New boosters have had a tough time catching on in Helldivers 2’s ongoing meta. Boosters introduced earlier on had the privilege of a smaller pool selection, but with some as fundamental as 
Vitality Enhancement, 
Stamina Enhancement, and 
Hellpod Space Optimization it’s easy to see why the same few have remained essential in Helldivers 2, much less its Level-10 Super Helldive difficulty. That doesn’t mean new boosters haven’t been hilarious, creative, or fun in various scenarios; it’s just that few scenarios make a gimmick booster truly worthwhile to bring instead of a core pillar booster that all squad members would be left shorthanded without. This is unlikely to change unless Helldivers 2 manages to debut a booster that is equally vital or complementary, and that’s nearly the case with its newest booster.
Sample acquisition can be a chore in Helldivers 2 even when players don’t have to contend with a whole map’s worth of enemies while trekking to the extraction site. Not being able to collect samples on Evacuate High-Value Assets missions is arguably egregious, too, though defense missions are much shorter than ordinary missions anyway and strike a fair enough balance between resources gained and quick helpings of Super Medals earned (especially with how swiftly these missions can be completed if players equip the E/AT-12 Anti-Tank Emplacement stratagem). Samples’ issues could all conceivably be quelled on paper via Helldivers 2’s new Sample Extricator booster, and yet it is severely kneecapped in its current state.
Helldivers 2’s Integrated Explosives Armor Barely Scratches the Surface of Democratic Devotion
Helldivers 2's newest armor passive is a hysterical ability that arguably fails to live up to how chaotic and valuable it ought to be in gameplay.
Helldivers 2’s Sample Extricator Booster is a Dream on Paper, But Not in Practice
Helldivers 2’s new Borderline Justice Warbond is a treat for players who adore the gunslinger archetype, whether that stems from a love of spaghetti westerns or Star Wars’ Mandalorian.
The R-6 Deadeye and LAS-58 Talon are wonderful primary and secondary weapon additions that perfectly meet the Warbond’s theme, while the Hover Pack stratagem seems to be an overall improvement on the game’s 
LIFT-850 Jump Pack. The Warbond’s booster, however, is fascinating as it drops samples from large enemies. The Sample Extricator booster’s description reads:
- Large enemies now have a small chance of dropping Samples on death. Capped at 10 drops per mission.
Now, the premise of samples dropping from enemies should be exciting and is at a glance. Unfortunately, Sample Extricator sounds less valuable or meaningful as the description goes on.
First, sample drops only come from large monsters—a decent incentive to fell large monsters if nothing else; second, the sample drop’s chance is only “small,” meaning many large enemies can be defeated with no reward; third, it’s possible large enemies may only happen to drop common samples; and fourth, sample drops are capped at “10 drops per mission,” which makes it nearly impossible for a solo, non-comms player to know if teammates have already secured all possible Sample Extricator drops with no more available thereafter, and can also result in poor RNG with samples that do drop primarily being commons. So, by the end of a mission, Sample Extricator hardly seems worth equipping when spare samples can be looted between side objectives and a far better booster could be equipped in its stead.
Helldivers 2’s Samples Balance Precariously on Progression’s Knife-Edge
Sample Extricator dropping abundant samples from various enemies would be too overpowered and thus restrictions on the booster are only natural. It’s also true that sample farming is one of the only lasting bastions of Helldivers 2’s progression loop, and Sample Extricator flooding planets with as many samples as players could harvest from the likes of bile titans, hulks, or harvesters would disrupt that system irreparably.
Borderline Justice’s Sample Extricator booster is a clever way of earning 10 sample drops on Helldivers 2’s Evacuate missions—a mission type that doesn’t provide any samples otherwise—but taking advantage of these drops demands that players allow large enemies to progress far enough into their fortified base so they can claim drops easily.
Still, the booster has room for improvement and could hopefully be buffed in the future to have a higher drop rate or a higher drop cap. Sample Extricator at least seems like a semi-reliable way to earn samples for anyone who prefers to mow down elite bots, bugs, or aliens rather than scour a map’s nooks and crannies and drag their knuckles for any sample scraps they can get their hands on, regardless of whether or not they have ship modules they have yet to unlock.
Helldivers 2
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 83 /100 Critics Rec: 91%
- Released
- February 8, 2024
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Arrowhead Game Studios, Nixxes
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Interactive Entertainment, PlayStation Publishing
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- bitsquid
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
- All platforms
- Franchise
- Helldivers
- Number of Players
- 1-4 players (online)
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- Genre(s)
- Third-Person Shooter, Extraction Shooter, Action, Science Fiction
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
