Helldivers 2 Super Samples: Where to Find Them

Super Samples spawn on Extreme (difficulty 6) and above, in any mission type that carries samples — Evacuation Defense and Eradication maps do not. The usual landmark is a Super Sample Rock, a bulbous rock with silver veins, which the wiki says is guaranteed on those difficulties. Urban and colony maps can also hold them at a Helldiver statue or a burning convoy.

Which difficulty drops Super Samples

Everything in this guide is from the community-run Helldivers Wiki, checked on September 19, 2026. Arrowhead does not publish sample tables.

Super Samples, called Super Uranium in the files, have a pink icon and are marked in-mission by four white squares. They appear on Extreme (difficulty 6) and above. That has not always been the case — the wiki’s change history puts the move down to difficulty 6 in patch 1.000.400. Commons appear on every difficulty; Rares start at Challenging (difficulty 4).

*Unconfirmed. The wiki gives two different figures for Super Helldive — 7–8 in the Super Samples section and 3–7 in the availability table. The two ranges barely overlap and nothing resolves them, so do not plan around either number. On Helldive, difficulty 9, the figure is a consistent 6.

Two exceptions worth knowing before you queue: these counts describe Expedition and other non-Defense missions. Eradication maps have a layout-tied 10 to 15 Common Samples and nothing else, and Evacuation Defense maps have no samples at all. So a high-difficulty run can still produce nothing if the mission type is wrong — check it before you queue.

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The Super Sample Rock: what to look for

The rock is the whole game here. The wiki describes it as “a large, bulbous rock, with silver-colored veins running through it,” and the usual shorthand is a chicken drumstick. It is a Minor Place of Interest, so it shows on the minimap — experienced players spot it there as a tiny silver oval rather than by scanning the horizon.

Two rules make it reliable:

• On Extreme and above, in missions that carry samples at all, it is guaranteed to spawn and always contains Super Samples. Below Extreme it can rarely appear without them. The exception is mission type, not difficulty: Evacuation Defense maps have no samples and Eradication maps carry only Commons, so a difficulty 9 Evacuation has no rock to find.
• There is a decoy. Terminid missions have a similar-looking rock that holds only Supplies. If it does not read as a Super Sample pickup, it is the other one.

Sound helps at close range but not at distance. The samples make a faint gurgling noise overlaid with Geiger-counter clicks when you are near, which the wiki itself calls too quiet to be useful for hunting.

The other two Super Sample spawns

The rock is the reliable landmark, but the wiki lists two more places the samples turn up:

• Burning convoys, on planets with Super Earth colonies in the wilderness: two flaming wrecks in the street that look like an APC and an FRV, with the samples on the ground between them.
• Helldiver statues, in urban biomes.

Both are easy to run straight past, because neither looks like a loot node — they look like scenery. On a colony or Metropolis map, slow down at wrecks and statues.

How many Super Samples you actually need

305, for all 30 ship modules. The full bill for the whole upgrade tree is 3,830 Common, 2,920 Rare and 305 Super Samples. Storage caps sit at 500 Common, 250 Rare and 100 Super, so every sample type has to be earned and spent in several passes — no single stockpile covers the tree. Supers are simply the slowest of the three, because you cap at 100 and a single Extreme mission yields two or three.

At Extreme’s 2 to 3 per mission, 305 Supers is a long campaign. At Helldive’s 6 it is a much shorter one, which is the real argument for pushing difficulty rather than farming comfortably. Higher difficulties also pay more medals per operation; our Helldivers 2 medal farm guide has the numbers for each tier.

Getting them home

Samples you never extract with are samples you never had. The wiki’s extraction page is blunt about it: Helldivers who fail to reach the shuttle in time are left behind, and “no player receives the Samples in the inventory of Helldivers who failed to extract.”

Two habits that follow from that. Hand samples off to whoever is most likely to survive, and pick them up faster in contested spots — the wiki notes you can cancel the pickup animation by starting a sprint while walking, or double-tapping sprint while already sprinting, which lets you chain several pickups in one area.

Farming Super Samples solo

The wiki’s community solo guide is honest that this is a stealth run, not a combat one, and that it takes a lot of luck — you will not extract with Supers every time. Its core points:

• Pick an Extreme-or-above 40-minute Automaton mission. Automaton patrols have an audible marching cadence, while Shriekers are too fast to escape and Terminid nests can sit on the extraction point.
• Wear Scout-passive armour to cut aggro range. Leave offensive stratagems at home — a red beacon aggros everything nearby immediately.
• Call every Hellpod in at once if you land somewhere safe, then leave; extra drops draw investigation.
• Crawl by default, sprint only to break contact. The game always sends a tracking patrol towards you, so never stand still.
• Stay away from Gunship Facilities. Being spotted by a gunship is a matter of time, not chance.
• You are not doing the main objective, so the clock runs the full 40-plus minutes. Circle wide around extraction until it does.

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Frequently asked questions

What difficulty do Super Samples start on?
Extreme, difficulty 6. Patch 1.000.400 moved them down to 6; before that they were higher.

How many Super Samples do I need for every ship module?
305, plus 3,830 Common and 2,920 Rare for all 30 modules.

Can I hold more than 100 Super Samples?
No. The caps are 500 Common, 250 Rare and 100 Super.

Where is the Super Sample Rock?
It is a Minor Place of Interest with no fixed position, so it varies per mission. Look for a small silver oval on the minimap. On Extreme and above one is always somewhere on the map, as long as the mission type carries samples at all.

Are Super Samples shared with the squad?
Whatever is extracted is credited, but samples left on a Helldiver who does not extract are lost to everyone. Pass them to whoever is likeliest to make the shuttle.

Why did my difficulty 9 mission have no samples?
Check the mission type. Evacuation Defense maps have no samples at all, and Eradication maps carry only 10 to 15 Commons regardless of difficulty. The per-difficulty table above describes Expedition and other non-Defense missions.

Do Super Samples appear anywhere other than the rock?
Yes — burning convoys on colony planets and Helldiver statues in urban biomes.

Sources and update history

• Helldivers Wiki, Sample(s) — sample types, caps, per-difficulty counts, mission-type exceptions, patch 1.000.400 change history; checked September 19, 2026
• Helldivers Wiki, Super Sample Rock — appearance, guaranteed spawn on Extreme and above, Terminid decoy rock; checked September 19, 2026
• Helldivers Wiki, Difficulty — the ten difficulty names and which samples appear on each; checked September 19, 2026
• Helldivers Wiki, Extraction — samples on Helldivers who fail to extract; checked September 19, 2026
• Helldivers Wiki, Super Sample Solo Guide — community-written solo stealth routine; checked September 19, 2026
• Helldivers Wiki, Ship Modules — total upgrade cost, and Requisition Slips required from tier 4; checked September 19, 2026

Update history: Published September 19, 2026. Facts last checked September 19, 2026 against the sources above.