How to find and complete Secondary Objectives in Helldivers 2

As you fight your way up into higher difficulties, you will start getting Secondary Objectives to find and complete in Helldivers 2. These optional quests award in more experience points and Requisition Slips, so they’re worth tracking down. Here’s how to find them.

A good way to find out what missions include Secondary Objectives is by looking for the light blue icons on the maps before you begin. From my experience, Secondary Objectives start appearing at Medium difficulty and beyond. Look for blue icons that can look something like crashed pods with smoke or beakers. These icons indicate a Secondary Objective, and their location on the map can usually be seen before the mission starts.

Screenshot by Destructoid

Keep in mind that you won’t always be able to see a clear map ahead of the mission.

Other ways to find Secondary Objectives in Helldivers 2

Secondary Objectives don’t all show up on the map, though. You may have one before the mission starts, allowing you to track it directly from the mini-map once you’re in the game. But you should still explore the area fully.

There may be more objectives to find on a map, so it pays to be thorough. I started a mission recently that had me destroy a research station as a Secondary Objective. But just around the corner was a Terminid Spore Spewer, and suddenly I had more meat on the menu.

Rushing through the Main Objectives typically is a quick way to get some cash and experience, but mission timers can be fairly long. If you have 40 minutes, don’t let it go to waste.

When you’re near a Secondary Objective, you’ll see the icon you need to follow show up on the compass near the top of the screen.

Screenshot by Destructoid

The game will tell you how to complete the objective once you’re close enough.

Screenshot by Destructoid

What kind of Secondary Objectives are there?

Secondary Objective types are varied. Some will have you blow a thing up and in those cases, you can use an orbital Stratagem. The game gave me a unique Stratagem to destroy the aforementioned research station, however. An objective may have you upload the data of an escape pod, while another will task you with powering on a radar station that reveals map details.

Screenshot by Destructoid

No matter what Secondary Objectives you’re given, completing them offers rewards at the end of a mission. You can earn a good chunk of additional experience points and Requisition Slips, so it’s certainly within your interest to seek them out.

All Secondary Objectives in Helldivers 2

I’ve found around a dozen Secondary, or Optional, Objectives in Helldivers 2. The first three in the table below appear to be default Optional Objectives and can be seen during the mission planning stage. Others must be located while in the mission. Here’s our list of all the Secondary Objectives in Helldivers 2 so far.