How to collect all samples in Helldivers 2

Although defending Super Earth in Helldivers 2 is your top priority, collecting Samples is a highly important objective in improving your Super Destroyer. There are three Damples you can find, and they can appear in multiple places.

Samples in Helldivers 2 are required to unlock modules and upgrade the Super Destroyer. Modules offer permanent buffs to your Stratagems. For example, the Expanded Weapons Bay increases the number of Eagle Stratagem uses per Rearm by one and is a must if you run Eagle Stratagems, like 500KG, as you get an extra 500KG of Democracy.

Here’s what you need to know about collecting Samples in Helldivers 2.

How to get Samples in Helldivers 2

Play high-difficulty missions

Every mission has a limited number of Samples that you can collect. The number and types of Samples available depend on the mission difficulty. The higher the difficulty, the more Samples you can get, and the rarer the samples will be.

Here are the Sample types and how to get them in Helldivers 2:

Explore the map

Samples mainly appear near points of interest. You can find a handful of them by working on the main objective, but to collect them all, head off and explore the map. This also allows you to locate side objectives and clear enemy outposts to maximize mission rewards.

Look for question marks on your compass, abandoned buildings, and markers on your map. From enemy outposts to a crashed Pelican, almost every location has a chance to have a Sample on top of support weapons and supplies. 

Pick up teammates’ drops

If you die on the battlefield, you drop the Samples. You might miss out on these samples if you can’t return to your body or if a teammate fails to run and collect them before extracting. Dropped Samples are marked with a tube icon on the minimap and beep when you’re near them, so make sure to pick them up whenever possible.

While Samples are shared across the team, and everyone who extracts will get all the Samples, it might be worth dropping them off to a designated Helldiver who mainly follows the path to the objective and is less likely to die clearing an outpost on the opposite side of the map.

Use the Sample Extricator Booster

The Borderline Justice Warbond introduced a Sample Exctricator Booster. This Booster gives large enemies a chance to drop Samples on death at a maximum of 10 drops per mission. This sample is available on the Warbond’s last page and costs 65 Medals.

However, the Sample drop rate using this Booster seems incredibly low. Even targets like Hulks on the Automaton barely drop any Samples, which means you need to go for enemies like Factory Striders that appear mainly on higher-difficulty missions.

You can use this Booster if there’s a free slot on the team, but don’t prioritize it over something like Hellpod Space Optimisation.