With 20 hours to go, Helldivers 2 players are finally in position to succeed the latest Major Order after Game Master Joel gave them hell all weekend

The last few days have been rough for Helldivers 2 players, to say the least. As the weekend began, we were hit with a new Major Order – halt the Automaton advance and hold the Menkent line, maintaining complete control over Menkent and Lesath in the process. It's just two planets, so simple enough, right?

Well, things haven't been as straightforward as we'd have hoped. As the hard-working Helldivers of Reddit have documented, players have been desperately fighting nonstop as planets have gone from being under attack to liberated to filled with Automatons once more in what's felt like an endless battle of oil-spilling destruction. Just 22 hours ago, Menkent was showing as 0.2% liberated, as even after it'd initially been captured, it still had to be defended. 

Players lamented having to face more fire tornadoes in an attempt to bring the matter under control again, with some feeling so worn out that they couldn't even face the idea of picking up their weapons again. "Don't even care, not setting foot on fire tornado shithole planet again," one exasperated Helldiver said. Another commented: "Just take the planet Joel, I'm not going back."

Are you frikken kidding me?!?!?!? from r/Helldivers

Now, though, thanks to Super Earth's strongest, liberty-loving defenders, with less than 20 hours left on the clock, both Menkent and Lesath are showing as 100% liberated. After all we've been through, this is a very promising situation to be in. 

"It’s over. The fire tornadoes can’t hurt you anymore," one relieved Helldiver writes.

"Legit proud of y'all. I thought it was over. We were all upset about having to do Menkent twice but it's done now," says another.

Then again, no doubt troubled by the painful Menkent situation that unfolded yesterday, some are still wary that the situation could change yet again since galactic Game Master Joel still has so much time to cause problems on purpose and give us even more to deal with. Needless to say, we probably shouldn't be resting on our laurels just yet, but it's looking far more likely that we'll get those hard-earned medals than it was before. 

Last week, Helldivers 2 added a bunch more ship module upgrades, which can be unlocked now. Be sure to check out our guide to all Helldivers 2 ship modules and what they do for the details.