Best Ship Modules to Unlock First in Helldivers 2 (2025)

From day‑one power spikes to Tier‑5 keystones: the smartest early, mid, and late‑game module priorities—with clear sample budgets you can actually hit.

Why this list (and what changed in 2025)

Ship Modules are the biggest passive power boosts in Helldivers 2. They directly improve stratagems (cooldowns, ammo, accuracy, payloads, etc.), but they’re personal—your upgrades help you, not your whole squad. You buy them in order (Tier 1 → Tier 5) using Samples (Common/Rare/Super) and later Requisition Slips. That sequence matters; you can’t skip straight to the good stuff. In July 2024 Arrowhead added Tier‑5 to every ship station, so in 2025 each of the six stations now has five tiers to grind.

The six stations / branches

• Patriotic Administration Center (PAC) – support weapons & backpacks
• Orbital Cannons – every orbital you love to spam
• Hangar – Eagle air support throughput & payloads
• Bridge – global stratagem QoL + fire damage
• Engineering Bay – sentries/emplacements/resupply
• Robotics Workshop – sentry quality-of-life and survivability

You must unlock each branch tier by tier, paying the listed cost at each step. (No skipping.)

TL;DR priorities by phase

• Early (your first 200–420 Common / 0–90 Rare):
  1. Donation Access Licence (PAC T1) – spawn support weapons with full mags; cheap and immediately useful.
  2. Targeting Software Upgrade (Bridge T1) – all Orbitals deploy 1s faster; clutch in emergencies.
  3. Liquid‑Ventilated Cockpit (Hangar T1) – 50% Eagle cooldown reduction; this alone changes games.
     Optional add‑ons once you have Rares: Streamlined Request Process (PAC T2, support weapon cooldown −10%) and Pit Crew Hazard Pay (Hangar T2, Eagle rearm −20%).
• Mid‑game (start earning Rares & Supers):
  4) Zero‑G Breech Loading (Orbital T3) – −10% cooldown on all Orbitals (you’ll need T1 “Exploding Shrapnel” and T2 “More Guns” to reach it).
  5) Expanded Weapons Bay (Hangar T3) – +1 use per Eagle rearm (after T1/T2).
  6) Superior Packing Methodology (PAC T4) – Resupply boxes fully refill support weapons to max; huge ammo economy jump.
• Late‑game (T4–T5 keystones):
  7) Morale Augmentation (Bridge T5) – −5% cooldown to all stratagems; a permanent, universal buff.
  8) XXL Weapons Bay → Advanced Crew Training (Hangar T4→T5) – bigger Eagle payloads and faster rearm cycles.
  9) High‑Density Explosives (Orbital T5) – +10% orbital blast radius; noticeable on 120/380mm barrages and Walking Barrage.
  10) Streamlined Launch Process (Engineering T5) – all support weapons launch instantly when called (no confirmation delay).

Early‑game: cheap power spikes you’ll feel immediately

1) Donation Access Licence (PAC T1) – 60 Common

Support weapons (Railgun, Machine Gun, Stalwart, etc.) drop with max carryable magazines. It’s the best 60 green you’ll ever spend, and it pairs beautifully with an early Railgun or MG for boss deletes and base holds.

2) Targeting Software Upgrade (Bridge T1) – 60 Common

All Orbitals deploy 1 second faster. That second often decides whether a Railcannon deletes a Hulk…or arrives just after it deletes you. It also speeds up lifesaving Smoke/EMS drops.

3) Liquid‑Ventilated Cockpit (Hangar T1) – 80 Common

Halves Eagle cooldown. Eagles are S‑tier tempo tools (Airstrike, Strafing, 110mm Rockets). This upgrade effectively doubles your on‑demand answers to spawns and boss pushes. Note: The 500kg bomb’s uptime really takes off once you also grab Expanded Weapons Bay later; until then its single payload limits the T1’s impact on that specific stratagem.

