Helldivers 2 Sample Farming (Common/Rare/Super) in 2025

The no‑nonsense, patch‑proof playbook for stacking Samples fast—what to run, where to land, and how to extract without losing the haul (solo or in a squad).

If you’re upgrading your Destroyer in 2025, Samples are still the choke point. The good news: the meta for farming them is stable—with a few crucial 2024–2025 changes that make your routes faster and safer.

• Super Samples now start at Difficulty 6. Arrowhead made this official on June 13, 2024 (Patch 01.000.400), moving Supers down from the old 7+ requirement.
• City/Super Earth missions got a Super Sample spawn fix in 2025. If you ran cities and saw empty counters, that bug was patched (01.003.101).

Below is a complete, practical guide: how Samples work now, the best missions and planet traits to target, and risk‑managed extraction plans you can run solo or with a team.

Part 1 — Samples in 2025: what changed and what didn’t

Three rarities still gate ship upgrades: Common (green), Rare (orange), Super (purple). Community documentation and the official wiki note soft caps of roughly 500 / 250 / 100 per tier respectively.

Where they spawn by difficulty (2025 reality):

• Common: all difficulties.
• Rare: generally Difficulty 4+ (Challenging and up).
• Super: Difficulty 6+ since Patch 01.000.400; higher tiers typically show more Super nodes.

Important exclusions & visibility tricks:

• Supers do not spawn on some mission types (e.g., Eradicate and Retrieve Essential Personnel). If you need Supers, don’t queue those.
• Capturing a Radar Station sub‑objective reveals all Points of Interest (POIs); this is the single best way to path through Common/Rare caches fast.

How extraction actually works (still the #1 mistake):

• You must extract with the Samples (someone on your team must physically bring them aboard). Samples left on the ground do not auto‑bank at mission end. If you die, your Sample case drops and must be recovered.
• Samples are shared team‑wide upon extraction—whoever extracts with them banks them for the whole squad.

Part 2 — Best mission types (and why)

1) Blitz: Search & Destroy (Terminids or Automatons)

The consensus fastest farm per minute for Common/Rare, and still excellent for Supers when the difficulty is 6–8. Blitz maps are short, compact, with obvious nest/fabricator POIs that tend to concentrate Samples. The brief timers make “two runs = one long run” a real advantage.

How to run it

• Prioritize Radar Station if present to light up POIs.
• Sweep POIs along a single looping route; avoid doubling back.
• Extract as soon as your bag is full or the timer’s nearly done.

2) Open‑world missions with a Radar Station

If you see a Radar Station sub‑objective on the operation card, take it. After activation, the map becomes a shopping list of POIs; string them in a loop and hoover Samples with minimal fighting.

3) Evacuation / “Retrieve Essential Personnel” (for Rares)

Although these missions don’t spawn Supers, many players report dense Rare clusters at POIs during 15‑minute evacuations. If you’re bottlenecked on orange Samples, run Evacs on mid‑high difficulty—then swap to Blitz for Supers.

4) City / Super Earth missions (for Supers, post‑fix)

Supers now reliably appear again in cities after the June 10, 2025 fix. In this biome, Supers don’t show as standard POIs; look for the two Helldiver statues with four braziers—these landmarks often have 2–3 Super Samples on the ground. They can even spawn on the edge of the map, so sweep borders.

Part 3 — Difficulty sweet spots

If you’re farming supers efficiently, the community sweet spot is Difficulty 6–7:

• D6: Now spawns Supers (thanks to 01.000.400). Lower pressure than 7–9 means more time searching and less time respawning.
• D7 (“Suicide Mission”): Repeated reports suggest 3–4 Super Samples per mission on average, with smaller maps than the very top tiers—solid time‑to‑reward.

Going higher (Impossible/Helldive and above) can raise the ceiling, but maps get bigger and patrols heavier; your time‑to‑extract per Super often gets worse unless you’re a stacked premade. (Players routinely choose D7 for this reason.)

