MAJOR ORDERS
0⚔ GAMBIT ANALYSIS
0 AUTO-DETECTED STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITIESLIBERATION CAMPAIGNS
0DEFENSE CAMPAIGNS
0The Gambit Analysis tab covers planets already being fought over. Strategic Scout goes one step further — it scans the full galaxy for enemy-held planets with supply-line connections to active defense campaigns that have no active liberation yet. These are untapped opportunities. Starting a liberation on any of these planets creates a new Gambit: if we liberate it in time, the connected defense is saved automatically.
◎ STRATEGIC SCOUT
0 UNTAPPED ATTACK VECTORS LINKED TO ACTIVE DEFENSESWHAT IS A GAMBIT?
A high-risk, high-reward strategic play that can win two battles for the price of one.
THE CHICKEN ANALOGY
Imagine two cars racing head-on toward each other on a narrow road. The driver who swerves first is called a "chicken" — they avoided the crash, but they lost. The driver who doesn't swerve wins — but only if the other one blinks first. If neither swerves, they both crash.
This is the game of Chicken — a classic game theory scenario where the winner is the one who commits most convincingly to not backing down.
HOW THIS APPLIES TO HELLDIVERS 2
When an enemy faction attacks one of our planets, the standard response is to defend it directly — send Helldivers there and hold the line. That's swerving. It works, but you only break even. You saved what you had.
A Gambit is the refusal to swerve. Instead of defending the planet under attack, Helldivers pile onto the planet launching the attack and liberate it. If the liberation succeeds before the defense fails, the attack is cancelled automatically — because the enemy no longer holds the planet it was attacking from. You win the liberation AND the defense in a single move.
A REAL EXAMPLE
Suppose Erata Prime (enemy-held) is launching an attack on Bore Rock (a planet we must defend). The standard play: send everyone to Bore Rock and defend it.
The Gambit play: ignore Bore Rock. Attack Erata Prime instead. Now the enemy is in the Chicken position — their attack on Bore Rock is only possible while they hold Erata Prime. If we liberate Erata Prime, the Bore Rock defense resolves in our favour instantly, even if no Helldiver ever set foot there.
THE RISK
A Gambit is not free. If the liberation of Erata Prime takes too long, Bore Rock falls before you finish — and you end up with nothing. The Gambit only works if:
- ✓ There are enough Helldivers on the liberation planet to outpace enemy regen
- ✓ The liberation can be completed before the defense timer expires
- ✓ The liberation planet has meaningful progress already made (ideally 25%+)
- ✗ If any of these fail, the defense is lost and the gambit is wasted
HOW TO USE THIS TOOL
READING THE CARDS
Every card in the Gambit Analysis tab shows a different level of strategic certainty. Here's what each label and indicator means.
ENEMY RESISTANCE
Every liberation planet displays its enemy resistance in orange (e.g. TERMINIDS resistance: 1.00%/hr). This is the rate at which the enemy regenerates health on that planet — the floor your Helldivers must beat just to make forward progress. A planet with 4%/hr resistance needs far more sustained player presence than one at 1%/hr.
SUCCESS SCORE & RISK TIERS
Each gambit card is scored 0–100 based on liberation progress, net liberation rate, time available vs. defense timer, and how many conditions are passing.