Armored Overhaul
Main battle tank upgrades for the TD-220 Bastion and TD-110 Maelstrom, and more for the FRVs.

Armored Overhaul makes the Bastion and Maelstrom feel like real main battle tanks and keeps the FRVs on their wheels. Every part is its own option, so you pick what you want in your mod manager, and with the Mod Options Menu you can change them in game too.

Features

• Tank Power: more engine pulling power, so the tanks get off the line, up slopes and through rough ground quicker. Pick Strong (1.25 times the game's), Stronger (1.5 times) or Strongest (twice). Top speed stays the game's own.
• Tank Grip: more track grip, so the tanks hold their line on slopes and in turns instead of sliding. Pick Moderate (1.25 times the game's), Strong (1.5 times) or Maximum (twice).
• Tank Steering: quicker steering response: the tanks start and stop turning sooner. Pick Responsive (1.25 times the game's), Quick (1.5 times) or Sharp (twice).
• Tank Suspension: longer road wheel travel, so the wheels drop into dips and the tracks stay on the ground, with firmer damping that settles the hull quickly after rocks and bumps. The tanks ride 0.1 m higher than the game's for more ground clearance, and a lower center of gravity makes them hard to tip. Pick Balanced (half a metre of travel; the center of gravity as high off the ground as the game's) or Planted (a little less travel, slightly firmer springs, more damping and the lowest center of gravity: the calmest ride).
• Tank MBT Turrets: the gun turns all the way round, or 90 degrees either side, and the whole top of the tank turns with it like a real main battle tank turret. The turret is the tank's own armor, cut at the roof line and turned with the gun, so it wears your camo and shows battle damage like the rest of the tank, and the gunner view turns with it. On the Maelstrom the game's own missile pods and smoke launcher turn with the turret, and the Bastion's second gun and the Maelstrom's laser designator point where the main gun does. Pick 360 (all the way round) or 180 (90 each side); with 180 the gunner view stops where the gun does.
• Tank Turret Traverse: how fast the turret turns side to side, and the gunner view with it. Pick Quick (1.5 times the game's 25 degrees a second), Fast (twice) or Very fast (three times, 75 degrees a second). With MBT Turrets all the way round the turret really reaches these speeds (past the game's own limit of about 46 degrees a second) and a change in the Mod Options Menu applies at once. Works with or without MBT Turrets.
• Tank Turret Elevation: how fast the gun moves up and down, and the gunner view with it. Pick Quick (1.25 times the game's 35 degrees a second), Fast (1.5 times) or Very fast (twice).
• Tank Turret Aim Range: how far down and up the gun aims, and the gunner view follows. Pick Wide (6 degrees below level to 30 above), Wider (10 below to 35 above) or Widest (15 below to 45 above). The game's own is 3 below to 25 above.
• Tank Autoloader: the Bastion's and Maelstrom's main gun reloads by itself when it runs dry, in the game's normal reload time (perks count). You can still reload by hand.
• Gunner Drive: drive from the gunner seat when nobody is in the driver seat, in the tanks, the M-102 FRV or both. You stay the gunner: the gun, its HUD and camera work as normal while your movement keys drive, and the engine starts the game's own way when you set off. When a teammate gets in the driver seat, they take over, and if you get out while the vehicle rolls it brakes to a stop (so you aren't thrown by the moving tank). While you drive, a driver panel like the game's own driver HUD shows the gear selector, the gear, an rpm bar, your speed and a fuel bar, in the game's own HUD font. F sounds the horn, and in the Maelstrom Mouse 3 pops the smoke screen (the panel shows the smoke rounds left). On a controller the left stick drives (push it forward to drive forward, back to reverse, left and right to steer, even on the spot), its click sounds the horn and the right stick click pops smoke. With CowboyBingus's Mod Bindings Menu you can set your own keys for driving, the horn and the smoke (controls, tab MODS, section ARMORED OVERHAUL); the built-in keys keep working.
• Tank Gunner Camera: the gunner camera sits lower and further behind the turret than the game's, rising only a little as it goes back, so you see more of the tank and around it, and it stays behind the turret as the turret turns. Going uphill the view stays level; pointing downhill it follows the slope, so you can see the ground ahead. Pick Close (about 1 m behind), Far (3.5 m), Farther (5.4 m) or Farthest (7.4 m).
• FRV Stability: the M-102 FRV, M-103 Supply FRV and M-104 incendiary FRV stay on their wheels over rough ground, jumps and hard turns: a firmer front, firmer damping, a lower center of mass, more tire grip and weight, and a little more ground clearance. Pick Stable (the default), Mild or Planted. Engine and steering stay the game's own.
• Vehicle Indicator: a small outline of your vehicle on screen shows which way the gun points compared to the hull, like a real tank's display, in any seat of the Bastion, the Maelstrom, the M-102 FRV and the M-103 Supply FRV. The Helldivers skull is the turret and always points up, and the hull turns around it. The outline's color is the vehicle's health: blue, then green, yellow, orange and red as it takes damage. On the FRVs each tire shows its own health and goes clear when it pops. With Gunner Drive it sits just left of the driver panel, and in the driver's seat of any vehicle it sits in that same place. Only you see it.

