Helldivers 2 Developer Arrowhead Game Studios has continually tweaked the Horde shooter since release, and some of these changes have been better received than others. After many nerfs to popular weapons and stratagems left the community dissatisfied, Arrowhead reversed course with a 60-day plan. The first patch was released in September to great success, and now a second round of improvements arrives with Tuesday’s new patch.
The full patch notes are available at Helldivers 2is available on the Steam site, but highlights include heavier heavy armor, a balancing pass for over 70 weapons and Stratagems, reduced armor on Hulks, Chargers, Impalers and Bile Titans, and fewer missiles on Devastators and Gunships.
Fans of plasma weapons should be particularly happy because Arrowhead has improved this weapon class across the board. Thrown weapons are also much stronger, with explosive, fragmentation and incendiary grenades seeing big improvements following the hugely boosted Thermite Grenade in the last patch. Throwing knives, which are very cool but not powerful enough to justify bringing them, are now much more attractive as Helldivers have gone from eight to 20 on the battlefield.
The autocannons and the recoilless rifles, both very powerful weapons of war, are more flexible due to the programmable ammunition. The autocannon features anti-aircraft projectiles that can be switched on and off, making close combat with a swarm of Terminids much less deadly. The Recoilless Rifle, which I already value for its ability to perform one-shot bot drops, now features a high-yield explosive ammo type for larger shots.
Perhaps most intriguing are the changes to the anti-tank mines, which players were unable to obtain three times before finally receiving the tool. The mines now only trigger when heavy units like Chargers and Hulks move over them, and their damage has been increased from 800 to 2,000. Arrowhead says more changes are coming to the mines – a hugely unpopular decision – but will take more time to roll out.
Patrol spawning has been optimized so that after completing a mission, the increased patrol spawn rate remains, but is now focused on extraction. This makes sense as some recoveries could be downright boring since the patrols happened to be nowhere around. It also makes it easier to search the map for samples before extraction since enemies will concentrate on the starting point.
In addition to all these good changes and some nerfs to the Automatons, Arrowhead also did the good deed of canonizing the fan joke about “John Helldiver”, the ultimate protagonist of Helldivers 2. As Arrowhead puts it, “In response to their disapproval.” When the Automaton Hulk Bruisers installed a newly installed cannon, the Super Earth high command sent a top commando to sabotage their production facilities. The experienced agent immediately fled into the shadows after completing his mission. They are still sought out by the machines today and survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and you can find it, perhaps you can turn to… John Helldiver.”
