Helldivers 2 Side Objectives: Which Are Worth the Detour

The four kinds

Reveal objectives. Radar and lidar installations mark points of interest on the map. Their value is not the objective itself, it is that they convert a blind search into a list — every sample, every container, every secondary site gets a marker. On a large map with a sample-heavy layout, this is the best time-to-reward trade in the game. Fire support objectives. The SEAF artillery battery is the clearest example: load the shells, and the site becomes a usable off-map barrage for the rest of the mission. A squad that spends two minutes here gets a free stratagem for the finale. Denial objectives. Broadcasts and similar installations are about stopping something rather than gaining something. They cost almost nothing and are usually on the way. Suppression objectives. Stratagem jammers and anti-air are the ones that can ruin a mission: a jammer removes your stratagems until it is destroyed, which is the single most dangerous modifier in the game. Clear these before the main push, never during it.

The clock math

Missions run on a timer, and the extraction phase eats more of it than players expect. So the correct order is: side objectives that help you fight, then the main objective, then samples and containers on the way to extraction. The mistake is doing side objectives after the main objective is complete, when the clock is short and the map has filled with patrols drawn by the noise. A reveal objective you clear first pays for the whole mission; the same objective cleared last often costs an extraction.

What they pay

Main objectives pay the mission. Side objectives pay in samples, requisition, and sometimes a stratagem — and samples are the currency that unlocks ship modules, so ignoring them entirely is a slow way to stay weak. The balance that works: always clear jammers and anti-air, usually clear reveal objectives, clear artillery when the finale looks hard, and treat broadcasts as free. Then loot on the way out.

Practical order for a random squad

Say the order out loud at the start. Random groups fail this not because anybody disagrees but because nobody decided, and four players drifting toward different markers costs more time than any single objective. The squad roles page covers the division of labour, and the samples economy page explains what the payout is actually buying.