Proper selection of passive abilities is crucial for maximizing an armor's strengths in Helldivers 2. Each armor type has access to unique passives that augment combat performance, mobility, stealth, and utility. This guide analyzes the capabilities of the eight available passives based on rigorous testing.

Democracy Protects

- 50% chance to negate lethal damage

- Does NOT protect against damage-over-time effects like burning or bleeding

- Only available on medium armor

Some more observations from the testing:

- It provides nothing or everything - the passive either completely negates a lethal hit or does nothing at all. It's a dice roll whether you survive or not.

- The description is accurate, but it does not trigger damage-over-time effects like burning from certain plants or bleeding from chest injuries.

- If your health reaches zero from damage over time, you will die regardless of this passive.

- It can allow surviving massive single-hit damage like hell bombs or many grenades at point-blank range, but the next hit after proccing will kill you.

Democracy Protects gives you a 50/50 chance to negate any single lethal damage instance but does not protect against damage-over-time effects that drain your health to zero. Its randomness makes it unreliable for consistent damage mitigation.

Electrical Conduit

- Provides 95% resistance to arc damage

- Allows surviving 4-5 shots from a Tesla Tower instead of being one-shot

- Available on medium armor

Some more observations from the testing:

- While it provides significant resistance, you cannot "stand in a Tesla Tower forever" as the description may imply. 4-5 shots from a Tesla Tower will still down you while wearing this passive.

- It offers much better survivability against arc damage compared to not having the passive, where arc weapons like the Tesla Tower and Blitzer can one-shot you.

- There are currently no enemy units in the game that deal dedicated arc damage. The passive benefits against player-deployed Tesla Towers and arc-based environmental hazards.

- The tester notes that players running the Arc Thrower weapon tend to be careful about angles to avoid friendly fire, reducing the need for this passive against that specific weapon.

Electrical Conduit provides very high but not complete resistance to arc damage sources like the Tesla Tower. While not making you invulnerable, it increases your ability to withstand many arc hits compared to having no resistance. Its usefulness may be limited by the current lack of dedicated arc-damage enemy units.

Engineering Kit

- Reduces recoil by 30% when crouching or prone

- Increases initial grenade inventory and capacity by +2

- Available on medium armor

Some more observations from the testing:

Recoil Reduction:

- The 30% vertical recoil reduction when crouched/prone is noticeable with weapons like the AR23 Liberator

- Standing with this passive provides the same 30% recoil reduction as crouching without it

- Prone with this passive has the same recoil as standing without it

- No reduction observed for weapon sway

Grenade Capacity:

- Without the HELLPOD Space Optimization booster, you start with 5/6 grenades

- With the booster, you start with max 6/6 grenades

The tester did not perform precise pixel measurements to verify the exact 30% recoil reduction value but noted it was "apparent enough" based on testing.

The Engineering Kit provides a decent recoil reduction bonus when crouched/prone and a small increase in starting grenade capacity. The recoil reduction stacks with stance benefits, allowing very low recoil when prone. However, it does not impact weapon sway.

Extra Padding

- Increases armor rating by 50

- Allows you to tank around 1-2 more body shots before downing

- Available on multiple armor types

Some more observations from the testing:

- The armor rating stat provides a general gauge of an armor's durability, with higher ratings allowing you to withstand more body shots before downing.

- For armor ratings between 50-100, Extra Padding allows taking around 1 extra body shot compared to not having the passive.

- For armor ratings between 100-150 (like the B24 Enforcer medium armor with a 129 rating), Extra Padding likely allows taking 1 extra body shot.

- For armor ratings above 150, Extra Padding allows taking around 2 extra body shots to the body before downing.

- It also increases the number of headshots you can sustain before down by 1, which is a 50% increase.

However, the exact damage mitigation mechanics are unclear, as the tester observed varying maximum body shot values across different tests, even for the same armor rating. There are theories that headshots deal triple damage or are hardcoded to do half your max health as damage.

So in summary, while the mitigation values can vary, Extra Padding consistently increases an armor's effective durability by allowing you to tank 1-2 more body shots before downing, depending on the armor's base rating. It also provides a decent increase in headshot protection.

