How to Unlock Premium Warbonds in Helldivers 2 Without Spending a Cent

Helldivers 2 kicked up quite a storm when it launched with a “premium” progression path – one that included not only cosmetics but also side-grades of weapons. But is the premium Warbond pay to win, or is there another way to earn everything in-game?

How to Unlock the Premium Warbond in Helldivers 2

In Helldivers 2, new cosmetics and weapons are locked behind the Warbond battle passes, accessed via Acquisitions on a player’s ship. At the time of writing, there are two Warbonds: the premium Warbond, “Steeled Veterans,” and the free Warbond, “Helldivers Mobilize.”

The free Warbond pass is immediately available when starting the game and is progressed by earning Medals, rewarded for completing Operation missions, exploring planets, and from your Daily tasks. If you complete this Warbond, you’ll earn 800 Super Credits – nearly enough to snag the premium Warbond, which costs 1000 Super Credits. 

Helldivers 2 gives you the option to purchase Super Credits with your irl dollar bills to make up for those extra missing 200 Super Credits needed to unlock the premium Warbond, but spending money isn’t necessary. You can actually earn Super Credits by just playing the game. In fact, you’ll have those extra Super Credits in no time if you go out of your way to explore a little during missions.

How to Earn Super Credits In-Game

The first, most immediately obvious source of Super Credits is in the free “Helldivers Mobilize” Warbond pass. The next is to explore downed supply pods, bunkers, and sealed containers on the planet itself. There is a small chance you’ll be able to harvest Super Credits from such sources at a pace of 10 to 20 Super Credits per resource. 

Keep an eye out for orange beacons when exploring: these are points of interest with Medals, Samples, Super Credits, or weapons. If you happen to find a planet’s Radar Station, it’ll highlight all points of interest for you. The diamond icons on the map after activating a Radar Station are potential sources of Super Credits, so it might be worth a detour if you find yourself with extra mission time.

Also worth noting is that the premium Warbond, “Steeled Veterans,” grants 300 additional Super Credits upon completion. The premium path is much grindier than the free one, however, and since both use the same currency (Medals), I’d recommend progressing the premium pass after the free one.

Helldivers 2 Premium Warbond

Once you unlock the premium Warbond in Helldivers 2, you’ll gain access to three pages of new cosmetics and weapons. In total, there are an extra 24 items to snag, and you’ll need to use Medals to claim them, just as you would with the free Warbond. Some of these items include

• 4 weapons.
• 3 sets of armor.
• a grenade.
• a booster.
• 3 emotes.
• 300 Super Credits.

When you purchase the premium Warbond, whether via grinding or with real money, it’ll be yours to access permanently. There is no time limit for purchasing and progressing through Warbonds (both premium and free), so take as much time as you need to work through them. Presumably, more premium Warbonds will be added in the future, so if you want to conserve your hard-earned Super Credits for future content, that’s a valid option, and you won’t miss out on anything.

For more guidance on Helldivers 2’s premium DLC and upgrades, check our guide to the “Super Citizen” DLC.