Options (Arsenal / HD2 Mod Manager)
Each option and each of its choices has its own icon in the mod manager, in this order:

• Tank Power - Strong, Stronger or Strongest.
• Tank Grip - Moderate, Strong or Maximum.
• Tank Steering - Responsive, Quick or Sharp.
• Tank Suspension - Balanced or Planted.
• Tank MBT Turrets - 360 (all the way round) or 180 (90 each side).
• Tank Turret Traverse - Quick, Fast or Very fast.
• Tank Turret Elevation - Quick, Fast or Very fast.
• Tank Turret Aim Range - Wide, Wider or Widest.
• Tank Autoloader - the main gun reloads by itself.
• Gunner Drive - Tanks and FRV, Tanks or FRV, with the driver panel.
• Tank Gunner Camera - Close, Far, Farther or Farthest.
• FRV Stability - Stable, Mild or Planted.
• Vehicle Indicator - the turret direction and health display.

Turn an option off to keep the game's own.

Mod Options Menu (optional)
With CowboyBingus's Mod Options Menu installed, the options you installed also show in the game's options under MODS, ARMORED OVERHAUL, in the same order and with the same choices, plus Off. Each starts at what you picked in your mod manager. Changes take effect at once, with these exceptions: a new gunner camera distance or gunner view speed is used the next time you take the gunner seat, and new power, grip, steering, elevation or aim range (and traverse without MBT Turrets all the way round) is used by tanks called in after the change. Tank Suspension and FRV Stability change the vehicles' own files, so they are picked in the mod manager only. Without the menu, everything works as picked in the mod manager.

Requirements

• Bingus Shared Loader v15 or newer, last in the load order. Every option except Tank Suspension and FRV Stability needs it.
• Optional: CowboyBingus's Mod Options Menu, to change the options in game.
• Optional: CowboyBingus's Mod Bindings Menu, to set your own Gunner Drive keys.

Install / update

1. Install Bingus Shared Loader v15 or newer.
2. Add Armored-Overhaul-3.1.0.zip in Arsenal or the HD2 Mod Manager and check the options you want.
3. Purge & Deploy, then restart the game.

Updating from 3.0: install it over 3.0.1 (or 3.0.0), then look over your options (your mod manager may set them back to the first choice when it imports the update). Tank Turret Traverse's speeds changed, so pick it again, and FRV Stability now lists Stable first. From 3.0.0, Tank Suspension's Firm and Heavy are now Balanced and Planted: pick one again.

Updating from 2.0: install it over 2.0.1, then look over your options: several were renamed (they now start with "Tank", and the Turret indicator is now the Vehicle Indicator), Gunner Drive now lets you pick the tanks, the FRV or both, and Tank Autoloader is new. The Vehicle Indicator and driver panel no longer use settings files: ArmoredOverhaul-TurretIndicator.cfg and ArmoredOverhaul-DriverPanel.cfg in the Bingus logs folder are no longer read and can be deleted.

