cyborg territory, these individual sites have four stages; hold, input, hold, input. The input stages are always the same. Second: up-up-down-left-left-up-up-right-up. Fourth: down-down-up-down-down-down-left-down-up-down-down.
 * Oil Pump: Similar to the Truth Transmitter, almost always found in Bug territory, and occasionally found in pairs. Otherwise, they have the same hold-input-hold-input activation as Truth Transmitters, with random input stages.
 * Artillery: Repair and fire an artillery piece. Four stages; input, hold, load, input. The input phases are random each time. For the 'load' stage, three shells must be recovered from the environment and placed near the loading conveyor at the rear of the gun. Completing the second input stage ("Aim Artillery") will display the location of the artillery shells on the map. Once the fourth stage (a long, randomized input) is complete, the gun will fire and the objective will be marked as completed. Note that the mechanics for carrying the Black Box or Power Core Retrieval objectives apply to Helldivers lugging around artillery shells as well. This includes the potential for failing the objective, if they happen to fall off a cliff while holding a shell.
 * Perform Geological Survey: One of the harder objectives as it requires guarding the objective whilst also interacting with a panel, Helldivers must deploy a drilling rig that will run a survey. This is a hold-input-hold-input-input sequence; the first input is short and random starting with down-down-down, the second input phase is long and random, and the last input stage being the same for every Survey (right-down-up-left).
 * Missile Launchpad: A simple defend/holdout; interact with a panel and defend the missile for one minute and thirty seconds. If the missile is destroyed it will explode violently, killing everything in a small radius around it. Often appears surrounded by water on swamp planets, which will make defending this objective much harder.

Geological Surveys and Missile Launchpads can be failed if the survey rig or missile are destroyed, docking XP accordingly. Missile Launchpads will self-destruct if Helldivers run too far from them, but Geological Surveys will not. All other Deploy objectives (other than the Artillery) will revert to their base state if left unattended for too long, but otherwise cannot be failed.

A Geological Survey drilling rig can be destroyed by enemies (or friendly fire) after the objective is complete, but this will not mark the objective as failed. The survey rig can even provide a useful distraction whilst the Helldiver team moves on to their next objective, though enemy Scouts will continue to be alerted by it as long as it is in the line of sight of a Helldiver.

Defuse
Helldivers must use the ME-1 'Sniffer' Metal Detector to find between three and five unexploded mortar shells within (or just outside of) the marked area, then interact and defuse with each shell. Using the wrong input will cause the shell to explode; this is instantly lethal to any Helldiver who is not wearing an SH-20 Shield Generator Pack or protected by the Displacement Field Perk, and can kill any nearby Helldivers (or enemies) too.

Undetonated explosives cannot be set off by gunfire, grenades, or other explosives; even a Shredder Missile Strike won't set them off.

The area that must be searched (and number of explosives) increases with difficulty. Even if none of the explosives are disarmed successfully, as long as they have been disposed of, the objective is a success; no XP is docked if any have accidentally been set off.

Assassinate
Helldivers must seek out and kill a Warlord, Council Member, or Brood Commander, by any means necessary. Council Members and Brood Commanders can be killed with small arms, but the Warlord will require more serious firepower, such as high-power precision or plasma weapons. Anti-tank weapons and stratagems are the safest option for taking it out.

An achievement/trophy can be earned if the player kills either an Illuminate Council Member or a Bug Brood Commander by running them over with the M5 APC or M5-32 HAV; using the TD-110 Bastion will not work.

Assassinate targets will roam around like a scout patrol, but their objective icon follows them wherever they go.

Capture
The Helldiver team must secure the area around a flag post and hold out until it is captured. Whilst capturing the flag, a bar will appear to show progress, and the flag will raise (or lower) accordingly; Helldivers must stay within a set area or the capture process will quickly reverse. This greatly restricts the Helldiver's freedom of movement. In solo play, dying will also drain most of the capture bar until the auto-reinforce Hellpod has touched down.

When enemies are within the capture area, the capture rate is greatly slowed (but not completely halted) and the text over the flag will change to 'Clear Area' until all enemies too close to the objective have been neutralized. Capturing these objectives can therefore turn into a grueling ordeal if the alarm is raised and enemy troops start to deploy in large numbers. Keeping patrols from spotting you while you are capturing the objective is advised, especially on higher difficulties. Attempting a capture objective while being tailed by a horde of alerted enemies is not.

On swamp worlds, these flags have a high chance of showing up surrounded by areas of water which decreases the Helldiver's mobility unless they happen to be equipped with a LIFT-850 or the All-Terrain Boots.

Extract
The final objective of any mission, Helldivers must complete a short input sequence (always six button presses, randomized) and then hold out for one minute and thirty seconds until the shuttle arrives. During this time, enemy patrols will swarm towards the extraction beacon in force from across the entire area of operations; scouts should be swiftly eliminated to prevent stronger enemy forces from being called in and potentially jeopardizing the extraction.

Once the shuttle lands, the team has approximately twenty seconds to get aboard before it takes off again. Whilst Extraction cannot be failed, XP and Galactic Campaign influence are reduced if Helldivers are left behind, so it is important to make sure everyone makes it on board.

The only exceptions to the 90-second Extraction waiting time are:
 * 1) After successfully defeating an enemy Master (Bug Hive Lord, Illuminate Great Eye or Cyborg Siegemech), the shuttle will arrive almost immediately.
 * 2) During the training mission (the tutorial), the waiting time is reduced to 30 seconds.