Helldivers 1:Research

During combat on enemy territory it is possible to find and retrieve samples, which are randomly scattered around the map and appear more frequently during missions of higher difficulty. These samples are of scientific value to Helldiver Command and players are rewarded for their retrieval—every ten samples collected will grant a single Research Point which players can then spend in the armoury to upgrade their Helldivers 1:Weapons or Stratagems.

The fully-upgraded Humblebee UAV drone can detect samples and will pinpoint them on the player's mini-map. Investing in this Stratagem early on is therefore recommended to boost the speed at which gear can be upgraded.

Difficulty

The number of samples in a mission is roughly dependent on the difficulty of the selected mission. Retaliation strikes and enemy masters have no samples.

Difficulty	Description	Number of samples
1	Dive in the Park	4
2	Very Easy	5
3	Easy	7
4	Medium	8
5	Challenging	9
6	Very Challenging	11
7	Hard	12
8	Very Hard	14
9	Hard as Hell	15
10	Suicide Mission	17
11	Impossible	18
12	Helldive	20-23
13	An Exercise in Futility	20-23
14	The Definition of Insanity	20-23
15	The Inner Circle of Hell	20-23

Event Difficulty

Attack/defend events spawn additional 1, 2 or even 3 extra samples per mission.

Difficulty	Description	Number of samples
3	Easy	8
6	Very Challenging	13
9	Hard as Hell	17
12	Helldive	22-25
15	The Inner Circle of Hell	22-26

Points Limit

Research Points cannot be spent after upgrading everything in the armory, but will still accumulate, up to a maximum of 318 points.

Notes

• After gaining an additional Research Point, the amount drops back to 316. It is possible to temporarily have 319 Research Points, but only through receiving one as a rank-up reward when you currently have 318 points, however, it will revert back to 316.

• All Samples gathered during a mission are lost if it is failed or aborted, if the player drops out or if they exit to the main menu before the post-mission results screen appears.

• Samples have 3 unique appearances all depending on enemy faction they are found on.