Fortified

- Provides 50% explosive damage resistance

- Reduces recoil by 30% when crouching or prone

- Exclusive to heavy armor

Some additional observations on the explosive resistance:

- The 50% explosive resistance is not a flat damage reduction across all situations 

- Damage taken varies based on distance from the explosion, stance (standing/crouching/prone), and potentially other factors

- At very close range (around 4m) from an Automaton Cannon shot while standing, the tester would die even with Fortified on light armor

- But at that same range while crouched or prone with Fortified, very little damage was taken

- Transitioning from standing to crouching to prone decreases explosive damage taken

- With full health and Fortified, you are much less likely to receive a fatal blow from an explosion

However, the tester could not determine consistent damage reduction values for different explosive sources like grenades, rockets, etc. The passive seems to provide varying protection depending on the specific circumstances.

So in summary, while Fortified does provide significant explosive damage resistance, it is not a straightforward 50% reduction across all situations. The amount mitigated can vary greatly based on distance, stance, explosive type, and potentially other variables. But it still allows withstanding explosions that would otherwise be lethal without the passive.

Medkit

- Increases initial stem inventory and capacity by +2

- Extends stem duration by 2 seconds for longer health regen and stamina recharge

- Available on medium armor

Some additional observations:

Stem Capacity:

- Without the Medkit passive and HELLPOD Space Optimization booster, you start with 4/6 stems

- With just the Medkit passive but no booster, you start with 6/6 stems

- With both Medkit and the booster, you start maxed out at 6/6 stems

Stem Duration Extension:

- The tester believes the default stem duration is around 4 seconds

- Medkit extends this duration by 2 seconds to around 6 seconds total

- Longer stem duration allows more time for health regeneration after taking damage

- It also allows recharging more stamina during the stem effect for increased sprint time

The tester notes that the 2-second stem duration extension provided by Medkit is "great" for two reasons:

1. It gives a buffer to fully regenerate health after taking hits during combat before the stem wears off.

2. The longer duration allows recharging more stamina, providing much more sprint range than normal.

While you cannot activate a stem at full health, the tester recommends using stems liberally when low on stamina to take advantage of the extended regen time with Medkit.

Overall, Medkit increases your starting stem supply and extends the stem duration for improved sustainability through health regen and stamina recharge.

Scout

- Radar pings/scans every 2 seconds, about half the rate of personal radar

- Reduces the range at which enemies can detect the wearer, but the reduction is not a consistent 30%

- Exclusive to light armor

Some additional observations on the enemy detection range reduction:

- The 30% reduction is the highest value observed, occurring when standing during the day directly in front of an enemy

- The lowest reduction was around 20%, when prone at night directly in front of an enemy

- The reduction varies based on stance (standing/crouching/prone), lighting conditions (day/night), facing direction relative to the enemy, and potentially other factors

- Testing was done against Automaton enemies on Tier 3 difficulty with no weather effects

The tester provides detailed data on the observed detection ranges in meters based on stance, lighting, and facing direction.  Some key values:

- Standing in the day: 30% reduction to 28m detection range

- Crouching in the day: 25% reduction to 30m

- Prone in day: 25% reduction to 30m

- Standing at night: 25% reduction to 30m

- Crouching at night: 22% reduction to 31m

- Prone at night: 20% reduction to 32m

So while Scout does reduce enemy detection range, the amount varies significantly based on circumstances, contrary to the stated 30% reduction. The radar pings every 2 seconds do aid in stealth gameplay.

The tester notes their values are from the third-person camera perspective, so the actual detection ranges are 1-3m less than listed. Proper use of lighting, stance, and positioning is important to maximize Scout's stealth benefits.

Servo Assisted

- Increases grenade throwing distance by 30%

- Provides 50% higher limb health

- Available on heavy armor

Grenade Throwing Distance:

- Without Servo Assisted, the tester could throw grenades around 55m from an elevated position

- With Servo Assisted, the max throwing distance increased to around 74m, a 34-35% increase

- The passive description of a 30% increased throwing range appears accurate based on testing

Limb Health:

- Servo Assisted increases the number of hits you can sustain to limbs before injury by 50%

- In combat testing against the P19 Redeemer, the Servo Assisted armor sustained 4 limb injuries compared to 6 on regular medium armor

- It also allows falling from greater heights without sustaining leg injuries

The tester notes that the increased limb durability provided a noticeable benefit in their limited combat testing sample size. However, the grenade throwing range increase was more definitively quantified at around 34-35% further distance.

While Servo Assisted doesn't directly increase damage resistance, the passive aims to improve heavy armor's explosive ordnance capabilities through extended grenade range, as well as sustain through higher limb health for moving and firing.

The proper passive selection allows light armor to excel at mobility and stealth, medium armor to provide utility and damage resistance, and heavy armor to maximize protection and explosive resistance. In addition to this we can also upgrade our armor using in-game currency such as Helldivers 2 Medal, which also boosts the armor's abilities.