Game master Joel cuts an unprecedented deal with Helldivers 2 players: Pull off the 'Martale Gambit' and he'll liberate two planets for the price of one

The Martale Gambit is on.

As the Helldivers 2 community comes together to counter the Automaton's latest advances in the Andromeda sector, an unconventional idea has emerged that utilizes a hidden mechanic in the galactic war simulation. If it works, Super Earth would be able to liberate two planets simultaneously, including one with an ongoing defense campaign. The goal is to liberate Charon Prime without actually fighting there by cutting off the Automaton's supply lines on the neighboring planet of Martale.

Players are calling it the Martale Gambit: Divert all Automaton resistance to Martale for immediate liberation, and once the planet is taken, Charon Prime will be liberated as well. It's a strong plan, but until a few hours ago, nobody 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 for these tactics, though it would ultimately be up to Joel to set it in motion himself. A few hours after the initial planning, Spitz returned to the Discord with a rare dispatch from Joel himself. The Martale Gambit would be honored if the community can pull it off.

"Capturing Martale will not automatically end the Charon defense event, the system does not work that way," Spitz wrote. "But Joel can award the win manually, and if the Martale gambit is successful, he will honor that commitment by granting the win on Charon."

A quick explanation of how all this works: Every currently active Helldivers 2 planet is connected by supply lines. These lines aren't visible on the in-game map, but they are viewable in a community-maintained galaxy map website that pulls from Arrowhead's data. The red arrow leading from Martale to Charon Prime (see picture below) means the Automatons need Martale to maintain control of Charon Prime. Such is the goal of the Martale gambit—cut off the supply line so the Automatons can't hold Charon Prime.

It's rare for Joel to comment on player activity, even indirectly, but this is an important mechanic to clear up, as it could inform how players approach future major orders. Spitz goes on to say that the intention is to have this sort of tactic work automatically in the future.

"Since things like the Martale gambit are meant to be possible automatically, if we ever do pull off something like this in the future where we cut off an enemy planet by capturing the attached planets—ping me or DM me to let me know, and I'll pass on to Joel so he can make the system adjustments manually."

A successful gambit would be a huge time saver for the community, and likely save a planet that's trending toward Automaton domination. Currently, Charon Prime's defense campaign has less than 16 hours remaining with little progress made, but Martale is over 91% liberated (and climbing). There's some concern in the Discord about Martale's negative attrition rate at the moment, but an influx of players going into the weekend could turn the tide.

Another challenge facing the Martale Gambit is the latest major order. Currently, the goal is to complete 10 planet defense campaigns total. There are both Automaton planets and Terminid planets with active defense campaigns, and there is nothing in the game itself that suggests Martale is a relevant planet. Nonetheless, over 22,000 divers are active on Martale as of this writing, and if word-of-mouth spreads, the coordination may pay off.

History has proved that the Helldivers 2 community is up to just about any challenge Joel can throw at it. This morning, we obliterated two billion Terminids in just over 12 hours.