Helldivers 2 developer is rolling out even more improvements in the second major patch
Hell divers 2 Developer Arrowhead Game Studios has been continually tweaking the horde shooter since launch, and some of those changes have been better received than others. After many nerfs to popular weapons and strategies left the community unhappy, Arrowhead changed course with a 60-day plan. The first patch was released in September to widespread acclaim, and now a second round of improvements is coming with Tuesday’s new patch.
The full patch notes are available at Hell divers 2‘s Steam page, but the highlights include heavier heavy armor, a balancing pass on 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 may be particularly pleased, as Arrowhead has polished this weapon class across the board. Throwing weapons are also much stronger, with High Explosive, Frag and Incendiary grenades seeing big improvements in the wake of the previous patch’s massively powerful Thermite grenade. Throwing knives, which are very cool but not strong enough to justify bringing them, are much more attractive now that Helldivers have gone from eight to twenty on the battlefield.
The Autocannon and Recoilless Rifles, both very strong trick weapons, are more flexible thanks to programmable ammunition. The Autocannon has anti-aircraft projectiles that can be turned on or off, making close quarters combat with a swarm of Terminids much less deadly. The Recoilless Rifle, which I already love for its ability to drop bots in one shot, now has a high yield explosive ammo type for bigger bangs.
Perhaps most intriguing are the changes to Anti-Tank Mines, which players failed to get three times before finally earning the tool. The mines now only activate when heavy units like Chargers and Hulks move over them, and their damage has been increased from 800 to 2,000. According to Arrowhead, more changes are coming to the mines – a notoriously unpopular choice – but will take more time to roll out.
Patrol spawning has been adjusted so that once a mission is completed, the increased spawn rate on patrols remains, but now focuses on extraction. This makes sense, as some extractions can be downright boring since the patrols are nowhere around. It also makes it easier to search the map for monsters before unpacking, as the enemies will concentrate on the launch point.
Besides all these good changes and some negatives to the Automatons, Arrowhead has also done the good deed of canonizing the fan joke of ‘John Helldiver’, the ultimate protagonist of Helldivers 2. As Arrowhead puts it: ”In response to their disapproval of a newly installed cannon on the Automaton Hulk Bruisers, Super Earth High Command sent a crack commando to sabotage their production facilities. The skilled agent immediately escaped to the shadows after completing his mission. Today, they are still wanted by the Automatons and survive as a soldier of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can enlist the help of… John Helldiver”