How to find a Fast Recon Vehicle in Helldivers 2

The really big news in Helldivers 2's surprise Omens of Tyranny update is the Illuminate invasion, but another exciting addition has come with those mind-controlling aliens: a car. Specifically, Helldivers 2 now has a four-person Fast Recon Vehicle inspired by the off-road antics you see in PUBG. There's a mounted gun on the top, and players can also lean out of the windows to shoot. If the driver takes a bump poorly, though, your squad may end up ragdolling across the rocks—and that's no way to defend democracy.

FRVs are not yet available as a Stratagem. You have to find one on the map for now. Here's where to look, and what to know about driving them.

Where to find a Fast Recon Vehicle

For now, FRVs can be found in the new urban districts added in the Omens of Tyranny update, called colonies. You'll encounter these in Illuminate missions, currently on Calypso. I found my first FRV at the corner of an unassuming city block, and they appear on the map as a little car icon with a machine gun.

In the future, FRVs will be available as a Stratagem so you can call one in on demand in any mission type. We'll have to complete a Major Order in the near future to unlock that ability—"Keep following the Major Orders issued by Super Earth High Command and you will get the keys to your very own FRV," the studio says. Once they're available to all, expect the unlock to cost at least 20,000 Req points, maybe more.

How to drive the Fast Recon Vehicle

A gear selector appears at the bottom of the screen when you get in the vehicle, and if you want to, you can manually swap between Reverse, Neutral, Drive, 1, or 2 using Control and Shift (or L2 and R2 on a controller). As far as I can tell, though, you don't have to mess with the automatic gearbox right now.

Holding the gas (W on keyboard, or RT on a controller) moves the car forward, while holding the brake (S on keyboard, LT on a controller) puts it into reverse after a moment—the way videogame vehicles normally work. You can see the gear selector changing as the FRV changes direction, and don't have to manually set it.

In a preview session before the patch dropped, I was sure that the FRV was more difficult to drive: I had to manually put it in reverse and then hit the gas if I wanted to go backwards. It's possible I misunderstood what was happening, but I'm also not sure why there are controls for the transmission if they don't do anything, so I've asked Arrowhead for clarification.