The Martale maneuver is in action.
As the Helldivers 2 community comes together to confront the latest Automaton developments in the Andromeda sector, an unconventional idea has emerged that uses a hidden mechanic in a galactic war simulator. If successful, Super Earth will be able to liberate two planets at once, including one with a constant defense campaign. The goal is to free Charon Prime without actually fighting there by cutting off the Automaton supply lines on the neighboring planet Martale.
Players call it Martial maneuver: Transfer all Automaton resistance to Martali for immediate release, and once the planet is captured, Charon Prime will be freed as well. It's a solid plan, but until a few hours ago, no one knew for sure it would actually work.
On the Helldivers Discord, players have been coordinating with community manager Spitz, who said the galactic war simulation is set up to allow these tactics, though it will ultimately be up to Joel to implement them himself. After a few hours of initial planning, Spitz returned to Discord with a rare message from Joel himself. Martale Gambit will be honored if the community can implement it.
“Capturing Martali would not automatically end the Sharon defense event; the system does not work that way,” Spitz wrote. “But Joel can hand-grant the win, and if Martalli’s gambit works, he will honor that commitment by handing the win to Sharon.”
A quick explanation of how this all works: Every currently active planet in Helldivers 2 is connected to supply lines. These lines are not visible on the in-game map, but can be viewed in a file Community-maintained galaxy map Website that pulls data from Arrowhead. The red arrow leading from Martale to Charon Prime (see image below) means that the Automatons need Martale to maintain control of Charon Prime. This is the goal of the Martale Gambit – to cut off the supply line so the droids cannot hold Charon Prime.
It's rare for Joel to comment on player activity, even indirectly, but it's important to explain this mechanic, as it can inform how players handle future major requests. Spitz goes on to say that the goal is to automate this type of tactic in the future.
“Since things like the Martale Maneuver are supposed to be automatically possible, if we do something like this in the future where we cut off an enemy planet by seizing linked planets – send me a message or DM me to let me know, and I'll pass it on to Joel so he can From making system adjustments manually.
A successful maneuver will save society significant time, and potentially save a planet headed toward robot dominance. Currently, Charon Prime's defensive campaign has less than 16 hours left and little progress made, but Martale is over 91% liberated (and climbing). There's some concern on Discord about Martale's passive attrition rate at the moment, but an influx of players this weekend could turn things around.
Another challenge facing Martale Gambit is the newest boss command. Currently the goal is to complete 10 campaigns to defend the planet. There are Automaton planets and Terminid planets with active defense campaigns, and there is nothing in the game itself to indicate that Martale is a relevant planet. However, there are more than 22,000 active divers in Marthali as of this writing, and if word of mouth spreads, coordination could pay off.
History has proven that the Helldivers 2 community is capable of taking on any challenge Joel can throw at him. This morning, we destroyed two billion Terminids in just over 12 hours.
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