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‘Helldivers 2’s Latest Patch Reveals Many Players Not as Good as They Thought

3 Minute Read
Mar 6 2024
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Helldivers 2‘s latest patch nerfs the game’s most popular loadout, leading many to realize that they do, in fact, have to get good.

With the Terminid and Automaton menace on the rise, the developers of Helldivers 2 are proving that they really do take inspiration from the endless war of Warhammer 40K‘s grim and dark distant future, by pulling a page right out of the Departmento Munitorum’s manual and reducing the efficacy of the game’s most powerful and popular weapons.

A new patch, released just this morning, nerfs a handful of guns in the popular PvE shooter that has taken 2024 by storm. People love fighting alien bugs and also evil robots, and love even more doing so in games that are good. The squad-based shooter pits 1-4 players at a time against the colossal might of threats to Super Earth.

If that sounds like Starship Troopers, or what a day in the all too short life of a member of the Imperial Guard would be like? You’d be correct. And that’s the vibe the developers are trying to maintain. After all, it’s Helldivers 2, not Space Marine 2.

Helldivers 2 Latest Patch Nerfs “The Good Guns” & More

At the core of the latest patch are a handful of rebalancing tweaks which bring the nerf bat to two of the game’s most popular guns. The Breaker, an auto shotgun, and the Railgun, a railgun. Both weapons get readjusted because they were “overperforming with too little downsides”, meaning that the vast majority of the players were saying these guns, combined with the Shield Backpack (an accessory that has also been nerfed with a longer recharge time) were the “only viable loadout.”

Now that they’ve been nerfed, a number of players are finding out that they are in fact, not as good at the game as previously thought. However, a number of other weapons have been adjusted, allowing Helldivers to more efficiently spread liberty, justice, and managed democracy to bugs and bots.

Reading through the patch notes, it really is like getting “helpful” information from the Adeptus Administratum: Planetary Hazards are now active, with many planets getting additional “challenges” like fire tornadoes and meteor showers.

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Here’s a look at how the guns have changed. See if your favorite got touched.

  • Breaker: Decreased magazine capacity from 16 to 13, increased recoil from 30 to 55
  • Railgun – Decreased armor penetration in Safe Mode, decreased damage against durable enemy parts
  • Flamethrower: Increased damage per second by 50%
  • Laser Cannon: Increased damage against durable enemy parts, increased armor penetration, improved ergonomics
  • Punisher: Increased total ammo capacity from 40 to 60, increased stagger force, increased damage from 40 per bullet to 45 per bullet
  • Breaker Spray & Pray: Increased armor penetration, increased fire rate from 300 to 330, increased number of pellets from 12 to 16 per shot, decreased magazine size from to 32 to 26

At the end of the day, remember, Helldiver Command has already seen fit to give you everything you need to achieve victory for Super Earth and complaining is strictly against the Uplifting Primer training manual.

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Author: J.R. Zambrano
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