Summary
For months,Helldivers 2players have reported seeingcloaked warshipsandblue lasers, with illegally leaked broadcasts claiming thata mysterious enemy known as the Illuminate is on the horizon. Something tougher than the Automatons and Terminid is about to crash into the galactic war.
Spoilers for the Illuminate follow.
Prominent leaker IronS1ghts has revealed the first look at this new foe, returning from the original game in more detail than ever. They’re aquatic, squid-like creatures with mouths made from writhing tentacles, with a blue gem lodged in their forehead which will no doubt be their weak point.
However, we know from the first game that the Illuminate use high-tech energy shields to defend themselves, so landing such a hit won’t be as easy as it sounds. Although, a good old-fashioned orbital strike might do the trick.
Who Are The Illuminate?
The Illuminate, AKA the Squi’ith, are an ancient alien civilisation who dress in ceremonial robes and use psionic barriers and projectiles. They even have advanced cloaking technology, meaning that they can turn invisible on the battlefield (or in the skies, as we’ve seen with the ominous shadows cast over moons by their unseen warships).
In the first game, the Illuminate offered Super Earth a peace treaty, but our government declined as it feared their obliterator bombs. Now, it’s claimed that they were wiped out by the year 2184–although, this is just propaganda. Evidence of them still being out there, stalking us, is aplenty.
If you want more detail, check outour explainer here.
Not only have we seen their cloaked ships and psionic weaponry in Helldivers 2 already, but a leaked broadcast was intercepted by the community in which we hear a trooper screaming about “tentacles”. That sounds a lot like the Illuminate.
When exactly we can expect them to arrive isn’t clear, but more and more information on them is being datamined, so it’s likely that they’ll join the galactic war soon. In the meantime, we have the Automatons and Terminid to deal with, both of whom are spiralling out of control,liberating their Cyborg mastersand leaving behindenormous tunnels only a Hive Lord could fill.
Helldivers 2
Helldivers 2 is the sequel to the third-person shooter from Arrowhead Game Studios. This time out, the Helldivers are deep in the Galactic War, and it’s up to you to bring Managed Democracy to the masses.
