No Chainsword, No Bolter in Helldivers 2's 40K Warbond

When you picture Warhammer 40,000, certain images come to mind before anything else: a Space Marine revving a Chainsword, a Bolter kicking back as it punches mass-reactive shells through alien chitin. Neither of those weapons will be in the Helldivers 2 crossover Warbond when it launches on August 12.

Arrowhead Game Studios revealed the full contents of the Helldivers 2 x Warhammer 40,000 Castellan's Creed Legendary Warbond today in a post on Steam, confirming what many fans had predicted: the collaboration draws from the Astra Militarum, specifically the Cadian Kasrkin regiment, rather than the superhuman Space Marines. That decision makes total sense thematically. Helldivers are expendable soldiers hurled into meat grinders, not eight-foot-tall demigods in power armour. But it also means the loadout skews toward infantry-grade wargear, and two of 40K's most famous weapons didn't make the cut.

What's Actually in the Warbond

The Warbond contains 18 items total. On the weapons side, you're getting the R/40-K Hot-Shot Marksman Rifle, a semi-automatic energy sniper built for precision at range; the P/40-K Bolt Pistol, a sidearm with stopping power but not the full-sized Bolter people were hoping for; and the G/40-K Meltamine, a proximity-activated anti-armour mine. The 40-K Meltagun arrives as a stratagem rather than a standard weapon, firing a short-range thermal beam that melts through heavy armour. Seeing it locked behind a stratagem call-in stung at first, but watching it dissolve an Automaton in the trailer, I get why Arrowhead didn't want players running around with that kind of firepower from the jump.

Armour comes in two flavours. The TG-8 Sharpshooter is a medium set modelled after standard Kasrkin troopers in green camo, while the TG-122 Demo-Trooper is a heavy set in urban camo inspired by Kasrkin demolitions specialists. Both carry the True Grit passive, granting +20 weapon handling and a 30% reload speed boost for support weapons. Rounding out the package are two capes, two player cards, a title called "Still Standing," and the Castellan's Green vehicle pattern across all five vehicle types.

As a Legendary Warbond, this one costs 1,500 Super Credits instead of the usual 1,000, and you can't use a Premium Warbond Token to claim it.

Missing the Chainsword

I understand the reasoning behind an Imperial Guard theme. Arrowhead's own description leans into it hard:

"This deployment of advanced firearms, armor, patterns and more, has been recreated in honor of the valiant Helldivers who gave their lives in a heroic last stand to defend the peaceful world of Chara during the First Galactic War."

The lore framing is fun, tying Super Earth's history to Cadia's famous last stand. But the absence of a Chainsword feels like a missed opportunity regardless of the faction choice. Melee weapons aren't common picks in Helldivers 2, sure, but a Chainsword would have been the single most crowd-pleasing item Arrowhead could have included. It wouldn't even break the lore; Cadian officers carry them. And while the Bolt Pistol is a nice nod, a full-sized Bolter as a primary or even a stratagem weapon would have given the Warbond a centrepiece it currently lacks. What you're left with is a solid but slightly conservative selection that plays it safe where a crossover this high-profile probably shouldn't.

The Meltagun stratagem is the standout for me. If its armour penetration is as aggressive as the trailer suggests, it could become a go-to pick against Automaton heavies. The Hot-Shot Marksman Rifle also looks promising for players who prefer a designated marksman role, though how it stacks up against existing options like the Diligence Counter Sniper will depend entirely on its damage numbers and handling stats, which Arrowhead hasn't detailed yet.

This crossover has been a long time coming. Arrowhead's Johan Pilestedt publicly listed Warhammer 40,000 among the IPs he most wanted to collaborate with back in 2024, and the overlap between the two fanbases has been obvious since Helldivers 2 launched. The collaboration was officially teased during the Warhammer Skulls 10th anniversary showcase roughly two months ago, though all we saw then were clips of people painting miniatures.

The Castellan's Creed Legendary Warbond launches August 12. Eighteen items for 1,500 Super Credits is a reasonable package, but I suspect the conversation around this Warbond will be less about what's in it and more about the Chainsword-shaped hole where the hype should be.