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Ever since the brave Helldivers obliterated the Illuminate in the first installment of the game, there has been a looming feeling of them lurking. Various leaks confirmed something was brewing, the third enemy front even showed up on the map briefly. Well, you might be fighting the Illuminate sooner than you think, as one Helldivers 2 companion app revealed there was already a surprising increase in their numbers.
The Number of the Illuminate Skyrocketed
Eagle-eyed Helldivers who use the companion app called War Room noticed something peculiar on October 1. Up until then, this app displayed the number of killed enemies, including a very low number of the Illuminates (for a long while it was like 30). However, not only did that number grow significantly, but they redacted the word Illuminates. When you open the database, you’ll see this display, and literally seconds later, the third faction will disappear.
Some players were lucky enough to see it, alas, we weren’t, but when the number started changing, the name of the third faction wasn’t redacted and didn’t just flash and disappear. Many players suggested that the Illuminate were watching us.
One player suggested: “There is a front we Helldivers are not aware of yet. There’s a secret war being waged by Super Earth”. Another player, burr2345 noted: “I like to imagine they’re secretly watching us. They are getting caught in the blast radius of our Stratagems and we don’t even know it”.
Other players suggested that General Brasch was hard at work. If that is true, not only did he protect Moo Deng, but he also killed almost 12k Illuminates, all in a single day of work. Another hilarious explanation came from Edfret0204. This player stated: “The Illuminate died from old age waiting to attack”.
Helldivers 2 Players Already Expect the Squids
So, are the Illuminate already in Helldivers 2? We’d say yes and no. They probably exist somewhere on the Galactic map, but, unfortunately, you can’t face them yet. That huge jump in the number of killed Illuminates probably came from the devs testing.
Cleercutter noted: “Usually when you see two or three guys f**king off in the Gloom somewhere, it’s the devs testing s**t out. Looks like they’ve had a few runs with the Illuminate and somehow its count is rooted into that”.
UngiftedSnail agreed: “Most likely background testing by devs. It seems like the general consensus among the player base is that they’ve gotta be introduced at some point. We just don’t know when”.
From what we’ve gathered, most of the players would love to face the Illuminate on Liberty Day, which is now fast approaching. Veterans from the First Galactic War are ready to face the miserable Squids again. So, don’t worry, you’ll have some help. For Liberty and Super Earth.