How to Emote in Helldivers 2

Learn how to emote in Helldivers 2. This guide covers unlocking, equipping, and using emotes to communicate and express yourself on the battlefield.

Emotes let you connect with teammates and add personality to your soldier. Whether it's a salute, a high five, or even a game of rock paper scissors, emotes provide a lighthearted way to interact amid the chaos. In this guide, you’ll learn how to unlock emotes using Warbonds, equip them in the Armory, and use them to bring some humanity to the war against the Terminid and Automaton factions.

While direct communication via headset is an option, sometimes a well-timed emote is a better way to interact with your team. In this guide, you’ll learn how to unlock, equip, and use emotes to bring some humanity to the war against the Terminid and Automaton factions.

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How to Get Emotes

Emotes are purchased using the medals you earn by completing missions. Here’s a breakdown of how to get them.

1. Earn Medals

Complete missions, operations, and daily Personal Orders to earn Medals. These are the primary currency used to unlock customization options, including emotes.
Missions vary in difficulty, so tackling harder missions or cooperative objectives with teammates can help you earn Medals faster.

2. Visit the Acquisition Center

Once you’ve accumulated enough Medals, go to the Acquisition Center located on your ship.
Access the Warbond Progression menu, where you can browse through a variety of unlockables, including emotes.
Purchase emotes using your Medals. Each emote has a specific cost, so prioritize the ones you want most.

3. Check for Limited-Time Rewards

Some emotes may be tied to seasonal events or special challenges. Keep an eye out for these opportunities to expand your collection.

How to Equip Emotes

After unlocking emotes, you’ll need to equip them before you can use them during gameplay. This can only be done while on your ship or an ally's ship (not during missions).

Access the Armory

Head to the Armory station on your ship.
This is where you customize your loadout, including weapons, armor, and character cosmetics.

Navigate to the Character Tab

In the Armory menu, select the Character tab.
From here, you’ll see various customization options like Voice Packs, Victory Poses, and Emotes.

Select and Equip Emotes

Choose the Emote slot (it’s the third option in the Character tab).
Browse through your unlocked emotes and assign your favorites to the available slots.
You can equip multiple emotes at once for easy access during gameplay.

Save Your Loadout

Once you’ve equipped your desired emotes, make sure your changes are saved before exiting the menu.

How to Perform Emotes

Once your emotes are equipped, you can use them at any time during missions or while on your ship. Here’s how:

Using Emotes (Keyboard & Mouse)

Press the default B key (or whichever key you’ve bound for emotes) to bring up the emote wheel.
Use your mouse or keyboard directional keys to select an emote from the wheel.
Release the key to perform the chosen emote.

Using Emotes (Controller – DualSense)

Hold down the Left button on the D-Pad to open the emote wheel.
A quick press of this button will swap weapons instead of opening the wheel.
Use the right analog stick to navigate through the wheel and highlight an emote.
Release the D-Pad button to perform the selected emote.

Interacting with Other Players’ Emotes

Two-Player Emotes

Certain emotes are designed for two players ( High Five, Hug, Explosive Handshake).
If one player uses one of these emotes near another player, a prompt will appear for that player to join in.

Joining an Emote

When another player initiates an interactive emote near you:
- When another player initiates an interactive emote near you, accept the prompt offering for you to join in.
- Your character will then join in on their action (e.g., completing a handshake or returning a high five).

Types of Emotes in Helldivers 2

Casual Salute: The default starting emote (free)
Explosive Handshake: Costs 8 medals
Hug: Costs 20 medals
High Five: Costs 20 medals
Scout Handshake: Costs 35 medals
Rock Paper Scissors: Costs 50 medals