As fickle as any content and update dependent live service game can be, Helldivers 2 is on a recent upswing after being transparent in its development and fixing many of its controversial nerfs. The 
G-123 Thermite Grenadeis now exponentially more effective and will certainly become part of the meta, considering how quickly it takes down Titans and tanks, for example, while the 
Eagle 500 kg bombnow has a proper AoE to match his massive explosion. These are the gameplay improvements that players have been asking for the most, but Helldivers 2 has also made some fun changes to its social systems.
Helldivers 2 has voice communication, and that should be enough for anyone who doesn't mind chatting casually with strangers or playing cooperatively with their friends. However, emotes have always been an equally sufficient way for players to interact with others beyond target-based pings. Before the recent patch Helldivers 2 Players could only choose one emote to equip. It's not a huge change in the grand scheme of things – and arguably could have been included at launch – but players now have a four-slot emote wheel to choose from.
Helldivers 2's emotes show the joy of spreading democracy
Helldivers 2's emotes are special in the same way that some stratagems are: they allow players to interact with each other by having someone else perform a two-person gesture. Many emotes are now present in the game, like Rock-Paper-Scissors or Thoracic Collision Exultation Maneuver, and are meant to solidify the bond between Helldivers, even if they're never in the same lobby again afterward.
Having just one emote wasn't harmful at all. In fact, it was probably a clearer representation of a player's preferences since they couldn't vary their options. Emotes are less contextual and more of an excuse to pose or interact with players, so this never really hindered social encounters. In fact, some players simply enjoy standing in front of an Orbital Napalm Barrage with their arms outstretched in a hugging co-emote gesture to revel in the destruction they've caused to a planet's invaders.
Helldivers 2's Emote Wheel offers more ways to interact with players
In any case, an emote wheel has been added Helldivers 2This ensures that players can have an emote for several different personal circumstances and at least uses all emotes Helldivers 2 added since launch that remained unused because you could only equip one. It's great that the focus is on social content in Helldivers 2and with more slots, it seems like Arrowhead plans to expand or buff emotes even more.
They may not contribute as much to player personalization as Helldivers 2's victory poses at the moment, though future emotes might adopt a different gesture animation aside from the hand or hug-oriented interactions that emotes currently consist of. In the meantime, it's always great to see players waiting patiently at the pelican's foot in an emote stance for others to come and interact with them.
Despite the toxicity that sometimes plagues Helldivers 2— with toxic fumes and players displaying bad manners — it's great that emotes can bring players back and give them a fun reason to be social, congratulatory, or hysterical in almost any situation Helldivers 2 throws at them. Also, this should be even more pronounced now that there are 16 possible emotes to pass around and participate in.
