All Ship Modules, effects, prices & what to buy first - Helldivers 2

Here are the best Ship Modules to buy in Helldivers 2, what each one does, and how many samples you need to unlock them all.

Arrowhead Game Studios
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While your attention will be on Stratagems for the first part of your Helldivers 2 career, soon enough you’ll be eyeing off the Ship Modules. These upgrades improve the cooldown times, deployment speed, health, ammo capacity and more of your Stratagem weapons, turrets, and ordnance. These require a whole lot of samples to unlock, which means you’ll want to focus on buying the best ones first.

Below are several tables containing a list of each Ship Module, its effect, which Stratagems it affects, as well as the price. Further down you’ll find our recommendations on which ones to purchase first.

All Ship Modules: Effects, Affected Stratagems, and Price

Each of the Stratagem sections in Helldivers 2 has three Ship Module upgrades to purchase. You must purchase the modules in sequential order, meaning in order to unlock More Guns you must first acquire Exploding Shrapnel. You can find these upgrades at the Ship Management terminal on the port-side of your Destroyer.

The Ship Module cost increases with each tier, with the third upgrade in each section requiring all three sample types. It will take 1,380 Common, 770 Rare, and 65 Very Rare samples to unlock all Ship Modules.


Patriotic Administration Center
Module Effect Affected Stratagems Common Rare Very Rare
Donation Access Licence Support Weapons deploy with the maximum number of carriable magazines.
  • Stalwart
  • Railgun
  • Laser Cannon
  • Grenade Launcher
  • Machine Gun
  • Flamethrower
  • Anti-Material Rifle
60 - -
Streamlined Request Process Decreases Support Weapon stratagem cooldown by 10%.
  • Stalwart
  • Autocannon
  • Railgun
  • Laser Cannon
  • Arc Thrower
  • Spear
  • Grenade Launcher
  • Machine Gun
  • Flamethrower
  • Recoilless Rifle
  • Anti-Material Rifle
  • Expendible Anti-Tank
80 40 -
Hand Carts Decreases cooldown for all Backpack stratagemms by 10%.
  • Shield Generator Pack
  • Guard Dog
  • Ballistic Shield Backpack
  • Supply Pack
  • Guard Dog Rover
  • Jump Pack
80 60 5

Orbital Cannons
Module Effect Affected Stratagems Common Rare Very Rare
Exploding Shrapnel Reduces damage fallout from the center of explosions caused by orbital stratagems.
  • Orbital Walking Barrage
  • Orbital Railcannon Strike
  • Orbital Airburst Strike
  • Orbital Precison Strike
  • Orbital 380MM HE Barrage
  • Orbital 120MM HE Barrage
100 - -
More Guns Barrage orbitals fire 1 additional salvo(s) per barrage.
  • Orbital Gatling Barrage
  • Orbital Walking Barrage
  • Orbital 380MM HE Barrage
  • Orbital 120MM HE Barrage
80 60 -
Zero-G Breech Loading Orbital stratagem cooldown time reduced by 10%.
  • Orbital Gatling Barrage
  • Orbital Walking Barrage
  • Orbital EMS Stirke
  • Orbital Gas Strike
  • Orbital Railcannon Strike
  • Orbital Smoke Strike
  • Orbital Airburst Strike
  • Orbital Laser
  • Orbital Precision Strike
  • Orbital 380MM HE Barrage
  • Orbital 120MM HE Barrage
80 80 10

Hangar
Module Effect Affected Stratagems Common Rare Very Rare
Liquid-Ventilated Cockpit Eagle stratagem cooldown time reduced by 50%.
  • Eagle 500KG Bomb
  • Eagle Airstrike
  • Eagle Strafing Run
  • Eagle Smoke Strike
  • Eagle Cluster Bomb
  • Eagle Napalm Airstrike
  • Eagle 110MM Rocket Pods
80 - -
Pit Crew Hazard Pay Reduces Eagle Rearm time by 20%. - 80 40 -
Expanded Weapons Bay Increases the number of Eagle stratagem uses per Rearm by 1.
  • Eagle 500KG Bomb
  • Eagle Airstrike
  • Eagle Strafing Run
  • Eagle Smoke Strike
  • Eagle Cluster Bomb
  • Eagle Napalm Airstrike
  • Eagle 110MM Rocket Pods
80 80 10

