It’s been a while since Helldivers’ ships have reeked so much of guts, burnt flesh and gunpowder. The Freedom Climb super update is now available for free to all Helldivers 2 players, which means you’ll need to keep your senses sharp because new horrors are lurking.
I have descended to some planets on both fronts, Therminid and Automata, to face the new features that Arrowhead Game Studios has introduced. And I am not just referring to the return of the Impaler (Helldivers from 2015) and the new robot camps, but also to changes in the enemies that have especially affected the flamethrower.
Armored enemies like Rampagers and Impalers now take fire better. Armor makes them more resistant to flames, so you’ll need to target weak spots, even with the Flamethrower, to do heavy damage. This change comes in anticipation of what might happen in two days with the War Bonus called Flame of Liberty.
Helldivers 2’s new horrors are nightmare fuel
If you’re thinking about trying out the Level 10 difficulty, Superhelldiver, you better prepare yourself for what’s sure to be a nightmare. Helldivers 2 It was already hell on levels 7, 8 and 9, so you can imagine what awaits you at this new level. The update is not called Climbing Freedom no reason.
I’ve played a couple of games on difficulty 10 Helldivers 2 and the battlefield is a constant hell. Accomplishing objectives in itself is not difficult, especially when dealing with Therminids, the problem is that enemy troops become an uncontrollable mass for groups of players who do not communicate or work as a team.
I’ve never run out of ammo so quickly, no matter how many stratagems you call upon to try and save yourself. If the group doesn’t concentrate fire, they’ll eventually overwhelm you like a zombie swarm in World War Z. As for the Automata, I don’t think I’ve ever been so abused by enemies in a shooter. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it’s certainly nightmare fuel.
More fortified camps
The new Automaton camps are larger and better fortified, with several ships hovering over them when they go on alert. My experience was like going back to World War I in Battlefield 1. The esplanade you can see in the following screenshot has been completely transformed after destroying the first defensive tower with my Lanza missile launcher.
Advancing to the base to destroy the targets from close range is an impossible mission. The area is crowded with robots, ships flying overhead, cannons, machine guns and mortars that never stop firing shells. After dying several times, I realize that the best thing to do is to retreat and destroy the factories from far away with the Lance.
Taking out the defenses and fortifications is just the beginning. The number of red lasers flying around our heads doesn’t diminish. We spend a while dying and trying to advance, but finally two strokes of luck help us to win: a snow storm and the enemy ships deploying their troops outside the base after making us retreat. I take advantage of the poor visibility to sneak in, call for a bomb and blow everything to pieces.
The Impalers, my new favorite nightmare
Difficulty 10, new and better camps, more objectives during missions… The new content is great and a breath of fresh air after so many weeks without any substantial news. However, the Impalers are my favorite addition. Fighting those bastards is very exhilarating. I’ve compiled some moments in the video at the beginning of the post.
I don’t have to wait long to see one and see that they work exactly the same as in Helldivers 2015. It’s almost the first Terminid I’ve seen when I land my pod for the first time after installing the update. It’s not long before it starts to give my partner a hard time, so I decide to fire my Quasar Cannon at its tentacles to get its attention.
The Impaler reacts quickly and focuses its fury on me. The dance begins. I first try shooting each of its three tentacles to test their resilience. They are pretty tough, so I stick to the strategy I learned from the veterans on Reddit: find the creature itself and destroy it with everything I can.
It’s a huge, armored beast, but I still can’t find it with all the enemies running around and the damn green gases blocking my visibility. I launch the Orbital Laser. From what I’ve read, it usually prioritizes the most powerful enemies, so I follow the laser while I get rid of all the bugs trying to kill me.
You probably won’t believe this (until you see the video), but I find the Impaler with his head stuck in the ground after I throw myself down a hill to avoid being hit by one of his tentacles. I literally headbutt his leg. The scene looks like something out of a cartoon.
The fight stops being fun when it gets closer and closer while chasing me. We both coordinate to launch an attack: the bug buries its tentacles in the ground to try to hunt me down from below and I call in the 110mm eagle rockets. I dodge the tentacles’ blows by a miracle. There are enemies everywhere.
The 110mm rockets hit the Impaler’s weak point directly: an unprotected area of flesh that is exposed when it attacks with its tentacles. I breathe a sigh of relief even with a Trampler chasing me. My partner appears just in time to see the corpse of the beast and help me eliminate the rest of the enemies in the area.
I approach the body to take a closer look and give it a few elbows. My first encounter with an Impaler on Difficulty 6 and (almost) alone ends in a crushing victory with no casualties on my part. The rest of the encounters you can see in the video show that many helldivers have learned their lesson. Whenever one appears (they are quite frequent), most players sew it with bullets, explosions and fire.
It is true that the update Climbing Freedom It is not the absolute revolution of Helldivers 2but I think it introduces enough (free) new features to put on the helldiver armor once again and spread democracy left and right. Plus, a new fire-themed War Bonus is coming on August 8, so even more reasons to come back.
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