How to farm Samples in Helldivers 2 & what they do
Samples are an important resource in Helldivers 2, here is everything that you need to know about what they are used for and how to stock up on plenty of them.
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Samples are a resource in Helldivers 2 useful for upgrading your ship, which in turn will improve your various Stratagems to make your more effective at killing the bug and bot hordes. Here's a breakdown for farming Samples.
How to farm Samples
Samples are found in almost every mission you go on in Helldivers 2. They are scattered across each region, for you to find and collect. There is no particular method for locating them, but they do usually appear around structures and buildings.
There are three types of Samples, each denoted by a different symbol. In the early game, you will only be acquiring the first tier of Samples, but as you progress and reach higher difficulty levels you will begin to acquire the two rarer kinds of Samples as well.
As you get close to pickups like ammo or Samples, you will see their icons appear in your HUD. The basic Samples are denoted by a circle with a line through it from top to bottom. You can view the symbols of the Sample types in the top right corner of the Ship Management menu. If you see those symbols while on a mission, be sure to grab them.
There is a useful Samples indicator which can help you to not waste time looking for more. A counter appears in the top right of the screen showing how many Samples there are in the level. If you pick one up and see 1/10, that means you have nine more to find.
To maximise your gains and farm Samples, we would recommend playing co-op, as more players means more chances to find Samples. Even joining a random operation through matchmaking is a good idea, as you can focus on finding Samples while the other players complete the objectives.
All Samples picked up in a mission will be given to all players, so you don't need to worry about hoarding them. What you do need to worry about, is dying. If you die, you will drop any Samples you are carrying. They can be picked up again, either by you when you respawn, or another player. So long as someone has the Samples at the end of the mission and successfully exfiltrates with them, you will get the rewards.
In summary, the method is to play with others and focus your search around any buildings or structures, such as the objectives and exfiltration points, and don't die trying. Keep this in mind as you play through the game and you should have no problem keeping yourself stocked up with Samples.
What are Samples used for?
Samples are a resource used while upgrading your ship with new ship modules. They are essentially a currency that you use to buy these upgrades, and you will want them because they have some powerful bonuses attached.
Each new ship module you add will improve your strategies in various ways, like increasing the amount of ammunition included with weapons, reducing the cooldown on stratagems, or improving your sentries.
Each of these upgrades carries a heavy Sample cost, so you will need plenty of them to fully kit out your ship.
About The Author
Dave McAdam
Dave is a Senior Guides Writer at GGRecon, after several years of freelancing across the industry. He covers a wide range of games, with particular focus on shooters like Destiny 2, RPGs like Baldur's Gate 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, and fighting games like Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8.
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