Uninstall
Remove it in your mod manager and deploy. Nothing is left behind in the game; its logs stay in the Bingus logs folder and can be deleted.

Compatibility

• Don't combine it with other mods that change the Bastion or Maelstrom turrets, models, handling or suspension (for example casemate or traverse turret mods, tank model replacers or tank reskins that replace the hull models), or with other drive-from-the-gunner-seat or gunner camera mods. Turn off the matching option instead if you want to keep another mod. If another mod keeps changing the same tank or camera values back, Armored Overhaul leaves them to it and says so in its log.
• FRV Stability changes the same files as other FRV handling mods; use one or the other.
• The exosuits are not changed.
• Made and tested on the September 2026 game version.

Known limitations

• Only you see the turning turrets and the Vehicle Indicator; other players see the normal tanks.
• The turret armor's hit areas stay with the hull: with the turret turned, a shot on the turret can damage the hull panel underneath instead.
• The M-104 incendiary FRV isn't in the game right now, so Gunner Drive and the Vehicle Indicator don't cover it yet (FRV Stability does).
• Gunner Drive only works while nobody is in the driver seat. In multiplayer, the player who drove a vehicle last keeps control of it after getting out, so Gunner Drive can't move it; the driver panel then says so. Take the driver seat once, then go back to the gunner seat, and it's yours again.
• After a game update, the script options find what they need again by themselves. If an update changes the vehicles' own models or physics, Tank MBT Turrets, Tank Suspension and FRV Stability need an update from me, and I check this after every game patch.

How it works

• Tank Power, Tank Grip and Tank Steering: a Lua addon scales the tanks' engine torque, friction or steering rate in the game's own vehicle settings.
• Tank Suspension and FRV Stability: changed spring, damping, suspension travel, wheel mounts, grip, wheel size, mass and center of mass values in the vehicles' own physics files.
• Tank MBT Turrets, Traverse, Elevation and Aim Range: one shared Lua addon changes the guns' turn limits, turn speeds and aim range in the game's own turret settings; MBT Turrets uses the game's own tank hulls with everything above the roof line tied to the turret's mount, and turns that mount with the gun every frame (a closed deck and turret floor fill the cut).
• Tank Autoloader: when the main gun's magazine runs dry, it asks the game to start the reload, the same way the reload key does.
• Gunner Drive: a Lua addon copies your movement keys (or your left stick) into the vehicle's driver controls while the driver seat is empty, the same way the game does for a real driver, and starts the engine with the game's own engine switch. The horn and the smoke key use the game's own horn and the Maelstrom's own smoke launcher.
• Driver panel: part of Gunner Drive. It reads the gear, rpm and fuel from the vehicle, measures your speed from how far it moves, and writes them with the game's own HUD font.
• Tank Gunner Camera: a Lua addon changes the camera offset in the game's own gunner camera settings, and turns it with the turret while you sit in the gunner seat.
• Vehicle Indicator: a Lua addon reads the turret's angle and the vehicle's health (and the FRV's tires) the way the game's own driver HUD does, and draws the outline with the game's own on-screen drawing. The skull is a copy of the game's own Helldivers skull icon.

Everything is written from scratch and built from the game's own files. No DLLs are added and no game code is patched.

Troubleshooting
Attach the logs to your bug report: ArmoredOverhaul-TankPower.log, ArmoredOverhaul-TankHandling.log (Tank Grip), ArmoredOverhaul-TankSteering.log, ArmoredOverhaul-MBTTurrets.log (all the turret options), ArmoredOverhaul-TurretModels.log (the turning MBT turrets), ArmoredOverhaul-GunnerDrive.log (Gunner Drive, Tank Autoloader and the seat reader), ArmoredOverhaul-DriverPanel.log, ArmoredOverhaul-GunnerCamera.log and ArmoredOverhaul-TurretIndicator.log (Vehicle Indicator). You'll find them in %LOCALAPPDATA%\CowboyBingus\Helldivers2\Logs (type %LOCALAPPDATA% into the File Explorer address bar and press Enter). They show the game version, what each option found and changed, the choice in use, whether the Mod Options Menu was found, and any errors.

