Think quickly! A 12-foot Charger is on a collision course with your fragile Helldiver body. Your weapons won't scratch his armored carapace, but a quick airstrike could stop him. Don't worry, follow these handy instructions from Super Earth to call for life-saving help in no time: Just hold down the CTRL key, then press right, down, down, up, left, down, and you're there complete. Good luck next time.
One of the best mechanics in Helldivers 2 is also the biggest learning curve: stratagem codes. Using these recipes of destruction in the middle of an active war zone can result in death, but their unchanging processes mean they can be mastered. It turns out they can be automated too.
Setting up macros that instantly insert strategy codes has been a thing in the Helldivers community since the first game. Given the sequel's unexpected virality, some elite Helldivers have upped the ante by transferring strategies to an Elgato Stream deck. A few fans on TikTok and Youtube have put together tutorials on assigning buttons to specific war actions. This setup from TikTok user thankischillin is especially great because they uploaded each stratagem's icon art to the Stream Deck profile for maximum macro fashion (you can download the profile yourself from their Discord).
Imagine: the power to drop a 500kg payload at the push of a button. It's enough to make an automaton loosen its bolts.
@dankischillin
♬ Original sound – Thank you
While most Stream Deck-equipped Helldivers use the hardware to optimize their game, I'm a fan of YouTuber BigBadHater's approach, who strapped a Stream Deck to her wrist and mapped arrow keys to the keys to mimic her Hell Diver's calldown action in real life. Is it faster than normal? Definitely not. Is it fucking cool? I mean, just look:
@bigbadtiktok
♬ At Doom's Gate – Mick Gordon
Of course, some guardians of managed democracy have pointed out in comments that automating the strategy process reeks of “automatic behavior.” Quite a bit of paranoia, especially after Super Earth's recent defeat at Malevelon Creek.
A serious argument against stratagem macros is that frantic code entry is part of the fun of Helldivers 2. The game is designed not only around resource management, but also time management – you're rewarded for keeping enemies away from your teammates and making tactical retreats that give you money. It's time to retrieve your biggest bomb.
But like everything else in Helldivers 2, the sanctity of stratagem isn't something that should be taken so seriously. Arrowhead isn't against macros yet, and building a mini command center with all of my favorite strategies at my fingertips sounds pretty fun. Just don't tell Arrowhead's galactic dungeon master Joel, lest we incur his wrath and discover that our strategy codes have been encrypted.
