Three progression tracks run in parallel outside of mission rewards, and each one feeds combat power in a different way.
Warbonds are the persistent unlock track. Each Warbond is a multi-page collection of weapons, armor sets, capes, emotes, in-game Boosters, and grenades, plus a sprinkling of Super Credits to recoup some of the unlock cost. Pages unlock with Medals, individual items unlock with more Medals, and the entire Warbond costs Super Credits to access in the first place. The free Helldivers Mobilize Warbond covers the basics. Premium Warbonds add weapon types, armor passives, and grenade variants that change loadout possibilities. Players who want a specific weapon, armor passive, or grenade are usually three or four Warbond pages away from it.
Stratagems are unlocked through Requisitions at the ship terminal, and they are the spine of combat. Eagle airstrikes, orbital lasers, sentry turrets, support weapons, and backpacks all sit in the Stratagem menu. Higher-tier Stratagems cost more Requisitions and unlock at higher Helldiver levels, which is part of why power leveling is one of the most direct ways to expand combat options.
Ship Modules sit on the Super Destroyer and apply permanent buffs to Stratagem categories: faster cooldowns, tighter scatter, longer durations, larger ammo pools. They unlock with Common, Rare, and Super Samples, and the upgrade tiers escalate fast. The fully-upgraded modules turn average Stratagem builds into top-tier ones, which is why endgame players sink so much time into Sample runs.
The progression is interlocking. Better Stratagems need Requisitions and levels. Better Stratagem performance needs Samples. Better gear needs Medals and Super Credits. Skipping any one track leaves the others under-fed.