Summary

While you are fighting on the various battlefields ofHelldivers 2, it is nice to have some interaction with your friends or random players that you meet through the game. Luckily, there are a small number of free emotes that you can unlock by playing the game, each allowing you to express yourself in a variety of ways.

Currently, all of these emotes can be used with another player, allowing for a short but cute moment of interaction in an otherwise intense scenario. If you are curious about all the emotes you can unlock in the game, and which are the best, then look no further.

An image from Helldivers 2 of the Explosive Handshake Emote, where you fistbump with another players.

Almost all the emotes in Helldivers 2 are available throughpurchasing Warbonds,or battle passes, with Super Credits and require a unique currency, named Medals, to unlock items. Luckily, these Warbonds are not time-limited, so if you happen to purchase a Warbond, you’ll have all the time in the world to unlock the items.

6Explosive Handshake

This emote involves a handshake between you and another player, similar to something that you and your childhood best friend would have made up when you were both kids. This emote starts with two players bumping their fists together in a series of directions, then pretending that their fist bump ends with a fake explosion.

Sadly, while the general theme of the emote is certainly stellar, the animation is not fluid whatsoever. Whenever the emote animation ends, your character will snap back into their typical pose, which is extremely jarring to look at.

An image from Helldivers 2 of the Casual Salute Emote, which features two characters holding their fists in the air.

5Casual Salute

Currently, the Casual Salute is the only emote in the game that can be used either with a partner or completely by yourself. The Casual Salute is the starter emote in the game, meaning that every player will have access to this simple animation.

Specifically, activating this emote will cause your character to raise their fist towards their head, while also turning their hand around. This emote is best used to create some beautiful screenshots of your playable character raising his fist while on the battlefield.

An image from Helldivers 2 of the High-Five Emote, where two soldiers bump chests with each other.

4High-Five

While this emote may be named High-Five, the emote features a completely different way of expressing love and admiration for your teammates. Whenever someone activates this emote, their soldier will stand still and hold their hand out for a teammate to interact with.

If you choose to also activate this emote, then your two characters will interlock hands, and forcefully bump your chests and helmets together. While this emote’s name may be false advertising, the actual animation is well done and showcases how real-life soldiers may share affection.

An image from Helldivers 2 of the Scout Handshake, where you pretend to look at the horizon.

3Scout Handshake

While most of the emotes in Helldiver’s 2 allow you to positively interact with your friends or random players, the Scout Handshake is the only one in the game that can be used to troll other players. This emote is similar to others, since it starts with a soldier holding out his hand to offer a handshake.

However, when the other player attempts to shake your soldier’s hand, your character will suddenly pull away and pretend to scout out the surrounding area with his hand over his head. This emote is fantastic, because it allows you to make fun of your comrades and enjoy the calmer moments in between battles.

An image from Helldivers 2 of the Hug Emote, featuring two soldiers embracing.

2Hug

Nothing beats a good hug, and who says you can’t embrace your comrades on the battlefield? With the hug emote, your character will spread their arms wide and wait for another person to interact with them, causing the two of you to embrace.

There is truly something delightful seeing two soldiers in full combat armor embrace one another, so we recommend unlocking this emote as quickly as possible to show respect and love for your fellow soldiers.

An image from Helldivers 2 of the Rock Paper Scissors Emote, where you can challenge another player to a game.

1Rock Paper Scissors

The Rock Paper Scissors emoteis easily the most expansive emote currently in Helldivers 2 since you can fully compete against another player wherever you are in the game. Specifically, the emote features a best two-out-of-three battle of rock paper scissors, where you can select which of the three options you want to use.

By selecting either rock, paper, or scissors, your character will enact one of three different animations, and a voice line will play depending on who wins the current round or match. While it may not be smart to slack off in the heat of battle, there is something hilarious about competing over a children’s game whilefighting off an alien horde.