How to complete the “Retrieve Essential Personnel” mission in Helldivers 2

Retrieve Essential Personnel Helldivers 2
Completing the “Retrieve Essential Personnel” mission in Helldivers 2 (Image via Arrowhead Game Studios)

Helldivers 2 has a slew of incredibly difficult missions that you will come across, with the “Retrieve Essential Personnel” being one of them. The mission is a part of the Major Order that tasks you to complete eight campaigns where you fend off invading Automatons.

In “Retrieve the Essential Personnel,” you will need to save 60 Facility Staff who are stuck on the Draupnir Planet. You will face never-ending waves of botas, Tanks, and Hulks, which is why the mission is recommended for a party and not solo players. To make matters worse, while the mission description shows a 40-minute mission time, the feature is bugged, and the actual time is 15.

This further makes “Retrieve Essential Personnel” incredibly difficult, but the efforts are worth the prize because, for completing all the Major Orders, you will be rewarded with 12,500 Requisitions.


Completing the “Retrieve Essential Personnel” mission in Helldivers 2

When you are booting up the “Retrieve Essential Personnel” mission in Helldivers 2 with your squad, here are some things you can do to have an easier time completing it:

  • Preparation is key when it comes to the “Retrieve Essential Personnel” mission. So, before getting into your pod, make sure that you and your teammates are equipped with the best weapons. Firepower is important when it comes to defense missions, so make sure you have the right weapons and Stratagems for the job.
  • Coordination is key between your squadmates. As you will need to rescue 60 Facility Members and fend off unending waves and hordes, it’s important to divide the roles properly.
  • While assigning tasks, you can get one teammate to unlock the Bunkers while another can escort them to the helipad in the extraction site. Once you have escorted the required number of facility members, you can start the Extraction process.
  • Extraction takes some time to happen, and during that period, you will need to protect the site from more Automaton hordes. So just hold on and keep clearing the waves before the extraction takes place.
  • Make sure that your team sticks together during the last phase of this mission. It will be much easier to defend the extraction.

The “Retrieve Essential Personnel” mission is a part of the current Major Order mission list in Helldiver 2. Completing all the Major Order missions will get you 12,500 Requisitions, making them some of the most important missions to complete.


Feel free to check out our Helldivers 2 review and other guides on Arrowhead Game Studios' latest third-person shooter.

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