Good early add‑ons when Rares appear

• Streamlined Request Process (PAC T2) – −10% support weapon cooldown.
• Pit Crew Hazard Pay (Hangar T2) – −20% Eagle rearm time (the time between exhausting uses and reloading at the Stratagem list). Both meaningfully tighten your high‑impact loops.

If you routinely carry Sentries/Resupply, Synthetic Supplementation (Engineering T1) is also a sleeper early buy (−10% cooldown on Sentry, Emplacement, and Resupply).

Mid‑game: build‑defining unlocks (before T5)

4) Zero‑G Breech Loading (Orbital T3) – −10% orbital cooldown

Orbitals are among the strongest panic buttons and objective clears. Zero‑G makes all of them come back faster (Railcannon, 120/380mm, Airburst, Laser, EMS, Gas, etc.). You’ll need the stepping stones (Exploding Shrapnel → More Guns) to reach it, but the payoff is real.

5) Expanded Weapons Bay (Hangar T3) – +1 Eagle use per rearm

This turns the Hangar into a true damage engine: more uses between rearms means more CC (Napalm/Smoke) and more deletes (Airstrike/500kg) during a single push or defense.

6) Superior Packing Methodology (PAC T4) – Resupply boxes fully refill support weapons

You stop juggling partial ammo tops—full clips in a single crate, period. This is huge for Railgun/Recoilless/Autocannon mains and pairs perfectly with Donation Access for a strong early–mid sustain arc.

Mid‑game if you love turrets

• Advanced Construction (Engineering T2) – +50% sentry HP.
• Shock Absorption Gel (Robotics T2) – +50% sentry ammo.
  They help, but turret play is position‑sensitive and a heavy Sample sink—consider these secondary unless your squad leans into turret set‑play.

Late‑game: the keystones worth the grind

7) Morale Augmentation (Bridge T5) – −5% cooldown to all stratagems

It buffs everything you do every mission. That universality plus its place at the end of the Bridge branch makes it the best first Tier‑5 to chase for most players.

8) XXL Weapons Bay → Advanced Crew Training (Hangar T4→T5)

• XXL Weapons Bay (T4) gives an extra bomb on multi‑drop Eagles.
• Advanced Crew Training (T5) shaves a further 10% off Eagle rearm if you rearm while uses remain—encouraging good habits (staggered rearm). If your team plays around Eagles, these two amplify your total air damage and uptime.

9) High‑Density Explosives (Orbital T5) – +10% radius

Bigger circles = more dead bugs/bots per barrage and more forgiving placements on Walking Barrage & the big HE barrages.

10) Streamlined Launch Process (Engineering T5) – instant support‑weapon launches

Removes that launch confirmation delay for support weapons—great QoL, and sneaky strong if you spam disposable EAT/Commando or need Railgun right now. Unlock this after your high‑impact damage keystones.

Sample budgets you can copy‑paste

Notation: C = Common, R = Rare, S = Super (Samples). “Req” = Requisition Slips.

A) Starter 200C “Day‑One Spike” (no Rares needed)

• Donation Access Licence (PAC T1) – 60C
• Targeting Software Upgrade (Bridge T1) – 60C
• Liquid‑Ventilated Cockpit (Hangar T1) – 80C
  Total: 200C
  Result: More ammo from the moment you land, faster orbitals, and twice‑as‑often Eagles.

B) Early “Core Four”—you’ll feel this every mission

• Starter 200C bundle plus:
  • Streamlined Request Process (PAC T2) – 80C, 40R
  • Pit Crew Hazard Pay (Hangar T2) – 80C, 40R
    Total (incremental): 160C, 80R → Grand total: 360C, 80R
    Optional: add Synthetic Supplementation (Eng T1) for Sentry/Resupply cooldown −10% (+60C, +10R, grand total 420C, 90R).

C) Orbital Rush (to Zero‑G Breech Loading)

• Exploding Shrapnel (T1) – 100C
• More Guns (T2) – 80C, 60R
• Zero‑G Breech Loading (T3) – 80C, 80R, 10S
  Branch total: 260C, 140R, 10S
  Tip: Combines beautifully with Bridge T1 (Targeting Software) already in your starter bundle.