Bridge
Module Effect Affected Stratagems Common Rare Very Rare
Targeting Software Upgrade Reduces deployment time for Orbital stratagems by 1 second(s)
  • Orbital Gatling Barrage
  • Orbital Walking Barrage
  • Orbital EMS Stirke
  • Orbital Gas Strike
  • Orbital Railcannon Strike
  • Orbital Smoke Strike
  • Orbital Airburst Strike
  • Orbital Laser
  • Orbital Precision Strike
  • Orbital 380MM HE Barrage
  • Orbital 120MM HE Barrage
60 - -
Nuclear Radar Increases enemy ping radius on minimap by 50 meters. - 80 40 -
Power Steering Improves steering for Helldivers during Hellpod deployment. - 80 80 10

Engineering Bay
Module Effect Affected Stratagems Common Rare Very Rare
Synthetic Supplementation Reduces cooldown time for Sentry, Emplacement, and Resupply stratagem by 10%.
  • Shield Generator Relay
  • EMS Mortar Sentry
  • Rocket Sentry
  • Gatling Sentry
  • Tesla Tower
  • Mortar Sentry
  • Anti-Personnel Minefield
  • Machin Gun Sentry
  • Autocannon Sentry
  • Incendiary Mines
  • HMG Emplacement
60 10
Advanced Construction Increases health of Sentry stratagems by 50%.
  • EMS Mortar Sentry
  • Rocket Sentry
  • Gatling Sentry
  • Telsa Tower
  • Mortar Sentry
  • Machine Gun Sentry
  • Autocannon Sentry
80 60 5
Rapid Launch System Removes deployment time for Emplacement stratagems.
  • Shield Generator Relay
  • Tesla Tower
  • Anti-Personnel Minefield
  • Incendiary Mines
  • HMG Emplacement
80 80 10

Robotics Workshop
Module Effect Affected Stratagems Common Rare Very Rare
Dynamic Tracking Reduces deployment time for all Sentry stratagems.
  • EMS Mortar Sentry
  • Rocket Sentry
  • Gatling Sentry
  • Mortar Sentry
  • Machine Gun Sentry
  • Autocannon Sentry
60 20 -
Shock Absorption Gel Increases ammo for all Sentry stratagems by 50%.
  • EMS Mortar Sentry
  • Rocket Sentry
  • Gatling Sentry
  • Mortar Sentry
  • Machine Gun Sentry
  • Autocannon Sentry
80 40 5
High-Quality Lubricant Sentries rotate towards new targets more quickly.
  • EMS Mortar Sentry
  • Rocket Sentry
  • Gatling Sentry
  • Mortar Sentry
  • Machine Gun Sentry
  • Autocannon Sentry
80 80 10

Credit to the Helldivers 2 Fandom for some of the above information.


Best Ship Modules: What to buy first

The Ship Module screen in the Ship Management screen
The Hangar upgrades are excellent options if you're wondering what Ship Modules to buy with your samples.
Source: Shacknews

After you’ve played enough missions to acquire samples, you’ll be looking at the Ship Modules and seriously considering making a purchase. Before you go buying the first thing that jumps out at you, here are the best ones to buy:

  • Donation Access Licence
  • Liquid-Ventilated Cockpit
  • Pit Crew Hazard Pay
  • Expanded Weapons Bay

Why are these Ship Modules the best? For starters, the Donation Access Licence ensures the weapons you call down are fully loaded. This is especially useful once you have access to the Railgun, which only deploys with half of its ammo.

The last three are all related to the Hangar. These significantly improve the Eagle, allowing it to get back into the action quicker. Not only that, it increase the users per Stratagem by 1 – that means you now have access to two 500KB Bombs.

Outside of these, you should focus on Ship Modules that impact your preferred way to play. Do you love Sentries? Then focus on acquiring upgrades that improve them. If you’re all about the Orbital weapons, spend your samples on improving those.

There are more than a dozen Ship Modules to unlock in Helldivers 2. While you can read what they do in-game, the costs are hidden from you until you start buying them. To help make your transition into the harder difficulties easier, refer to the above tables and tips to ensure you can maximize your democracy-spreading potential. Check out our Helldivers 2 page for more raw information and recommendations.

Guides Editor

Hailing from the land down under, Sam Chandler brings a bit of the southern hemisphere flair to his work. After bouncing round a few universities, securing a bachelor degree, and entering the video game industry, he's found his new family here at Shacknews as a Guides Editor. There's nothing he loves more than crafting a guide that will help someone. If you need help with a guide, or notice something not quite right, you can message him on X: @SamuelChandler 

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