There's been a rumor circulating in the Helldivers 2 community that saluting during the Raise the Flag missions actually makes the flag erect faster.
Well, the game's creative director just confirmed it's true. When I shared the video showing the technique with my squadmates they laughed at me.
Who's laughing now, Rick? During the Raise the Flag missions, you have to get to a location, call down the flag of Super Earth, and defend it with your life against the hordes of enemies until it stands proud and tall.
It can be an agonizingly slow wait, especially on the highest difficulties where huge foes threaten you every second, so of course we'd do anything to speed it up.
It may sound silly that using the salute emote would make it rise faster, because it sort of implies the flag can sense your patriotism, but it turns out it actually works.