Are The Illuminate in Helldivers 2? Explained

While it’s great to be squashing Terminids and junking Automatons in Helldivers 2, longtime fans of the series have been curious about where the Illuminate are. We were curious ourselves, and after doing some digging, we’ve got some info on whether or not the Illuminate are in Helldivers 2.

Helldivers 2 Illuminate – Can You Find and Fight Illuminate During Missions? Explained

From what we’ve been able to gather, the Illuminate aren’t among the enemies you can encounter during missions in Helldivers 2.

Instead, the two primary groups of enemies you can take on are the Terminids and the new Automatons. The former are roughly the same as the Terminids seen in the first game, while the latter are a “new” mechanized threat for you to take on in place of the Cyborgs who bear the same emblem as the first game’s robotic enemies.

It’s a bit of a bummer, but shouldn’t come as a surprise when you consider the size and scale of Helldivers 2. It’s clearly planned to be a multiplayer game that sees regular updates with new content as the years go on, so it’s to be expected that there wouldn’t be too many enemy factions to take on right at launch.

Will the Illuminate Be Added to Helldivers 2 Later on?

As such, it’s not impossible that the Illuminate will show up in Helldivers 2 at a later point.

The group stands as the biggest form of opposition to Super Earth within the series’ lore, and it’s unlikely they were completely eradicated during the war between the two factions in the past. Likewise, they stand the best chance of toppling Super Earth’s galactic colonization efforts and setting up the plot for the game’s next wave of content. Heck, they could even lay the groundwork for a third game depending on how the series’ developer Arrowhead Game Studios feels.

Regardless, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. There has been no official announcement of the Illuminate faction’s return at this time, and that isn’t likely to change until the game has been out a bit longer.

Now that you know whether or not the Illuminates are in Helldivers 2, why not check out some of our other guides? They can help you figure out how to get Rare Samples and how to nab the Helldivers 2 Twitch Drops.