If you can't play often, just move up the difficulties slower.
If you keep doing badly, just go down a level. Common and rare samples are the grind anyway, so don't try to force yourself up to 7 just to get a few super samples.
It'll take a long time, but eventually you'll be able to hang in higher difficulties
My friend and I have been playing once a week cause busy. Almost every time we play we get a bunch of currency from the war effort goal being completed and I just feel like the office congratulations meme.
Who is telling you that? I have mostly been playing random queues (up to 9) and people either dont talk at all (assuming you dont count map pings and the hug emote), or are reasonably friendly in my experience.
The worst that happens (to me) every now and then is somebody leaving in a high pressure situation because they died and people can't immediately reinforce them right this instant.
Every now and then I get matched up with someone who insists on playing solo. They don't help in missions, go off and do their own thing. Most of the time, it doesn't bother me. They get some good loot and the rest of the squad focuses on goals. But every now and then I get a griefer who only wants to kill me when I spawn in, throws every respawn right in the line of fire and essentially uses me as canon fodder to distract mass hoards of enemies while he gets away. The worst is the people who kick you for no reason, right before getting extracted so you don't get any credit for the mission you just worked. Those last two groups get instant blocks and reports from me.
Not gonna lie though, I've accidentally landed on a teammate before, apologized about it and let them kill me back too, no harm no foul. But then they proceeded to spend the rest of the match team killing me. Had to kick that guy.
I like to play "solo scout" sometimes, but I try to be mindful of my proximity to teammates and to objectives. Ideally someone who runs off and loots or does side objectives is also able to make it back to the team to deal with a titan/tank. Also, there's not much point in hoarding samples if you can't extract.
Stamina booster and jetpack/shieldpack are essential for playing this way, though.
What's funny is, one time I had someone consistently just shooting me every time I got reinforced. After the 3rd time, I headshot them with a counter sniper once, reinforced them immediately, then went back to what I was doing, and they just stopped shooting me after that. Absolute mystery to me really.
Yup. Welcome to getting older. Best to find a set of friends who are also old and have careers to play with and honestly, we end up dropping down to the hard/extreme difficulties when we just want to have a win, no shame in that when corporate life already stresses you the fuck out for 12 hours.
If you've been playing Helldivers 2 for a while but on and off, I can tell you that the game is noticeably more difficult than the first few weeks after release. Don't be afraid to lower the difficulty to what feels fun to you.
how is the community, on average, when you're new and dumb? I don't really have anyone to play with from my RL friend group and I've wanted to get into it. Is there like friendly/casual matchmaking or anything like that, or am I just gonna keep getting kicked from games for having the wrong gear?
I haven't experienced anything too bad, most players seem pretty nice and understanding of fuck-ups. The only important thing is: make sure not to start extraction too early. Try to stick with the other players, you'll get the hang of everything quickly.
I've found most everyone is incredibly friendly. You may accidentally be democratized on occasion, but as long as you always believe its an accident you'll be fine.
Make sure to hug at evac, and hug before being sent to the planet. You never know if its the last time you'll get to see your brothers.
I get up at 5am on weekdays to get the kids to school, and afterwards I have free time for about an hour. I don’t really get to play on the weekends because family. I have to say though, playing with our Asian brothers/sisters in the morning is an amazing experience, and I have more fun and success with them than with all of us westerners after work and on the weekends. Working level 9s like they are the tutorial. Clearing maps 100% with 50% time left. Never been kicked or killed. Emotes for everything works very well.