Changelog

• 3.1.0 - Tank MBT Turrets rebuilt: the turret is the tank's own armor turned with the gun, so camos and battle damage show on the whole turret, and the Maelstrom's own pods and smoke launcher turn with it. New MBT Turrets choice: 180 (90 each side). Tank Suspension fixed: no more bounce or launches, the tanks really ride 0.1 m higher, and a lower center of gravity makes them hard to tip. Tank Turret Traverse up to 75 degrees a second (x1.5 / x2 / x3), really reached with MBT Turrets all the way round and changeable at once from the Mod Options Menu; the gunner view turns as fast as the turret. Vehicle Indicator: same place in the driver's seat as beside the driver panel. FRV Stability retuned with more grip, Stable now the default. Clearer option texts.
• 3.0.1 - Tank Suspension reworked: Balanced and Planted replace Firm and Heavy; the road wheels now follow the ground, the tanks no longer throw themselves sideways or tip over when one track unloads, and they ride a little higher. Gunner Drive: getting out while the vehicle rolls brakes it to a stop, and Mod Bindings Menu support for your own driving, horn and smoke keys. Tank Gunner Camera follows the slope when pointing downhill. Fixes: an autoloader lock-up, the Maelstrom's smoke not being found from the gunner seat, Gunner Drive restarting its engine when a teammate left the vehicle, timings at high frame rates, and many smaller fixes.
• 3.0.0 - New options: Tank Autoloader (the main gun reloads by itself when it runs dry) and Gunner Drive for the M-102 FRV (pick Tanks and FRV, Tanks or FRV), with a driver panel modeled on the FRV's own. Gunner Drive: F sounds the horn; on a controller the left stick drives (forward, back, steering, turning on the spot), its click sounds the horn and the right stick click pops the Maelstrom's smoke (was the left stick click). The Turret indicator is now the Vehicle Indicator: it works in any seat of the Bastion, the Maelstrom, the M-102 FRV and the M-103 Supply FRV, and shows each FRV tire's health (clear when popped). Mod Options Menu support: the installed options can be changed in game. Tank Turret Aim Range gets a new Wide choice (-6 to +30); MBT Turrets no longer lowers the guns by itself. FRV Stability is retuned (more grip, weight, ground clearance and suspension travel). Options renamed with a "Tank" prefix and reordered. The Vehicle Indicator and driver panel no longer use settings files. Lighter on every frame, the controller is ignored while the game is in the background, and options step aside if another mod keeps changing the same values.
• 2.0.1 - Fixes: with MBT Turrets on, a Maelstrom wearing a camo no longer loses its hull. Using Return to Ship from the pause menu while driving from the gunner seat no longer closes the game. Gunner Drive, the smoke key and the driver panel are safer when a mission ends or a tank is destroyed.
• 2.0.0 - New options: Tank power, Turret traverse, Turret elevation, Turret aim range and FRV stability. Turret indicator with the Helldivers skull and the tank's health. Smoke from the gunner seat in the Maelstrom. The driver panel became part of Gunner Drive. Gunner camera stays level on slopes.
• 1.2.1 - Fixes for the driver panel without MBT Turrets, the Bastion's turret outline and the engine start.
• 1.2.0 - New option: Gunner camera. Gunner Drive starts the engine and shows a driver panel. Camo fixes for MBT Turrets.
• 1.1.1 - Loading fix ("missing declaration for symbol 'GetModuleHandleA'").
• 1.1.0 - New options: Tank steering and Turret indicator. Tank grip picked in the mod manager.
• 1.0.0 - First release.

Credits

• CowboyBingus - Bingus Shared Loader, the Mod Options Menu and the Mod Bindings Menu.
• Filediver and HD2SDK (Blender add-on) - the tools used to read the game's models and build the turrets.
• HD2 HUD+ - showed how to draw on screen and use the game's own HUD font from a Lua addon.