New Helldivers 2 faction textures found in files

In the two months since Helldivers 2 was first released we’ve seen the focus be on the Automatons and Terminids, alternating between the two. There has been a rumor for a while now that The Illuminate from the first Helldivers game is set to come to the game, but so far they haven’t appeared. Recently, there were some cloaked ships spotted in the sky, which some did theorize were The Illuminate, but these were likely the Automaton warships that were hidden. When the Automatons were ‘eradicated’ following a Major Order event earlier this month, they quickly reappeared with tens of thousands of warships, bringing with them enemies such as the Factory Strider.

Now, it looks like we’ve gotten the first confirmation that The Illuminate is coming to the game as in-game files have been discovered that point to their existence. U/IronS1ghts has taken to Reddit to reveal a texture found in the in-game files which hints at a new faction coming to the game soon. It has been rumored for some time now that The Illuminate is set to come to Helldivers 2.

The Illuminate appeared in the first Helldivers game and should be the third faction to come to Helldivers 2, after the Automatons and Terminids. This new Reddit leak shows a portal that will be used for The Illuminate to enter the planet. This will work similarly to the Fabricators for the Automatons and the bug holes for the Terminids. Players will then need to destroy the portal for The Illuminate to stop spawning from it. Audio files in the game suggest players will need to shoot at it and it may be initially shielded.

It is interesting that if The Illuminate are spawning through portals then it means that they are living in a different location than the planet the Helldiver is fighting them on. This will make eradicating difficult as we don’t know where they’re coming from. It would be fun if we got to fight them on their home planet one day. It has also been claimed that some early textures for the enemies can be found in the files but these are unfinished, meaning it will likely be a few months before The Illuminate make themselves known.

As these are leaks we have to take them with a grain of salt as we can’t verify this is in the Helldivers 2 files. But, the Helldivers 2 Leaks subreddit is reputable and IronS1ghts is marked as a “worthy leaker” in the community so this leak does hold at least some weight to it.

With The Illuminate hopefully coming to the game in the next few months, it is more important than ever to try to eradicate the Automatons and Terminids from the galaxy because if all three factions team up then Super Earth could be doomed. To help prevent this, we highly recommend checking out our Helldivers 2 best weapons guide and best armor guide so you and your squad have the best chance at victory as you spread democracy to every enemy you encounter.