Who are The Illuminate in Helldivers 2? Rumoured new faction explained

Every blockbuster now comes with the expectation of post-credits or after-credits scenes that either serve as sequel teases or joke-filled stingers.

Although the general playerbase of has picked up a number of important victories in the ongoing Galactic War, the newest Major Order could prove to be an all but impossible task. Serving as the main system that pushes the ongoing narrative of forwards, the Galactic War measures the playerbase's collective efforts on multiple fronts of a galaxy-spanning conflict, with Major Orders representing major pushes against one enemy faction.

As players continue spreading the message of Super Earth across an assortment of deadly planets, their quest to spread democracy just became a lot easier thanks to the game's latest update. Shortly after Arrowhead Studios' latest project launched, the developer issued a content patch that added a bevy of environmental hazards like vicious lightning storms and the extremely potent fire tornados that can be found on Hellmire. These additions proved to be especially difficult for players to overcome so it comes as good news that they've been adjusted.

Helldivers 2 players have served heroically in the ongoing intergalactic war effort, turning out in their millions to patriotically defend Super Earth from the external threats of both Bug and Bot. But reports have begun to trickle in about a new enemy faction moving in the shadows, or perhaps more appropriately, the return of an old nemesis, one known as The Illuminate. Some even suspect they already walk among us, which is obviously defeatist nonsense.

Patch 10.2.6 adds new meta achievements for some of Dragonflight's main factions. These meta-achievements reward players for completing the activities from each faction, and each rewards a new mount.

As more people get Steam Decks and other handheld PC consoles, which are much easier to share among households than a PC, it was integral for Valve to make its generally barebones family-sharing settings more robust. On Monday, the company announced that Steam Families is now available in beta, adding more features for people who want to share games or control access on the platform.

Super Earth's galactic war in never rests and based on some recent clips, the fight is about to become a whole lot more frantic. Following the game's launch, the community has already been spread thin fighting on two separate fronts in an effort to push back the enemy forces of the insectioid aliens known as the Terminids and the deadly robots called the Automatons. If that wasn't challenging enough a third faction is seemingly creeping into but it should be familair to anyone who played the original game.

While most Helldivers 2 players are busy fending off the Terminids and Automatons, some believe they have seen evidence that a third faction called the Illuminate are on their way.

Keep your head down, Helldiver, blue sniper beams (that may or may not exist) are rampant. Helldivers 2 players have been sharing footage of what seems like a new unfriendly faction in the game, though the shooter's director is determined to suppress such anti-democratic lies. 

Helldivers 2's Cutting Edge Premium warbond, aka DLC battle pass, is now available to buy in-game, and it is chock-full of oddball gadgetry such as lightning shotguns, burst-fire laser rifles and experimental armour. As with the Arc Thrower stratagem, the lightning shotgun fires arcs of electricity that conduct between players and enemies alike, but there's a fresh armour perk, Electrical Conduit, which reduces arc damage by 95%, allowing close-knit teams of Helldivers to roll around the battlefield frazzling themselves without much penalty.

Helldivers 2 players who literally want to watch the world burn have put forward a spicy suggestion for a new Stratagem, which sounds like it has the potential to be incredibly powerful, if not massively risky for your fellow teammates. Enter the idea of the Guard Dog Flamethrower – an auto-firing companion bot that can spew flames whenever it wants, at whatever it wants.

Stellar Blade's very NSFW character skin makes the action-RPG much harder if you're down bad enough to equip it.