Part 4 — Picking planets: traits, hazards, and biomes

Not all planetoids are created equal for Sample runs. Watch the planetary hazards and the operation modifiers on the operation card:

Avoid these if you care about speed and safety:

• Ion Storms (intermittently disable Stratagems): bad for Blitz, bad for panic extraction.
• Thick Fog / Sandstorms (visibility killers): slows spotting POIs and Supers from afar.
• Extreme Heat / Extreme Cold (stamina drain, rate‑of‑fire changes): pushes you into more risk to cover the same distance.

When possible, favor:

• Clear‑weather maps and day‑side drops for spotting the Super Sample “fist‑rock” on non‑city worlds (a visible POI with silvery veins).
• Defense campaigns (if you just need calm farming)—they’re generally absent of the trickier operation modifiers seen in Liberation campaigns.

Faction note (for comfort): Terminid Blitz is usually simpler to route—nests are clumped and easy to approach with explosives—while Automatons punish mistakes but offer great sightlines for long‑range clears. For Supers in cities, see the statue/brazier tip above.

Part 5 — Risk‑managed extraction (the right way)

Here’s the tactical piece that saves 30 minutes of heartache.

The staging concept (solo & squad)

• When you first pass the extraction zone, drop your Samples there to stage them. Do not leave them on the ground permanently; you’ll still need to pick them up before boarding—they don’t auto‑bank. Staging just reduces the distance you’d have to recover if things go sideways near the end.

Solo blueprint

1. Route: Radar → POI loop → pass extraction to stage bag → finish remaining POIs within comfort.
2. Call the shuttle early (2:15–2:30 remaining if you’re far) to give yourself buffer.
3. Before Pelican lands: run over staged Samples, pick them up, and start layering minefields + eagle/clusters to keep the LZ clean.
4. Never finish your primary objective too early if you plan a Sample sweep—completing primaries spikes patrol pressure across the map and turns your run into constant fighting.
5. If you die with the bag, beeline the beeping test‑tube icon to recover it (it pings on the map/minimap).

Solo loadout tips (examples that age well):

• High‑mobility armor (+stamina) to cut travel time and outrun patrols.
• One anti‑armor crutch (Railgun/Quasar/Recoilless or EAT) to delete Chargers/Hulks on sight.
• Orbitals/Eagle that erase nests/fabricators without loitering (Laser, 500kg, Cluster, Strafing).
• Mines or EMS for LZ control; Shield Pack as a “mistake cushion”.

Squad blueprint

Adopt a roles mindset and you’ll rarely lose loot:

• Carrier (“Samples Store Man”) — the mule. Stays a step behind the point, enters Pelican first during extract. One Steam‑tested approach: teammates drop into the Carrier periodically, then the Carrier drops at the LZ until pick‑up time. If the Carrier dies, anyone should grab at least one Sample—it preserves the team’s entire bank if that player extracts.
• Pointman — leads, clears scouts, calls route changes.
• Suppressors (2x) — control spawns and escort the Carrier; layer mines and orbitals at extract.

Two distribution philosophies (choose one and stick to it):

• Centralized: One Carrier holds most Samples; simplest to manage, highest single point of failure.
• Distributed: Everyone carries 5–10; harder to lose everything, but you must coordinate staging at the LZ so someone doesn’t run off with the stash. (This is why staged piles get “ninja‑picked”—brief your team not to grab staged Samples until final pickup.)

Timing: On longer maps, rally at the LZ 3–4 minutes early. One teammate keeps the LZ warm; others finish nearby POIs and return. If the shuttle is on the way, stop chasing off‑route Samples.

