Helldivers 2 Festival of Reckoning Free Stratagems & Major Orders

 

The Festival of Reckoning Returns

The holiday season has officially reached the front lines with the return of the Festival of Reckoning. Live from December 18 through December 31, 2025, this year’s event is significantly larger than last year’s three-day celebration. Arrowhead Game Studios has extended the festivities, jokingly attributing the longer duration to a "Reckoning Fund" that is currently bursting with Super Earth credits.

 

Limited-Time "Experimental" Stratagems

The highlight of the festival is the inclusion of free, limited-time Experimental Stratagems. These unique variants combine existing technology to create chaotic new tools for spreading Managed Democracy:

• 120mm EMS Projectile with Stun: Standard barrage shells modified with electromagnetic pulses to freeze enemies in place.

• Gatling Barrage with Fire Projectiles: Incendiary rounds that coat the entire impact zone in a wall of flame.

• Orbital Walking Barrage with Smoke: Provides cover by suppressing enemy vision while explosives rain down in a line.

Additionally, no Stratagem is off-limits during the event. High Command will rotate access to various "Mandatory Celebration Stratagems," including those from Premium Warbonds like the Python Commandos, allowing all players to test gear like the M100 Maxigun for free.

 

Holiday Major Orders and Performance Fixes

To keep the community engaged, Arrowhead has issued holiday-themed Major Orders (worth up to 100 Medals) that task players with specific festive goals, such as:

• Targeted Kill Counts: Recent orders have focused on massive kill counts for Automatons on Marfark or the Illuminate on New Stockholm.

• Experimental Testing: Some objectives are specifically tied to using the new experimental technologies on the battlefield.

This festive update follows a successful technical overhaul that addressed the game's "bloated" file size, which had reached nearly 150 GB. Thanks to recent optimizations, the file size has been significantly reduced, improving performance just in time for the chaotic holiday battles.

 

Looking Forward: Stratagem Customization?

The community has reacted positively to these variants, with many players taking to Reddit to request that these "experimental" tools become permanent. This speculation is fueled by recent comments from Arrowhead CEO Shams Jorjani, who expressed interest in a Stratagem Customization system. The Festival of Reckoning may well be a live test for how such a system might work in 2026.