Spreading 'Managed Democracy' is more than participating in our democratic elections. At times you need to load a magazine of Liberty and cast your votes in the battlefield around you. But like voting for the 2nd party, a wasted bullet wastes our precious Managed Democracy. Just as on Super Earth that you are defending, your elected officials will let you how to best cast your vote with each mission.
In any given mission, a random selection of Objectives are assigned. Primary objectives must be completed, though secondary objectives can be failed and/or missed; failing an objective reduces XP and Requisition gained accordingly.
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 ICBM launch sites or Geological Surveys, and be ready to fend off incoming enemies!
Locating Objectives[ | ]
Some objective types may require you to search an area to locate them, with the size of the area varying from mission to mission, though they appear as blinking question marks '?' in your map once you are in close proximity to them. With the UAV Recon Booster, this range is much larger and can be seen further away.
There are two other ways to locate hidden objectives without these:
- Use your map to locate a group of patrols. If you see a large clump of stationary red dots, there is a good chance they are guarding 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.
- Unmarked Tactical Objectives always have recognizable landmarks (specific rock formations, signal towers, concrete/metal fortifications, etc.) and tend to spawn in predictable configurations with specific objectives. For example, the Radar Tower will always have an un-raised radar dish on its tower and can usually be seen from far away.
- In line with the previous strategy, identifying these landmarks may allow Helldivers to ping them from a distance. Successfully doing so will cause the Strategic Objective to appear on the radar for all Helldivers in the mission.
Extraction[ | ]
These objectives are Mission Critical. Helldivers only move forward to victory, we will not retreat even against overwhelming firepower, superior numbers, or unfavorable weather conditions. As such, extraction only becomes available once victory is secured.
See Extraction for in-depth details[ | ]
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| Icon | Objective | Difficulties |
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Trivial (1) and Easy (2)
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Easy (2) +
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Easy (2) - (Defensive Campaign Only) and Medium (3) +
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Medium (3) +
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Retrieve Essential Personnel - (Defensive Campaign Only)
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Trivial (1) +
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Evacuate High-Value Assets - (Defensive Campaign Only)
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Hard (5) +
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Varies - See page for specific details
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Terminid Primary Objectives[ | ]
| Icon | Objective | Difficulties |
|---|---|---|
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Trivial (1) +
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Activate Terminid Control System
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Easy (2) +
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Easy (2) +
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Easy (2) and Medium (3)
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Enable E-710 Extraction
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Challenging (4) +
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Challenging (4) +
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Automaton Primary Objectives[ | ]
| Icon | Objective | Difficulties |
|---|---|---|
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Destroy Transmission Network
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Easy (2) +
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Sabotage Supply Bases
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Easy (2) +
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Sabotage Air Base
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Easy (2) and Medium (3)
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Challenging (4) +
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Tactical Objectives[ | ]
Tactical Objectives are optional objectives that can be found during active missions. The amount of Tactical Objectives that spawn during a mission depends on the difficulty, having up to 5 appear at maximum. While completely optional, these objectives hold effects that can either boost the players or be a hindrance during the mission. Every objective completed will reward the player with 
200 Requestion Slips and 
50 XP at a base rate, with end-of-game XP multipliers boosting these numbers depending on the difficulty.
| Icon | Objective | Effect While Active | Effect After Completion |
|---|---|---|---|
Shared Tactical Objectives | |||
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No Effect
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No Effect
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Radar Station
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Reveals the location of all other Tactical Objectives and undiscovered Points of Interest
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Allows the players to use the shells they loaded into the cannon as a new, shared stratagem
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Terminid-Specific Tactical Objectives | |||
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Stalker Lair
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Releases Stalkers to hunt players down
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Stalkers cease to spawn from that location
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Releases Shriekers to patrol the surrounding area when players come within 130m
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Shriekers cease to spawn from that location
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Creates a dense fog in a large area
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Fog will lift almost immediately
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Automaton-Specific Tactical Objectives | |||
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Scans the horizon for Helldivers. Consistently spawns dropships upon detection.
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Ceases Hostile Engagement
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Jams all uses of Stratagems (including Reinforce) in a 150m radius
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Disables the use of Eagle Stratagems within a 150m radius - engages (but misses) Eagles doing active bombing/strafe runs elsewhere
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Mortar Emplacement | Actively bombards players within a 20m - 150m radius
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None - Inactive
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Attempts to engage dropships
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Spawns Gunships that will engage players on sight
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Gunships cease to spawn from that location
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Enemy Outposts[ | ]
An Outpost is a location on the map that holds hostile spawners. The Automatons have Fabricators 
while Terminids have Nests 
. Similar to Secondary Objectives, destroying enemy outposts is entirely optional but grants additional mission rewards. Bigger outposts are more rewarding but are also guarded better and harder to destroy. Higher difficulties will have higher chances to spawn large outposts, but the total number of outposts is unaffected by difficulty. Specific mission types may have more or fewer outposts on the map, however. Outposts are split into three categories: Small, Medium, and Large.
- Small: Typically only hosts 1-3 Nests; 1 Fabricator
- Medium: Typically hosts 3-5 Nests; 1-2 Fabricators
- Large: Typically hosts 5-9 Nests; 3-4 Fabricators
It should be noted that contrary to semi-popular belief, the more outposts the players destroy in a mission, the more enemies will spawn.