Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Game Studios has continually improved the horde shooter since launch, and some of these changes have been better received than others. After multiple nerfs to popular weapons and stratagems left the community miserable, Arrowhead reversed course with a 60-day plan. The first patch released in September was met with great acclaim, and now with Tuesday’s patch comes a second round of buffs.
Full patch notes are available on the website Helldivers 2on the Steam website, but the highlights are heavier weighty armor, balancing of over 70 weapons and stratagems, reduced armor on Hulks, Chargers, Impalers and Bile Titans, and fewer missiles from Devastators and Gunships.
Fans of plasma weapons may be especially pleased, as Arrowhead has beefed up this class of weapons across the board. Throwing weapons are also significantly stronger, and high-explosive, fragmentation, and incendiary grenades have received major buffs following the extremely buffed thermite grenade from the last update. Throwing knives, which are very cold but not powerful enough to justify carrying them, are much more attractive now that Helldivers have gone from eight to twenty kills on the battlefield.
Autocannons and recoilless rifles, both very powerful tricks, are more versatile thanks to programmable ammunition. The autocannon has anti-aircraft missiles that can be turned on or off, making close-quarters combat against a swarm of Terminids much less deadly. The recoilless rifle, which I already love for its ability to take out bots in one shot, now has high-yield explosive ammunition for larger explosions.
Perhaps most intriguing are the changes to anti-tank mines, which players failed to obtain three times before finally obtaining the tool. Mines now only trigger when weighty units such as Chargers and Hulks move above them, and their damage has been increased from 800 to 2000. According to Arrowhead, more changes are coming to the mines – which is an unpopular choice – but their introduction will require more time.
Improved patrol spawning so that after mission completion, the increased patrol spawn rate remains, but now focuses on extraction. This makes sense because some extractions could be downright dull because the patrols were nowhere to be found. This also makes it easier to search the map for samples before heading out to extract, as enemies focus on the starting point.
In addition to all these good changes and some nerfs to the Automatons, Arrowhead also did the right thing by canonizing a fan joke about “John Helldiver”, the ultimate hero of Helldivers 2. As Arrowhead put it: “In response to their disapproval of the newly installed cannon on Automaton Hulk Bruisers, Primates Super Earth Command sent a commando to sabotage their production facilities. After completing the mission, the skilled agent quickly fled into the shadows. Today, still wanted by the Automatons, they survive as a soldier of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can aid you and if you can find them, maybe you can enlist in the army… John Helldiver”