D) Eagle Engine Online (to Expanded Weapons Bay)

• Starting from Hangar T1/T2 already owned, add:
  • Expanded Weapons Bay (T3) – 80C, 80R, 10S
    Incremental: 80C, 80R, 10S
    From scratch (T1→T3): 240C, 120R, 10S.

E) Support‑Gunner Mainline (to SPM)

• From PAC T1–T3 to Superior Packing Methodology (T4):
  • Totals from scratch: 370C, 250R, 20S + 20,000 Req
• If you already bought T1–T2 in “Core Four”, the increment to SPM is:
  • +230C, +210R, +20S + 20,000 Req.
    Ammo headaches disappear—and the Railgun/Recoilless mains in your squad will love you.

F) Your first T5 to chase

• Morale Augmentation (Bridge T5) from scratch (Bridge T1→T5):
  • ~670C, 470R, 45S, 60,000 Req
• High‑Density Explosives (Orbital T5) from scratch (Orbital T1→T5):
  • ~710C, 490R, 45S, 60,000 Req
• Advanced Crew Training (Hangar T5) from scratch (Hangar T1→T5):
  • ~590C, 520R, 50S, 55,000 Req
    Pick whichever matches your playstyle; most players feel Morale everywhere, all the time.

Reminder: Modules are personal—your teammates don’t get your bonuses unless they’ve unlocked them too.

Enemy‑specific tweaks

• Terminids (bugs): Fire rules. If your squad leans into Napalm/Incendiary, Enhanced Combustion (Bridge T4) adds +25% stratagem fire damage. Pair with Hangar T3/T4 for more napalm coverage and uptime.
• Automatons (bots): Lean Orbital and Eagle. Zero‑G Breech + Expanded Weapons Bay keeps Railcannon/500kg ready when Hulks/Tanks roll in.
• Illuminate: Crowd control and stunlock shine—EMS, Gas, Laser benefit from Zero‑G and Targeting Software; Circuit Expansions (Eng T4) gives Tesla/Arc an extra jump for add‑clear.

What to delay until later

• Nuclear Radar (Bridge T2) – bigger minimap pings are nice, but it doesn’t increase damage or uptime.
• Power Steering (Bridge T3) – better Hellpod steering is QoL, not throughput.
• Rapid Launch System (Eng T3) – instant emplacements are handy, but most squads rely more on Orbitals/Eagles than static setups; buy after your core damage engines.

Mini cheat‑sheet: full‑branch totals (all five tiers)

• PAC: ~570C, 450R, 40S, 50k Req
• Orbital: ~710C, 490R, 45S, 60k Req
• Hangar: ~590C, 520R, 50S, 55k Req
• Bridge: ~670C, 470R, 45S, 60k Req
• Engineering: ~670C, 500R, 60S, 50k Req
• Robotics: ~620C, 490R, 65S, 60k Req
  These totals help you plan long‑term grind goals and decide which branch to finish first.

Pro tips and synergies

• Eagles first, rearm smart: With Expanded Weapons Bay and Advanced Crew Training, rearm before you hit zero uses to trigger the extra −10% rearm reduction (T5).
• 500kg nuance: Its uptime really improves once you have Expanded Weapons Bay—before that, LV Cockpit doesn’t meaningfully change it because it starts at a single payload.
• Sentry specialists: Shock Absorption Gel adds 50% ammo, but the Rocket Sentry only gains 50% for the first pod (≈25% overall); don’t overinvest expecting miracles.

A sensible “first‑month path” (one example)

1. Donation Access → Targeting Software → LV Cockpit (200C total).
2. Add PAC T2 + Hangar T2 (now 360C/80R).
3. Choose a focus:
   • Eagle loop: Hangar T3 (adds 80C/80R/10S) → Hangar T4 (150C/150R/15S + 25k).
   • Orbital loop: Aim for Orbital T3 (260C/140R/10S branch total).
   • Support mainline: March PAC to SPM (see budget E).
4. First T5: Morale Augmentation, unless your team lives and dies by Eagles or Orbitals.