The Shield Generator Pack is a go-to survivability Stratagem for almost any mission in Helldivers 2. It’s easy to use and allows you to tank a great amount of damage in heated encounters.
But there aren’t many alternatives to the Shield Pack, apart from Stratagems like the Ballistic Shield or Jump Pack, which are way more situational. “We need things that are going to directly help us otherwise all the loadouts I see will keep including the shield pack,” a Helldivers 2 fan wrote in a Reddit thread on May 19, alongside a few ideas they would love to see in the game.
Reddit user u/Liqhthouse mentioned multiple Stratagems from the original Helldivers game that could make a nice addition to the sequel. One of these Stratagems is the REP-80, which is a healing beam that can heal allies and repair defenses.
Another suggestion is the AD-289 Angel. It’s a drone like the Guard Dogs, but it heals you and your allies instead of killing enemies. “Considering that the guardian dogs shoot me anyway they might as well heal me,” one fan jokingly wrote in the comments, and it couldn’t be more true.
The last Stratagem on the list is the Displacement Field. The field teleports you when you take heavy damage, allowing you to escape to safety in an emergency. It may sound like a situational tool, but as long there’s a way to use it quickly and frequently, it could bring some much-needed competition to the Shield Generator Pack.
Several players also pointed out that apart from mitigating damage, the Shield Generator Pack also prevents stagger and slow effects, which is a game-changer on high-difficulty missions where you can get shredded by enemies in a second.
It’s hard to say if any Stratagem will be able to top the Shield Pack in this department. Still, since we’re getting items like the Motivational Shocks booster from the latest Polar Patriots Warbond booster that helps with slow effects, we might see more defensive utilities come to Helldivers 2.
