Helldivers 2 Illuminate Leaks Are Impossible To Ignore

Raise the alarms, because the Illuminate are coming. For real this time. Well, maybe. "Helldivers 2" players have been gathering data about the mysterious alien faction from the first game for quite some time now, and Arrowhead Game Studios has been doing everything in its power to deny the Illuminate's existence. Players caught the game's director lying about blue laser sightings that were the first hint the Illuminate had returned to take revenge on Super Earth. Now the Ministry of Truth needs to decide if it's going to issue a blanket denial about the latest pieces of evidence that have rolled in.

For the first time since the release of "Helldivers 2," we have hard proof that the Illuminate do in fact exist. Datamining fans have been digging through the game files and discovered some actual assets and models tied to the faction. Sure, it's worth noting that Arrowhead has previously told us not to get our hopes up about every leak that comes from datamining. Not everything in the game's files will eventually see an official release, but considering the history surrounding the Illuminate, these latest leaks seem to hold more weight than most. 

Reddit has been bombarded with images of Illuminate fighters, as well as some specialty equipment that has troubling implications. First up, there's the Illuminate warp gate, a device that's sure to spell trouble for Helldivers all across the galaxy. These presumably allow the Illuminate to travel with maximum efficiency, which may be how they've been avoiding the authorities on Super Earth all this time.

We've also gotten an image of the unceremoniously named "Illuminate Guy." That's most likely a placeholder title, but this armored menace looks like he could do some serious damage to an unprepared Helldiver. Luckily, Helldivers are always prepared.

The Illuminate Adept is undoubtedly going to be one of the faction's best ranged fighters. In the first game the Illuminate were particularly dangerous snipers, so it's possible that this soldier is the source of those blue lasers that have been cropping up all over the galaxy.

These are currently the only Illuminate assets that fans have been able to dig out of the "Helldivers 2" game files, but there's surely more to come in the near future. Helldivers are currently busy pushing back against both the Automatons and the Terminids — and in the world of the game, that would make now a perfect time for the Illuminate to strike.

Of course, we don't know whether the Illuminate are actually ready for battle, but we do have some reasons to think that Arrowhead will want to hold the faction back for just a little longer. The current battle is one of the biggest events in the game so far, and it might not make sense to launch another epic part of the story in the midst of that battle. As hard as it may be to believe, "Helldivers 2" hasn't even been out for three months yet. We've already gotten so much content, and Arrowhead presumably wants to reserve some surprises for later in the game's lifespan.

All that said, these early files are a pretty clear sign that the Illuminate are amassing their forces and preparing for battle. The faction's whereabouts remain one of the biggest unanswered mysteries in "Helldivers 2," and the closer they get to attacking, the more desperately we need those answers. Not too long ago, fans noticed an impossible detail on Super Earth that indicated High Command is well aware of the Illuminate threat. We have to hope that's true, because if Super Earth is unprepared for the next war, then things could get really bad, really quickly.