Helldivers 2 gets a selection of excellent fleet upgrades, including one that'll reduce the cooldown of all Stratagems thanks to the power of paid bathroom breaks

Helldivers 2
(Image credit: Sony)

A handful of new Super Destroyer upgrades are now available for liberty-loving Helldivers 2 players, including one that will reduce the cooldown of your Stratagems thanks to "enthusiasm enhancement initiatives" like paid bathroom breaks. Super Earth's Ministry of Defence is so generous. 

Rolled out today along with the deployment of a new patch, there are six new fleet upgrades to unlock. In no particular order, these are Advanced Crew Training, Cross-Platform Compatibility (which isn't what it sounds like, but more on that below), Morale Augmentation, Streamlined Launch Process, High-Density Explosives, and Payroll Management System. 

As with many of Helldivers 2's fleet upgrades, the names aren't all indicative of what they actually do – Payroll Management System, for example, reduces the reload time of all support weapons by 10%, thanks to the introduction of accounting software "freeing up HR associates to lubricate support weapons in their spare time." This sounds like it'll tie in well with Streamlined Launch Process, which reduces deployment time of support weapon Stratagems by allowing them to launch immediately once called in. 

Morale Augmentation is arguably one of the stars of the show, as it reduces the cooldown of all Stratagems by 5%, which is beneficial for absolutely everyone. After previous fleet upgrades removed safety systems for everyone's favorite character, it's rather refreshing to see this one take a kinder approach to the loyal Super Earth citizens, as it'll "Boost overall crew efficiency with a suite of proven enthusiasm enhancement initiatives, such as citizenship anniversary celebrations and paid lavatory breaks."

Otherwise, the Cross-Platform Compatibility upgrade sounds pretty amazing. It has nothing to do with the game's current platforms, but will instead make Mortar Sentries prioritize their fire at marked targets, which should make your turrets much more useful. 

Finally, Eagle Rearm cooldown can now be reduced by a further 10% thanks to Advanced Crew Training, and High-Density Explosives will make your orbital Stratagems even more deadly by boosting the damage radius on their explosions by 10%. Just be sure not to get caught up in that. 

All in all, there are some great additions here that look well worth unlocking if you want to enhance your delivery of Managed Democracy. And hey, even if you're not bothered about the actual buffs, at least consider the Morale Augmentation one, even if only to let your poor crew get paid bathroom breaks. 

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Catherine Lewis
News Writer

I'm one of GamesRadar+'s news writers, who works alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.