Part 6 — Finding Supers fast (two biomes, two tells)

1. Non‑city worlds: Supers spawn around a single landmark “fist‑rock” with silvery veins. You can spot its shape right on the topo map; choosing clear conditions and daylight makes this much easier.
2. City / Super Earth maps: Look for two Helldiver statues with four braziers; Supers (2–3 typically) are on the ground between them. They sometimes spawn near borders, so sweep edges; after the June 2025 fix, these spawns are consistent again.

Extra tip: On any map, completing Radar Station reveals POIs and lets you cursor‑check likely Super nodes before committing.

Part 7 — Practical route templates

A) The 12‑minute Blitz loop (bugs)

• Drop on D6–D7, Terminid Blitz, no Ion Storm / no heavy fog.
• Grab Radar → Quick clockwise POI sweep → Stage at LZ → Finish last nest → Call shuttle with 2:00 left → Pick up pile → Layer Eagle/Orbitals → Board.

B) The Rare‑first run (Evac)

• Queue Evac on D5–D7 and sweep POIs while rescuing. You’ll often see big Rare clusters. Extract, then pivot to a D6–D7 Blitz or city map for Supers.

C) City Supers

• Pick City biome on D6–D8. Scan for statue+brazier construction (may be an L‑shaped compound on the minimap). Clear patrols, bag Supers, stage at extract, finish a couple of objectives, and leave. (Post‑patch, the “no Supers in cities” bug is fixed.)

Part 8 — Quick loadout pointers (stable across patches)

• Primary: something you dominate with while moving—Breaker, Liberator Concussive, Marksman; the best gun is the one you don’t reload in the open.
• Anti‑armor: Railgun / Quasar / Recoilless or EAT. Pick one you can fire under pressure.
• Orbitals/Eagle: 500kg, Cluster, Laser, Strafing—tools that remove a nest or make an LZ safe without a long fight.
• Utility: Mines, EMS Mortar, or Stun—anything that buys time at extract.
• Backpack: Shield Pack if you’re the Carrier; Supply Pack if you’re supporting them.

Part 9 — Common pitfalls (and how to avoid them)

• Finishing the primary too early. Enemy pressure accelerates after primaries; do your Sample loop before you complete it if you can.
• Trusting staged piles to auto‑bank. They won’t. Always pick up your staged Samples before boarding.
• Hunting Supers on mission types that can’t spawn them. Skip Eradicates and REPs when you specifically need purple.
• Running D9 when D7 is quicker per Super. Bigger maps, more travel, more wipes. D6–D7 is the sweet spot unless your premade shreds top tiers efficiently.

TL;DR Route for 2025

• Difficulty: D6–D7. Mission: Blitz (bugs) or City for Supers.
• Planet traits: pick clear weather / day‑side; avoid Ion Storms and low‑visibility mods.
• Openers: Hit Radar Station → loop POIs → Stage at LZ.
• Extract: call early, pick up staged Samples, layer mines/orbitals, Carrier boards first.

Democracy spreads fastest when you stop resetting your upgrades. Follow the blueprint, and you’ll fund every Ship Module without turning the game into a second job.

Alternate mission‑specific notes (for reference)

• Blitz vs. long missions: Blitz gives less total nodes but far better Samples per minute when chained.
• Supers scale with difficulty: community‑observed averages rise from ~3–4 on D7 upward; chasing top tiers only pays if your team clears faster than you’d finish two D7s.

Three quick route presets (copy/paste for your squad chat)

1. “Bug Blitz D6.” Radar → loop POIs → stage at LZ → finish nests → call at 2:00 → pick pile → mines + clusters → board.
2. “City Supers D7.” Sweep borders for statues w/ braziers → stage → light side only → evac once purple is secured.
3. “Rare‑then‑Super.” Evac D6 for Rare clumps → queue Blitz/City D6–D7 for Supers → upgrade ship.

After‑Action Checklist

• Did someone enter Pelican with the Samples? (piles don’t auto‑bank)
• Did you finish the primary after your loop (not before)?
• Did you avoid Ion Storms/fog and pick day‑side or clear weather?