Samples are one of the most important pieces of loot you can take back with you after extraction in Helldivers 2. They’re a form of currency you can use to buy ship module upgrades, which boost your overall power after dropping into a zone.
However, one of the main issues you might have with Samples is you carry a high risk if you die with them in your inventory. Like all other extraneous items in Helldivers 2, dying with stored Samples makes your character drop them where you died, forcing you to go back and physically retrieve them (if you want them again). This sometimes isn’t an option, especially if your teammates spawn you back in far away from where you died. Fortunately, there’s a way around this, and it’s through dropping your Samples in Helldivers 2.
Dropping Samples in Helldivers 2
Dropping Samples doesn’t always have to be about saving them in case of your death, but it’s the most useful reason for doing so. You might also need to drop a Sample to a teammate who’s close to a ship module upgrade or give one back to a teammate who dropped theirs.
In any case, there’s an easy way to drop Samples in Helldivers 2, and you can do so by pressing the following buttons:
- Hold “X” on PC
- Hold “Down on D-Pad” for PlayStation controllers
Holding these buttons can also drop your support weapon and other items in your inventory, in case you ever need to give something to a teammate or pick something else up off the ground.
With Samples specifically, I recommend dropping all of the ones you pick up at the Extraction Point. By doing this, you save them at a spot where you know you’ll have to visit before leaving the zone. This ensures even if you die, you’ll have easy access to your Samples when you want to extract from the map.
Of course, sometimes dropping your Samples at an Extraction Point isn’t feasible depending on your objective. In that case, you can drop your Samples at a central point on the map that’s easy to get to over the course of the mission. Your teammates can also follow this strategy, but you’ll need to keep track of who had what number of Samples so you only pick up what you originally dropped.
To remember where you dropped the Samples, you can mark them and this will make them viewable by you and your entire team on the minimap. However, marked items go away after a certain amount of time, so you can’t leave them there for too long before the marks disappear. There have also been reports from players saying their dropped Samples disappear themselves after a while, but I can’t confirm if that’s a feature or simply a bug.
In any case, now you know how to drop your Samples and why it might be a good idea to do so in Helldivers 2. To see what the Superstore is offering every day in Helldivers 2, check out our previous guide, which updates daily.
